Disclaimer: As you know I don't owe Bionicle, but I found out what these disclaimers are good for. They are used to stop authors that want to write a lot of short chapters from writing them. (they are so annoying that in the end they'll eventually fuse the chapters together so that they don't have to write it so many times)

Battle against a Muaka

The Turaga had been talking for a long time about the strange accident. Ilag kept jumping nervously from a foot to another. She was afraid, afraid that she had ruined everything. Her brothers would never forgive her. Just as...

She didn't want to think about it, she should have never touched the transporter, and now she was going to pay for it. Utahop was standing next to her, like some sort of gigantic bodyguard. He didn't seem in a good mood.

"Toa," interrupted Turaga Lhikan. "You were the only ones who could have known how to activate the transporter, apart from me. Do you know anything about it?"

Ilag did know something, but she didn't answer, she just kept looking to the ground. So much time had passed ever since they had appeared as Toa, and she didn't want to ruin it all. For a long time, nobody said anything.

"Yes," said Auno, breaking the silence, "I know something."

Everybody stared at him.

Auno looked over to Ilag, then he took a deep breath and spoke.

XXXXX

Onua had seen Kishro run through the jungle, and then all the Ihar play kolhii. They didn't seem very fast, if you counted out Hoti and his power.

It looked as if he had been wrong. Ihar were fast, really fast.

Everything around him was a blur, the Ilsao kept flying around as they ran down the river, and then across it, as it threw itself in a larger, wilder one. They ran up the wilder river, searching for a place to cross it. If he hadn't known that in a few moments they would have been facing a grown-up Muaka, he could have enjoyed it. But sometimes, the future can spoil everything.

Or the present.

Knowing that Gali was in great danger too -- if not dead -- made everything appear less important then it really was. He knew that Takua was right, but he couldn't help thinking that they first had to find Gali.

He closed his eyes and tried to make those thoughts drift away, but his mind kept wandering back to Gali. He wasn't going to get far this way. He tried to think of something else, and the Toa Leehar popped in his mind. In the shock of the transformation, and then the fact of finding themselves on this strange island, they had forgotten about them. He wondered whether they had been turned into Matoran too. He remembered what Tahu had said about them, later that night, when they had reached Metru Nui.

Those guys want us to leave the island, so they can be the only Toa. Be in guard. He hadn't said anything about Gali's encounter with Utahop. It had been Kopaka, that had added something.

You more than us, Gali. That Utahop doesn't like you. Those had been his words.

And yet, now that Gali wasn't here anymore, Kopaka didn't seem to care, while Tahu kept insisting that they had to find her before they did anything else.

-We've reached the place, jump off, this isn't going to be easy- Nairof's voice irrupted into his head.

Onua jumped off and looked around, they standing on the edge of a crater, on a narrow path. In front of him was a black mountain, and the smoke that rose from it told him that it was the volcano where Thau came from. Behind him was another mountain, white because of the snow. He looked back at the path, it started from the mountain and ran around the crater, then it went on towards the volcano. He looked down the other side, here was only a steep slope that went down to the jungle, far below. There was also some sort of platform between where they were standing and the ground, but huge rocks were scattered down the slope, making it nearly impossible for anyone to go down there.

Onua looked around for Pohatu, who had traveled on Hoti and so arrived much earlier then them. He found him standing a few paces farther, staring down at the bottom of the crater, where Hoti was trying to make the Muaka back off.

-Stay here and don't move- came Thau's voice. Tahu opened his mouth to protest, but Thaukon was already following Nairof down the slope to help Hoti.

"What was Kal doing here?" mumbled Tahu.

"What do you mean, firebrother?" asked Lewa running towards him.

Tahu pointed to the crater, "That was once a volcano, and I doubt that there is water here, whether wet or not."

Takua, who too had been traveling on Hoti, nodded.

-Yes, but that,- said Sirkul, eyes pointing to a point in the mountain. -Was once a river.-

Pohatu scanned the mountain to find the river. On the mountainside, where everything was covered with snow, it was impossible to find anything. But farther below, where the snow melted and grey rock appeared, he could easily spot it. The rocks were rounder there, and, even if that wasn't to see, smoother, polished through years by the running water.

Pohatu heard a bark and turned around to see how the fight was going, but as he turned around, he saw that the crater was gone. Instead, there was something that looked like the mouth of a...

A jet of lava shot up into the air from that thing. Pohatu gasped and turned around, trying to run away from the fountain of molten rocks, but he somehow couldn't move. Then, to his horror, he saw his own body run away, while he stayed stuck, molten rocks raining over him. His saw himself trip and then stand up again, but as he tried to run down the slope, a red-hot rock landed on his arm, and Pohatu felt a burning pain in his arm.

No, he couldn't really feel it. It was more like a memory, like when one gets a bad cut, and a couple of weeks later, he can still remember how it was and nearly feel it. But it hurt enough to make him yowl in pain.

"Pohatu?" came Onua's voice. Pohatu turned around, he was once again at the edge of the crater, no lava shooting from the mouth of a volcano and no body running away. He sighed in relief, it had been creepy enough in that vision.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been only Onua that had heard the scream. The Muaka had too, and now it was running towards them with great leaps, Sirkul growled at it, but the Muaka just climbed faster.

-Run!- shouted Sirkul and jumped on the great cat. Pohatu turned around to run away, but then he changed his mind. He was still a Toa after all, even if he wasn't in his body. He searched the ground for something to attack the Muaka with. All he found was a stone, but it had to be enough. He turned around to face the Muaka, who had thrown off the Ihar and was now running towards Onua, who also wasn't running away. Pohatu took aim and kicked the rock as hard as he could.

The rock flew towards the Muaka and hit him in the middle of his face. The Muaka roared and pounced at him, slashing furiously with it's claws. Pohatu stumbled backwards and fell inside the crater, smashing into stones as he tumbled towards the bottom. Finally, he reached the ground, and everything went black.

In the meanwhile, the Muaka had sent Tahu flying against Takua, and now they both laid unconscious farther away, the Muaka pacing slowly but surely towards them. Lewa shot in the way and slashed at the Muaka with an ax, but the Rahi wiped him away with one move of his gigantic paws. Lewa flew down the steep slope to come to a halt farther down, still conscious, but unable to help further. Now only Onua and Kopaka were left, all the other Ihar were either limping around the bottom of the crater or lying unconscious somewhere. But Kopaka was too far away, he would never reach the two Ta-Matoran in time.

Onua ran forwards, but stopped after a few steps, the Ilsao was vibrating and emanating a black light. At the same time, the whole volcano started to shake and rocks started to roll down one of the slopes. The Muaka growled and fought to stay on it's feet, then as quickly as it had started, the quake stopped, at the same time, the Ilsao stopped vibrating too. Onua sighed in relief, but a second afterwards, the earth under him exploded and the world turned upside down. He hit the ground on a slope and started rolling downwards, then, another explosion and he was knocked on a flat spot. He turned his head to see if he could find out where he was and froze. He was on the edge of a cliff, and had no idea in which direction he could move.

Kopaka reached the Muaka and put himself between the Ta-Matoran and the great cat. Tahu'd better be thankful for this, he thought, then he swiped at the Muaka with his sword. The Muaka looked at him annoyed, Kopaka could easily guess what it was thinking, probably: Oh no, another one of those midgets, will they ever let me eat in peace? Not something very reassuring. Still, Kopaka was determined not to surrender: just because he had been turned into a Matoran, it didn't mean that he had to stop being a Toa. The Muaka snapped it's jaws at him, making him back away and stumble backwards. He felt a stone under his hand and threw it at the Muaka, who finally had enough. It jumped at Kopaka and threw him down the slope. Kopaka tumbled downwards, knocking into rocks as he went forwards. Then, he flew through the air and landed on what was probably the platform he had seen before.

His head banged hard against a rock and a black veil fell over his eyes, he tried to blink it away, but it only became darker. He was fainting! Kopaka forced himself to stay conscious, the Muaka was still after him, he could see it's shadow slip down the rocks, heading straight for him, sure that this time nobody was going to put himself in the way. The blackness spread over his eyes.

No! You must stay awake! Stay awake! he ordered himself, everything came back into focus to fade again a couple of seconds later. The Muaka was now extremely near, another couple of steps and it would have reached him, but he was still too weak to run away. He knew he had lost, this had been his last battle.

But he wasn't going to give up without fighting, with a great effort, he raised the hand in which he held the sword.

Or at least, so he thought. There wasn't anything in his hand, the sword had flown somewhere while he was falling. Kopaka stared at the Muaka and, even though he knew how useless it was, got ready to fight, with of without weapons. If only everything had been less foggy... and if that pain in the back of the head stopped...

But no jaws closed upon him, instead of going on, the Muaka had stopped and was staring at a place behind Kopaka, a mixture of puzzlement and annoyance on it's face.

Kopaka tried to turn his head to see what it was staring at, but the pain in his head made him change his mind Instead, he felt around for something to defend himself.

Then, from the slope, a small figure ran into view... no, it didn't run, it staggered, as if it was badly wounded. It was clearly a Matoran, but the black veil had once again laid itself on Kopaka's eyes, and he couldn't tell which one of his companions it was. All he could see was something sharp and shiny in his hand. His sword!

"Stand back!" screamed the Matoran, slashing at the Muaka with the sword. The Muaka roared at it, but the Matoran didn't move, even though it was clear that he was scared to death.

"Stand back!" repeated the Matoran. Her voice was full of fear.

Her voice?

Yes, it was clearly a girl's voice. But none of them was a female...

Kopaka blinked the veil out of his eyes, and this time, everything went back into focus, but the pain remained. He rolled on his stomach and raised his head. What he saw made him gasp with surprise and horror.

He had been right, it was a Ga-Matoran, her back was turned on him, but he knew that it could be only Gali.

Or the thief of Ga-Metru.

In both cases, they had found at least one of the those they were looking for. But deep inside him, he hoped that Ga-Matoran was not Gali.

Her body was full of scorch marks, and there was a deep wound in her side. She probably was making a great effort just to stay on her feet, he didn't even want to think about what could have happened if the Muaka decided that she was an easier prey than him.

But that was exactly what the Muaka had decided, for it had stopped roaring and was about to strike. Kopaka tried to jump on his feet to rush forwards and help her, but before he could even do a step, the Muaka was flying.

No, not really flying. Kopaka could spot Sirkul behind it, probably using the power of telekinesis. Couldn't he have thought of that earlier?

Sirkul threw the Muaka back to the mountain, where, Kopaka hoped, it would stay. Kopaka turned back to the Ga-Matoran, who was still turning her back on him, the sword now hanging loosely at her side. He tapped her shoulder, she jumped slightly and turned around. The wound was worse than he had thought, it started in the middle of her chest, and went down to the left side of her body. It was deeper in front than in the side, as if she had rammed against something sharp. Her heartlight was dim. Kopaka stared in those eyes he knew so well...

"Gali," he whispered. Gali took a step forwards, then she collapsed into his arms. The fight had drained the last bit of energy out of her.


I know, I promised to get to the search of the Ilsao quickly, but somehow I didn't manage it. But it should start at the end of the next chapter, or, at latest, in the one after the next. I corrected ICC thanks to the new export thing, tell me if it worked. Another thing, I've been getting reviews from people asking me to help them, I'm doing my best, but if nobody listens I can't do much. Still, I'm trying.

Thanks to all those who reviewed.

Gali Tahu never: Hmm, I guess the name says everything.

Regrem Eruaterc: Man! You've got such a weird name! Thanks for the information, I'll go there as soon as I'll finish my homework. (I once went in the web before I finished my homework, I lost track of time and then I had to do them till midnight)

ToaMaster: Grounded off the computer and writing reviews? I know how it feels... (don't ask)

Haze', Toa of thunder: Hey! Now calm down! If I'm updating slowly it's because I don't want to end up with ICC instead of ICS again! I think I read yours, but I'll have another look.

To those who asked help: I'm not saying names, but I guess you'll find out alone who I mean. Alright, if you can't concentrate on the story, take a break. Go out and have a run, that clears your head. If you aren't getting any reviews, I can't do much except tell people to review, the problem is if they listen to me. I think the problem is that by now nearly everybody knows that chapter, so try and update, then I'll se if I can do better. The best thing is if you left a signed review, so everybody could go directly to your story.

Please read the reviews to find out who is having problems going on.