Author's note: You guys rule! Thank you so much! I really wouldn't mind if they do a sequel and add Hina. Now that would be interesting but now is my turn to set things cool in this story. I like that you appreciate her inclusion, she's a big part of Maui's back-story.


8. Oloa Tāua

Resting inside a giant pearl oyster was Tamatoa's treasure. He had seen the old crab many times during his youth. A small hermit one that grew to be a monstrous version of himself when greed settled in and their friendly rivalry between the hero of men and the glitter collector became something unbearable. But that was a thought for another moment as the demigod noticed No Legs curling around the top of the lair. That worm was surely not going to miss the fun and had found himself a first row sit. Jerk!

Well, at least he had found the kid at the entrance and… there it was. Resting on the top like the most important piece of the loot and no doubt it was.

"Maui's fishhook" she took a glance and he followed. The demigod had to admit to himself that he loved the way Curly said his name.

"Yeah…" ouch! What was that for? She had just give him a first class hook.

"Sorry" Curly covered her mouth in surprise and the demigod grabbed her from the collar to put her away. "I thought you were a monster, but... I found your hook and you're right... This Tamatoa really likes his treasure" boy, she sure loved to rant.

"Stay" Maui put her on the ground.

"What? No… I'm... I'm the one who…"

"Listen. For a thousand years, I've only been thinking about keeping this hair silky, getting my hook, and being awesome again" he made a bun for his hair, he wasn't going to let it run wild into that maniac's pincers. "And it's not getting screwed up by a mortal, who has no business inside of a monster cave except -Except...Maybe as bait" he saw some pieces of the scattered treasure, which had probably rolled out from the shell. The girl gave him a dumbfounded look but the demigod ignored it and made her look like a walking treasure chest. If Tamatoa didn't buy that, they would have to come to fists.

"(Sigh) Wow, a shiny glittering cave. And just like me, it's covered in sparkling treasure. Sparkle ... Sparkle. Sparkle" Curly had to sound a homemade drum to get the crab's attention and she wasn't really putting any spirit into the job.

"You're not selling it" the demigod growled from behind the rocks.

"This is stupid, I'm just gonna walk up there" she pointed at the hook.

"You go out there, he will kill you. Just stick to the plan. Oh! When he shows up, keep him distracted. Make him talk about himself. He loves bragging about how awesome he is" Maui whispered and she groaned.

"Well, you two must then get along perfectly"

"Well not since I ripped his leg off" true story.

"Wait, you did what!?" Curly blinked and he ran for higher ground. Maui had felt the ground shaking; Tamatoa had always been a light sleeper. "Maui?" she noticed it too but a little too late because in seconds, the kid was being grabbed by the large crustacean.

"Huhuhuhuuu...What have we here? It's a sparkly, shiny -wait a minute..." Tamatoa threw her into the air to get rid of the entire disguise. "It's a human! What are you doing down here in the realms of the monst- Just pick an eye, babe. I can't- I can't concentrate on what I saying if you keep -Yep, pick one! Pick one! You're a funny looking little thing, aren't you? Oooh what's this?" oh, crap! He had noticed the necklace. Well, good thing he couldn't know what was inside.

"Don't, it's my grandma's!"

"It's my grandma's" the crab did a mocking gesture. "I ate my grandma! And it took a week because she was absolutely humongous. Why are you here?" Curly, stop looking at me! He's getting suspicious! Maui had already tried jumping to the shell without success.

"Cause you're amazing! And we mortals have heard...the tales about the crab...who became a legend" she was able to make Tamatoa focus again on her but he wasn't stupid. He was aware of Maui's presence thanks to No Legs. That puny demigod thought he was smarter than him. The Fool! Very well, he would let him play. "And I got to know. How you did you get so crab...ulous?"

"Are you just trying to get me to talk about myself? Because if you are ...I will gladly do so! In song form!" Tamatoa threw a coin to the water patch above his lair. Maui was trying not to scream out loud. Really, did he really have to start singing? Well, no matter. He would eventually let him on the shell that was like a giant disco ball. But maybe what really started to cheese Maui off were the constant pulling and threats towards the girl. The nerve of that ten feet freak! The moment Tamatoa stopped for a fish snack and got ready to eat Curly, Maui climbed on top and decided to step in.

"Hey! Crab cakes. I'm back. It's Maui time" he easily pulled the hook off, kissed it and started feeling the familiar tickle in his hand.

"Gasp" Tamatoa feared for a moment the worst, letting go of the small human in the process. No Legs said that there was nothing to fear but what if that slimy fish was wrong?

"What do you say, little buddy?" the demigod glanced at his tattoo friend. "Giant hawk? Coming up...Cheehoo!" the hero swung his weapon in joy and the usual blue light shone around him but there wasn't a bird there. Maui had somehow turned into a small fish. Confused, he tried again and this time all transformations came at once and in seconds. "Cheehooo…" let's see here: Shark, iguana, reindeer (Sven?), beetle, pig and again, Maui, who looked confused and scared. You could write a song with that, little god. Perhaps all the talking of No Legs really did the trick and the moral of the demigod was so down in the dumps that he was being overcome by the power of the hook. Tamatoa's eyes stared at each other before he smiled in delight. Now this was a rare moment and a delicious one too. The crab could tell that No Legs was beaming on the top, knowing that Tamatoa would take care of this and enjoy his sweet revenge.

"Well, well, well... Little Maui's having trouble with his look. You little semi-demi-mini-god" the crab shook his shell making his opponent loose his balance, hit the hard surface and finally falling over the edge. The crab grabbed him from the hook, swung it a little before slamming the demigod against a wall. "Ouch! What a terrible performance. Get the hook! (Get it?) You don't swing it like you used to, man" Maui got up despite the pain and glared at Tamatoa. Singing or no singing that dirty seafood dish was going to get it. He tried to his him the moment he used his pincers to grab him again but again, he somehow felt powerless against the crustacean and was tossed against the ceiling, landing with a loud thud. Maui blacked out for a few seconds before coming back to his senses to try and grab the hook again but it was as if all the gods and his body itself were against him. Every single muscle hurt and Tamatoa did noticed that he was awake again so he stabbed the sole of his right feet and hurled him backwards before whacking him with his pincer. Maui was sure that if his liver hadn't just escaped his mouth, it was about to. "Maui man, you could try, try, try... But you can't expect a demigod to beat a decapod. Look it up" the moment he laid a hand on the hook, the crab hit him till the demigod felt down in pain. "You will die, die, die. Now it's time for me to take apart your aching heart" Tamatoa put the hook back on his shell and looked up to No Legs who nodded. Time to finish the show. The crab gave a soft thud making the seashell close, revealing his ability to shine in the dark and even if he hadn't mention it out loud, Tamatoa was capable of neutralizing Maui's powers at least for a short time and if he ate the demigod, he would acquire his strength and abilities. "Your powers will be mine, mine, mine. They'll be mourning you for hours. Bring flowers" the crab walked to his old foe and brushed his hair to reveal an old tattoo. Maui had been able to put Hina away from his skin but even the clever Mabarowa was unable to erase the most traumatic memory of all: Maui's mother throwing him to the sea as a baby. "Far from the ones who abandoned you, chasing the love of these humans who made you feel wanted" Tamatoa grabbed the man from the hair, hovered him over the girl now trapped inside his prison of bones. Maui held his pain for a few seconds and looked at Curly. This was the moment he had feared. Someone getting to know that he was just a runt, someone who had left the gods to find attention… "You try to be tough but your armor's just not hard enough" Tamatoa ignored him and crushed him against the wall before throwing him again into the air and crashing him with one of his legs into the shell. "Maui! Now it's time to kick your hiney. Ever seen someone so shiny?" the demigod was out of breath, he could hardly move, think straight or see straight as the hook doubled in his eyes and became his dear Hina. He was losing her… again and with her, the most important part of himself. Maui almost blacked out again. Tamatoa was spinning faster and faster until he was able to throw the demigod against the wall. "Soak it in cause it's the last you'll ever see. C'est la vie mon ami! I'm so shiny. Now I'll eat you so prepare your final plea. Just for me" Tamatoa grabbed Maui and hurled it into his open mouth. "You'll never be quite as shiny. You wish you were nice and shiny" the demigod felt at the end of his rope and the jaws closed.

"Hey! I got something shiny for ya" a voice broke the crab's concentration. The crustacean looked up and saw that the human was holding something green, shiny and… It couldn't be! Tamatoa spit Maui.

"The heart of Te Fiti. You can't run from me!" Curly started running and the monster followed her. Maui did one last try to save the kid, grabbing the crab from behind but in the end, he felt into the ground. He was too exhausted. "Oh, you can...You keep surprising me. There's only so far you can get on those two little legs" Maui looked up as the girl tripped and lost the Heart into a hole. "Hahahaaa! The power of creation...for the crustacean. Where is it? Where is it?" Before he could put two and two together, the demigod saw her getting his hook and running back to him.

"We gotta go" Curly said giving him the hook which he used as a crutch.

"Wait, what about the heart?"

"He can have it! I've got a better one" she opened the locket revealing the real one. That girl was starting to learn the trickster job and was getting ahead of her master. Curly got to the outside of the cave and saw the geyser that had previously ejected one of the monsters. No Legs saw them with a frown. It was clear that you can make a crustacean do the job of an eel.

"Hahahahaaa! Yes! I have the... Wait a minute... Ugh! I see, she's taken a barnacle and she's covered it in bio illuminescent algae...as a diversion. Grrr! Come back here! Raaaaahh!" the crab ran to get them, losing his bright colors in the sun light. When he was about to grab them, the geyser went off. The steam knocked off the crab and sent the pair into the air. "Oof! Ugh! Huh?"

"Cheeehoooo!" the girl screamed.

"Hey! Hey!...Did you like the song?" Tamatoa incapable of moving in his upside down state looked at No Legs. "Help?"

"(Sigh) Memo to me... Memo to me: Maim you after work" the fish moved away, leaving the crab alone and cowering in the ground.


Oh, now that was a lot of work.

Some quick notes, guys.

1) I came to the conclusion that if the hook was made by the gods and it was so powerful, then Maui had to be in a very clear mind state to handle it. Meaning that he had to believe in himself, be focused and after getting so much hard talking, he was obviously not going to be. He believes that his powers are what he is and so, he gets controlled by them instead of the other way round.

2) Yes, a cameo of Sven. I really didn't saw that one coming in the cinema.

3) The lyrics "Your powers will be mine, mine, mine. They'll be mourning you for hours. Bring flowers" are from the demo version of the song and they caught my attention. Tamatoa was actually capable of absorbing Maui's powers so I decided that he might also be in part responsible of his incapability to handle the hook.

4) There are crabs that shine in the dark, so that part of the movie is actually a rock fact.

5) Judging by the fact that the crab had known Maui for so long, I guessed he had known Hina for sure.

6) "Memo to me... Memo to me: Maim you after work" is a wink to Hades from the Disney version of Hercules, also from Ron Clements and John Musker. He's one of my favorite villains and I couldn't help myself. The timing was perfect to put the quote.

Thank you for reading!