Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle.
Onua faced off against Nuhvok-Kal, hands interlocked with claws. For a few moments, the two combatants wrestled. Then, with a powerful shove, Nuhvok-Kal pushed the Earth Toa away and fired a bolt of energy. The bolt made its mark, forcing Onua to the ground. Even though the Kal's power was not like he remembered, Onua had to admit that its powers were still very effective. Pahrak-Kal couldn't get a lock on Pohatu, who was too agile. The Stone Toa was about move in for an attack when he stopped so suddenly, he almost toppled over. For a brief moment, he couldn't understand why he couldn't get his feet to move; it was as if they were glued to the ground. No, not glued, magnetized. He looked around and, sure enough, he spotted Gahlok-Kal nearby. Apparently, the blue Kal took advantage of the Toa's distraction and used its power to magnetize his feet to the ground. Nodding to its partner, Pahrak-Kal activated its power and aimed it at the ground, turning it into plasma. The plasma spread—right toward the Toa of Stone. Kopaka could feel himself tiring from dodging both the Lehvak-Kal's and Kohrak-Kal's attacks. He had tried to freeze them with his ice powers, but they were too quick. Tahu, meanwhile, was locked in a sword-claw fight with Tahnok-Kal. Then, the red Kal rolled itself into a ball and barreled itself toward the Fire Toa. Tahu flipped into the air, exactly as the Kal anticipated. Quickly unfurling itself, the Tahnok-Kal fired a beam at the Toa of Fire. Streaks and bolts of electricity assailed Tahu's body and systems, causing him to scream in pain. He crashed to the ground, thrashing and writhing in complete agony, feeling like hot rods were being jabbed into everything. Kopaka heard his brother, "Tahu?" The two Kal he was fighting saw their opportunity and they took it. In tandem, they fired their powers at the Ice Toa, who didn't have time to react when he realized what was happening. The Toa of Ice found his mind assaulted both by absence of air and a terrible, ringing sound. He dropped to his knees, covering his ears and coughing. Gali stared in disbelief and shock; all of her brothers were either disabled or getting pulverized. Slightly weakened as they were, she could tell the Bohrok-Kal still had more than enough fight in all them combined to take care of her. She was about to stray a little further from her post, when a large form, Nuvohk-Kal, was upon her faster than her eyes could register. With a butt of its head, it struck her, sending her crashing into the wall. Seizing its chance the Kal sent a bolt of its power toward the Toa of Water. Gali immediately felt like she weighed fifty times more than normal and collapsed on all fours. In three easy strides, Nuhvok-Kal approached the Water Toa, who found herself having to fight the weight of gravity just to lift her head. She noticed that the creature's legs were buckling and it was heaving its shoulders up and down, as if it were panting.
'It's exhausted,' she realized, 'but why?'
The black Kal, though, didn't give her time to ponder on that for, just then, with great effort it raised its claws high above its head. It intended to crush her. As much as he wanted to, Lewa couldn't even find the strength to fight at his bonds, leaving him an unwilling witness to see his sister meet her almost-certain demise.
"Good bye and good riddance, Toa," the Nuhvok-Kal hissed. Gali, however, somehow managed to spot a familiar shape moving toward the Kal and grinned behind her Kaukau.
"I hate to disappoint you, Nuhvok-Kal, but you'd better look behind you."
"Do you honestly expect me to fall for such a pitiful trick?"
The Kal was about to bring its claws down on her when a black form rammed into it, knocking it away. Onua knelt beside the Toa of Water.
"Are you ok?"
"Ask me when I return to normal."
Nodding, the black Toa raced to go help his brothers.
The plasma was coming closer; soon it would be upon him. Pohatu strained and pulled his legs. He could feel the magnetic hold on his feet was loosening, but it wasn't enough for him to free himself. He could already feel the plasma's heat not only in the air, but on the ground as well. Just when he was starting to really panic, a wall of earth appeared between him and the approaching plasma. Needless to say, both Gahlok-Kal and Pahrak-Kal were rather surprised. "What happened?" asked Pahrak-Kal. Gahlok-Kal just shrugged its shoulders when the wall exploded with a bang. Then they were both knocked to the ground, courtesy of Onua and Pohatu. After exchanging a quick fist-punch, they went to go help their two brothers.
Tahu lay on the ground where he had fallen, shaking, panting, and hurting from his shock treatment. He could hear the approaching footsteps of Tahnok-Kal. The red Kal was halfway to the Fire Toa when Pohatu stepped in and intervened. While the Stone Toa kept the Kal busy, Tahu spotted something in the corner of his eye. It was a green Miru Nuva—Lewa's mask. Groaning from the pain that assaulted his body as he turned onto his front side, he reached out to grab it. His muscles felt like they had been fried, yet somehow he forced himself to move. He just grabbed it when he heard Pohatu shout, "Tahu, look out!" The Toa of Fire turned with barely enough time to activate his Hau and defend himself against the incoming Tahnok-Kal and the red Bohrok-Kal was thrown back by the force of Tahu's shield. The Toa stashed away the mask and his brother helped him to his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Down, but not out."
Meanwhile, Lehvak-Kal and Kohrak-Kal were moving in on the Toa of Ice, who was beginning to recover from their combined attack. They were about to strike the finishing blow when the ground beneath them gave way and they fell into a deep pit. Popping out of the ground, Onua smiled at his handiwork then turned to help Kopaka. "I'm indebted to you, brother," said the Ice Toa, realizing what the black Toa did for him.
"Hey, it's what I do."
Meanwhile, Lewa continued to try free himself, but it was no use. Doing his best to ignore the painful burning sensation in his legs, Tahu sprinted to his brother's side. "Take it easy, Lewa," said Tahu as he approached the Air Toa. "Got your mask right here."
He knelt down and carefully placed the Miru onto Lewa's face. Instantly, the Toa of Air felt strength and power flooding his limbs; his entire body feeling totally reenergized. When his sight returned to normal, the first thing he saw was the Fire Toa relievingly smiling down on him. "Hi, brother," Lewa greeted with a mischievous smile.
"Hi yourself, Lewa," Tahu replied, and he grabbed one of his magma swords and began to cut away at the Air Toa's bonds.
Unfortunately, the Toa's battle was not over yet. While Gahlok-Kal, Pahrak-Kal, Tahnok-Kal, and Nuvohk-Kal were regaining their bearings, Kohrak-Kal and Lehvak-Kal were climbing out of Onua's hole. "Finish them," Cahdok and Gahdok hissed from within their prison. The Bohrok-Kal surrounded the Toa; despite their exhaustion, they still refused to back down, especially when they were so close to achieving their goal. As this was happening, the effects of Nuvohk-Kal's powers had worn off on Gali. Grabbing hold of her arm, Lewa helped her up.
"There's got to be some way to stop them," she said to herself as much as to her brother.
"There is," said Lewa, and he pointed toward the back end of the cavern.
The Toa of Water spotted the black stone, but didn't know what to make of it.
"That strange-weird stone is what gave them back their power-strength as well as their body-shells. If we shatter-destroy it--"
Gali nodded, understanding exactly what Lewa was thinking. "Brothers, aim your powers over here!" she instructed. The other Toa targeted the stone and were about to fire when Kopaka placed a hand on Tahu's forearm.
"Wait!" exclaimed the Toa of Ice. "How do we know that destroying that stone will work in our favor?"
"How do we know it won't?" asked Tahu in a bit of an annoyed tone.
Onua knew where the Ice Toa was going with his suspicions. True, there was a possibility that destroying the stone would stop the Bohrok-Kal; but, then again, there was the chance that nothing would happen. The Toa of Earth looked to the Bohrok-Kal and back at his brother. "Kopaka, normally I'd go for making absolutely sure we know what we're doing, but right now I don't think we really have a choice." The white Toa looked the Earth Toa in the eye, and nodded. Just then, Lewa cringed and pressed his hands over his ears.
"Lewa, what's wrong?" Pohatu asked with concern in his voice.
"Clean it all, it must be cleaned," the voices said in his head—Cahdok and Gahdok's voices.
The phrase repeated over and over and the Bahrag twins began to fill his mind with disturbing images that were not his own. "No!," he exclaimed in response to message. "I won't aid-help you complete your quest-mission. I'm not like you. Get out of my mind!" "Hurry!" the Air Toa called to his brothers and sister. "Destroy the stone!"
The Toa nodded and did as their brother asked, the combined strength of their powers meeting their target. There was a blast of blinding light, the stone shuddered and shook. Amidst all of this, the Bohrok-Kal screamed in pain as black electrical-like energy danced all over their bodies. Its support gone, the stone crashed to the ground. However, in spite of a large chunk that broke off upon impact, the stone remained largely intact. The Toa stared at it in confusion.
"Is it over?" asked Pohatu.
The Stone Toa's question was answered with what could only be described as laughter. They turned to see it was Tahnok-Kal; it and its brethren were weakened, but still standing. "What, may I ask, is so funny?" Tahu demanded.
"You Toa are such fools," Tahnok-Kal answered. "That stone, like us, cannot be broken that easily."
'But it almost did,' Tahu thought to himself. 'It just wasn't quite enough. Maybe if we hit it again one more time . . .' Unity. The word just popped into his head from nowhere, as if it were always there, but hidden away. At first, Tahu didn't understand, then he thought back to his and the others' attempt to destroy the strange stone. One element was absent; they were missing a piece to the puzzle. He turned to Lewa, who was now on his knees. "Lewa, we need your power," he instructed.
The Toa of Air nodded and struggled to get up. To him, it felt like the harder he fought, the louder the Bahrag's voices became. Too weak to call on its power, Pahrak-Kal leaped toward the Air Toa, the remaining Bohrok-Kal following its lead. Tahu, however, managed to activate his Hau's shield, keeping them at bay. Suddenly, an eruption of earth and stone occurred between the Toa and the stone with Nuhvok-Kal in its epicenter. It was about to strike Lewa with its claws except Pohatu tackled it to the ground. "Lewa, quick," the Stone Toa called. "Do it now." Though Lewa nodded in response, he could barely focus hard enough to summon the winds. The voices and images were now so overwhelming, he couldn't think straight. He then felt a hand on his shoulder that was accompanied with a chill that woke him out of his slight daze. Sure enough, he found it to be Kopaka.
"You can do this," the Toa of Ice encouraged.
Somehow, Kopaka's voice muted the Bahrag's communication in the Air Toa's mind, thus allowing him to concentrate and he fired his power at the weakened stone. Lewa pushed himself far past his limits and, just when he felt he couldn't push himself any further, he felt his brother grab his lower arms and a surge of power from Kopaka added itself to his own. The stone began to shake violently and bolt-like energy wrapped around it. The Bohrok-Kal screamed in pain as they found themselves going through the same thing over again, this time far more powerful and excruciating. Finally, the stone and its chunk shattered into many pieces. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Lewa would have collapsed if Kopaka hadn't caught him. "You did good, brother," the Toa of Ice praised with a slight smile.
Hearing a faint chattering sound, the Toa turned around to see the Bohrok-Kal shells lying on the ground, scorch and burn marks all over their armor and looking like they've been crushed by Kane-Ra herd. Also, the Krana-Kal that controlled them were weakly crawling either on the floor or halfway out of the shells. Extremely tired both from the fight and their efforts, they just let themselves drop. "Look kind of pathetic now, don't they?" Tahu asked no one in particular.
"What happened to them?" wondered Pohatu.
"It was the stone," answered Lewa. "They were bound-connected to its power. Now that it's shattered-destroyed, the power is gone, and they are back to what they were—slimy slug-bugs.
"So, what should we do with them now?" asked Onua.
"They are no threat to us now," said Gali. "Let's just get out of here."
"That's what we thought the last time," Pohatu pointed out. "And look what happened."
"For once in a long time, I have to agree with Pohatu," said Kopaka. "What if they somehow strike again?"
"Then we'll fight them again," Tahu simply replied, and led the way back into the tunnel from which they came.
Just as Lewa was about to follow, he heard voices in his mind call to him—Cahdok and Gahdok. He turned to face them; they were trying to get him to help them and the Bohrok swarms finish their mission. He snorted in response and proceeded to the tunnel. Feeling a little dizzy and tired, he stumbled. But, Onua slipped the Toa of Air's arm across his shoulders and supported his brother.
A week later, the Toa decided to pay Le-Koro a quick visit. Neither one of them had heard from or of Lewa since they'd returned from the cavern and were anywhere between interested to anxious to find out how he was doing. The group's silent walk was broken by a startled shout from Pohatu who found himself, in the blink of an eye, pulled up into the air and hanging upside down by his right leg. "Brother, are you alright?" asked Gali as she and the others gathered around him.
"Yeah," the Stone Toa replied. "But what in the world--"
"A trap," answered Kopaka, who looked up into the trees.
Pohatu followed his gaze and saw that his foot was caught in a vine tied into a noose. Suddenly, a large green form dropped down beside Onua. It was Lewa, hanging by his legs from a branch. "Greetings, brothers and sister," welcomed the Toa of Air.
"Hi Lewa," said Onua. It was then that Lewa spotted Pohatu and just couldn't hold back a mischievous grin.
"Fancy find-meeting you here, brother."
"Very funny," said the Toa of Stone as he crossed his arms over his chest. He and the other Toa had a very strong suspicion that the Air Toa was somehow involved with the prank.
"So, how are things, Lewa?" questioned Onua.
"Sure-fine, thanks," Lewa answered as he lithely flipped down to the ground.
"No more nightmares?" asked Gali.
"Never-none."
"That's good," Tahu commented as placed a hand on the Toa of Air's shoulder.
"Excuse me," grunted Pohatu, "but could somebody please get me down?" Onua firmly gripped his fellow Toa's ankle while Kopaka swiped at the vine with his blade, and the Earth Toa let Pohatu down gently.
"Have to admit, brother," said Lewa. "For a Toa-hero of Stone, you make a pretty good braka."
The Stone Toa glanced at Onua and back at the Air Toa. Before he could react, Lewa found himself under attack by small pebbles. When he dared to look, he saw Pohatu heading for him and he took no more than two steps before being tackled to the ground. Shortly after, Pohatu was joined by Onua and Tahu. Gali laughed at the sight while Kopaka watched.
"Aren't you going to join them?" she asked.
Kopaka gave her an odd look, as if asking her how she could think the Toa of Ice would ever do such a thing.
"Just kidding," the Water Toa replied with her hands up.
Soon, the four Toa tired of their wrestling and either sat, knelt, or lay on the ground panting. Noticing that he and the others were practically covered in mud, Onua turned to Gali with a silent question in his eyes. Gali simply smiled and used her water powers to summon just enough rain to allow her brothers a quick shower. Once they were clean, the entire group bid farewell and went their separate ways to their villages. Taking hold of his air katana, Lewa leaped into the sky and flew for Le-Koro.