Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle, only Kit and Jester.
Awareness began to return to him. The first thing he noticed was that it was dark ––pitch black–– but he didn't know why. The reason came to him when he tried opening his eyes; they were closed. Woozily, he forced his vision to clear and focus. Finally fully conscious, he examined his surroundings. Wherever he was, it wasn't outside of Karda Nui. He appeared to be in some kind of dungeon or cell made completely out of stone. The air was a little musty, but breathable, and the only source of light was a barred window several feet above. Try as he might, he couldn't see the ceiling of his prison. 'Judging from how high that window is and the fact that I can't even see the top, this is a tower of some sort,' he thought to himself. It was then he belatedly realized he was standing up and couldn't move his arms. Taking a look at himself, he saw he was held that way by a pair of shackles on his wrists, both arms bent at ninety degree angles. He could feel the cold of the stone wall against his back. On impulse, he tried to free himself and pulled and tugged, but his restraints didn't so much as give an inch.
"Oh, finally, you're awake," said a familiar voice.
Refocusing his attention to the floor, he found a small figure sitting, a figure whom he knew. "Kit? Where are we?" asked Tahu.
"That's what I'd like to know."
"How did we get here? Where are the others?"
"The last thing I remember, we just barely managed to get out of Karda Nui in time and we were taking a breather when this weird portal or vortex appeared in midair and some kind of bolt zaps out at me. The next thing I know, I'm here with you. I don't know about the others. Who do you think put us here and why?"
"I don't know, but we're getting out."
Deciding to try Plan B, Tahu made the temperature in his wrists shoot several hundred degrees, intending to melt his cuffs. To his astonishment, they weren't even softening. He tried increasing the heat to several thousand degrees, still nothing. "I don't get it," he said. "Even protosteel would be starting to dissolve by now." If it weren't for the metal now being far too hot for her to touch, Kit would've examined them to see if she could somehow get the Fire Toa loose. "Kit, can you blast a way out?" asked Tahu.
"I'll try," Kit replied, and fired an energy ball—only to almost not dodge it in time after it ricocheted back at her. Girl and Toa just stared in shock. "Ok . . . not going to do that again," said Kit. "Not unless we want to play a round of energized racquet ball."
"What is going on here?" Tahu growled as he tried again to break free of his shackles. It seemed they were both restrained in ways that they couldn't free themselves—Tahu in irons that wouldn't melt, and Kit, amazingly, couldn't shoot through the stone that made up their prison. Or rather, what appeared to be stone.
"Whatever this is, it's not rock," Kit pointed out as she felt the wall.
"Are you sure?"
"Tahu, I've blasted through rock far more times than I've bothered to count; it's a cinch. It looks like rock, it even feels like rock, but it's not rock."
Suddenly, without warning, a swirl of purple and yellow appeared in the middle of the room, accompanied by a playful laugh and the jingling of bells. In a flash, Kit was between the Toa and the miniature tornado, hands glowing with energy, ready to attack. The swirls coalesced into the humanoid form of a man wearing, of all things, a courtly jester's outfit, complete with the funny hat with bells. "Lady and Toa, welcome to my humble abode," he greeted with a big smile. "Here you'll be free to do whatever you wish whenever you wish, so long as it doesn't involve breaking out since there's no possible way you can." Looking to the pair before him, he noticed that they were just staring at him as if he was crazy. "What? Is there a big spot on my nose? Did I grow another head that I'm not aware of or something?" he asked.
"Who the heck are you?" asked Kit.
"Oh, seriously, where are my manners?" he said, smacking his forehead. "Allow me to introduce myself. You can call me Jester. Everyone does, actually."
"Why are we here?" Tahu demanded. "What do you want from us?"
"Now, now, Toa Tahu, there's no need to get all fired up. Ha, get it? Fired up."
Jester burst out laughing at his joke, whereas Kit and Tahu just looked at each other. Of the two them, Kit probably would've giggled, but, under the circumstances, she was not in a laughing mood. 'This guy's seriously demented,' she said to herself.
Just then, Jester stopped when he realized that they weren't joining in. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongues?" he asked. Kit and Tahu just frowned, the girl crossing her arms in front of her. "Sheesh, tough crowd," Jester gave in. "Anyway, to get back to our pleasant discussion, I don't want anything from either of you, aside from the pleasure of having you both as my honored guests, which is the reason why you're here."
"'Guests' my mask," Tahu scoffed. "'Prisoners' is what you mean."
"Technicalities, technicalities," Jester simply shrugged. "Alright, I admit it. I transported you two here as my prisoners; are you happy now?"
"Not quite," said Kit as she stepped forward.
Jester, curious as to what she had in mind, cocked his head to one side. Then the girl fired twin energy balls. With a yelp, Jester dodged them by spinning around and around. Kit watched him, perplexed as he kept spinning, as if off balance, toward her. The next thing she knew, she was suddenly flung to the floor as one of Jester's arms struck her backside. Kit groaned and rubbed her new sore spot, Jester's laughter resonating in the chamber. 'That crazy spinning was meant to get me to let my guard down,' she realized. 'He was never off balance.'
Tahu, having enough of this crazy man, resumed his struggles against his restraints. "Oh, I must suggest that you not bother wasting your strength doing that," Jester said when he saw what the Fire Toa was doing. "You see, not only are they so formidably made that you will never break free of them, they're designed so that they will never melt. Your fire is useless against them." He then turned to Kit. "And, I wouldn't use my powers on these walls, if I were you. Just like your friend's shackles, I created these walls to be able to repel your attacks," he casually warned. "Now, if you two will excuse me for a while, I need to go," and he left in the same fashion as he arrived.
"I've heard of having bats in your belfry, but that guy is just ridiculous," said Kit. Despite Jester's advice, Tahu tried once more to get his hands free, to no avail. The girl took a look at the shackles, but they were still a little too hot for her to touch. So, she slumped down to the floor next to the Toa and tried to think. With the Fire Toa unable to free himself and her powers ineffective against the walls, the two had no choice but to sit tight and try to come up with something else.
Elsewhere, in a realm that looked like it was made out of nothingness, Jester materialized. "Just thought you'd like to know that the abduction was a success," he said seemingly to no one. "I have the girl and Toa of Fire."
"Good," said a female voice.
"How long do I need to hold onto them?"
"Until I get what I want, which, with the Protector out of the way, shouldn't be that difficult, so stop complaining."
"Hey, relax will ya. Who's complaining? Or, didn't you hear me say 'need to' and not 'have to'? I haven't gotten to do something like this in a long time. Heck, who knows? They may prove to be so entertaining, I might end up keeping them longer than required."
"Just don't underestimate the girl. She's very formidable with her powers and combat skills, plus she's not the type you want to push too far."
"Don't worry; I've got it taken care of. I swear, you can be so uptight sometimes."
He laughed at his own joke while his partner growled in response.
"Spare me the jokes."
"Boy, you're an even bigger spoilsport than those two. The kid's lips didn't even form a grin. I must be losing my touch, or something."
"This is not a laughing matter; this is serious business. Why can't you ever take things seriously?"
"'Serious' is so boring and stiff. Where's the fun in that?"
"I'll have you know that calling you was a last resort."
"And, I'll have you know that this isn't the first time you've called me to do you a little favor, and, I'm betting, it won't be the last."
"Ugh, why did I ask you for help?"
"Because deep down, you can't resist my humorous antics and charm."
Suddenly, Jester got the feeling that he may have gone too far. He sensed something had changed, and not in a good way. He knew what the chill he felt meant—she was mad. "Kidding. Just kidding," he smiled nervously, holding up his hands.
"Just hold onto them until I have what I seek," said the voice. "After that, send them back, keep them, do whatever you want with them. I don't care." The chill slowly died down and he could no longer feel her presence. She was gone.
Back at their prison, Kit was trying to see if she could coax the shackles loose now that they had cooled off. "Sorry, Tahu, no such luck," she said resignedly.
"How about your energy powers? Maybe you could, I don't know, focus a beam to cut through them?"
"Tahu, I've never done anything like that before."
"Ever tried?"
"No, and unless you want to risk losing a hand, I'd rather not take a chance to test out your theory right now."
The Toa of Fire was about to argue some more when Jester appeared.
"So, how do you find the accommodations, so far?"
"Lousy," said Kit, glaring at him.
"Oh, come now, it can't be that bad."
"Try staying in here for several hours and see how you like it."
"Sorry, kid, dungeons aren't my style."
As quick as the eye could blink, Kit fired seven energy balls. Jester, amazingly, simply side-stepped them all with an amused chuckle and let them ricochet off the wall behind him. Seeing most of them heading right back at her, Kit gasped. Tahu, thinking quickly, activated his mask power, shielding both him and the girl from the balls that exploded harmlessly off of it. Once they were all gone, the Toa let his forceshield down. Kit got into position for a DragonBall-style energy ball. Tahu started—why was she trying another, and more powerful, technique?—but he kept silent. He knew Kit; she had to have a plan. 'At least, I hope she does,' he thought to himself, since the girl had to know by now that any of her attacks could end up getting them killed.
Kit fired the ball, Jester dodged it effortlessly again, and it bounced back at her. This time Kit was prepared and summoned her shield. With a shift in her stance, she made the ball rebound right at Jester. Not expecting that at all, Jester had no other choice but to take the hit and was sent to the ground. Just after he managed to clear the stars out of his vision, he found himself tackled by Kit. The girl threw some punches, which Jester blocked by rocking side to side with his arms out in front of him. He grabbed hold of her wrists and sat her up. Kit screamed in surprise when he sent her into the air with a kick and flip-twisting maneuver. She came down hard to the ground on her frontside, wheezing as the wind got knocked out of her. Tahu gasped in concern, but calmed down a bit when he saw she wasn't seriously hurt.
"Ouch," said Jester, rubbing his arms and stomach. "You sure can hit, and that burned."
"You think that burned? Wait till I use my elemental power on you," Tahu threatened.
"You have to admit, that was quite a risky move she just did, Toa Tahu. Things could've turned out far worse than they did, yet you let her go through with her plan, a plan you had no knowledge of. Do you really trust her that much?"
Tahu gazed at Jester for a moment, puzzled. What was trust to him? Why did he care? "Of course I do. I trust her with my life," he answered, though he wasn't sure why.
"Makes sense since you just did. That's quite interesting considering you didn't seem to trust her and the Toa Mahri enough to tell them the truth about where you were going."
"How do you know about that?"
"But, then again, they say a web of deceit within a group setting makes the story all the more interesting. Especially, when there's more than one spinner."
"What in the world is that supposed to mean?"
"Simply that you're not the only one with dark secrets."
Jester paused to glance at Kit out of the corner of his eye. Tahu glimpsed at her as well before returning his attention to Jester, bewildered. Why did he look at her like that? What did Kit have to do with his last statement?
"You see, Tahu," Jester continued, "your young friend, Kit, who you just admitted to trusting with your very life, knew all along what was going to happen to your village on the Mata Nui island."
"Shut up," Kit whispered, her diaphragm still recovering from the fall.
But, Jester persisted, "She knew from the get-go that your village was going to be destroyed in the manner it was, when it was going to happen, and by what—and she didn't tell anybody, not a soul! She didn't even warn you of your village's impending doom, and she has the nerve to be mad at you for telling her a simple little white lie?"
The Toa of Fire gawked; he couldn't believe it, "No, it's not true." He shifted his focus on the girl, "Please, Kit, tell me it's not true." Unfortunately, Kit just gazed at him with shame before she looked down at the ground without saying a word. There was nothing to say.
"Ah, the silence is so reassuring," Jester said. "I'll just let you two sort this out," and he vanished.
Several quiet and extremely uneasy minutes passed, minutes that felt like an eternity, in the cell. The silence hung like a heavy blanket. Though Kit and Tahu were just feet away from each other, they felt like they were continents apart. Both had their heads bowed, lost in their own private thoughts. While the Toa of Fire was still reeling from Jester's revelation, Kit kept wondering what was going to happen now that the beans were spilt. Knowing the Toa leader, things would no doubt get a little more strained between them.
"You knew?" Tahu finally spoke. His voice, though level, carried a subtle sense of anger and betrayal. "You knew all along, and you never thought to tell anyone, not even me?"
"I couldn't," Kit replied.
"What do you mean you couldn't?"
"Tehreisha wouldn't let me."
"Tehreisha?"
"Yes. I was about to alert Gali when she contacted me telepathically. She told me that part of my job as a Protector is to make sure the story does not change. If it's written in any way, shape, or form, I have to make sure it happens when it's supposed to, whether I like it or not. And, unfortunately, Ta-Koro's destruction was a part of the plot, so I had to let it happen, otherwise, according to Tehreisha, I would've caused the same kind of imbalance I'm sworn to prevent."
A nervous pause followed before Kit continued. "I didn't want it to happen, Tahu—I really didn't—and I still feel awful about it, especially when I think about the pain it caused you and the Ta-Matoran, but I had no choice."
"And yet, considering the secret knowledge you kept, you, as I believe you phrase it, bit my head off for lying back on the beach of Voya Nui," Tahu grumbled bitterly. Indignation rushing through her like a tidal wave, Kit sprung to her feet with the agility of a Muaka and got right in front of Tahu's mask—at least as best as she could considering the Toa was a few feet taller than her.
"Don't you even dare go there, Toa Tahu Nuva," she threatened.
The Fire Toa had the decency to flatten himself against the wall, genuinely taken aback at the girl's outburst; she had never called him by his full title before. Her glaring eyes speared into his like daggers and her low voice was the most ominous he'd ever heard it. "What you and I did is as different as the sun and the moon, night and day, Mata Nui and Teridax. You chose to lie about what you knew; I didn't. I was duty-bound to keep what I knew a secret; you were not. I didn't have any other options; you did." Her tirade done, Kit turned and slowly walked to the far end of the cell. As if her legs just suddenly lost all of their strength, she let herself drop down in the shadows. Her back was facing him and she leaned against the wall. "Maybe now you know how I felt when I found out the truth," she said in a calmer tone. Tahu wasn't sure, but he thought Kit's voice sounded a bit tight and heard a very quiet whimper. He let out a deep sigh, unsure of what to think anymore.
Meanwhile, in the 'nothingness' realm, Jester observed the happenings through a clear circle he held in his hands, almost like a crystal ball. 'Am I good, or am I good?' he thought to himself with a grin. The seed had been planted, now all that was left was to let it grow and fester. The ball dissolved away as he decided to just lay back and relax for a while to relish what he had accomplished. He absolutely loved creating chaos, distrust, and antagonism, especially the kind bred from the deception between people who thought they could rely on one another. Now that the Fire Toa knew about what Kit did, their resentment would thrive to the point where they would destroy each other. He smiled at the grandness of his intricate design. Personally, he didn't understand beings like Mirna who faced their opponents head-on and ran the risk of having what happened to Darcius happen to them. Getting your enemies to do the dirty work for you was so much easier than doing it yourself, and a lot less painful and tiring.