Outside Lego Universe

LEGO Company HQ

Calm Thoughtful Tornado was your average minifigure.  He was one of the ‘freshies’, as in, a recruit fresh from the Venture Explorer.  As he scouted around the Avant Gardens battlefield brandishing his Basic Spear of Stunning, the visual sensors of Stromling Mech picked up his ignorant walking through the battlefield.  The Mech aimed its electro-gun at Tornado, and guess what!

It fired!

Not that there’s anything interesting about that.

Tornado noticed the energy ball streaking towards him, and ducked just in time.  He charged over to the mech and poked it repeatedly with his spear.  Being the unknowledgeable freshie he was, he didn’t know why the mech wouldn’t smash.  It just kept wobbling on its leg, then balancing itself, and then start wobbling again.  Tornado didn’t realize that the problem was that he was poking it at its cheastplate, the area of it with the strongest armor.

Tornado jabbed the mech for the seventy-second time before just giving it a kick with his foot.  The mech smashed.

“Aha, so if this spear didn’t work, but my kick did, then I’ll go around and kick all the mechs!” Tornado thought aloud.  He ran over to the nearest mech and gave it a good kick.  The mech stared at him for a second, before batting him away.

“Ow.” Tornado moaned as he got up, and found he was sitting in the midst of a bunch of Stromlings.  “Uh oh.”

“Hi.” said one of the Stromlings.  “Want to be infected like me?”

Tornado gaped.  “Yikes!  A talking Stromling!”

Tornado got up quickly and ran for his life.  He darted into the Sentinel Base Camp and hid behind a bunch of trees.  When he was certain that no more talking Stromlings were going to infect him, he crawled out from the trees and noticed a Sentinel Guard standing there.

“Hello,” Tornado said to the guard.  He didn’t answer.  “Um, excuse me?  I said hello.”

The guard didn’t make any motion to show that he had acknowledged him.  Tornado waved his hand in front of the guard’s face, but with the same result.  “Weird,” Tornado thought.

At that moment, another freshie ran into the Base Camp screaming.  A bunch of Stromlings were chasing him.

“Wait!” one of the Stromlings was shouting.  “I just want to infect you!  It’ll only take- ow!”

The Sentinel Guard fired at the Stromling, and the Stromling smashed.  Tornado shrugged and decided that Sentinel Guards were trained to be weird and not do anything other than smash Stromlings.  With a sigh, he ventured deeper into the Base Camp.

## Chapter 1

Tornado was a freshie, but that was the past.  Now he had joined the Assembly Faction, went to Gnarled Forest and Forbidden Valley, fought on Crux Prime, and learned the arts of Spinjitzu on Ninjago.  He was now your average guy, smarter, older, quicker, and more experienced.

Tornado strolled over to an Assembly Vendor in Nexus Tower, and finished buying the last of his Rank 3 Assembly Engineer Gear, namely the Valiant Serratorizor.  “Way cool,” he said, as he ran around the tower smashing stuff.

“Hey, kiddo.” a janitor called to him.  “The more you go ‘round smashing stuff, the more I have to clean this tower up.”

“Sorry,” Tornado called, and using his Assembly Building skills, rebuilt everything he had smashed.  Not a loose brick remained on the floor.

The janitor stood there with his hands on his hips, impressed.  “Nice job there, kid.  The name’s Jones, by the way.”

“Thanks, uh, Jones.” Tornado said, and he went off to the main section of Nexus Tower.  The plaza was packed with minifigs buying, trading, and selling stuff, or just chatting.  Tornado went over to the Maelstrom Infected Bricks converter and turned all the Maelstrom Bricks he had collected over the months of his being in the Nexus Force into Assembly Faction Tokens.  Happily he left towards the Nimbus Station Launch Pad, where he launched his Assembly Rocket out into space towards Nimbus Station.

When he arrived in Nimbus Station, he made his way over to the Nimbus Isle Launch Pad, where his home was located on one of the properties there.  He flew over to his Isle, and the familiar sight of his home, his personal forest and pool, and just all the pretty surroundings greeted him.

He landed the rocket and ran over to the house, where his pet terrier named Terry greeted him with a woof.  Tornado patted his head.  “Good dog,” he said, before walking down the path to his mailbox.  His yellow flag, which showed that new mail was in it, was propped up, and Tornado opened the box and pulled out his mail.  He entered his house with Terry following him, and took off his Assembly Gear before changing into his normal clothes.  After eating a short dinner and feeding Terry and his pet goldfish, he retired to his living room where he sat in his recliner, watching the evening news on his TV.

“....as the winter season continues on, it appears that the Frostburgh comet will not be returning this year to the Nimbus System.” a reporter guy was saying.  “We all had fun last year on that snowy world, with snowball fights everyday.  We still have some souvenirs from last year here, right Casey?”

“That’s right Roy,” the lady reporter called Casey agreed.  “And continuing with our annual space weather report, there is yet more activity going on with the nearby giant star Epsilon 55c.  Our top scientists believe it is near the end of its lifespan.  If you look into the night sky right now, that bright dot near the Nebula Constellation is Epsilon 55c.  Through a telescope, you can make out its orange color.  Back to you, Roy.”

“A light snow is expected in the morning for Nimbus Station, and as the worlds in the Nimbus System continue on their orbits, a spectacular Solar Eclipse is expected for Avant Gardens when Forbidden Valley moves between it and the Sun.  The eclipse will last for two minutes, and can be seen in the Avant Gardens Launch Area.  People in other areas such as the Sentinel Base Camp and the Monument will see a partial eclipse, so all free minifigs out there better be in the Launch Area if they want to witness the full event.”

Tornado turned off the TV, and reclined farther back.  It was only then that he remembered the mail he had gotten earlier.  He reached over to the table where he had placed the mail, and began sifting through it.  Envelopes, bills, his property rent, boring stuff.  Until he came to an envelope marked with the Nexus Force seal, with “High Priority” written on it.

This intrigued Tornado.  He gingerly opened the envelope, and pulled out a short letter.  It said,

“Calm Thoughtful Tornado, report to Nexus Tower for briefing with the Faction Leaders at 10:30 AM on Friday.  Very high priority.”

Tornado’s heart beat faster.  What did the faction leaders want that involved him?  Tornado placed the letter down on the table, and went up to his room to get some sleep.  He would find out what the faction leaders wanted in the morning.  For now, he would get some rest.

## Chapter 2

As the weather forecasters had predicted, a light snow had fallen in Nimbus Station.  Kids ran around laughing as they threw powdery snow balls at each other.  Tornado, dressed in his Assembly gear, navigated his way to the Nexus Tower Launch Pad.  Once there, he took off into the falling snow, and exited Nimbus Station’s atmosphere.  Through his retractable glass cockpit canopy, Tornado watched as the stars whizzed by, before setting his rocket on autopilot to Nexus Tower.

His rocket arrived at Nexus Tower half-an-hour later.  Tornado checked his watch.  It said, 9:57.  33 more minutes to go.  Tornado guided his rocket into Nexus Tower’s landing bay, and strode from there into the briefing room where the faction leaders would expect him.  Along the way, he passed several vendors, and was tempted to spend some coins and faction tokens on some items.  He advised himself against it, as it may take too much time, and just entered the briefing room.

It was now 10:04.  When Tornado entered the room, he found three other recruits in there.  A Rank 3 Venture League Daredevil, a Rank 3 Paradox Space Marauder, and a Rank 3 Sentinel Space Ranger.  He took a seat next to them, and awaited the faction leaders’ arrivals.  To pass the time, he picked up a copy of ‘Assembly Extravaganza!’, a magazine.  He reread some of the building tips and things he had read before, since he already a copy of this, but enjoyed reading it nonetheless.  Building was one of Tornado’s favorite things, besides grinding enemies to earn more bricks and modules for his properties.

While he read over instructions on how to build Dr. Overbuild’s robotic dog, he didn’t realize that the faction leaders had entered the room, and were standing on a center stage, until the time reached 10:30.

Duke picked up a hammer and banged it on a table several times.  Tornado was jerked back into reality and looked around, surprised, when he remembered what was going on.  He sat in attention, staring at Duke Exeter, Dr. Overbuild, Hael Storm, and Vanda Darkflame who stood there.

Tornado noticed that the faction leaders appeared, sort of disturbed.  Duke Exeter cleared his throat, and after looking around to make sure the doors were securely locked, and no one else besides them were in the room, said, “I am sure you are wondering why you have all been summoned here.”

Tornado nodded.

“As you might all know, the nearby star Epsilon 55c is nearing the end of its lifespan.” Duke stated.  “I’m not all with science and stuff like that, Doc?”

Dr. Overbuild continued.  “When large stars die, they explode in a supernova.  Wasn’t that easy enough for you to say, Duke?”

“Easy fer you to say, Doc.” Hael said.

Duke tugged at his shirt collar.  “Well, if our predictions are true, Epsilon 55c will explode on the 30th of January, and there is a 90 percent chance that all life in the Nimbus System will be eradicated.”

Tornado sucked in his breath.  He turned to see the effect this news was having on the other recruits.  They too seemed to be in shock.

The Space Ranger raised a hand.  “This is, disturbing, news, but where do we come in?”

“Oh, yeah, that.” Duke said.  “Vanda?”

“We have been thinking of a plan on how we were supposed to protect minifig-kind.” Vanda stated.  “Dr. Overbuild and I have been studying with teleportation devices, like the one my agent Hu Where uses to get around quickly.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to create a portal large enough to transport everyone to a safe place.”

“Wait,” the Venture interrupted. “why can’t we all just escape in rockets?  And doesn’t the public know what is about to happen?”

“Well, no, and no.” Vanda replied. “Rockets would not be able to outrun the supernova, and even less escape all the radiation that will turn this place into no-mans-land.  We don’t want to cause panic either, so that is why we can’t let the public know of this, for now.”

Tornado’s heart was beating rapidly, and his clothes were drenched in sweat.  His thoughts were jumbled.  Supernova, eradication of everything he knew, it made him feel sick.

“So, why haven’t we assembled everyone in starships to go and escape through a portal?” the Space Marauder asked.

“Well,” Vanda said, “we don’t even know what would be on the other side of the portal-”

“-so that’s what we are here for.” the Space Ranger interrupted her, sounding grim.  “You’re sending us through it first, as test subjects.  You don’t even know what will happen once we get out the other side, if we get to the other side.”

Vanda was silent.  She exchanged a glance with the other leaders.  Overbuild stepped forward.  “Well, not exactly.  We actually have already made sure nothing will happen to you along the way, but what we don’t know if where you’ll end up.  Your mission is basically to scout out the other side of each portal we launch to find a suitable place for minifigure-kind kind to live until the Nimbus System, or what is left of it, becomes safe again.  And now is the time for you to chose whether you will help us, or not.”

Tornado glanced at the other three recruits.  They all seemed to be weighing the options.  Tornado knew he had to do something, so he stood up.  “I will help you.” he said as boldly as he could.

The Daredevil stood up as well.  “As will I.”

“Me too.” the Paradox rose.

All eyes turned to the Space Ranger.  “All right,” the Sentinel finally said hesitantly, and stood up to join the rest of them.

## Chapter 3

The faction leaders led Tornado and the other recruits down the long hallways of Nexus Tower.  Along the way, Tornado had learned the names of the other recruits, as well as some other things about them.

The Venture Daredevil, who’s name was Trever, or Trev for short, was an amazing shot with his Flareguns and a nightmare with his Rutcarver.

Gwen was the name of the Space Marauder, and it’s amazing what she could do with her Wormholer.  Her skills rivaled that of Trev’s.

And then there was Raymond, the Sentinel Space Ranger.  He was pretty grouchy, but he was still a good ally to have in a fight.

They arrived a small science lab.  Overbuild went over to a weird device with wires and antennas sticking every which way, and started fiddling with a few switches and levers, while Vanda and Hael stood guard at the doors.  Duke motioned for them to stand by.

Overbuild pressed a few buttons, and then pulled down a lever.  The machine started making a low humming sound.  A blue circle appeared inside the doorway that was next to the device, and slowly the circle grew larger.  Light flashed a couple of times as the blueness filled the doorway.  The light flickered once more, before revealing a long blue vortex.

Dr. Overbuild gave a thumbs up sign.  Duke handed out some backpacks to each of the members of the team.  “Each of these backpacks contains a special Tracking and Communications device combined.”

Vanda stepped over, and stuffed a bunch of Wormholers in each backpack.  “You never know when you’ll need these,” was all she said, before returning to her post at the door.

Duke gave Vanda an annoyed look, before continuing.  “Your job will be to explore each place we send you.  If it seems like a good place for minifig-kind to live in, then we’ll get the transport ships ready.  If not, then return through the portal, and we’ll reconfigure it for another destination.”

Tornado nodded.  He, Trev, Gwen, and Raymond slung on their backpacks, and stepped over to the portal.  Tornado’s heart pounded rapidly in his chest.  He was actually going to a place that was never gone to before!  Taking a deep breath, he entered the portal.  The last thing he heard before the sound of rushing wind was Duke calling, “Be careful!”

There was blue everywhere.  The light was so thick he could touch it.  A small shaft of light appeared seemingly far away.  He took one step, and suddenly was right in front of it.  Tornado took another deep breath, before stepping through the light, and into....

## Chapter 4

Everything was dark.  Tornado opened his eyes, and found himself staring up at something so far away it was blurry.  He blinked a couple of times, and tried focusing.  The infinite whiteness remained blurry.

Tornado propped himself up on one arm, and looked around.  He noticed Gwen and Trev lying nearby, unconscious.  Just like he had been.  Raymond was nowhere to be seen, and the shimmering blue portal flickered and flashed next to a large wall that stretched up higher than any wall he had ever seen before, higher than even the cliffs on Avant Gardens.

That was when he remembered the Tracking and Communications device thingy in his backpack.  Tornado pulled it out, and found it already set to a frequency that the faction leaders were using.  “Hello?” he said into it.

There was nothing but static on the other end, but Tornado thought he could make out a few changes in the way the static sounded, if that was even possible.  “Hellooooo?” he called again, when suddenly he noticed the portal flickering like crazy.  He watched for a few more seconds, before it suddenly disappeared all together.  Uh oh, he thought.

The Tracking and Communications device stopped producing static as soon as the portal disappeared.  It was silent, like if all communication with the faction leaders, wherever they were, had abruptly ended.  Then it dawned on him.

Tornado and the other members of his team were alone.  Alone in an uncharted and unknown place.  Far away from a home about to be destroyed by a supernova.

Tornado trembled.  He had never really felt this alone in his entire life.  Here he was, with only a few other people on his team he barely knew- wait, speaking of team, where was Raymond?

Tornado looked around.  Nothing but long stretches of empty space ending in infinite blurriness.  He was beginning to hate blurriness.  Everything over five hundred studs away was blurry!

Tornado thought for a second, then looked at his Tracking and Communications device again.  Being an engineer, he knew a lot about computers and electronic devices.  Maybe he could try and establish communications with Raymond, the runaway Space Ranger, wherever he was.

After pressing a couple of buttons, a screen on the T and C device displayed that it had established communications with TC-03, most likely the one which Raymond had.  “Raymond, are you there?  Hello?” he called into it.

There was just silence for a few seconds, before he heard Raymond’s voice.  “Yoo hoo, look up!” his voice said from the device.

Tornado looked up, and focused on a blue and white object somewhere far up the seemingly infinite cliff.  It was Raymond, and he appeared to be stuck in some sort of web.  A large black shape was next to him to, and Tornado recognized it as some sort of 8-legged creature.... a Dark Spiderling!  AAAAAAAHHH!!!!

Tornado grabbed onto the wall and tried climbing up, but kept slipping down.  Then he thought of a better idea.  He reached into his backpack, and pulled out a climbing rope.  He tossed it up, and it latched onto one of the transparent strings of the Spiderling’s web.  He was confused as to why Raymond wasn’t infected by the Spiderling yet, and he climbed up as quickly as he could.

He climbed up next to the Space Ranger, and holding onto the rope with one hand, pulled a knife from his backpack with the other.  While he worked on cutting Raymond free, he asked him, “What are you doing up here?”

“Mr. Dark Spiderling over there carried me up,” Raymond explained. “But now he’s just sitting there not doing anything.”

Tornado turned, and realized how close he was to the monstrous spider.  But as Raymond said, it was just sitting there.

“Come on, let’s go,” Tornado said as he finished cutting the last strand that surrounded Raymond.  He helped him onto the hook, and they began sliding down.  Halfway down, Tornado happened to look up, and he nearly passed out when he noticed that the spider was following them.

“Uh, Mr. Dark Spiderling is following us!” Tornado said shakily.

“Ugh, I really don’t want another encounter with him.” Raymond groaned.  He pointed to two holes in his armor.  “It’s teeth pierced my armor here.  Good thing we’re plastic.”

“Still, I don’t want a Dark Spiderling following me around.” Tornado pulled the wormholer Vanda gave him out of his backpack.  He aimed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpBrhsqHErQ