Shadow Play

Takanuva stared at his opponent, taking in her features, that mask he knew so well. "Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm you," she taunted, pulling herself to her feet. "I was stolen from my own universe and brought here. When I woke up, I was… like this." She gestured menacingly and the shadows she controlled enveloped her until she disappeared into the darkness.

Takanuva glanced high and low, trying to pinpoint where she had disappeared to. He had no idea what he would do even if he did locate her. He wouldn't be able to bring himself to destroy an innocent Toa turned to shadow against her will, let alone a copy of himself, and the Matoran had no way of building a prison that could hold a Toa on this desolate world. In Karda Nui, he had been lucky enough to discover flying Rahi with a scream that could return Shadow Matoran to light, but he doubted he would find something similar on this planet.

Far in the distance, he could hear the sounds of water splashing throughout the forest followed by the clangs of metal striking metal, indicating that Gali was still engaged with her own opponent. He shook his head, refusing to allow himself to become distracted - his opponent was here, lurking somewhere close. He could feel her.

"Are you wondering why I'm here?" Her voice came from somewhere behind him. "You'll find that I'm not the only one. Gavla and Ahkmou helped many of us escape our prison on Destral. And there's just one thing that we all want."

Shadows threatened to swarm Takanuva, but he radiated light from his body, ensuring the swirling darkness wouldn't be able to touch him. He considered her motivations. "Me?"

The shadows seemed to stir in agitation at his answer.

"To bathe in the despair we bring to creatures of light. Are you really so vain to think we'd want yet another copy?"

Takanuva dived out of the way as a blast of shadow sailed past, allowing it to strike against the bark of a tree. He used the opportunity to fire back at the corner of the blast but only succeeded in setting a bush ablaze.

"We're evenly matched," came her voice. "Are you ready to see which one of us comes out on top? What will be the deciding factor? Skill? Power?" A snicker echoed throughout the grove. "Or just plain luck?"

Footsteps alerted him to her charge, and he turned just in time to parry her thrusts away. Their blades struck against each other, her attacks fast and ferocious, his counters tight and restrained. Light engulfed the forest and darkness swallowed it back up.

Takanuva retreated from a volley of shadow blasts and began to circle his opponent. She followed his steps as they each searched for an opening. A chorus of dry leaves crunching under feet, water splashing, and weapons clattering rang from nearby.

"I'll win because I have something you don't," he answered.

An enormous wave crashed into the Shadow Toa, sending her sprawling in the dirt. Takanuva let his lance fall and rushed to grab her, throwing her to the ground and dropping to pin her against the mud.

He caught sight of a flash of Gali's blue armor, but just as quickly she disappeared back into the brush, chased by another dark-colored attacker.

His opponent scrambled to get her hands free, managing to twist one arm out. She moved to circle her elbow around his arm. He pulled it back, grabbed her wrist and pushed it back down. He thought about firing a beam of light into her chest, killing her instantly - but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was a victim like he had once been, transformed against her will.

One of her pinned hands began to absorb the light around it as she summoned the power of shadow. His hand felt like it had been dipped in freezing water, but he ignored the pain and pushed down with all the strength he could summon, suddenly thankful for a month of rigorous strength exercises. Even so, he couldn't hold out forever, and he felt her trying to extinguish his inner light. His heartlight chilled and his joints seized up, and each breath became difficult and labored.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" she taunted as if she had read his thoughts.

"I've got a better idea." He wasn't sure if it would work, but he didn't have any better options. He lowered his mask against hers, focusing its power.

The Mask of Light had few abilities worth noting, but he had once been able to use the mask to calm a raging Fikou Nui - perhaps he could try it again. Takanuva pushed the power of light through his mask. His double struggled against him, shoving her hips up in an attempt to force him off her. Takanuva pressed his weight down, refusing to allow himself to be thrown off. He grabbed her behind the back of the head, pulling their masks together. She kept bucking, but he refused to let go.

He could see his mask shining, but what was more, he felt as though his power had opened up her mind to his. He dug deep inside her, looking for the barrier blocking her inner light. Her mind was like a labyrinth, with each wrong turn becoming a flash of anger or a vortex of loneliness. Finally, he found it - a smoky wall in her centremost point. He pushed the power of light into her, tearing the wall apart.

She finally threw him off her, and his back scraped across the dirt as she rammed her knee into his ribs. She moved to press her chest to his to keep him pinned, stopping halfway. Takanuva slid out from under her, scooting back as he rose to his feet.

She created a sphere of shadow in her hand, hesitating. Falling to her knees, she gasped for air as if she had been suffocating.

"You," she croaked. "What did you do?"

Takanuva pointed to his mask. "It's not just a shiny decoration. I wasn't sure if it was possible, but I had to try."

Her eyes widened. "What did I do to you? Did I hurt you?"

"It's only a couple of scratches." Picking up his lance, he heard branches crunch and snap somewhere past a pair of leafy plants. "My friend is still in trouble. What can you tell me about the rest of your group?"

"More copies of us," she quickly explained, covering her mask with her hand. "I've only known them for maybe a few hours. Gavla led two of us to search for water and - "

"Shadow Toa then. That shouldn't be a problem." Takanuva sprinted toward the sounds of battle.

His legs pounded against the dirt. He ducked under a branch and cut through another. Leaves tickled against his arms and twigs scratched his elbows but he didn't have time to notice. He barely registered the sounds of his double's footsteps behind him. He sliced an oversized fern apart and was met with the sight of Gali swirling her axes around her head. A serpent of water as thick as a tree followed the silver blades. Gavla was trying to pull herself out of a ditch full of quicksand as Gali's water-snake lunged toward another dark warrior wearing a blackened Mask of Light.

As soon as the Shadow Takanuva saw the two Toa of Light appear, he turned and ran as fast as he could.

Gali quickly glanced to Takanuva, then to his copy. "You'll have to tell me how you managed to turn her back later. I'm going after the fleeing Toa. Can you bring this one back to the light as well?"

"Yes," Takanuva said firmly. Now that he had managed it once, he was sure he could convert Shadow Toa as many times as needed.

"We weren't the only ones here," Takanuva's double said, her voice wavering. "He's heading back towards the rest of our squad, and there's no way you'll be able to take them all on."

"I'll have to be quick then," answered Gali. Before she could say another word, she jumped into the air, allowing her armor to transform into flight mode. The jets on her feet whined, and she blasted through the treetops.


Kopaka wasn't sure whether to be surprised at Ackar's knowledge of Mata Nui. On one hand, it seemed obvious to him that every culture should know of, and serve, Mata Nui. On the other hand, if these beings did not come from inside the giant robot, then what purpose could them knowing Mata Nui serve? There were a hundred possibilities. Perhaps the Mata Nui had created them, perhaps they served him from outside somehow, perhaps they had some tie to the other giant robot in the desert. His head swam with possibilities.

Tahu continued talking to Ackar, drawing in the sand, pointing to their teams while making strange sounds and shapes with their hands.

"Keep an eye on the other warriors," Kopaka whispered to Lewa as Tahu sounded out a word that seemed to mean 'fire'. "They don't seem to like us too much."

"Blue there looks curious about us," said Lewa. "She even sun-smiled at me!"

"But look at Green," said Kopaka, nodding subtly to a warrior who seemed to be trying to use her eyes to cut him to ribbons. "She isn't happy to see us at all." Kopaka looked off into the distance. Even with his Mask of Vision, he couldn't see any other natives nearby. It looked like there was just the half-dozen of them, each wearing green or blue or red.

Tahu and Ackar scribbled in the sand. Both made a small flame from the tips of their weapons, seemingly trying to communicate the idea of fire. Tahu pointed to himself, and Ackar pointed to a red-armored warrior from his own group.

Lewa made an awful grumble. "How much longer do you think this will take? I think Tahu deep-needs a Mask of Translation."

Tahu looked back and shook his head before returning his focus to Ackar.

"You're right," said Kopaka. "We can come back later to find out more about these beings. We've helped these people, but we're wasting time that could be better spent searching for Matoran."

Tahu was growing frustrated as he tried to speak to Ackar, but the two seemed to share a bond. Perhaps because they were both fire types, as well as leaders of their groups. Tahu waved to Kopaka and Lewa, gesturing for them to come closer. "It looks like they have a society similar to our own. At least four village types; Fire, Water, Ice - "

"And air!" Lewa finished.

"'Tree,' according to Ackar's picture," corrected Tahu. "Maybe 'plantlife?' I think Ackar is the only one here who can control fire, and he doesn't seem very used to it. Maybe he's on par with a rookie Toa."

"So, they are just regular villagers?" asked Kopaka. They carried themselves like warriors and each had a personalized weapon, but then the Matoran of Mata Nui had developed militaries in their thousand-year absence of any Toa.

"No, I don't think so," said Tahu. "The taller ones, the 'Glatorian', are their warriors, and the shorter 'Agori' are their villagers. They're a lot like us in that regard."

"Ask them about their home," said Lewa.

Tahu turned back to Ackar and drew a crude picture of huts and beings. "Where is your home?" he asked, pointing to the sign and then far off into the distance. "My home is this way," he said, gesturing to himself, the picture, then to the head of the giant. "Where is your home?" he repeated, jabbing his finger at Ackar and then the picture.

Ackar gestured toward the giant south-east of them - the smaller of the two.

"So they are like us," Lewa asked. "Beings inside a giant robot?"

"Perhaps that is why they know the name 'Mata Nui'," said Kopaka. "It might translate to 'Great Spirit' in their language as well."

Ackar spoke in his strange language with too many consonants, and made a gesture that anyone would understand meant 'follow me'.

"More beings to help," said Tahu, sounding a touch exhausted. "I suppose we should meet them. Get back to the Axalara - let's see if we can follow the Glatorian."


Now that he knew how, it was a simple matter for Takanuva to use his mask to remove the shadow from Gavla's mind.

"So you take the one thing that gives me purpose from me again," muttered Gavla bitterly.

Takanuva mopped his mask with his hand. "You realize you attacked us, right? You aren't the victim here."

His double cut down a pair of creeper vines to tie Gavla's hands together. Takanuva took her swords and rocket booster and placed them on his back, although he was tempted to try the rocket booster for himself.

The site of the battle was still particularly wet. The earth around the ditch of quicksand was still unstable, and numerous trees had withered from shadow blasts or uprooted completely by Gali's command over water. Takanuva dragged Gavla away to higher land and found a comfortable tree trunk to sit against while they waited. His double remained nearby, regularly glancing at Gavla and checking that she hadn't managed to fray her bonds. In truth, Gavla could likely use her powers to ignite the vines and escape, but then she'd have to face two Toa of Light. She seemed content to sit under their watch, muttering complaints under her breath and shooting half-hearted threatening looks their way every few minutes.

The sun burned overhead, heating up the jungle to uncomfortable levels. The humidity rose to the point that breathing was beginning to feel more like a chore than an impulse. Takanuva found himself looking overhead every few seconds, hoping that Gali would reappear so they could return home. But she didn't.

Takanuva decided to try to pass the time by getting to know his recently-converted friend. "So, when we were fighting - you said you were from another world. Was it like ours?"

"Not at all," she said. "I came from an island that sounds very much like your Mata Nui. We called it 'Okoto'. There were tales that six Toa would come to deliver us from our Makuta, but I never met them. I didn't become a Toa until I came to your world. I didn't even think such things were possible."

"I didn't think it was possible either, until I found the Mask of Light. So then, how were you transformed?"

"I woke up like this. Mask of Light and all. The last thing I remember is a shadow falling over me. I don't know where my Mask came from - your world, or mine."

That presented an interesting possibility. Could there be more than one Mask of Light originating from one world? How was the Mask of Light even created? Was it forged in Metru Nui, crafted by Artahka, or created by some other means?

"Can I ask you a question now?" she asked.

"Of course."

"'Takanuva?' Why would you change your name?" Her voice carried a tone of incredulity to it.

"To honor the rest of the Toa Nuva. Don't you like it?"

"'The New Spirit of Fire?'"

Takanuva straightened his back. "I prefer to think of it as 'The Spirit of Fire, Reborn."

"You're a Toa of Light!"

"But I hail from the Village of Fire!"

"Pretty vain, if you ask me." Her voice carried a light-hearted quality, lacking the sting she spoke with when she was hurling shadows at him earlier.

"So what should I call you?"

She laughed, leaning back against the trunk of a large tree. "'Takua' will do fine."

"That will get confusing quickly. What did Gavla call you?"

"'Hey, you,' mostly," she said.

"No, that's not going to work. No, Naming Day has come early for you!" Takanuva thought about her tale for a moment.

"What's 'Naming Day'?"

"What do you mean, 'What's Naming Day'? Do you not have Naming Day where you come from?"

She shook her head.

"So, how do you get named in the first place?"

"Our parents name us…"

"What's a 'parent'? Oh, never mind that, you need a name now." A thought struck him. "How about 'Okoto'? That's the name of your home, right?"

She stared at the sky for a moment, contemplating the name. "I suppose it will do. So, do I get to call you by a different name as well?"

"But everyone here already knows me as Takanuva, so it would be confusing for them."

"Then why did you change your name in the first place?" she asked, laughing. "Wait, can it be Naming Day for both of us?"

Gavla struggled with her bonds behind her back, loudly sighing. "Don't you two ever shut up?"

Takanuva rolled his eyes. "You're a valuable asset to us. You know what Ahkmou is planning, and where we can find the rest of the Shadow Toa."

"You Toa of Light make me sick," Gavla spat. "Can't you just put me out of my misery now?"

Okoto's eyes brightened. "And you're one of us now. I bet that makes you feel spectacular." She walked over to their prisoner, placing a finger to her chin to force her to make eye contact. "Soon enough, we'll head back to the Toa camp. You can follow us quietly, or we can drag you back." Okoto's finger moved under the Mask of Hunger Gavla wore, delicately tugging on the magnetic seal. "I'm not so sure we can still trust you with this. Would you rather make the trip back with it, or without it?"

Takanuva gave a strained smile, but he was concerned that Okoto was enjoying torturing her prisoner a little too much. If she removed the Mask, Gavla would soon find her energy drained. If they ran into trouble, it might prove difficult to protect a prisoner who struggled to walk. He had heard about the horrors of The Pit, and he hoped that they would never have to create a prison like that again.

The whining of jets alerted Takanuva to Gali's return, and leaves and dirt kicked up around her as she landed.

"You were right," she said quickly, looking towards Okoto. "He managed to shake me. There's an enormous group of Shadow Toa not far north, right by a river. I'm guessing their leader chose to come to the jungle to search for water, much like we did."

Gavla snorted but said nothing.

"We have to leave quickly," Gali continued. "Their entire group will be coming for us shortly. I tried to make it look like I was heading further west, but I doubt that will fool them for long."

Gavla awkwardly pushed herself to her feet. "So, are we going to take the vehicle to your base, or are you going to let the Shadow Toa take me?"

"We won't be able to keep her secure on the Jetrax if she's tied up," said Takanuva.

Gali tilted her head down for a moment. "You three will need to start marching through the desert. I'll take the vehicle and come back with an airship to pick you up."

"Great," said Okoto. "A stroll through the desert sounds fun."

"More fun than being captured by Ahkmou," said Takanuva, walking up to Gavla. "Come on, let's go!"


Lewa hurried after Tahu as he approached the Axalara. He was growing weary of waiting for Tahu to try and communicate with the Glatorian, and Tahu seemed determined to blunder through even more meaningless picture-drawing with the natives when they reached their home.

"Are we really going to follow Ackar to his village?" asked Kopaka. "It would be best to head back, grab a Mask of Translation, and then return."

Lewa nodded in agreement. "Meeting more Agori will bring hard-luck if we can't speak with them."

Tahu was already climbing onto the Axalara, eager to take off and follow Ackar. "We need to find out what their Great Spirit holds. Maybe they know something about ours that we don't."

The eyepiece on Kopaka's mask shifted as he looked to the caravan of departing Agori, their vehicles speeding away into the distance. "We won't learn much without a Mask of Translation."

"Do we even have one?" asked Tahu.

"Mask-makers come from your city district," said Lewa. "You tell us! If you don't know you'd better ask. Otherwise, you could quick-learn to make one yourself!"

Tahu rolled his eyes.

Lewa pulled himself into the rider's seat of his beloved Axalara, feeling his visor shift to accommodate the heads-up-display of the vehicle. A moment later, he was powering up the engines, listening to the aircraft's sweet whine. "Come Agori will be long-riding. We can grab a few masks and be back before we know it."

"Alright," said Tahu finally. "But I won't let this opportunity slip away."

Lewa revved the engine, speeding into the sky. Moments later, the Axalara was zooming back towards the Great Spirit's head. Lewa basked in the feeling of the wind brushing against his head and the weightlessness that flight allowed. The Axalara was his treasure, and although he could easily achieve flight on his own, the vehicle offered speeds that even the Mask of Speed couldn't match. Its sleek design allowed it to push itself through the air, and with a nudge of wind he could make it bank ever so tightly.

Kopaka's cold voice cut through the sound of air rushing by. "We need to be careful about what we commit to. We don't know these Agori, nor do we know what they want."

"I think we can quick-handle them if a fight breaks out," said Lewa, pulling the Axalara higher so it could clear the shoulder of the Great Spirit.

"They've seen what a Toa Nuva can do now, and we've just left the Matoran here undefended."

"They don't seem like a threat," said Tahu. "Ackar is no different to us."

Kopaka shot Tahu a look. "Did you miss the organic material under his armor? The way his mouth opens when he speaks? Strip away his armor, and you have something more biological than mechanical. Can you be sure he even thinks like us?"

"You can't assume the worst in Ackar just because he's a little different to us," said Lewa. "He's done nothing to threaten us or the Matoran. I don't true-think he will harm us."

"I thought you of all Toa would see the threat of an organic being," Kopaka countered. "I remember what the Bohrok did to Le-Koro. I won't let that happen again."

Flashbacks to their old island home played through Lewa's mind. Clean it all, it must be cleaned. The stench of acid burning through wood and plantlife. The screams of Le-Matoran betrayed by their own kind. The feeling of his own mind fading away to the compulsion to clean. Clean it all, clean it all, clean it all. He shook the echoes of memories from his mind. "The krana long-worked for the Great Spirit too, remember? Maybe Ackar is a part of his giant as well."

"You could be right," said Tahu, interrupting Lewa's thoughts. "Other than their organic nature, they seem similar to us in too many ways for it to simply be coincidence."

"Do we even know that they came from the other robot?" asked Kopaka. "Who's to say it hasn't been here for millennia, only to be pulled apart for shelter by the Agori?"

"No," said Tahu, horror smoldering in his voice. "That can't be true. They wouldn't."

"They could be pulling their own robot apart right now. Where else would they get their metal armor from? All I see here is sand, dust, and rocks. No mines anywhere."

"Cut it out," chastised Tahu. "Their armor isn't protodermis, so it probably doesn't come from their Great Spirit. But we will find out soon enough. With a Mask of Translation."


Author's Note

Sorry about the delay in publishing this chapter. I now have a buffer chapter, so hopefully, there won't be such a long delay between chapters again.

Strictly speaking, there's no canon lore that says that a being turned to Shadow can be healed with the Mask of Light, but the ability to use the Mask of Light to calm intelligent beings down and create understanding is canon. Either way, I think using the Mask of Light to return a being's inner light makes more sense than the deus-ex-machina screams of bat-Rahi that Takanuva used in canon.

As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.