ULTIMATE BIONICLE
Note: Yet again another time skip. The Toa have found all their masks at this point. From this point on these time skips will become much less frequent since it's getting more into the story. So they will only really be used when I feel it is necessary. Finally, my first original character will be introduced in this chapter! Hope you like the latest chapter. Enjoy.
Chapter 3: Confrontation
All six Toa found themselves walking on a dirt path underneath the village of Le-Koro. The village had been built up in the trees so the Matoran would be protected from predatory Rahi. The Toa were accompanied by at least twenty Le-Matoran as well as Turaga Matau. The path was shadowed due to the village being above them.
All the Toa were wearing golden masks. Tahu was wearing a golden Hau, Gali was wearing a golden Kaukau, Pohatu was wearing a golden Kakama, Onua was wearing a golden Pakari and Kopaka was wearing a golden Akaku. The only one that wasn't wearing a golden mask was Lewa. That is what they were heading out to change.
They could see Lewa's Suva up ahead. It looked like a large pedestal surrounded by six pillars, with a large hemi-sphere in the middle with a 5m diameter. In front of it, etched in the rock was the symbol of the three virtues; Unity, Duty, Destiny. On top of each pillar was a stone copy of each mask of power, mounted on a statue of a Toa head. They all faced inward, towards the hemi-sphere.
They soon reached the foot of the pedestal. It was sunny now because the Suva was in a small clearing. There were three steps that led to the main platform of it. Lewa walked up the three steps and stopped, looking back at Turaga Matau for guidance. "Lewa, you must stand on the symbol of the three virtues." Matau told him. Lewa then looked at his Toa siblings. They just stood there silently, staring up at Lewa with serious expressions on all their faces. It made him strangely uncomfortable.
Lewa proceeded to step on the symbol. When he did he could see the eyes of each head on the pillars light up, one-by-one. Once they all lit up, they each shot a beam of energy from their eyes down at the hemi-sphere. The sudden blast made Lewa flinch, shielding himself with his arms for a brief second. Lewa heard Pohatu laugh at him. "Shut up, Pohatu." Lewa said annoyed. Pohatu stopped, but still had a grin on his face.
As soon as the blasts stopped there was a crumbling noise as the hemi-sphere slowly started to shift, revealing a stairway which lead downward to the unknown. "Go on in." Tahu said with an encouraging smile on his face. Lewa then proceeded to enter the stairway.
The stairway had indentations in the wall which held torches to light his way. It was damp and chilly in the stairway despite how hot it was on the surface, it being a rain-forest type region. When he reached the bottom, he entered a completely dark chamber. "What the…" he said in confusion. Suddenly there was an extremely bright light coming from the other side of the chamber. On a small shrine, in a little impression in the wall on the other side of the chamber was a golden Miru. Lewa ran over to it and picked it up. He started to tremble with excitement. "The others said that it allows me to use all of the kanohi at once! You know what that means!" he said to himself with a playful smile on his face. He then put it on, melding it with all the other masks that he wore.
"I wonder what's taking him so long." Onua said rather impatiently. "He just better not do what I think he's gonna do." Gali said with slight concern. Lewa suddenly went flying out of the stairway. "Yes, I can finally fly! WOOOOHOOO!" Lewa screamed, his voice becoming fainter as he flew off into the distance. "Yup, he did it." Kopaka said breaking the silence. "Damn it." Gali said in a frustrated voice. Using her mask, she then took off after Lewa.
Lewa stopped high above the island, admiring the view. "I can finally fly just like the wind!" he said cheerfully. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and was immediately hit in the face. Gali had punched him with the knuckle of her claw. "What the hell was that for!" he yelled at her, holding his cheek. "For being an idiot! We have a very important responsibility, which for some reason you never want to take seriously!" She screamed at him in aggravation. "Geez, can't I have a little fun once in a while? Who are you to tell me not to enjoy myself?" Lewa said to her with a grimace, before heading back to the group. Gali hung her head and sighed before proceeding to follow Lewa. "When will he learn?"
When she arrived she could see Lewa was already standing among them. "Now that you're back I would like to give you all something before you confront Makuta." Matau said. "He will no doubt have minions waiting for you before you confront him. There is a strong possibility you all might get badly hurt before the final battle itself, which is why I will give you these." Matau held out a small bag a little bigger than his fist. "What is it?" Tahu asked curiously. "These are bulla berries. Their juices contain restorative properties. When eaten, a warrior will no doubt heal, and be fully recovered in a certain amount of time, depending on the level of damage they have taken." Matau explained handing the bag to Gali.
"Wow, thank you!" Gali said great fully. Though Kopaka should have been thankful as well, he didn't look pleased. "Why is it that you just decided to give these to us now? There were times where they would have been very useful before." he said with an unpleasant look on his face. Matau didn't know how to respond to his statement. He started to feel very uncomfortable and slightly ashamed. "Don't pester him Kopaka!" Tahu said, butting in. "You're fine right now and that's what matters. Don't dwell on the past like that and be thankful!" Tahu continued. "Thank you, Matau. Now we should all be leaving." Tahu concluded. The Toa then left the Suva, heading towards the supposed entrance to Makuta's lair; Mangaia. "Good luck!" Matau yelled to them.
The Toa traveled to a location of a shrine in a forest at the base of Mount Ihu. It was said by the Turaga that this was most likely the entrance to Mangaia since they didn't know its purpose. It looked to them to be similar to a Suva only there were no pillars, and the hemi-sphere had six indentations on it, with Toa faces in them. Above each indentation was a different word; Ta, Ga, Le, Po, Onu, and Ko. Each Toa stood in front of their corresponding word. "You guys ready?" Tahu said with anticipation. They all nodded their heads. They then took off their masks and placed them on the stone Toa faces on the monument. "You too, Lewa" Onua said impatiently. Lewa didn't have a good feeling about this. He sighed then put his in as well.
There was a shine of light coming from behind each mask. When it stopped the Toa took their masks, and put them back on. "You see, Lewa?" Pohatu said. "No sweat." He continued, patting Lewa on the back as they all started to enter the newly opened passageway.
There were no stairs. It was just a stone path leading downwards into an abyss of darkness. As they traveled down the passage Tahu held up his sword and lit it to be used as a torch enabling them to see. "There is a thick miasma of shadow energy here." Kopaka mentioned. "Yes I feel it too." Onua said cautiously. They could all feel it. It gave them a feeling of uneasiness. It seemed to engulf their entire bodies, putting pressure on their ribcages, making it harder to breathe.
Tahu noticed that Pohatu's eyes were racing in all directions, as if he was trying to see something. "What's wrong Pohatu?" Tahu asked with concern. "I don't…know." Pohatu responded. "I have a feeling we're not alone in this tunnel." He continued as they entered a large room.
Suddenly a large stone door fell from the ceiling of the room, blocking the doorway that connected the tunnel to the room. Tahu's sword went out when it shut. It was now pitch black. The only one that could see anything was Onua. "Onua can you see anything?" Gali asked. "Yes I can." He responded. "There's someone in here with us." Onua continued with a slight hint of fear in his voice. Suddenly a bunch of torches lit up in unison. Now they could all see it.
The figure laughed at them in a mocking tone. He was floating in the air with his arms crossed. "What's so funny?" Kopaka yelled, annoyed by the taunting. The individual stopped laughing and said, "I was just thinking about how fun it will be to tear you all to pieces!" he had an devious grin on his face. "Are you Makuta?" Lewa asked. "Because if you are, I gotta tell ya, you don't look all that impressive." He mocked. "I am not Makuta you fool! My name is Xaldin, and I'm his most powerful warrior!" he said triumphantly. (Pronounced 'ZAL-DIN' in case it confuses anybody)
Xaldin had orange eyes, and he wore an infected Hau. His arms and legs were light green and his body was white. His right arm looked normal until they saw his hand. It had an ice blade and an axe protruding from it. His other arm held a large white shield which had a glowing, light green, circular tick-tack-toe pattern on the front of it. "Let's see how you stand up to the power ice and air used as one!" Xaldin shouted.
Using the axe and sword he fired a ball of whirling air and ice at the Toa. "Scatter!" Tahu yelled. They ran in all directions to dodge the blast. The ball of elemental energy missed all of them and hit the ground, bursting on impact sending spikes of ice in all directions. Onua quickly raised walls of earth all around himself as a shield. Kopaka, using quick hand movements, rapidly blocked each spike with his shield. Tahu shrouded himself in flame melting each spike. Pohatu's thick skin prevented the spikes from causing significant damage. Lewa and Gali got it bad. The spikes sliced at their skin and stabbed into them. Onua lowered the walls of earth. "Gali!" he yelled in shock, seeing the damage she had suffered.
Onua cared very much for his sister and was often concerned for her well-being. In some ways he was a very protective brother. "I don't think so!" Xaldin yelled at Onua. He fired a net of energy out of his shield. "ERRRRRR!" Onua yelled as he was caught in the net. It forced him into the rock wall. While that kept him busy, Pohatu flew up to Xaldin and gave him a hard kick to the ribs. Xaldin bent forward in recoil but then struck Pohatu in the head with his blade/axe hand, sending him crashing onto the ground below. Pohatu was hurt by the impact but was slowly getting back up. Lewa sat kneeling on the ground, bleeding slowly out of his wounds from the spikes. "Pohatu, Lewa are you ok?" Tahu asked. "I'm fine" Pohatu said getting back up. Lewa just gave Tahu a look of sheer pain and lowered his head again.
Gali was ripping out the slowly melting spikes, getting ready to fight. Onua ripped out of the net and was getting up as well. Gali jumped at Xaldin and tackled him out of the air. They both got up and Gali started rapidly punching him in the stomach. She then jumped and gave him a cross kick to the face, sending him flying towards Onua.
Onua grabbed Xaldin by the foot and swung around and smashed him into the wall. Xaldin fell to the floor lay there holding his ribs for a second. Onua picked him up again and got ready to punch him in the face. Xaldin quickly countered by giving Onua a double kick to the chest, knocking him off of his feet. Xaldin propelled backwards from his kick and started to fly vertically, with a satisfied grin on his face, watching Onua fall to the ground. He was suddenly caught off guard by Tahu, who elbowed him in the face, sending him crashing back to the ground. Tahu stabbed his sword down towards him, but Xaldin quickly rolled out of the way. He then got up on one knee and smashed Tahu in the face with his shield. Xaldin smiled seeing the blood burst from Tahu's face from the impact. He then fired an energy net at him, keeping him out of the way for a while.
Suddenly Xaldin felt a sharp pain in his back. Gali had slashed him with one of her hooked claws. As Xaldin arched his back from the wincing pain, Kopaka came from the side and body checked him to the ground. He then fired ice at different points on Xaldin's body, pinning him to the ground. Xaldin struggled to break free but to no avail. "Who wants to finish him off?" Kopaka asked his fellow Toa. "I will." Lewa said approaching Xaldin's defenseless body. "I will grant you a painless death." Lewa said, raising his axe above his head, getting ready to sever Xaldin's head from his body.
"I think not!" Xaldin yelled freeing one of his arms. He swung he blade and severed Lewa's foot at the ankle. Lewa let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground holding his ankle which was now leaking blood. Gali knelt next to him. "Quick, eat a bulla berry." She instructed him.
Xaldin suddenly burst from his ice shackles and hit Kopaka in the stomach with his shield then kicked him away. Xaldin then turned to Gali preparing to attack, but before he could do anything, from behind, Onua grabbed him by the ankles. Onua lifted and tossed him sending him flipping through the air. Onua then jumped up and gave him a punch in the head, knocking him into a wall.
Xaldin got back onto his feet and started to charge at Onua. Tahu shot a large blast of fire from his hand. It hit Xaldin directly on the wound Gali had inflicted on his back. He fell to his knees screaming in writhing pain from the blast. Gali then looked at Kopaka. She gave him a look and he nodded his head in understanding. Gali shot water from her hands at Xaldin. As it made its way towards him Kopaka quickly froze it. It formed and enormous spike of ice which went right through Xaldin and pushed him back, pinning him to the wall. Xaldin cried in pain as his blood poured out of his large wound. Lewa then approached Xaldin's pinned body. "You…may have defeated me…Toa. But you will…NEVER…defeat…Makuta!" Xaldin said to them. "Shut up. Just be thankful I'm letting you die quickly." Lewa said before swinging his axe into Xaldin's neck. "Lewa stop!" Gali shouted. But it was too late. Xaldin's head rolled off of his shoulders and fell to the floor. Blood sprayed out of his neck and ran down his body.
"Why did you tell me to stop Gali?" This greatly confused Lewa. Xaldin was one of Makuta's followers. Why did she not want him dead? "He was wearing an infected mask. He could've survived the impalement and we could have helped him!" "But he was a creation of Makuta himself!" Lewa argued. "But you don't know that for sure! For all we know he could have been a Matoran once!" Gali responded. Lewa was mad, but couldn't help realizing the fact that Gali was right. None of them knew of Xaldin's past. He could have been Matoran…once.
"But he was made up of two elements Gali, how would that be possible?" Onua questioned. "Enough of this!" Kopaka butted in. "What's done is done! No matter how much we argue its not gonna bring him back anyways. Now let's get moving!" Kopaka told them. The doorway that they entered through slowly opened again as well as a door on the other side. "Let's go." Tahu said. They then left the chamber leaving Xaldin's corpse pinned to the wall. But Gali still felt a bad feeling deep down inside her that they had made a wrong choice that day.
The tunnel proceeded to go downward more and the miasma of shadow energy started to get thicker. They entered another chamber. This one was pitch black as well. Suddenly blue torches started lighting one by one along the circular wall until a nearly complete circle was made. There were many strange objects and devices throughout the room, but the centre formed some sort of arena that was completely clear. All of a sudden, in the middle of the arena, appeared a small black Matoran. His mask was very rusty and he was wheezing. "You've got to be kidding me!" Kopaka yelled. "You can not tell me this is Makuta!" Pohatu added.
"Oh, but I am." Makuta said. He started to laugh in a very raspy way. He then tensed his body and let out a roar as he started to transform into a monstrous tentacled entity. "This may not be my true form, but it will suffice." Makuta said. "This is not good." Onua said. Kopaka jumped up at Makuta getting ready to slash his ice blade at him. One of the tentacles caught Kopaka and rapped around his arms and torso and started to squeeze. "AAAAHHHHH!" Kopaka screamed in pain. Onua quickly flew up and latched onto the tentacle trying to rip it off. Tahu was blasting Makuta with fire on various parts of his body and Lewa was trying to hack at the tentacle that held Kopaka. A loud crunching noise was heard as the tentacle crushed the bones in Kopaka's arms. Kopaka's cry of agony chilled the bones of all the other Toa.
Makuta then smacked Lewa and Onua off of him with other tentacles and threw Kopaka to the floor. Gali ran up to Kopaka. He was out cold. She quickly squeezed the juices of a bulla berry into his mouth. "I hope that helps." She said looking down at him with great concern.
Using debris and bits of rock, Pohatu formed a boulder and hurled it at Makuta. He simply smacked it away with ease. Lewa suddenly noticed that a ball of shadow energy was gathering above Makuta, and it looked ready to burst. "Heads up!" Lewa yelled in an attempt to warn the others. The ball burst firing millions of small rays of shadow energy in all directions. Each Toa got bombarded with blasts. After the blast ended the Toa lay smoldering on the ground.
"This is bad." Tahu thought to himself lying on the ground. In all his travels searching for the masks he had never fought anything that didn't at least have some apparent weakness. But Makuta seemed to be completely invulnerable! Tahu started to feel angry. "Even if we have the masks, we have only limited fighting experience! Stupid Turaga! Why did they have to rush us into this so much?" he thought. "These masks aren't enough…or maybe we just don't have what it takes…" Suddenly a memory of something Vakama had told him rushed into his mind.
"Remember Tahu, even though the masks will give you enhanced abilities, there are much greater powers that lie within all of you. Those powers are your very own elemental abilities. Your elemental powers are what make you who you are. You must trust in them. Don't ever forget that…"
Vakama's words encouraged Tahu once more. "He's right. He was always right. They didn't rush us into this. We can defeat him! Because we are the legendary Toa, and we will fulfill our destiny! And I think I know exactly what we should do…" Tahu thought to himself smiling.
They all slowly started to get back up. Even Kopaka was getting up, whose arms had healed. "This guy's tougher than I thought." Pohatu said. "This doesn't look good." Onua added. They were all badly burned from the blasts. Makuta was tauntingly laughing at them. "Did you really think you had any hope of defeating me?" He said continuing to laugh. "Everybody activate your shielding powers now!" Tahu ordered. They did so. "What are you up to? Hiding behind your shields like cowards will get you nowhere!" Makuta yelled. He then tried to strike at Tahu. The shield ruptured a little bit but it held. "Now form a ball of elemental energy and we'll all fire at the same time!" Tahu told them.
With their barriers protecting them they each formed a very powerful ball of pure elemental energy. "Now fire!" Tahu commanded. They each shot the ball of energy at Makuta. His flesh started to deteriorate and fade away as he was overwhelmed with the power of their elements. Before completely fading away he shouted, "You cannot destroy me, for I am destruction itself!" Slowly the shadow miasma started to lift.
The Toa emerged from Mangaia very battered and very weakened from their battles. The pleasant light of the afternoon sun was a delight to their eyes, which had been in the dark for so long. As they exited the entrance slowly started to close.
"We did it. WE ACTUALLY DID IT!" Lewa said with great joy. In his excitement Lewa hugged Kopaka and wouldn't let go continuing to chant "We did it! We did it!" "Please let me go." Kopaka said about to snap. The others started laughing. Kopaka pushed Lewa off. "Don't ever do that again." Kopaka said, very annoyed. "Sorry, I was just caught up in the moment, that's all." Lewa said smiling.
Onua suddenly noticed something. "Something's wrong." He said. "What do you mean?" Gali asked concerned. But as she looked up at the sky her question was answered. Off in the distance the sky was black with smoke. "What the hell is that?" Pohatu said. Suddenly coming out of the trees appeared Kongu, one of the Le-Matoran. "Help! Le-Koro is under attack!" Kongu yelled with great urgency. "Under attack from what?" Tahu asked, now very serious.
To be continued…
Well that's the end of Chapter 3. Please Review, I appreciate your comments.
What could be attacking Le-Koro? Find out next chapter!
Some of you may have an idea…
Notes: think of the bulla berry as the sensu bean in Dragon Ball Z, except its healing abilities are a bit slower acting than the sensu bean.
Info: just in case anyone was wondering, the person that I played the game with is Shadow Nuju, and sometimes he will write select chapters. I will mention when he has written a chapter. If it doesn't say at the beginning of a chapter that he wrote it, then I did. Also, the first review he put, if anyone saw, was a joke he played on me because he likes to piss me off sometimes. For images of Xaldin visit my page on brickshelf. A link to my page is provided in my profile.