IHordika venom can make you do some crazy things./I Nuju considered, backflipping over a Vohtarak's charge. II just hope it's crazy enough to drive back the enemy./I
He punched a Keelerak, charging then firing an ice spinner. Crystal spikes burst from underneath the Suukorak, knocking them aside. Nuju leapt over a Rhotuka and released one of his own, encasing some Vohtarak in a block of ice. He batted away a Boggarak with his tool, and rolled to avoid another spinner.
Keelerak spinners struck Whenua's walls of earth, eating through the soil, bringing dust and dirt crashing down around the tower of Toa. Boggarak moved in, utilising their sonic hums to break down any fragments of stone that still barred their way.
"No!" Whenua roared, his booming voice echoing throughout the scene of disaster. "Not now, creatures, not ever!" He fired several elemental spinners into the horde, a gaping chasm swallowing Visorak by the tens.
Nuju dodged an Oohnorak spinner, deflected another with his tool, but was struck by a third. Numbness consumed his legs. He tried to stand, fighting as desperately as he could against the weakness within him. A Visorak rammed into Nuju, toppling him.
As the evil spiders surrounded the Toa Hordika of ice, preparing their Rhotuka, he had nothing except his own mind to depend on now.
IMata-Nui/I… Nuju thought. IHow did we end up in this horrible mess/I
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All six Toa Hordika and five Rahaga were resting in the remains of Onu-Metru, using a fallen Airship as shelter. Yellowed evening sunlight trickled through the clouds of mist that blanketed the city.
Bomonga heard the scuttling noise first. He held up a hand to request silence, inclining his head towards the exit.
"What do you hear?" Gaaki whispered. "Visorak?"
"No." Bomonga listened for a moment more, then relaxed. Seconds later, Pouks came limping into the room.
"Pouks. What have you learned from your patrol?" Iruini asked.
"It seems that the Visorak are on the move." Rahaga Pouks replied. "Toward Le-Metru."
"Again?" Nokama checked.
"There can only be one reason; they want to recapture our tower of Toa." Gaaki told them.
"Than we'd better stop them!" Onewa announced, standing up.
"What?" Matau protested. "Do you remember the dangertrouble we were involved in last time we quicksped there?"
"I understand your caution, however, things will be different this time. Sidorak does not command the tower any more. We do." Norik reminded them. "And he will not risk summoning the Zivon again, either. This time, it's just us and the Visorak."
"But look how many there are!" Exclaimed Vakama. He was staring through a rent in the metal, and could see hundreds of shadowy spiders scurrying in one direction. "We'll never defeat them!"
"Perhaps not now, when they are so tight a formation." Kualus told him. "If we were to rob them of their unity…"
"Good idea. We can split them up." Iruini nodded. "Me, Pouks, Matau and Onewa can assault the group now. Gaaki, Norik, Nokama and Vakama, make it to the Metru border before they do, and cut them off there. Kualus, Bomonga, Nuju and Whenua, head off to the tower of Toa and defend it against any that manage to escape us."
"It sounds a risky plan." Whenua mumbled. Vakama shot him a skeptical glance, and snorted.
"Whenua, since we returned to Metru-Nui, every movement we have made has been risky! And only now you're having doubts?"
"Thank you for that reassurance, leader." Nuju muttered.
"I told you, I'm not a leader! I never was!" Vakama growled.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down." Pouks interrupted, grabbing Vakama's arm. "Trapped though they may be, the Matoran still need saving. And if their protectors turn on one another, who can they turn to then?"
"We aren't protectors anymore. We're monsters!" Argued Vakama.
"Monsters that still have a duty, and a destiny." Norik reminded him. "And just because your powers are not the same, it does not mean that you can't use them for protection."
"There are times when it pays off to think like a Rahi." Pouks added. "There are times when it pays off to think like a Toa, too."
"Fine." Vakama stalked off, Norik hobbling after him. The others exchanged a look, then split into their respective group, ready to steal victory from the claws of the Visorak once more.
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IThe others can't have done their job too well./I Nuju lamented. IThere are well over a hundred Visorak attacking the tower. Whenua and I can't do this alone…/I
The fierce, cruel eyes of a Keelerak stared back at him, its acid Rhotuka charging, ready to dissolve Nuju's remains once the others were done with him.
II can't give up. But Mata-Nui… what can I do/I Nuju racked his brains franticly.
"Get back!" Whenua growled, swinging his thumper tool into the face of a Boggarak. An Oohnorak made it past him, leaping for the tower, emitting a victorious cry – until bolts of fire and ice sprung from the gateway, blasting the Visorak to a smoking cinder.
This surprised the oncoming spiders, and Whenua pressed the advantage. Firing another earth spinner, he created an enormous wave of mud that cracked the pavement and pushed the horde back. He smiled, taunting them. Suddenly, twenty or more Roporak shimmered into being, adjusting their chameleon powers, spinners raining towards Whenua.
There was no time to avoid them. His energy drained, Whenua collapsed, as the Visorak began to move forward again, ready to claim their victory.
IThere are times when it pays off to think like a Rahi. There are times when it pays off to think like a Toa, too./I
Pouk's words sprung inexplicably to Whenua's attention. He had been thinking like a Toa so far, so was now the time to start thinking like a Rahi? He had only one chance to test the recalled wisdom, and apply it to his own knowledge.
"Nuju!" Whenua yelled. "What would a Rahi do in this situation?"
"What?" The Toa Hordika of ice was appalled at Whenua's timing of such a pointless question.
"Think! What would a Rahi do?" Visorak encircled Whenua. They charged their Rhotuka, snapping their mandibles impatiently. Nuju, only a few Bios away, smirked. He quickly reaslised Whenua's intentions.
"What would a Rahi do? They call for help!" He answered, allowing his Hordika urges to overcome him. Rubbing his tools together, Nuju listened as an eerie, high-pitched ringing noise emanated from them, reverberating across the Metru. Whenua, with the last of his strength, slammed his tools into the ground, a rumbling shockwave passing deep below. The Visorak that had cornered the Toa Hordika froze. Although Nuju and Whenua didn't, the spidery Rahi knew exactly what the signals meant.
Knowledge still didn't prepare them for the onslaught that followed.
Screeching, whistling, and squawking, hundreds of bird Rahi filled the gloomy sky. Flying in a close group, some broke off to divebomb Visorak, others to avoid Rhotuka. Gukko, ice bats, Lohrak, and just about anything with wings were present, responding to Nuju's desperate call for aid.
And that wasn't it. Clawing their way from underground, snapping their jaws and various other appendages, night creepers, Ussual crabs, tunnelers and similar beasts emerged, answering Whenua's cry for help.
Both Toa watched as the proud, relentless Visorak now ran in terror from the swarms of Rahi that had appeared. Chaos ensued for the following several minutes, until the other four Toa Hordika and Rahaga arrived. Fire, water, stone and air buffeted the horde, turning the tables enough to force the Visorak into tactical retreat.
"Begone, monsters!" Iruini bellowed, throwing rocks at a Vohtarak close by. It turned to attack him, but ice had already sealed its limbs in place.
"Here you are. Whenua and I had wondered where you guys had gotten to." Nuju quipped, joining the group.
"Kahgarak," Matau said simply, "and battle rams. Caused a nastyugly mess stopping them, too."
"What went on here?" Pouks asked, watching the many types of Rahi as they dispersed. "These creatures do not usually get on so well."
"We tried thinking like Rahi." Whenua smiled, staggering over. "And maybe these creatures have learned to unite against the common enemy: Visorak."
"Let us hope so." Kualus nodded. "So, Nuju, you managed to summon all those flying creatures? I'd have imagined you would be against something like that."
"Well, you know." Nuju sighed. "Hordika venom can make you do some crazy things."
Author's note: After looking at Nuju and Whenua's bios, and seeing that they can summon Rahi with their tools, I wondered how exactly they found it out. It's not something they would have just known, and the Rahaga can't have known either. So there it is, my version of how Nuju and Whenua discovered their strange new powers, thrown together out of boredom.