Author's Note: Here it is - the first of the eight promised updates, and on time too. Yah!
9% of this chapter is quoted from the comic Bionicle #3: Triumph of the Toa.
italics=Kopaka's thoughts
Chapter 9
"Here is a gift for you, Kopaka," the Toa of Water yelled above the roar of the charging Muaka. Then she slid under it, propelling it towards the Toa of Ice with her feet.
Kopaka turned around and pointed his sword at the cat, freezing it. "I hope you don't mind if I keep it chilled for later," he responded with a smirk. After Onua disappeared with Lewa, Tahu and Pohatu went off on their own to fight the Rahi. Gali stayed by Kopaka's side, and he found that he did not mind her form of teamwork. She did not leave everything for him to do, but she still relied on him to help her. Maybe teamwork isn't all leeching, as I thought.
The chittering and scurrying of dozens of legs alerted the two to a pair of Nui-Jaga that were almost upon them. The Rahi had sneaked around a rock outcropping behind them. Kopaka had already used his powers extensively as a quick fix for the rapid influx of Rahi. He knew that his power would not hold up much longer. He activated his Hau, letting its protective force surround him as he waited for his energy to return. He turned to Gali and saw that she did not possess a Mask of Shielding. She was just standing there with her arms at her side. Is her power tired out as well? he wondered. It would be so much more useful if these masks worked for more than one.
"I have the power of the Mask of Shielding, but you have no protection from their attack, Gali," Kopaka said, hoping that she got the hint to get behind him or something.
But Gali continued standing where she was. Then she turned to the Ice Toa and gave him one of her obnoxiously calm smiles. "As long as the underground waters obey my commands, brother…" She gestured with her hooks and the ground beneath the two Nui-Jagas began rumbling. The Rahi stopped, startled, just before twin geysers erupted, flinging the two in the sea. "...It is Makuta and his creatures that need protection," Gali finished, lowering her hooks and calming the churning water.
It embarrassed Kopaka that the Toa of Water still had so much power left while his power was weakened by so much use. Then he recalled that throughout the fight, she had been using her Kanohi powers more than elemental. He berated himself for relying on his generic quick-freeze instead of learning how to better use his Masks.
Suddenly a Nui-Rama landed at their feet, a huge boulder atop it. Gali and Kopaka looked up to see Onua lobbing large lumps of earth at the Nui-Rama. Kopaka was surprised to see an airborne attack being carried out by the Toa of Earth, in the daylight at that. I have learned more in this battle than in my days working alone, he begrudgingly admitted to himself. To improve my skills and to do what I am not good with as well.
The battle ended shortly after. All the attacking Rahi were either indisposed or had fled. The Toa came back together wearily. Pohatu sported a good many cuts on his arms when he tried to wrestle a Muaka's jaws. Everyone else had a few scratches and all appeared worn out.
"We have won our first battle," Onua said. "But there will be more."
Gali nodded in agreement. "We must be prepared to fight them, separately and together."
Pohatu chuckled. For one who had the most wounds, he was very cheery. "I almost feel sorry for Makuta, trying to take us all on."
"I have no use for teams," Kopaka reminded them coldly. "But I will assist when I'm needed." He may have found Gali's teamwork to be useful, but he was still unsure about the others.
Lewa nodded and smiled from his perch in a tree. "Same here. The Masks of Power are as good as ours!"
"Then let Makuta tremble this day - " Tahu declared as he lifted his sword up high. "We stand together, until Mata Nui is free!"
Kopaka rolled his eyes, reminded why he scorned teamwork so much. Blah, blah, blah. I only want to get through with this whole quest as fast as I can so I can get away from you, windbag.
The Toa conversed a little, relating which masks they already had and telling each other locations of masks which they learned from their Turaga. They started off for the closest known location of a mask, which was in a canyon not too far away above ground in Onu-Wahi. It was an Akaku, which Gali had learned about from her Turaga. Kopaka felt irritated that all the other Toa had a Turaga that would tell them directly where a mask was. None mentioned ridiculous puzzles.
Soon the Toa were in the canyon, searching for the Akaku. Kopaka spotted the Kanohi with his own Mask of Vision, but he kept silent. The others would see it soon enough. They would see the pair of Nui-Jaga as well. He was still annoyed that their Turaga were open and Nuju was so close mouthed. He knew that he should have mentioned it, as a part of the team, but…
The two infected Rahi made a quick and noisy appearance in a few seconds anyways. The Makuta-controlled Rahi seemed unaware of how futile their attempt against six Toa was. Kopaka froze one solid, and Onua and Pohatu buried the other.
As they subdued the Rahi, Gali located her Akaku. She quickly scaled the cliff to the little shelf it rested on. She began looking around with the new mask. She did a double take as she glanced in Kopaka's direction. "Kopaka, look out!"
Kopaka did not have time to react as the third, unseen Nui-Jaga struck him from behind. The unexpected blow flung him against the canyon wall. Lewa struck the Nui-Jaga against the opposite wall with a gust of wind from his axe. Kopaka quickly got up before anyone tried to help him up. It was embarrassing enough to have been caught by surprise in front of everyone.
My punishment for being uncooperative, it would seem.
The search for Kanohi led the team to an Onu-Wahi tunnel. A Po-Matoran travelling to Onu-Koro saw a Mask of Shielding there and told Pohatu of it when he returned. The unfortunate thing about the tunnels was that they were not designed for beings twice the size of the Matoran who frequently used them.
Soon the Toa were going down the thin path single filed because it was narrow and getting even narrower. Tahu ended up in the back somehow and kept on demanding what was going on in front. Kopaka felt like smiling at the Toa of Fire's annoyance at not being in the lead, for once. The tunnel continued changing as they went, widening or narrowing and twisting.
They plodded on and Kopaka became aware that his back was still hurting where the Nui-Jaga hit him. As they walked on the pain became sharper and more painful. Kopaka lowered his temperature more so he could numb the pain. Finally, they reached the part of the tunnel with the Hau in it. While the tunnels leading up to this point were small and narrow, this section was very large with seemingly no ceiling. The Hau was lodged halfway into the wall nearly out of sight. There was a bit of debating about who should get it down, but Kopaka was distracted by the incessant ache in his back. Pohatu got the mask and the team started leaving the constricting darkness.
Then an argument broke out between the Toa. Or, rather, between Lewa and Tahu. From what Kopaka could understand from Tahu's echoing yelling, Lewa's gibberish treespeak, and the clamor of the others, Lewa had hit his head on the tunnel ceiling and started whining and grumbling about not having enough room to move around. Then Tahu had snapped at Lewa, telling him to stop complaining and being a baby. That in turn made Lewa go berserk and he was rattling off words faster than anyone could comprehend. The argument, volume magnified by the echoes, was making Kopaka's ears hurt, and he was sure it was making the other's ears hurt as well.
Finally Gali and Pohatu were able to get the two calmed down, but not before a decision was made: the Toa were splitting up, again.
