The Mazkertis Paradox (story)

The Mazkertis Paradox is an ongoing epic written by BZPB members Klak and Kon. Picking up where the story arc of the same name left off, it aims to conclude the arc and its numerous sub-plots in an exciting and dramatic way.

Chapter 1: Harmony, Disharmony
The first chapter opens with a band on Atuar Sadiares practising for a fundraising event which would help repair the damage to the station following the Battle of Atuar Sadiares. However, the lead singer finds that they suffer from a lack of harmony, and forces them to begin again. Across the street, Duke Nukem climbs into a shuttle about to leave the space station, having previously escaped his containment pod offscreen.

Meanwhile on Saskana, Lalli Cain's ship docks with the Cabana, and the remnants of the Claws of the Phoenix meet with Ynot. Klak berates Ynot for putting D-Klak in harm's way, but backs down after the Makuta snaps at him, and seeing the injured Axalara being tended to by Perseus. Cain meets Moe for the first time, and the two D-Klaks from different time periods also meet face-to-face.

Elsewhere on Saskana, a meeting takes place on the Divine Providence between Blackout, Malygos, Figlio di Armechio and Rokubungi Gendo. Malygos expresses his disapproval of Figlio's presence, but the Rider cements his position there by showing the group a hologram of a HYDRA member stealing the Keruvim. He then reminds the group of Mazkertis's plans, and suggests that the Saskanan people should choose HYDRA to protect them, because they have the Keruvim and the Brotherhood and the Dominion have already failed attempting to do the same thing. Gendo reminds them of the Lurians' allegiance with Mazkertis, and Malygos volunteers to deal with them, but Blackout suspects that this is so he can take Kyras, Saskana and Mazkertis' magic for himself.

Back on the Cabana, TPK receives a message from Black Phantom, who tells him that he has detected Figlio's life signs on a ship nearby. Nadle suggests they go after him, so they split up. Klak, Ynot, Kurenitsu, Perseus, TPK and one of the D-Klaks return to Cain's ship, where they take off and request to board the Divine Providence, leaving Nadle, Spotter and Trixitin to look after Axalara and Sasuken. While this is happening, Sasuken has a nightmare of a spectral Kraahkan that tells him to betray Ynot in order to rid him of his Hollow. When he resists, his is attacked by several shades, and is cut down by one resembling HY. He wakes up screaming.

Cain's ship is granted permission to dock, and TPK immediately takes a swing at Figlio upon seeing him, but is stopped by Gendo. Klak and Ynot accuse Figlio of causing numerous crimes, but Cain steps forward to back him up, revealing himself as a traitor who has been on HYDRA's payroll ever since they first met. Several arguments erupt in the room, but are silenced by Klak slamming his fist on the table and restating just how major a threat the Mazkertis and Ascheron alliance is, and that they all need to work together to stop them, else the universe would be destroyed. The delegates in the room reluctantly agree, and split into teams to search for Mazkertis.

Back on Atuar Sadiares, the band finally perfect their medley, and they play in the town square. The sound reverberates throughout the space station, enrapturing the hearts of its listeners.

Chapter 2: Calm
The second chapter opens with Mazkertis storming into Sachiel's medical office on Liquid-Metallicon, taking pills and healing his wounds himself. While running over rooftops above, Fourteen falls through the roof of the office and is injured. Mazkertis grabs him by the neck and telepathically attacks him. Fourteen attempts to fight back with his own powers, but this resistance only tears his mind to shreds. Cassius Calm enters the office moments too late, but engages Mazkertis nonetheless. Mazkertis uses his time-warping powers to turn Calm's own attacks against him, but the monk still manages to blast the wizard through the wall into an alleyway. Sachiel joins the battle and attempts to drown Mazkertis with his powers, but he absorbs all the magic within the water, thus freeing the water of his control. Before Mazkertis can kill the medic, a bullet pierces his robes and he looks up to see John Shepard holding the P90 that fired it. Shepard orders him to surrender, but Mazkertis refuses. A siren rings through the city, signifying that it has come under attack.

Akzer wakes up in another part of the city, having previously been put to sleep by Ophelia Valentine. Upon hearing the siren, he hops on a speeder bike and drives away.

Valentine and her employer Cassandra Thorne make their way to the slums, having sensed an unsettling power in that area. They find Mazkertis, and a mighty battle ensues between him and everyone else there, which prompts Thorne to immobilize him with her power of bloodbending after her initial attacks fail. Unfortunately the wizard escapes her hold by using his powers, and quickly dispatches everyone around him but Calm, who begins to summon his Stand. However, Mazkertis realizes his rapid power usage has taken a toll on him, and disappears through a portal before Calm can finish summoning Noble Eightfold Path. A skiff carrying Akzer and Ozar arrives at the scene to join the battle, but they find that Mazkertis has already fled. Calm helps tend to the injured, and swears that justice will find Mazkertis while Ozar weeps for Fourteen.

A portal opens in Ascheron's throne room on Kyras, and Mazkertis steps out. Ascheron rages at Mazkertis for abandoning him on Saskana, but the wizard pacifies him with flattery, stating that he thought he could handle himself. Mazkertis reaffirms that their allegiance will ensure revenge against their enemies, and finishes his speech with the Lurian salute. Ascheron purses his lips, and returns the salute with "Sieg Luria".

Chapter 3: Freedom
The third chapter is set almost entirely in the UG. Kakamu finds himself in a control station, forced to wait for the arrival of his captor's "master". Not wanting to do that, Kakamu attacks Monarch from behind, intending to damage his suit with shattering power, but finds that he has been stripped of his powers. Monarch responds to the punch by elbowing Kakamu across the room and reminding him to stay down. Kakamu defies him again, running up to him and climbing onto the back of his suit. He manages to remove his helmet by digging his fingers beneath the neck, and sees that Monarch is actually human, like the last Monarch that abducted him thousands of years ago. Monarch chokes and dies due to the absence of air in the room, which irritates Kakamu, because he had hoped to get information out of him before letting him die. Because of this, he begins meditating, focusing his thoughts on his first kidnapping by a man named Monarch and seeing if there was anything in the past that could explain his present situation. However, his meditation is interrupted by a voice entering his head, coupled with a trail of black smoke slithering towards him from an open door. Kakamu converses with the voice via his own thoughts, as a physical conversation between the two entities would be impossible due to the absence of air in the room. The voice reveals itself to be Dukamu, who lectures Kakamu on several things, such as the curse of immortality (after which Monarch's power brings him back to life) and why it encourages suffering (Monarch suffocates again). When Kakamu asks why he is there, Dukamu says that he is bait for a higher power. When he asks what that higher power is, Dukamu shows him a telepathic image of User Kon.

Before Dukamu can reveal too much to his counterpart, User Kon appears in the control room to silence him. Kakamu witnesses the beginning of their battle, but is teleported back to the Claws camp on Malchior IV by User Kon. Kakamu takes a moment to process what just happened, and comes to the conclusion that the multiverse must be saved due to it being favoured by the Users, but they are too busy holding back a larger threat to save it themselves. Running across the beautiful fields of Malchior, Kakamu absorbs the air around him to enable him to fly, and the light from the sun for his battle with Mazkertis. He takes off into the sky, hoping to be reunited with the Claws of the Phoenix on Saskana.

Chapter 4: Homeward Bound
The fourth chapter opens with Shattered Mirror Kakamu touching down next to the portal he helped build with Dukamu on XTR-686. To his surprise, he finds the corpses of two warriors there, Marlon and Luux, neither of which bear any similarities to previously encountered Dark Universe warriors. This leads SMK to believe that they had come through from a universe other than the Dark Universe, which meant that the portal could possibly be configured to lead to the Shattered Mirror Universe. He reflects on the ill-fated attempt to conquer BZPB-108 that he orchestrated several years ago, and decides that his people should be allowed to return home instead of hiding among the people of 108, because they were only trying to preserve their culture by coming into 108 and making room for themselves. However, he realizes has has no way to contact the people of his universe, so he spends a while thinking of a way forward. Eventually, he remembers the thought-projection technology that he detected upon entering the TrSBoM base underneath Stelta-Stal. He teleports there, hoping that it had been left alone by Blackout's forces following his attack.

When he appears on Stelta-Stal, he is instantly attacked by the Rahkshi-Nui created by Xikella, as it sees him as a deserter. SMK manages to destroy one of its arms, but Kivalon commands it to stop before it crushes SMK's armour with its other one. Kivalon is also annoyed by SMK's desertion, but gives him a chance to explain himself. Upon learning that SMK has a number of powerful warriors loyal to him, and that the portal on XTR-686 can be calibrated to go to another universe, Kivalon suggests that they go to the UG and kill Dukamu's army "in their sleep". SMK is horrified by this idea, and suspects that Dukamu's evil is starting to rub off on his brother, which is the reason Kivalon fled to 108 in the first place. Not believing he can stop Dukamu with or without his army, SMK pushes past Kivalon to get to the thought transmitter, making it clear that he would lead his people back home and leave him to fight Dukamu alone. Enraged, Kivalon tries to stop him but SMK blasts him with chain lightning and shoves him in a stasis pod. He then uses the thought transmitter to contact every Shattered Mirror native, and tells them to meet him on XTR-686 in three days.

At the end of the chapter, SMK buries Marlon and Luux and waits for the first of his kin to arrive. A ship lands nearby and five figures in spacesuits walk down the ramp... their leader being Shroom.