Chapter 8

A Big Mistake

The gang — minus Littlefoot — watched from behind some rocks as their Matoran friends fought against the strangers Dalu had spotted. Some of the gang — mostly Cera — had wanted to be included in the fight, but Garan had decided against it. Instead, he had asked them to hold back and not attack unless the Matoran were to fall. As a result, all they could do now was watch and hope that nobody would get hurt in this fight. However, it was quickly becoming clear that the Matoran and the strangers weren't the only ones fighting.

"How can you possibly think that they're Toa!" exclaimed Cera.

"I'm just saying that they don't look like they might be like the Piraka, so maybe they really are Toa," replied Ruby.

"They don't look like any Toa I've heard of before."

"Toa have elemental powers, and these strangers do have elemental powers," said Ruby, pointing out the wall of flame that the red-armored stranger had just created between his group and the Matoran.

"They're not even wearing any masks! Everyone knows that all Toa wear masks, and if these guys don't have any, then that means they're not Toa."

The rest of the gang — Ducky, Petrie, Spike, and Chomper — didn't want to take sides in the argument, so they silently continued to watch their Matoran friends battle the strangers.

Some of the strangers spoke to each other, but the gang couldn't hear them over the roar of the flames. Soon, they heard the blue-armored stranger scream when Dalu used her Chargers against her. Not long after that, the white-armored stranger walked right through the wall of flame — which the red-armored stranger then doused — and approach the Matoran.

"Okay, don't tell me that guy is a Toa of Ice, because he just walked right through that wall of fire!" exclaimed Cera.

"I think you might be wrong, Cera, wrong you might be," countered Ruby as they watched the white-armored stranger encase Piruk, Velika, and Kazi in ice. His next target was Garan, but was then grabbed and held back by the green-armored, the black-armored, and the brown-armored strangers.

The other two strangers — the red-armored and the blue-armored ones — had stayed where they were. Apparently, the blue-armored stranger was still affected by Dalu's attack. She then furiously shoved the red-armored stranger away and ran off. The red-armored stranger then got up and followed her.

"That takes care of two of them," said Cera, confidently.

Meanwhile, the remaining Matoran — Garan and Dalu — stood their ground against the strangers. The brown-armored stranger was doing everything he could to hold back the enraged white-armored stranger.

"Who are you?" asked Garan. "And don't try to tell me you are some new kind of Toa. I have heard that one before and it cost me almost all of my friends."

"Whether you believe it or not does not alter the facts," replied the black-armored stranger. "We are the Toa Nuva, from the island of Mata Nui."

Garan scoffed in disbelief. "Toa what? Island of what? Not only are you lying, they are not even good lies! There is no such thing as a Toa Nuva, and no island of Mata Nui exists, or we would know of it."

"Maybe we should have told these Matoran about the island of Mata Nui," wondered Ruby aloud.

"You are allies of the Piraka, aren't you, come here to help them subjugate our brothers and sisters?"

"The Piraka are no heart-friends of ours," pleaded the green-armored stranger. "We have been fighting them."

"A falling-out among thieves," accused Dalu. "I say we take them, Garan, starting with Frosty over there."

As the gang watched, Ruby shook her head in disappointment. "I don't think we are following Velika's advice the way he wanted us to follow his advice," she said.

"He said that they're not Toa!" argued Cera.

"No! He said that we should not fool ourselves again! We are acting like we are trying not to fool ourselves into thinking they are Toa, but I think we are fooling ourselves into thinking they are not Toa!"

"How many times do I have to say it: they are not Toa!"

Ruby gripped her head in frustration. She was about to scream at the top of her lungs when someone unexpected interrupted the fight.

"Wait! Stop!"

Everyone in the area immediately turned their attention to see Balta and Littlefoot running down the slope as fast as they could. Dalu and Cera smiled at the sight, convinced that they were now likely to win this fight.

"Another one," grumbled the green-armored stranger. "We are going to spend all day fighting Matoran, while the Piraka wander free."

"No one is going to fight anyone!" declared Littlefoot.

Balta turned to his friends and said, "You're making a mistake. These aren't our enemies. I am not sure who they are, but I know that a battle now would be a terrible error."

Garan looked closely at Balta and concluded that his friend wasn't enslaved by the Piraka. He wished he could believe that these maskless strangers could be allies, be he needed more than just the word of his friend. It saddened him to think that he had now become so skeptical, but the arrival of the Piraka had changed a lot of things on Voya Nui.

The black-armored stranger sighed in frustration. He threw down his weapons and removed the silver armor on his chest and shoulders. "There, no mask, no weapons, no extra armor," declared the black-armored stranger. "I've seen what your Pulse Bolts can do, Matoran, so use one now if you want war so badly. Kill me and my friends, and see if it gets you any anywhere closer to freeing your island from evil."

Garan looked at the black-armored stranger. If this stranger was a Toa, his black armor showed that he was a Toa of Earth. He had the power to take down the remaining Matoran in one strike, but he was leaving himself open to attack. After thinking about it, Garan nodded and threw down his weapons as well.

"What are you doing!" protested Dalu.

"What someone had to do," replied Balta. "We already have a battle on our hands, one that has been thrust upon us. We don't need to go looking for another."

"I think we have much to talk about," said the Toa of Earth. "Starting with anything you know about these Piraka, anything that might be a key to defeating them."

"May we talk in private?" asked Garan. "You may have convinced us you are a Toa, but that doesn't mean that I'll stop being cautious."

The Toa of Earth nodded in agreement and followed Garan.

"You know, I must agree with Balta, agree with him I must," stated Ruby as she and the rest of the gang came out from behind the rock, convinced that the battle was now over. "We already have the Piraka as our enemies. We don't need to look for more enemies, especially since the Piraka are already some very tough enemies."

"Well I'll be," said the brown-armored stranger — the Toa of Stone — in astonishment at seeing the young dinosaurs. He released his hold on the white-armored stranger — the Toa of Ice, who was now merely annoyed — and approached the gang. He turned to Littlefoot and asked, "Um, excuse me for asking, but your name wouldn't happen to be Littlefoot, would it?"

"Yes, it is," replied Littlefoot in confusion. "How did you know my name?"

"The Matoran told us all about you. I must say that I'm quite impressed with everything you and your friends did in that search for the Energy Stones. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I am Toa Pohatu, Toa Nuva of Stone."

"You're Pohatu? You don't look like what the Matoran told us about you."

"Of course! That was before we were transformed into Toa Nuva. No wonder you don't recognize us."

"Okay, so if you're Pohatu, then..." he turned to the green-armored stranger, the Toa of Air. "You must be Lewa, right?"

"The one and only!" replied Lewa, cheerfully.

Littlefoot then turned to the Toa of Ice. "And you must be —"

"Kopaka," said the Toa of Ice.

Ducky looked at Piruk, Velika, and Kazi — who were still encased in ice — with concern. She turned to Kopaka and asked, "Are you going to let them go?"

Kopaka sighed and pointed his weapon at the Matoran. Using his elemental powers, he shattered the ice encasements, freeing the Matoran without any harm.

As soon as they got up, Balta held up his hands and said, "Lower your weapons. They really are Toa."

The three freed Matoran noticed that the fight had clearly ceased, so they nodded in agreement.

Littlefoot then looked over at the Toa of Earth, who was quietly speaking with Garan. "And that Toa over there must be Onua, right?" asked Littlefoot.

"That's right," replied Pohatu.

"And the other two Toa... the blue one must have been Gali, and the red one was Tahu, right?"

"Wow, you certainly are as brilliant as the legends claim," praised Pohatu as he lightly patted Littlefoot on the head in approval.

"Speaking of those two Toa, where are they?" asked Chomper.

Lewa looked around and simply shrugged.

Ducky turned to Dalu and asked, "Dalu, what did you do to Gali?"

Dalu look down at the ground in shame. "I... all I did was enhance her sight to an unbearable level. It should have worn off quickly, but I didn't think she would go mad from it."

"Tahu went after her," stated Kopaka. "I'm sure he'll find her."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Lewa with concern. "We must seek-find them!"

"There will be no need for that, Lewa." The gang and the Toa turned to see Tahu and Gali approaching them. "Seeing as the fighting has ceased, I assume the Matoran are now convinced that we are on their side," said Tahu.

"Indeed they are," confirmed Pohatu. "And more than that, it seems that we have some more unexpected allies as well." He gestured towards the young dinosaurs.

"Mata Nui," said Gali in awe. "How did you young ones end up so far from your home?"

"We still haven't been able to figure that out yet," replied Littlefoot.

"Gali, how are you suddenly not mad-crazy anymore?" asked Lewa in confusion.

"I had a little help from a being who held a large axe," replied Gali.

"Hey, that's the same guy who saved me and Balta!" exclaimed Littlefoot. "We were trapped in a cave and he dug us out."

"I still find it hard to believe he dug that whole tunnel using only his axe," commented Balta.

Petrie, who was sitting on Cera's back, noticed that Cera had been silent ever since Littlefoot and Balta had arrived. "You okay, Cera?" asked Petrie with concern.

"Don't talk to me," grumbled Cera.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Gali.

"Cera is usually too proud to admit when she is wrong," replied Ruby, "and she was very convinced that you were not Toa."

"Sounds a lot like our fire-brother here," joked Lewa.

"I already told you, I've grown past that behavior," retorted Tahu.

Garan and Onua approached the group of Matoran, Toa, and young dinosaurs. "I have had a little talk with the leader of these Matoran, and he has agreed to help us," said Onua.

"That's great to hear," said Pohatu. "So where do we go next?"

Littlefoot's stomach growled loudly again, catching everyone's attention. Littlefoot looked at everyone in embarrassment and said, "Sorry. I'm starving after being trapped in that cave for so long. Can we go to the Green Belt and continue to talk there?"

"That might be a good idea," replied Garan. "While you and your friends are eating, the rest of us will talk about how we can strike back at the Piraka."

Tahu nodded in agreement and said, "Good enough for me. Lead the way."

Garan nodded and led the group towards the nearest part of the Green Belt.