Lego owns Bionicle, Hero Factory, Evo and Aldus.
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Chapter 20: new relic
As Evo and Galva were heard talking in the living room, Steven led Grun and Joey down a green hallway with four white doors on each side and an overhead light that illuminated the hall perfectly. Every door, other than the third door on their right was closed, concealing whatever was inside. Three seconds later, Steven turned and walked into the open door, Grun and Joey following behind. Inside of this door, was a room with walls of silver metal, a brown carpet floor, a one way glass ceiling, and a small, black glass table in the center of the room.
Joey raised an eyebrow as he spotted the one way glass ceiling. He knew what one way glass looked like on any platform, for he had designed weaponized vehicles with it on the windshield, including Fireman's truck-like vehicle, the Flame. But out of all of the times he had actually seen one way glass being used, he had never expected it to be used like this. His best guess was that it was part of the floor to a room on the second floor. In that case, he hoped that whatever was placed over it, was strong enough to actually support someone's weight. Otherwise whoever stepped in that room was NOT going to have a good day. Sure, the idea of a see-through floor sounded awesome, and it had been done before, but if the wrong materials had been used, it was going to be more dangerous than cool.
What caught the Ko-Matoran's attention next, caused his eyes to widen. For on the centered black table, sat a propped up platter of metallic gold. It didn't take long for Joey to figure out that this was yet another Nui Armor relic, as he noticed a yellow glow streak across the platters surface almost like a small bolt of lightning. Said streak made Joey begin to wonder why these relics were called "Nui Relics". When Joey heard the name Nui, the first thing that came to mind, was the Nui Stone, which was a crystal that could absorb the elemental power of other Toa to make another being more powerful. But because of that description, that crystal and those relics couldn't possibly be related in any way. 'Right'? Joey wondered. But Joey's train of thought was interrupted as Steven spoke to Grun.
"Well here it is". Steven looked to Grun. "You know, I find it kind of funny how I finally found a place to put it, JUST before you two came in here".
It was true. In all of the time he had actually had this thing, he had just decided to put it into this very room. Last week, he had considered other options. He had considered hiding it in the kitchen as a dish, but he didn't want to risk anybody using it or breaking it as he had another dish in that same week. He had also considered placing it on the wall, but then it would've been the first thing everybody saw upon entering the room. If he had done that then he would have to explain the secret war to everyone, something he was sure Grun would NOT be happy with. And there was no way he was keeping it in his bedroom, after having accidentally broken his vase the day before. He wasn't accident prone, but with a relic like this, there was no way he was going to take any chances.
So, since this room was off limits to most people, and an observation room had been built over it, with WiFi and a TV with cable, Steven decided that this room would be the best option. For now at least as he would have to contact his family the second this war was over. He often got letters from them, and he would always write them back, but he still missed seeing them face to face. Both his parents and his little sister whom he had always tried to protect from school bullies and what not. But she was tough. Matter of fact, she was currently in the Mayan Ruins fighting that Bioformer battle.
But until this war was over, Steven would have to keep his distance. All Steven could do until then, was help Grun out in any way he could. 'The sooner this war ends, the better'. Steven thought.
Grun chuckled to himself as he imagined Steven trying to find a place for the Nui Relic. Though Steven was a valued member on the team, even Grun had to agree that Steven was not exactly the best when it came to organization. Sure, this room looked fine but the tables and relic were the only things in it. The kitchen and the living room looked okay too, but those were easy to keep clean. A look in any other room in the house would make anyone wonder how Steven could keep track of anything.
Grun had even been into Steven's bedroom once. If there were ever a room that had looked like it had been hit by a cyclone, Steven's bedroom had to make the list of top ten if there ever was one.
As Grun and Steven continued talking, Joey gazed upon the propped up Nui Relic, wondering what kind of power it would bring the Ghost Warrior next. At the same time, he hoped and feared it was something that would make him stronger. With the war he was currently engaged in, the reason for the hope was obvious. The reason why he feared it was because he feared it would make him TOO powerful. Powerful enough to maybe endanger the lives of those around him. If that was a possible risk of getting another power, was it really worth it?
On one hand, it would bring him one step closer to ending this war and beating Aldus, AKA the Skull King, once and for all. On the other, what if one of his friends got hurt in response to one of these new powers? Like Grun, or Evo. Or worse, Galva. Ever since he had met Galva, he knew in his heartlight that he loved her and that if anything he did or said would harm her in any way, it would kill him inside. Sure, he wanted to keep her safe from Aldus and the other Skull Army forces, and any danger, but that didn't mean he wanted himself to be a danger.
But at the same time, he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. He had agreed to come here, and he had also agreed to absorb whatever power this thing had and to help defeat Aldus. Regardless of what he wanted at this point, there would be no turning back now.
As Grun had finished his conversation with Steven, whom had then left the room, Grun turned to his friend, noticing the conflicted look on his face as he gazed at the Nui Relic. Though Grun had been a bit hard on Joey for the past couple days on this topic, he decided not to do so now. After all, how could he blame him? Grun's family was gone, therefore the only people he had to protect were people he didn't even know. If Joey were still ordinary he'd worry for his safety, but after seeing what he could do, he had quite a bit of confidence in him.
But unlike Grun, Joey DID have people to worry for. To make matters worse, those people were in the crossfire of this long and dangerous conflict. It was no wonder to Grun why Joey would be afraid of what powers this thing would give him. But Joey made a promise, no turning back and as his friend, Grun would ensure that Joey kept that promise. Grun walked next to Joey then, placing a hand on his shoulder before speaking.
"Trying to figure out what powers it will bestow upon you"? Grun asked Joey.
Joey was snapped from his thoughts as he heard Grun ask that question, and then looked to him with a small shrug.
"More or less". Joey responded. "Have any ideas"?
Grun shrugged. "I've had a few thoughts, mostly theories based on fantasies".
Joey raised an eyebrow, thinking Grun to be the last person to have those. "Fantasies"? Joey questioned.
Grun smiled and rolled his eyes a bit upon noticing the look of disbelief on Joey's face. "Hey, I for one think it would be cool to fly".
Joey smirked. "What if you're wearing a kilt"?
A response which made both of the Matoran laugh.
"Okay, how about Super Speed"? Grun suggested.
"Isn't there a Kanohii for that"? Joey responded.
"How about Earthquakes"?
Joey looked thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment before then shaking his head. "Nah, Crumble already has that and I think it would do more harm than good should the Warrior have any gas".
Joey and Grun both burst out laughing once more at that response for a moment before Grun spoke once more: "But seriously, we have no idea. Steven's tried studying it but he's never found out what powerful properties are inside".
Almost immediately after Grun had finished that sentence, Steven walked back inside, carrying and reading a note pad as he spoke next: "I've even taken a sample out of it. All I got was fragile gold".
"Have you tried any kind of Akaku vision"? Joey asked.
Akaku vision was the vision a Toa was granted if they should ever wear a Kanohii Akaku, the mask of vision. This mask granted Toa X-ray, Infared, night, and other forms of vision. Since this kind of Kanohii could only be worn by a Toa, Matoran and Human Scientists would often call in a Toa who wore this mask to look at something they felt unsafe to open or a room they felt weary about entering.
Steven nodded. "I had a Toa come in to use his once". He looked down a bit sadly. "All the vision-seeking gave him nothing".
Joey blinked, surprised that this small, easily breakable relic could conceal it's contents from a Toa who wore an Akaku, something Joey had originally thought impossible for any object. "Whoa". Was his only response.
"Which leaves us with the only way we can ever find out". Grun told Joey. Then gazing at the platter/Nui Relic: "Seeing as this isn't a vase, I'd suggest smashing it".
Joey smirked. "Seriously? I never took you for a troublemaker Grun. Any other antiques you want me to break"?
Everyone chuckled in response.
"Alright, enough goofing around". Grun said. "Let's see what this thing can do". Then following Steven out the door.
Joey gave Grun a confused look upon noticing them start to leave. "Wait, don't you want to see what happens"? If they were afraid of getting some of the power instead of Joey, he doubted they would have to worry about that. He heard a voice in the power from the first relic say he was a "chosen one", so whatever power lied within that platter would more likely choose him over the other two Matoran. Right?
"There's an observation room over this room upstairs". Steven replied. "The ceiling is one-way glass so it allows us to see inside".
Joey nearly facepalmed there, having just come up with that theory a minute ago. "Oh, right". Joey responded.
"It's also connected to the speaker to your left". Steven said next, nodding to a silver speaker on the left wall in the room. "Once we're there, we'll let you know".
Joey simply nodded in response and said nothing more as the two Le-Matoran exited the room, closing the door behind them, leaving Joey alone with the Nui Relic. Joey gazed back at said relic again, finally accepting that he had to do this, and bracing himself for whenever Grun and Steven would give him the go.
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Galva and Evo followed Grun and Steven closely from behind up a carpeted set of stairs, as did the three Protection Soldiers who had been with them for the whole trip. Galva and Evo both couldn't help but wonder what exactly was upstairs, or why it was important. Galva was more worried about where Joey was. She and Evo had both seen Joey enter the hallway downstairs earlier, so why wasn't he with them? Wherever he was, Galva just hoped that he was okay.
Galva's questions were answered after they walked into a hall on the left, then entering the first door on the left side of said hall. Inside was a glass floor, with another room visible underneath of it, along with a couch in the center of the room, and a curved TV on the wall on the right. Galva was a bit frightened upon seeing the clear glass floor at first, thinking that there was no floor to begin with. Galva's fears vanished when she saw everyone walk inside, a floor clearly beneath them.
Upon then noticing Joey in the floor underneath them, Galva close to ran inside, gazing down at him, happy to know he was alright. But then Galva got a bit of a sick feeling in her stomach, placing a hand on her belly as she ran to and took a seat on the couch, trying to look anywhere but down. A few seconds later, she noticed the looks of concern and confusion from everyone else in the room.
Galva blushed a bit. "Did I forget to mention that I'm scared of heights"? She asked them.
Grun simply chuckled in response. "Don't worry. This glass is too thick to break under our weight. It'd take at least fifty titans to put a crack in it".
Evo gazed at the one way glass floor curiously, wondering how any type of clear glass could be this strong. Sure, he knew what bulletproof glass was, but from his experience, it wasn't as clear as this. Evo gazed curiously at Steven then, asking him: "How did you manage to make this"?
Steven looked back at Evo. "Really thick glass"?
Once Galva had swallowed the vomit that had threatened to emerge moments earlier, she looked back down at Joey, whom was now gazing the walls as if interested in the structure. Galva couldn't help but giggle a bit at this, having always thought that Joey's observant looked cute. That, and it had reminded her of the first time she had caught him staring at her. When Galva had noticed Joey staring curiously at her from across the room, she almost giggled, thinking the look was somewhere between hilarious and adorable. Maybe both.
But Galva had felt something else on that day. For the first time in a very long time, when Galva saw his face, she felt happy. Like she had finally found a safe shelter where she could hide from all of the troubles of this world, and her past experiences. Even now as they had been dating and living together for two years, Galva still felt the same way around him, and couldn't wait for this war to be over so he could hold her again, the way she always liked being held. In the way that let her know that everything was going to be okay. Then another thought crossed her mind.
"Can he hear us"? Galva asked them.
"Not at the moment". Steven responded. "I have a speaker system hooked up, but I have to turn it on first".
Almost immediately after saying that, Steven walked to the left side of thew room, flipping what looked like a light switch. A small screeching sound followed for a second afterwards, making Galva wince a little. Galva smiled brightly when the small screech stopped, then looking down at where Joey stood in the room underneath.
"Sweetie, can you hear us"? Galva asked, causing Steven to snicker, thinking the nickname to be a bit corny. Galva quickly cast Steven a glare, letting him know that she didn't care what he thought about the nickname, and not to make fun of her for it. She didn't like it when Joey did it, and she wasn't going to tolerate it from anyone else. Not wanting to suffer this female's fury, Steven apologetically raised his hands in surrender, earning a chuckle from Evo.
Everyone saw Joey roll his eyes as if he could see them as he then replied: "Yeah, I can hear you guys".
Steven smiled brightly, happy that the speakers worked as he had just installed them yesterday. "Alright, that's great".
Grun rolled his eyes at Steven before speaking himself: "What about the rest of us"?
They saw Joey looked up again. "Yeah, I can hear you all perfectly".
Grun Smiled at Steven, silently congratulating him for successfully making the speaker system this way. "Okay then". Grun told Joey.
Joey looked at the platter. "So what do I do now"?
Grun looked down at Joey as he looked back up at the ceiling, as if gazing into his eyes. "The only thing you came here for: break the Nui Relic".
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Joey blinked in surprise at first upon hearing that instruction. He couldn't help but feel a bit wrong about actually throwing something like this on the floor and breaking it, as he had never broken ANYTHING before... on purpose. But he guessed it made sense. He had to take a lid off of the last one, and unless there was some secretive lock on the thing, he saw no other way to get the Nui Power out of it. 'So be it'. Joey thought, then walking towards it and wrapping his hands around the sides, picking it up.
Upon picking it up, Joey had once again noticed the slight orange glaze-like glow across it. Joey raised an eyebrow at it. It almost looked transparent to him. 'But how'? Joey wondered. 'How could a relic like this be so transparent and feel like actual gold? Better yet, where did these relics even come from'? Joey wondered. Joey almost couldn't believe that he was just now asking himself this. Sure, he had been distracted trying to keep the Skull Gang off of their butts, and he knew of their power. 'But HOW were they this powerful, and why'? Joey wondered.
Deciding to have these thoughts answered now, so as to not waste time, Joey looked back up at the speaker in the upper right corner and asked: "Where did you find it"?
"Grun and I found it in a crease of the Mata Nui Robot hand". Steven's voice responded. "I was part of the expedition and-"
"Sh! It's not important". Grun's voice instantly spoke.
Joey raised an eyebrow as he heard that. 'Why wasn't that detail important'? It was extremely important as far as he was concerned. He knew only about the conflict between Grun and Aldus and nothing about the origins of the Nui Relics. 'Also which Mata Nui robot'? Joey wondered. From what he had heard, there were only two, and one of them had disintegrated in the process of combining Bota Magna, Aqua Magna, and Bara Magna. But from what he had heard, no one had bothered to go into the other one after Teridax had escaped in another smaller body he had built for himself.
'Did Grun somehow know more about this robot than the general public did'? Joey wondered. Joey frowned back down at the relic which he continued to hold. 'What isn't he telling me? What isn't he telling all of us'? He figured it would have to wait for now. The longer he waited to break this relic, the sooner the Skull Gang might attack and take the relic for themselves. Just as long as whatever the answer was wouldn't come back to bite them, he'd be fine with that.
"Sorry about that". Steven's voice spoke from the speaker, jolting Joey from his thoughts. "He doesn't like talking about it".
Joey nodded up at the ceiling as if to say they had done nothing wrong. Then another thought crossed his mind: "What led you to think this was a Nui Relic"? From a first glance, this could be just a normal platter of gold.
Steven was silent for a moment. "When I removed a sample, it came off too easy for it to be strong. And I didn't find anything else like this in the rest of the robot so…"
Joey nodded, silently letting Steven know he understood. "Alright. Just as long as I'm sure I'm not breaking a million dollar artifact". He heard a few chuckles.
Joey waited for the chuckling to die down before then throwing the platter/Nui Relic down, smashing it into bits that scattered across the floor. Almost immediately, an orange mist emerged from the pieces, all forming together into a larger orange cloud, electricity crackling through it. Joey raised an eyebrow upon spotting the electricity crackle through the orange mist. 'The last relic had no lighting crackle through it's mist, so why would it happen with this one'? Joey wondered.
But Joey didn't get to finish these thoughts as he saw the mist shoot towards him. Joey sighed. 'Here we go again'. Joey though before the mist knocked him onto his back and shot quickly into his mouth. As the gas continued to enter him, Joey felt himself getting stronger, like he was absorbing an elemental power. Not that it was possible for Matoran to actually HAVE elemental powers, but still. But Joey only had a few seconds to feel the power entering him, as he closed his eyes, feeling his mind enter unconsciousness.
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Evo and Grun both gazed at the unconscious body of his Ko-Matoran friend with a look of confidence, both of them certain that Joey was going to be alright. Evo's reason for believing this was because the first time this had happened, Evo was certain that it was God who had spoken to Joey, telling him that he was hand chosen to wield this power. And from what Evo knew in his heartlight, if God willed anything, than it would ALWAYS be possible. Grun's reason was simple. 'If he survived this the first time, why wouldn't he survive the second'? Grun thought.
But Galva and Steve both glanced down at Joey's body with expressions of worry. Sure, they both had heard of what had happened the last time, but that same time, Joey had been unconscious for three days. Long enough to make Galva worried sick that something was wrong. Imagine her relief when she had gotten the call from the hospital that Joey had managed to regain consciousness. 'But what if this time was... different'? Galva wondered. 'What if this time, the body still wasn't used to absorbing power and he didn't wake up again'?
Steven was the first to speak his thoughts: "Whoa, is he-".
"He's fine". Evo and Grun both responded simultaneously, both then looking at each other in surprise.
Steven raised an eyebrow at Grun. "Don't you want to make sure"?
Again, Steven knew what happened, but how could Grun look so unphased by this after what had happened with Aldus? This was one of his best friends after all. 'Did he even care'? Steven had almost started to let himself wonder. He mentally face palmed for allowing himself to think that way. 'Of course he cares for Joey'. Steven thought. 'If he cares for his soldiers the way he does, surely he has much more for his best friend'. But the question remained: Was Grun even a little bit worried?
Grun looked at Steven as if he had a screw loose. "Why? He's okay, alright"? Grun responded rather impatiently.
'Do these people have no faith in Joey'? Grun had started to wonder. 'He's survived this once, so surely he'll survive again. After all, I wouldn't even BOTHER trying this if I wasn't sure'.
Galva immediately frowned at Grun, unable to believe that Grun didn't at least bother to show a LITTLE concern for his "best friend". Sure, they didn't grow up together, but from the stories Galva had heard from Joey, the two had been on many expeditions together. On some of those expeditions, both had even saved each others lives in multiple ways. After all of that, Galva had thought that a small show of concern was the LEAST Grun could do.
"He'd better be". Galva warned him before quickly dashing out of the room, her fear of accidentally breaking the floor no longer a concern to her.
Galva wasted no time, not even bothering to take a small breath as she ran through the hall, then carefully down the stairs, so as not to injure herself as well. 'Though it would be a funny story for our friends if we woke up in the same hospital'. Galva thought, trying to brighten her own mood at least a little bit. Upon reaching the floor and running into the hall to her right, her worries returned, causing her to pray desperately that her boyfriend was okay. Finally she had reached the open door, and fell to her knees next to Joey, lifting his body with a still worried expression.
"Joey"?! Galva shouted. She waited a few seconds without response before shaking him a bit. "JOEY"!? She shouted louder.
About two seconds later, Joey opened his eyes and gasped in a breath of air, causing Galva to jump back a bit. Joey quickly gazed around the room, his eyes stopping on the shocked Galva. Joey raised an eyebrow, wondering what the shocked expression was all about.
"Galva"? Joey asked curiously.
Galva responded first with a sigh of relief, then a tight hug, also of relief. Joey looked more confused than before. 'What the heck happened that made her worry'? Joey wondered, hoping that whatever had happened wasn't too bad. But Joey decided not to ask at the moment and hugged Galva back, his heartlight beating faster for her as they remained in each others arms for what they wished could be forever. But in knowledge that there was still a bit of a deadline to be met, both pulled back from each other and gazed happily into each others eyes as Joey spoke.
"What happened"? Joey smirked. "Was I out for three days again"? earning a giggle from Galva as their foreheads met.
"No". Grun responded from behind them, causing them both to separate and look at him in shock for a moment, both having been unaware of his presence. Grun rolled his eyes before continuing: "You were out for a minute at most. I think your body is getting more used to this".
'Good thing too'. Grun thought. With everything that was going on, the last thing they needed was another long wait for Joey to regain consciousness. Not to say that Grun didn't think Joey was going to pull through. He knew he would, he just didn't want to have to wait another three days.
Joey gazed at his hands then as he thought back to what he had seen before the orange gas had entered him. In the few he had actually had to gaze upon it, Joey had seen what had looked like lightning surge through it. A rather strange sight since the same had not happened with the last cloud.
"What do you guys think this did to me"? Joey asked quickly, gazing back up at Grun.
"I don't know, but we're sure to find out later". Grun responded before walking out of the room.
Following closely from behind, Steven leaned towards Grun's ear and whispered: "Later where Grun? I know that look".
In all of the years Steven had actually gotten to know Grun, he had been able to identify certain looks and link them with certain emotions or thoughts. The look Grun had had seconds ago when he had told Joey "later", was the face he usually had when he was planning something. Grun had always had this same face when helping Steven with the blueprints for a building that was just now being built, that building their soon-to-be base of operations. Grun had also had this look whenever he had a plan formulated in his head. A small smile with slightly raised eyebrows.
Grun smiled confidently back at his Le-Matoran friend. "Later at the Skull Gang's main base of operations".
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Biomarvel740: The Mata Nui Robots, Teridax, Bara Magna, Bota Magna, and Aqua Magna are owned by Lego. I'm so sorry for posting this chapter so late! I've been busy at work and I was working on the book script for Bioformers 2 Part 2! How did you all like this chapter? Please feel free to leave a review and have a God-Blessed day! XD