Beginning Editor's Note: I do not claim to own the Bionicle characters or the majority of these plot points. The material here is simply an edited and compiled version of original Bionicle material. Comics and video games etc. have been transcribed in novel form and fully integrated into one chronological read. The poetic liberties of novelization and editing are all I can claim.

Please follow/favorite/PM in order to show your support or interest, and use the forum I made to discuss any questions and feedback on this project. These five parts constitute material from the story year of 2004, constituting what I've called "Phase 03: Provenance." Enjoy!

Sequel to "Bionicle - Phase 03: Provenance - Part II: Botanical Predator"

The following evening, Jaller paused from his labors for a moment and took a deep breath. He could not remember ever working harder than he had in the past few days. Ever since it had been announced that the Matoran were going to move from the island of Mata Nui to the island city of Metru Nui, villagers had been toiling day and night to build enough boats for the great journey.

For Jaller and his friends, the nonstop work was welcome. Their home, Ta-Koro, had been destroyed in the battle against the Rahkshi to save the island from darkness, and they were living in other villages until the time came to leave Mata Nui forever. Talk around the fires at night was about Metru Nui, what wonders they might find there, and how soon they would be able to leave for this new and mysterious place.

"We'll never get to Metru Nui if the great Jaller keeps taking rest breaks."

Jaller turned to see his friend Hahli smiling at him. The Ga-Matoran had recently been named the new Chronicler, and ever since she had been traveling from place to place gathering tales about Metru Nui. She hoped to be able to share the stories with the other Matoran during the long journey to come.

"At least when I'm working, I'm working," replied Jaller good-naturedly. "You can't build a boat with a story, you know."

"Maybe not, but it sure makes the sailing go faster. I'm heading to see Turaga Vakama. He's about to continue his tale of Metru Nui to the Toa. I am supposed to record it for the Wall of History we will build on the new island. Come with me?"

Jaller thought about it. He probably should keep working, but he was already far ahead of all the others. It wouldn't do any harm to take a little time off.

"Okay. Let's go," he said.

The two of them set out for the Amaja Circle sandpit, the place where Turaga Vakama traditionally told his tales. This location was not the Amaja Nui, visited in times past at Kini Nui, but right on the natural stone balcony that looked out over the vast silver sea of Metru Nui. After a short while, Jaller asked, "So is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"All the stories I have been hearing. How the Turaga were once Toa on Metru Nui; how they searched for six missing Matoran, but learned that one of the Matoran planned to betray the city; and how they gathered six Great Disks and used them to defeat a menace called the Morbuzakh."

Hahli nodded. "Yes, it's all true. Amazing, isn't it? One moment, they were Matoran just like us, living and working in a great city. The next moment, they were Toa Metru with powers and Toa tools and everything!"

Up ahead, they could see the seven Toa gathered around Turaga Vakama. Directly in front of him was the Amaja Circle. The Turaga had already begun to speak. "It had been a difficult and dangerous mission, but we six Toa Metru had triumphed. Metru Nui had been saved from the Morbuzakh, and we were certain that we would be hailed as heroes. But we were about to face another test, one that would threaten to shatter our newfound and fragile unity."

The Turaga of Fire turned his gaze to the night sky, but all present knew that his eyes were truly viewing images from the past. "Toa would challenge Toa in the darkness below the city, in a struggle that still lives in my nightmares..."

X X X

1,000 years ago…

The six Toa Metru walked through the streets of Ta-Metru, on their way to the Coliseum. For the first time since they had transformed from Matoran, they felt no need to travel by way of back alleys or to stay in the shadows.

A nearby telescreen ran through programs to an advertisement and reminder for the Vahki. A Po-Matoran marketer was over-enthusiastically describing the enforcers in a recently outdated commercial. "Metru Nui is confronted by many dangers," he was saying, as a view flew over the city. The view changed to images of vines and tall, shady figures. "Rampaging Morbuzakh vines, Matoran vanishing from their workplaces, and most recently, strange beings claiming to be Toa Metru."

The view on the telescreen changed to a silhouette of a Vahki being deployed and then running after a lawbreaker. The Po-Matoran speaker continued, "But don't worry, citizen Matoran—the Vahki order enforcement squads are here to keep your city safe. They will watch over you as you work, play and rest. They will make certain you are always safe, secure, and where you are supposed to be."

The last image that showed was a promotional picture, an outline of a Vahki head. To the left and right of the head, outlines of stun staffs appeared. The color of the head changed and the shape of the staffs changed as the speaker listed each regional slogan: "The Nuurakh will remind you that 'a busy Matoran is a happy Matoran.' The job of the Bordakh is 'protecting you from yourself.' Keerakh place 'order above all.' When Vorzakh pursue, they 'live for the chase.' But watch out for Zadakh, because they're always 'one step ahead.' And Rorzakh, representing authority in the city convince Matoran to 'help Turaga Dume help you.' The Vahki will always be nearby to protect you…whether you like it or not. To all the lawbreakers out there: surrender…or run."

That message will need to change, Nokama thought, proud of herself and her brothers. The Morbuzakh is gone, and now we can reveal ourselves to the city.

Even the presence of Vahki, Metru Nui's order enforcement squads, did not worry the Toa now. After all, they had just defeated the Morbuzakh plant that menaced the city. They were heroes!

A short time ago, Ta-Matoran workers in the Great Furnace were being attacked by massive Morbuzakh vines that appeared from nowhere and disappeared again. Fearing for their safety, the workers fled. The Great Furnace eventually became the hiding place for the monstrous king root of the Morbuzakh plant. During the battle between the Toa Metru and the Morbuzakh, the Great Furnace was largely destroyed. It had yet to be rebuilt from the recent conflict, but Metru Nui's omnipresent attacker was gone, now. However, despite the disappearance of the vines through the city, most Matoran still refused to return to outlying areas for fear that the Morbuzakh would return. The Toa didn't blame them, but also knew that they were victorious, and soon the citizens of Metru Nui could return to their life of peace and rebuild.

Better still, the Toa had found the legendary Great Disks, which had been hidden in separate parts of the city. They had no doubt that these artifacts would be enough to convince the city's elder, Turaga Dume, and all the Matoran that here were new Toa capable of defeating any threat.

"They will cheer-hail us in the Coliseum," said Matau, with a grin. "Po-Metru carvers will make statues of us. Perhaps they will even rename the districts for us! 'Ma-Metru'—I like the ring-sound of that!"

The other Toa laughed. Matau was exaggerating, of course, but certainly Turaga Dume would honor them in some way. Matoran all over the city would demand it.

"With the Morbuzakh gone, maybe we won't have any dangers to face," offered Whenua. "Except for the occasional Rahi beast on the loose, Metru Nui is usually pretty peaceful."

"Just rest on our reputations, huh, Whenua?" said Onewa. "Not me. Now that I'm a Toa Metru, I'm going to take advantage of it. The best tools, the best materials, mine for the asking—I'll build statues like you have never seen before!"

"I will do many Toa-hero deeds," said Matau. "That way there will always be tales to tell about me. What about you, Nokama?"

"Well, I'm not sure," replied the Toa of Water. "There are so many places to see and explore. What is it like under the sea? What lies beyond the sky? Where do all those strange creatures you see in the Onu-Metru Archives come from? Now I have the power to go wherever I please and learn those answers."

Nuju shrugged. "I don't feel any need to explore. I have more than enough to keep me busy in Ko-Metru. Now that I am a Toa, perhaps others will not be so quick to interrupt me when I am working."

Only Vakama had yet to speak. Of all the Toa Metru, he was the least comfortable with his new powers and the responsibilities that came with them. Still, when duty demanded it, he had risen to the occasion and led the Toa to victory. Nokama noticed his silence and asked, "What about you, Vakama? Surely you have some dream you want to realize now that you are a Toa?"

"Not really," he answered. "l mean, I am glad we became Toa and were able to save the city. But…I would be just as happy to still be working at my forge in Ta-Metru. It was much simpler. I guess once a mask-maker, always a mask-maker."

Onewa chuckled. "The fire-spitter wants to go back to being a Matoran. I don't think the transformation works in the opposite direction."

"Yes, we are stuck being Toa-heroes," said Matau. "And so many worry-problems we have—how many bows to take? How many mask-sculptures in each Metru? How big of a shelter-house for each of us?"

"If you aren't happy being a Toa, Vakama, maybe we should choose a new leader," said Onewa. "l am sure I could do the job."

"Or l!" said Matau. "Matau of Ma-Metru, leader of the Toa-heroes! Oh, I like that!"

"l never said I didn't want to be a Toa," Vakama said. "And I never said I wanted to be the leader. I did the job because I knew Ta-Metru better than any of you. If someone else wants to be leader, go ahead."

Nokama looked at Vakama. She could tell that he was hurt by the things Onewa and Matau were saying, but he wasn't going to admit to it. As they walked, the other Toa Metru debated who was best qualified to lead the team. Onewa said it should be a creative thinker like him. Matau countered that a high-flyer was best qualified to plan strategy. Whenua said he would take the job if asked, then seemed disappointed when no one asked him. As for Nuju, the Toa of Ice summed up his feelings in a few words. "I could accept Vakama as leader; l don't care who leads us, as long as he doesn't expect me to follow."

Nokama was about to put all four of them in their place when she saw a Matoran approaching at a run. He was from Onu-Metru, and the anxious look on his face said there was serious trouble somewhere.

Whenua stepped forward to greet him. The Matoran's name was Nuparu, and he was not someone Whenua knew well. When other workers in the Archives were busy among the exhibits, Nuparu was off on his own tinkering on one of his inventions. He was always trying to figure out how Gukko birds flew, how the great Muaka cat could stretch its neck to lunge at prey, and other questions that might seem trivial to others. Still, Nuparu leaving the Archives and hurrying into Ta-Metru was enough to catch the Toa of Earth's attention.

"Toa! The Archives are in danger!" the Matoran shouted.

"It's alright, Nuparu," said Whenua. "The Morbuzakh has been defeated. Everyone is safe."

The Matoran shook his head frantically. "No, no, it's not the Morbuzakh. It's the sea! It's going to flood the Archives and destroy all of the exhibits!"

Whenua wasn't sure how to react to the Matoran's words. The Onu-Metru digging machines, and the workers who operated them, took special care to make sure the outer walls of the Archives were reinforced. The deeper they dug to create new sublevels, the greater the pressure from the liquid protodermis outside. But the sea had never posed a serious threat to the existence of the exhibits in all of Metru Nui's recorded history.

The Toa of Earth waved the other Toa Metru away. This was an Onu-Metru problem, and would be solved by the guardian of that district, he decided. "Now tell me what you saw," he said to Nuparu.

"l was down…um…below the sub-levels, and—"

"Wait a moment, what were you doing so far down? You know how risky it is to go there!" As soon as he said it, Whenua regretted the sharpness of his tone. But it had not been so long ago that he had been down in that dark and fearsome section, and he had barely escaped intact. No Onu-Matoran, archivist or not, had any business wandering among "exhibits" deemed too dangerous for display.

"Well, I…I heard there was a Rahkshi down there, a yellow one, and it had been defeated, and I wanted to well…"

"You were hoping to scavenge some parts for your latest invention," Whenua finished for him, frowning. "You know what would happen if the other archivists caught you doing that? Or worse, a Vahki?"

"I know," Nuparu said, looking down at his feet. "But I didn't find anything anyway. Then I saw a hatch in the floor and I went down through it. There was a whole maze of tunnels there I never knew existed! So I used my lightstone to explore. I didn't see very much, no exhibits or anything, but when I rounded a corner, I was suddenly walking in protodermis! The sea was leaking it!"

Nuparu's voice was loud enough that the other Toa Metru could not help but hear. Nokama, in particular, was intrigued by the mention of the sea. She drew closer as the Matoran continued to talk.

"So at first I didn't know what to think. I was going to turn back, but then I figured as long as I was down there, I'd better find out how serious the situation was. I found one whole wall had a huge crack and the sea was pouring right through it!"

"How bad?"

"The crack is spreading. If it's not repaired soon, the whole sea wall will breach," said Nuparu. "The sublevels will flood, then the lower levels, and pretty soon the whole Archives will be washed away."

"But there is a repair crew headed down now, right?"

Nuparu shook his head. "No one wants to go down there. They've all heard too many stories. That's why, when I heard there was a new Toa of Earth, I came looking for you. Someone has to do something!"

"Someone will," replied Whenua. "Now tell me the story again. I want to hear every detail of what you saw, and where you saw it."

X X X

Nokama had rejoined the others by the time Whenua was finished talking with the Matoran. The Toa of Earth looked grim as he walked over to the group.

"l have to go," he said. "Someone will have to apologize to Turaga Dume for me, but this is an emergency. I'll meet you all at the Coliseum later on."

"What could be more serious-matter than telling the world what we can do?" asked Matau.

"Actually doing it," Nokama answered. "But you don't have to take on this task alone. I will come with you. The Archives are important to everyone in Metru Nui. I know anyone from Ga-Metru would do the same."

"I'll come too," said Vakama. "My flame power is weak after the struggle with the Morbuzakh, but maybe I can help somehow." He turned to Onewa. "Can you three explain to Turaga Dume why we cannot present ourselves to him just yet?"

"Oh, sure," Onewa snorted. "'The other three of us would be here, Turaga, but they're out being heroes while we stand around.' I say we all go, we all do the job, and then we all head to the Coliseum. What do you think? Matau? Nuju?"

"The sooner we take care of all this, the sooner I can get back to Ko-Metru," said Nuju. "l say we help Whenua."

"Hmmmmmm," Matau said. "l was in a hurry to tell the Matoran we are Toa-heroes now. But I suppose repair-saving the Archives along with the whole city will be good for twice the celebration. On to Onu-Metru!"

Their course of action agreed upon, the six changed direction and began journeying toward the Metru of the archivists. Whenua led the way, still talking with Nuparu, while Nokama and Vakama brought up the rear. After a short while, the Toa of Water said, "You know, we cannot take a vote every time we have to decide something."

"What's that?"

"Just now. The protodermis could have risen another level in the time it took for each Toa to decide if he was coming along or not. We don't have the luxury of debating every point. We need a leader."

"I'm sure you'll do a fine job," he said.

"What? No, that's not what I—" Nokama began, but the Toa of Fire had already walked away.

X X X

Whenua led the Toa Metru to a desolate spot just inside the border of Onu-Metru. Most of the chutes and much of the aboveground structure of the Archives had been damaged by Morbuzakh vines, and Onu-Matoran were now hard at work doing repairs. All of them stopped their labors at the sight of the Toa and crowded around.

Matau greeted them warmly and immediately launched into a tale of the Toa's heroic deeds. The other Toa watched, amused, as he turned their clash with the Morbuzakh into an even greater adventure than it had been, taking large steps and animating the scenes with his strong arms.

"If he wasn't a Toa, he could apply to be Chronicler," Onewa said. "Is he ever quiet?"

"Not that you would notice," Nokama pointed out. "Whenua, I don't see an entrance to the Archives here. How will we get where we have to go?"

"There's no entrance you can see," Whenua said. He walked down an alleyway and knelt beside an iron ring in the pavement. He grabbed the ring and, with a mighty heave, pulled open a trapdoor. Tiny winged Rahi and swarms of insects flew up, followed by a wave of damp, foul-smelling air.

"Not very pleasant, I will agree, but it is a shortcut," Whenua said with a shrug. "According to Nuparu, the damage is in the maintenance tunnels. The nickname for them is 'Fikou web,' after what the spiders leave down below, because the tunnels crisscross and twist around each other so."

"What if one of us gets lost?" asked Nokama.

"Don't," replied Whenua. "Just…don't. You wouldn't like it. The Matoran tell stories about repair crews that have been wandering down there since the early days of the Archives, unable to find their way out. They are supposed to have gone a little crazy. But, of course, those are just stories."

None of the Toa looked especially comforted by this. Matau had finally finished his tale and came over carrying six lightstones. "Just in case it is night-dark down there."

"Can I come?" asked Nuparu. "l can lead you right to the leak."

"You've done enough already," said Whenua. "I want you to go warn the archivists about this. Tell them we are going to do our best to fix the damage, but they should prepare to move exhibits out of the sub-basements in case they flood. Understand?"

Nuparu nodded and ran off. He understood why Whenua did not want him to come along, but it still frustrated him. As he rushed to carry out the Toa's instructions, he made a vow that someday he would invent something that would help Matoran better defend their homes from danger. He returned home to his shop, "Nuparu's Workshop," with new inspiration to begin working on one of his many projects.

Whenua turned back to his friends, saying, "Hopefully, this won't take long. But be careful. There are always surprises in the Archives."

One by one, the Toa followed him down into the shaft. Only Matau seemed to hesitate, prompting Nokama to turn back and say, "What's the matter?"

"l do not like the below-ground," answered the Toa of Air. "l am a wind-flyer. Toa-hero adventures should only be on the surface, don't you think?"

"We can only hope," said Nokama as she vanished into the darkness.