Author's note: So, I decided to split this chapter back into two chapters. And my only factor in making that decision is that I want all the chapters to be close in length, and this one would have been the longest one yet if I kept them together (minus chapter 8, because that was originally a short story). So, the conclusion will have to wait. Well, I guess it's sort of all concluded here, at least everything major is. Next chappy is the wind-down, "and they all lived happily ever after" stuff. I was going to post this last night, but my internet cut out, and I didn't get another chance to do it until I got back from work. And now, here is chapter 11, the climax of the fighting scenes.
Chapter 11
Vicant had to admit, he had never hated water more than he did right now. He was dripping wet and beginning to have difficulty creating fire with all the dampness. Another blast of water hit the Fire Toa, causing him to slide on the mud forming at his feet. He felt his frustration rising again.
"Heads up!" Vicant felt a fierce wind blast him from behind a second after the warning. He was about to chew out the Toa of Air about his bad aim when Lynx laughed. "You can't have a fire without air!"
Vicant realized that he was now completely dry. He grinned as his sword flared to life again. He also realized that his previous attack plan was not going to work. Shooting fire at the water blasts was completely wasteful. He did not like these Rahi. The blue ones were specifically picking on him. At least if they're focused on me, they won't bother with the Matoran, he thought optimistically, which means I have to keep being a nuisance to them.
He did the first thing that made sense. He charged the Rahi with a raging roar worthy of a Ta-Ahiran. The Rahi scattered in surprise at the sudden assault. In the brief confusion, Vicant set up as many fire barriers as he could to keep the Rahi on this side.
Lynx grinned at Vicant's ingenuity. When the Toa of Fire ran at the Rahi with a bestial roar, he thought his teammate had short-wired or something. He heard the faint whistle of oncoming projectiles and took aim. He shot them out of the sky with ease. He heard a shout from behind him and looked. He instinctively ducked as numerous arrows and large rocks shot high into the air, arcing downwards toward the Rahi. The Matoran began hurriedly reloading their makeshift bows and catapults. Then the Air Toa turned his attention back to the battle. He gasped as he witnessed one of the Rahi nearly tear Vicant's arm off. While the crimson Toa was able to get the Rahi off him before it managed to completely dismember it, his left arm was rendered useless. Lynx heard more enemy projectiles and winced. He had to protect the Matoran, but he could not let the Rahi kill his brother Toa.
"Hey you," he said, gesturing to a Le-Matoran. The Le-Matoran turned his attention to the Toa. "Is there anyone here who can path-track these flying stones? Can you?"
The Matoran quickly nodded, though he looked a bit unsure. Lynx ran into the fray, sending controlled tornados spinning through the Rahi ranks.
"I don't want to hear it," the black Toa snapped, becoming irritated. "You are not going to fight. You are going to freeze everything you see, and that's it."
There was silence from the Ice Toa for a few seconds as Titasami continued digging. Then he heard more muttering. He could not hear what he was muttering, but he knew the basic gist of it.
He sighed. "For the last time: you are in no condition to fight. Just cover my back."
Ray finally fell silent and stopped protesting. Good. He enjoys a good fight, but he's not that stupid, the Toa of Earth thought.
Titasami halted in his digging, placing his hands on the ceiling. Through his earth powers, he could "see" the surface. "The Vortixx is directly overhead," he whispered. "A dozen Rahi have a circle around him. A few dozen more are further off. I'm going to blast the Rahi away and take on the big guy. And remember: no fighting."
All it took was a slight push with his elemental power and the Rahi were rocketed away. Before the Vortixx could figure out what was going on, Titasami pulled him into the hole and leaped out, followed by Ray. Titasami punched the tall foe in the face with all his strength.
For once, Ray stuck to the plan and froze the Rahi before they could recover. However, the Fire Ithamar were resisting effectively. The Toa of Ice had to continually pour ice over them to keep them sedated. It did not help that the Rahi in the back lines had noticed the commotion. The Rahi seemed to put a higher priority on rescuing their master than attacking the Matoran. Now Ray had to keep all the Rahi from interfering with Titasami and Zebulun's fight. The Toa of Ice smiled crazily. Looks like I'll get to fight anyway. Suddenly, the sky turned black. Or not.
The darkness was not just visible, it could be felt, and it was having a very negative effect on the Rahi. Well, it was positive for the Toa. The Rahi were cowering as an unnatural fear overtook them. They were flattening themselves to the ground, looking around for the invisible cause of their fear. Perfect timing, he thought, rubbing one of his numerous wounds.
"Whoa." Lynx was not sure whether he should be thankful or worried, but he kept a tight grip on his bow. The creepy darkness was helpful, making the Rahi behave like timid fish. But the shadowy presence was also affecting him, making him uneasy. A pained grunt drew his attention to his injured brother. He decided to use the distraction to tend to Vicant. The Toa of Fire's arm and side were covered in orange fluid, the arm hanging limply at his side. But Vicant tried to shrug off the Air Toa's help.
"We don't have time," he hissed. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I really don't. Wait a sec." Lynx squinted at the black clouds. He thought he saw something move in the clouds. Then a shadow fell from the clouds with deadly swiftness and tackled the Vortixx leader. Zebulun released his strangle hold on the dazed Toa of Earth and began furiously fighting this new assailant while shouting at his cowering minions to help him.
"Dude. What is that?" the green Toa asked, an astonished look on his Miru.
Vicant turned to look, but the movement caused him too much pain. He fell to his knees, leaning on his sword for support. Lynx crouched next to him and began using air pressure to at least stop the bleeding. As he closed up the wounds, he glanced around at the Rahi and the shadow creature. Luckily for them, the Rahi were still being controlled by fear.
His eyes were quickly drawn to the battle raging between the two ebony warriors. Although the Vortixx was taller and armed with two swords, the newcomer had wings and an impressive array of powers. Shadow, water, air, and invisibility were interchangeably used by the newcomer. However, the shadow being was at a disadvantage because of his lack of weapons. Zebulun took advantage of this weakness and did everything he could to get him within range of the swords. The shadow being was fast. With each sword swing that came near, the shadow one would dodge or blast the swords with one of his powers. He would frequently turn invisible during the fight. It would have been wise to completely keep invisible, but it appeared that the shadow being enjoyed taunting his foe. But his childish taunting proved to be his greatest weakness.
It soon became a sort of a routine. Zebulun would attempt to stab or cut the stranger. The stranger would dodge and blast the Vortixx's offending weapon with one of his powers. Sometimes he would go invisible and dodge, then reappear. Then the stranger would allow the Vortixx to take another swipe at him. Then he would dodge again, and the process would repeat itself. But the stranger began getting too bold, waiting longer each time to dodge. This time, Zebulun left an armor deep cut across the stranger's chest. The warlord laughed triumphantly, and the stranger appeared shocked and angry.
Zebulun's laugh died quickly as the very angry stranger went on the offensive. He realized with dread that this being had only been playing with him up to that point. Now he was forced to dodge claws laced with shadow and water. He had never realized that either element could be condensed into something so solid that it could cut. Zebulun began to get desperate, thrusting and blocking rapidly, trying to win. He had to win, he could not lose. He wanted this land, these Matoran. He wanted to rule. While Zebulun's fear made him fiercer, the stranger's anger made him reckless. Both landed several blows on the other. But the Vortixx still had one trick left, a very dangerous one.
Lynx watched in horror as the next events played out before him in a matter of seconds. The shadow being lunged at Zebulun once again. However, this time, the Vortixx faked a right swing to the stranger's head. In one swift, fluid motion, the experienced warlord stepped to the left and stabbed the shadow being. But the shadow being's reflexes were just fast enough to save him. He jerked forward and avoided a lethal impaling to the chest, but the sword pierced his wings instead. With a sadistic grin, the Vortixx pulled the trigger, shredding his opponent's wings. The shadow being screamed. Then the blades came back together, painfully entangling the appendages. In the next second, the cruel warlord ripped the wings off the stranger's back.
The Toa of Air knew he could no longer be a bystander. He could not wait for this stranger to identify himself as an ally or enemy. Seeing the strange being on his hands and knees, dark fluids practically pouring out of his back, called out to his honor as a Toa. He could not just sit back and watch someone get killed. He charged, shooting twin whirlwinds from his hands. The blasts knocked the warlord off his feet before he could finish his opponent.
Suddenly, the Vortixx was slammed against a rock outcropping, pinned between the rock and Titasami's large shield. Activating his Kakama, Mask of Speed, the Earth Toa leaped backward, just out of reach. The warlord took the bait, his focus on the black Toa. He never noticed the white presence to his right until he was encased in ice from the neck down.
It was then that Lynx noticed that the sky had cleared and the foreboding aura was gone. It was clear that it was somehow the doing of the dark stranger. But the Rahi were not attacking. Perplexed, he looked around. The Rahi were...lounging? That was the best word he could think of to describe the posture of the formerly overly aggressive creatures. They were lying around like a bunch of harmless, basking snakes.
"You filthy creatures!" the Vortixx roared, trying to struggle. "Attack! Kill! Kill them!"
Some of the Rahi rose to their feet, and Lynx prepared himself for the attack. But nothing of that sort happened. Instead, they stretched lazily and lay back down. Now Lynx was straight out confused. A clanging noise brought the Air Toa's attention back to the imprisoned Vortixx. The source of the noise was another Ithamar, a large red one, who had deposited a broken sword on the ground between them. Lynx had no clue what this gesture meant, but from the warlord's shocked expression he could tell that it was very important. Then the Rahi turned its back on its leader and walked away. The other Rahi emphasized this gesture by turning their heads away from their fallen leader.
Lynx scratched the back of his head and shrugged. And I always thought weird only came in green.