A Tiny Problem
Furno: Welcome back to Chapter Ten of A Tiny Problem!
Cryo: Great. We get to play escape artist in Destral. Hey, Furno, where are the Toa?
Furno: They said they were waiting outside, to greet a few friends.
Cryo: Friends?
Furno: Something about the eventual cast. Oh, speaking of eventual, we've put in some dividers! This is a temporary change, so please tell us if they help make it easier to read the various sections.
Cryo: Oh boy. TheOneTrueDestiny does not own Bionicle or Hero Factory. Toa Stryka and Joseph Cryo are his OCs.
Location:
Mata Nui, twenty kilos off the coast of Destral
Lariska felt seasick. It didn't help that Krekka took up half the boat. The female Dark Hunter resisted the urge to barf over the side. "Are you SURE the Shadowed One wanted to meet us in Metru Nui?" she asked.
Nidhiki stood at the front of the boat, glaring off into the distance. One hand pushed a lock of green hair out of his eyes. "If you honestly think that I would get on this death trap without an idea where I was going, you can do me a favour and throw yourself overboard," he retorted.
Lariska spat over the side. "I just want to make sure Krekka is still the dumbest person on this ship, nothing personal."
"I'm not dumb!" Krekka protested.
"You're right. You're an idiot."
Krekka snarled, but said nothing. Instead, he looked off into the distance.
"Well, let's hope that this little package was worth it." Nidhiki grumbled, cradling the box to his chest. "I can feel something warm inside. Wonder what it is." One of his hands moved towards the lid.
"Hey! Don't open the box, crosswire!" Lariska roared.
Nidhiki blinked, and looked at her. His green eyes met her red ones, and comprehension flashed over him. H quickly placed the box on the deck, and moved away from it. "Damn, what was that?" he asked.
"What do you think?" Lariska seethed. "You nearly opened the frigging box!"
"Yeah, I knew that. I meant that flash! Jeez, don't tell me you didn't see it. There was a flash under the lid, and I wanted to see what it was." Nidhiki growled.
"Hey, guys? What's that?" Krekka pointed out into the waves. Something was moving towards them with impressive speed.
By the time Nidhiki drew his scissors, the thing was up against the boat. The Dark Hunter carefully lowered the prongs of his weapon, and lifted the unfortunate object up out of the water.
Adolous Witch had never been happier to see a mercenary armed with giant scissors in his life.
Location: Mata Nui, Destral Prison Block, Cell Block B2
Bulk bounced a rock against the wall. "So here I am, locked in a cell. Jeez, when the Factory made me, I didn't think I'd be stuck in the slammer on some alien world." he grumbled.
Surge made a face. "Hey, it could be worse!" he said.
Bulk glared at him. "Remember training? If there is one thing you never say in this sort of situation, it's "It could be worse." Seriously, that's just tempting fate."
"Okay, okay, sorry. Where do you think they locked up the others?" Surge wondered, examining the bars.
"Probably in various other cells scattered throughout the complex." Bulk said, bouncing the rock again.
"And you know that how?" Surge asked, swiping at the bars experimentally. Even with his 2.0 strength, the blue-clad Hero couldn't bend the bars. Seeing how strong their captors were, he wouldn't have been surprised if the cells could survive a full-on tactical nuke.
"Common sense. I was with Stringer and Stormer during the Prototype riots in lower Hero City. If there was one thing I learned, it's that if you arrest a large group of people, you should not put them all in adjacent cells. Hell, I'm lucky you're in this cell at all." Bulk said sagely.
"Wow. You can actually be pretty smart sometimes, Bulk." Surge said, roundhouse-kicking the bars.
Bulk waited until his friend was done jumping around on one foot to reply. "I have my moments," he said modestly.
"Urgh. This is just great. Wonder if those "Toa" guys have busted out yet." Surge muttered.
Location: Destral Prison Block, Cell Block E3
Onewa groaned. "Oh, brother. Are you kidding me, Matau?"
The Toa in question was currently hanging from the ceiling by his ankles. "Not my fault, definitely not my fault." Matau said. Despite the circumstances, he had a massive grin on his face.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you. Well, here's the basics on this cell, if you're interested." Onewa sat down in the middle of the floor. "The walls are indeed stone, but there's a thick layer of metal behind each one. To make matters worse, this metal has a strong electric current in it, to prevent it from being magnetically charged. The bars are also tough, and I think they're made of a few different alloys, with the bottom layer being magnetic to hold all the others in place."
"Seriously?" Matau's eyes widened. The green-haired boy managed to unhook his feet from the ceiling, and landed in some sort of handstand.
"Hey, what's the most visible thing in this cell? It's concrete. My powers work on concrete. I can't tell, but I'm guessing. I mean, I'm a carver, not an architect." Onewa wished he had a pencil. Maybe he could have been able to sketch out the layout of the cell.
"Wow. You would have made a good architect." Matau said. The compliment took Onewa a little by surprise. He hadn't expected Matau, who he suspected wasn't the "details" type, would compliment him for that.
"Thanks, brother." Onewa said. Well, that was impressive. I've only know him for a few hours, and already I've called this Le-Matoran a brother. Guess that's what happens when you're in the Makuta's prison cells.
Matau walked over to the bars, and pulled at them experimentally. Onewa sighed. "Really? You're going to pull the bars out of the wall? Matau, didn't you hear anything I said?"
"Hey, did someone say Matau?" Onewa froze. A green-haired head appeared in the cell across from theirs, and pushed up against the bars. "Matau! I don't believe it!"
"Lewa? How the Pit did you get here?" Matau asked, overjoyed.
"I got arrested about a week ago." Lewa responded. "What about you? I haven't seen you since Toa Lhikan showed up."
"Oh, that! I'm a Toa now!" Matau said, grinning from ear to ear.
Onewa stood up. Sure enough, there he was. Lewa. Matau's best friend. The only other Le-Matoran who thought that fighting an ashbear on an experimental speeder could possibly be a good idea. Privately, Onewa wondered if the Skadi had set this up as some form of torture.
A second later, another head popped up, and he dropped that idea entirely. "Gali?"
Gali was a Ga-Matoran, a teacher like Nokama. Apparently, Gali had been Nokama's rival of sorts, but Onewa didn't know for what. What he did know was that Gali was a spectacular sight, and quite the kind soul. What she was doing in a prison cell in Destral with one of the most hot-headed Matoran in Metru Nui was anyone's guess.
"Hello, Onewa!" Gali said. As usual, her voice sounded beautiful. Although Onewa hated to admit it, he had been crushing on her for ages. She was a nice girl! It's not my fault I'm crushing on a Ga-Matoran! That was a protest he routinely used at his home. The Po-Matoran workers didn't think too highly about Ga-Matoran, and it was pretty much mutual.
"Hey, Gali. How did you get in here?" he asked.
"Oh, funny story." Gali chuckled. "You see, something's changed. Something big. Just last week, Turaga Duma welcomed in a bunch of guys. Nasty pieces of work, those guys. And I'm not sure, but I think that they might have been Makuta."
"Seriously?" Onewa asked, amazed. "Well, why would they arrest you?"
Lewa answered that one. "Because we visited a Suva Shrine after curfew," he said, sounding cheeky. "Oh, and that's not all. Apparently, this shrine had a bunch of energy trapped in it. It exploded when the Makuta appeared! Like boom!"
Gali nodded. "And when we woke up, we were getting bundled into this big transport. And check this out." She waved a hand, and a ball of mist appeared in front of Onewa's nose. Slowly, it twisted into different shapes, and then dissipated.
Matau started clapping. "Cool!"
"You're a Toa?" Onewa asked.
"Yup. Me, Lewa, Onua, Pohatu, Kopaka, and Tahu." Gali said. "What about you? Why were you arrested?"
"Long story. Are you serious? Tahu the bully and Kopaka the Ice King?" Onewa asked, shocked.
Vakama sat in his own cell, amazed that such a thing was possible. This was a person he never would have expected to call him brother, and yet he was.
A broad-shouldered, lean bear of a young man sat across from him, hunched over. He was smiling, a cocky grin that had practically been his trademark. Back at home, everyone had called him Tahu the bully. With a name like that, it was a big surprise to meet Tahu the Toa."
Tahu nodded at him. "Think of anything yet?" he asked.
Vakama shook his head. "No. These bars heat up a lot, but they don't melt. Not sure, but I think they might be Ta-Matoran craftsmanship."
Tahu chuckled. "Of course. As if these guys would be stupid enough to put two Fire Toa in the same room with metal bars." His smile lost some of its energy.
"Yeah, guess we're stuck for now." Vakama said.
"Guess so." Tahu agreed. "Hey, who are those jokers in the cell across from us?"
Vakama turned. "That guy is Rocka, from the Hero Factory. I'm not sure who the old dude is."
"Rocka, huh? What's the Hero Factory, Rocky?" Tahu called across.
Rocka looked back at him. "It's exactly what it says. We build Heroes, to help protect the galaxy."
Tahu chuckled. "Sounds like fun. How exactly does one "build" a hero?" he asked.
Rocka looked back at him, breathed in, and answered. "Basically, the Factory select all the best genes, all the best traits, and trains the resulting children to protect people." he explained. "I finished my training about two months ago."
"So you're like Toa, only straight from the pod." Tahu nodded. "I see."
Vakama looked at him. He wondered if Tahu had come up with the same analogy that he had for the Factory. Probably not, he decided. Tahu the bully never failed to speak his mind, especially if there was a chance that he could insult someone.
Tahu stood, and examined the bars. "Wonder if I could pull these bars inward," he said. "If I still had my sword, I might be able to cut my way out, but that would require having the damn thing," he grumbled.
Vakama sat down. "Guess we just have to wait. We'll figure out a way out." He wasn't far from the truth.
Location: Aqua Magna, stratosphere
A new Hero Factory transport began to lower through the atmosphere. Inside, five Heroes sat patiently at the control panel.
"Hey, Sophie, you ready for this?" Joss Titan asked. He was one of the two Hero Factory 4.0 prototypes who had just come off the assembly line. His hair was purple, and his armour was grey. His eyes were an intense shade of grey, and he brimmed with energy.
Sophie Cross, the other 4.0 prototype, nodded. "Ready to rumble," she agreed, hefting her chainsword. She was a moderately-sized Hero, and her hair was short yellow. Her armour was yellow, with a pink heart drawn beside the Factory Insignia.
Jimmy Stringer sat at the helm. "Good to hear. Don't worry, rookies. The fun part of the mission is coming right up."
"Now, now, Jim, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Preston Stormer said. Despite this, he was grinning ear to ear. "With great powers come great responsibilities. Are you ready, Furno?"
Furno nodded, and flashed his mentor the thumbs up. "All set, boss. Let's roll!"
End of Chapter 10
Cryo: Hey! Hey! Security! Look how many people are out there!
Stryka: The entire Toa Mata. So that's two sets of Toa. And two new Hero Factory OCs. Don't worry, the cast won't expand much more for a bit.
Furno: And the villains never showed up? Ever?
Cross: Oh, those guys? Well, we did see those "Dork Hunter" guys with Witchdoctor... but we didn't see Makuta.
Titan: Guess we're just lucky!
?: Oh, I wouldn't bet on that. Heh heh heh... thanks for reading, loyal viewers. Tune in next time! MWA HA HA!