Chapter 11
The sun rose on Po-Metru. Normally, the small assemblers village would be pack with carvers. Ordinarily, the Po-Matoran would be hard at work on their statues before the sun's rays even reached them.
Today was not an ordinary day. Today, the Po-Matoran fled from a rampaging monster, which was followed by a swarm of Matoran on Hover-Bikes. Today, Gragu Nuva was in Po-Metru.
Gragu grabbed a statue of Mata-Nui, and lifted it high into the air. He threw it to the ground, and it shattered into a million pieces. The Po-Matoran ran as the debris fell down around them.
"Get that one, Boss," one of the Gang Matoran shouted. He pointed towards a completed statue of a Toa.
"With pleasure," Gragu roared. He casually walked over to the statue, which was four times as tall as he was. He pulled back his fist, and then swung it hard into the statue's leg. Gragu hit the statue with a tremendous force, but the stone did not crumble.
Moans of disappointment were heard amongst the Gang Matoran, but Gragu simply grinned. He lifted his hand, and doused the base of the statue with acid. The acid ate away at the stone, weakening it. With a single blow, Gragu toppled the statue. It crashed directly on top of the assemblers village. By then, all the Po-Matoran had fled to safety.
Gragu Nuva looked around, but was disappointed to find no other object that he could smash. "Good job, boys," he yelled to the Gang Matoran. "That was very entertaining. I do believe there is another assemblers village over the next hill. Let's go there next."
The Gang Matoran yelled in agreement, and Gragu started off. However, he was brought to a sudden halt with a yell from one of the Gang Matoran. The Matoran had been knocked off his bike, and crashed into the ground.
"What madness?" Gragu cried. Then he sighted the silver Hover-Bike shooting across the desert sands. "KULAGI!"
"That's me," Kulagi replied brightly. "Now, get lost!" Two Kanoka discs slid into his duel launchers, and he fired them. They struck two Matoran, and knocked them out of the sky.
"What does it take to get rid of you, Kanoka Maker?" Gragu growled. He reached over, and tore apart an undamaged tower, and threw it through the air like a javelin. He aimed it towards Kulagi.
"Uh oh," Kulagi said simply. He tilted his bike up, and accelerated as the stone javelin flew closer. Kulagi tilted his bike into a vertical position, and the javelin just missed. He lowered the slope, and shot down through the air towards the Gang Matoran.
"The was TOTALLY WICKED!" Triki cried from the back of the bike.
Kulagi grinned. "Get used to it, friend. We'll probably pull a few more Gs before we're through."
Kulagi launched discs from his duel launchers on his Hover-Bike, and Triki fired his own discs. But now the Gang Matoran were on the defensive, and only Kulagi's Ko-Metru Kanoka struck their targets. Gragu reached for another stone statue, to be used to fell Kulagi.
"OUT LOOK!" Triki yelled. The Gang Matoran filled the air with a volley of Kanoka aimed at Kulagi's Hover-Bike. Kulagi quickly went into a barrel roll, and avoided many of the discs. He fired a Po-Metru Kanoka to deflect the remaining Kanoka away from him.
"I'm going to end this now," Kulagi muttered. He lifted his own launcher, which had the energized protodermis Kanoka loaded. "Hey, Gragu, I've got something for you!"
Kulagi fired his disc, but Gragu noticed it. With a flick of his clawed hand, he knocked the disc aside. The disc hit the ground without activating its powers. Kulagi felt a chill run down his spine. He had just lost the only Kanoka that could take down Gragu. That only left one option for him.
"Triki, we've got to retrieve that disc," he called to the Le-Matoran. "I'm going to fly down next to it, and I need you to grab it."
Triki aimed his launcher, and fired a Reconstruct at Random Kanoka before responding to Kulagi. "Great! Go for it!" he said, as his Kanoka transformed a Hover-Bike into a couch and sent a Gang Matoran tumbling to the ground.
Kulagi shot through the air, narrowly avoiding Kanoka sent by the Gang Matoran. He flew just off the ground, and headed towards his fallen disc. Triki leaned over the edge; ready to grab the Kanoka when he got close enough.
Suddenly, a stray Kanoka grazed Triki's shoulder, and knocked him off the bike, along with his launcher and Kanohi mask. Kulagi swerved out of the way to avoid another Kanoka, and shot past his fallen Kanoka without having time to retrieve it. He spun his bike around in the air, but he already knew that it was hopeless. Gragu and the Gang Matoran were all focused on him.
"You're time has ended," Gragu commented, as he lifted another stone pillar.
But Gragu was suddenly distracted. A volley of Kanoka struck him, and caused him to drop the stone pillar. Kulagi's jaw dropped, and he turned to see a lone Matoran on the hillside. It was Huaju.
"What are you doing here?" Kulagi called up to him.
"I thought you could use some help," Huaju said. "So I brought reinforcements." More Matoran walked up onto the hillside around Huaju, all armed with Kanoka launchers. To his surprise, Kulagi recognized many of them.
Gragu growled, and the Gang Matoran reached for their launchers. But Huaju shouted first. "Kanoka Makers of Metru-Nui, let's show these Gang Matoran how to really use Kanoka!" Before the Gang Matoran could react, the Kanoka Makers started firing their discs. The air was filled with Matoran and Hover-Bikes getting shrunk, enlarged, frozen, teleported, randomly mutated, and multiplied. The number of Gang Matoran atop Hover-Bikes greatly diminished.
Kulagi used the distraction to fly to the ground and grab his fallen disc. He turned to Triki, who had just gotten up from his fall. "You need a lift?"
"No, I'm much fine," he called. "You fast-fly!"
Four Gang Matoran dropped out of the air, and landed near Triki. They were unharmed, and they pulled out their Kanoka launchers.
"Triki, look out!" Kulagi called.
"I've got it much covered," Triki said. "Go take down big, ugly Matoran freak."
Kulagi decided to leave it to Triki, and accelerated away. The Gang Matoran surrounded Triki, with their launchers aimed. "You're toast, Le-Matoran," one of them snarled.
"I think not!" Triki said. "Feel the power of Triki!" Suddenly, he picked up his Kanohi mask, and shoved it on over his Kakama. The Gang Matoran backed up as electricity started to build up on his mask. Before any of them could react, bolts of electricity shot out from the Kanohi, blasting everything around him. Soon the Gang Matoran were out cold.
The mask blew of Triki's face, and he wobbled around, grinning broadly. "YEAH! Take that!" Then he promptly fell over and passed out.
Kulagi grinned at Triki's success, but he still had to take down Gragu. He flew up in the air, and prepared to make a dive towards Gragu.
Gragu Nuva had been bombard by Kanoka, but they did little harm to him. He knocked them away with ease, and now lashed out at the Kanoka Makers. He lifted his hands, and sprayed acid at the hillside. Huaju jumped out of the way of the attack, but the hillside started to crumble.
"Get out of there, Huaju!" Kulagi yelled from the air. "Gragu's mine!"
Huaju hesitated, but then yelled, "You heard Kulagi. Retreat. We've knocked down all of the Gang Matoran!"
Gragu turned his attention from the fleeing Kanoka Makers to the Hover-Bike that was flying above him. "Come and get me, Kanoka Maker!"
"Gladly," Kulagi shouted back. He dipped down into a sharp dive, and aimed his launcher. He got closer and closer to Gragu, and waited for the precise moment to fire. However, Gragu suddenly leapt into the air, and grabbed the nose of Kulagi's Hover-Bike. He shoved it aside, and it crashed into the ground, spilling all of its contents. Kulagi lay on the ground next to his launcher and pack of Kanoka. But the energized protodermis Kanoka had fallen out of the launcher, and now lay in the desert sands. And all that stood between it and Kulagi was the monstrosity known as Gragu Nuva.
Gragu laughed harshly. "Where are you going to run to now, Kanoka Maker? You're journey has ended."
"The end is coming, all right," Kulagi said, not taking his eyes off the fallen Kanoka. He lifted his launcher, and loaded in a disc labeled 637. He shouted "Weakening Disc!" as he shot it.
Gragu prepared to swipe the disc aside, but it wasn't aimed at him. Instead, the disc struck a pinnacle of rocks above Gragu's head, and sent them crashing down on the former Gang Matoran. Gragu rubbed his head, but grinned. "That's not going to stop me."
"I didn't expect that it would," Kulagi muttered as he loaded a Kanoka labeled 578 into his launcher.
With a roar of anger, Gragu rushed forward, ready to pulverize Kulagi. Kulagi waited until the right instant before he acted. When Gragu was in close enough range, he aimed his disc at a rock by his feet and shouted, "Regeneration Disc!"
The rocks beneath Kulagi multiplied, and build a column below him that boosted him into the air. As Gragu lunged forward, he swung his fist and shattered the column. But Kulagi leapt of the rocks, over Gragu's head, and kicked off his back. Before Gragu could even react, Kulagi was behind him and sprinting for his fallen Kanoka. As Gragu started to turn, Kulagi added another disc into his launcher, labeled 426.
Gragu spun around to face Kulagi. "You can't run from me!"
"I can if you can't run!" Kulagi shouted back. "Freezing Disc!"
His Kanoka shot through the air, but was aimed at the rock below Gragu. A thick layer of ice quickly built up on the rocks after the disc struck. Gragu tried to take a step forward, but slipped and fell to the ground.
Gragu was not going to let Kulagi get away. He lifted the Bordakh head he had taken, and fired a Kanoka disc. But Kulagi spun around and shouted "Shrinking Disc!" His Kanoka shrunk Gragu's Kanoka out of sight. Gragu then fired acid at Kulagi, but the Onu-Matoran already had the right disc loaded into his launcher. "Removes Poison Disc!" he shouted, as he fired a disc labeled 348. The Kanoka neutralized Gragu's deadly attack.
Kulagi finally reached down and recovered the energized protodermis Kanoka. He dramatically loaded it into his launcher as Gragu got to his feet. "And now I have one last disc to shoot, Gragu. And this one will take you down forever!" He gripped his launcher, and shouted "Enlarging Disc!" He fired the energized protodermis Kanoka, and it flew towards Gragu.
Gragu moved his hands to swipe away the Kanoka. But then Kulagi suddenly remembered the special ability of the Ga-Metru Kanoka. The user could guide them through the air with their mind. Kulagi mentally steered the disc around Gragu's outstretched arms, and directed it to fly around him.
"What kind of Kanoka is this?" Gragu cried, as he swiped at it again but missed.
"This is a very powerful Kanoka, Gragu," Kulagi calmly explained, as he directed the disc with his mind. "It's a Ga-Metru Enlarging disc, with a power level of nine. Do you know what's so special about a Kanoka with a power level of nine?"
Gragu didn't answer, but simply lunged for the disc. Kulagi continued. "Nine is the most powerful power level ever encountered. And do you want to know where I found the protodermis to make such a disc? Well, I used energized protodermis to carve this Kanoka. The same substance that gave you those new powers. And now I'll use it to take away your powers!"
Gragu tried to grab the disc again, but missed. He was becoming frustrated. "You won't defeat me."
"I will!" Kulagi hissed. "You wanted almighty power... now have a taste of it!" Kulagi sent the disc flying towards Gragu's chest. Gragu tried to block it, but Kulagi mentally guided the disc beneath Gragu's outstretched arms. The Kanoka disc struck home.
Kulagi watched in amazement. The Kanoka simply fused into Gragu's bulk. For a moment, Kulagi felt a wave of panic. Had Gragu somehow diverted its power? Had he failed to take down the mutated Gang Matoran yet again? But no, Gragu screamed in pain, and it was obvious that the disc was having an effect on this monster.
Slowly, Gragu's features began to melt. The muscle, the claws, and the horns all turned into a silvery liquid, and washed off of Gragu. The liquid formed a circle around Gragu, who was back in his Matoran form. Gragu was frozen, filled with fear, as the liquid energized protodermis started to expand. The liquid formed a dome around the Gang Matoran, and blocked him from view. Then, in a sudden rush, the dome collapsed in on itself, and Gragu's scream was heard all across the Metru. Then it was over, and all that remained was some steam, rising off the ground.
The fallen Gang Matoran watched in amazement as the energized protodermis took its victim. Huaju and the Kanoka Makers watched in awe, and started to climb down the hillside. Triki revived, and stared at the spot where Gragu had last stood. Kulagi held his ground, and he was filled with a sudden rush of relief. It was over now. Gragu had been defeated.
The Gang Matoran were dumbstruck. "You destroyed Boss!" one of them cried, pointing to Kulagi. "Now we're going to destroy you!"
All the Gang Matoran turned towards Kulagi, and the Kanoka Maker felt a sudden weakness flow through him. He couldn't find the energy to lift his launcher to defend himself. He fell to his knees before the Gang Matoran.
But he didn't have to defend himself. Brilliant lights struck each of the Gang Matoran, and they froze in their stance. Before anyone could speak, Kulagi grinned and suggested, "I would surrender now."
"We surrender!" the Gang Matoran shouted, throwing aside their launchers, and laying on the ground.
The Zadahk swarmed across the desert, after having used their stun staffs to make the Gang Matoran suggestible. They quickly pacified the Gang Matoran, and prepared to escort them to the Coliseum prison. Walking along behind the Vahki were Dume, Vakama, and Sufina.
"Such destruction," Dume said quietly, looking around. "Finally brought to a crushing end."
Vakama and Sufina helped Kulagi back to his feet, as Huaju and Triki rushed over to greet them. The other Kanoka Makers started inspecting the damage done.
"You did it," Vakama said. "You defeated Gragu!"
"Yes, he's gone," Kulagi whispered. "Destroyed by the very substance that enhanced his abilities."
"Energized protodermis is odd stuff," Sufina responded. "Matoran may never understand it. And maybe we aren't meant to."
"You ever-crushed big, mean Matoran ugly-head," Triki exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Way to go, dude."
"And most of the Gang Matoran are now held by the Vahki," Huaju added. "This is a good day indeed."
Dume turned to the five Matoran. "I owe all of you a great thanks for all you have done for this city against the Gang Matoran. You shall all receive rewards for your actions."
Dume turned to Huaju. "You were quite smart, trader, to organize the Matoran that would be most effective against the Gang Matoran. If you had not led the Kanoka Makers to battle, the day may have been lost."
"I tried my best," Huaju said with a bow.
Dume turned to Triki. "Your mask has proved itself useful, Le-Matoran, and I shall allow you to keep it. However, I forbid you to ever use it in public or sacred places."
"Thanks, dude!" Triki said with a grin. "Maybe I can make you one too. Wouldn't that be EVER-COOL?"
"No thank you,' Dume said quickly, as he turned to Vakama. "Mask-maker, your dedication and bravery helped in the rescue of Sufina. You shall be rewarded for your valor."
Vakama also bowed. "Thank you, Turaga."
Next, Dume turned to Sufina. "Your intelligence had been very helpful, chemist. You may have given up valuable information to the Gang Matoran, but that is excusable considering the conditions you were in. In addition to that, you helped in the creation of the ultimate Kanoka disc that took down Gragu Nuva. Your work shall receive many awards, but..." Dume paused. "All of your research and the energized protodermis will be exterminated, so such an event will not occur again."
"It is for the best, Turaga," Sufina said with a small nod.
Finally, the Turaga turned to Kulagi. "And you, Kanoka Maker. You are truly responsible for the demise of Gragu Nuva. You created the ultimate discs, and delivered it to Gragu with skill that is almost unheard of amongst the Matoran. Long shall you be honored for your victory."
Kulagi smiled, and felt lightheaded. It was all over, and everything had fallen into place. The Gang Matoran were being pacified, Gragu had been defeated, the Vahki weren't chasing him, Sufina was safe, and he had a pack full of powerful Kanoka. Everything had worked out in the end.
"What about the bike?" Kulagi asked, pointing to his Hover-Bike. Despite having been knocked out of the air, it was in pretty good condition.
Dume smiled. "It is yours now, Kulagi."
"Sweetness!" Kulagi said. Sudden energy flowed into him, and he turned to Sufina. "Do you want to go for a quick ride?"
Sufina blushed, but nodded. "Why not?"
Turaga Dume turned away from the Matoran, and began to inspect the damage again. "We need to divert a team of builders out here," he said to no one in particular. "I'm sure if we have a few extra teams here, we'll get things fixed up in no time."
Kulagi turned to Triki and Huaju. "Hey, thanks for all the help, you two. It's nice to have friends that you can stand beside."
"It was quite an experience," Huaju agreed. "But now it's back to business as usual."
"I'm thinking about quick-crafting more Kanohi," Triki said thoughtfully. Vakama chuckled.
Kulagi turned to Vakama suddenly, and tossed a Kanoka towards him. "Here, mask-maker. Catch."
"What's this?" Vakama asked, as he grabbed the Ta-Metru Kanoka out of the air.
"That's the disc you asked me for a while back," Kulagi said. "Go carve a cool mask out of it."
Vakama's face brightened. "Thanks, Kulagi. I'll do that."
Kulagi gestured to Sufina, and flipped his bike upright. Together, Kulagi and Sufina jumped on the bike. And then Kulagi accelerated, and the two of them disappeared over the horizon.
