Chapter 6: Kohlii Match

The island of Mata Nui

Po-Koro

Mai was ready to start her first official kohlii game: Po-Koro versus Ta-Koro. Hewkii and Mai were representing Po-Koro, while Jaller and Takua were representing Ta-Koro. Vakama was announcing. Onewa was supposed to do that, since the game was in his home village of Po-Koro. But he had gotten a sore throat from reprimanding a dishonest merchant over the past few days.

The stands began to fill with Matoran from each Koro, while the six Toa sat in their own section. Vakama and the other Turaga got the best seats in the house. Matau was quick to claim a seat by Nokama, earning a glare that meant "no funny business." Whenua, Nuju, and Onewa took their own seats, while Vakama went up to the announcer's box.

"So about these new Toa..." Onua began. He hadn't been present for Nokama's tale, but had heard a few interesting rumors. "Do we know the extent of their powers?"

"That slip of a girl couldn't beat me." Tahu bragged. No sooner had he said this than he felt white-hot flames under his hip armor.

"OW!"

"Looks like the hotshot just got burned." quipped Mushu. Tahu was righteously pissed off at that remark, and looked down to see the travel-size dragon.

"That's a strange lizard," commented Pohatu.

"DRAGON! I don't do that tongue thing!" Mushu stuck out his forked tongue and hissed.

"You just did." snapped Tahu. "Got anything better to do besides light my ass on fire?"

"Keep insulting Mulan, and I'll roast your skinny legs!" Mushu wouldn't allow anyone to mess with the Li-Fa family, especially Mulan!

"My legs are NOT skinny!" Tahu was offended. "I'd like to see you lava surf!"

"Cut it out, both of you!" Gali interrupted.

Kopaka sat there and rolled his eyes. He hated it when his fellow heroes bickered.

Lewa looked at Mushu. "Go watch-sit with Turaga Matau. He ever-likes your laughing-talk."

Mushu saw the section that the six Turaga sat in, and made a dash for it. He obviously wasn't in good graces with the original Toa. "How dare they insult my girl Mulan! I bet she could show that hotshot Tahu a thing or two…"

As if his words were a summon, he saw Mulan, Kara, and Shang coming to the Toa section. The carvers had made three more seats when they heard that the new trio of Toa was coming.

"Hey, these seats are taken." Tahu scowled at Mulan.

"There are three empty ones." pointed Mulan. She gestured to the aforementioned seats, not intimidated by Tahu's attitude. Kara took the middle seat. Mulan sat on the right. Shang sat on the left.

Heliu, Ruhuo, and Rong had laid out a blanket to sit on. They heard Mai was making her debut on Po-Koro's team, and wanted to support their oldest sister. Tahu looked like he was going to put up a shield between him and the new heroes.

"Play nicely, hot head. It'd be a good change." Kopaka finally got to the point where he had to say something. Even if it did come off a bit cold.

The island of Mata Nui

Onu-Koro

Nuparu wiped some sweat from his orange mask as he ran through the underground village of Onu-Koro. He had a new invention that would make the kohlii games so much better! He just had to assemble it at the stadium. Hopefully, the game didn't start just yet…

He put on dark lenses made of crystals that protected his sensitive eyes from the sun. Most earth types preferred the subterranean environment to the surface, which meant the sun hurt their eyes.

Soon he was right under Po-Koro! With a deep breath, he went up to the surface…

The island of Mata Nui

Po-Koro

"Glad you could make it, Nuparu!" Onua fist-clanked with Onu-Koro's resident inventor. "Cool shades you got there."

"Thanks!" said Nuparu. "I hope I can make more, to help my fellow Onu-Matoran when they have to surface."

"You can sit with us!" Rong called. Nuparu looked to see where the voice was coming from. He saw a little organic kid sitting on a blanket with two others.

"I will, but first I have to install my newest invention! Be right back!"

Nuparu skipped up to Vakama's area and showed him the latest gadget. "It makes your voice louder so you don't have to shout. Try speaking into the round part."

Vakama picked up the black stem and held the round part near his mouth. "Attention!" he said at a normal volume, realizing how his voice carried across the stands and how all the spectators stood up.

"Nice work, Nuparu." Vakama complimented, keeping away from the device. Nuparu saluted. Then he went back down to the section where Rong was sitting.

"Hey there, my name's Nuparu."

"Nice to meet you! My name is Rong."

Heliu noticed that Nuparu had dark, transparent crystals over his eyes. "Hi Nuparu! My name is Heliu."

Ruhuo chimed in. "I'm Ruhuo, Heliu's twin. I like your… um… Niang, what do you call those dark thingies that go over your eyes?"

"Sunglasses." laughed Kara.

"Oh, right! I like your sunglasses!"

Nuparu grinned. "The sun hurts my eyes sometimes. I made them myself! So… who are your parents?"

"We are," answered Mulan, Shang, and Kara - all at once.

"Oh! You're the new Toa!"

"They haven't proven themselves yet!" Tahu snapped. He was about to say something else, but Kopaka elbowed him in the side. In the Ice Toa's glacier blue eyes, Tahu could interpret one message: shut up.

"Is he always like this?" asked Mulan.

Pohatu and Onua answered, "No, just usually."

Tahu fumed, smoke coming from his clenched fists. He was clearly outnumbered, and usually didn't back down from a challenge. This was one of those rare times when he figured it was best to stop.

"Shh!" said Rong. "Turaga Vakama's going to announce something!" She looked back and saw that Mulan, Shang, and Kara had left.

Vakama spoke into the device Nuparu had given him. "Hello, and welcome to this season's first kohlii match!" He paused to let the crowd cheer, then continued.

"Before the match begins, I would like to tell some of you that we have three visitors from a faraway land. Please welcome the new Toa…"

"Mulan! Toa of Fire!"

Mulan stepped out onto the arena, her entire body glowing with scarlet energy. She did a series of kicks, flames trailing from her feet like comets.

"Shang! Toa of Earth!"

Shang ran out, manipulating the soil in the arena to make an elaborate pattern.

"Kara! Toa of Air!"

Kara summoned a great wind and soared around the arena, high-fiving some Matoran before doing a loop and landing next to Mulan.

"I trust that they will work alongside our original Toa to protect our island home and all the people who live here."

"Yeah right…" muttered Tahu, getting another sharp elbow from Kopaka.

Vakama continued. "As they are honored guests, one will help in each of the three scoring rounds, by flipping a rock to see who will have the ball. Mulan, you will flip the rock first."

Kara and Shang got out of the way. Meanwhile, Hafu limped onto the field and gave Mulan a small flat rock. "Brown side for Po-Koro, red side for Ta-Koro."

Mulan tossed the rock into the air. It landed on red. She told Hafu, who held it up so Vakama could see it.

"It's red! Ta-Koro's team will begin the first round." Vakama announced. "Representing the volcanic heat of Ta-Koro, Jaller and Takua!"

Jaller ran out and waved to the crowd. Takua, on the other hand, took a running start and vaulted over his kohlii stick. He ended up mask-planting on the ground, causing a collective cringe from the spectators. Takua got up, waved his kohlii stick in the air, and shouted "I'm fine!"

"Lovable idiot…" muttered Jaller as he went to Ta-Koro's goal. Takua bounced from one foot to the other in the middle of the field, full of energy and ready to win.

"From the desert sands of Po-Koro… Hewkii and Mai!"

The crowd chatted in confusion as Mai made her way to Po-Koro's goal. They had never seen Mai before.

"Mai is the daughter of the three new Toa," explained Vakama, "and she will be playing for Po-Koro's team in Hafu's place."

Mulan carried a stone ball with steel veins to the center of the arena. Then she made her way back to her seat in the Toa section.

Hewkii and Takua faced each other and crossed sticks. "Play well!"

Mai glanced upward into the stands to see her siblings jumping up and down. Mulan was waving to her with a big smile.

I can do this. I'll make my family proud.

Takua dashed across the field, trying to take the ball from Hewkii. Hewkii was quicker on his feet, but didn't have the same level of endurance as Takua. The champion from Po-Koro was starting to run out of breath as he dodged the reckless Chronicler's attempts at stealing the ball. And as usual, Takua had a trick up his elbow guards. He got in front of Hewkii and did some fancy footwork as a distraction.

"This isn't a dance off!" Hewkii panted. But he didn't pay attention to the net end of his opponent's kohlii stick scooping up the ball!

"Got it!" Takua announced, earning a collective cheer from Ta-Koro's section. He flung the ball towards Po-Koro's goal… only to be deflected by Mai spin-kicking the ball in the opposite direction. Jaller noticed the ball coming straight towards his head and ducked, ensuring Mai scored her first-ever goal in kohlii!

Cheers roared from Po-Koro's section. Mulan and the other three Li-Fa children, along with Nuparu, were jumping up and down and clapping.

"Jaller!" whined Takua. "Why didn't you stop it?"

"It was either lose a point or lose my head!" Jaller retorted. "Now quit whining, we still have a chance to get ahead!"

That chance almost came. Shang had flipped the rock and it ended up on the brown side. That gave Po-Koro's team an early advantage. Takua almost managed to get it into Po-Koro's goal when Mai seemed distracted, but Mai picked up her stick and twirled it like a staff. It deflected the ball, Hewkii caught it to send the ball straight into Ta-Koro's goal.

"Jaller, get your head in the game!" Takua groaned. "Hahli would not be impressed!"

"Would you cut it out?! I was NOT flirting with Hahli!"

"Oh right..." Takua pitched his voice up and started singing: "I kissed a guard, and I liked it!"

Jaller just rolled his eyes.

The third round began, with Kara flipping the rock. It was on the red side this time. She returned to her seat with the other Toa. Tahu was still fuming, this time about Ta-Koro's team losing to an organic kid. Pohatu was doing some elemental party tricks to keep Heliu, Ruhuo, and Rong entertained. Onua, Kopaka, Lewa, and Gali tried to stay out of it - after all, their villages' teams weren't playing.

"Go Mai!" cheered Shang.

"Show them what a girl can really do!" Mulan and Kara chorused. They laughed - their bond was still strong - and shared a kiss.

"Oh, stop it..." Tahu grumbled.

"Leave. Them. Alone." Kopaka warned. His severely punctuated sentence said just as much as the words themselves. Tahu wasn't about to deal with a random blizzard and wisely stopped complaining.

On the field, Takua figured he had only one option left. He took a running start, did a flip over his kohlii stick… and bit the dust.

"Dammit Takua!" Jaller muttered. He didn't see the ball flying at Ta-Koro's goal until it was too late. He tried to block it with the mallet end, but it bounced wrong and landed in the goal anyway.

Another round of cheers erupted from Po-Koro's section. Vakama picked up Nuparu's invention, and spoke again. "Po-Koro wins, but this match was well-played by both teams! Our next match will be," Vakama looked down at a bracket, "Ko-Koro versus Ga-Koro! I wish all of you safe travels back to your homes."

"Good game!" Takua and Jaller clanked fists with Hewkii and Mai. As she passed by Takua to meet up with her family, Mai decided to give her opponent some advice…

"Takua, no gymnastics next time."