Chapter 13
Piraka Attack!
The group of new Toa and young dinosaurs continued their trek across the rugged terrain until they were stopped by a major obstacle. They now stood at the edge of a large gorge, the bottom of which was filled with lava. The gap was too far to jump, and there appeared to be no way to walk around it in a short amount of time. Not knowing if the Matoran were in any danger, they had to find some other way across.
"Now what?" asked Cera, frustrated at encountering an obstacle that seemed impassable.
Jaller had an idea, but wasn't sure if some of the others would like it. Still, he couldn't think of any other way. He turned to Nuparu and said, "You'll have to fly us over."
"Now wait a minute," interjected Kongu. "Let's be sensible here. Nuparu and I can switch masks, and I'll do the flying."
Jaller had been expecting a reaction like that. He was going to say something in response, but Nuparu did so first.
"That does make sense," said Nuparu. "I can't argue with it, but destiny, for whatever reason, gave me this mask. There has to be a reason for that."
"Destiny has a sense of humor?" asked Kongu, rhetorically.
"I think I'm supposed to have it," continued the Toa of Earth. "I'm not going to give it up just yet." Then he smiled. "Besides, I think flying is kind of fun."
"Me agree!" exclaimed Petrie, already flying around Nuparu. "Flying very happy-fun!"
Kongu shook his head and said, "Wonderful, they can deep-carve that on our memorial stones — 'But at least Nuparu had fun.'"
Nuparu activated his mask power and rose into the air. He then grabbed Kongu by the shoulders and lifted him into the air.
"Hey! I didn't quick-agree to go first!" protested Kongu as he was quickly carried across the gorge.
When they reached the other side, Nuparu simply dropped the Toa of Air to the ground, mostly because he was still so new to such an experience. "This is amazing!" said Nuparu in joy as he carried Matoro over in a similar way. "Why, if I built some tools that would help me stay level and steer, this mask would work even better!"
"It's a mask, Nuparu," said Hewkii in annoyance. "I don't think you need tools to make it work." One second later, he was the next one to be carried across the gorge.
After dropping off the Toa of Stone, Nuparu flew back to the other side and asked, "Who's next?"
"Take the kids, Jaller and I will go last," replied Hahli.
Since the young dinosaurs were much shorter than the Toa, Nuparu had to actually land before he could grab them.
"I'm not so sure about—" said Cera before she was picked up and carried across the gorge, screaming all the way. Nuparu's other arm was around Spike with Ducky hanging on."Put me down! Put me down!" shouted Cera. They had already reached the other side, so Nuparu simply dropped them to the ground, as he had done with everyone else. After hitting the ground, Cera got up and exclaimed, "Not like that!"
"That the spirit, Nuparu!" encouraged Petrie as he watched the Toa of Earth carry Littlefoot, Ruby, and Chomper across.
Meanwhile, Hahli was finding it hard to ignore a strange headache she was having. In fact, the closer they got to the volcano, the worse it seemed to get. Not sure what it meant, she turned to Jaller and said, "You should go next."
"No, I insist you go next," responded Jaller. "I'll act as rear guard."
Hahli reluctantly agreed as Nuparu gently grabbed her by the shoulders and began to carry her across. They were halfway across when something went wrong. A sudden strong gust of wind blew across the gorge. Still new to flying, Nuparu was thrown off balance and lost his grip on the Toa of Water.
"Hahli!" shouted Littlefoot in terror as he and the others watched helplessly.
Jaller, apparently without thinking, ran and jumped off the edge of the gorge and caught Hahli. It seemed that now both of them were doomed to fall into the lava, but he somehow managed to use the momentum to flip through the air and land feet-first on the edge of the other side of the gorge. Everyone stared at the Toa of Fire in disbelief.
"Whoa, that was a new one," said Hewkii.
"That impressive move was a very impressive move, Jaller," commented Ruby.
"Even I found that one amazing," added Cera.
"Who taught you how to do that?" asked Chomper.
After putting Hahli down, Jaller simply shrugged and said, "No one. It was the only thing to do, but... it shouldn't have worked. We should both be in the lava. I can't understand how..."
"Could it be your mask?" asked Hahli.
"What, it's a Mask of Leaping?" joked Kongu.
"Or maybe something much more powerful," said Nuparu as he landed next to them. "I think we should test it, Jaller, and... I'm sorry about what happened."
"That's okay, I forgive you," responded Jaller.
Everyone then turned their attention to Kongu, almost expecting him to say another of his cutting remarks. Instead, he smiled and threw his arm around Nuparu's shoulders. "Come here, Toa-hero," said Kongu. "Let me quick-teach you a little something about updrafts and downdrafts. I don't want you to crash and break that mask."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh at this comment. It was good to see Kongu finally willing to accept the given mask powers of him and his fellow Toa.
The laughter was short-lived when Matoro spotted something. "Look out!" he shouted. Before anyone could react, a green sphere flew through the air and struck the Toa of Ice in the chest, creating a flash of electricity as it passed through him.
"No!" shouted Ruby in defeat. She and the other young dinosaurs had learned from Garan and the other Matoran that the Piraka had enslaved the Matoran of Voya Nui by firing green spheres like that one at them. They knew what this would mean for their friend. The Toa were unaware of that knowledge, so they waited to see what would happen. The blue-armored Piraka, Vezok, stepped out of his hiding place to see the results.
They all waited a few seconds. Nothing happened.
Vezok looked at his launcher in frustration. He fired another sphere at Matoro. Again, it hit him, and again, nothing happened. "What's going on here?" grumbled Vezok. "You should be enslaved!"
The gang was especially confused by this turn of events. Matoro had just taken two of those enslavement spheres and he appeared to have been completely unaffected. What was it that made him immune to those spheres?
"Oh, is that what that does?" said Matoro. He then raised his ice sword, figuring this must be the Piraka he heard about. "Then I don't feel so bad about doing this."
Matoro focused his elemental energy and concentrated it into his weapon. He and the others had expected a blast of ice to fly forward, like he had seen Toa Kopaka do hundreds of times, but something different happened. The weapon glowed brightly before releasing a white beam of ice that was combined with lightning.
The Piraka took the full force of the attack, both the freezing cold of the ice and the jolting pain of the electricity all at once. He went down hard, but just seconds later, he jumped back to his feet with a huge grin on his face.
"That can't be good," muttered Cera.
Vezok put away the launcher in his left hand, allowing him to have a free hand with which to fire the same exact attack he had just been hit with. His target was the Toa of Fire.
Jaller didn't think there was any way he could have avoided that attack, but he somehow managed to twist his body away just enough to dodge the ice blast. For a moment, he thought he had sensed the mask was actually approving of his actions. He was quite sure that most masks were incapable of such a life-like action, but he had to admit that it was far from the first weird detail about the organic masks that he and the other Toa wore. "So it is the mask," muttered Jaller just loud enough for Littlefoot to hear him. It was now clear to Jaller that it was his mask power that allowed him to pull off incredible athletic feats. He then got up and said to the Piraka, "You picked the wrong Toa to throw snowballs at."
Jaller raised his flame sword and focused his elemental energy into it. Like Matoro, Jaller's elemental flame attack was combined with lightning. Again, Vezok took the attack and went down. A few seconds later, he jumped back to his feet again.
"Get ready," warned Matoro. "He duplicated my power when I used it on him. He'll do the same with Jaller's, but I'm guessing he can't handle more than one power at a time."
Vezok put away his other weapon so that now both of his hands were free. He had a huge grin on his face as he raised his hands and said, "Guess again." He unleashed both attacks at once. From his left hand, he fired an ice blast at Hahli. From his right hand, he fired a fire blast at Matoro.
Both Toa hit the ground. Ruby, Ducky, and Spike rushed over to check on them. They were okay, but not strong enough to fight back for the moment.
"Hey!" exclaimed Cera. "That's not fair!"
Vezok burst out laughing as if he had just heard the funniest joke ever. He looked at the young Threehorn and said, "Kid, let me give you a life lesson about the real world: Nothing is fair!" He then used his impact vision, sending Cera flying back a few bio. Petrie rushed over to check on her. She was sore, but alright.
"Stay behind us, kids," said Jaller as he, Kongu, Nuparu, and Hewkii stood shoulder to shoulder between Vezok and the young dinosaurs. After what happened to Cera, they didn't want anyone else to get seriously hurt.
Hoping to find some useful information, Kongu used his mask power on Vezok. It took him only a second to realize what a bad idea it was. He cringed and exclaimed, "Muaka bones! It's a pest-hole in there! I've crawled through Rama nests that were cleaner than that!"
With that effort failed, Jaller knew he had to take the standard approach. "Who are you? What do you want?" asked Jaller.
"My name is Vezok," replied the Piraka, confirming for the gang which one he was. "My partners and I have already claimed this island by right of conquest, and we don't like trespassers."
"That's too bad," taunted Nuparu. "We're—"
"I know what you are," interrupted Vezok. "Toa. I could smell you a kio away. You all have that 'doomed do-gooder' stench."
Taking advantage of the distraction, Hewkii picked up a large boulder that was about the size of his torso. Unfortunately, Vezok had spotted him before he had a chance to throw it.
Vezok simply smiled at this foolish attempt. "Drop that or I'll freeze-fry your pals!" threatened Vezok.
Hewkii wasn't sure what to do at first. He knew this Piraka was a threat that had to be stopped. He didn't want to back down, but he also didn't want his friends and fellow Toa to get hurt. Then a strange thought crossed his mind. To him, it seemed like it came from his mask. Whatever it was, he had to admit that it was a crazy idea, but it just might work. He just had to trust his mask.
Hewkii shrugged and simply tossed the boulder aside. Spike, Ruby, and Matoro were the only ones who paid attention long enough to notice something unusual. The boulder hit another rock, deflecting it towards another rock, which then deflected it towards yet another rock, and this pattern just kept on going.
"Do yourselves a favor," continued Vezok, oblivious to the unnatural trajectory of the boulder. "Clear off Voya Nui while you still can, or you'll wind up like those other Toa. You can't beat one Piraka, let alone six."
"Guess again," said Hewkii with a smile on his face. The flying boulder deflected off one more rock before it finally hit its target. The boulder slammed into Vezok's back, causing him to stumble forward from the surprise of it.
Taking advantage of this unexpected attack, Nuparu activated his mask power and flew straight at the Piraka, knocking him flat on his back. The other three Toa rushed over before he could get up.
"What was that?" asked Chomper about the boulder.
Hewkii simply smiled and said, "That was my mask power."
"Wow, I guess this means we now know everyone's mask powers," commented Ruby.
Meanwhile, Vezok had raised his hands and was preparing to strike back with his absorbed powers when Jaller stopped him by pointing his weapon at the Piraka's throat.
"Think about it, can you get off a blast before I do? Are you fast enough?" warned Jaller. He turned his head a bit so that he was now perfectly face-to-face with Vezok. "I don't need a Mask of Telepathy to know what's going through your head. You figure we're new to being Toa, maybe not quick enough or skilled enough to use our powers, and you're right. But, you see, there's only one problem... I'm so new, I can't always control my flame. I might want to just singe you, Vezok... but poor novice Toa that I am, I could slip... and burn your head clean off."
Jaller had spoken so quietly that of the young dinosaurs, only Littlefoot and Chomper — who were also the only ones who hadn't gone back to check on their downed friends — had heard him. Jaller's threat had actually scared them a bit. Would this threat make the Piraka back down? If not, would Jaller go through with his threat?
Reluctantly, Vezok lowered his hands and held back his attack.
Kongu decided to turn back and check on Hahli, Matoro, and Cera to make sure they were okay, even though he already knew they were okay and already back on their feet. His main reason for doing so was to avoid getting exposed to any more of the Piraka's disturbing thoughts.
"Get up," ordered Jaller to Vezok. "You're going to take us to those other Toa you mentioned."
"Sure," replied Vezok in defeat as he stood up. "I've never liked the smell of something burning... especially when it's me."
Jaller shoved the Piraka ahead of him and began to follow. Hewkii and Matoro followed by Jaller's side. Behind them were Hahli and Nuparu to protect the young dinosaurs, followed by Kongu who acted as rear guard. The gang was quite nervous with this predicament. "Are you sure it's such a good idea to follow a Piraka?" asked Cera.
"He may be our only lead to the Toa Nuva," replied Jaller.
Before Jaller could say anything else, Kongu picked up a devious thought from Vezok and shouted a warning. Before anyone could react, Vezok threw an ice blast and a fire blast at each other, resulting in the rapid creation of a large wall of steam that completely blocked everyone's view of the Piraka. Kongu moved quickly and used his elemental powers of air to blow away the cloud. Once the obstruction was gone, the Piraka was nowhere to be found.
"Do we track him?" asked Matoro.
Jaller shook his head and said, "I don't think it's worth it. He knows the island, and we don't."
"If you follow him, he will pick you off one by one."
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the source of that voice, which belonged to an Onu-Matoran who had just stepped out from behind a few large rocks nearby. Despite the lack of light, the gang immediately recognized him as their friend, Garan.
"He will be heading back to the stronghold to warn Zaktan of your approach," Garan quickly continued. "We need to make our plans before he reaches there."
"Zaktan? Stronghold? Who are you?" asked Matoro. The gang suddenly realized they had not yet told the new Toa much about what had happened on Voya Nui.
"My name is Garan," replied the Onu-Matoran. "I will tell you my story on our journey. I'd suggest you listen, if you ever hope to leave this island alive."
Everyone followed Garan as he led them towards the coast. "At least it's nice to see you again, Garan," commented Littlefoot.
The Toa looked at Littlefoot in confusion. "You know this Matoran?" asked Nuparu.
"Yeah, we've been friends with him and a few others ever since we got here," replied Cera.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" asked Hewkii.
"I guess we kind of forgot to tell you," replied Chomper. "Sorry."
"That's okay," assured Jaller. "The important thing is that we will now know the whole story."
As the group headed towards and walked along the rocky coast of Voya Nui Bay, Garan told the Toa about everything that had happened on Voya Nui ever since the Piraka had arrived. The gang occasionally helped Garan tell some parts of the story. Then Garan came to the part where even the gang had not known what had happened, starting with their entrance into the stronghold with the Toa Nuva.
Garan explained how they got inside after Toa Lewa made Reidak unintentionally break the door down. After the Toa Nuva found their masks, they immediately went to deal with the Piraka, who at that point were literally fighting each other. They were about to attack Zaktan when his powerful new ally took down all six Toa Nuva and all six Matoran with just one swing of his blade. Littlefoot immediately remembered that this powerful being was Brutaka, but chose not to speak up. Garan then explained how Vezok had questioned him once he had regained consciousness. Despite the threat of certain death, he had refused to tell the Piraka anything that he or the other Piraka would have wanted to hear. Vezok had been about to throw Garan into a lava pool when Balta and the other Matoran rescued him and escaped from the stronghold. It wasn't until they had gotten away that Garan had realized that Dalu was missing.
"Does anyone know what happened to Dalu?" asked Chomper.
Garan shook his head. "She wasn't with Balta and the others when they awoke," replied Garan. "We can only hope that she managed to escape."
"I just have one question: why do you insist that we walk along the coast?" asked Hewkii.
"The waters around Voya Nui are so treacherous that the Piraka aren't expecting enemies to arrive by sea. Instead, they've been focusing their attention on the air. It seems they're expecting someone to come looking for them, someone far more frightening than a Toa." Garan then stopped when he realized something. He turned around and asked, "You are Toa, aren't you? You don't look like the Toa Nuva."
"Yes, we are Toa, but not Toa Nuva," replied Jaller. He thought for a moment about what kind of Toa he and the others really were. He thought about the lightning bolts from the Red Star that had made them Toa, the way their maskless faces glowed, the way their weapons gave off energy, and how their elemental attacks were fused with lightning. Jaller then added, "No, not Toa Nuva. Toa Inika."
Everyone immediately turned their attention to Jaller. The name caught the other Toa by surprise, but it made sense to them. The young dinosaurs, on the other hand, were simply curious what that word meant.
"Inika?" asked Littlfoot. "What's a Toa Inika?"
"'Inika' is a Matoran word that means 'the energies of a star,'" replied Hahli.
Now that they knew what that word meant, the gang also realized that it made sense to call these new Toa by that name. However, they had also noticed that Hahli had her hand on her head, as if she wasn't feeling well. "Hahli? Are you okay?" asked Ducky.
"I don't know," replied Hahli. "For some reason, I suddenly have this terrible headache. I don't know if it was the name Jaller came up with, or seeing that volcano in the distance, or maybe even both." The pain suddenly intensified. Hahli reacted by removing her mask. As soon as she had done so, all of the pain had suddenly disappeared. "So it is the Kanohi," she said to herself. "Yet, somehow I know that it's not an attack. No, the mask is trying to direct us, but where?"
"At least put your mask back on," said Kongu in annoyance as he held his arm over his eyes.
Hahli had forgotten about how her maskless face gave off a blinding glow, so she put her mask back on, even though it caused her slight headache to return.
"I've never seen a Toa do that before," said Garan as he unshielded his eyes.
"Believe me, you're not the first one to say that today," said Cera.
"So how much further is it?" asked Nuparu to Garan.
"This way," replied Garan as he led the group through a nearby tunnel in the rock. It led upwards with many twists and turns, getting narrower the further it went. At the end of the tunnel, Garan slid aside a rock that revealed hole that was barely large enough for them to fit through. Everyone followed the Onu-Matoran through the opening into a small chamber. Waiting inside were four other Matoran. The gang quickly noticed the absence of a certain Ga-Matoran.
"This is all of you?" asked Kongu. "Five Matoran on an entire island?"
"Five still free," replied Balta.
"Make that six."
Everyone turned their attention to another entrance to the chamber, where they saw Dalu. While the other Matoran simply smiled to see that she was okay, the gang cheered at this sight. Balta was so happy to see Dalu again that he actually walked up to her and hugged her for a moment. After returning the embrace to the Ta-Matoran, Dalu turned to Garan and quickly reported, "I tried to get away, but didn't make it very far. I saw enough to know that you're right; the Piraka alliance is fracturing."
"Then it is time to strike," said Kazi.
Dalu nodded in agreement. "Never a better one. Hakann, Reidak, Avak, and Thok are nowhere to be found. Zaktan is in a rage over it. No one is watching the Matoran workers on the slopes of the volcano."
"Whoa, slow down," interrupted Matoro. "What's going on here? Where are the Toa Nuva?"
The young dinosaurs were also just as confused. They knew the Piraka didn't trust each other, but had no idea just how much of an opportunity this time would be. They were also wondering what had happened to the Toa Nuva.
"Dead, if they're lucky," replied Garan. "If not, Zaktan has them, and I doubt he'll be as easy on them as Vezok was on us. The Piraka are looking for a treasure hidden on this island — your friends said it was a mask needed to save the life of the Great Spirit. They enslaved our people to help them get their claws on it, and we are going to stop them."
Garan walked up to Jaller to make his point clear to the Toa of Fire. "Your fellow Toa tried to help and paid the price. If you want to turn and go, we will understand, but if you want to aid us, you must decide now. This chance to hit the Piraka hard may not come again."
Jaller already knew what his decision would be, but more than anything else, he was determined to not repeat the mistakes made by previous Toa of Fire — like Tahu or Vakama — that made problems even worse. He turned to the other Toa and, one by one, they all nodded their heads. He then turned to the young dinosaurs, who were here only for reasons unknown to anyone. As one, they too nodded their heads.
Jaller turned back to Garan and said, "You point us in the right direction. We'll handle the hitting."