Full Circle

== Chapter One ==
The Darkitect was gone, and so were Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Krill
Mathias.
Intrepid, known as Intrepid Fusion Eclipse for long, painfully opened
his eyes. He lay in the midst of shards of glass from the cockpit of
his crashed rocket. Through the ripped fabric of his seat, the rocky
– and glassy – ground pressed painfully into his back.
With his right arm he brushed his hair out his face, and with his
other he pushed himself up. He managed and pulled himself out of the
wreck.
For once the sun was peeking out behind the dark clouds that
surrounded this Raven’s Bluff property. Clutching his Bat Lord
Shield and Staff, Intrepid grimaced and limped towards a trio of
non-smashed Nexus Force tanks. He would survive. A few tired Rank
3s stood by them, offering mugs of Expressos and consumables to their
fellow soldiers.
“Hey,” Intrepid greeted them. “What happened?”
A Sentinel turned to him. “The Darkitect is gone, thankfully. 
We’d never be able to defeat him, though there’s more in my
arsenal I wouldn’t mind trying on him. The simulations will have
to do until then.” the Sentinel remarked. “My name is Brocktree,
by the way. Lord Brocktree for long.” He stuck out his hand,
which Intrepid shook wearily.
“Hey, Intrepid!” someone called. Intrepid turned to see Sergeant
Ghost Mustache and Master Blade Nine running towards him from near
the launchpad.
Intrepid waved, and Sergeant and Blade nearly tumbled into him. 
“Whoa, guys.” Intrepid warned as he steadied himself on one of
the battered tanks. “I’m hurt, you know.”
“Have you seen Cyclone, or Rover?” Sergeant asked earnestly. 
“They disappeared not long ago, but Blade thinks they sprouted
wings and went flying.”
“Who are you looking for?” asked Brocktree, stepping forward with
interest.
“Who are you?” Sergeant asked the Sentinel while still rubbing
his side.
“I’m Lord Brocktree. So, as I said before, who are we looking
for?”
Intrepid told him, and Brocktree nodded. “Well then, when are we
going?” the Sentinel asked.
“Now?” Intrepid suggested.
“Wait, hold on a second.” Blade said, motioning with his hand to
stop. “It may have been my imagination, but did any of you happen
to notice Kate here with Cyclone or anybody?”
“Well, you seem to have a pretty big imagination.” Sergeant said.
Blade groaned. “Just answer my question.”
“No, I didn’t.” Sergeant replied.
“Me neither.” Intrepid also said.
“Who?” Brocktree asked.
“Whatever, let’s just go.” Blade said.
“Where?” Brocktree asked, and he was grinning too.
“This isn’t funny.” Blade stormed off in exasperation, and the
others followed.
== Chapter Two ==
Baron Typhonus’s body, now occupied by the Darkitect, sat on the
throne in the throne room in his lair. Only the highest in his
Maelstrom army knew of its secret location, and even then they could
only arrive via his summoning them through the Maelstrom mist.
His personal Stromling servant, Demonstrait, entered the chamber. 
“Master.” he greeted in his gravelly Stromling voice.
The Darkitect stared down at the Stromling by his feet, tiny in
comparison to his chaotically enlarged form. “Speak.” he
intoned.
“I have news.” he announced. “Your excellency’s army has
annexed Sentinel Point Zeta from the weakly Nexus minifigures, and
the infinitely weak weaklings at Gnarled Forest have begun to
crumble.”
“If they are so ‘infinitely weak’ as you say, Demonstrait,”
the Baron said, “I am surprised that the old fool Vargas the
Tormented has taken so long to actually accomplish something against
the Nexus fools. Perhaps the army at Gnarled Forest needs a new
leader.” He pondered for a moment. “Demonstrait, summon Admiral
Flogmore and his bumbling fool Rawstew. Perhaps their greater
experience with the environment will prove them better than Vargas.”
As Demonstrait turned to leave and carry out his master’s orders,
the Darkitect raised his hand, causing Demonstrait to fly back to his
previous position by the Darkitect’s feet. “You may as well send
Kinga Hurl as well for some extra firepower.” the Baron added,
before changing the course of his telekinetic grip on Demonstrait and
flinging the Stromling across the chamber.
...
The small convoy of Nexus Force soldiers, tanks, and flatbed trucks
carrying grounded fighters slowly made its way to Nexus Tower. 
Sentinel Point Zeta had fallen, its walls torn down by the Apes, its
defenders injured by the Dragons, and Point Zeta itself being
infected by Maelstrom.
Hael Storm stood near the entrance to one of Nexus Tower’s
underground garages, helping the exhausted recruits into the tower. 
“Don’t worry lads, we’ll take Point Zeta back and kick them
Maelstrom behinds back to wherever they came from!” he cheered. 
However, very few of the tired recruits agreed with the Venture
leader’s optimistic mood. There morale was low and would stay
lowered for awhile. The battle had gone terribly for the Nexus
Force.
The other faction leaders were neither as cheery about the
situation., especially Duke Exeter when he heard that the Sentinel
base had fallen.
“This is a magnitudinal failure!” he cried to the cowering Rank 1
Knight standing across the room from him. “Sentinel Point Zeta,
the stronghold we put thousands of hours of resources into,
half-as-much as Nexus Tower’s… fallen!” Duke had nearly
grabbed the freaked-out Knight and tossed him out his window, but
after composing himself he excused the Rank 1 from his office. He
stared at the wall behind his desk in an attempt to further hide his
seething anger, but most of all his worry to the war effort.
Vanda and Overbuild were as well disturbed, but didn’t react as
harshly as Duke and weren’t as overly calm as Hael.
While the survivors of Sentinel Point Zeta were evacuating to the
tower, the general fighting grew more intense as the Maelstrom grew
more aggressive on all worlds.
The Nexus Force was weakening in the looming Maelstrom threat, and if
the Nexus Force lost the war, the last known Nexus would be
corrupted, and all of Imagination would fall with it.
== Chapter Three ==
The darkness was so pitch-black that Cyclone thought his eyes were
still closed. Cyclone propped himself up on one arm, grimaced with
the pain, and determined he was in a cavern of some sort. His whole
body ached, as if he had fallen on the hard stone floor which he was
lying upon now.
There weren’t many other sounds in the room. Water dripped
someplace in the distance, and closer by, he just managed to hear the
shallow breathing of someone next to him. Cyclone could hear them,
but not see them; he couldn’t even see his hand when he moved it
directly in front of his face.
Wherever he was, he had no idea. Cyclone leaned back into the wall,
waiting for whoever was with him to wake up. In the mean time, he
sat back and waited.
...
Krill Mathias’s infrared vision still worked. He gave his battered
helmet a few knocks before looking around the wide hallway, his rifle
in hand. It had a light which was knocked out. The dark corridor
stretched on for a long time, but the infrared sensors in his helmet
detected a warm stream of water farther ahead.
Gripping his rifle harder, Krill continued down the hall. The drips
grew louder as he progressed. Soon he was standing over a small
stream, fed by falling water from stalactites above his head. The
water was clouded with a purplish tinge. Krill placed his gloved
hand under one of the stalactites, and a drop of water splashed onto
it. It fizzled for a second, before being absorbed into his glove.
Some kind of solvent, he thought, before staring down two
other hallways which now branched off the corridor. They looked
manufactured, with straight walls and rounded only at the corners. 
One had a light while the other was completely dark. Replacing his
rifle with an enhanced Wormholer, Krill went down the lit path.
If Krill had happened to take another look at his gloved hand, he
would have seen a purplish mist rising from it. And if he had also
looked back at the stream, he would have also noticed a slimy
creature pulling itself up out of the tiny waterway, and slithering
silently after him.
== Chapter Four ==
“Come on!” Brocktree called back at the others before climbing
over the top of one of Avant Garden’s many rocky cliffs and
disappearing over the other side.
Sergeant panted as he tightened his harness around his waist for the
twelfth time that day, and straddled up the cliff side. “Excuse me
Lord Brocktree sir, but we’re not as capable as you are at climbing
up a cliff in five minutes straight!” he shouted up the cliff face.
 He pulled out a bottle of water, and just as he removed the cap and
just barely got a drop out of it, a wire flew down from the top of
the cliff and wrapped around his wrist.
Surprised, Sergeant dropped the water bottle with a yelp of protest
as the wire yanked back and pulled him up over the cliff where he
landed in a heap in front of Lord Brocktree.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?” Brocktree asked with mock
disappointment, the frown replaced by a dry grin a moment later, and
without waiting for a response Brocktree turned around and ran over
the next hill, leaving Sergeant in the dust near the top of the
cliff.
Blade reached an arm over the cliff and pulled himself up. “Hey,”
he said. “Where’s Brocktree?”
“That way.” Sergeant replied, pointing in the direction where
Brocktree took off.
After Blade and Intrepid were completely over the cliff, they and
Sergeant continued going and soon found Brocktree setting up a camp
five hills later. The sun was setting, and Sergeant noted with
disappointment that they hadn’t gotten very far where they were
headed, with most of their time spent climbing the cliff.
“Remind me,” Sergeant said over a Handsome Mug filled to the brim
with some imagination water. “Why are we sitting here in the middle
of some hills on Avant Gardens?”
Brocktree shrugged, then said jokingly, “To drop you and Intrepid
off here. You don’t belong outside Avant Gardens.”
Sergeant and Intrepid looked ready to shout at him, but Brocktree
raised a hand. “I was only kidding.” he said.
Sergeant sighed. “Then how about the real reason?”
Brocktree waved his hand dismissably at him. “Soon. This is a
test of your patience. The data I’m looking for isn’t even ready
yet. We’re also on patrol, you see, in case there’s a Maelstrom
presence in these hills.”
The sun disappeared over a hilly horizon, and soon night fell. Lying
down in their sleeping bags, Brocktree was pointing out the different
worlds in the Nimbus System to Sergeant and Intrepid, who being
limited recruits, had yet to explore the whole of the Nimbus System.
“You see that bright star there?” Brocktree said, pointing to a
brightly shining star in the Avant Gardens night sky. Intrepid and
Sergeant nodded, and Brocktree told them, “It’s Gnarled Forest. 
And that series of little dots there is the remains of the Venture
Explorer. Nexus Tower’s all the way over there.” he said,
swinging his arm to point at a speck near the horizon.
 Of course that one was
obvious, since the blue spire extending out to the astronomic north
belonged to the Imagination Nexus.
While Intrepid and Sergeant were awed by Brocktree’s astronomy
lesson, Blade sat by the remains of the campfire. The bright stars
in the sky cast eerie lights over the hills, illuminating certain
patches of ground. One bright patch washed over what appeared to be
another camp up in a farther away hill. It was only for a second,
but Blade was almost sure that there was someone there.
Someone Brocktree knew about, but wasn’t telling them about yet.
== Chapter Five ==
“Bring me my lunch!” the Darkitect roared.
“Yes, master Baron!” Demonstrait bowed, and left the room in a
cloud of purple. He reappeared with a bunch of Stromlings and Dark
Ronin in chef’s hats. They placed a tray with a Maelstrom Chicken
on it and a bottle of punch in front of the Darkitect, which he
enlarged.
“Mmmm, you’re getting better.” the Baron remarked as he sipped
his punch. “Now get back to work.”
Demonstrait snapped his fingers, and the chefs disappeared from the
room. “What now pleases the master?” he inquired.
The Darkitect finished gnawing on an oversized drumstick, then said
to Demonstrait, “Bring me the Orb of Sights.”
“Yes, master.” Demonstrait snapped his fingers again, and a large
spherical orb materialized in front of the Baron.
Typhonus’s head dipped, regarding Demonstrait. “I see your
skills are improving. It pleases me better to see you actually
work.” He waved his hand over Demonstrait, and the Darkitect’s
personal servant was suddenly deprived of Maelstrom magic. “You’ll
need to earn them back.” he boomed, before flicking the Stromling
away with his finger.
After finishing the last of his punch and the chicken, the Darkitect
stared into the orb. Instantly he was staring at the whole of the
Nimbus System. He homed in on Nexus Tower to spy on what the pitiful
leaders of the Nexus Weaklings were up to. The Baron’s former
friend Duke Exeter was doing his usual nowadays, moping around in his
private chambers reviewing battle plans and occasionally calling his
commanders. ‘There will be one less commander for Exeter to worry
about,’ Typhonus thought, and with his mind he ordered an attack on
Avant Gardens.
Next he spied on Hael. The Venture league commander was in his
alcove in the Venture room, staring off into space with his giant
telescope. ‘Grander, but definitely not as powerful as the Orb of
Sights.’ the Darkitect thought. ‘I’ll remind Demonstrait to
seize that telescope for my collection. I wonder where old Hael is
staring at.’
He followed Hael’s gaze to Gnarled Forest. The new commanders he’d
posted on Gnarled Forest were doing a good job, with more pirate
territory under the Maelstrom’s control than ever. The Darkitect
laughed, and took his gaze off the Orb of Sights. He had enough
sightseeing for a day. With a contented laugh, he summoned a huge
bed and took a nap in it.
== Chapter Six ==
The sun rose, and Blade opened his eyes. But he hadn’t awoken
because the sun was rising, but rather because Brocktree had just
bashed two cymbals together above his head.
“Dagnabbit!” Blade screamed and covered his ears. Intrepid and
Sergeant awoke as well, clutching their ears and grimacing.
“On your feet, soldiers!” Brocktree commanded. When they didn’t
move, he sighed, “Come on, guys.”
Blade gritted his teeth and climbed out of his tangled sleeping bag.
Later that day, after finishing breakfast while walking, Brocktree
lead the three minifigures down the hill and then up another, and
down again, and up again. As Blade had thought, Brocktree was
leading them towards the other camp which he had noticed the night
before. ‘I wonder why he’s bringing us there,’ Blade thought,
‘or what ‘there’ is.’
After scaling a rock wall and climbing yet another hill, Brocktree
raised his hand. “Stop guys, we’re here!” he announced.
“Huh?” Sergeant asked, staring around. “There’s nothing
here.”
“No, look here.” Intrepid said, rushing to some dark patches on
the ground surrounded by a few scattered rocks. “There was a
campfire here.”
“So we’re having a picnic?” Sergeant asked sarcastically.
Then suddenly a patch of grass moved downwards an inch. Intrepid,
Sergeant, and Blade all stared at the patch of grass as it shifted
around, then popped up on a hinge. “A trap door.” Intrepid
stated.
“Ooooh.” Sergeant said, rolling his eyes. “A trap door,
how observant, Intrepid.”
A guy in casual clothes popped out of the hole revealed by the trap
door. “Hey Brock, what’s up?” he greeted Lord Brocktree, when
he noticed the other three standing around. “Oops.” The minifig
disappeared back into the hole and reappeared in a bunch of assorted
Sentinel Gear. He wore a Rank 2 Samurai helmet, carried a Rank 3
Knight sword in his right hand, and a Space Ranger ray gun in his
left hand. For armor he had the armor of a Rank 3 Knight, and he had
a Samurai bow and a Powerjouster strapped to his back. A Space
Ranger gun was in a holster on his right thigh.
“When I have guests, I have to wear my Supa Sentinel outfit.” the
minifig explained. He then glanced at Brocktree. “Brocktree, why
didn’t you tell me we were having visitors?”
Brocktree shrugged. “I’m a visitor too, and I certainly told you
I was coming.”
The ‘Supa Sentinel’ sighed. “Not you, Brock. Them.” he said,
gesturing to Blade, Sergeant, and Intrepid. Then his face
brightened. “Anyways, I’m Suave Able Cat, the Supa Sentinel.”
he told them.
“Intrepid Fusion Eclipse,” Intrepid said, sticking out his hand,
which Suave shook. “Level 38 Free To Play Bat Lord and awesome
Survival Master.”
“What?” Suave asked, his face blank having not understood
anything Intrepid had just stated.
“I’m Sergeant Ghost Mustache.” the other guy said.
“I’m Master Blade Nine,” Blade told him. “You keep saying
Supa Sentinel. Can you say Super?”
“Yeah, sure.” Suave said. “Supa Sentinel.” Blade facepalmed.
== Chapter Seven ==
Duke Exeter was NOT happy. He was pacing around in his office
muttering curses to the Maelstrom who had infected his Sentinel Point
Zeta when the Red Alert siren suddenly blasted throughout the tower,
which meant the Maelstorm were attacking Nexus Tower.
Duke quickly put on his helmet before grabbing his sword and shield. 
The slimy, ugly, disgusting Maelstrom beasts had ruined his Point
Zeta, and now they dare think of attacking his prized Duke Tower?!
‘No,’ Duke corrected himself. ‘Not Duke Tower, Nexus Tower. 
I’m way too self-centered and selfish. Maybe my psychologist is
right.’
After alerting all Sentinels in Nexus Tower to guard every window of
the tower, Duke went off to organize the recruits of other factions. 
First off was the Venture League-ers. He might not be their faction
leader, but he was still the main general in the army of the Nexus
Force.
“Okay everyone!” Duke rallied. “The Maelstrom is attacking,
and-” 
“Kindly hold on a second.” Hael Storm interrupted kindly. A Rank
1 Adventurer had walked up to Hael and tugged at his shirtsleeve.
“Uh, Admiral Storm?” he said hurriedly.
“‘Admiral’ Storm?” Duke chuckled.
Hael glared at Duke, then answered the Rank 1, “Yes, what
ails you?”
The Adventurer gulped, then pointed to Hael’s giant telescope. “Is
that a Stromling up there trying to steal your telescope?”
Hael turned just in time to face the Stromling that heaved the giant
telescope onto its shoulders and hopped out the window.
== Chapter Eight ==
Cheerful Power Rover’s eyes opened to the darkness and his mouth
opened to pant. Now that he was awake, he became consciously aware
of how spasmed his body was. He tried to get up and someone touched
his wrist.
Turning to the side, Rover could just barely make out Cyclone’s
silhouette. Despite them being alone, in the dark, Rover couldn’t
help but feel relief that Cyclone was here and safe. As safe as
Rover.
Rover cleared his throat. “Where are we?” He sat himself up
against the wall and tried to focus on farther off.
“No idea.” Cyclone replied. “Any idea who else is here with
us?”
“Krill Mathias.” Rover remembered.
“And?” Cyclone prompted.
“‘And’?” Rover questioned. “Who else do you think is here?”
“Probably Kate,” Cyclone surmised. “I remember she was there
with us before we got sucked up into that Maelstorm vortex.”
Rover’s voice wavered. “Do you think we’re Stromlings again?”
he asked.
“No,” Cyclone answered. “I don’t sound like a Stromling, and
you don’t sound like a Stromling. And I don’t feel like a
Stromling.”
“Then why is there a scratchy sound when I move my left hand?”
Rover asked.
“You’re holding Hesevalints.” Cyclone told him.
“Oh.”
“So if Kate and Krill are here, where are they?” Cyclone asked
his question.
A light flashed on, and Cyclone blinked in the sudden light. Rover
was holding two flashlights, and handed one to Cyclone. “In the
Venture League, it’s mandatory to have flashlights.” he explained
with a grin.
“Really?” Cyclone asked, his eyes adjusting to the glare of the
flashlights.
“In my mind they should.” Rover admitted. “Let’s have a look
around.”
Rover got up and aimed his flashlight at the ceiling. The beam of
light illuminated a bunch of purple bats with red glowing eyes and
many sharp talons. They shifted under the glow of the light,
disturbed, and began to bat their wings. The noise alerted the other
bats, and soon hundreds of purple bats were swooping around,
divebombing Rover and attacking his flashlight.
“Turn it off!” Cyclone shouted, turning his off.
Rover just waved his hands and ran around in circles, chased by
bats. Then he tripped over something and went sprawling on the stone
floor. The flashlight dropped and broke apart, spilling double A
batteries across the floor. Cyclone could hear them rolling away
before the bats commenced another sharp attack. After divebombing
Rover one last time, they went back to the positions at the top of
the cavern.
By their glowing red eyes, sharp black talons, and purplish color, it
was obvious to Cyclone and Rover they were Maelstrom infected bats. 
Now Cyclone and Rover really hoped they weren’t infected.
“Owww....” Rover groaned softly as he cautiously got up while
rubbing his head. “What did I trip over?”
Keeping it aimed at the ground, Cyclone switched his flashlight on. 
He moved the beam over to where Rover was, and his heart leaped when
he saw what, or in this case, who Rover had tripped over.
It was the sleeping body of Kate.
== Chapter Nine ==
Krill Mathias advanced quietly, before stopping to listen. There was
the noise again. It was definitely the skittering sound he had heard
from behind him earlier. He gripped his mini Wormholers and turned
around, and as he suspected he found himself face-to-face with an
enormous one-eyed Maelstrom slug that raised itself up to be at his
eye-level.
Krill shook his head in disgust, then fired his Wormholers straight
into the slug’s open mouth. The slug squealed, and slapped its
long tail against the ground. The cavern shook, and Krill lost his
balance, nearly toppling into the slug. He quickly reached down and
pressed a button on his leg armor. Jet boosters opened up out of his
bulky boots and he flew backwards away from the slug, firing his
Wormholers as he went. The slug growled and slithered after him.
The skilled assassin continued to zoom backwards down the passageway.
 However, though skilled and experienced he was, Krill had seriously
underestimated the ceiling height. With a bang, he banged into the
roof of the cavern and nearly impaled himself on a bunch of sharp
stalactites that resembled teeth. He fell down, expecting to crash
into the floor, but instead landed on something soft and squishy.
Krill sat up painfully, and stared around. Water dripped down from
all sides, but what made him most suspicious was the soft surface he
was lying on. A blast of wind hit his back, and a growling sound
from behind made the hairs on his arm rise.
Krill turned around and found himself staring down the dark throat of
something. Realizing what was going on, he quickly threw a Big One
down the throat and rolled off of the soft surface while avoided a
row of sharp stalagmites. An instant later the roof of whatever he
had been under fell down, and Krill stared at the head of a huge
Maelstrom infected crocodile.
The Maelstrom crocodile glared at him evilly, but then the Big One
exploded, imploding the crocodile and smashing it. It’s bricks
flew all around, but Krill had no time to celebrate. He turned to
see the Maelstrom slug slithering towards him quickly, its mouth wide
open and its long tongue sticking out, ready to pull him in and
ingest him.
Krill attempted to use a similar tactic, and searched for another Big
One. Finding none, Krill rummaged through his bag of gear some more
until his hands closed around a Flash Bang.
The slug neared, and Krill tossed the Flash Bang as hard as he could
at the slug. Sensing something approaching, the slug instinctively
shot out its tongue and swallowed the Flash Bang. The slug stopped
for a second, and then the Flash Bang exploded. The slug flopped to
its side and writhed around, before smashing.
Krill took off his helmet and wiped the perspiration that had formed
on his forehead. That was one terrible fight, and he was lucky to
have survived it at all.
After scanning the area and finding no other Maelstrom monsters
nearby, Krill sat down to rest.
== Chapter Ten ==
== 
 ==
Suave grinned. “Okay, I just finished this. Here’s what you
guys will need.” he said while holding up a map.
Sergeant took one look at the map in Suave’s hand. “That’s
just a map of the Nimbus System, it’s in everyone’s passport.”
Suave glanced at Brocktree for support. Brock stepped forward and
explained, “Look closer. It’s got more things charted to it,
like nearby stars and the asteroid belt between the Nimbus Triangle.”
“Hey, you’re right!” Sergeant exclaimed. “What are these red
dots you’ve drawn here?” he asked, pointing to a seemingly random
red splotch located near Crux Prime.
“Oh, that.” Suave said. “It’s a hypothetical location of the
Darkitect’s hideout.
“How do you figure the Darkitect is there?” Intrepid questioned.
Suave looked again at Brocktree. “You see, Lord Brocktree here is
probably one of the highest ranking people in the Nexus Force; he’s
like a peer to the faction leaders themselves.” 
Intrepid’s jaw dropped. “Wow,” gasped the Bat Lord.
“So, Brocktree is specifically in charge of the division that plans
covert attacks on Maelstrom positions. Small, quiet, and precise
strikes. Ideally he solves problems before they become problems.”
Brocktree continued, “Suave and I have always been working together
to create the best star map of the Nimbus System, an ambitious
project. It’s also been a longstanding goal of ours to try and
find the Darkitect’s primary hideout. We’ve finally narrowed it
down to these few places. As you know, if we defeat the Darkitect in
his own lair, we end this war.”
“Wait a minute, why did you bring us here to tell us all about the
Darkitect’s lair?” Sergeant asked. “I thought we were looking
for Cyclone and Rover.”
“And Kate, Krill.” Blade added.
“We’re killing two birds with one stone here!” Brocktree
exclaimed. “If the Darkitect flies into a big swirling purple
Maelstrom portal, where do think he’s going? Chantey Shanty to
have a party? No way, the only place he’s going is his lair!”
“Which means,” Blade surmised, before he said in horror, “that
Cyclone, Kate, Rover, and Krill are in the Darkitect’s lair!”
== Chapter Eleven ==
Across the Nimbus System, the Maelstrom Army was on the move. 
Acting as artillery, hundreds of Dragons and Apes attacked Nexus
Tower from afar, and on the ground Stromlings and minifigures battled
in close combat.
Travel through space, and Gnarled Forest, the world of pirates, had
its pirate camps under relentless assault by the Maelstrom.
Ever farther was Avant Gardens. Now dragons roamed the skies while
Apes and Spiderlings tormented those on the ground. The remains of
the Paradox Refinery had been completely taken over, the Paradox
Caves served as the base of operations for Maelstrom, the Sentinel
Base Camp was under siege, and the Monument was setup into a backup
base, with guns and turrets covering every single area they could of
the giant statue to protect against Dragons.
Back to Nexus Tower, outside its eastern wall.
Duke unsheathed his sword and raised it high. “Charge!” he
yelled, and a mass of Knights, Samurais, and Space Rangers tore out
of a trench. Lead by Duke, the knights charged towards a Maelstrom
catapult. They attacked it, smashing the few Stromlings that
surrounded it while Duke hopped up to the control room. He smashed
the window with his shield and stabbed the Stromling Invader in the
chest, smashing it. He charged up his sword and brought it down into
the catapult and it exploded in a flash of light. Duke leaped off
the debris and in a sweeping strike brought down three approaching
Ronin.
Meanwhile, Dr. Overbuild and his Assembly Faction recruits were
holding the Maelstrom at bay on the Northern side of the tower. They
built turrets and gun platforms and summoned creatures to aid them
against the Maelstrom army.
On the other sides of the tower, the Venture League fought the
Maelstrom back with fast moving and heavy hitting Venture scouts. 
Vanda Darkflame lead the Paradox Faction on the southern side of the
tower, confusing the Maelstrom with Paradox Mechs and summoned
Spiderlings fighting for the Nexus Force.
Up on the higher levels of the tower, Assembly Engineers built large
anti-aircraft guns to take down attacking Dragons. Airstrike jets
also soared through the skies, dogfighting with Dragon Invaders and
strafing the enemies on the ground. The Nexus Force was succeeding
in this battle.
Down on the ground, Demonstrait guided his dragon Torchblight through
the skies, Hael’s golden telescope dangling under the Dragon as it
swooped around. He avoided blasts from Assembly anti-aircraft guns
and stray Nexus Force jets.
“The Darkitect will be pleased,” Demonstrait thought, letting go
of the reins to rub his hands together in glee. “I will certainly
be promoted.”
Without Demonstrait’s guidance, Torchblight surged forward
suddenly, knocking Demonstrait off his perch on the Dragon Invader’s
back and causing him to slide backwards until he was clutching
Torchblight’s spiked tail for dear life.
The Dragon Invader whipped around as fast as a bullet very low to the
ground, weaving between laser blasts and Maelstrom tanks, until it
turned so fast to avoid a cliff that Demonstrait let go and tumbled
to the ground. The Stromling rolled on the ground until he came to a
stop next to a battering ram. Demonstrait raised his head, and found
himself face to face with five angry Sentinels.
“Let’s get ‘im!” one yelled, and they all charged at the
unarmed Stromling.
Defying his lack of weapons, Demonstrait raised his hands and
unleashed a web of purple Maelstorm lightning at the Sentinels. When
Demonstrait lowered his hands, the Sentinels fell to the ground and
smashed.
‘An unnecessary distraction,’ Demonstrait berated himself, before
summoning Torchblight again. A few seconds later a shadow loomed
over the Stromling. Torchblight landed next to Demonstrait. “You
fool, don’t drop me again,” Demonstrait scolded as he mounted. 
He jerked on the reins and the Dragon Invader took off. A purple
portal leading to the Darkitect’s lair appeared in front of him,
and a second after the Dragon entered, the vortex vanished, unseen by
the Nexus Force.
== Chapter Twelve ==
“Kate?” Cyclone called cautiously.
“Mmnhnophghwnngtuppp....” Kate mumbled in her sleep.
Rover grimaced. “Ow, that hurt. You should be calling my name and
asking me if I was okay.” he said.
“Rover? Are you okay?” asked Cyclone.
Rover snorted. “Yeah, I’m fine. So what now?” Another
flashlight beam turned on, illuminating Rover’s face. “Venture
Rule The Second, always carry an extra extra flashlight.”
“I want to join the Venture League,” Cyclone moped. “But I feel
obligated to officially join Paradox, since that’s where my
Imagination-half went.”
Rover handed Cyclone a Buttery Croissant. “Here,” he said,
before sipping a handsome mug filled with Imagination Coffee.
“Thanks,” accepted Cyclone.
“So, what are we waiting for?” Rover asked.
“No idea?” answered Cyclone.
“We need to get a move on if we’re leaving this place.” Rover
said as he put the rest of his consumables back in his backpack. He
sheathed Hesevalints and pulled out a Heroic Force Blade. “I’m
going to find Krill, as well.”
…
Krill awoke to find his whole right arm covered in purple mist. 
“I’ll be damned.” he said aloud, and began to wrap it in
additional layers to hold off the mist from spreading to the rest of
him through the air, but as for through his body...
he could slow the infection, but now for long.
Krill stood up and looked around, searching for the thing that did
this to him. There was nothing alive in sight, except for the
scattered bricks of both the crocodile and slug. ‘Good riddance,’
Krill thought as he stepped by them. He continued heading down the
way he came, until his infrared sensing helmet picked up a moving
form up ahead. Krill gripped a rifle, and ran silently down the
corridor. As he neared the form, he recognized it as that Nexus
Force Buccanner. Cheerful Power Rover, his name was.
Apparently, Rover had noticed him too. “Is that you, Krill
Mathias?!” Rover called.
“And I’m assuming that’s you, Buccaneer?”
There was a pause for a few seconds, then Rover said, “Where have
you been? Looks like you’ve had a run-in with some Maelstrom.” 
He pointing to Krill’s bundled arm. The infection on his right arm
had spread up to his shoulder.
Rover pulled out what looked like a gun and fired it at Krill, who
stiffened and held back from knocking the device from the Venture’s
hands. He recognized it as an anti-infection treatment.
Rover put the foam gun back in his backpack. “This will give you a
few more hours.”
Then they heard a distant sound.
A terrifying, terrible sound.
It went, “Quack, quack quack!”
== Chapter Thirteen ==
Suave and Brocktree were leading Blade, Sergeant, and Intrepid
through a shortcut through the mountains over to the Launch Area,
when suddenly a large shadow passed over the group.
“What was that?” Sergeant asked, scanning the skies. He squinted
his eyes as he stared up near the bright sun, when a dark shape
seemed to pass by. “Is that a dragon?”
Blade looked up as well. “There shouldn’t be dragons on Avant
Gardens.”
Five Nexus Force Jets, two trailing smoke, flew by overhead. Another
jet encompassed in a fireball trailed after them, before it exploded
with a loud boom.
Brocktree and Suave exchanged worried glances. “It’s
impossible for the Spiderlings and mechs to be able to target the
airstrikes here.” Suave pointed out. “Somethings wrong.”
Then a loud roar filled the air. Brocktree’s eyes widened and he
dove over to Sergeant and Intrepid, tackling them and knocking them
to the ground.
A jet of fire lit up the ground where Intrepid and Sergeant had been
standing moments before.
“It is a dragon!!!” Sergeant shouted, when the dragon landed and
rotated its massive head to face him. Evil glinted in its eyes.
Brocktree stood up and pulled out a long glistening sword. On the
other side of the dragon, Blade and Suave unsheathed their swords,
ready for battle. “It’s Butterscorch.” Brocktree exclaimed. 
He turned to Intrepid and Sergeant. “She’s more powerful than
anything you’ve faced. Run!”
Brocktree turned and charged the named Dragon Invader, swinging
his sword. Butterscorch stood up on her hind legs and blowed a
stream of flame at Brocktree. The Sentinel Commander dodged the fire
and swiped at Butterscorch, chipping off one of her sharp talons. In
response she swept her tail at Brocktree, but the experienced
Sentinel leaped over it and swung his sword in a wide arc, driving
the dragon backwards, when a surprise and fast-moving fireball hit
him in the chest. Suave and Blade were already rushing in from
behind, they slashed and swung at valiantly, forcing her to turn. 
The Dragon Invader fought back and soon had both Suave and Blade
lying on the ground, unconscious.
Butterscorch turned to face Intrepid and Sergeant, who hadn’t made
it very far. They turned around as the dragon lumbered towards them.
Intrepid stepped forward, but Sergeant grabbed him. “You don’t
know what you’re getting into!” Sergeant pleaded. “Don’t do
it!”
Intrepid turned to face his friend. “I can’t do nothing.”
He aimed his Bat Lord staff at the dragon’s head charged with a
shield slam ability and speed boost combined. He just barely ducked
under Butter’s fire balls.
At the last moment he spun around, slamming Butterscorch’s armored
hulk with his shield and quickly stabbing at the Dragon Invader with
his staff. Somehow the sharp staff pierced the scales, and the
dragon prepared to whack him with her claws when she was suddenly
distracted by Sergeant, who brought his Force Blade of Lightning down
on her tail. The barbed tip was sliced off.
With a roar Butterscorch kicked Sergeant away and he skidded far on
the ground. When he came to a stop, the Avant Gardens recruit lay
motionless.
The last man standing, Intrepid attacked Butterscorch with renewed
energy, but it wasn’t a battle for one minifigure to win. The
dragon easily batted the Bat Lord away and began puffing up fireballs
that would surely smash them all, were it not for another minifigure
to fall from the sky and land on Butterscorch’s head. With one
stab, the recruit brought down a sword through the Dragon Invader’s
head. With a wounded roar, Butterscorch threw the minifigure off
before taking flight. The sword remained in her snout.
Intrepid glanced weakly at their savior lying next to him. He
recognized her angular face, her flame-orange hair, and tried to
mouth her name before falling unconscious.
== Chapter Fourteen ==
“Uhhhhhh......” Intrepid groaned. His eyelids popped open, and
he was staring up into another minifigure’s face. “Oh, it’s
you.”
The minifigure’s name was Shrill Failed Brick, a brown eyed,
flame-orange haired Avant Gardens recruit, and Intrepid’s cousin. 
“Always saving your butt, cousin.” she said. “And exactly WHY
are there Dragons here on Avant Gardens?”
Intrepid sat up painfully. “Oh no, that was NOT a dragon from
Forbidden Valley. That was Butterscorch, and through some glitch in
the Matrix you defeated her.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” she said.
Intrepid noticed two Paradox Space Marauders, a Rank 3 and a Rank 1,
standing nearby. “Who’re they??” he asked.
“I’m Stunt,” said the Rank 3, walking over and sticking out his
hand, which Intrepid shook. “From what I’ve heard, you’re
Intrepid Fusion Eclipse. Shrill speaks highly of you.”
“That’s hard to believe.” Intrepid said. “Nice to meet you.”
“And I’m Rare Spiffy Agent.” said the Rank 1 Space Marauder.
After reviving Brocktree, Suave, Blade, and Sergeant, and a few more
introductions from Shrill, Stunt, and Rare, the former four and
Intrepid followed the latter three through the mountains in a
direction for the Sentinel Base Camp. Along the way, Stunt supplied
information on what was going on.
The news was not nice.
“You’re telling me that Avant Gardens is right now under attack
by Stromling, Ape, and Dragon Invaders?” Sergeant exclaimed. “When
did this begin?”
“Just this morning.” Rare said.
Sergeant and Intrepid shared glances. “We can’t let Avant
Gardens fall,” Sergeant proclaimed. “We’ve lived here long
enough, it’s like our home.”
Shrill dripped her head. “Once you see the Sentinel Base Camp, you
might change your mind about who owns Avant Gardens now.”
== Chapter Fifteen ==
Out of the passageway of horrors, Rover and Krill Mathias barreled
into a calmer chamber.
“I’ve had enough of Maelstrom monsters.” panted Rover. “This
place must be extremely infected to have so many of them.” While
he stopped to breathe, Krill pulled out a rifle and headed back the
way they came.
“Where are you going?” Rover called.
Krill tilted his head, not to Rover, but to the infected side of his
body. He didn’t have much time. “If my hunch is correct, we’re
in the lair of the Darkitect.” And I will kill him,
he thought.
….
“Master!” Demonstrait announced as he bowed low before the
Darkitect with Torchblight by his side.
“Rise, and speak, my servant.” the Darktitect boomed.
Demonstrait rose. “I have what you requested.” he stated,
gesturing to Hael’s golden telescope which dangled near
Torchblight’s feet.
“Good, good.” the Darkitect said. “Now get back to Crux and
capture Nexus Tower for me.” With a snap of his fingers,
Demonstrait and Torchblight were back at Crux Prime, and the giant
telescope sat neatly inside a display case full of several other
artifacts.
== Chapter Sixteen ==
Intrepid stopped dead in his tracks a few feet away from the cliff’s
edge, to stare down at the most horrendous sight an Avant Gardens
recruit could imagine.
Sergeant ran up next to him and slumped to the ground. “No....”
he groaned.
The Sentinel Base Camp’s walls were torn down, their remains strewn
across the ground, and splotches of infection tarnished the earth. 
Only Avant Gardens recruits were there to battle against Maelstrom
Dragon, Stromling, Mech, Ronin, Admiral, Ape, and Pirate invaders,
and they were being smashed rapidly. The lack of imagination in the
area due to the high concentration of Maelstrom made rebuilding in
the camp near impossible, and minifigures either rebuilt far away
near the monument, or remained permanently smashed forever. 
Butterscorch had returned as well, setting the ground ablaze and
smashing everything not infected in her path.
“Is there anything we can do?” Intrepid asked. He wasn’t about
to jump down when suddenly a hand covered his mouth and pulled him
behind a rock.
“Hush!” a minifig said, before shooting down into the fray with
an Exceptional Pea Shooter MK-2. Intrepid stared at him as the
minifig shot down a few mechs, then ducked behind the rock to hide
from the Maelstorm which would look up for him. There was another
minifig up there too with them.
“Who are you?” Intrepid asked, once the guy had removed his hand
from Intrepid’s mouth.
The minifig turned to him, and said, “I’m Argon Dragon Udon, and
this is my friend, Spakybob.” he said, and the other minifig
nodded. Argon sighed, and looked down at the Maelstorm attackers and
smashing minifigs, shaking his head. “This is all wrong. There’s
been no word from Nexus Tower.”
“And no reinforcements.” Spakybob added. “All we can do is
shoot them, but we’re not even thinning their ranks.”
“What else is there to do?” Intrepid asked.
There was no answer from Spakybob, then someone screamed. Intrepid
turned, and saw a Stromling Invader standing on their ledge next to
them, with Spakybob in his arms. In a swift motion, the Stromling
had jabbed a tube into Spakybob’s neck, and Maelstrom pulsed
through it into Spakybob’s bloodstream. In one fateful second, the
former recruit had been infected.
== Chapter Seventeen ==
Before the Stromling Invader could infect anyone else, it was smashed
by Sergeant’s Elite Force Blade of Lightning.
“Save..... yourselves!” Spakybob said, before turning and diving
off the cliff. Argon tore his gaze away.
“He was my friend.” Argon cried.
“Come on,” Intrepid said, then jumped off the ledge. He landed
on the ground next to Sergeant, Blade, Brocktree, Suave, Stunt, Rare,
and Shrill. A few seconds later Argon jumped down next to them.
Brocktree lead them to behind the entrance to the Avant Gardens
Survival simulation. “We have a plan,” Brocktree stated. “We
were lucky to survive Butterscorch before, and now she’s here in
addition to several more dragons and powerful Maelstrom creatures. 
But Butterscorch is the leader. If we take her out we can win this.”
“I know what to do,” said Suave. He pulled out his Space Ranger
Ray Gun, and fired supersonic waves at the rock wall over where
Butterscorch was standing as she smashed minifigures after
minifgures. The sonic waves collided with the cliff, causing huge
rocks to fall down and entrap the Dragon Invader. The rocks covered
up Butterscorch, and her tail which stuck out of the pile twitched
one last time, before stopping. “Butter’s down.” Suave informed
them, as the rest of them stared at the joyous minifigs who cheered
at the falling of the terrible dragon. “Now what, Commander
Brocktree?”
Brock raised his sword. “Let’s finish them off.” The valiant
minifigs charged out from behind Survival, and fought for the freedom
of Avant Gardens and all of its minifigures from the Maelstrom.
There were still a lot of Maelstrom running about haphazardly, and
the Nexus Forcers were soon separated as they ran in different
directions to target different groups of Stromlings; yet Intrepid and
Shrill found themselves next to each other just outside the base
camp, where some Pirates and Stromling Apes were reorganizing.
Shrill swung her sword, knocking down three of the Pirate Invaders
and stunning an Ape, while the rest closed in. She ran up to
Intrepid, and back-to-back, they waved their sword and staff
respectively, knocking down the Stromlings who neared and keeping
them at bay. The Invaders created a circle around them, and slowly
moved in to infect or smash the two recruits.
Intrepid poked an Admiral with his staff, then sent a Ronin flying
with a swing. “I haven’t seen you in awhile,” Intrepid said,
slicing at a Stromling in the process. The Stromling jumped out of
the way, and into another Stromling’s blade, causing it to smash. 
“What made you come back?” 
Shrill swiped a Pirate and sent it spinning into an Ape. “Why
don’t we fight now, and talk later.” she replied, before an
Admiral fired its cannon at her. She ducked, and the anchor embedded
itself in her Nexus Force helmet. She tore it off and threw it back
at the Admiral before it could blow her up with its rings of doom.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Intrepid called, before swinging his
staff back and forth in one direction, clearing an escape route. 
“Why don’t we run away now, and talk later?”
“Works for me.” Shrill agreed, and they grabbed each other’s
arms and ran out of the Maelstrom circle into Argon, who was holding
his own against a horde of Dark Ronin.
“Hey-” he yelped before falling to the ground under the combined
weight of Intrepid and Shrill. The Ronin moved in to corner them
against the wall.
“Cornered again.” Shrill said.
Suddenly all the Ronin smashed by a bunch of blasts from two Space
Marauder blasters. Stunt and Rare ran over, kicked away the lifeless
suits of armor that lay on the ground, and shot at any Maelstrom that
dared come near.
Then suddenly a huge screeching sound blasted through the air. 
Intrepid covered his ears, and stared into the Sentinel Caves to see
Beck Strongheart standing there with a bunch of Sentinels and Shouty
McBullhorn.
“I LOVE SHOUTING, EVEN THOUGH MY THROAT IS HOARSE!!!” Shouty
screamed, the soundwaves emanating from his bullhorn blowing all the
Stromlings away.
“Tell them that we’re fighting back!” Beck told him.
“WHAT WAS THAT???!!!!” Shouty shouted, aiming his bullhorn at
Beck’s ear. “CAN’T HEAR YA BECK!!!!”
Beck shook violently and nearly smashed from the soundwaves that blew
into his head. “Shouty McBullhorn, you put that noise maker down
this instance!” Beck ordered. “Or else!” His Sentinels
surrounding Shouty with their swords and guns drawn.
“OH REALLY?!??!?!” Shouty yelled, and all the Sentinels blew
away, including Beck. Annoyed, Beck through his sword and it stuck
through Shouty’s bullhorn, creating another massive screeching
sound of epic proportions. All the Maelstrom smashed from the
terribleness of the noise, and they didn’t rebuild, being
Maelstrom.
“Well,” commented Intrepid as he stared at the sky which began to
clear of Maelstrom clouds, “That was short.”
“Shame they couldn’t have shown
up sooner.” Argon pouted. No doubt, if they’d arrived five
minutes earlier, the Sentinels could have saved Spakybob. He looked
around, hoping to see if the semi-turned recruit was anywhere to be
found, but he was gone...
== Chapter Eighteen ==
“Kate,” Cyclone called quietly as he nudged her sleeping form. 
“Kate! Get up already!”
Giving up, Cyclone sighed and leaned back against the wall. It was
so boring to have to sit in the dark with no one to talk too, and not
knowing where he was, and not knowing anything that was going on. 
Cyclone stared up at the roof of the cavern, just barely making out
the dark forms of the Maelstrom bats hanging there. He started
counting them. One bat, two bats, three bats....
Then he stopped. Was someone screaming?
Cyclone turned, and saw Rover running in, screaming his head off.
“Rover!” Cyclone shouted at him. “What’s going on?!”
“I know where we are!” Rover exclaimed, disturbing the bats.
“Okay, where?” said Cyclone.
“WE’RE IN THE DARKITECT’S LAIR!!!!!” Rover screamed.
“What?!” Cyclone asked, taking in what Rover had just said. “The
Darkitect’s lair?? Really?”
“Yes!” Rover told him. “There are Maelstrom bats up there, Mr.
Krill got attacked by Maelstrom slugs, crocodiles, frogs, ducks,
everything, and he nearly got infected by a Maelstrom stream!”
Cyclone hung his head, then looked up, saying with a twinge of panic
in his voice, “Do you think the Darkitect knows we’re here?”
“If he did, we’d all be captured by now.” another voice said,
and Krill stepped into the room. “More captured than we already
are.” The assassin held a flashlight, and making sure not to aim
it upwards, shone it around the room. He stopped when he noticed
Kate lying on the middle of floor. “Who’s the girl?”
“Oh, that’s Kate,” Cyclone told him. “She’s been lying
there for.... a long time. Do you think she’s alright?” he asked
with concern.
“There’s one way to find out,” Krill stated, and he threw a
bucket of cold icy water over Kate’s sleeping form. A second
later, Kate was up and sputtering, splashing water everywhere.
“It worked,” remarked Rover with a chuckle. “I’m beginning
to like you, Your Majesty.”
“Huh?” Cyclone asked, flabbergasted.
Rover waved his hand at him. “I meant King Mathias.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Krill replied.
“So,” Cyclone said, turning to Kate. “You’re finally awake. 
Need a recap?”
== Chapter Nineteen ==
With Avant Gardens more or less back to normal, minus the
Paradox Lab ruins and the walls of the Sentinel Base Camp and the
inclusion of giant megaphones at every strategic location on the
small world, Lord Brocktree and Suave Able Cat went back to leading
Blade, Intrepid, and Sergeant, joined by Stunt, Rare, Argon, and
Shrill, on their mission to find the Darkitect.
After taking off from the Nimbus Station launchpad at the launch
area, Brocktree told the others how to override their autopilots on
their rockets. There were, however, some arguments with Sky Lane
over whether Intrepid, Sergeant, Argon, and Shrill, being limited
recruits, would be allowed to take off on the Nimbus Station
launchpad. Finally, after much insisting from Brocktree, the four
were allowed to take off.
“Okay Commander, where are we headed now?” Rare asked over the
inter-rocket communications device once they were travelling through
space.
From inside his rocket, Brocktree looked up from his copy of the map
he and Suave had made. “The first place we’ll check out is a
specific Darneu near Forbidden Valley.”
After several near collisions with asteroids, it was discovered that
the Darkitect’s lair was definitely not in the Forbidden Valley
asteroid field. Not discouraged, Brocktree lead them to the next
area, all the way near the Venture Explorer wreck, near the heart of
the Maelstrom vortex. However, unlike how it was commonly believed
by all minifigs, the Darkitect’s lair was not inside the Maelstrom
vortex.
After several more fruitless searches, Intrepid yawned and said,
“Okay, I’m tired. We’re all tired. And we have not found the
Darkitect yet or any traces of him. This is worthless, and we’ll
never find Cyclone and the rest of them!”
“Since when is it like you to give up?” Shrill asked. “What
Intrepid means is he’d love to keep searching while the rest of us
book a hotel.”
“Thanks Shrill,” Intrepid scowled.
After more flying, and finding all the places where the Darkitect’s
lair wasn’t, Brocktree finally agreed to let them end their search
for now and take a break at Nimbus Station, with assurances that
Intrepid, Argon, Sergeant, and Shrill wouldn’t be kicked out by
Nexus Commandos.
== Chapter Twenty ==
“We need to find a way off this rock, before the Darkitect finds
us.” Cyclone declared.
Krill stared at him. “Where do you expect to find a place out of
here anyway? It’s an endless maze. At least we have supplies, we
can last while, if we want to conserve our energy; some of us,
anyway.”
Cyclone looked at him hard. “How do you suppose the Darkitect
leaves? There’s got to be a launch pad somewhere.”
“The Darkitect doesn’t use rockets, I don’t think.” Rover
said, and turned to Krill. “Krill, you’re infected. What will
you do if it gets worse?”
Krill drummed his fingers on his wormholer’s saw.
Rover blanched. “None of us are doctors. Amputation would only
open you to more infection.”
“I’m not suggesting amputation.” Krill said, tight-lipped. He
made a finger gun and pointed at his head. “Bang.”
Rover looked ready to say something assuring, that everything would
be fine, at least he hoped so, but then he noticed Cyclone picking up
his backpack and stepping out into the tunnels. “You’re really
serious about finding a way out?” Rover called.
“Yeah,” Cyclone replied. “If you want to come, you’re
welcome too.”
== Chapter Twenty-One ==
Cyclone stopped counting after a hundred steps. He stopped looking
at his watch after two hours. After wandering through the tunnels
for perhaps a few days, Cyclone, Rover, Kate, and Krill finally
arrived at a source of light.
The light was created by a bright purple artificial star that hovered
near the roof of an immense cavern, filled with hundreds of thousands
of Stromlings and Maelstrom creatures.
“Whoa,” Cyclone gasped in awe at the Maelstrom city that
stretched out ahead and below of them. They stood on a balcony
overlooking the cavern.
“Double wow,” Kate agreed, pointing to a large circular object
near the opposite end of the chasm. “The Maelstrom have Ferris
Wheels?”
“This could be a Cruxian city.” Rover suggested.
Cyclone was about to say something, when they all suddenly heard
rustling sounds from behind them, heading the way they came. From
the accompanying low snarling sounds, it was most likely that or
whoever was coming up behind them was a Stromling.
Or many Stromlings.
“Come on!” Cyclone beckoned his friends as he leaped over the
balcony railing. As he had suspected, the semi-circle shaped balcony
was supported by at least one pillar. There were two. Gripping one
of the rough stone cylinders, Cyclone quickly slid down into the
shadows. “Hurry!” he called as Kate and Rover also climbed over
and began sliding down. Last was Krill, but he didn’t even use the
pillars. He fired a cable from one of his many guns into the balcony
and dropped to the ground that way, before releasing the cable’s
hold and having it clatter down back into its launcher.
And not a moment to late, as they all watched from the shadows below
they saw three Hammerlings step onto the balcony and stare down in
their direction. They would have noticed them if Krill hadn’t
slipped an invisibility cloak over them. From under the cloak, they
could see the Hammerlings staring about, but they couldn’t see
them.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Hammerlings turned
and left. Cyclone sighed in relief. “That was close.” he
murmured.
“Well, if it wasn’t for your quick thinking, this would have
played out differently,” Kate told him. “Nice work.”
“Thanks,” Cyclone replied. He looked up and noticed what
appeared to be a billboard. “Hey, what’s this?” He reached up
to pull off what appeared to be a map stuck on with a thumbtack, but
Rover grabbed it first.
“I’m the Venture, I get the maps.” Rover said. “You can get
your own over there.” he stated, pointing to a pile of maps nearby.
A pile of maps next to a vendor stall with a Stromling Ape Invader in
it.
And that Stromling Ape Invader was none other than Roo Morg.
== Chapter Twenty-Two ==
Cyclone held his breath, afraid that they had given themselves away
to the named Stromling Ape. But Roo Morg didn’t make any
movements, other than to scratch his head with one of his many hands.
“Don’t worry.” Krill reassured them. “This isn’t only an
invisibility cloak, but it also blocks all sound from inside it. 
They can’t hear a thing. Besides, to them, we look like a rock. 
And oh yeah, that’s not Roo Morg. It’s his less intelligent
brother, Big Urgh.”
“Oh,” Cyclone said. “Well, that’s good.”
Rover bent over the map and began scanning it quickly with his
eyes. “Aha!” he announced. “The way out of here is that way.”
he said, pointing to a very distant hallway all the way on the other
side of the Maelstrom city.
“Great,” Kate stated with dismay. “How’s a moving rock
supposed to get all the way across Maelstrom land without being
seen?”
Krill turned, and noticed a small stream similar to the one that he
had encountered earlier in the passageway. It was clouded with
purple Maelstrom mist. “I think I have a solution to that problem.
 We’ll have to be quick, though.”
A few minutes later, when Krill threw back the cloak to reveal all
four of them, Maelstrom mist covered each of their arms.
“Are you sure this is a safe idea?” asked Cyclone as he stared at
his partially Maelstrom infected arms. He could have imagined it,
but his throat felt scratchy.
Rover was intrigued that he could be Maelstrom infected but still a
minifig at the same time. Cyclone explained to him that it was
probably something like how Wisp Lee was, but he didn’t understand
how the old Paradox Scientist managed to stay a minifigure for how
many years he had been standing at that same old post by the Paradox
Lab.
Kate seemed particularly distressed about the idea of having to go
through being infected by Maelstrom. She mentioned something about
imagination sparks, but that was all Cyclone could get out of her.
“Why?” he asked. “Scared that there will be three of you?”
“No!” she responded, a little forcefully. In a quieter voice,
Kate muttered, “That would be impossible anyway.”
Cyclone didn’t ask anything more about it, he just concentrated on
not catching any attention as he and the rest of them walked through
the packed crowd of Stromlings, Dark Ronin, Apes, Pirates, Admirals,
and even a few Dragons.
A couple of minutes later, they had just passed by a
Maelstorm-infected library, when Cyclone noticed the mist had spread
to his shoulders and chest. “Oh boy,” he muttered, watching the
mist spread so intently, that he didn’t notice that he had stumbled
into a rushing crowd of Stromlings that were heading into a museum. 
Cyclone turned and tried to fight the crowd to get back, but he
couldn’t budge. Soon he was in the museum itself.
Cyclone gasped as he stared at a portrait of a Stromling striking
down a minifig at Avant Gardens, and at another one of a massive
Darkitect kicking down Nexus Tower as it fell down upon the faction
leaders. To create anti-Nexus Force propaganda, the Maelstrom had to
have some intelligence among their ranks. As he was pushed farther
along with the crowd, Cyclone noticed a Stromling in guard uniform. 
A holstered double-barrel Maelstrom gun was holstered at his side,
and the Stromling had a haughty attitude, bossing around other
Stromlings and kicking at Dark Ronin.
Cyclone tried resisting, but the crowd pushed until he was right next
to the guard Stromling. The Stromling took one look at him, and
snapped, “Only complete Stromlings allowed beyond this point. In
fact, there is a law prohibiting partial Stromlings from even being
in this city.”
The Stromling pulled out his gun, and aimed at Cyclone’s heart. 
“After this, you’ll be a Stromling completely under the great
grand and glorious Darkitect’s control,” it said. “Prepare to
be infected.”
Cyclone ducked and rammed his full body weight into the Stromling’s
stomach, and the Maelstrom beam flew harmlessly over him. The guard
lurched and teetered on his platform, but Cyclone gave him no time to
react. He quickly disarmed the guard and silenced him with a blow to
the jaw.
The other Stromlings stared as Cyclone stood up. “Continue on,”
he shouted as he waved his way through them towards the door. “He
was being mean anyway, right guys?” he pointed out, before escaping
the museum. He stood, panting outside, when Rover, Kate, and Krill
ran over to him.
“You okay?” Rover asked. “I saw you get stuck in there,
but we couldn’t get in.”
“And I couldn’t get out,” Cyclone told him. “I’m okay now,
but there are guards after me. We’d better hurry.”
Suddenly a loud roar filled the air, and a Dragon flew in through a
large hole high up on one of the walls. Cyclone watched in horror as
Torchblight, an elite dragon invader, flew around the cavern, with
four prisoners held in a net hanging from the dragon’s underside.
Those four prisoners were Duke Exeter, Dr. Overbuild, Hael Storm, and
Vanda Darkflame.
== Chapter Twenty-Three ==
Demonstrait was the most gleeful he’d ever been as he guided his
dragon through the immense caverns of the Darkitect’s lair. Under
his command, the Maelstrom Army had finally broken into Nexus Tower,
and he had captured his prizes: the faction leaders themselves, now
to become slaves of the Darkitect forever.
Smiling with content and self-congratulation, Demonstrait thought
back to how the battle at Nexus Tower had gone, just a few hours
before.
…
At first, the battle had continued well for the Nexus Force. But
only after they had pressed forwards and were at quite a distance
from the tower did they realize they had fallen into a trap.
Dragons descended behind them cutting off a retreat to the tower. In
the rising panic, the Nexus Force allowed itself to be swarmed with
the Maelstrom, and the brave Sentinel, Assembly, Venture, and Paradox
fighters were smashed. Undefended, it still took ten combined
dragonfire blasts before the tower’s defenses cracked.
In the confusion, Duke Exeter, Dr. Overbuild, Hael Storm, and Vanda
Darkflame were captured by the Maelstrom and brought to where they
were now, the Darkitect’s lair, hidden in the darkest corner of the
universe.
…
“I still can’t believe it actually happened,” Lord Brocktree
said softly.
Standing outside the defeated Nexus Tower on the surface of Crux
Prime, Brocktree, Suave, Stunt, Rare, Argon, Shrill, Blade, Intrepid,
and Sergeant stood in the deserted site of one of the greatest
battlefields in history. The battle that determined whether the
Nexus Force would stand, or fall. The tower still stood, barely, a
shell of its former self.
“All the brave fighters...” Suave murmured, shaking his head
sadly.
The group had just taken off from Nimbus Station when they had
received a distress signal emanating from Nexus Tower. The call had
ended as abruptly as it had begun, making them suspect that they were
the only ones to had heard it.
And from what they saw now, apparently they had thought the truth.
Brocktree sadly turned and walked over to a charred launchpad,
placing his rocket onto it.
“Where are you going?” Intrepid called.
Brocktree rotated his head to face them, and said strongly, “I
must serve my duty to you, to the Nexus Force, and to all
minifigures. With the faction leaders missing or dead, it is now my
job to lead the surviving Nexus Force to its next battle.” he told
them. “Suave, continue where I have left off, and help these
minifigures find their friends.” Brocktree took one last look at
them, before saying, “Good luck,” and launching off into space.
No one spoke for a long time, until Rare turned to the others and
asked, “What now?”
== Chapter Twenty-Four ==
“No! That’s my faction leader you’ve got there!!” Rover
shouted, and he ran over to a nearby dragon. Before Cyclone could
stop him, Rover was up in the air chasing Torchblight throughout the
cavern, and finally into one of the tunnels.
“Rover!!” Cyclone and Kate both shouted, but the Buccaneer was
gone.
Krill clamped his hands on their shoulders. “He’s doing what he
feels is right.” he stated. “He may have a head start, but we
will follow.” Krill said, turning to face a couple of Stromling
guards who were pointing and making their way towards them. 
“Actually, let me rephrase. We are following.”
Cyclone noticed the guards, and quickly grabbed Kate’s arm and ran.
 Krill lead them through the streets towards the side of the cavern,
and they began scaling the cliff face. Luckily, Stromlings aren’t
able to climb well with a huge sword replacing their left hands. Or
so they thought.
Kate looked down. The Stromling guards were following at a fast
pace. The gap between them was narrowing, and then the worst had to
happen. Kate slipped on a ledge, and began to fall.
Krill aimed his gun and fired a grappling wire. The hook of the wire
snagged Kate’s boot and kept her from falling to the ground. With
the press of a button, Krill’s boots hydraulically locked
themselves to the rock face. Heaving, he held Kate up until she was
steady, then he fired a couple of rounds at the Stromling guards with
his rifle. Two smashed.
Cyclone reached the entrance to the tunnel Rover went through first. 
He pulled himself onto the ledge and helped Kate up. Staring down,
he noticed Krill swinging his rifle at the Stromlings that were
within melee range of him. One Stromling grabbed at him and Krill
brought his rifle down on the Stromling’s head, and it plummeted to
the ground. Another one slashed at his leg, and there was a flash of
red. Krill aimed a pistol, but the Stromling knocked it away. 
Cyclone noted with dismay that the Stromling that Krill was fighting
currently with was the one he had knocked out earlier.
The Stromling growled, and slashed wildly at Krill’s chest. Krill
fumbled around with his belt and found a water gun, which he aimed at
the Stromling’s face and fired. The bossy Stromling Guard recoiled
and reached for his face, which was a mistake since he needed his
hands to hold onto the cliff. A few seconds later the Stromling lay
on the ground, unmoving.
“Krill?” Cyclone called down. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Krill shouted up as he clutched at his injured leg.
 His boots were soaked in blood, and Cyclone could tell Krill
certainly wasn’t fine. An injury like that could be infected
easily, with any manner of disease. “I can take care of myself,
and there’s nothing you can do to get me up faster. Carry on
without me, I’ll be up there soon.”
Cyclone nodded, and together, he and Kate turned away from the ledge
and entered the dark tunnel. The two original minifigs who started
this whole adventure together were now on their own, once again.
== Chapter Twenty-Five ==
Cyclone and Kate stood in the entrance of the tunnel. After a few
seconds of silence, Cyclone broke it. “Come on, we’ve got to
find Rover, before something bad happens.” he urged. They broke
out into a run and charged through the tunnel.
After a full ten minutes of non-stop running, panting, Kate turned
her head to Cyclone and asked, “Remind me. How did we get here in
the first place?”
“Well, it started on that deserted Raven’s Bluff property world.”
Cyclone replied, also panting, but not as heavily. “When the
Darkitect created that wormhole vortex thing we all got sucked into
it, and it brought us here.”
Kate was silent for a few seconds, then stopped running. Cyclone
slowed down and walked back to be with her. “You know,” she
said, catching her breath, “Before I came to Raven’s Bluff to
rescue you guys, I visited Vanda Darkflame again.”
“After you ran away from us at Avant Gardens,” Cyclone added.
Kate rolled her eyes. “Well, what did you expect me to do? Let
myself be smashed continuously by constantly being nearby to my own
self?”
“I don’t know how it works.” admitted Cyclone. “Did Vanda
know what caused you to smash like that?”
Kate stuck her hands in her pockets. “Vanda sort of explained,
since I have a very strong imagination spark, being in contact with
another being with an equally strong imagination spark causes it to
be damaged, and thus cause me to smash.” Then she sighed and said
sadly, “I mean, I had a strong imagination spark. Since my
imagination spark is damaged, I’m actually losing it. And another
contact with the other me, or something else that will damage it will
cause it to be destroyed all together, so-”
Cyclone didn’t give her a chance to continue. Quickly he pulled
out a notion potion and spilled all of its contents on Kate. “Hey-”
she protested, but the imagination from the potion did what Cyclone
was hoping for, and the Maelstrom mist encompassing her arms
vanished.
“Can’t take any chances under these circumstances. You’re not
going to die on me.” Cyclone told her as he washed off his own
Maelstrom mist as well. It felt better to not have the Maelstrom fog
scratching at him, and the feeling in his neck disappeared as well. 
“Having this Maelstrom stuff on you could wear down your
imagination spark, which means in the case of you smashing, you wont
rebuild, ever again.”
Kate scrunched her nose. “Yeah, I know. But I’d rather take the
risk to escape than be trapped down here forever, since you’d never
leave.” she told him.
Cyclone gave her a small smile. “I appreciate it.” he said,
“We’re going to need to be open with each other, about our
thoughts, our worries, and our plans, if we’re going to work
together to get out of here.”
Kate smiled back. “I’ll take it into consideration,” she said,
and they continued running down the tunnel.
It suddenly occurred to Cyclone that these tunnels were designed to
accommodate really tall creatures. A dragon could fly in it. A
being like the Darkitect could cross it ten times faster than a
normal-sized minifigure.
When they reached the end, the sight they beheld was not what they
had expected.
== Chapter Twenty-Six ==
“According to these logs and information we have collected,”
Suave said as he poked around with a broken computer bank retrieved
from Nexus Tower, “A large spacial anomaly appeared a few minutes
after the distress signal was sent.”
The group minus Lord Brocktree were still hanging outside the tower.
“Wow,” Suave exclaimed. “Look at this. Wait, actually don’t,
or you’ll block my view. It says that after the anomaly was picked
up, it stopped a few seconds later, and the Maelstrom scanners on the
ground floor only picked up faint traces of Maelstrom.” He looked
up, and said, “Sounds like the anomaly was another vortex, and it
sucked up the Maelstorm army and brought them back to the Darkitect’s
lair.”
“Good thinking, Suave,” Stunt complimented him. “Now what?”
“What we’re doing now is trying to find what coordinates the
vortex was leading to.” Suave said, picking up a scanning device
and walking over to a seemingly random area. “According to this
information, I can pinpoint exactly which location the portal opened
up in. Now, there are two ways we can do this. The slow way: check
for dust and other remaining particles, and see if they match any
known locations. The fast way: if I launch a burst of tachyon
particles at that area,” Suave said as he pressed a button on his
scanning device, which in fact was way more than a scanning device. 
Before Suave could finish, a purple vortex opened above Suave’s
head.
“Oh my gosh,” Argon gasped. Intrepid, Shrill, Sergeant, Blade,
Rare, and Stunt all watched as Suave was lifted off the ground by the
immense force of the Maelstorm vortex.
“Guys, GUYS!!” Suave called jubilantly. “This is it!! We’re
almost finished!! Everyone in!! Yahoo!!!” he cheered before being
sucked into the vortex all together.
“Come on!” Blade called as his jumped into the air, allowing the
vortex to pull him in as well. “We’ve got to rescue Cyclone,
Kate and Rover! Let’s go!”
Following suit, the rest of them all ran over and dove into the
portal. With a crackling sound, they went through, and then the
vortex closed.
…
“Ugh, where.... are.... we....” Shrill groaned. She leaned over
and made dramatic throwing up sounds, before opening her eyes and
staring around the dark cavern they were in. Sitting up, she noticed
Suave’s face being illuminated by the dim light of a laptop screen.
“Yes, Brocktree, we made it,” Suave was saying into the
microphone. “I’m sending the coordinates of the Darkitect’s
hideout to you now. Assemble whatever troops the Nexus Force
currently has and get over here. In the meantime, we’ll be looking
for their friends. Once they wake up.” he added with a laugh. 
Then Suave turned and noticed Shrill standing there, staring at him. 
“Oh, Shrill’s awake. Well, see you then, Brocktree.” He
closed the lid of his laptop, and then said to Shrill, “Anything I
can do for you?”
“Well, help me wake my cousin and the rest of them.” she said.
“Okay then,” Suave said, getting up and walking over to the
sleeping forms of Blade, Sergeant, Argon, Rare, and Stunt. “How
about the old water splashing technique, then?”
== Chapter Twenty-Seven ==
“Rover!” Kate shrieked.
Cheerful Power Rover, Rank 3 Venture League Buccaneer, hung upside
down in a spiky cage, as a Stromling Pirate Invader. He was
infected, and the one who had done it stood over him.
Saddled on the Dragon Torchblight behind the cage was a Stromling. 
“Welcome, you two brave minifigures.” the Stromling greeted. “I
am Demonstrait, right hand of the Darkitect and your worst
nightmare.”
Demonstrait raised a staff that glowed purple. A pink diamond was
adorned atop of it, the color of the Invaders of Crux Prime. The gem
began to glow brighter, and lightning began shooting from it.
“RUN!!” Cyclone yelled. He pushed Kate to the side and dove out
of the way before a purple blast of Maelstrom lightning struck the
ground where they just stood. A crack appeared in the ground and a
chasm opened, widening quickly and separating Cyclone and Kate from
each other.
Demonstrait cackled, but then a frown appeared on his Stromling face.
 “I sense the power of the Maelstrom inside of you,” he said. 
After a few seconds, he made up his mind, “But you are traitors to
the master Darkitect. Prepare to be destroyed.”
As more Maelstrom lightning rained down on them, Cyclone thought back
to when he and Kate were in a space battle with Rover, shortly after
they had first met each other as enemies. He had summoned lightning
similar to the ones that Demonstrait was flinging on them, and
Demonstrait was using a stick.
As something to guide the lightning away from him. When Cyclone had
first summoned lightning, it had originated from him and he had
gotten a searing pain from the lightning. Even though he was no
longer Maelstrom infected, he might be able to try again, and this
time do it right.
Cyclone ducked and rolled into a somersault, avoiding the lightning
just barely, then he ran behind a pillar of stone. Behind it were a
few wooden sticks. Quickly, Cyclone picked one up and began
concentrating on the thought of lightning striking down Demonstrait.
It was working. Cyclone could feel the power building up, this time
not inside of him but inside of the stick. Hurriedly he raised the
stick high and the desired effect happened. Blue imagination
lightning shot from it and connected with the Straight Demon. With a
shout the Stromling fell from his beast to the ground and his staff
landed on the ground next to him, shattering to a million pieces.
“No!” Demonstrait shouted, and he crawled over to the staff’s
remains. Cyclone ran over to him and struck him with the stick,
felling Demonstrait with the blow, but then he turned to Cyclone with
an evil glint in his eye. The glint became a powerful glow, and
Cyclone’s stick shattered. Pulling out a dagger, Demonstrait
slashed at Cyclone faster than any normal Stromling, which he wasn’t,
being the topmost servant of the Darkitect.
Quickly Cyclone pulled a Heroic Force Blade from his backpack and
swung back at Demonstrait. The Stromling’s dagger just sliced
through the Force Blade which fell to pieces on the ground. Cyclone
dropped the blade-less hilt he was holding, and he had to act
quickly. Demonstrait swung his invincible dagger at his head. 
Cyclone barely managed to duck in time.
Cyclone tried firing some rounds from his Pneumatic Drill of Blasting
at Demonstrait, but the elite Stromling just deflected them with
lightning-fast swings of his dagger. The short battle would have
ended poorly for Cyclone, if the tip of a sword hadn’t suddenly
appeared sticking out of the side of Demonstrait that Cyclone could
see. He cringed as the sword slid back out and Demonstrait fell to
the ground. Kate stood behind him, holding an Improved Longsword,
its golden tip dripping with black.
“I’ve never killed anyone.” Kate whispered.
Cyclone put his hand on her shoulder. “Not bad for a first smash,
and he deserved it. Now come on, we’ve got to rescue Rover.”
When they tried running over to Rover’s cage, Torchblight lumbered
over and blocked their way. The dragon roared, blasting fire at
Cyclone and Kate. Rescuing Rover wasn’t going to be easy.
== Chapter Twenty-Eight ==
Without anything to guide his lightning powers with,
Cyclone opted against electrocuting himself again. Quickly he dove
to the side, just barely dodging the fireball that smashed into the
ground where he was. It dissipated but not without scorching the
ground, and Torchblight was ready to try burning him a second time.
The only way out of this was to fight their way out. Cyclone quickly
grabbed the first weapon he could get his hands on. He pulled it
out, and realized he was holding a Powerjouster which Blade must have
given to him sometime before. Gripping the weapon, Cyclone swung the
valiant and slashed through the scaly armor protecting Torchblight’s
stomach. The dragon swiped and Cyclone swung again, this time
slicing off the sharp talons on the dragon’s left hand.
Torchblight struck with its other claws, catching Cyclone off guard
and knocking him off balance. The dragon’s attention was
completely over to Cyclone, giving Kate the ability to slip by and
open up Rover’s cage. Rover the Stromling Pirate Invader jumped
out, and doing what Stromling Pirate Invaders do, began attacking
her.
“Rover!” Kate yelled, dodging a swipe from Rover’s talons. She
jumped out of the way of another slash, and quickly pulled out a
thirst quencher from her backpack. She splashed it on the Pirate
Stromling and Rover growled. He took a few seconds to wipe the
imagination off, before growling again menacingly and cornering Kate
into a corner.
Kate quickly dug around and pulled out a Steampunk rocket, which
blasted Rover backwards and to the side. The rocket continued flying
for a few seconds before coming down with a crash and exploding.
Kate didn’t give Rover any time to respond. She ran over and
quickly built two handcuffs that stuck out of the ground, trapping
Rover to the floor, then she ironically built another cage around
him. Time to help Cyclone.
Torchblight blew another fireball. Cyclone realized there was no
time to run, so he raised the Powerjouster and it took the brunt of
the hit. The force of the collision sent the Powerjouster flying to
where Kate picked it up, and Cyclone flew backwards to crash into the
wall with a thud.
Kate examined the Powerjouster with dismay. It was burnt crisp, its
color was charred, and its edges had turned blunt too. She frowned
as it crumbled to ashes in her hands, all that was left was the hilt.
 Frustratedly she threw the useless thing at the wall. And now there
was nothing she could do to try and save her friend.
Suddenly a shot rang out. Torchblight jerked upright for a second,
before flopping to the ground with a thud. There she lay unmoving.
Cyclone got up from the ground, and followed Kate’s gaze to the
entrance of the cavern. Krill Mathias stood there, lowering a
still-smoking rifle. But he wasn’t alone. Flanking him on either
side were Blade and another Sentinel, and behind him were two Space
Marauders, two Avant Gardens recruits, and the two familiar faces of
Intrepid and Sergeant.
Cyclone’s voice cracked. “You’re here.”
In the rush of hugs and cheers that instantly followed, nobody
noticed Demonstrait silently rise from the floor and run into the
next tunnel.
== Chapter Twenty-Nine ==
“Master,” Demonstrait croaked as he knelt before the Darkitect. 
“The minifigures have come, and there is nothing I can do to stop
it.”
The massive form of the Darkitect turned around on his rotating
throne. “And you think that I do not know of it?” he questioned.
 “I have with me the Orb of Sights, used to view anything at my
bidding. And I was thinking of giving you a promotion regarding your
recent deeds,” he rumbled, gesturing to the faction leaders propped
unconscious in stasis tubes arranged in the Baron’s massive display
case, “But your foolishness has gotten in the way once again.”
“Allow me to redeem myself, master!” Demonstrait wailed. “They
are right outside, but they are only eleven in numbers, if I am
allowed a Ronin horde-”
“You have already lost any ability to redeem yourself, you fool!”
the Darkitect roared. “And now you will be replaced by my new
servant.”
A door opened and a familiar face entered the room. Spakybob,
Argon’s old friend, was now Spakybob the Stromling, the new
personal servant of the Darkitect.
“Welcome Spakybob, my new personal slave.” the Darkitect boomed.
“However, Demonstrait, I am not a complete tyrant, and I will allow
you to redeem yourself to the level of personal slave to Spakybob.”
 Another door opened, and the horde of Ronin Invaders entered through
it. “Here are your Ronin. Go defeat the enemy.”
After Demonstrait left, the Darkitect laughed at the suicide mission
he had just sent Demonstrait into. Through the Orb of Sights, he
could see quite well that there wasn’t only eleven Nexus Forcers
out there, rather an entire army. And when they defeated Demonstrait
and came to challenge him, he would crush them all.
== Chapter Thirty ==
“Anyone call for reinforcements?” a familiar voice called, and a
squad of Nexus Force scouts suddenly entered the room. Lord Brocktree
entered shortly after, Verminbane clutched in his hand, with nearly
the entirety of the rest of the Nexus Force behind him.
“Lord Brocktree,” a Rank 3 Daredevil said, running up to him. “We
have captured the Maelstrom city. The infected inside are
quarantined for later disinfection.”
“Good, Brave.” Brock complimented him. “You have done a great
service not only to me, but to all the Nexus Force.”
“Thank you sir,” Brave the Daredevil said gratefully.
“Wait,” Kate whispered to Cyclone. “If the whole Nexus Force
is here, then does that mean my double is here?”
“Who-” Cyclone asked. With all the chaos they’d been through,
it took a moment for him to remember Kate’s predicament. “I’m
not sure.” he amended. “Most likely, yeah, I guess.”
“Oh no.” Kate hung her head. “Well now you know, no matter
what, don’t even think of trying to get us near each other again,
got it? If you see her, I’m getting away.”
“Yep,” said Cyclone.
“Good,” Kate replied.
After disinfecting Rover and freeing him from the prison Kate had
built around him, the hundreds of minifigures led by Brocktree
continued down the tunnel that Demonstrait had left through, with
Suave, Stunt, Rare, Blade, Krill, Argon, Shrill, Intrepid, Sergeant,
Kate, Rover, and Cyclone near the front.
The tunnel was narrow, many of the fighters were packed in and only a
few were able to get through at a time. They had only gone a meters
when a bunch of Dark Ronin Invaders suddenly fell on them.
Two Dark Ronin landed atop an Assembly Summoner, tackling him to the
ground with invisible limbs. The Summoner had no time to scream
before one of the Ronin jabbed its sword into the Assembly’s
stomach. The Summoner saw no more.
“Duck!!” someone called, and Cyclone instinctively ducked as the
Daredevil Brave double jumped over him. Blue exhaust flames erupted
from his Rutcarver that he rode into the Ronin, knocking the ones to
the sides away and crushing the ones unfortunate enough to get in his
path, until a hand grabbed the engine of the one-wheeled motorcycle
and infected it with Maelstrom energy.
That hand belonged to Demonstrait.
“What!?” Cyclone exclaimed. “I thought we smashed that guy!”
“Then we’ll smash him now!” Rover shouted, and he charged
Demonstrait with Hesevalints. The two exchanged and blocked deadly
strikes with their swords, but from the beginning of their duel it
was apparent that Rover had the upper hand.
The surprise attack from the Ronin had knocked out several of the
tightly packed Nexus Forcers. Amidst fallen suits of armor and
minifigures, other recruits were scattered around battling with
Ronin.
Blade swung his knight sword and felled one of the Invaders he was
dealing with. When his sword caught fast in the Ronin’s armor and
wouldn’t come out, and with a Ronin approaching fast on his left,
Blade bashed its invisible face with his shield to knock it back.
A rank 1 Space Ranger ran by screaming, with five angry Ronin
Invaders chasing it. For some unknown reason, Space Rangers made
Maelstrom very angry. Forgetting his Ronin, Blade wrenched his sword
from the stubborn armor and charged the Ronin chasing the Ranger. He
felled three and struck down another, but one managed to leap away
from Blade and bring down the Space Ranger with a strike to the side.
 By the time Blade wiped it out, the Space Ranger had smashed.
Rover gritted his teeth as he put all of his force trying to angle
his blade away. Demonstrait as well pushed his full weight against
Hesevalints with his Maelstrom sword, and Rover’s strength was
waning. But the Buccaneer was full of surprises. A pistol slipped
out of Rover’s left sleeve, and in a quick motion, he blasted the
Stromling backwards into a wall. He stepped over to his fallen foe
and prepared to fire the pistol one last time. “This is your end,
Stromling.”
Demonstrait kicked and the pistol flew from Rover’s hand, blowing a
hole in the ceiling. Enough of this,
Rover thought. Spinning
his sword, Rover stabbed it down into Demonstrait’s form, and at
last all was silenced for the torturous servant of darkness.
== Chapter Thirty-One ==
The Ronin were vanquished a short while later, but several Rank 1s
and 2s didn’t make it. Brocktree assigned commanders to the small
pockets of minifigures that remained. Intrepid was joyous at being
promoted to commander over a few Rank 1s, and also over Argon,
Shrill, and an annoyed Sergeant.
“How come HE always gets positioned over me?” Sergeant
complained.
“Relax,” Argon said. “From what I’ve seen, he seems like a
natural.” He turned and looked at a Rank 1 Sorcerer, Knight, and
Inventor that were also under Intrepid’s command, who were
fidgeting nervously under their gear at the thought of having an
Avant Gardens recruit as their commanding officer, since what should
he know about battling these advanced enemies? Not anymore than
the rest of us, Argon thought.
Sergeant sighed and awaited orders from his Bat Lord commander. They
still answered to Brocktree, who gave the order to march ahead
further into the Darkitect’s realm.
…
The Darkitect laughed a purely evil laugh. He looked up from the Orb
of Sights. “They dare come to me?” he bellowed. “I shall enjoy
crushing them, don’t you think, my new servant of darkness? 
Hehehe, darkness, like me!”
“Yes, my master.”
Spakybob said darkly. Unlike Demonstrait, Spakybob had a less raspy
and clearer voice, something the Darkitect had given him after he had
decided a raspy voice is one of the things that made him hate his
previous slave so much. “Those imagination fools will realize their
mistake in waging war with you in the first place.” he intoned. 
“When their leaders are defeated, the survivors will beg for your
mercy.”
“Yes, yes, Spakybob.” the Darkitect cackled, “You are way
better than that fool of a Stromling Demonstrait could ever become.”
 He showed no emotion over his betrayal to Demonstrait, nor
appreciation for Demonstrait’s submissiveness and devotion.
Such is evil.
…
The Nexus Force’s march through the cavern continued uneventfully. 
Courageously they walked on to the final confrontation between good
and evil, Imagination and Maelstrom, Nexus Force and the Darkitect.
“This is it, kid,” Krill said, giving Cyclone a pat on the head. 
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment. No one gets to double
cross me. We’re cool, you and me?”
Cyclone considered. Despite trying to kill him earlier, Krill
Mathias has shown his better side to them and done plenty to his and
his friends’ lives after Raven’s Bluff. He nodded. “We’re
good.”
“Then cover for me.” Krill said before he charged ahead and soon
disappeared from view. Cyclone thought he saw the assassin climb up
the wall and into a ventilation shaft, without making a sound.
A massive door soon loomed up over them.
“Why is this door so familiar?” Suave whispered to Brock.
Brocktree cocked his head, and stared at the door and doorway from
different angles. “There are these strange symbols which feel
familiar, but I can’t parse it.” he said, rubbing his hand over
some strange characters that adorned the doorway.
Stunt and Rare stepped near to the door with an armada of other Space
Marauders, all brandishing Wormholers except for Rare who carried two
Rocket Launchers instead. They aimed their guns at the door while a
few Ventures drove a battering ram up behind them. Lord Brocktree
gave the signal and the battering ram swung.
Log and door collided in a cloud of dust. The door fell forwards and
the Space Marauders charged through, aiming their weapons around the
room. When the dust cleared Brocktree and the rest of the Nexus
Force entered....
…. into one of the greatest chambers in the entire Universe.
A relic of the First Builders, a Temple of Imagination.
With the Darkitect, in his massive form, seated on a massive throne
built over it.
== Chapter Thirty-two ==
“Well, well, well,” the Darkitect rumbled, crossing his arms. 
“It is no surprise that Demonstrait did not stop you.”
Lord Brocktree stepped forward and unsheathed Verminbane. “Baron
Typhonus. Stand down, or we will defeat you.”
“Oh really,” the Darkitect said coolly. “You think you are in
any position to give orders to me?”
Undeterred, Brock waved his hand, and the Space Marauders circled
around the edge of the room, all aiming at the Darkitect. “Then we
will do this the hard way.”
The Darkitect rose, his ever present smile plastered evilly on his
degraded face. “I will enjoy crushing you.” he bellowed and he
swung his staff. A blast of strong wind sent Stunt, Rare, and the
other Space Marauders flying into the wall. They fell to the ground,
dazed, their wormholers clattering to the floor, while all around the
room, the dark cavities in the walls lit up. Ghostly beings of pure
Maelstrom floated out, and hundreds of purple tinted apparitions
soared around the chamber.
“Dark Mythrans!” a Sentinel cried out, and panic rushed
through the Nexus Force as the mythical creatures known as Dark
Mythrans began spawning several clones of the fallen Butterscorch
throughout the room. The Dragon Invaders roared jets of fire,
setting the columns that supported the chamber ablaze.
The Darkitect aimed his staff directly at Brocktree. Swinging his
cape, he roared, “You dare attack the Master of Chaos!”
A bolt of Maelstrom lightning shot from his staff, headed straight
for Lord Brocktree. Minifigs all around the general ran, and the
lightning smashed into Brocktree. A massive bright light of epic
proportions illuminated the room for a moment. It died down to
reveal Brocktree standing where he was, Verminbane raised and still
glinting from where the lightning had struck.
“You will need to try a different tactic.” Brocktree stated. He
tilted his sword to aim at the Baron’s heart.
The Darkitect laughed and charged towards them. Brocktree swung his
sword but he was kicked aside. Amid his laughs of pure evil the
Darkitect trampled through the Nexus Force soldiers, crushing those
in his way and kicking others into the walls with smash-inducing
force.
Lord Brocktree tried rising from where he lay against the wall of the
chamber. Suave, Blade, Cyclone, Kate, Rover, Shrill, Argon,
Intrepid, and Sergeant ran over to him and helped him into a sitting
position.
“Are you all right?” asked Suave alarmed. “Brocktree, you’ve
gotta be hearing me. You have to be okay!”
Brocktree groaned and opened his eyes slowly. “I’m alive....”
he muttered between gasps of breath that exited his pale face. “I
think I broke some ribs....”
Blade whipped out a scanning device and waved it over the commander’s
torso. Blade frowned harder, and his mouth formed a thin line. 
“You’ve got several fractures in your ribcage, general.”
Two recruits carrying a stretcher ran over. “Sir,” one called,
“are you all right?!”
Blade shot a look at them. “Just get him to safety, that’s your
first priority.” As the recruits loaded Brock on the stretcher, he
said, “He’s got several fractures to his ribcage.”
Cyclone shook his head sadly. “This whole operation was a failure.
 The Darkitect is gone, this place is in ruins, and the Nexus Force
is crumbling.” he added, taking a peak at the groaning survivors of
the Nexus Force who lay in the tunnel the Baron had escaped through.
Argon tugged on Suave’s shirtsleeve, and he looked up from where he
had been staring at the floor. “Uh, sir?” he mumbled.
“Yes, Argon?” Suave asked.
Argon gulped. “I think we have a bigger problem than a missing
Darkitect.”
The group turned and stared at the ghastly sight of the army of
hundreds of Butterscorches and horde after horde of Dark Mythrans who
stood before them, evil and hate burning in their eyes.
== Chapter Thirty-Three ==
Suave, Blade, Rover, Argon, Shrill, Intrepid, Sergeant, Kate, and
Cyclone raised their swords. They knew they stood no chance against
the power of a Mythran, even more so with thousands of Dark Mythrans
and hundreds of Butterscorch clones. It dawned on Cyclone that it
was these Dark Mythrans who constantly respawned the fallen Maelstrom
enemies on every world, unlike minifigures who (99% of the time)
automatically rebuilt themselves with imagination. It angered
Cyclone to know that the power of these evil beings stretched all the
way across the Nimbus System. These monsters were playing with the
Nexus Force!
A wall of blue fire tore through the Dark Mythran horde. 
Butterscorch and her five hundred clones screeched in agony and
smashed, not into bricks, but into tiny particles of dust which fell
to the ground. The Dark Mythrans evaporated in low pitched moans,
and the wall of flame dissipated, revealing a normal-looking Rank 3
Assembly Engineer.
“Whoa,” Sergeant gasped.
“How- did- you-” Argon stuttered.
“Hi, I’m TheGuy.” the Engineer said, sticking out his hand.
“TheGuy1 for full.”
Argon shook it, then exclaimed, “I’m ArgonDragonUdon, Talmid’s,
Thingguy2’s, and now YOUR greatest fan!!!”
The other members of the group exchanged looks of confusion. “Wha-?”
Intrepid stammered. Sergeant looked flabbergasted.
Shrill poked Intrepid’s side. “Who’s Talmid?” she asked.
“Know him, Fusion-Dude?”
“Nope,” Intrepid replied, shaking his head, “But the name
sounds very eerily familiar....”
Shrill rolled her eyes. “I thought you knew everyone,” she
mumbled.
Argon was bubbling with excitement. “How’d you do that?!” he
shouted.
“You might not believe me,” TheGuy answered, “But I’m
half-Mythran. And by being half-Mythran, I am like a normal minifig,
but with Mythran powers-”
Suddenly someone struck TheGuy from behind. Their savior gasped and
fell to the ground at Argon’s feet, revealing a scene extremely
terrible, so terrible, it not only was terrible, but horrendous.
“Spakybob-” Argon gasped too. “No-”
Spakybob the Elite Stromling Invader grabbed Argon and threw him
against the wall with a thud. Rover and Blade unsheathed their
swords and charged the Stromling, but just as they got near him, he
grabbed their throats and raised the two choking soldiers into the
air.
Shrill threw a Basic Dagger at the Stromling and it embedded itself
into his chest armor, felling Spakybob to his knees and he released
Rover and Blade from his grasp. They fell and crumpled to the
ground, unconscious.
Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, Suave, Cyclone,
Intrepid, and Sergeant charged over to Spakybob and whacked him
repeatedly with their swords while Kate and Shrill ran over to check
on Argon. They found him lying against the wall, sobbing.
“Spakybob was my best friend,” Argon cried. “He sacrificed
himself for us, but now he’s trapped under the Maelstrom like
this.”
A growling sound took Kate, Shrill, and Argon’s attention away from
Spakybob. Apparently there were still lots of Maelstrom creatures in
the throne room, and a horde of Stromling Admiral Invaders stood by
them, arring viciously. The lead one raised its cannon straight at
Kate and fired. An anchor blasted towards her with rings of doom
right behind it.
There was a sudden flash of blue in front of her and the anchor
embedded itself in another minifig the lethal rings of doom
following, powerful enough to knock the life out of anyone. Kate
realized she was still alive, and quickly took the chance to charge
into the horde of Admirals, slashing and hacking with her sword until
each Admiral was felled. Panting, she slumped to the ground and
wiped sweat from her forehead. Then she remembered how she had
survived.
“Are you okay?” she called, and looked over at the brave
minifigure who had taken the shot for her. And then, Kate quickly
paled as she realized with shock the identity of her saviour.
Meanwhile, Spakybob viciously spun the blunt edge of a Broadsider
with the intent of hurting his foes as much as possible before ending
their lives, hitting Suave in his face and knocking him back. A blow
to the jaw knocked the Sentinel out cold, leaving the inexperienced
fighters Cyclone, Intrepid, and Sergeant in the way of a mad
Stromling Invader. A kick sent Intrepid flying backwards but the Bat
Lord transformed his momentum into a backflip to land feet-first on
the ground. Intrepid teetered a little from the impact but regained
his balance.
“That all you can do?” Intrepid rushed at Spakybob with a
shield-slam. The Stromling Invader pushed Sergeant and Cyclone aside
and stuck out his foot to trip Intrepid and sprawl him on the ground.
Sergeant was next. A slash from the Stromling’s left-hand blade
prompted Sergeant to jump the side, straight into the path of the
Broadsider. The recruit was knocked aside and he hit the ground, not
moving. Cyclone was last.
Seeing all his friends go down left a scar running through him
emotionally. Out of control and in a fit of anger, Cyclone attacked
the Stromling Invader viciously. Spakybob took several massive
unexpected blows before attempting to fight back. A punch threw the
angry recruit to the ground but Cyclone rose less than a second
later. He swung his sword in a wide arc and the blunt edge smacked
into the side of Spaky’s head. Dazed, the Stromling Invader made
little attempt to block the slash that went through his right arm.
Growling, the one armed Stromling swiped its left-hand blade and the
tip of it sliced through the skin of Cyclone leg. Cyclone screamed
in agony as Maelstrom poison swept through his wound and he fell to
the ground. His sword clattered to the floor, and Spakybob prepared
to end Cyclone’s life in a final strike.
A laser blast fired and Spakybob fell.
Suave slowly rose from the ground and patted one of his holsters. It
was empty, his Space Ranger gun was missing. He turned and saw Argon
standing there, Suave’s smoking Space Ranger gun in his hands aimed
ahead of him at the spot above where Spakybob lay.
“I had too,” Argon gasped, tears streaming from his eyes. “He
would have killed us all.”
Suave placed his hand on Argon’s shoulder while Cyclone, Rover,
Blade, The Guy, Intrepid, and Sergeant recovered. Farther away,
Stunt and Rare stood as well. But then someone else cried out, and
Cyclone turned to its source.
A massive pang struck Cyclone’s chest. Kate was slumped against
the wall, her hands on her face, doing little to mask her tears. A
familiar looking Sentinel Samurai lay unmoving, her head on Kate’s
knees.
When Kate looked up Cyclone realized with horror the identification
of the Samurai.
Kate’s double was dead.
== Chapter Thirty-four ==
The Darkitect barreled down the long hallways that crisscrossed
through the underground caverns of the large chunk of Crux that held
the Temple of Imagination. It was interesting how the Nexus Force
had only yet found the legendary relic once again. A pity they would
never be able to explore it completely, like their predecessors, Duke
Exeter, Hael Storm, and Dr. Overbuild. And Baron Typhonus.
“The body is mine but the name means nothing,” the Darkitect
thought as he arrived where he was headed for, a large chamber with a
pedestal in its center. As soon as the Darkitect entered his form
shrunk back down to the size of a normal minifigure. The
transformation completed, the Darkitect raised his head, and under
his top hat was the face of Baron Typhonus, one of the original four
explorers of Crux.
“You are a failure, Baron Typhonus.” a voice roared from the
direction of the pedestal. A dark spherical orb sat upon it. A red
skeletal face appeared on its glass border, and Typhonus stared into
it.
“Why have you brought me here?” the Baron wept. “You know I
regret my actions against my colleagues, but you keep reinstating
control over me and mutating my form into a monstrous, beast that
does terrible things I never dreamed of!”
The orb clouded and a shadow poured from it. It swirled around the
Baron like a parasite and the front of it lifted up to reveal the red
face.
“Perhaps you wish for me to finally end your suffering,” the
shadow said.
The Baron looked up, and in a fit of defiance grabbed the orb to
throw it as hard as he could with as much force he could muster. The
glass sphere soared through the air but instead of crashing into the
wall and exploding into a million pieces it arced itself through a
random basketball hoop that stuck out of the far wall alongside of a
bunch of old treasures which stood on small shelves. “Three
points!” a mechanical voice droned.
The shadow stretched its long tail and caught the orb. Slowly the
being of shadow retreated back into the orb and a second later it
shot out again into the Baron’s chest. With a scream Baron
Typhonus’s face changed and his form grew back to its previous
size.
With a fit of evil laughter the Darkitect turned around and headed
back through the hallway.
== Chapter Thirty-five ==
While Cyclone, Intrepid, Sergeant, Blade, and Rover stared in shock
at Kate and her dead imagination half, Argon, Shrill, Suave, Stunt,
and Rare exchanged glances at each other. Unlike the others, they
did not know the full story.
“Who is it?” Shrill whispered to Suave.
Suave shook his head. “I don’t know, but we’d better not
intrude. We have other work to do.” He glanced around and noticed
a row of stasis tubes lining the far wall near a large shelf filled
with important artifacts and treasures, including Hael Storm’s
golden telescope. The Sentinel narrowed his eyes to focus on the
occupants of the stasis tubes and when he recognized their
inhabitants he recoiled in shock.
“The faction leaders.” he gasped. Suave quickly ran over to the
tubes with his teammates on his heels.
Back to Cyclone and the others.
Cyclone broke the silence, and he croaked, “Everything is probably
ruined now. I’m so sorry.”
Even Rover, Blade, Sergeant, and Intrepid hadn’t yet heard the very
full story. “What do you mean?” Sergeant asked. “Can’t you
continue living on normally without her?”
Kate shook her head sadly. “You haven’t heard yet, but I’m
losing my imagination spark.”
“What!?” they shouted.
“You tell them,” she said quietly to Cyclone.
Quickly Cyclone related the parts about Kate’s imagination spark to
their companions who listened wide-eyed and cast worried looks in
Kate’s direction, and as he was finishing Suave walked over
supporting Duke Exeter on his arm. Behind him Argon and Shrill
helped Hael Storm and Dr. Overbuild while Stunt and Rare accompanied
Vanda Darkflame.
“Admiral Storm!” exclaimed Rover, “You’re all right!”
“Yarr’, that numbskull of a Baron!” Hael complained. “He
stole my Golden Telescope and tried to steal me too!”
Duke looked up. “Where’s the Darkitect now?” he asked, looking
around. “What happened here?!” he said in alarm as he took notice
of the hundreds of injured and smashed minifigures sprawled across
the ground.
“He did this all,” Blade mumbled softly.
“And speaking of the Darkitect,” Rover spoke up. “Where’s
Krill?”
== Chapter Thirty-six ==
Glancing up from the tracking scope of his rifle, Krill observed his
surroundings before he ran lightly through the low-ceiling
ventilation shaft. Maelstorm fog blowing in the same direction as
him illuminated the dark passageway with a faint glow.
During the battle in the Darkitect’s throne room Krill had managed
to fire a tracking dart into the Baron. He had doubted that the
Nexus Force would be able to stop the Baron and he had been right. 
However, he still had his hopes up that the Darkitect would be
felled, and if that would have been the case, he had opted against
firing radiation darts into the Baron as well. That had been a
mistake.
Grim, his mouth set in a thin line, Krill stopped at a junction. 
Doing a mental calculation and consulting the tracking scope again,
he continued on straight.
Krill stared into the tracker once again. He was very near. A vent
was nearby and Krill set the barrel of his rifle through the slats.
It was pitch black in whatever room the Darkitect was hiding in. 
Using the tracking scope he attempted to swing his rifle in the
direction of tracking dart but there wasn’t enough space.
There was another option. Krill gripped an enhanced version of a
Basic Dagger, and after some silent cutting, removed the window. A
hole just large enough for him to step through replaced it that Krill
cautiously climbed through.
A small maintenance ledge was under the sill. Carefully Krill stood
over it and found with his foot where the balcony ended.
The tracking dart was clear in the infrared vision of his rifle now. 
He loaded a radiation dart into the barrel, and fingered the trigger.
 The Darkitect was about to fall, and leave Krill Mathias victorious.
He fired.
It all happened very quickly. A massive explosion lit up the room,
sending out shockwaves which knocked Krill off the ledge. He had
previously made the safety precaution of firing a suction cable into
the ledge and now Krill dangled perilously far from the ground and
far below the ledge. It would be a tough climb back up, but with the
wire beginning to stretch and the rifle not being the most durable,
the laws of physics decided Krill’s fate for him.
The barrel of the rifle snapped off taking the cable with it. Krill
fell and landed with a resounding crack on the ground. But it hadn’t
been his bones which broke from the fall, but rather his armor which
mysteriously kept coming back even after it was smashed some
countless times, which smashed apart, sending its pieces across the
room.
Krill groaned as he sat up. Somehow the Darkitect had removed the
dart and placed it on a bomb, which had exploded. A trap had been
set and he sprung it.
A loud cackle sounded from behind him, and before he knew it Krill
was staring at the heel of the Darkitect’s massive boot. Caught
and wounded, Krill closed his eyes, but he wasn’t preparing for the
end.
== Chapter Thirty-seven ==
Krill Mathias smashed before the Darkitect’s boot slammed into the
ground. Despite his partial infection, he had just enough
imagination left to rebuilt nearby. Meanwhile, the impact caused a
mini-earthquake that sent stalactites crashing to the floor.
The Darkitect looked up when he sensed the imagination at work. 
Slowly his head turned until his eyes set on Krill standing by the
wall of the cavern.
The Darktect smiled menacingly and charged at Krill, raising his
staff to summon Maelstrom lightning. Krill dove to the side and the
Baron barreled into the wall. The staff released the power it had
conjured to send electricity bolts across the room and Krill
somersaulted under one and jumped over another. He hid behind a
large pillar and equipped a rocket launcher. He turned around to aim
for his target but then the pillar was lifted from the ground.
Krill looked up and realized the pillar had been just one leg of a
massive table, which the Darkitect was now lifting up. The Baron
flipped the table to be upside-down with its flat edge towards Krill
and dropped it down at him.
Krill blasted a hole in the ground with the rocket launcher some feet
away and quickly dove in to avoid being crushed. The flat stone
surface of the table fell down upon the entrance, sealing him in.
Krill prepared for the inevitable time when the Darkitect would lift
the table and attempt to finish him off. A deathly silence and a
momentary pause followed and Krill began to feel anxious. He shifted
around in constricted space the hole provided, and ultimately waited
for hours. The hard stone surface never lifted up and Krill opted
against blowing himself to pieces from firing a rocket at it in such
close range.
Soon Krill began to find it hard to breath, as his limited air supply
in the hole began to dwindle. It was only then that Krill Mathias
realized the deadly truth to the situation.
The Darkitect was leaving him there to suffocate a slow and painful
death. This was how he would die.
== Chapter Thirty-eight ==
After sending all of the surviving injured to safety, Rover, Blade,
Sergeant, Intrepid, Suave, Stunt, Rare, Shrill, Argon, and TheGuy
stood at the front of a small group of minifigures who were still
able to fight. Cyclone and Kate had stayed behind in the now
Maelstrom-less Maelstrom City where a couple of medics had set up a
temporary base and hospital for those who were injured.
Suave stood at the head of the group and he turned around to face the
few remaining fighters of the crumbling Nexus Force. “Alright,
listen up, courageous minifigures! Today we stand strong, in a
desolate land, bringing the fight to the heart of evil itself! We
are believers in goodness, supporters of freedom, and defenders of
Imagination! WE ARE THE NEXUS FORCE!!!”
The speech resulted in several cheers from the army. Under Suave’s
lead they all marched in the path the Darkitect had taken in his
flight from the throne room.
Rover ran up to Suave to hand him a tracking device. “What’s
this for?” Suave asked, looking up from the datapad.
Rover shrugged. “Well, Krill went off, probably in pursuit of the
Darkitect. I figured we might as well follow him.”
“How’d you get his coordinates anyway?” Suave still questioned.
“I doubt a sneaky assassin like him would want to be followed.”
Rover smirked. “He gave these stuff out when we arrived at the
Maelstrom City,” he told him, showing another similar datapad. “In
case we got lost from each other.”
Suave looked back at the coordinates. “Why isn’t he moving? 
These coordinates are remaining the same.”
“Maybe he smashed but his tracker survived.” Rover pondered with
a shudder. “Either way the Darkitect has to be nearby, since he
probably anticipates our arrival. It could be a trap.”
“If so, we have no choice but to spring it.” Suave said
determinedly. He stared back at the hopeful minifigs who followed
his lead through the underground tunnels. Morale was high, but if he
was leading them to their deaths, Suave hoped their sacrifices
wouldn’t be in vain. They had scared
the Darkitect enough for him to run. If he was injured, if he could
be injured, they could defeat him.
The beeps of the tracking device began to increase in pitch as they
neared Krill’s location. Suave and Rover broke into a run,
climbing over rocks and finally entering through a massive doorway
into a large room. The tracking device gave a final beep, signaling
they had arrived at Krill’s coordinates.
“Where is he?” Suave whispered to Rover. The Buccaneer stared
out into the darkness and held up his telescope, while Blade caught
up with a Miner’s Helm on.
“Hang on,” Blade said, looking around the room with his infrared
light. “I think I see him,” he notified them after a couple of
seconds. “He’s under the ground?”
“We all are to some degree.” Rover said.
Blade raised his visor. “No, what I mean is under this
ground.” he told him, scuffing his feet on the stone floor.
“And what would he be doing there?” Rover wondered. Blade ran
ahead a couple of yards and stopped in front of a large, dark object
silhouetted in front of a nearly as dark background.
Rover and Suave went up to him. “What is it?” Suave asked.
Blade rubbed his hand over the tall edge of whatever it was, then
looked around at four tall pillars that stretched up not nearly as
high as the extremely tall ceiling. It looked liked an upside-down
table, just mega-sized. Perfect for a Darkitect. “Whatever it is,
Krill is underneath.”
A massive laugh rumbled through the room, and then massive lanterns
that hung on each wall flickered on throughout the cavern,
illuminating the Darkitect in his massive form standing over them.
== Chapter Thirty-nine ==
Blade squinted his eyes in the bright glare and barely noticed the
Darkitect charging them. He couldn’t see so it was Rover who saved
him.
The Buccaneer’s having tackled Blade sent them both tumbling to the
side, out of the Darkitect’s path and right above the location of
Krill’s hole. Krill gave his side of the Darkitect’s massive
table a thump.
“Hey Krill, you down there?” Rover called, while Blade stood up
to chase after the Darkitect. “Can’t you cut your way out?”
“No room,” came the muffled reply, and Rover unsheathed
Hesevalints. The sword could cut through just about anything and he
stabbed the blade into the table. Grunting, Rover sliced around in a
circular shape. The completed window fell down on Krill’s head. 
“Ow.” he said.
Rover pulled Krill out. “You’re not in the best shape,” Rover
observed. “Why don’t you stay here while we kill the Darkitect
for you?”
Krill said nothing and pulled a Big One from his belt. He threw it
at the Darkitect, who was chasing Suave around the room while the
rest of the army attacked from range.
Suave ducked and rolled in a somersault, narrowly missing the Big One
as it arced through the air and smashed to the ground straight in
front of the Darkitect. Dust flew to the air and a massive hole was
created in the ground which the Darkitect fell into.
“Take this!” Krill screamed, and he unleashed the power of two
chain-powered grenade launchers on the fallen Darkitect. 
Firecrackers flew out.
The Baron tried to stand but was heavily hindered by the influx of
Firecrackers exploding around him. Blade lobbed a Flash Bang at him
and the Darkitect crashed blindly back into the ground. They had him
pinned.
TheGuy quickly built a bunch of Imagination chains around the
Darkitect’s hands and feet, imprisoning him to the ground. The
Darkitect laughed and the chains exploded, allowing him to get back
up. They
didn’t have him pinned.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Intrepid screamed, while Argon,
Sergeant, and Shrill all joined in. “You gotta be kidding me!!!”
they all shrieked.
Blade detonated another Flash Bang, blinding the Darkitect again. 
Quickly the rest of the Nexus Force recruits pounced on the Baron,
whacking at him with their swords. Stunt and Rare jumped onto a
ledge, and began unleashing Imagination bombs down on the Darkitect. 
The blasts couldn’t harm any of the minifigures in the vicinity of
the blasts but the Darkitect took tremendous damage.
With a tremendous groan the Darkitect exploded.
== Chapter Forty ==
Suave shielded his eyes from the blast. It was unbelievable. The
Darkitect’s body had exploded, not like smashing into a bunch of
bricks, but in a shower of sparks, rocks, fiery debris, and seaweed? 
Was it really that easy?
A couple of minifigs started cheering but Suave knew better. He
raised a hand and called for calm. In the flames he noticed a shadow
rising from the ashes. It had eyes and a mouth that opened.
The shadow laughed evilly before speaking. “You may have destroyed
my body, but not my spirit!” it cackled. “Typhonus is still with
me. His body was merely a puppet for my act, and he has failed me
for the last time.”
Not giving the shadow a chance to continue Suave aimed his gun and
fired a bunch of supersonic waves at it.
If the shadow could be harmed it didn’t show it. The walls behind
it exploded into chunks of rock.
The Darkitect’s spirit swung around the room weaving like a snake,
knocking minifigures off their feet and creating cracks in the floor
that exploded with Maelstrom mist. Suave couldn’t think of an
immediate way of destroying it, but he shot at it anyway.
Krill ducked under its wispy tail as the serpentine ghost swept over
him and rolled to the side to avoid a chunk of rock that fell from
the ceiling. Krill turned and noticed a glass sphere, clouded with
purple and white mist. It was directly under the path of the falling
rocks, and quickly Krill reached out and grabbed it before the rocks
crashed to the ground.
Krill recognized the heavy, frosted-glass sphere he held in his
hands. It was a legendary 
‘Mythran Orbs’, a type of contained black hole that corrupted,
evil, or Dark Mythrans were imprisoned in. Despite being trapped in
the Orbs, the Dark Mythrans had been freed by the Darkitect when Crux
Prime exploded, and the Dark Mythrans had evolved to harness the
great gravitational powers of the Orbs to their bidding. They could
now use them to recharge their power.
But if the presence of this empty
Mythran Orb meant anything, it was that the shadow, the “The
Darkitect’s Spirit” that they now fought, was not the Darkitect
at all but a Dark Mythran pretending to be him!
They still had to defeat it.
Krill quickly realized what he had to do. Since the Mythran Orb in
hands was what supplied the Dark Mythran its power, it would have to
reenter the Orb for a recharge. When that happened he would destroy
it.
The only problem was that the Dark Mythran had enough strength to
continue its distracting attack for a long time, while the real
Darkitect escaped farther and farther away. The Mythran wasn’t
going to stop it’s rampage anytime soon.
The Dark Mythran lashed out against the wall and the ledge which
Stunt and Rare stood upon collapsed, dropping them both to the
ground. The impact knocked them out cold.
Krill thought of an idea. He could wear down the Dark Mythran’s
strength, but it wouldn’t be easy. Nothing was easy with the
Maelstrom.
== Chapter Forty-one ==
“Hey!” Krill called out, waving his arms and jumping up and down.
“Come and get me!” He shot himself with an Imagination gun to
increase his imagination presence.
The Dark Mythran swirled around, knocking down Blade, Rover, Suave,
and a bunch of other recruits, to stare straight at Krill. Hate
burned in its crimson eyes.
“Yeah, you! You’re really ugly!” shouted Krill while he
reached behind his back for a rocket launcher. “Spare me the sight
of you!”
The Dark Mythran surged towards him and Krill fired at the ceiling. 
Huge boulders collapsed upon the shadow entrapping it in a stony
tomb.
The rocks exploded out in all directions, exactly what Krill had been
hoping for. The shadow probably used up a lot of its strength in
making that move, and Krill was ready to continue doing it for as
long as he could until the Dark Mythran went back into the Orb.
Krill jumped to the side when the Dark Mythran charged and it surged
straight into a collision with the wall behind him. More boulders
fell and the shadow sent them flying again. It was suddenly easy for
Krill to dodge its attacks. It was getting sluggish. His plan was
working.
The Dark Mythran lunged at him one final time and Krill double-jumped
over it as it collided angrily into the corner. Krill sprinted
towards the Mythran Orb, which lay on the ground next to the fallen
rocks. He quickly hid behind a boulder, and watched as the shadow
launched itself back into the Orb.
“NOW YOU DIE!!!!!” Krill screamed and fired his grenade launchers
straight at the sphere. There was a massive explosion, and when the
bright light dissipated the Mythran Orb was still there with the Dark
Mythran floating next to it still in its ghostly serpent form.
“You really think you can do that?” taunted the Mythran, and with
a whip of its tail it sent Krill flying into the wall. It continued
to batter him around, leaving the Orb unprotected.
As Krill collided with the wall again and again, he realized his
mistake. If the shadow was inhabiting the Orb, the Mythran Orb would
become indestructible. It had to be destroyed without the Dark
Mythran in it!
The problem was, Krill wouldn’t be able to destroy it any time
soon. The Dark Mythran was taking its own sweet time in making sure
Krill wouldn’t rise again after it was finished. Someone else had
to do it, and then deplete the shadow’s strength.
Meanwhile, Suave helped Rover to his feet. “We’ve got to do
something!” Rover shouted as he watched the shadow mercilessly
torture Krill.
Blade dropped his shoulders helplessly. “What can we do?” he
moaned.
Rover watched Krill intently. He was pointing rapidly at the Mythran
Orb, which lay next to a rock.
“I know what to do,” Rover said with a grin, and sent his
own Firecracker spinning at the Orb.
The Mythran Orb shattered, and the Dark Mythran turned around quickly
to face Rover. It’s eyes burned with anger, and Rover gulped.
Then a whirlwind descended from the sky, and it consumed the shadow. 
There was a massive flash of light, and with the link to its power
gone, the Dark Mythran was destroyed entirely.
The battle was over. But was the war?
== Chapter Forty-two ==
The war was over since the Darkitect never turned up. He probably
still existed and would come back to haunt the Nimbus System later,
but until then…
All across the universe, minifigures and the now disinfected
Stromlings celebrated the end of the fighting and the end of the
Maelstrom together. The largest party was taking place at Red
Blocks, where several recruits played a very long victory musical
with their instruments on the stage for the rest of the Nexus Force. 
The rule prohibiting Limited Recruits from exploring the rest of the
Nimbus System was abolished, so Intrepid, Sergeant, Shrill, and Argon
had invited all their friends from Avant Gardens over. Currently
they were all seated around a large table with an extra large
“Faction War” board on it, fighting viciously for control of the
Universe.
“Haha!” Argon chortled, taking The Great Tree from some Avant
Gardens dude called Hurricane and securing all of Forbidden Valley.
“Emperor Argon, the invincible!” he proclaimed, passing his dice
over to Intrepid.
“If you’re so invincible,” Intrepid stated, rolling quadruple
sixes on the four dice, “Then how come the
Intrepid-Shrill-Hurricane Alliance just wiped you out of the battle
for Nimbus Station?” he asked, taking out Argon’s last stand in
Brick Annex and preparing to duke it out with Sergeant.
Argon stroked his jaw. “I could use an alliance...” he muttered.
“Heh,” Intrepid smirked, taking Nimbus Plaza and securing the
Nexus Tower launchpad. Then he whispered to Hurricane, “Reinforce
the portal to Crux Prime.”
Hurricane nodded and awaited his turn.
One of Sergeant’s friends, Flaming Red Dorito, had the next turn. 
In a few swift moves he had almost secured Nexus Tower and was
preparing to battle with a couple of Shrill’s defenders near the
portal to Crux Prime. He ran out of troops at the last minute, since
Shrill lucked out for a few vital moves, costing him his ability to
defend himself from Hurricane, who reinforced Shrill’s exhausted
defenders and took most of Nexus Tower back for the
Intrepid-Shrill-Hurricane Alliance.
“That’s it I quit!” Argon screamed when Sergeant stormed
Forbidden Valley. He stood up and bumped into Rover.
Rover took one look at the game and saw the three conspirators.
“No way am I playing that.” he declared and ran off.
Meanwhile, at the same time as the Intrepid-Shrill-Hurricane Alliance
and the Sergeant-Dorito Alliance split up Argon’s territories,
Cyclone and Kate sat in the back row of the grandstands that
overlooked the Red Blocks stag. Occasionally their attention went to
the minifigures that ran around dancing and partying below, but
mostly they stared up at the stars sprawled above in the night sky. 
Their seats were tilted back and Cyclone and Kate had their feet
propped up on the seats in front.
“Beautiful night, huh?” Cyclone commented.
“Yeah,” Kate agreed. It was a beautiful night, the sky mostly
clear with only a few thin wisps of clouds rolling lazily across the
heavens. “I can see Gnarled Forest, all the way over there,” she
said, pointing towards the East.
Cyclone looked, and watched the world of Gnarled Forest as it
reflected bright light from the sun, which hid over the horizon. “It
shouldn’t be called Gnarled Forest anymore,” Cyclone decided,
“since there’s no Maelstrom there anymore. How about Grand
Forest?”
Kate shook her head. “That doesn’t sound nice, how about Glorious
Forest?”
Cyclone shrugged. “Too glorious.” he replied.
 “Maybe Guppy Forest?”
“What makes you say Guppies?” Kate asked with a curious grin when
rockets streaked by launching fireworks in their wake.
They flashed bright colors on the ground when Kate leaned forward
suddenly. The legs of her chair screeched as they skid on with the
ground.
“What’s the matter?” Cyclone asked, concerned. “Are you okay,
Kate?”
Kate didn’t answer, and Cyclone noticed she was trembling. “Kate?”
he repeated. “Are you okay?”
Kate slowly rotated her head to face him. “I don’t feel too
good,” she mumbled. Then she doubled over, gasping for breath. 
“She’s here.” she managed to gasp.
“Who?” Cyclone asked, alarmed, but then he seemed to read her
thoughts. “But- how- that’s impossible! She died, we all saw
her!”
Kate collapsed on the ground. Cyclone turned, and saw another Kate
quickly making her way up the steps. His heart pounded in his chest
when he looked back at his friend’s limp body.
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!” he screamed in a cry of pure
anguish.
== Chapter Forty-three ==
Alter-Kate’s face was buried in her hands where she sat next to
Cyclone in the Nimbus Station hospital’s waiting room. At
Cyclone’s urging, Real-Kate was brought quickly enough to the
emergency room, and the last Cyclone had seen of Kate was her being
quickly rolled off on a mobile hospital bed by doctors, attached to
life support systems, both artificial respiratory and Imagination
supply tubes.
“I didn’t know,” alter-Kate moaned. “I had to make sure she
was alive, and now-” she broke off as a new round of tears escaped.
Cyclone put his arm around her shoulders, and tried comforting her. 
“I’m sure she’ll be okay,” he lied, since in reality his
brain was mashed up with a jumble of confused thoughts, all saying,
“Kate’s gonna die aaaaaaahhh!!!”
Then the entrance door burst open, and Rover, Blade, Intrepid, and
Sergeant ran in.
“We got here as fast as possible.” Blade gasped, clutching his
chest which was tight after the run.
Rover, Intrepid, and Sergeant nodded, equally exhausted. “Yeah,”
Rover said. “When we heard- wait, what?” he interrupted himself
when he noticed the other Kate seated there. Without her Samurai
gear on, she and Kate were exact lookalikes. There would be no way
to tell them apart if they stood side-by-side, which would actually
be impossible due to the circumstances.
“This, well, is the other Kate.” Cyclone explained.
“WHAT?” Rover, Blade, Intrepid, and Sergeant exclaimed.
Intrepid gaped. “But- how did you- you died.” he said at last. 
“How did you survive?”
Alter-Kate lowered her hands and looked up at them. “I don’t
know!” she shouted exasperatedly after a few seconds of silence. 
Then she buried her face in her hands again and continued crying.
Cyclone gave his friends a worried look, and they sat down, just as
worried as he was about Kate. Only time would tell their friend’s
fate.
…
When Nexus Tower was effectively destroyed, the Nexus Force’s HQ
was forced to relocate as well. The faction leaders returned to
their original base in Nimbus Station. Duke, Overbuild, Hael, and
Vanda sat around their meeting table to discuss the future of the
Nexus Force when Lord Brocktree barged into the room.
“You can always knock,” Duke said.
“Sorry sir, yes sir.” Brocktree said, then he turned to the
Paradox Leader. “Ms. Darkflame, Nimbus Hospital requests your
presence you.”
Vanda stood up. “Sorry guys, but you continue on without me, I’ll
catch up later.” she told her three companions.
“You sure, Vanda?” Hael made sure as Brocktree lead Vanda from
the room. “This could be pretty important to the future of Paradox
you know!” he insisted.
Vanda waved and left the room. Hael slumped in his seat.
…
Outside the Nexus Force HQ, Vanda sped up her walking speed to catch
up with Brocktree, who was taking long strides in the direction of
Nimbus Hospital.
“Mind telling me the reason you very urgently pulled me out of my
meeting back there?” Vanda asked. She matched Brocktree’s gait
with ease.
Brocktree turned his head to her. “The urgency is because one of
your acquaintances is in a life-and-death situation right now.” He
informed. “She also happens to be a friend of my friends.... I
thought you might be of assistance with something like this.”
Already the thoughts in Vanda’s head were spinning around. She
tried piecing together the information Brocktree had just stated, but
he was giving it to her in small snippets. “Brocktree,” she
questioned. “Who is this person you are talking about?”
“A girl named Kate,” Brock responded.
“I see,” Vanda said, and her mouth became a thin line.
== Chapter Forty-four ==
“Well,” muttered Vanda, viewing a scanner she held as she paced
around the hospital waiting room, “it appears my original thoughts
on this matter were way off....”
Brocktree raised his head from where he was seated with Cyclone,
Alter-Kate, Rover, Blade, Intrepid, and Sergeant. “What have you
discovered, Vanda?” he asked.
Vanda looked up from her scanner. “It appears,” she said,
staring at Alter-Kate, “that the reason you are losing your
imagination spark is-”
“Me?” asked Alter-Kate.
Vanda blinked. “Right, not you, the other Kate. Sorry. Anyways,”
Vanda continued, “When this Kate and the other Kate are in the near
vicinity, this Kate’s imagination spark sucks up the other Kate’s
strength, and that is why the Kate in the emergency room is like she
is now.”
Alter-Kate tore off the bench and out the door into the night.
“This is too freaky,” Sergeant said.
“Yeah,” Rover agreed, and then pointed out, “but that explains
how the Kate who just ran away survived ten Admiral anchors and one
hundred rings of doom! During that time, she was invincible.”
“I’d love to be invincible.” said Blade. Cyclone, Vanda,
Intrepid, Brocktree, Sergeant, and Rover facepalmed.
The main hallway door swung open and a nurse stuck her head out. 
“Kate would like to see you.”
They all barged to the door enthusiastically except for Blade who
muttered, “I always get smashed by dragons who take all my coins so
I can’t trade for the rare stuff.”
They all followed the nurse as she briskly led them down a series of
twisting side hallways and doors and stairs.
“You can get lost in here,” Sergeant said.
After another minute of seemingly wandering the halls aimlessly, the
nurse turned around and admitted, “Okay, we’re lost.”
“Really?” asked Intrepid.
“I was just messing with you. It’s right here.”
They entered the room and saw Kate sitting up in a bed, attached to a
seemingly infinite amount of tubes which lead to a big gray life
support box sitting in a corner. Her face was pale and her eyes
looked tired, but when she noticed Cyclone and others she perked up
slightly.
They all wondered how much damage had already been done.
== Chapter Forty-five ==
Cyclone drew in his breath. “Kate....” he whispered.
As if she was reading his thoughts, Kate answered, “I’m okay.”
Cyclone sighed in relief.
“How’re you feeling?” Blade asked.
Kate stared at him. “Didn’t I already answer that?” she said,
perplexed.
Rover gave an uncomfortable laugh.
No one noticed Vanda slip out of the room. As she left, and after
walking for 5 minutes back to the Nexus Force HQ, Vanda had decided
to leave their reunion to themselves, since in the meantime, she had
work to do.
And when she entered the HQ, she didn’t go through the door that
lead to the meeting between the other faction leaders. She went
through a different door, a door simply labelled, “Lab”.
…
Suave Able Cat entered and looked around, before taking notice of
Vanda seated at the computer station, pounding rapidly at her
keyboard.
Suave gulped. “You asked for me, Ms. Darkflame?”
Vanda turned around and faced him. “I know you’re Lord
Brocktree’s assistant, and I was hoping you’d be able to assist
me with some calculations while the Commander is out with his
friends. I wouldn’t want to spoil the celebration.”
“Erm, okay.” Suave answered.
Vanda slid out a chair from under the table, and gestured for Suave
to come over. “Have a seat,” she offered and Suave took it. “This
might take a while.”
…
A few hours later,
“I got it!” Vanda announced, standing up quickly and knocking her
chair over.
“What?” Suave asked, looking up at the Paradox Faction leader as
she started doing a jig. “What is it?”
Vanda stopped her victory dance and gripped the table edge to curb
her excitement. “I know how to get both Kates near each other
again in order to join them back together!”
Suave nodded. “Uh huh. How is it done?”
Vanda grinned. “One has to be in a low state of consciousness,”
she told him.
Suave still didn’t get most of what she was saying, but he
understood enough to ask an intelligent question, “You mean like,
asleep?”
Or knocked out cold from the force of hundreds of rings of doom fired
by a horde of Stromling Admirals?
== Chapter Forty-six ==
When Vanda came back to the hospital room with Suave trailing behind,
the doctor guys had decided that they could disconnect Kate from the
stuff she was on, and now Cyclone and Rover were helping Kate steady
herself as she stood up. Alter-Kate had to be far off for Kate’s
wounded Creative Spark to accept Imagination again.
“I’ve got a solution.” Vanda announced, waving a sheet of paper
with cursive scribbled all over it in Rover’s face. The Buccaneer
grabbed it and passed it on to Cyclone, who in turn gave it to Kate
to read.
“Are you kidding me??” Kate asked, but she looked excited.
“Nope,” Vanda assured her. “I think Dr. Overbuild has
something that should keep your imagination spark steady for the next
time you’re in close proximity with your double, which will
inevitably happen sometime soon.”
Kate nodded. “And what would that be?” she asked.
“An Imaginite pack?” Blade suggested.
“Something like that,” Vanda told him.
Kate’s eyebrows scrunched up in thought. “Wait,” she said.
“Speaking of, er, the other me, where is she?”
“You’re right. She left not too long ago.” Cyclone wondered.
Vanda facepalmed. “Go assemble a search team.” she mumbled to
Lord Brocktree, who has been standing silently in the corner. 
Brocktree nodded and headed for the door, but Rover stopped him.
“Can we come too?” the Buccaneer asked. “And Kate, if I
understand correctly, can come too with this Imagination supplier
thingy.”
“Then it’s settled.” Vanda stated. “Now to get that
‘Imagination supplier thingy’ from Dr. Overbuild.”
== Chapter Forty-seven ==
As Blade had thought, the ‘Imagination Supplier Thingy’ as Rover
dubbed it was quite similar to an Imaginite Pack in its construction,
except it was smaller, less bulky, and the Imaginite Crystals
attached to out of it were colored light blue and pulsed to the
rhythm of Kate’s heartbeat.
According to Vanda, the Imagination Supplier Thingy should be strong
enough to keep Kate’s imagination spark stable for at most five
minutes in the case of an encounter with her double. But since the
group was splitting up into 4 groups of 3, the chance that Cyclone,
Kate, and Rover, who were going together, would be the team to find
the other Kate was only 1 out of 4.
And the reason why Vanda wasn’t accompanying them was because the
other faction leaders had decided to wait for her, and they had been
sitting in the meeting room for close to three hours. They were not
known to be patient and were probably very impatient now.
“See ya!” Sergeant called from over another hill, before he,
Intrepid, and Blade went off to search for alter-Kate at Brick Annex.
 Cyclone waved, and then he, Kate, and Rover parted with the other
six.
Cyclone and Kate began climbing up another hill, until Kate stuck her
arm out in front of Cyclone, stopping him. “Where’s Rover?”
she asked.
Cyclone rolled his eyes, and they both turned around, to see Rover
fumbling with some stuff in his backpack. He pulled out three
jetpacks, and walked over to them grinning. “Here,” he said,
“These should make searching a little easier.”
Cyclone slipped his arms through the straps and put the jetpack in
position, while Rover, who already had his on, flew up into the air. 
Kate however, just looked at hers.
“I don’t think this will fit,” she told them. The Imagination
Supplier Thingy wasn’t overly big, but still took up too much space
to fit a jetpack over it.
Rover sighed, and fell back down to the ground. He took Kate’s
jetpack back from her, and then slipped his arm around Kate’s.
“We’re not doing what I think we are-” Cyclone stammered.
Rover smiled at him. “Do you have a better idea?” he asked.
“Do I get a say in the manner?” Kate challenged. “You better
not drop me.”
Cyclone looped his arm around Kate’s other arm and, slowly at
first, they levitated into the air, lifting Kate up with them.
Like that, the trio flew off towards Red Blocks.
== Chapter Forty-eight ==
The Nimbus Station Raceplace wasn’t overly busy, with most minifigs
celebrating at Red Blocks and Nimbus Plaza. And since most minifigs,
including the guards, were partying, temporary guards were put in
their place. And in this case, a new Sentinel Guard called G. Ray
Hound was placed as guard of the Raceplace. And guarding an empty
raceplace with no one there is boring. Too boring for the normally
active Sentinel Knight called G. Ray Hound.
Ray leaned back against the outer wall of the track and looking up at
the stars. A few Airstrike fighters were flying around setting off
fireworks. Ray had always wished he could pilot one of those
Airstrikes, with their seemingly infinite payload of bombs for
dropping on Maelstrom.... Maelstrom which didn’t exist anymore.
A couple of stones rolled down the nearby hill and came to a rest by
Ray’s feet. With a sigh, Ray kicked one of them off into the
distance, watching it soar into the forest, before stepping away from
the wall and looking up into the sky again.
The explosion from a nearby firework disguised the noise of more
stones rattling down the path, and Ray was too obsessed with the
fireworks to take notice of the shadow that fell over him. A second
later, he felt something sharp poke into his back.
Ray gasped, and looked down. The tip of a blade was sticking out of
his armor which protected his chest. Panic began to course through
him, and with it immense pain.
With a muffled cry G. Ray Hound smashed. For some reason he had to
rebuild pretty far away from where he was smashed, almost as if there
was a strong Maelstrom presence forcing him away.
With the guard gone, there was no one to notice a lone figure step
back into the shadows.
…
“My arms are tired,” Kate complained. “Can we land now?”
“Fine,” Rover consented. He and Cyclone slowly touched down on
the ground, and when they did, Rover’s jetpack shorted out.
The Buccaneer sighed and tossed the smoking jetpack to the ground. 
“You’re too heavy,” he complained.
Kate glared at him. “We all were.”
“Let’s just keep moving.” Cyclone suggested. “It was a good
idea, and it got us pretty far. We’ll just walk now.”
“Yeah,” Rover agreed. “Let’s go.”
The three continued walking for a few more minutes, until something
started beeping.
“What-?” Cyclone stuttered, confused. He turned around, and saw
a yellow light blinking on the Imagination Supplier Thingy.
Kate stopped, and Rover stepped over to it. He and Cyclone watched
as the yellow light stopped blinking and beeping, and an orange light
next to it started blinking/beeping faster.
“What?” Kate asked, craning her neck to look over it.
“I think it’s some sort of proximity sensor,” Rover surmised.
“I was right, look here.” He pointed to some words written with
a permanent marker above the array of flashing lights, which said,
‘Proxmity Sensor’.
“‘Proxmity’ Sensor?” Cyclone questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m pretty sure it’s Proximity misspelled,” Rover told him.
“If it’s a proximity sensor, then that means my double is
nearby!” Kate said.
“Yeah, very nearby,” Rover bit his lip as the orange light turned
off and an even faster blinking red light next to it turned on.
“Red alert?” Cyclone suggested, leaning forward onto Rover for a
closer look.
Kate fidgeted slightly, and Cyclone and Rover both fell over.
“Ow,” Cyclone’s voice was muffled since his face was buried in
mud from some rain that morning.
“Oh, sorry,” Kate apologized, turning around and looking down at
them. She waited a few seconds. Why weren’t they getting up
already?
Then she felt a change in atmosphere. Everything was quiet, and
cold, and still. Too still. She looked upwards and noticed a flock
of birds. Unmoving. In mid-flight.
Kate blinked. The cold air made her drowsy.
The beeping had stopped, and Kate sensed the presence of someone
behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled upwards, and
she turned around. Kate gulped, since standing there was her double,
sword drawn, and in full Rank 3 Sentinel Samurai Gear in two-tone
Blue and Black. But what was really scary about her was the way her
normally green eyes shown red.
And then she attacked.
== Chapter Forty-nine ==
“Are you kidding me??” Kate shouted and had to duck under the
Samuraizer that slashed where her head had been a split second
before. She dove to the side and smashed into a brick wall she
forgot was there.
“Ow,” Kate groaned, and managed to move out of the path of three
arrows that embedded themselves in the part of the wall next to her.
This didn’t make sense. But the feeling of self-defense overcame
Kate’s need for answers. She pulled a Heroic Force Blade from her
backpack and swung it at her double as she rushed towards her.
The edges of the swords locked against each other with a high pitched
squeal. Kate looked up at her own face, and gritted her teeth as her
double pushed her full weight against her sword, building up force,
and power.
There was a bright flash of light where the swords had locked
together, and both Kates were flung away from it.
Kate groaned, and stood up. Then she noticed the state her Force
Blade was in. “What’s going on??” Kate mouthed as watched her
sword ripple with electricity. She looked over at her double, who’s
Samuraizer was also rippling with energy.
Apparently, the fight was still going on. Alter-Kate raised her
Samuraizer and charged. Kate parried the attack with her force
blade, but the swords were still hyper-charged with whatever power
they had, and with another bright flash of light, Kate and her double
were sent flying away from each other. Kate slammed into a loosely
built rock wall, and the poorly positioned rocks fell down on her.
As her arm was crushed under the rockslide, Kate made a mental note
NOT to lock swords with herself again. Then, with a strength she
didn’t realize she had, Kate wrenched her arm out from under the
rocks, knocking them to the side.
Kate considered her arm, which was unscathed, but then realized her
double was already charging at her from behind. Kate stepped to the
side, but not fast enough. The edge of the Samuraizer grazed her
right shoulder. Electrical energy surged around her wound and Kate
slumped to the ground, biting her lip to keep from screaming in pain.
Standing over her, alter-Kate prepared for another strike. Painfully
Kate rolled to the side, and the Samuraizer slashed down on the
Imagination Supplier Thingy, which started beeping crazily before
turning off from the blow.
“Uh oh,” Kate mumbled as her vision started clouding over. She
tried blinking, but found even that simple motion required lots of
strength. Strength which she was losing rapidly.
Kate subconsciously made note of the sword’s blade about to descend
upon her, and in a final move of defense, Kate weakly thrust the
force blade she somehow still held in her hand upwards. There was a
noise, like a scream, and then darkness.
== Chapter Fifty ==
Kate just lay there, waiting for the infinite blackness to melt away
to show.... what? The place where dead minifigs go? Heaven?
Kate opened her eyes, and realized that she still in Nimbus Station,
lying on the ground and staring up at the stars.
She sat up, and rubbed her eyes. Had it been a dream? One glance to
the side, and Kate confirmed the inexpiable. It had not been a
dream. “What have I done?” she whispered, taking in the scene of
her double, dead, with the hilt of her Force Blade sticking out of
her Samurai armor.
Kate began to hyperventilate. She had actually done it. She had
killed her double! She had killed herself!
But then the question that had arisen earlier was resurrected. Why
had her double attacked her?
And another question. Why was that flock of birds still frozen in
mid-flight?
“Let’s see,” Kate thought aloud. “Time froze when my double
came over and started attacking me. We built up some sort of energy,
maybe energy powerful enough to stop time. And it all happened only
when we were together.... but she’s dead now....”
Or was she?
Kate gulped, and crawled over to her alternate self. She placed her
finger on her double’s neck, and realized her skin was warm. And
there was a pulse too.
Kate reeled back in shock. How was this possible? She had a sword
pierced through her!
A rattling sound snapped Kate out of her thoughts, and she watched in
amazement and horror at the same time as the Force Blade began to
shine. It glowed with a ghostly energy and began to slide out.
Kate couldn’t shut her eyes but she covered her ears. Her
pulse thudded through her head. It was too crazy! How was it
happening?
The sword was completely removed, and Kate dared to aim her eyes at
Alter-Kate’s face, waiting for the moment were her eyes would open.
 Kate risked a peek at her double’s chest, and noted that she was
unscathed. There wasn’t even a wound where the sword had pierced
her.
Kate recalled Vanda saying something that if either her or her double
were in a state of unconsciousness, then she would be able to survive
in proximity to her double. But why was she invulnerable to a sword?
Maybe.... just maybe, the way how Kate lost her strength when her
double was nearby, the opposite happened to her double. Her double
absorbed her own strength! Now Kate knew how she had survived
getting blasted by hundreds of rings of doom.
And then Kate also realized what the Imagination Supplier Thingy did.
 It supplied her with the strength that her double was taking from
her. This realization made Kate dread the event in which her double
awoke.
Then the previous question that had been resurrected earlier came
back to mind. Why had her own self attacked her?
Another thought popped into her mind, but this time Kate didn’t
ignore it. Enough crazy things had been happening that day, why
would this one be no different?
Something that every member of the Nexus Force is required to carry
around at all times is a Maelstrom Scanner. Basically it’s a
device that scans for Maelstrom. And Kate was going to do just that.
Kate bit her lip as the results came in. There was a high
concentration of Maelstrom nearby, and from what the scanner told
her, it was coming from her double.
She was Maelstrom infected.
The red eyes were a telltale factor.
But how had THAT happened? The Maelstrom was gone, unless....
Kate shook her head to try and clear her mind. Thoughts were
swirling through it, but the one that stood out most prominently was
that she had to get time flowing again, and warn the Nexus Force that
the Maelstrom was back.
And how was she going to get time to flow again for her? Maybe she
was stuck here, all alone in her own little time hollow, with only an
evil twin to accompany her, who would kill her she when woke up....
….unless the source of her time-stopping energy was smashed. In
this case, her other self.
== Chapter Fifty-one ==
Kate couldn’t believe what she had to do. She had to smash her
double, her own self! It was unbelievable and she didn’t want to
do it.
“But I have too,” she whispered grimly. She clenched her fists. 
It was the only way. Even though she was usually invincible, maybe
in her current state, she might be able to smash her....
The thought made Kate’s head ache. Determined, Kate reached for
the Heroic Force Blade that lay on the ground next to her. She had
to do it before she changed her mind. And before her double awoke. 
But killing someone in their sleep, it wasn’t right.
"Many things aren't right!” a voice inside her head said. 
Kate recognized that as something she had told Cyclone shortly after
they had met. Back then, Cyclone was the one who had followed along,
always uncertain, with her leading. Now it was the other way around.
 This whole ordeal made her doubt her entire personality. They had
both changed so much....
Now it’s time to take control
again, Kate decided, of myself. She raised the Force
Blade, she swung hard and gave her double a good whack.
The sword bounced off, and nothing happened. What?
Kate started whacking her double repeatedly with the sword, but
nothing was happening! She was stuck in the time hollow forever! 
And she wasn’t going to set her Maelstrom infected double free by
stabbing herself.
Kate was close to giving up, but determination won over. Gripping
the sword tightly, she swung with all the strength she could muster.
And then her double’s eyes shot open. “No wait-” she called,
but it was too late, and this time it worked.
A bunch of things happened in the split second that followed. Kate’s
double smashed, time began flowing again, and with alternate Kate’s
Imagination came her essence returning into real Kate, joining them
both together once again.
It was over.
== Chapter Fifty-two ==
This mud was the ickiest, gooiest, but most importantly most
disgusting mud Cyclone had ever had the honor of having to faceplant
himself in.
Cyclone groaned and pushed himself out of the mud. Of all his
places, fate needed his face to land in the mud. He tried wiping his
face off with his sleeve, but decided against it when he realized he
was just smearing it all over the place.
He turned, and saw Rover doing pushups in a puddle that matched his
height in length, so his entire front was covered in icky gooey
disgusting mud. Disgusting mud on two disgusted minifigures.
Rover actually wasn’t doing pushups, by the way. He was trying to
lift himself out of the mud but was failing epicly since it was more
slimy and slippery than sticky. Either way, it was still disgusting.
Cyclone stuck out his hand and helped pull Rover to his feet. “You
okay Rover?” he asked.
“No,” the Buccaneer replied, looking down at his soiled clothing.
“I hate getting dirty,” he muttered.
“I thought Ventures liked getting dirty,” Cyclone stated.
Rover glared. “It’s part of the job description, but we don’t
have to like it. It’s like saying Paradox are spies for the
Maelstrom.”
Someone tapped Cyclone on the shoulder. Cyclone turned, and saw Kate
standing there. But something was different....
“Kate,” Cyclone said, “Where’s your Imagination Supplier
Thingy?”
Kate looked confused for a second, before showing recognition.
“Oh, that. It broke a few minutes ago.”
Cyclone raised his eyebrows. “Seriously? A few minutes ago Rover
and I were flying you around over Nimbus Station, and even though it
was working like, a second ago, you’re saying it’s broken?”
Kate shrugged. “It’s a long story.” she said, and proceeded to
tell them what she had been through.
“....and then we joined back together, and you finished doing
pushups in the mud.” she finished.
Cyclone and Rover just sat there with their jaws wide open. “Wow.”
was all Cyclone could manage to say.
“But that’s not all,” Kate stated. “I think the Maelstrom is
back, and we’ve got to get all the minifigures to prepare to
continue fighting.”
“But how-” Rover stammered. “I mean- I saw the Darkitect
explode- and I destroyed the Dark Mythran. Unless it was all a
diversion for the real Darkitect to escape.”
“Probably.” Kate said grimly. “Either way, they’re still out
there, and I doubt they’re wasting any time in plotting their
revenge.”
“Then we’d better go,” Rover stood up, and fished out two more
working jetpacks to replace his and one for Kate. “These will get
us to the HQ faster.”
“Let’s do this.” Kate said determinedly, and the three flew off
into the night sky.
== Chapter Fifty-three ==
When Cyclone, Rover, and Kate got back to the Nexus Force HQ, they
barged into the meeting room, interrupting the faction leaders
important meeting on the future of the Nexus Force, and pretty much
decided it for them. They were taking no chances with the
Maelstrom’s return.
Duke ran up to a console, and discovered that several signals from
Avant Gardens, Gnarled Forest, Forbidden Valley, and the makeshift
outpost on Crux Prime that the Maelstrom was back and were launching
preliminary attacks on the few minifigures that were there.
Duke’s mouth was a thin line. “Alert stations throughout the
system and assemble immediate transport of recruits back to the front
lines.” he said into the console’s communications system after
contacting the Nimbus Station shipyards. Transport ships would be
waiting for the recruits for when they went back to the battlefields.
“What about us?” Kate asked while Duke, Overbuild, and Hael began
giving out orders via the consoles.
Vanda turned to them, and lead the three into a dark room. She
turned on a light and closed the door. When Cyclone, Rover, and Kate
had first arrived, she had only heard small snippets of what had gone
on. “Tell me what happened out there,” she instructed them.
“Okay,” Kate said, and again related the events, this time to
Vanda.
When she finished, Vanda just nodded. “So all our present work
here regarding you guys is over,” she told them. She shook her
head. “It’s a shame the Imagination Supplier Thingy got smashed,
but hey, it’s not the end of the world. I imagine my colleagues
may want to further test the effects of your,” she nodded at
Cyclone and Kate, “and Master Blade’s gifted Creative Sparks, but
I’m afraid there won’t be time now.”
She stood up, and Cyclone, Rover, and Kate prepared to leave, but
instead Vanda went to another doorway. “There’s somethings here
you should have,” Vanda stated. She opened the closet and took out
a bundle of Rank 3 Sentinel Samurai Gear. “This is for you, Kate,”
she told her. Then she reached in, and took out a bundle of Rank 3
Paradox Space Marauder Gear. “And this is for you, Cyclone,” she
said to him. “And Rover, go check out the Animal Care center, I
think there’s something there for you. Or someone.”
“Okay,” Rover left, leaving Cyclone and Kate with Vanda.
Vanda put her hands on their shoulders. “Both of you, use this
gear to work together and fight back against the Maelstrom. I have
to say it, you two are some of the finest recruits I’ve ever seen. 
You have your gifts and you have each other.” she told them, and
she sighed happily. “A Sentinel and a Paradox working together, as
we all should. Now go, and good luck.” Vanda left.
“Wow,” Cyclone said as he equipped his Space Marauder Gear. He
equipped the Wormholer, and tested its chainsaw a few times. “This
is so cool,” he whispered.
Kate slashed her Samuraizer around a couple of times. “This feels
really powerful,” she said in amazement. She swung it at a
large (empty) metal box, and it smashed into bricks. “I hope Vanda
doesn’t get me for that.”
Then the door swung open again and Rover burst in. “You won’t
believe who’s back!” he yelled, and a monkey jumped over his
shoulder. “George!” he announced proudly. “My first and only
monkey!”
“He has a full name?” Cyclone asked, taking off his helmet so he
could view George the Monkey normally and not in X-ray vision. 
George climbed up onto Kate’s backpack and started grabbing any
consumable he could get his four hands on and stuffing them into his
deceptively small mouth.
“Hey-” Kate protested, but she gave up, letting George feast.
“That’s not nice,” Rover shook his head disapprovingly. “Get
over you little rascal,” he ordered, and George hopped off Kate and
onto his friend’s shoulder.
“Nice monkey,” Cyclone commented.
The door banged open again, and then a Bat Lord ran in. He took off
his helmet and practically shouted in their faces. “Where were you
guys?” Intrepid panted. Then he noticed George sitting there. “Oh,
wait till Sergeant sees this.” he said and he ran back out. A
second later he was back dragging Sergeant.
“Hey, stop-” Sergeant yelped, kicking and punching at Intrepid,
but then he also noticed of George. “Ooo, I like Monkeys.”
Cyclone took a brave stance and revved the Wormholer again. 
“Whatever, we should probably go fight now.”
Shortly after, the friends met up at the launchpad to Avant Gardens,
where a large transport ship was docked. There, Gallant Strong
Cyclone, Kate the Samurai, Cheerful Power Rover, Master Blade Nine,
Sergeant Ghost Mustache, Intrepid Fusion Eclise, Lord Brocktree,
Suave Able Cat, Shrill Failed Brick, Argon Dragon Udon, Stunt the
Space Marauder, and Rare Spiffy Agent met up. The twelve recruits,
suddenly a team of friends in a large world, went off to continue
with fate. Everything was back to normal, with the exception of
slightly more powerful Maelstrom enemies, a hiding Darkitect, a Nexus
Tower being rebuilt, and the unlimited-ness of Limited Recruits.
The Universe had returned to its former state, a way that we all are
familiar with. A Universe known by only one name: Lego Universe.
THE END
Category:Stories
Category:Lego Universe