ULTIMATE BIONICLE

Chapter 33: A Gift and a Curse

Vorak and Grievous had been leaping and climbing all around the Knowledge Towers for hours. "They all look exactly the same!" Vorak yelled with frustration as he hung onto the side of a tower with his mechanical claw.

Grievous hit the tower and grabbed on next to Vorak. "Do you think that the Toa are dead?" Grievous asked. Vorak kept surveying the horizon of towers. "Hard to say," Vorak answered. "That Whenua's got a stubborn will. It wouldn't surprise me if he survived, let's put it that way." Vorak said, leaping towards another tower.

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A strong feeling of sickness was in his stomach, he felt light headed, and he ached all over. There was also the burning pain that ran through his body, the pain that he still feels, having left on impression on his nerves. Who is he? Where is he and why? These questions ran through his mind, in-between being awake and asleep. His mind could think, but was confused, while his body was not even aware of itself.

"Is this…death?" He wondered to himself. "Death… dead… Matau is dead… And we have to bring him back… So we can't die… I can't die…" Slowly his eyes opened and blurry vision returned to him. As his vision became more vivid, so did his thoughts and memories. "Right…" Whenua said lowly, as he started to get back up.

He got onto his hands and knees and stayed there. He felt as though something wasn't as it should be. But what first struck him visually was what he saw as he stared at the floor. His arms were in his peripheral vision, and he saw that his right arm was significantly larger than his left. "What the hell?" He thought out loud as he staggered to his feet.

He looked down at his arms. Despite his left arms smaller size, it felt a lot stronger than usual. He then looked at his right arm and flexed it. He felt a rush of adrenaline at the excitement of the power he felt in it. But why did he have this sick feeling?

He was in a dark, dank place, which seemed to have a dark green tint to it. The walls were jagged and rough, so he assumed it was a cave. He looked up to see a large hole in the ceiling, about twenty feet above him. "I must have fallen through the street." Whenua said.

Just then he realized that the weight on his back felt heavier than usual. Whenua pulled out his Earthshock drills, only to find that they were no longer drills. Instead he found himself holding twin Jackhammers. Strangely however, Whenua had a feeling that they were still the same weapons as before.

As Whenua wandered through the cave he felt strangely light on his feet. As he started into a sprint he felt himself gaining faster speeds than he ever could before. "This is amazing!" He said with excitement. Quickly, he skidded to a halt as he reached the edge of a small creek, putting his weapons on his back again.

He looked up and down the creek. His Ruru worked like a charm, letting him see everything. "Wait a minute…" He said. "I never activated my mask." Whenua quickly looked over the edge of the creek and into the water. The face looking back at him was much different than before.

His face was very reptilian, and his mask appeared to be gone. Whenua felt his face with his left hand. "Yeah, it's definitely gone. But how come I can still use it?" He wondered. He opened his mouth and felt his teeth. They were very sharp edged, and pointed. "What the hell happened to me?" He wondered in astonishment.

As Whenua lay back, he closed his eyes and tried to collect his thoughts. He breathed in deeply and sighed. It was at that point that he realized that his senses were much sharper than usual. "I can smell the water…" He said lowly.

As Whenua quieted himself down he realized his hearing was just as acute. He could hear the small trickling of water on the cave walls, and the squeaking of tiny Rahi. "Whatever happened to me…," Whenua said, opening his eyes, "I like it."

Whenua lay on the rock floor, his hands behind his head, listening to the natural noises of the cave, until suddenly he heard low speaking. "Hmm?" He said, rising quickly. He got up and followed after the sound of the voice.

As Whenua walked down the tunnel the talking suddenly stopped. Up ahead he saw a ray of light shining down from the ceiling. He ran over quickly and looked up. The hole was fairly high up and it looked like something had smashed down from above. He then observed the floor which had an impression left in it; someone had definitely landed there.

"Whoever it was, they're gone now." He said lowly. Whenua suddenly froze and pulled out his Jackhammers. Something leapt out of the shadows at Whenua, holding hooked, barb-like weapons. Catching him off guard, it swung one its barbs down and slashed Whenua deeply in the arm, who had moved out of the way just before it hit his head.

Whenua let out an angry cry as he hit the creature across the face with his right Jackhammer. As it fell to its knees Whenua approached it angrily, feeling a primal rage he had never felt before. It looked up at him with glowing orange eyes, which looked as though they had just realized something.

Whenua's body, however, was fuelled with uncontrollable anger. He put his left Jackhammer on his back and lifted the being up by the neck with his left arm. The being grasped his hand but was unable make Whenua let go as he pushed it into a wall and continued to choke it. "Whe…nu…a…" It tried to say. "It's…me…Nokama…" However Whenua's grip was constricting the life out of her.

Whenua was panting to the point of low growling, and his eyes flashed red with rage. He pulled back his right arm and thrust the Jackhammer towards Nokama's face. She closed her eyes, awaiting the impact.

After a short time, the impact never came and she felt Whenua's grip go away. She opened her eyes cautiously and saw the Jackhammer an inch away from her face.

Whenua had a painful expression and let out a gasping sigh as he fell to the floor. "Whenua!" She shouted, catching him before he hit the ground. She lay him down and turned him onto his back. "What happened?" She asked. Whenua's eyes turned to her. "I can't move…" He muttered.

"That's good to know." A voice said from the shadows. "Who's there?" Nokama demanded, grabbing her Fin Barbs and getting to her feet, ready to defend Whenua. As she waited expectantly for an answer, a small, black Rahkshi faced creature holding a small staff emerged from the shadows.

"If I had not hit him with my paralysis spinner, you might not be standing there right now." It said. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Bomonga." Nokama lowered her weapons. "Don't worry," Bomonga said, "It'll wear off soon. I just needed to calm him down." Bomonga looked Nokama up and down. "Hmm, it appears you have changed as a result of the Hordika Venom as well. No wonder you attacked him first."

"Who are you?" Nokama asked; confused by all that he was saying. "I am one of six who can explain this transformation." He answered, "But we shall save that for when we reunite with the rest of your team. For now we must wait for your friend there to regain his mobility."

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Half an hour later, Whenua started to be able to move again. Bomonga had left to get the others in his group.

As Whenua slowly sat up, his right arm stung painfully, making him cringe. He looked at the deep gash that Nokama's Fin Barb had left on his arm. It had stopped bleeding but still looked fresh and was still very painful.

Whenua then stared over at Nokama, who was standing in the mouth of the tunnel that Bomonga had gone down. She had undergone a similar transformation. She had one larger arm and her face had reptilian characteristics. However, Whenua noticed that she still had a very feminine look to her and she was still very beautiful.

Memories of what happened rushed back to him. "What was I doing? I could've killed her back there." Whenua thought to himself."Why couldn't I control myself? Was that really me?" He looked over at Nokama.

"Nokama…" He said, just loud enough for her to hear him. "Yes?" She said, turning to him. Whenua continued, starting to look at the ground. "I'm sorry…if I hurt you." Nokama smiled at him warmly. She could sense that he truly felt horrible about what had happened. "It's okay…I forgive you." She responded.

Whenua turned his head towards her. "Why didn't you defend yourself?" He asked. "Why didn't you attack me?" Nokama's eyes trailed to the floor. "Once I realized it was you, I didn't want to hurt you." She replied. She looked back up at him as he started to get on his feet.

Whenua walked over to Nokama and stopped a few feet away from her. He stared into her eyes, a bothered expression on his face. "If I ever do that again…promise me you won't hold anything back. Promise me that you will do whatever it takes to stop me." He looked at her with a hard, serious expression. "I promise…" She said, staring back at him.

Nokama's eyes trailed to the gash on Whenua's arm. "Sorry about that." She said, feeling bad. Whenua looked down at his arm. "Forget about it. It's nothing." They both smiled at each other.

Nokama's eyes trailed off to the side. "Whenua… about what's been going on between us…" She said. Whenua's eyes widened attentively. Nokama continued, "I know… that you don't like Onua. I don't know why you feel that way, but I guess I really can't change anything about that. It's just that…" Nokama started to blush. "I really like him…a lot…and I would hate for our friendship to be ruined just because I want to be with him." The earth underneath Whenua's feet cracked as he heard her say this. However he kept himself calm regardless.

"If you keep fighting with him, I feel that it's going to tear us apart. So please, for me; could you promise me you will stop fighting with him?" Nokama asked, looking into Whenua's eyes with nervous expectancy.

Whenua closed his eyes and sighed heavily, before opening them again and looking back at her. "Nokama I…" He said reluctantly. "It's just that…" Whenua made a groaning sigh. "…I promise…not to fight with him anymore." Nokama smiled at him fondly. "Thank you." She said.

"There you guys are!" A familiar voice said. They both turned to see who they assumed to be Vakama, alongside Onewa, who was holding Matau over his shoulder. "So the same thing happened to you guys too, huh?" Vakama asked.

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All four of the Toa stood in the small cave, staring at four small Rahkshi-faced creatures. The stone and ice ones were currently away. "So, who are you guys anyways?" Vakama asked.

The red one, Norik, spoke. "We are beings known as the Rahaga. Though our faces may give you the wrong impression, I can assure we are not related in any way to Rahkshi. Long ago we started living in the sewers of this great city. However, that is not what's important right now. What's important is that you understand the forms you now stand in." Norik explained.

"So what happened to us then?" Onewa asked. Norik closed his eyes in thought. "Somehow, you have been bitten by Visorak, and the Hordika venom has strangely mutated you into these primal forms, instead of killing you. We are not sure where this spider has come from, but there do not appear to be very many." Norik explained.

"You have to understand what you have become though." The blue one, Gaaki, said. "The transformation has left you with physical attributes vastly superior to what you had before. It has also heightened your senses and your elemental powers. All around, you are much stronger Toa than you ever were before. But there is a price for such a gift like this. Though it gives you the power to do great things, it also has a very dark side." Gaaki explained.

All of the Toa Hordika's eyes widened curiously. "What do you mean a 'dark side'?" Vakama asked. Norik spoke, "There is a Hordika side to you now that will surface under times of uncontrollable anger or rage. When it surfaces it will make you savage and violent. I believe Bomonga told me that you experienced that first hand, did you not Toa of Earth?" Norik asked. Whenua was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. He nodded in response.

"This side will give you the strength to persevere through great hardships, so long as you are mentally disciplined enough to keep it under control and use it, instead of letting it control you. If it takes full control, the odds of changing back are slim to none. If you can learn to use its anger, without losing control of yourself that is when it will be most helpful." Norik explained. "So it is your gift, and your curse."

"If this venom normally kills what it infects, then how do you know all this?" Nokama asked. Bomonga answered, "We have seen the wrath of the venom before, and on a rare occasion it leaves the victim mutated just like you all are."

"We have told you what you need to know, so I suggest you keep what we've said today in mind." Norik said. "But now you have other matters to attend to. Like your quest for the Amana Volo stone. You all haven't forgotten that have you?" He asked.

"No, we haven't." Vakama responded. Norik nodded. "Then you all had best get going. I know we'll meet again someday. In fact, I'm sure of it"

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An exhilarating feeling rushed through their bodies as the Toa Hordika leapt from Knowledge Tower to Knowledge Tower. Even with Matau over his shoulder, Onewa had little trouble jumping along with his comrades.

Whenua and Vakama were at the front of the group. Whenua sniffed the air as they leapt through it. "You smell that?" He asked Vakama. "No," Vakama answered, "What was it?" Whenua made a serious expression. "I just caught Vorak's scent."

"I really like him…a lot…" Whenua remembered, cracking his neck with anger, "Time to let my anger out in an appropriate way." He snarled.

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"Come on already! This is taking forever!" Grievous yelled impatiently. Vorak was standing over the Amana Volo stone, which was encased in thick ice. He was lightly firing a beam of energy at the ice, in order to slowly melt it. Vorak looked back at Grievous, "Shut up! If I put too much energy into it I could destroy the stone!" Vorak barked.

"Well, well, well, looks like you found the stone for us, Vorak." Vakama said. Vorak looked up; Vakama was standing on a higher part of the tower. "Who the hell are you?" Grievous yelled.

"Don't you recognize us?" Nokama asked, emerging next to Vakama. The other Toa Hordika followed. Onewa was no longer holding Matau, having set him down somewhere safely. "Last you saw of us we had plummeted off a tower." Whenua said.

Whenua and Onewa leapt at Vorak, while Vakama and Nokama attacked Grievous. Whenua landed in front of Vorak and swung his Jackhammer upward, hitting Vorak in the jaw and sending him hurling backwards. As Vorak looked up, he saw Onewa above him. Onewa landed on Vorak's chest with a crash. The impact was so hard that Vorak coughed up blood. Onewa crouched on his chest, and looked at Vorak dead in the eyes. "Who's going to save you?" Onewa taunted.

Vorak's expression became furious, as he thrust his Robotic claw into Onewa's chest and fired a blast of energy, sending him flying backwards. As Vorak got back to his feet, Whenua delivered a knee to Vorak's face, and then pounded the top of his head with the back of his Jackhammer. Vorak smashed face first to the floor.

Whenua crouched next to Vorak as he slowly started to rise. Vorak's eyes met with Whenua's. Vorak made a dry laugh. "You face is more beastly than that of my own."

Whenua chuckled. "I like this face. I think it gives me more of an edge. So what's wrong, Vorak? Do you find me intimidating?" Whenua taunted.

Vorak growled at him angrily. "Don't insult me!" Vorak grabbed Whenua by the ankle and flew upwards into the air, pulling Whenua off of his feet. Vorak then threw Whenua down towards the top of the tower. Whenua landed with a crash, causing the crystal to crack.

Vorak levitated back to the ground. "I'll admit, Whenua. This is almost a challenge. I'm impressed. But I'm the one who inspires fear in this world!" Vorak yelled. Whenua got to his feet. "If you are supposed to inspire fear, then why don't I fear you?" Whenua taunted.

Vorak shouted angrily as he ran towards Whenua. Whenua started running towards Vorak, putting his Jackhammers away. They smashed into each other, grasping each-other's hands in a knuckle lock. They both pushed back with great strength, but it was a stalemate.

"You can't win, Whenua." Vorak said. Whenua grunted from strain. "Oh, yeah? And why's that?" Vorak grinned. His robotic claw started sending out massive voltages of electricity. Whenua cringed, and his legs started to twitch as he gradually started to lose his footing. "Why don't you just give up, Whenua!" Vorak taunted. "You'll die faster that way!" Whenua was in severe pain, but refused to give in.

Vakama brought out the blades of his Blazer Claws, which were fully engulfed in flames. He swung them quickly and furiously at Grievous, who was having a hard time blocking them. Grievous slashed Vakama across the face with his claw, knocking him off his feet.

Just then, Grievous felt something dig into his shoulders, as Nokama pulled him backwards with her Fin Barbs. As Grievous hit the floor, Nokama flipped forward and landed on Grievous' chest, stomping it. She then turned around and swung her right Fin Barb into Grievous' right arm. Using it to hook into him, she swung Grievous around with all her might and then smashed him downwards to the ground.

As Grievous started to get up, she crossed her weapons and fired a Wave Blast at him, knocking him back further. Nokama looked back at Vakama, who was running over, getting ready to strike. "Go get the stone!" She shouted at him.

Vakama skidded to a halt, slipping slightly. "Right!" Vakama said, turning around and heading towards it. Nokama looked back and was immediately stuck in the face by Grievous' fist. "Get out of my way!" He yelled angrily. He started to chase after Vakama, but was then shoulder-checked by Onewa.

"Maybe I should up the voltage!" Vorak yelled, angered that Whenua was still pushing back. Whenua then deliberately gave way, and slid underneath Vorak, tripping him forward. The force of the fall, plus the force Vorak had been putting forward caused the impact to be very powerful.

Whenua grabbed the apparently unconscious Vorak by the ankle. He dragged him towards the edge of the tower and tossed him off. "Enjoy your fall." Whenua said with a satisfied smirk. As Whenua started to walk away, Vorak rose above the tower full of rage, his robotic claw pulled over his head, ready to strike. "DIE!" Vorak yelled angrily.

Whenua turned around in surprise and instinctively fired his Rhotuka spinner. The blast caught Vorak off guard and caused him to fall off the tower once again. Whenua's eyes widened in surprise. "That was interesting."

Grievous pulled desperately as he was held back by the chains of Onewa's Claw Clubs. "Let me go!" He yelled. Onewa suddenly retracted the chains and pulled Grievous into the two blades on the handles. Grievous let out a cry of pain and started running backwards. He smashed into a wall, crushing Onewa in the process. Grievous started to walk away and the blades were taken out of his back as Onewa fell to the floor. "Foolish Toa." Grievous said contemptuously.

He then ran towards Vakama, who was trying to melt the thick ice that the stone was encased in. Grievous picked up Vakama by the neck violently, but Vakama kicked Grievous in the face, causing him to let go. As he landed, Vakama slashed both his Blazer Claws outward across Grievous' gut. Vakama then swung his left one upward, but Grievous blocked it with his Ice Blade.

Grievous delivered a stomping kick to Vakama's face, pinning him to the ground. He then grabbed Vakama by the chest and lifted him up. He looked down at the stone. "It's about time we did this my way." Grievous said. He pulled back Vakama and then smashed him into the ice, shattering it all and knocking him out.

He dug among the ice shards and found the stone, still perfectly intact. "If we had done it this way from the beginning we wouldn't have to deal with vermin like you." Grievous said to the unconscious Vakama. Grievous observed the Amana Volo stone. The bottom half of it was just grey stone, but the top half was crystalline and glowed a brilliant white light.

Suddenly Nokama came out of nowhere, and grabbed the stone, and leapt away. Grievous let out an angry roar. Nokama looked back and laughed at Grievous, only to realize she had made a big mistake. As she looked down, she realized that there was no longer a tower beneath her. "Oh no, I'm gonna fall!" She yelled fearfully.

She looked to the tower and saw Whenua sprinting towards the edge. He leapt off towards her and caught her in his arms. "What are you doing?" She protested. "Now we're both gonna fall!" The air rushing around them was so loud that they had to shout, despite being right next to each other.

Whenua grinned at her confidently. "Let's see if this Hordika body has what it takes! Besides, I think an Earth Toa has a better chance of surviving than a water one!" He said, as they plummeted towards the ground.

"You really are out of your freakin' mind aren't you?" She yelled to him. "Maybe!" Whenua replied as he started to see the ground below them, "Just consider this me making it up to you for what happened earlier!"

Whenua landed on his feet and crouched as they hit the ground, making a crater in the street. Whenua stared at the ground, astounded that he had actually made it in one piece.

Nokama climbed out of his arms. "Thanks a lot." She said with a grateful smile. "I don't think I could've made that on my own." She was suddenly confused, seeing that Whenua was remaining crouched down. "Are you ok?" She asked with concern.

Nokama crouched next to him and Whenua looked at her. "I can't move my legs…" He said painfully. Nokama laughed playfully as she helped him get back up. "Good thing we got the stone though." She said with a smile.

"Yeah…" Whenua said uneasily. "The only problem is…Matau is up there…" He said, pointing to the top of the tower.

Author's Notes: For those who have not seen, I am going to be hosting a fanart section for my story. Details are on my profile so check it out if you're interested.