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. Between books, comics, games, animations, instruction booklets, etc. it is hard to get the full story. Here, 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.
Be sure to 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 four parts constitute material from the story year of 2003, constituting what I've called "Phase 02: Illumination."
Thank you, and please continue to enjoy the wonderful and vast story of Bionicle...
Sequel to "Bionicle - Phase 02: Illumination - Part III: The Era of Peace"
"Takua?" Jaller called urgently. "Takua?"
There was no answer. Jaller grumbled under his breath, then hurried toward the Wall of History, a stone carving that decorated one side of the village of Ta-Koro. The wall was covered with the brave deeds of the great hero Toa Tahu Nuva, who had been foretold through legends long before he and the other five Toa had ever appeared on the lush tropical island of Mata Nui.
Jaller reached the Wall of History. He saw Takua's Kolhii stick leaning against it. As it stood, Takua and Jaller were supposed to be on their way to a match, bordering on late.
"Takua!" Jaller shouted, annoyed. He hurried through the door carved into the wall. Jaller raced down the steps. At the bottom he found himself in a lava runoff tunnel. Ahead, he could hear a deep rumble, which grew louder and louder as he walked on.
"Look, Pewku!"
Jaller recognized Takua's voice as it echoed upward.
Finally, the tunnel widened into a cave. A wide river of lava flowed through it, tumbling relentlessly toward a steep drop-off—the spectacular thousand-foot Lava Falls. But Jaller paid no attention to the falls. He had just spotted a small figure hopping from rock to rock across the lava flow. The figure was wearing a blue mask and carrying a lava board under one arm. On the shore at the edge of the cave, a crablike Ussal was waiting patiently. Jaller recognized her as Takua's faithful pet, Pewku.
"That's…why…they call…me…the Chronicler!" Takua told himself as he landed on each stone.
"Takua!" Jaller yelled out to him. "What are you doing down here alone? We're supposed to be on our way to the Kolhii match!"
Takua winced. He'd forgotten all about the Kolhii game that morning. He just wanted to explore. "Oh, yeah," he said. "Sorry, Jaller. Hang on a sec, I just want to check out that totem." He pointed to a stone pillar just ahead.
Jaller glanced toward it. "You're hopping across lava to look at a stupid warning totem?"
"l got curious," Takua grinned.
Jaller sighed. "Do you know what Turaga Vakama would say?"
Takua shrugged. "Can't say exactly," he said lightly. "But I'm betting the word 'irresponsible' would come up." Takua hopped to the next rock, trying not to think about what Vakama, the leader of the village, would say or do if he found out about this. Now that he was here, Takua wasn't about to turn back before reaching his goal.
"C'mon!" Jaller urged.
"Be…right…there!" Takua called back, though he continued hopping across to his destination.
Soon he was only one jump away from the edge of the island. It was a long jump, but he didn't hesitate. He flung himself toward the shore. His hands scrambled for a hold as one foot slipped back toward the lava. He felt the sizzle of heat and yanked his foot to safety. Leaping to his feet, he grinned and bowed.
Jaller couldn't help smiling. "Very impressive," he said with a slow applause. "Now let's go!"
Takua barely heard him. Now that he was closer, the totem sign on the stone pillar looked stranger and more interesting than ever. He pulled it loose and turned it over in his hands. "Huh," Takua murmured as he stared at the symbol inscribed upon the stone. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.
Suddenly there was a rumble, loud enough to overcome the distant roar of the falls. Takua glanced up just in time to see the stone pillar beside him sink into the ground. The island and its surroundings began to quake violently. "Whaa—oof!" Takua cried as the sudden quake knocked him off his feet. The totem slipped from his grasp. Takua lunged for it, but he was too late. The totem slipped into the lava and disappeared. "Aah," Takua groaned in disappointment.
"Hurry up!" Jaller called, as the cavern's stone ceiling began to crumble under the force of the quake. A section of the wall cracked and collapsed. Lava spurted through the opening, swelling the river within the cavern. Takua gulped as the rising river wiped out the path of stones he'd used to reach the island. How was he supposed to get back to shore now?
Before he could figure that out, he was nearly blinded by a sudden beam of brilliant light. What in Mata Nui's name is that? he wondered, squinting toward the source of the light.
It was a mask. A mask like the ones he and Jaller and every other Matoran wore, but different. This mask glowed with the light of a thousand suns. It was floating in the lava, released from its capsule, the totem, and unharmed by the intense heat. Only a Toa's mask can do something like that, Takua thought in awe. "Jaller!" he called. "Look!"
Jaller's eyes widened at the sight of the mask. "A Great Kanohi mask!"
Takua leaned out over the edge of the island. He had to get that mask! The Kanohi mask danced and whirled just out of reach. If he could just stretch a little farther…
Got it! he thought with triumph as he finally grabbed the edge of the mask, then quickly tossing it between his hands to cool the heated material down. Pushing himself back from the edge of the river, he sat and studied his prize, which seemed to glow more brightly than ever. He was barely aware that the quake was fading away as quickly as it had come.
The mask looked like no other type he had ever seen. It had two four-sided shapes for eyeholes (like a Hau), but had three distinctively protruding ridges on the top of mask, as well as both sides. The top ridges extended backward, over the skull, while the side ridges were more flat. All of those geometric decorations gave the Kanohi a speedy, regal, and definitely unique appearance. Down each cheek were three openings, and the central portion of the face was indented. Takua turned over the mask to reveal strange, incomprehensible writing on the other side.
"Wow," he murmured curiously. "Never seen this language…"
"Takua!" Jaller called.
Takua had almost forgotten about his friend. Glancing up, he recognized the look of impatience on Jaller's face. He climbed to his feet, still holding the mask. "Hold your Rahi, I'm coming," he called back.
"Oh, really?" Jaller replied, gesturing in front of him. "Learned to fly, have you?"
Takua grimaced, remembering that his path of stones was now under the lava. He was stranded. Or was he? "Here," he called to his friend. "Take the mask!" Without waiting for an answer, he threw the mask across the river.
Jaller jumped and caught the mask. Hmmm, he thought. It looked much brighter from a distance. Must have been a reflection from the lava….
As he looked up again, he saw Takua holding up his lava board and suddenly realized what his friend was planning to do. He gulped. "Are you sure about this?" Jaller called nervously.
"Not at all!" Takua replied cheerfully. He grabbed a flat, paddle-shaped stone. Then he took a deep breath and flung his lava board forward. "AAAAAAAH!" he cried. As the board landed in the lava at the river's edge, he leaped onto it. The motion sent him skimming forward over the bubbling lava. But he soon started to lose momentum. The current tugged at the board, turning it toward the falls.
Uh-oh, Takua thought. Using the flat stone he was holding, he started to paddle. He kept his gaze on Jaller and Pewku, who were watching anxiously from the shore. Suddenly there was a new rumble. The cavern wall collapsed into the river with a splash, freeing a torrent of lava from behind it. The lava burst forward in a huge wave, rushing down the river toward the helpless Takua.
Jaller froze in horror. There was no time to shout a warning—and no time for Takua to get away. Takua stared at the wave rushing toward him, mesmerized by its size and power. Suddenly a huge red figure appeared at the far side of the river, blending in with the fiery color of the lava. He surfed across the river, impossibly fast, heading directly toward Takua as the wave crested. A moment later, Takua felt himself grabbed and yanked out of the path of the wave.
"Toa Tahu!" he exclaimed in surprise.
Tahu flung Takua onto his back. "Chronicler!" Tahu said over his shoulder as he surfed expertly across the lava. "Sightseeing, were you?" Continuing on the lava wave, Tahu steered toward the falls, leaning in for speed. "Well, then, let's take a closer look at those falls."
Back on the shore, Jaller saw the huge figure of the Toa of Fire suddenly emerge from in front of the lava wave. He watched as the Toa shot straight off the edge of the falls and disappeared. A split second later the wave of lava crashed down, spurting over the falls.
Jaller shuddered with horror, feeling his knees go weak. Takua! There was no way he could have escaped the lava. Tahu Nuva was too late, he thought bleakly.
X X X
Meanwhile, Tahu surfed down the sheer vertical face of Lava Falls. Takua clung to the Toa's shoulders, hardly daring to keep his eyes open. Tahu's skill had carried them this far—but how was he going to save them from plunging into the lava at the base of the falls?
Then he made the mistake of glancing up. He gulped in terror as he saw the enormous lava wave rushing toward them. Their fall suddenly stopped short. Scrambling to keep hold of Tahu's shoulders, he saw that the Toa had broken his lava board into two pieces—twin magma swords. He had plunged those swords into the solid rock behind the falls.
"So, Takua," the Toa said teasingly. "Is this view close enough?"
Takua was too petrified to speak. Finally he found his voice again and pointed up. "Incoming!"
Tahu glanced up at the lava wave, which was nearly upon them. A translucent red force field shot out from his mask, surrounding him and Takua in a glowing sphere of energy. The lava wave thundered over and around them, but the red force field protected them from its touch.
As the shielding force field faded, Tahu pulled one of his swords out of the rock. He reached up and stabbed it back in a little higher, pulling himself and Takua up the cliff like an ice climber. Takua held on as the Toa climbed steadily upward, one sword's length at a time, trying to calm the wild, terrified beating of his heart.
X X X
At the top of the falls, Jaller was kneeling in grief beside a sobbing Pewku. Why did he have to do it? he wondered. Was this stupid mask really worth it? We could all be safe at the Kolhii tournament right now….
His grief was interrupted by two swords plunging into the ground on either side of him, followed by Toa Tahu somersaulting into view from over the edge of the falls. Jaller jumped in surprise. "Toa Tahu!" he cried with a sudden burst of hope. But there was no sign of Takua at the Toa's side, and Jaller quickly slumped into sadness again. "Takua?" he asked quietly. "He didn't…."
Suddenly Takua hopped to the ground from somewhere behind the Toa's back. He was grinning from ear to ear. Pewku jumped toward her master happily, nearly knocking him over. Jaller leaped to his feet as well, flooded with relief. "You're alive!" he cried. "Kolhii-head! You could've been lava bones!"
"Could've been," Takua said, gently pushing away the enthusiastic Pewku. "But I'm not."
Tahu was staring at the mask in Jaller's hands. He reached over and grabbed it. "A Great Kanohi mask," he said in surprise.
"It was in the lava," Jaller told the Toa. "Takua—"
"This could be important," Tahu interrupted, handing the mask back to Jaller. "Take it to Turaga Vakama." Jaller nodded and turned away, ready to do what the suddenly stern Toa had ordered. But Tahu stopped him with a smile. "After you've won the Kolhii match," Tahu finished. "Now get going, and no more 'sightseeing'!"
"Yes, Toa Tahu!" Jaller said happily. He raced toward the steps back up to the village, with Takua and Pewku right behind him.