(Oops! A/N got deleted!)
I'm back! It's back! And apparently it has 2 readers! Woo!
Moving on...I'm only going to be posting once a week so I can keep up some semblance of a steady pace while still working on this and other projects. Also, please keep in mind that this is AU, so don't get mad for the fact that things don't happen in canon order.
Please review! Constructive critisism is always appreciated. And I only own Bhek (but I hate him T.T).
See you all next week!

Chapter 2: Transform

Vakama found himself seated at a round table with the other five, with Whenua to his left and Nokama to his right. Matau was on Nokama's other side, flirting with her, with Nuju next to Whenua and Onewa directly across from Vakama. When Vakama asked Nokama if she didn't feel awkward being the only girl, she admitted that she did wish her roommate was there.

"Who's your roommate?" Matau asked.

"Her name's Kiina. She's an international student from somewhere called Bara Magna. She wasn't feeling well tonight, so she decided to stay in."

Onewa snorted. "Sounds better than my roommate. Sidorak or something. I just met him today and he's a huge wimp. Didn't want to tear himself away from his video games long enough to come outside." Vakama decided that he and Sidorak might get along well. (A/N: LIES!)

A tall young man with golden hair who looked like he'd just stepped out of an episode of 'Beachcombers' walked over. "Hello, my name is Lhikan and I'll be your server tonight! Can I get you started with anything?"

Before Vakama could politely ask for a glass of water, Nokama piped up. "Hey, I know you! I saw you at orientation."

Lhikan grinned. "Probably. I sort of work at the rez over at MNC. But I can't seem to remember your name, Miss...?" He left it hanging for her to fill in her name. Smooth, Vakama thought. This guy is smooth.

"Rayne. Nokama Rayne."

"Bond. James Bond," Matau said in a mock deep voice. Everyone snickered until Nokama glared at them.

"Well, it's good to meet you, Nokama. But I'm really here to ask if you want anything to drink."

Everyone gave him their orders and Lhikan trotted off to the kitchen to fill them. Nokama turned to the rest of them. "So what program is everyone in?"

"Library," Whenua piped up.

"Astronomy," Nuju said quietly.

"Aviation Operations!" That came from Matau. "I need a job to fund my hobby."

"What's that?" Nokama asked.

"Racing go-karts!" That didn't surprise Vakama in the least. Matau certainly seemed like the 'raring to go' type.

"I'm in Residential Construction," Onewa said. Vakama noticed that he was doodling something on his napkin, and wondered if it was blueprints.

"ECE," Nokama said. Everyone looked at her blankly until she sighed and translated, "Early Childhood Education." She turned to Vakama. "What about you?"

"Uh...G-General Arts," he stuttered. He hated being in the spotlight. "I don't know what I want to do, so I took it instead of another year of high school."

Nokama smiled. "That's good. You can get a good foundation with a General Arts." Vakama nodded with a small smile.

"Hey, Matau, I gotta say, I love your hair," Whenua said. Vakama sent him a silent thanks for getting the attention off of him. Sure, making friends was great, but...for someone as naturally shy as Vakama, it was awkward. There was a reason why he consistently failed drama class all through school.

"Thanks," the chatty boy grinned. "I wanted to dye it all green, but my mom wouldn't let me."

Lhikan came back with their drinks. "Hey, can I ask you guys something?" he asked quietly.

"You just did," Onewa pointed out.

"Okay, you've got me there. But seriously, you haven't been approached by any...I dunno, shady-looking dudes, have you?"

They all looked at each other and shrugged. "No," Whenua said. "Why?"

"Oh, uh, no reason. So, you guys ready to order?"

Elsewhere, a cheesy Disney tune was playing. A tall, thin man with greasy hair and dark glasses blushed and took out his phone. "Master, I'm on a busy street and people are staring," he complained.

"Then change your ringtone. Are you there yet?"

"A-almost, Master."

"Well hurry up! Lhikan's already made contact!"

"H-he had closer access! I had to walk all the way from—"

"Bhek," the sinister voice growled, "I don't want excuses. I want results!"

"Y-yes Master! Sorry, Master! I'll call when I get there, Sir!" The line went dead, and the man called Bhek shoved the phone back in his pocket and took off at a run, ignoring the indignant shouts from people he pushed past. If only Master Teridax had designed him with some wings...!

"Ah, Pizza Hut," Onewa said fondly, patting his takeout box. "I love you."

"Okay, I've divided the bill up into six separate sections, so I think these are the right ones," Lhikan muttered, handing each of them a slip of paper. Vakama smiled. Maybe Pizza Hut could fit his budget after all. "Oh, right," Lhikan added, digging into his apron pocket. "And candies."

"Woo! Candies!" Matau grinned. "Score!"

Lhikan placed one candy in front of each of them. Matau tore into his immediately, the others waiting until they'd finished paying (except Nuju, who ignored his). Vakama sucked on his. Cinnamon. He was about to comment when he noticed the logo on the wrapper. It was a silver circle flanked by two smaller circles and two wavy lines that looked like the number 3. It looked strangely familiar. Then he noticed something else. Each of the other's wrappers were a different colour. His was red, Nokama's was blue, Matau's was green, Onewa's was brown, Nuju's was white, and Whenua's was black. He assumed that meant they all had different flavours, so he asked Whenua what his tasted like.

"Sour lemon. You wouldn't expect that from a black candy in a black wrapper."

"Mine's cinnamon...I love cinnamon."

"I have green apple!" Onewa contributed.

"Mine's watermelon," Nokama added.

"Caramel!" That was Matau.

Everyone looked at Nuju expectantly, who sighed and finally unwrapped and ate his. After a moment, he simply said, "Mint."

Watching them from the cash register, Lhikan sighed in relief. Now, hopefully, their powers would awaken quickly, before—

There was a crash as a large black object came flying through the window. Everyone screamed and ducked. Lhikan stood up with a "Damn."

The figure that had come in so excitingly straightened. He was tall and thin, with hollow cheeks, pale skin, greasy hair, sunglasses, and dark clothes that covered almost every inch of skin. He turned to Vakama's table. "So, you're the Toa Metru," he sneered. "My name is Bhek, but you may call me your doom!"

Vakama fell out of his chair with a clatter. He was in full panic mode now. Wh-what the hell is going on? What's a Toa Metru? Why does this guy want to kill us? He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. So this is it, he thought, slightly numbly. We're going to die.

"Vakama! Everyone, get out, now!"

Vakama opened his eyes to see Lhikan in front of them, his arms spread protectively and a glowing energy shield blocking Bhek from reaching them. None of this made any sense to Vakama, but he decided to run now and ask questions later. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, and they tore out of Pizza Hut like a bat out of Hell.

When they'd reached the corner, they stopped, panting. "Wh-what was that?" Onewa gasped, bending over, holding the stitch in his side.

"I don't know," Vakama replied once he'd caught his breath, "but it was obviously after us. Any idea what a Toa Metru is?"

"No," Nokama said, shaking her head. "It sounds strangely familiar, but I've never—Vakama, what's wrong?"

Vakama suddenly felt like his whole body was on fire. His heart was beating super fast and he let out a yell. Then it stopped, as suddenly as it began. Panting, he straightened. "That was weird," he muttered. Then he looked down at himself.

Vakama screamed.

He didn't look like himself at all. He was taller and more muscular, with a weird long-sleeved red tunic replacing his jeans and sweater. He had old-fashioned dark red pants tucked into the swords-and-sorcery style reddish leather boots that had replaced his beat-up sneakers, and the shirt under his tunic was the same dark red.

Vakama couldn't think of anything to say. He looked up and saw that everyone else had gone through similar transformations. They were wearing the same kinds of clothes that he was, but they were in different colours. Matau's were green, Whenua had black and grey, Onewa was wearing brown, and Nuju wore white and silver. Nokama had the same style of clothes in blue, but the tunic was shorter and she had tights instead of pants. Their hair and eyes had changed, too. Nokama's ponytail was blue, and her eyes orange. Matau's hair was now completely green, and for some reason his eyes were red. Onewa's hair stayed brown, but his eyes were blue now, a darker shade than Nuju's, which had stayed the same, but now his hair was white. Nuju also had a white eyepatch over his left eye. Vakama caught his reflection in a puddle on the ground, and saw that his glasses were gone, his eyes were yellow, and his hair was a brighter red than usual. Whenua's hair and eyes hadn't changed at all.

Finally, Onewa voiced the thoughts that were swirling in everyone's heads. "What the hell is going on here?"

"My mom's going to kill-murder me!" Matau yelped when he saw his hair.

"Not if that Blek guy gets us first!" Whenua yelled, pointing.

Bhek was flying directly at them. Everyone ran out of the way as he hit the pavement and came up snarling. "My name is Bhek, dumbass, Bhek!"

"Bhek!" Everyone turned to see Lhikan, running towards them. But...he looked different too. He was wearing a sort of tunic outfit too, but it was red and gold instead of different shades of the same colour. "Sorry I couldn't hold him off too long," he apologized, holding a hand palm out towards Bhek. "Bhek, Toa don't kill. Go home."

Bhek snarled. "Never! Master told me to dispose of them, and dispose I will!"

"Master who? Who are you working for?"

With another snarl, Bhek launched himself directly at Vakama, who screamed and raised his hands in defence.

Suddenly, there was another scream, and Vakama opened his eyes to see that Bhek was on fire. How did that happen? Vakama thought. Everyone seemed to be looking at him, and he felt a tingling sensation in his hands. He looked down at them and saw they were on fire, but they didn't hurt or burn. "What the hell? Crap, I'm on fire!"

The fire now out, Bhek growled and crouched, turning to try and keep an eye on everyone at the same time. Lhikan gestured at everyone. "Don't just stand there, guys! We can take him if we work together!"

Suddenly a tornado appeared around Bhek, whirling him around and then depositing him headfirst in a nearby tree. Matau had his hands out and a bewildered look on his face. "How did you do that?" Onewa asked.

Matau shook his head. "I...I don't know. I just felt-thought that I could, and suddenly there was this tornado-wind..."

Bhek untangled himself from the treetop and dropped to the ground with a groan. But when he went to take a step towards them, he found his feet frozen to the ground. He looked at the group, and saw that it was Nuju's turn to be wearing the bewildered face. Then a violent earthquake directly under him toppled him to the ground, and Whenua gasped and hastily lowered his hands.

By this time, a crowd was starting to gather. Onewa frowned. Why do people always flock to scenes that they really should be avoiding? He glared at Bhek, needing somewhere to focus his annoyance. Pebbles started pelting their now-slightly-bedraggled-looking attacker, and Onewa took an involuntary step back. Did...did I do that?

The ice shattered, and Bhek staggered to his feet, glaring at all of them. "F...fine. You win today, Toa." He spat 'Toa' as though it were poison. "But next time, I'll be better prepared, and—"

"You talk too much," Nokama said, gesturing. A raincloud appeared over his head, drenching him as he ran off and following him all the way home. She blinked a few times, as though coming out of a trance, and muttered, "What was that?" before looking at Lhikan. "What did you do?"

"Er...this is a really bad place to discuss it," Lhikan sighed, gesturing to the huge crowd. They were abuzz about what had just happened. The waiter started ushering the six towards the Mata Nui College campus. "Trust me, it's going to be hard enough to keep this off the Internet without having the entire explanation up there."

"But—what—who—how—" Vakama was having trouble forming a coherent sentence. "Ch-change me back!"

"In a minute. First, I have someone I need to introduce you to."

"Who's that?"

"My boss. His name is Turaga Dume."