((HO-LY FUCK, THIS TOOK TOO LONG AND I AM SORRY *barrel-rolls away*
Part of this fight was inspired by an ongoing thread with Glamorous-Revenge, so that's kinda cool, lol
I'll try not to take this long with the next chappy. :'D ))
Rrrrrrip!
She didn't even know she had it in her, but like hell she was going to sit idly by as her friend was out there getting thrashed.
Like hell she would sit by and let this thing hurt another one of her friends.
Tamatoa… They blamed him for what happened at the village… This thing framed him, and they…. believed it…
The look of hurt in his eyes made so much more sense now.
A pang of guilt rushed through the girl, followed by a surge of anger and determination.
But these damn vines were so persistent.
When she would finally manage to tear some, they'd regenerate before she could do away with the others.
Rolling over to the wall of the cave, Moana started to scrape the vines against the rocky surface, hoping that would help.
Snap! Snap!
Yes! It's working!
Quickening the pace, Moana ignored the scrapes starting to form on her skin. She couldn't dare stop now and let these accursed appendages repair themselves.
After a few moments that seemed like forever, she managed enough damage to crawl out of the vines.
"Aha!" She exclaimed victoriously.
Though her triumph was short-lived, as she jumped at the sound of something very large approaching.
Acting on instinct alone, Moana shot to the nearest plant she could hide behind, snatching a rock up off the ground as if that could give her some last-ditch effort of protection.
This was it.
This was going to be a matter of life or death.
And Moana wouldn't go down without a fight.
She could hear talking. Had she not been pumped on adrenaline, she may have realized that there were two voices. She might have recognized the voices to be friends of hers. She might have heard their panicked banter for what it was.
But she didn't.
She darted out of her hiding place with a fierce battle cry, raising the rock to strike.
But the sight that greeted the young chieftain caused her to freeze on the spot, dropping her weapon.
"T-Tama…?"
The familiar crab face that stared down at her with wide-eyed concern was undoubtedly the real deal, supported by the fact that a very injured demigod sat on the edge of his shell with a similar expression.
"Oh thank the Gods, you're okay!" The crab exclaimed, a relieved smile starting to stretch across his face. "We almost thought that—"
"… … …"
"… Uh… Babe…?"
Tamatoa's tone was quick to shift to confused concern as the human latched onto his leg, sobbing.
"I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry…!" Her voice was hardly audible through the muffled crying, hugging the crustacean's leg so tightly, as if letting go would mean losing him forever. "Y-You must have f-felt s-s-so terrible, a-and I-I—W-We thought—" She trailed off, shaking her head shamefully.
At first the crab didn't know how to react. He just stared at her with blank, confused eyes.
"H-Hey now…" He finally managed to say, lowering his head to her level. "It wasn't your fault, nobody could have told the difference… P-Please don't cry…?" He wiped away a few tears with his antenna, frown deepening. "You know how weird I am about waterworks."
That got a weak laugh out of her. "Y-Yeah… sorry…" Moana rubbed her face, looking up to give the crab a tentative smile, then looking at Maui. "A-Are you-?!"
"I've had better days, but I'm okay." Maui chuckled, casting her a weak grin of his own.
Sighing in relief, Moana leaned her head against the crab's leg again. They're here. Somehow they're both here, and relatively safe.
"I, uh, hate to be this guy, but…" The crab commented, lifting Moana up so she could get on his shell, "we really don't have time for all this right now. Crazy power-hungry monster out there and all."
"Aww, this is only our first time meeting and that's what you have to say about me?"
The voice that had come from the cave's entrance was dripping with sarcasm, yet had underlying tones of cruel calmness and ice.
The face it belonged to was much the same.
Tamatoa whipped around, claws snapping. "Haven't had enough yet, huh?! Get out of my way, or I'll knock that smug-ass grin right off your face!"
The words were spoken with almost enough venom to mask the crab's rising alarm. This creature was a thing of legend, after all. It wrecked Maui. And who knows what other tricks it has up its sleeve?
Mana'aihue's cold smile only widened at the crustacean's intimidation attempt. "If your mind wasn't currently racing with fearful thoughts, I might have believed you." The reptilian strode forward, movements smooth and deliberate down to each muscle shift. "You're not going anywhere. Not with those two, at least; I'm not done with them yet."
A chilling snarl rose from Tamatoa's throat. He was unable to mask his fear from the other monster, sure, but that emotion was slowly becoming overtaken by something more prominent.
Fierce, protective rage.
In an instant, the crab lunged at Mana'aihue, pincers aiming at any part of him he could rip off. Mana'aihue, however, was unimaginably fast, pivoting to the side in an instant to dodge. Had Tamatoa not anticipated such speed, his opponent may have gotten off without a scratch. But he was ready for it, reacting to the pivot with a quick snap and managing to rip out a chunk of wing.
Not even a flinch.
And to make matters worse, the wound had already begun to regenerate.
Of course, Tamatoa thought bitterly to himself, Because obviously he's gotten a hold of self-healing abilities. Can't have anything be easy now can we?
The crab could only assume that skill was gained through the same vine monster Mana'aihue formed his binds from.
Used and discarded like nothing more than an expendable tool.
Normally monsters aren't that manipulative.
Normally monsters just primitively fight each other to the death and do what they can to survive.
But a monster that collects and controls others like some kind of puppeteer?
That's where things start getting dangerous.
Before Tamatoa could place another strike, he was blinded by an intense flash of light, now finding himself facing another sparkly 50-foot crab.
"Your biggest enemy has always been yourself, hasn't it?" The feigned crustacean crooned, imitating how Tamatoa snapped his claws. "Let's see how well you fare."
The line was followed with a swift swing to Tamatoa's head, the crab barely ducking in time to avoid it. More anger rose inside him at the sight of this thing using his appearance.
The same appearance he used to destroy some of Moana's people.
With a fiery battle cry, Tamatoa pounced on the other, the cave being overtaken with a frenzy of snapping claws. Tamatoa grabbed the fake crab by the shell, somehow finding enough strength to hurl him into a nearby wall.
Then it went dark.
Well, so to speak. The bioluminescence that occurred lit up the cave in an array of greens, pinks, and blues.
It was no longer difficult to tell the Tamatoas apart, as the counterfeit didn't glow nearly as brightly.
As the fighting continued, Maui and Moana found it a struggle just to stay on their friend's shell. Moana's eyes scanned the crustacean's treasure-covered back, searching for anything that could possibly be useful. Surely with the mass of items collected, there would be something, anything, that could help with the situation, some kind of weapon, or—
Aha! A sword!
Crawling through the mess of trinkets slowly and carefully, Moana reached for the handle of the weapon and pulled.
Crap. It's lodged in an old canoe. She yanked and yanked, but to no avail.
"Maui…!" She called desperately, glancing over at the demigod.
Maui shuffled over to assist, ignoring the protest from his wounds and struggling to keep from falling off the fighting crustacean.
Slam!
This time, Tamatoa was the one thrown into a wall. Mana'aihue wrapped his claws around the other's neck, his characteristically cold smile accented by the harsh blue-pink markings.
"I can't imagine why you continue to bother."
Mana'aihue rammed into Tamatoa, causing a deafening crunch as he was slammed into the wall again. He raised a leg, bringing it down in the hopes of striking the other crab's face, but the original was quick to parry with his powerful claw.
"You've lost everything. Your home, your title, and now those you thought were your friends."
Latching his claws into Tamatoa's shell, Mana'aihue threw Tamatoa across the cave, Maui and Moana almost falling off at the rough landing.
"You think the humans will let you back on their island? Ha. That would be laughably pathetic."
Before Tamatoa could get back to his feet, he found himself pushed back into the sand as the shapeshifter stepped down on him.
"You've got nothing left to live for. You've become too softened by human nature to even put up an entertaining fight."
Leaning down until he was eye-level with the downed crustacean, Mana'aihue's next string of words was drawn out in a cold, malevolent hiss.
"Luckily for you, I'm here to put you out of your miser-"
BAM!
Big mistake to bring his head that close. Tamatoa can deliver a mean headbutt, and he just did not have any fucks left to give to care about the pain it caused to his own head.
The crab managed to daze the other for a just moment, and he took the chance to push himself out of the dirt, throwing Mana'aihue off balance. "You know, I am sick…" He began, shoving the demon aside, "… of people like you telling me what I am and what I am not…" Deflecting an oncoming blow, Tamatoa pushed Mana'aihue back even further, driving him into a corner, "… telling me how I should feel and who I should be…" His voice grew colder with each word as he towered over the imitation of himself, "… Thinking they know every little thing about me because I'm 'SO damn readable'…" He raised both claws to strike. "WELL, READ THIS!" With the furious shout, he relentlessly smashed his claws into his opponent over and over again. Beyond satisfied with the startled look he got out of the once-completely-calm monster, Tamatoa didn't stop there; all in one swift movement, he pried himself under the other crab and propelled him into the air, causing him to fall with a hard thud on his back. "So long as these two breathe, I have something to goddamn live for!" Like lightning from above, Tamatoa lunged, bringing his claws down to hit the creature square in the most sensitive part of his stomach.
Unfortunately, before the strike could land, Mana'aihue shifted back to his smaller, regular form, avoiding Tamatoa's massive claws with ease. Slipping away into the shadows, even the creature's glowing eyes disappeared from sight.
If Moana thought this glam crab couldn't glow any brighter, she was dead wrong.
With a blinding blue flash, Tamatoa illuminated every corner of the cave to try and find his opponent, but the other monster had completely vanished, his chilling laugh the only thing to be heard throughout the cave.
Greeeaaat, Tamatoa commented sarcastically to himself, He has the power of camouflage, too…
"I must admit you're stronger than I thought," Mana'aihue praised dryly, "but you are still no match for me, former King."
The threat was followed by another flash of blue, the form of a giant crab again barreling into Tamatoa. He hardly recovered in time to deflect the next attack.
Mana'aihue had a point. He has the upper hand in this fight, as Tamatoa had already wasted much energy on getting to Lalotai and taking down Nafiira. Evenly matched as they seemed, this wouldn't end well for Tamatoa if things kept going the way they did.
Unbeknownst Tamatoa and Mana'aihue, however, Moana and Maui had finally gotten a good hold of the sword they'd been aiming for. With both their strength combined, the two of them managed to pull the sword from its place.
Moana held it up, gripping it tightly, then glared over at the oblivious monster.
"If there really is a Hell," Mana'aihue purred, backing Tamatoa between a rock and a hard place in more ways than one, "I do hope you'll save me a seat."
The crab lashed out his arms, claws outstretched and ready to snap off Tamatoa's head, but what he was met with instead caused him to skitter backwards with a shocked roar.
Moana had leaped off of Tamatoa's shell, yelling angrily as she plunged the sword just below Mana'aihue's neck.
Tamatoa's eyes widened. He didn't see Moana resort to violence often, but when she did, she meant business. Taking the moment of his opposition's distraction, Tamatoa grabbed Moana, shoving the injured crustacean aside and making a beeline for the exit.
Writhing in pain and frustration, Mana'aihue shifted to his original form for just a moment, ripping the sword out of his shoulder with a snarl. Turning around, he chased after the escapees in the form of the shiny 50-foot crab.
One would think a humungous, sparkling beacon-of-light crustacean would be difficult to hide in the dark areas of Lalotai, but somehow Tamatoa managed it, quickly finding a perfect shroud of foliage to conceal himself and his friends. Remaining still and quiet, they watched from their hiding place as their attacker searched.
"I don't get it," Tamatoa whispered, too quietly for Mana'aihue to hear, "He got the power to shapeshift from you. What else could he possibly want?"
"The Heart of Te Fiti," Maui answered grimly, earning a surprised look from the crab. "That's what he was trying to get out of me earlier. Its location. He was probably going to try and use Moana if I didn't talk."
Frowning deeply, Tamatoa returned his attention to the other monster, saying nothing.
"What if he starts to read our minds to find us or something…?" Moana murmured worriedly.
"I don't think he can use more than one power at a time." The crustacean replied, eyes still on the transformed monster. "If he could, then he would've known I was going to sucker punch 'im back with Maui, and he wouldn't have had to change forms to camouflage."
Or so the crab hoped that was the case. It was the only explanation that made sense right now.
The Gods must have been smiling down on the trio, because Mana'aihue moved on out of sight without locating them.
Waiting until he was absolutely sure the creature was gone, Tamatoa slowly crept out of their hiding place.
"Can you still shapeshift, man?" The crab asked as he set Maui and Moana carefully down.
"Let's see…" The demigod nimbly gripped his hook, giving it a wave. There was a small spark, then a flash as he transformed into a hawk. Looking over his body and wings, he grinned. "Heh! Not so much a stealer of powers and more of an acquirer, huh?"
Tamatoa nodded slowly, relieved. "Good. You'll be fine to head back, then." The crab then turned to face his old, broken home, picking at the fallen rocks and starting to put them back into place.
"Wh… What are you doing…?" Moana asked, eyes filled with confusion and concern.
"Yeah… You're heading back with us, aren't you, crab cake?" Maui followed up her inquiry, shifting back into his humanesque form.
"Heh." Tamatoa laughed under his breath, not turning to look at them as he continued what he was doing. "I'm not going back up there."
The stretch of silence that occurred after that was only filled by the sound of the crab moving rocks.
"… What…?" Moana breathed, voice at a shocked whisper and a look of hurt all over her face.
Tamatoa glanced back for a moment, trying to ignore the pang of guilt her expression gave him. "H-Hey, don't look at me like that… I think we can all agree that monsters don't belong on the surface after that… village fiasco…" He tried to string the sentence together with an indifferent tone of casualness, but he couldn't hide the sorrow in his voice.
Looking away, he sighed. "… I'm sorry… I can't… I don't want to hurt or scare anybody, and I just… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I—if I ruined our friendship, and-"
He cut himself off as Moana hugged his leg again, tears starting to fill her eyes once more. "You are not at fault for any of this." She said immediately, shaking. "Y-You… even after we blamed you, you came back for us, and…" Shaking her head, her voice started to tremble. "I can't let you just stay down here in misery and loneliness as you blame yourself for everything that went wrong, a-and—" She choked on her words, unable to continue.
Maui stepped forward slowly, voice firm. "Tamatoa… You were set up... Please, don't… don't punish yourself for what somebody else did, for how we believed him… I just…" The demigod sighed, shamefully putting his face in his hands. "We're so sorry, crab cake. I'm so sorry."
Tamatoa stared at them for several seconds, not sure how to react. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again as he couldn't produce any words.
It wasn't his fault.
It was such a relief to hear them say it.
With a shaky sigh, the crab laid down, gently pulling the pair close with a claw. "If it's not my fault, then it's not your guys's, either. We all got screwed by that devil." He paused, a worried thought creeping in the back of his mind. "The villagers…?" He inquired softly.
"We'll explain everything, we'll… we'll figure it out." Moana whispered, "It'll be okay. We can get through this."
The three of them sat there in restful silence for many minutes, just relieved to be in each other's company again.
"… You owe me your fish hook." Tamatoa said suddenly with a slight smirk, opening one eye to look at Maui.
"What?" Maui replied with a confused smirk of his own.
"I told ya things would end up disastrously." The crab snickered, clacking his pincers expectantly. "Gimme."
"Pfft. Not over yet, crab cake." Maui said, giving the claw a teasing, light tap with his hook. "We've still got a long way to go." The shapeshifter's expression went a little serious for his next string of words. "And a power-thieving monster to stop."
"But how will we know what his next move will be?" Moana piped up, frowning slightly. "He's been so good at staying under the radar all these years, and we can't go after him like this."
Tamatoa imitated her frown, thinking over their options.
His frown twisted into a sly grin as an idea came to him.
"Oh, I think I may know a little bird that will tell us."