Vezok was unhappy. It's not that he was usually in a good mood - no, he was never happy - but now he was well and truly put off. He, like most Dark Hunters, hated Toa's guts because they interfered. Depending on experiences, some would say Toa were wimps, or were simply stupid or weak. Vezok knew better.
In Vezok's mind, Toa were a challenge - sometimes an unwelcome one, but he could get over that. His experience told him that, if you found the right Toa, you could easily underestimate a powerful opponent. Of course, Vezok was stronger, and smarter. He knew that there was no Toa he could not bring down, as many others did. He was just the only one to know that some Toa could bring him down.
Vezok had fought Toa on countless occasions, searching for artifacts to steal, collecting a tribute from an island with a Toa team on it that didn't feel that The Shadowed One needed any more … but he had never had an assignment like this one, which was why he was angered.
Vezok had to fight alongside Toa.
Vezok's partner in this assignment was Quentorah, a mutation made of three Skakdi fused by one of the Brotherhood of Makuta's less successful experiments. He reminded Vezok a little too much of the Skakdi legend of the warlord Irnakk than he was comfortable with. Still, it was better than getting executed for disobedience, or worse, fried by The Shadowed One's disintegration beams. As he made his way to his transport, he reviewed his briefing in his mind.
So, a team of Toa on a remote island came across some energized protodermis, Vezok reflected. Too bad they didn't dissolve. Anyway, two of the Toa fell in, Fire and Ice. "Ouch," he murmured to himself. "Bad combo." They didn't die - instead, they transformed and fused into a giant fire and ice entity. The entity went completely insane from the fact that his body would change from fire to ice to water to steam to fire again in seconds. The other Toa couldn't subdue it alone, and, looking around for help, decided to ask the Dark Hunters. Of course we took the job. Why not? Toa are very trustworthy debtors.
Vezok came into view of the transport. It was a small boat, sturdy and sleek, but old, and slightly rusted. "We're going in that junk pail?" he asked, more to have asked than to get an answer.
Three voices sounded out in unison, from the far side of a mound of rubble "Yess, thatt iss ourr transportt. Iss therre a probblem?"
Vezok glanced at Quentorah, the source of the voices, uneasily. "No. Just … I would like it better painted off-rust."
"Thenn lett us bbe on ourr way."
"Yes, let us be off."
With that, Vezok and Quentorah boarded the craft and set out for the island. It was not far, but the journey was lengthened, much to Vezok's impatience, as Dark Hunter regulations required they come in from a different angle than they approached at, in order to conceal the location of Odina, the Dark Hunter base. Despite this, they arrived, and were soon met by a party of three Matoran and a Turaga. Quentorah started to speak to them.
After a few questions, Quentorah was able to extract the approximate locations of the fused entity-Toa and the still-sane Toa. Despite Vezok's protests that they should take out the entity alone, Quentorah set out immediately to find the sane Toa.
The Toa were not hard to locate, as they themselves were looking for their hired help. What proved more difficult was to convince them that a three-headed, four-armed monster and a very angry, violent Skakdi was their help. However, that task was soon completed.
There were four Toa left on the team: a Toa of Sonics with constantly rotating twin drills, a Toa of Iron with a shield-hilted sword, a brown-armored Toa of Stone, and a nervous-looking Toa of Air clad in translucent white armor. The latter appeared to have assumed the newly vacated role of leader.
Vezok turned to the Toa of Air. "So. What do you know about this entity? Is there anything else we should know?"
"Well, ahem," the Toa of Air responded. "Since we called your employer, there has been one major discovery. All of this entity's power and mind is condensed into a core of fire and ice that floats in the center of its body. The body is disposable; if the core is removed, it will make a new body. It's also pretty much indestructible."
"What? Hmm…" Quentorah reacted.
"That … would destroy the core, though, wouldn't it? Shouldn't it be cracking in half?"
The Toa of Stone stepped forward. "The powers are attracted to each other. They crack in half, and then are pulled right back together."
"Hm. Then how do we defeat it, if its body doesn't matter, and the core is indestructible?" Quentorah questioned.
"Easy," Vezok replied. "We destabilize the core. Put out the flame for a second, and it should have no more flame power. Then, if my conjecture is correct, the entity will have been only barely stable as it was. It should quickly drop dead after that."
"Toa?" Quentorah laughed, a truly disturbing sound. "Killing their own? No…"
The Toa of Air stared at the ground for a long moment before responding. "We will have to. It's the only way." Thus they set off in search of the monster.
After a search shortened by the Toa of Sonics' Mask of Echolocation, Quentorah spotted the entity stumbling towards them. It had difficulty maintaining its balance due to its changing density. It quickly spotted them. While the Toa and Quentorah dove for cover, Vezok stood his ground. Despite repeated calls and warnings by his associates, he would not budge.
The entity twisted toward him, merging its fiery arms and launching a huge fireball at the Dark Hunter. Vezok leaped up and back, letting the fireball pass him and then landing just in its wake. His left hand reached backwards, just barely touching the fire. Vezok winced and pulled his singed hand back, blowing on it through his teeth. Without warning, he let out a vicious growl.
This angered the entity. It screeched back, showering Vezok in ice darts. He used his newly-absorbed fire power to melt every one except for the very last. That one, he caught in his right hand. After holding it for a second, he dropped it. The hunter then closed in for the kill.
Quentorah had caught on to Vezok's plan and was sneaking around to distract the monster from behind. The Skakdi could barely hear a quiet but tense conversation between the Toa of Air and Stone. He ignored them. He didn't need their help. He reached out with his new power and coated the monster, currently fiery, in ice. The ice quickly evaporated, leaving no noticeable progress, as a layer of ice generated quickly under the extinguished skin of fire. The entity was only more annoyed. It created a thick wall of ice around Vezok, trapping him, while it turned on Quentorah.
Vezok coated the wall with fire. It slowly melted; he was amazed at how cold the ice was. He had to continue a half-minute stream of fire to break out. As soon as he did, he realized his mistake. The fire had been too hot for the ground. Lava had formed, and was seeping towards him. He retreated, unsure of what to do. His fire blast had exhausted his elemental powers for a few moments. The walls were too steep and too slippery to climb. The lava was too widespread to jump over.
The hunter stopped, cut off. He braced himself for the sensation of armor melting and sliding across the tissue. He tried climbing the wall in desperation, but slid futilely back to the quickly disappearing ground. Vezok curled himself tight and waited.
A horrible shriek rent the air, followed by the sound of breaking crystals. Vezok stumbled in confusion and fell backwards. He noted when he had almost hit the ground that he had somehow passed through the ice wall. By the time he realized what had happened, he was on his feet.
Every being stood still. The silence was broken only by the entity's continual phasing and the bubbling lava. The Toa of Sonics stood, still leaning forward, as if frozen mid-scream. The other Toa were crouched, their ears covered by their hands. Quentorah and the entity analyzed the screaming Toa. Vezok was staring at the dust-like remnants of the wall. As one, they turned to the entity. It stepped back and extended its thick arms, and a sphere of fire formed around it. The fire expanded, burning in every direction. The hunters and Toa rushed together, where Vezok and the Toa of Stone formed a shield. The wave passed.
The hunters and the Toa retracted the shield, and formed a defensive perimeter, looking for the entity. It was gone. "Maybbe it kkilled itsellf," Quentorah offered.
"No." Vezok lifted his hand to demonstrate his point. "It's tougher than that. I should know. I attacked it."
"The question remains, though, where it is." The Toa of Iron spoke for the first time. "It cannot be left to roam. Its consciousness has reverted to instinctive aggression. It could destroy Fortress Nofor in perhaps… fifteen minutes?"
The Toa of Stone scoffed. "Yes, but it could render the place ineffective in two."
"Again to searching." The Toa of Air looked down at the ground sadly. "We're right back where we started."
"That's a pleasant way to put it, Barnoc." The Toa of Iron lifted a consoling hand onto his leader's shoulder. "You could say we have another chance."
Vezok turned to a scuttling sound. Shouting a warning, he drew his weapon.
The Toa of Sonics held him back. "No," he chuckled. "That's an ally." The Toa turned to the approaching figure. "Greetings, Turaga Rila. You are well met."
The Turaga, a smaller-than-usual figure with a small hatchet and a small voice, responded. "I figured you'd need my help about now, if you hadn't destroyed the mutation already. So I came."
Toa Barnoc stepped up to the Turaga. "Yes. We have lost the creature. We need to find it before it attacks the towns. We should evacuate all the Matoran to Fortress Nofor and defend it ourselves."
"What difference will that make?" The Turaga smiled at Barnoc. "It does not wish particularly to attack us. It simply wanders, destroying everything it finds. We have little to fear from it. It is most unlikely it will find a village before we find the creature. Now let me work."
Embarrassed, the Toa of Air obeyed. Rila sat, and began to float. His mask glowed, and within moments he stood again. He nodded to his left, and the Toa began to walk in that direction. Vezok followed them.
Vezok stepped into the group of Toa. They stared at him. From a distance, Quentorah could tell Vezok was disgusted, and yet just as impressed. He watched as Vezok revealed a plan to destroy the entity.
The entity appeared and grew on the horizon. Noticing them, it turned and lumbered towards them, to the attack. Vezok nodded at the Toa of Air, who began slowly to create a tornado off to one side. The entity advanced, coming within its firing range. It continued walking, pointing one arm toward them and sending ice shards flying past them. The Toa of Stone raised a barrier to block them.
Vezok dashed out from behind the shield and shouted. "Now!"
Barnoc moved the tornado to the currently fiery entity, which began to blow around furiously, then slowly shrink as it was deprived of air. It was replaced by a body of ice, which was bound tightly by the Toa of Iron. Immediately, the Toa of Sonics emitted a scream which shattered the ice. Before the entity could create another body of fire, Vezok, Quentorah, and the Toa of Sonics had surrounded the core. While the two Dark Hunters used their water powers to smother the fire, the Toa used his drills to destroy the ice. Heavily assailed, the core couldn't regenerate a body. The Toa of Air safely dispersed his tornado, then came running to aid. He created a small vacuum around the core as it was still pelted by water and drill attacks. A moment later, the fire went out.