Pacifier.
Ch. 10
Nursemaid Whenua.
Summary: Oh no! A malfunction with the Mask of Time has turned Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu into toddlers! And the Turaga have to take care of them all and find a way to change them back! What cute chaos will ensure!?
Non-canon verse, obviously. Although this takes place while everyone is still on Mata-nui.
HUMANIZED!Bionicle.
A/N~ Jesus, where the hell have I been?...oh yeah. Dealing with the bitch we all know as LIFE!...meh, enough of my complaining, I got it done, sue me.
Oh, and I apologize for my…erm…language in my previous chapter. When I write chapters with that kind of action in it, I get a bit swear-y cause…well…it keeps me in the mood *SHOT* but then I go back and fix out those things when I'm done. Apparently I forgot that step. *SHOT x2*
Anywho, on with the fic!
Here's Whenua~!
A/N 2~ Now edited!
NO POV.
X~X~X~X~X~X
Sometimes, Whenua really wished he was still an archivist.
No, not a Toa, not a Turaga, not really just a Matoran, but a damn archivist. His reasons vary depending on the situation where he wishes to still have his oldest job curriculum, but the emotions are almost always the same at least.
He would trade his current position for anything right now.
He would even take a full day of cataloguing instead of this!
…
…but no. He gets to play nanny for a group of hellions in six toddler bodies. It wasn't fair…
'Since when was life ever fair?' a little voice in his head said. He couldn't really argue though. The phrase of a once Toa becoming a Turaga marking the days to an easy retirement seemed like a load of sugar coated blasphemy!
Well, he supposed he was somewhat faring well. Half the toddlers were sane and pretty manageable, and the other half was still recovering from a first time hang over.
Whenua made it his personal mission to make sure they didn't go within twenty feet of Dume, or his office…
And honestly, now that he thought about it, he probably had it moderately easy now. Matau was actually smart enough to bring over some old toys, games, and coloring and drawing supplies when they came over to rotate shifts, so they were all occupied with their own activities.
Although as appreciative as they were now that the kids had a fair amount of distractions, they couldn't help but wonder just WHY Matau had so many toys and children's attire. His response was somewhere along the lines of, 'I get bored easily'. They didn't ask any further questions…(1)
Nokama also managed to break in a few new outfits for the toddlers. Nuju seemed insistent on making sure at least Matoro had a change of clothes for every day of the week. He was such a mother hen…erm, rooster…cuckoo bird? Yeah that sounds about right. (2)
That thought was enough to make Whenua crack a small smile. The mental image seemed to brighten his mood, and seemed to make watching as the toddlers played with a few toys more enjoyable. It was actually pretty cute really.
Hahli and Matoro seemed to have a fixation on stuffed Rahi. And both had their preferred favorites as a constant companion. Hahli's octopus, or as she called it, 'Octupauly', could be seen constantly being dragged or carried around by the little Ga-Matoran. (3) Currently she was playing dress-up with it with some spare clothing.
Matoro's stuffed friend was, oddly, the same old stuffed penguin he had at his old home. Nuju apparently brought it along for him to see if he still took a fancy to it. To say the least, Matoro was quite enthusiastic to see his old plush friend. (4)
And although still a bit under the weather, Jaller, Kongu, and Hewkii all took pleasure in their new toys. Their mood immensely lifted when they discovered the Toa action figures in the pile. Currently all three were making a show of fighting off an evil stuffed Husi(5) wearing a top hat. It was quite a sight honestly.
However, Nuparu was certainly one that was intriguing…
Instead of playing with the toys, he chose to gather as many of them as his little arms could carry and take them apart. Kongu was quite upset to find his monkey toy losing its tail to the hands of the curious Onu-Matoran. But what he made up for in taking things apart, was putting things back together.
It seemed his inventive skills were brought out, even for a second time, from childhood.
However…
This also meant that he was capable of taking other things apart. And after setting boundaries of what he could and could not take apart, he found other such things that he was perfectly capable of getting his little hands on.
Case in point, the not-so-working TV he was currently wedged behind.
"Nuparu! I am not telling you again! Get out of there before you get hurt!" Again, Whenua's words were ignored as the little jibblit (6) continued to giggle and mess with wires and components.
Whenua hoped for the life of himself that the TV wasn't plugged in…
But seeing as his efforts were futile, and his own large hands couldn't squeeze into the crevice Nuparu managed to worm into, he decided to check on the other toddlers. If it was one thing he learned, it was to never turn you back on them. Ever.
He looked over the other toddlers with satisfaction. Jaller and Hewkii were playing happily with their action figures and rough housing with a few pillows. Kongu took to the glue and feathers from the art supplies Matau brought over, ignoring the paper altogether to glue feathers all over himself while making bird noises (Whenua made a mental note to bathe him later). Hahli was busy dressing up her Octopauly and feeding it a plastic cake. And Matoro was…
…sitting in the corner all by himself with his penguin.
Whenua blinked. What happened? Did one of the kids maybe scare him off to play by himself? He was a good distance away from the others and merely drawing on a piece of paper with his penguin beside him.
The earth Turaga made his way through the sea of toddlers and to the second smallest (7) of the bunch sitting by his penguin. Which was a bit silly to look at honestly, as the penguin was about half his height.
"What's wrong Matoro? Why are you sitting over here all by yourself?" He asked, kneeling down to the bright eyed Matoran.
Matoro in turn looked up at Whenua and stared. Just stared with wide eyes and a slightly startled expression. A moment passed before Whenua spoke again.
"What?" he asked in confusion to his expression.
Matoro responded by clutching his penguin plush and making a small whimpering noise, his eyes flickering to the floor.
Whenua frowned. Was something wrong with him? Was he maybe hurt or felt sick? Mata-nui, if he was getting sick on Whenua's watch, Nuju would have his head. And actually mean it!
His frown seemed to intimidate Matoro, as the Matoran swiftly grabbed his penguin and threw it in front of his face, hiding himself from Whenua with a small whining noise. (8)
Whenua blinked. Was it something he said?
"…okay then."
BZZZZRP!
" WHAT THE-!?"
"AAAAAHHH!"
The lights flickered briefly, the toddlers scrambling and shrieking in fright from the sudden noise. Whenua himself was recovering from a near heart-attack inducing scare, now on his knees after instinctively grabbing Matoro and holding him tightly to his chest for protection from what his brain registered as some kind of danger. The electric noise followed by a started 'whoa' and a thud. And just as the lights turned back on, Whenua managed to register a few things as he loosened his grip on the shy Matoran.
One, the once thought to be broken TV was working, playing out some sort of bad comedian show. Two, there was a smoke trail and black scorches forming a ring around it. Three, the toddlers were all coming out of hiding. And four, Nuparu was upside down on the couch, his hair going in all directions with smoke and sparks jumping off of him.
The Onu-Matoran blinked a few times, as if in a daze, before giving a full watt grin and clapping his hands.
"Do again!" he cried.
Whenua released the breath he didn't even know he was holding in relief. Well, it seemed not only his inventive skills not only grew from childhood, but also his habit of messing inventions up and managing to survive said mess ups with a grin. (9)
'Well at least we have a working TV now…' he thought, half with concern for Nuparu and the others, and half impressed that despite nearly getting electrocuted, he fixed a TV that not even Dume could figure out. Although he wasn't very tech savvy to begin with…
"Mrph…"
Whenua snapped out of his Dume-loathing trance, seemingly realizing he still had an armful of Ko-Matoran toddler in his arms, all of whom he seemed to be crushing slightly.
"Ah, sorry little guy…" he said, grasping Matoro under his arms and holding him at arm's length.
To say the little Ko-Matoran looked a bit intimidated would be an understatement. At this, Whenua couldn't help but feel a little dejected. He and Matoro had actually gotten along rather well when he was older. The unusual Ko-Matoran had a very curious fascination with history, and Whenua was more than delighted to take some time off to steal the Matoran from Nuju to, as Nuju has many a times said, 'convert' him. Matoro was a sweet boy, and as unusual as he was, pretty much all of the Onu-Matoran loved him like an adopted brother. He was relatively the only Ko-Matoran the Onu-Matoran could have a conversation with that wouldn't turn into an argument. (10)
"Um…" Whenua looked back at the Matoran, seemingly remembering he was still holding him. Matoro fidgeted and pointed to the floor meekly.
"Down…?" he said shyly.
With a sigh, Whenua nonetheless obliged and gently set the meek Matoran down, deciding it would be best to look over Nuparu to see if he was, in fact, not dying.
"Matty!" Speaking of which…
Said mentioned Onu-Matoran promptly ran over to and pretty much, as Matau would say, 'glomped' Matoro to the ground with a giggle. Matoro looked like he had suddenly been hit by a car. Odd considering Nuparu was the smallest of the bunch. Ironic, as he also seemed to be the strongest physically. Whenua was reminded of a tiny cartoon mouse that somehow was able to pick up everyday household items to beat up a cat… (11)
Seeing as the Matoran seemed okay, aside from a rather comically bad hairdo, the Turaga decided it was safe to take a break and make lunch. Nodding to himself, he looked back to the TV. Mata-nui he hated this show…
"Damn comedians…" he muttered. He changed he channel to some cartoons to hopefully keep the kids occupied before leaving for the kitchen, locking the door as he did so.
And with the sounds of silly noises and funny characters, the kids were instantly hooked onto the big box of colorful moving things. They made a mental note to figure out a new name for their new square friend, cause that name was too long.
A particular scene of a cartoonish air Toa vine swinging into a tree really got their attention.
However, Nuparu wasn't too interested in the TV. He wanted to find something else to mess with. Maybe he could get something to go boom-boom-zap again!
Nuparu sat down on his little rump and looked around. What to tinker, what to tinker…
Turning to his right, he caught sight of the pile of toys now being ignored in favor of the TV. One particular toy really caught his interest.
Nuparu got up and toddled over to the metallic looking bone-shaped item and picked it up. It was heavy, but not a problem for his unusual strength. One end was blunt, but the other had a circle shape with a square cut on the end, making it into a kind of blocky crescent moon. It was shiny! He could see himself in it! He had to investigate it! It was a practically a law! (12)
He had long since plunked himself in front of the shiny heavy metal stick thing (he made a mental note to give it a better, not-so-long name) and stared at it. A good taker-apart-er always stares at something before doing anything. Another mental note was made to think of a better name for himself… (13)
Back with the other toddlers, said toddlers were completely oblivious to Nuparu's discovery. Instead they were fixated on their new best friend; who happened to be a big box with moving pictures. They still had yet to figure out a good name for it. Kongu suggested Steve, but it sounded too weird. Funny, but weird. (14)
"Oooohhh…" They awed at the action and bright colors of the program.
Said program was staring some cartoon Toa on a mission to find the mask of friendship! But standing between him and the mask was the evil Makuta of meanness! (15) It was so exciting! Well, it was to everyone besides Matoro. He decided to take a nap during the awesome battle of the Toa and Makuta! So exciting!
The Toa was just about to proclaim his victory and the mask, but then-
Bzzzt!
Steve turned off. (16)
"EH?" was the collective expression of shock from the (minus Matoro) kids.
A long pause ensured. Still unsure as to what had happened, or if maybe Steve would turn back on or not, the toddlers looked to each other for answers. And toddlers being toddlers, they were clueless. Kongu suddenly let loose a rather annoying whine and pointed to the TV in distress.
"Steve is sick! Wah!" He whined.
They all looked back at each other. Steve was sick? It made sense. When you feel sick, you rest and go to sleep.
Their attention was caught by Nuparu lifting his new toy up and thunking it against the floor with a loud 'fwump' and a giggle. That's right! Nuparu could fix things! He was like a uh…uh…a doctor! But for things and not people! Yeah!
"Nupu!" Jaller called. Nuparu looked up at his expectantly, "Come here!" And like a true leader, Jaller gave his command and pointed beside himself.
Although not sure why he was being called over, Nuparu nonetheless obliged, dragging his heavy new toy with him. He plunked down in front of Jaller and waited to be told why he was needed.
"Steve sick! You fix!" Jaller huffed, pointing to the TV and to Nuparu in turn. Nuparu blinked in confusion.
"Steve?" he asked. Jaller pointed to the TV with puffed cheeks.
"Yes! Fix Steve! Makuta meanie's gonna win!" He huffed.
Again, Nuparu has no idea what Jaller is talking about, but whatever the kid wanted he supposed. And if he wanted him to fix Steve, then fine, he'll fix Steve.
On one condition…
"Matty's gotta kiss me!" he jeered. (17)
That raised a few brows. Said mentioned Matoran was still blissfully unaware of the surrounding noise and quite happily dozing on his penguin.
"Um…okay?" Jaller said, unsure. Nuparu, however, beamed and happily marched over to the TV to fix it. Or…something. He honestly wasn't sure what to do. He just wanted to take stuff apart.
So he set to work squeezing back into the back of the TV, toy in hand, and got to work. One thing that got his attention was the long rope thing dangling behind it, and the end of it, which he at first thought was a snake head, was lying on the floor. That was weird. Wasn't its head in the wall in that plastic thing with the holes? Did it fall out? (18)
"Hmm…" he hummed. He picked up the snake's head. He had long since learned it was friendly, if a bit lazy. But that's okay. He'd be sleepy too if he was doing nothing but sticking his head in a wall. This thought triggered a small memory from not too long ago, and he puffed out his cheeks…
He pushed the thought aside though. If he fixed Steve, he could get a kiss from Matoro! He was so excited!
Grinning from ear to ear, Nuparu decided, eh, what the heck? He stuck the snake's head back into the wall. Nothing happened.
"What taking so long!?" he heard Jaller snap.
"Um…just a sec!" Nuparu called back, perplexed.
Now a bit frazzled and flustered, Nuparu looked at the back of Steve. A bunch of other wires, some buttons, and what looked like some kind of hole filled with other wires and such. Looking down at his hand, Nuparu held up his toy. Maybe it could help?
With the vigor and IQ smarts of a toddler (which isn't much) Nuparu did the one thing his head told him to do.
He shoved one end of his toy into the hole and started twisting and yanking.
Whenua decided to pick now to come back in…
"Alright kids, lunch is-"
BZZZZRP!
"HOLY SH-!?"
It went dark, and the two precariously balanced trays of food that were sitting shakily on Whenua's arms went flying. This followed by a collection of frighten screams and scrambling feet. But, the problem with running in the dark, is that you can't really see anything. That being said, many things could be heard being either knocked over or broken, while grunts of impact rang in the air as well. Whenua now decided to join in the chaotic fray, trying to both locate and keep himself from tripping over the kids.
He didn't, however, count on the kids' lunch to come plummeting down onto his head.
CRASH!
"GAH!" Then he slipped in it and landed rather harshly on his back. The loud thud frazzled the kids even more, and the screaming and panicking increased, coupled with what little words he could make out saying 'evil meanie' or 'Makuta of meanness' or 'Toa of friendship, help!'
He was too confused and disoriented to really figure out just what they were talking about. A small part of his brain that wasn't throbbing in agony was silently thankful Dume wasn't here to make it worse…
Oh but irony is such a bitch…
SLAM!
"What the HELL is going on NOW!?"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H!"
"Makuta meanie!"
"RUN!"
Well that seemed to draw Whenua out of his stupor on the floor. That, and coupled with the blinding light coming from Dume's lightstone seemed to shock him out of it as well. And somewhere in his mac-and-cheese covered head, he registered the power was out.
"Whenua! What are you doing!? And what the hell is wrong with these brats!?" he paused a minute and looked Whenua over, "Better yet, what the bloody hell are you covered in?"
Whenua resisted the urge to slap his forehead and possibly say something foul. Hysterical or not, they were still kids, and very impressionable.
Speaking of the kids, they all seemed to find it a good idea to cram under the couch in fear of what they called 'the Makuta of meanness', whatever that meant.
"If you must know, I was making lunch. Now I'm sitting here, wondering just what happened, why you're yelling, why my life is going through Karzahni and back, and all possibly with a concussion, thank you so much for your concern." He groused out.
Dume fixed him with an unimpressed look before scoffing and crossing his arms.
"Well obviously the powers out and you're being a drama queen. And if I had to guess, this is their fault." Dume pointed to the line of toddler rumps sticking out from under the couch.
"Hehehehe…!
Whenua frowned, stood up, brushed as much of the food off of himself as he could, and looked around. His well-adapted eyes easily adjusted to the dark around him, and in no time, he managed to locate a certain little rascal poking out from behind the TV.
And at the sight of him, he couldn't help but sigh. Of course, who else would cause this much trouble?
"Nuparu…" he groaned out.
Said mentioned toddler peeked out from his place behind the TV, eyes adjusting to the dark. He grinned and waved at Whenua, his hand holding onto something he couldn't quite make out.
Dume grew impatient and groaned, marching over to the closed windows.
"Honestly, I don't know WHY I put up with this…" he muttered. He pulled the blinds up, and instantly the entire room was flooded with the evening light.
Whenua flinched back at the sudden brightness, Nuparu doing the same. But in the light now, he could finally make out just what Nuparu was holding.
And after making sure he was alright after being electrocuted for the second time of the day, and getting an explanation on where he got his new 'toy', Whenua was about ready to call it a day.
Once the kids were ushered out and reassured that they were not being attacked, they were fed and put outside to play for the rest of the day while he and Dume tried to figure out the electrical problems.
An hour or so later, the other Turaga had arrived. Or in other words, the fireworks went off…
"How could you be so stupid as to mix up a damn wrench in the toys!?" Whenua snapped at Matau. (20)
Said air Turaga was looking rather meek, but otherwise amused with himself. The others, however, were shocked that yet another disaster had unfolded in their absence. Even more so that it was Whenua of all people caught in it. Both Nokama and Nuju were getting on his case about the kids possibly getting hurt or electrocuted. Nuju wasn't going to let him hear the end of it, despite the fact that Matoro had been asleep the entire time! (21)
"Ugh, alright! Enough already!" Vakama snapped, getting everyone's attention. He was quite sick of all of the yelling and arguing about now.
"Alright. We all know this was a serious muck up, but we're past that now, so maybe we can just move on and get back to yelling at each other at a later time?" he said.
A quiet pause ensured before everyone begrudgingly nodded and dropped their arguments.
"Good. Now that that's done, who's next in babysitting?"
"Me!" Matau waved. (22)
If it was possible, Nuju's already pale face seemed to drain of all spectrum color; he might as well have been transparent.
"Like HELL you are!" The ice Turaga snapped.
"Oh come off it icy! You're next after him anyways, keep your snow-shoes on." Onewa scoffed. Nuju fixed him with a very murderous look.
"I am not leaving Mator-I mean, the kids in the hands of a man that glues his own face onto Fun-Guy calendars!"
"HEY! I do not!"
"Shut up! I'll take the third shift, I don't care if I have to pull double! I am not allowing that thing anywhere near him!"
"You mean Matoro?"
"Yes. Wait, I mean, no!"
"Oh relax-chill frosty!" Matau threw an arm around Nuju's shoulders with a grin, "And stop fuss-worrying! I'll keep an eye on the snow-rabbit. And don't fret, I'll even make sure to take pictures for that little album of yours!"
Nuju's face flushed a few dozen shades of red while the others gave him perplexed looks. (23) But instead of digging himself any further into his grave, he promptly planted his heavy booted foot on Matau's toes and marched a few feet off.
"…alright then. Can we please move on here? I think I got cheese in my ears." Whenua grunted.
"Yes, yes Whenua. Matau, you're next, but for the love of all that is good in this world, please, please make an effort not to cause something disastrous. I've had just about enough for the remainder of this year." Vakama said.
The lights around the Coliseum suddenly flickered back on, Dume stepping out with a rather agitated look on his face.
"And if I see that these little monsters have damaged my Coliseum for a second time, I'll have your head and your ass!" he snapped at Matau.
"Azz!" Kongu cheered, as if to remind the Turaga that he and the other kids were just down at their feet.
Dume sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was getting a migraine, and the lack of alcohol was taking its toll on him. Now the thought of Matau and the kids all under one roof with him still in it was making him wish he were still comatose in a pod.
"Well, whatever, everyone, just get done what you need done and leave." He grunted.
Everyone nodded, although Nuju had to be pretty much dragged away as they left Matau with the crowd of kids and a crabby Dume.
"Whatever. See you kids…" Whenua grunted, finally relieved to be rid of the kids. Although he was prematurely stopped from his escape.
"Whena!" A tiny voice called.
The earth Turaga turned and looked down, seeing Matoro trotting up to him, his penguin dragging behind him. The little Matoran stopped in front of him and stared at his feet for a while, fidgeting with his penguin with shy eyes.
Whenua's resolve visibly softened and he turned fully to the tiny bundle and sighed.
"What is it?" he asked.
A small pause and a bit of muttering under Matoro's breath. A small tinge of red crossed over his small cheeks before he really did anything. In a swift motion, he ran up to Whenua, hugged his legs, turned, grabbed his penguin, and fled to hide behind the other kids. (24)
Very confused at first, but then suddenly touched by the childish gesture, Whenua felt his mood greatly lighten. A bit of smugness also worked its way in; he could practically feel the jealous, overprotective glare burning into his back thanks to a certain ice Turaga's gaze. (25)
He smiled over at the shyly hiding Matoran and finally turned to leave with the others, throwing a smug smirk Nuju's way.
Although as they were leaving, Nuparu seemed to remember something…
"…oh! Matty!" He called, jogging over to the ice Matoran that was waving after his 'papa'.
"Huh?"
And before anyone could say 'sassafras', Nuparu's lips landed on his cheek with a sloppy 'chu'. (26)
For his part, Nuju got the shock of his life, and the other Turaga faced their biggest mission of their lives. Said mission was practically hog-tying Nuju up to prevent the parentally-overbearing Turaga from running over to 'rescue' his little Matoran from, yet another, potential rival.
Matoro was just confused, and Matau got the laugh of his life, and a good picture.
Nuparu was happy he got his reward, and that Whenua seemed to forget about the wrench he still had his hands on.
Matau was going to experience hell.
And Dume was starting to contemplate whether or not jumping off of the Coliseum would be enough to kill him or not.
To be continued…
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XDD and you get a new update with some seriously weird turns of events. Enjoy!
1)- Makes you wonder though doesn't it? XDD
2)- I'm pretty sure I spelled cuckoo bird wrong. But I was too lazy to look it up. TwT (FIXED!)
3)- Plush toys; possibly one of the most favored toys among kids. lol Octopauly came from...I don't know. I just made it up.
4)- If any of you have read my other Bionicle fics, you should be familiar with this penguin lol
5)- Husi – a large, ostrich like Rahi. Corrected by reviewer.
6)- LOL not exactly a real word, but I like saying jibblit. I call my cats jibblits, kids jibblits, parents jibblits, jibblits jibblits jibblits. XDD It's a silly word!
7)- Matoro is second smallest next to Nuparu, who is the smallest of the kids. I think it's cute and ironic considering he's also the strongest physically XD
8)- Aawww he's scared of the big loud Turaga! lol
9)- Let the record show that Nuparu is, in fact, as killable as a zombie. He's got the endurance of a bull and the ability to never get hurt like a cartoon character.
10)- Profile dictates that he is, in fact, liked by many Onu-Matoran. I only added the extra bit about history and such to spice it up. lol
11)- You get a cookie if you can get the reference!
12)- To those of you who were the unhealthily curious type as kids, you know this law. XD
13)- The hell is up with all these name debates!?
14)- Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Steve the TV.
15)- I made this program up, I swear. I got so many flashbacks of those baby movies from daycare, it's not even funny. Oxo'
16)- STEVE HAS TURNED OFF! OH MY GOD! CALL A MEDIC! D8
17)- Isn't it adorable how some little kids just seem to fall in love with another with all of that innocent childishness? XD
18)- Snake head = electrical cord head. Hole in the wall with more holes = outlet. Just to let you know. lol
19)- Everybody RUN! It's the evil Makuta me-oh it's just Dume...wait...that's even worse! RUN!
20)- Oh Matau...
21)- I have no doubt someone could sleep through that. I once slept through a party my big brother threw and woke up with guys passed out in the living room.
22)- Oh hell...
23)- We all know he keeps a secret album of Baby!Matoro under his bed. He cannot deny it!
24)- Yay! Matoro has conquered his fear of Whenua!
25)- RIVAL! RIVAL! DX
26)- Chu~!