ULTIMATE BIONICLE

Chapter 13: Mysterious Encounters

Two Po-Matoran were walking across the desert, back to Po-Koro. It was dusk and the sun was producing a magnificent orange colour on the horizon. The first Po-Matoran wore a Kakama, the second wore a Miru. The first Po-Matoran took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Have you noticed that ever since Makuta was defeated, the air seems sweeter?" He asked his companion.

"It seems easier to breathe, yes. But sweeter? How does it taste sweeter?" the second one replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's the sense of security it gives me in knowing that everything is at peace again." He said putting his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Maybe all this work in the sun has finally gotten to your brain. It's making you act weird." The second one said laughing.

The ground suddenly shook underneath them. They both halted and looked at each other, acknowledging that they had both felt the same thing.

"Where do you suppose that came from?" The first one asked.

"Maybe, it's a nest of Nui-Jaga, right underneath us." The second one said, getting nervous.

"Don't worry my friend; it was probably just a little tremor." The first one said, continuing to walk.

The ground shook again, this time more furiously. "That doesn't feel like a little tremor to me…" The second said, now feeling fear. A crack opened up in the ground about 5 feet away from them.

The noise made the second Po-Matoran hide behind his friend. "Come on Jamga!" The first one said, getting frustrated. "It's nothing! I'm telling you!"

"I think something's down there Horkii." Jamga said, refusing to move.

"Fine, I'll check it out then." Horkii said confidently.

"No, don't!" Jamga pleaded. "Jamga why are you so scared! You were brave against the Bohrok!" Horkii argued.

"I'm not sure…I just have a bad feeling." Jamga said nervously.

Horkii crouched in front of the small crack and looked inside. There was nothing to see at all. It looked just like a normal little hole in the ground.

Horkii stood up and looked at Jamga shamefully. "Now who's been working too hard? Come on let's go."

Jamga nodded and started to walk towards his friend.

Without warning, a black claw burst out of the crack and grabbed Horkii, yanking him under, making the hole larger. Jamga sprinted towards where his friend had gone under, now in a state of great panic.

"Horkii! Horkii! Are you alright!" He yelled anxiously. He could hear his friend's agonizing screams for help. There was a tearing noise, then silence.

Jamga shot up. He was so panicked that he was breathing like all the air on Mata Nui had been stripped away. He looked in the hole again and saw a pair of glowing eyes staring right back at him. "Horkii?" He asked nervously.

&&&&&&&&

"He went that way Pohatu! Cut him off!" Onua yelled to the Toa of Stone. They were in the midst of hunting down Vorahk and Panrahk. Pohatu nodded in understanding and ran off to the side among the trees. Onua could no longer see Pohatu.

Onua stopped. "Where did they go?" He said panting. Pohatu stuck his head out of some bushes. Onua spotted him. Pohatu gestured for him to follow. "I've found them." He whispered.

&&&&&&&&

"How much longer do we have to keep running like this brother?" Panrahk asked with exhaustion. "I don't know Panrahk. But we should have helped Makuta out that day two months ago. Who would have known that with him dead not only are we weakened but our Kraata are useless?"

An Earth being suddenly entered the clearing, followed by a Matoran. Vorahk and Panrahk shot to their feet. Their guard suddenly dropped.

"That's not Onua…" Vorahk said with confusion. "But it is a Toa."

"Brother let's go. He's of no concern to us. Onua and Pohatu will catch up with us any moment now." Panrahk insisted.

"No. Our Kraata may not work, but our staffs do and I could use some energy!" He said with a grin rushing at the Earth Toa.

"Hmm?" Whenua said, just realizing the Rahkshi rushing at him. Whenua quickly dodged Vorahk's strike. "What's a Rahkshi doing here?"

The Rahkshi kept striking at him, but he was simply dodging each attack. "I could use a little exercise." Whenua said with enthusiasm.

He grabbed Vorahk's staff, stopping it. He then punched him hard in the chest, projecting him across the clearing, releasing the staff from his hand. Whenua stood there holding the staff; he threw it to the ground.

"Come on Rahkshi! Is that the best you can do!" Whenua taunted.

"Grrrrr. I'll kill you!" Vorahk ran at him again. Whenua swayed to the side and kicked Vorahk in the stomach, making him fall to his knees gagging. A stone Toa now entered the clearing.

Whenua grabbed Vorahk's head. "You're not even worth the effort. I expected more from a Rahkshi." Whenua said in disappointment.

"You'll pay Toa! All Toa will pa-." Whenua snapped Vorahk's neck, letting his body fall to the floor. "That was unnecessary don't you think?" Onewa said.

"Nah, but I wish I got more out of it." Whenua replied shrugging. Onua and Pohatu emerged from the forest.

"Who the heck are you?" Onua said, looking perplexed.

Whenua looked at Onewa. "Aren't they those fake Toa that guy Atukam warned us about?" Whenua whispered. Onewa gasped in realization. "You're right! We should probably get out of here. We can't fight them as is."

"Are you kidding me?" Whenua said in surprise. "There's one for you and one for me! We can take these guys!" Whenua looked at Tehutti. "You stay back in the bushes." Tehutti nodded and complied.

Whenua rushed at Onua kicking him in the face. Onua was hit into a tree. Onua got up, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Well Pohatu, I think I know what side they're on." Pohatu nodded and rushed at Onewa.

Whenua pulled out his earth-shock drills and began to fight Onua. They clashed their weapons together attempting to hit one-another. Onua kicked at Whenua's legs, knocking him off balance.

Whenua hit the ground and he saw Onua's chainsaw come thrusting down to his chest. Whenua rolled out of the way, and the chainsaw dug into the ground. Whenua rushed again, hitting Onua in the face with one of his earth-shock drills. Onua was sent spinning to the ground.

Suddenly the ground beneath Whenua caved in, as a result of the chainsaw. Onua jumped in after him, landing on his chest. "Gaaahh!" Whenua said, spitting out blood from the blow. Onua kicked him the face, and jumped again, pulling a chainsaw behind his head, getting ready to cut Whenua in two.

The chainsaw came down but Whenua blocked it by crossing his drills where the weapon was going to hit. It became a standoff as Onua continued to try to drive it into Whenua, and Whenua tried to drive it away.

"Just…accept…defeat…and die!" Onua yelled as he struggled.

A blast of flame hit Onua in the back sending him flying off of Whenua. Whenua looked up to see Vakama in the trees. He had shot Onua with a disk launcher blast. Whenua got out of the hole to see that Pohatu had been taken care of as well.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Vakama said with a serious expression.

&&&&&&&&

Panrahk was jumping through the trees in panic. Having just witnessed his brother's death, he did not know what else to do. He stopped running to catch his breath. He slowly climbed out of the tree and sat down against its trunk to rest.

Panrahk lowered his head and closed his eyes, panting heavily. "Forgive me brother…" He said before dozing off.

&&&&&&&&

"My liege, the tunnel is almost complete, and then we can start building the new establishment." A Tahnok said, knelt before the Bahrag.

"Very good. We expect it to be completed by tomorrow." Cahdok said. "There have been some set backs…" The Tahnok said nervously.

"What do you mean 'set backs'?" Gahdok asked getting angry.

"Some Bohrok have been going missing. We can't find them." The Tahnok explained.

"So? Get some more!" Cahdok yelled impatiently. The Tahnok trembled. "Yes my liege."

Suddenly echoing shouts could be heard from far down the tunnel. "What the heck was that?" Gahdok said angrily. "All of you go find out what that was now!" She commanded.

The Tahnok and about twenty other Bohrok ran towards the end of the tunnel. When then got in they witnessed a ghastly site.

Every single Bohrok had been slaughtered. Blood was all over the chamber. One lone Nuhvok stood trembling in the middle of the room, too scared to move. "What the heck did you do!" The Tahnok yelled angrily.

Something dropped out of the ceiling and grabbed the trembling Nuhvok and pulled it back up into the darkness. The Nuhvok screamed for helpas it was pulled up.

The others rushed towards where the Nuhvok stood and looked up, but they saw nothing. Suddenly pieces of the Nuhvok started to fall. "What in Makuta's name…" The Tahnok said in shock.

"There's something wrong Tahnok." One of the Bohrok said. The Tahnok turned and looked at him, expecting and explanation. "All these Bohrok… Their Krana are missing."

&&&&&&&&

The sound of rustling startled Panrahk and woke him up. He jumped to his feet, grabbing his staff. It was nighttime now, though he didn't know how long he had been sleeping. He looked around frantically to see what made the noise.

Panrahk heard nothing else, but noticed something that sent chills up his spine. It was quiet. Dead quiet. The normal noises of the tropical island night were silenced, as if by fear.

Panrahk heard the rustling again. He looked all over; it was hard for him to see. He could see a patch of moonlight hitting the forest. For a split second something moved swiftly by it. He could make out what it was. It moved too quickly.

Out of the shadows it sprinted at Panrahk. He held up his staff to protect himself. It struck, breaking his staff in half. Without time to react it grabbed Panrahk's neck with one hand and lifted him off his feet, a display of great strength to do so with only one arm.

"This thing is no bigger than I am, and yet it can lift me like this?" Panrahk thought.

Panrahk gagged and choked as he tried with both hands to get it to release him. "What…the hell…are you?" Panrahk managed to choke out. It walked forward into the moonlight so that Panrahk could see him. Panrahk's eyes widened in surprise.

"How can it be? He's dead! I saw him die! " Panrahk thought in shock. "Why…are…you…doing this?" Panrahk questioned.

It threw him to the ground. Panrahk coughed and gagged trying to catch his breath. "I…thought...you were dead." He said panting.

It had a look of confusion on its face. "You have memistakenfor someone else."

Panrahk realized at the sound of its voice that this was someone different. "Why are you doing this?" Panrahk repeated.

It just stared at him for a minute, "Because I can." It replied simply. It turned around and started walking away. Panrahk let out a sigh of relief. It stopped.

A feeling of panic returned once again to Panrahk's gut. It faced the palm of its claw upwards and curved its fingers. A ball of energy started to build in its hand. It turned around with a menacing grin on its face, which pierced fear into Panrahk's body.

"No! Please don't!" Panrahk pleaded. It laughed gruely.

A large flash, and then there was silence in the forest once again.