Confrontation
Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle or Lego.
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It was dark, damp and scary. But he couldn't let the fear get to him. The captured Toa sat on the bench in his jail cell. It seemed that inside the cell that the water was even murkier than near the Pit, as the Matoran spoke of. It was almost pitch black, the only source of light was from his Icy Cordak Blaster and his Frozen Claw, both right outside his jail cell, out of his reach. He didn't look up, remaining motionless for what seemed like an eternity. The more he sat, the more he thought. The more he thought, the more he despaired. And soon enough, a small realization of fear started to creep in his mind; a fear of failure.
"How could I let myself get captured?" the Toa thought to himself outside, "how could I have let myself be imprisoned by the very Matoran we Toa were sworn to protect? Why did I even participate to ask the Matoran where they saw the Mask I was charged to hold? Now… now Mata-Nui will die for sure, all because of my rash decision." He finally got up from his bench, walking to the bars and clenched two of them. Normally he'd use his ice powers and escaped, but it seemed the jailor, Hydraxon, was much more cunning than he thought, creating bars in a jail cell to counteract a user of the cold.
"I just hope the others will find the Mask of Life before the Barraki do." As he finished his thought, he caught a whiff of something. Something funny. Something… burning. His hands also began to experience pain. It suddenly and finally dawned upon him. He looked to his hands, still clenched onto the bars, with the bars glowing a bright red, a searing heat radiating. His hands were burning! As quickly as he could, he retracted his hands from the red-hot bars, though his hands were severely burned and torched.
"What trickery is this?!" he yelled out loud. A loud thud caught his attention, suddenly ignoring his hands. It came from outside his cell. Another thud came, this time was much closer. And another. That is when the captured Toa learned that those weren't just any thuds, but footsteps… footsteps belonging to something huge. Though it was still dark, he saw a shadow casting off of the burning bars. What it cast was something, as he thought, huge, wielding a giant blade in it's hand. As the footsteps got louder and louder, the Toa braced himself for a fight, his weapons would be his fists, ice powers, his Kanohi Mask of Reanimation and his wits. But that battle never did come. Soon, two bright blue lights shone through the bars, along with a pair of bright red eyes looking down on the Toa. Suddenly, a bright light filled the entire cell, as the giant figure used it's sword to light up the room, blinding the Toa. When his eyes finally adjusted, he took a good look at his 'visitor'. To his surprise, it was the robot guard of Hydraxon, Maxilos, looking down on the the prisoner with a blank and monotone face (normal for a robot). His red and grey armor, however, did not reflected the light from his massive Flame Sword, which seemed more like a combination of two other blades.
"What do you want?" the prisoner asked, with discontent in his voice.
"Scanning." The robot guard began, "Target Identification: Toa Matoro. Status: Prisoner of Hydraxon of the Pit. Processing Application – Executing: Do you know who I am?" The question threw the Toa off a bit.
"Yeah? You're Maxilos, the pile of junk working for the whacko Hydraxon."
"No." That made Matoro almost jump, "Do you know who I am?" As the question came to a close, the monotone voice of the robot guard began to grow, deep and surprisingly… familiar.
"Wh… what's wrong with your---?" it finally dawned upon him, with a horrifying realization, "Makuta! I should have known you would show your ugly self around here! I don't know how you survived, but I'll---!"
"Calm yourself, Matoro." the Makuta began, raising his free hand in halt, "Yes, it is true that I have returned. But you may put your worries to rest. I have not come to destroy you. In truth, I've come to help you."
"Help us?"
"Yes. I have learned of my brother, Mata-Nui's condition and if something isn't done, he will die."
"Yeah," Matoro rebutted, "caused by you!"
"Yes. If I had known of what my conquest would have done, I would never have put my brother to sleep in the first place. Now I realize that my greed for power may very well end all existence."
"What makes you believe that I'd belief a lie like yours?"
"Matoro, do you remember the time I battled Takanuva?"
"How could I not? I was right there when Takaknuva whooped your sorry can and mopped the floor with you."
"More like defeated, your insolence may get you in great trouble, Matoro. Anyways, the Toa of Light and I fought a long battle that destroyed much of my chamber. After all that, he rose victorious… but I wasn't going to go down without a fight… neither would he. He lunged at me, prying my Mask of Shadow from my face. That's when we fell in the pool of Protodermis. In the pool, we continued to batlle one another, until t seemed I heard of a voice in my head. The voice itself was heavenly and pure. It was the voice of my brother."
"What garbage!" the Toa of Ice interrupted. The Makuta stared at the prisoner with discontent.
"Anyways, when I heard my brother speak, Takanuav and I were combined into one being: the Mighty Takutanuva! Takanuva's benevolence seemed to alter my ways. No longer was I the evil, corrupt Makuta I was long ago. We lifted the Gate to Metru-Nui to allow them back to their home, but died when we brought your leader, Jaller, back to life. Only Takanuva's mask remained and my broken shell."
"Like I said, you got whooped." Matoro spoke again, "So what happened next for you."
"As you may or may not know," the Makuta continued, "whenever a Makuta loses his or her body, that body becomes useless to use and only thing that remains of our existence is our essence. That, in essence, is our true form. You may know our essence as a cloud of green gas. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes. Weeks after my defeated, I learned of my brother's dying condition and the only way to save him was the use of the Kanohi Mask of Life. But I alone could do nothing, but out of a stroke of chance, a band of those infernal Skakdi known as the Piraka stumbled upon by broken body. There, I bore witness to their outcast Piraka, Vezon. At the time, I hoped that perhaps I could use these beings to do my bidding and retrieve the Mask for me save Mata-Nui!"
"But that didn't work, did it?" Matoro asked.
"No. The Piraka instead used this information for their own greed and used my essence as a weapon, transforming me into what they called 'Antidermis' and making them into Zamor spheres. None of the Piraka gave a care of what they were dealing, except for their leader, Zaktan, who had an idea of what they were using… and used it to his advantage. He and his lackeys used the Antidermis to enthral the entire populace of Voya-Nui in search of the Mask I told them of. They also used my essence to strike a deal with the Titan, Brutaka. In exchange for his services, he would to use my essence to make him more powerful and aggressive. They keep my essence in a large vat to store their primary weapon, until a battle with the Titans, Axxon and Brutaka, resulted in the destruction of that vat. Though I was finally free from the Piraka's thrall, a great pain rippled through my essence, nearly destroying me. At that point, I realized, whether good or bad, I couldn't hide behind my lackey's anymore; I had to do things personally. So, I followed you and your friends down to Mahri-Nui and toke over the body of the robot guard, Maxilos, in order to communicate with you and help your cause." The Toa started at the 'guard' with great disbelief, a frown on his.
"Wow…" he finally spoke, "that has got to be the biggest lie ever. Even a brainless Rahi wouldn't believe in that!"
"I understand why you do not believe me," the Makuta appealed, "but I truly have changed."
"Really? Well, we'll just have to see what the other Toa will make of this---"
"There is, one request I ask for: do not let the others know who I am. If they were to find out of my little secret, they will grow angry at you, hate you and even disown you. They would get killed by my hands in self-defense and with no choice. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"I thought you---" Matoro began, but soon stopped, "nevermind…"
"So, Matoro," the Makuta began again, "do we have a deal?"
"Should I side with his greatest enemy?" the Toa thought to himself, "If I don't, he may very well try to get the mask and leave me here. If I do join him, I'd betray my friends and Matoran by siding with him. Maybe… maybe I could give him the benefit of the doubt and side with him and if he slips-up even once, then he's done for."
"Very well, Makuta," Matoro spoke out loud, sticking his arm out of the cell, in a friendly posture, "I accept your offer." The Toa and the Makuta shook hands.
"Excellent." The Makuta of Metru-Nui exclaimed, "I knew you'd make the right decision. Now, about these bars. He raised his humungous scimitar over his head, and, quicker than the blink of the eye, destroyed every bar of Matoro's jail cell.
"Great," Mator spoke half-heartedly, "we gonna try and find the Mask of Life?"
"Yes, but not right now. I… have a little job for you. Follow me." The Makuta in the body of Maxilos walked away into the darkness with Matoro not too far from the robot. Matoro dreaded, knowing if something were to happen, it would cost him, his friends, the Matoran and everything else theirs lives. What had he gotten himself into?
End