Secret of the Mask 2
Chapter 2
Author's Note: It turns out that Mondays don't work out so well for me, so I'm going to update this story on Wednesdays from now on, stating a week from this Wednesday (sorry, no double update ;)). I would also like to thank Shadow Dragon for bringing up an idea in her review that I ended up using in this chapter. The idea probably came out differently in this story than in the books, but I had fun playing around with it anyway. Enjoy.
Lewa's air katana and Onua's quake braker clashed.
Onua swung his weapon again, but Lewa back flipped over the Toa of Earth.
"You'll have to be foot-lighter than that!" Lewa said as he put his arm around Onua's neck.
Onua smirked and grabbed Lewa's arm, flipping him over his shoulder. With a grunt, Lewa's back slammed into the ground.
Takanuva grimaced as though he shared Lewa's pain. He couldn't help but feel that maybe the Toa were a little too rowdy for their own good…
Pohatu chuckled as he watched Takanuva. "Don't worry, brother. It's all in good sport."
Takanuva smirked, feeling for the first time in awhile in familiar territory. "Of course you'd say that," he said as he pointed to Pohatu. "You're Toa Pohatu, the patron of kolhii and –"
Pohatu laughed. "Hey, Onua!" he called to his friend and the other two Toa paused for a moment. "I think I found someone that likes history about as much as you do!"
Takanuva blushed as Onua and Lewa laughed. "Enough stall-talking," Lewa said.
Pohatu grinned and nodded, crouching down like a Muaka Cat. "Time to join in on the fun." He began speeding past Takanuva and giving a well-aimed punch every few seconds. Takanuva narrowed his eyes, trying to catch the speedy Toa.
Takanuva's eyes widened as Pohatu turned into a blur. He turned around just in time to catch Pohatu's fist. The Toa of Stone grinned. "Good move," he said.
Pohatu continued to rush past and punch Takanuva when another being approached.
Tahu? Takanuva thought just as he got a punch in the mask.
Tahu turned to Lewa and Onua. "Where's Kopaka? I was hoping to take out my frustrations on him…"
"He didn't stay-show," Lewa said. "We're just watching the glow-Toa have his first sparring lesson."
Takanuva frowned to himself. He had always looked up to Tahu as his village's guardian. Here he had a chance to finally impress his role model, and he was getting pulverized!
Suddenly, to make matters worse, the Toa of Light heard a voice in his mind. "Takanuva, are you there?"
Takanuva raised an eyebrow. "Gali, is that you? Ouch!"
Pohatu looked at his brother as though he might be demented. "I'm not Gali – I'm Pohatu!"
"Maybe he's been punched one too many times…" Onua whispered to Lewa.
"Of course it's me," Gali snapped.
"Oh yeah," Takanuva murmured. "Our mental link…"
"I need to talk to someone! Tahu's driving me crazy."
"Uh… Now's kind of a bad time," the new Toa said as he got another punch in the mask.
Tahu narrowed his eyes. "Well, you can tell Gali that she's the most stubborn woman I've ever met! She can get rid of that volcano herself, for all I care."
Takanuva sighed as Pohatu rushed past him again.
"Is Tahu there with you? Well, you can tell that hot-head that he is the most arrogant ignoramus that ever lived!"Takanuva was now beginning to feel dizzy from so many hits. "An 'arrogant' ignor-what…?" he asked.
Tahu boiled with anger. "What did she call me!"
"C'mon," Pohatu jested. "You're going to have to try harder than that."
"Oh," Takanuva heard Gali's voice in his mind, "I've got to go. Vhisola, stay away from that Tarakava. It might eat you! I'll talk to you later."
A well-aimed punch sent Takanuva sprawling on the ground. Pohatu then sat on his friend's stomach, pinning his arms to the ground.
"I win!" Pohatu said with a grin. He then said to Takanuva, "I think you might be getting a little rusty now that Makuta's gone." The Stone Toa smiled amiably. "We'll have to work on that."
Turning his head toward Tahu, the new Toa saw the Fire Toa smirk.
Takanuva narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Pohatu. He had just been humiliated in front of half of his new brothers. He couldn't help but feel like his former Matoran self again pinned down by the might of a Toa.
Pohatu's eyes widened as Takanuva's mask began to glow. It began to glow brighter and brighter, until everything was enveloped in light.
"My eyes, my eyes!"
Takanuva snapped out of his trance. The light dissipated and the Toa stared in shock at his writhing brother on the ground next to him.
The other Toa, who had been watching, rushed over. Tahu turned angrily to the stunned Toa of Light. "Hey, what's the big idea? You could've blinded him!"
"I-I'm sorry," Takanuva stammered. "I didn't mean –"
"We'd better take him to Turaga Vakama," Tahu said to the others.
Takanuva bit his lower lip as the other Toa left to tend to Pohatu.
Nice going, kolhii-head, he thought with a sigh. You've always been good at messing things up.