Grab your parachute, cause there's a cliff at the end!! And thank you all for your reviews!! 28 reviews... wow!! *happy dance* I may be redoing some of the earlier chapters, as I've been editing them recently. And if I don't update soon, it's due to my classes, not the Toa finding me (my readers have been ever so helpful in keeping them... distracted. Thanks, you guys!!). Midterms are coming up, and this weekend may be a bit hectic. :P oh well.

Disclaimer: Do not own Bionicle, only the OCs and copious amounts of reading for my classes.

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"Wait here, I'll go check upstairs," Takanuva said to the four boys gathered in the living room doorway. He darted across the hall, jumping over chairs and various debris, but stopped at the stairs. Kopaka was slowly making his way down, bracing himself on the railing.

"Why are you down here?" Takanuva asked as the last tremor stopped. "Shouldn't you be up in your room?"

Kopaka ignored his brother and made his way to the living room. "Where's Lanie?" He asked calmly, his limp less notable on the even ground.

"In the living room," Takanuva replied. He was always slightly unnerved by Kopaka's complete calm. The Toa of Ice began to help the Carpenter boys to their feet. Takanuva hurried over to help, and noticed Pohatu helping Lanie to her feet with a shy, goofy grin. The Stone Toa had wrapped his arms protectively around her during the quake, Takanuva had noticed. Kopaka saw, too, and, to the Toa of Light's surprise, left immediately afterwards. Takanuva shrugged it off and herded the boys to the kitchen, where Rose Carpenter met them and hugged the five of them tightly.

"Do you know what happened?" Onua asked. He was holding a pile of dishes and cups that had fallen from the cupboard.

Takanuva shrugged as best he could. The semi-awkward group hug he had gotten stuck in was growing more uncomfortable by the minute. Onua didn't seem to notice as he silently put the dishes back in the cupboard and left.

"Are you all okay?" Rose was asking. "No hurts, or scratches?" The boys shook their heads, solemnly. "And how about you, Tak? Aren't you going to let me look at that cut on your arm?"

Takanuva glanced down in surprise to see a small trickle of blood on his arm. "Oh, right," he muttered in surprise. Honestly, he hadn't even noticed.

"I'll wash it off then patch it up. You should be more watchful, Tak," Rose chastised, grabbing a washcloth. She cleaned and bandaged his arm then, to his surprise, gently kissed him on the cheek. "You're a brave boy, Tak. It's good to have you in our family."

Takanuva stared at her in shock for a moment, but smiled. "Thanks… Aunt Rose." he said hesitantly.

Rose smiled at him, and shooed the boys into the living room. "I'm going to go get the other Toa. Stay here," she commanded sternly.

Takanuva nodded and had the boys sit down. Something odd was going on, and he had a funny feeling that the Makuta was somehow behind it. He then silently swore to protect the Carpenter family with his life, as thanks for their friendship. He wouldn't let anything harmful happen to them, ever.

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Kopaka found himself outside after leaving the living room, and took the opportunity to scan the surrounding forest for anything unusual.

"There was something odd about that bioquake." Kopaka turned to see the Toa of Earth kneeling on the ground, one hand half buried in the dirt. "It didn't feel right," Onua clarified.

Kopaka nodded and swept his gaze over the forest again. To his surprise, the trees began to fade away, and he could see into the forest, as if he had activated his Kanohi Akaku.

"My…mask…" he murmured in amazement. He turned to Onua, but quickly looked away. Seeing his brother in his undergarments was not exactly something he wanted to do.

"Your eye," Onua exclaimed softly. "It's red. And I can see the markings of your old mask on your face."

Kopaka focused, willing his mask to deactivate, and turned to his brother. "Yes, I believe we have retained our mask powers as well as our elemental control," he said, his mind racing. Onua stood and stretched his five foot eight frame.

"We should go in. Call a meeting," Onua said, heading towards the door. He waited as Kopaka slowly limped up the stairs to the deck. His leg hadn't fully healed, but it didn't bother him unless he went up or down stairs. In the living room, the Carpenter boys, Takanuva, Pohatu, Lanie, Sam, Gali, and Lewa had already gathered, and were righting the knick-knacks and books that had fallen to the floor.

"Kopaka, what are you doing down here? You could easily re-injure your leg, and end up spending a week in bed," Gali snapped when she saw the Toa of Ice enter. "Sit down, before you do any more harm. And be careful when you do."

Kopaka was about to argue, but one look at Gali's fierce stare told him it would be better for his health if he didn't. The Toa of Ice eased himself into one of the dining room chairs, meeting Gali's harsh gaze with measured daring.

"Is Tahu upstairs?" Onua asked.

"Yes, he is," she said gently. "As you should be," she added to Kopaka. The Ice Toa pointedly ignored her.

"What just happened?" Tim asked his eyes wide with worry.

"That's what we're going to find out," Takanuva replied, kneeling beside the young boy. "There's nothing for you to worry about. This was probably just a normal bioquake."

"You mean earthquake," Isaac corrected. "It's called an earthquake."

"Yes, that," Takanuva replied quickly.

"Why don't you tell us everything you know about these… earthquakes," Gali added, sitting on the couch next to Jake. The Carpenter boys (except Chris, who had fallen asleep in Takanuva's arms shortly after the quake) took turns explaining everything they knew, or thought they knew, about earthquakes.

"Thank you for your help," Gali said once they had finished their mixed up explanation.

"I'll take them now. Thank you for watching them." Rose, who had come in during the boys' explanation, now stood to bring them to the other room. "It may be best if we all stay away from the windows for a while. Some earthquakes have aftershocks."

"We will," Takanuva promised.

"Tahu will not want to be left out of our meeting," Kopaka stated.

"We probably should head upstairs," Pohatu agreed.

"Do you want Sam and me to leave?" Lanie asked.

"No, come with us. You know this land better than we do. Your input would be most welcome," Gali replied, helping a reluctant Kopaka to his feet.

Kopaka grimaced and turned away, happening to glance out the kitchen window. He activated his mask and scanned the surrounding forest. "We have company," he informed the others. "The Makuta."

Everyone froze, looking at him in mingled surprise and fear.

"He's here?" Lanie murmured questioningly, her face turning pale. Kopaka nodded reluctantly, not wanting to add to her unease.

"Where?" Gali asked.

"Out in the woods. He's kneeling, and… Brace yourselves!" Kopaka snapped sharply, grabbing onto the doorway. A split-second later, another tremor hit, harder than the first. Onua dug a hand into the carpet, anchoring himself to the ground, and grabbed Takanuva, who had been knocked to his feet. Sam wrapped his arms around his sister and hit the ground, shielding her from the glass fragments coming from the shattering window. Only quick action by Lewa and Pohatu kept the shards of glass from completely coating the human siblings. Pohatu shoved them out of the way, unwittingly activating his mask of speed, and Lewa instinctively summoned a breeze to blow the glass out.

The tremors stopped as soon as they started. The Toa slowly picked themselves up and began to re-order the room. Kopaka allowed himself to sink to the floor, wincing as his leg twisted at an odd angle. It was nearly healed, and there was barely any scaring, but the muscle was still tender. Gali didn't notice, to his relief, as his sister was checking on Pohatu and Sam, who had received the bulk of the in blown glass.

"Is anyone hurtscared badly?" Lewa asked. A kind of negative muttering came from the assembled Toa and humans.

"I-I'm going to check on the Carpenters," Takanuva said quickly, darting out of the room.

Gali turned to Kopaka. "So, our mask powers work as well?" she asked

Kopaka nodded.

"They do? Sweet, I've got to testtry this!" Lewa leapt, did a back flip and stopped, hovering mid-air. "Mata Nui, they work!" he exclaimed.

Sam and Lanie stared in shock at Lewa's sudden levitation. Kopaka rolled his eyes and was about to explain about his brother's mask of levitation when a piercing scream of surprise resonated through the house.