"So I am breaking down the climax into two chapters instead of putting it all in one." The writer said to the readers as she looked at some papers. "Now lets see... property damage charges from this fan fic... Not surprised Maui has some." The writer hummed before raising an eyebrow at one paper. "Heihei has some too. I did not think that could be possible. And of course..." She looked at the next paper and almost had a heart attack before letting out a whistle. "Well I can't imagine Tamatoa would be willing to pay those off. Thankfully these are all hypothetical!" She laughed.
Behind her, the fourth wall shattered and she looked in time to see Story Maui run through while still holding onto Story Moana. "Sorry about the tattoos!" She yelled at him before he crashed through the other fourth wall on the other side.
"And I sure as heck am not paying for that." The writer sighed as she turned back and ignored Story Tamatoa crashing through the first fourth wall to chase the demi-god through the other fourth wall. "Well, onto the reviews."
Shiori Kudo: Oh, oh! Crab enchiladas are yummy! I would try those, but don't use too much cream! Also is your name a reference to Inuyasha by any chance?
Tamatoa's response to Shiori Kudo: And how exactly are you going to butcher me to make whatever recipe you are planning? My shell's too tough and if you try to get at my underside, you can forget it. I'd squash you before that would happen.
To the guest who looks through the forth wall: I saw that this website was having issues during that time so all is forgiven :)
Tamatoa's response to the guest who looks through the forth wall: *sighs* Remember that I said I would take the thing he valued the most? The girl's only crime was to be the human that Maui treasures above all else. Keep reading and maybe I'll elaborate within the chapter.
Tamatoa's response to Child of Dreams: you DO understand that this fan fic is getting closer to the end, right? You better make sure your reviews are meaningful from this point on. Also I am aware of what happened the last time that heart was taken/when I was tricked with it, so I won't bother this time. Actually I'm wondering HOW you got it in the first place.
Subuku no Jess: thanks :) Ah yes, FINALLY the action... after a couple of things. And yeah, Tamatoa is destructive in this chapter and he will go bioluminescent again. Hopefully whatever happens will be to your satisfaction as there WILL be transformations and butt whooping. I'm not sure if I did justice with my research, but I'm glad its making someone happy. And yeah, it made me happy to finally write out the proper reunion as well as the build up to discovering and realizing his ACTUAL identity. After all they went through, they both earned that reunion scene (I kind of see Moana breaking the spell on herself earned her the reward of reuniting with Maui).
jhalpernkitcat: As tempting as it was to use Tala, I wanted it to be Sina because I felt that she needed to be the one to help break the spell and I wanted to use the love between a parent and a child in this chapter. I believe that Motonui adores the family enough to protect them and Sina WOULD have gone after Hoani if Maui hadn't stepped in. Man, even the readers hate Hoani! Arataki was originally the one to yell that at Hoani until I saw a better reason to use her through Tamatoa alongside her significant other. And I wanted Moana to be able to face her possessor instead of cower and telling him to get off the island was too badass to not use.
Yeah, I felt that the transformation would have to be painful (he IS getting those tattoos back the hard way, which is where I got the inspiration, like with how removing tattoos in real life in the wrong manner would lead to risk of scarring). And... yeah, I couldn't pass up using that line from his song either. It felt right to me (though I wasn't able to listen to "You're Welcome" the same way a couple of times).
With Tamatoa, you can have a mix of both scary and pure humor, which I try to keep in mind when I write/plan how he reacts to things. As for his transformation, remember how he recalls how becoming a human was like getting compressed, having limbs get forced into your body, and having your body and insides get twisted to be able to adapt to that form? Its the opposite, but maybe more painful. I didn't focus too much on that because I was more focused on Moana and Maui escaping, while Moana would witness the build up to Tamatoa's real form and the destruction it causes. (*To the tune of 'Goodbye Moonmen* Goodbyyyyyyyyyye fale!*) Oh man, I wish Subuku no Jess could let you listen to her reading of the chapter and the ending. It was awesome, especially how she plays out Tamatoa yelling in pain, his following laugh, and his last line. *looks at Tamatoa* Hey, what are you doing?
Tamatoa's response to jhalpernkitcat: *as he looks at himself* How exactly did I get these marks on my body? *reads messages* Yes I can see you obviously like green... I don't recognize that creature... that must be your other name... is this meant to be a reference to that deleted scene from the show you humans might know as 'Gravity Falls'? And yes, I've seen that show... and before you ask no, I have not met the demon triangle in person.
ChangelingRin: Tattoo removal is said to a pain and getting tattoos are said to be a pain. And it was said that turning into a human was painful for the mermaid in the original tale so... yeah it's not fun to be either Maui or Tamatoa in that chapter.
Key: Uh... that's not happening, so Maui doesn't have to go chasing after them. Especially since the ocean is a bit more active in helping Moana out with the crab infestation problem on Motonui.
CrystallceAngelBlossom: I guess you might review the other chapters long before I post this, but thanks for reading this. My memory is bad too at times since I get distracted... like I day dream a lot kind of distraction.
Tamatoa's response to CrystallceAngelBlossom: Wow, uh... thanks. *grins* And yes, my voice IS awesome and I am 'supery shiny' as you put it. *accepts gifts* Huh, I've never seen these before but I can put them to good use. I could use some variety on my shell. Thank you and... I guess I would accept the hug since you offered me much praises and gifts.
OfficalWhiteFireTheDragon: I wanted Moana to break the spell herself, so I'm glad this made you guys happy. :) The bad voice in her head is like the bad voices we have in all our heads, but it has more prominence thanks to the spell. You know, I would love it if in the event they do a Moana musical, they could have a number or do this thing where she has thoughts and the 'good voice' is her grandmother and then she has a 'bad voice' is Tamatoa since they both represent opposing ideals of one's self.
Sigh... it really did look like it was going to happen, but alas this is a particular AU so Tamatoa had a chance to screw him over. Fun fact: had Moana made the change permanent, those scars would have eventually vanished altogether. As for her fate in Tamatoa's hands... well, we will see.
Tamatoa's response to OfficalWhiteFireTheDragon: Well I do have one idea that involves a gold statue. I just need to go and... borrow it... for a second.
Nausicaa of the Spirits: I could see why Zootopia won now as well as La La Land, but Moana did suffer from bad timing. I'm kind of surprised they didn't nominate 'We know the way' but I can see why 'How far I'll go didn't get the win.' Still annoys me though. La La Land had good music but the story was cliche and it got boring at parts.
Tamtoa's response to Nausicaa of the Spirits:... Wow, I'm REALLY amazed just how violent you guys can get when it comes to-
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, SPARKLES!"
"What the–oh... it's you." Tamatoa looked down to see Arataki. "For some reason."
"You know what, since Moana isn't under your spell, how about I spare you the trouble and do the readers a favor?" Arataki grinned at the crab. She turned to her brother and said "Hey Hoani! Consider the coconuts!"
"The what?" Hoani asked, but then Arataki grabbed his shoulders and punched him... somewhere we can't say since this is still a Disney fan fic. But it was enough to let out a painful yell and fall to his knees.
"EXACTLY!" Arataki laughed.
Seconds later, Arataki was forced to leap out of the way as Maui went rushing in her direction with Moana still on his back. "WATCH IT, MUSCLES!" Arataki snarled at Maui as Tamatoa made to grab something. Right when his story counterpart appeared, he slammed down a giant golden statue of a man across his back and stunned him.
"That's what you get for trying to upstage me." Tamatoa merely commented to his other counterpart, who had been knocked out in the attack.
*days later, the writer was sued for allowing Tamatoa to steal and enlarge the oscar that was won for best song of 2016 (sadly not from Moana) to use against his counterpart. The writer commented that the event was not canon in any way, so therefore neither of them could be sued.*
I want to thank you guys for sticking with this fic, reading it, and giving it reviews thus far. It makes me happy to see how much you guys like it and your support helps fuel this story and this weird little AU I thought of back in December.
Well, I've been going back through the previous chapters to catch errors and I'm trying to fix them... or at least I'm trying to. I wish those didn't escape me so often, its really annoying.
On the other hand, I finally got my copy of Moana on blu-ray/DVD and I am happy to own it at last. Of course watching it helped refresh my memory for this fic quite a lot and I did get a laugh over seeing Moana in her ceremonial outfit during the end of 'Where you are' because... things going on here are a lot different while she's currently wearing it.
So... I AM splitting the entire final battle into two chapters because there was a lot to be done and covered. This might be for the best and you'll see what I mean.
I'm not going to use the 'animal necklace' theory for Maui's transformations because there are some I want to give him, including a certain creature known as the hawaiian day octopus. Why that one? Well... you will understand later on. The other one is... something I could not resist. :)
...The weird thing is, I kind of miss writing Maui out when he can't talk but still interacts with Moana, but I don't want to be a jerk to him. In the meantime, for those of you who wanted to see Maui be able to properly fight Tamatoa in the movie, this is part one of my gift to you guys. I admit I've had a lot of fun with it.
Chapter 12:The perfect guardian
If Moana had been told three weeks ago that she was going to be chased after a giant crab, she probably would have laughed at it. If she had been told that a demi-god was going to get her away from said crab with her dangling over his shoulder, she would have scoffed and asked if she looked like she wanted to be someone who needed to be rescued. Three weeks ago, she thought the worst thing that could happen was that she would either mess up the dance or not get everything ready in time. Definitely not getting put under a spell or face getting dragged into the realm of monsters.
Of course the powers of fate had been very particular with Moana to lead to her getting carried off to safety by a trickster demi-god while a giant murderous crab was chasing after them. It was as if to say 'no, things could get much worse than beyond your wildest imagination. Now go have fun with them.'
And now? She was scared, but she was also frustrated due to learning exactly why this was happening to begin with in the first place.
"OK start talking!" Moana yelled to the man she thought she knew for the past three weeks (and who got his voice back not more than ten minutes ago). "How much of what he said is true?! Did you really make a deal with Tamatoa to turn into a human?! Why did you even want to in the first place?!" She demanded as he continued to run while she tried to hold on for dear life.
"Oh gods kid," Maui groaned as he was interrupted from his thinking while trying to get Moana away from his ex-friend. "Does it look like I got time for this?!"
"Well oh gee, I wonder why he's after me!" Moana waved one hand in the air as she snapped at Maui with as much sarcasm as she could create.
At that moment they both heard the trees crashing a good distance behind them and Moana could swear that she could see trees being thrown aside into the air. It didn't take long to see a large claw waving left and right as it knocked several trees aside. She figured out that the trees might slow Tamatoa down, but eventually he would catch up. "He's gaining on us!" Moana warned and Maui quickly turned directions as he tightened his hold on her.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Tamatoa stopped knocking the trees away as he made to carefully observe the exact location of his prey. It was true that Maui could easily blend in with this area, but not the girl who was wearing a certain shade of red in her attire.
"Ok, I admit that trying to earn appreciation from all mortals for a short time was getting to be repetitive with each new generation!" Maui quietly hissed to Moana as he slowly backed away from the area. "And I was being taken advantage of, including by that cheapskate that came to visit you guys!" He thought that he would dread this explanation but thanks to the timing it was a lot less dramatic than he thought it would be. On one hand, he was getting it over with, but on the other–well, really bad sense of timing on Moana's part.
"So you got sick of us?!" Moana angrily hissed back as she tried to look around for an escape route.
"What–no!" Maui hissed back. "Why would I go through this if I got sick of you?! Our big problem even flat out told you that I used to be one!"
"What does that even mean?!" Moana hissed a little too loudly before clapping a hand over her mouth.
Tamatoa quickly picked up Moana's voice and he chuckled. "Come out come out where ever you are!" He practically sang as he walked closer towards the area where Maui and Moana were hiding.
"Look, where's a good spot around here to get on his back?" Maui hissed at Moana. "If your grandmother was right, then I need to get my hook back from him."
"Why does he have it in the first place, did you give that up too?" Moana hissed.
Before he responded, Maui looked up to see Tamatoa approaching before making a run for it. Unfortunately for him, Tamatoa caught the flash of red of Moana's dress and he proceeded to chase after them.
"I'm going to get you sooner or later!" Tamatoa yelled as he charged after them, though the trees and the uneven terrain were slowing him down. "Ugh, stupid twigs!" He snarled as he knocked some aside with the back of one of his claws.
"So yes, I did take up his offer because I was doubting myself as well as you how genuine all your appreciation towards me was!" Maui continued to explain to Moana as he ran around the trees to get away from the crab. "Look its really too complicated to elaborate right now, but I was stupid enough to let this become a bet and I'm sorry that I didn't realize that he'd go after you if I messed up!"
"So all that was why you were depressed when I first met you?!" Moana demanded. "Because you felt like you had to keep earning our appreciation?! Why didn't you just try to be friends with me like I offered?! You wouldn't have needed to keep giving me gifts or win my approval for anything!"
"I can't because I'll always outlive you mortals and you wouldn't have understood what I was going through!" Maui yelled as Tamatoa slowly gained on them.
"If you told me then maybe I would!" Moana yelled back.
"You know I can hear you two idiots arguing!" Tamatoa yelled to both of them and Maui internally cursed as he tightened his hold on Moana. He looked around before leaping off a ledge to enter another area, while Moana felt his shoulder slam into her body when he hit the ground. He recovered and continued on his way.
"Ok, I make mistakes! Is that what you want to hear?! Was it that wrong for me to get a little selfish?!" Maui demanded.
"I–!" Moana stopped as she realized he had a point. She had stressed out about a similar case last night.
Maui made another turn and found a small area hidden behind some large rocks and trees where he could stop and take a breather. He needed it if he needed to conserve energy for this, so that was where he quickly went.
He set Moana down for a minute and the girl looked up as he tried to gather his thoughts as he tried to catch his breath. The hiding spot was big and well covered that Tamaota wouldn't be able to see either of them.
As for Moana, she took this time to look Maui over again. She had forgotten that she barely made out his tattoos when she first met him, but she had no idea how much he actually had. It answered a few questions she had since she first saw him on the shoreline and a part of her had to admit that she liked the tattoos since they added to his already impressive appearance, but they also reminded her of his last question to her.
"I thought I was being punished for being selfish myself yesterday." Moana slowly admitted. "I really wanted to go out on the ocean, but I didn't mean for you to get in trouble or for the boats to almost be destroyed. I got so stressed out over what happened–what could have happened–and what being a Chief would have to mean for me that I believed no one cared about what I wanted and I accepted any distraction. That's how Tamatoa got to me." Moana cringed as she realized how easy it was for her to become prey to Tamatoa. "I did try to get away when I finally picked up on what he was doing, but I should have–" Moana shut her eyes as her hands balled up into fists. "I don't know what I could have done differently. I mean, I can see what he meant by accusing me of being like the others and now my island is in trouble because of me."
Moana's words gave Maui a twinge of anger at Tamatoa since he was starting to get an idea of what exactly happened, in addition to the fact that Tamatoa was able to make her feel this awful about herself. The second I'm getting my hook back, I'm going to beat the living daylights out of him! He scowled. "All of this is my fault, not yours, so don't blame yourself." He told her. "He has a way of taking a person apart and bringing them down."
"It's true that I had to make a genuine connection with a human who wanted me in their life in order to become one." Maui admitted as Moana opened her eyes to look at him. "But despite what he said, I really was ready to give that up because I didn't want you to feel like I was just using you like he did." There was a lot he could say but they didn't have time for that so he took a breath and held a hand out. "Look, I don't care what you think of me right now, but I do want you to be happy and feel free to be yourself." He stared at the girl, whose eyes reflected a conflict within her.
"I... I don't know what to say." Moana confessed as she crossed her arms against her body. She did not expect any of this to happen, so how could she react? "It's just... I just wish you didn't feel like you had to resort to falling for Tamatoa's offer and you could have at least tried to find someone to talk to, like me." Honestly, if he had stuck around when she was a child, so much could have been prevented and maybe life would have been a bit more interesting. Then a sad thought occurred to her that she didn't want to voice, but she had to do it. "I mean did it ever occur to you that maybe he was lying and that it would have been temporary either way?" Moana looked Maui in the eyes.
"Where are you?!" They heard Tamatoa demand as he knocked the trees over and looked around for them. "I swear I'll go back and level out the rest of the village if you don't show yourself!"
Moana gasped as she clutched a hand to her mouth. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. She didn't want that to happen, but she didn't want to give herself up that easily. When she felt Maui grab her shoulders, she looked at him and moved her hand away from her mouth.
"I am not letting you give yourself up to him, so you better start thinking." Maui quietly, yet firmly demanded. "We need to get to higher ground so that I can get my hook."
"And how do you propose we get it off him?" Moana demanded back.
Maui tried to think. There were so many ways to distract Tamatoa since fighting was not going to cut it at the moment. Wait a minute. "Did your dad take anything of his by any chance?" Maui remembered that Tamatoa mentioned that Tui had gotten curious about him and he seemed to be familiar with the necklace somehow.
Moana tried to think. "Maybe something that looked like a scale." She recalled seeing Tamatoa take something identical to his adornments out of her fale.
Ok, that explained a lot.
"Ok, give me a moment to think!" Maui then grabbed Moana and slung her over his shoulder again. He then darted out of the safety of their hiding spot and ran out so that Tamatoa could see them, while the girl hung on for dear life.
"Oh so you finally- OH COME ON!" Tamatoa yelled in frustration as they darted into the trees. He let out an annoyed grunt and proceeded to resume the chase. "I hate this stupid island and everything on it!" He hated pretty much all that lived on it and the landscape itself, from the trees to the annoying livestock that the humans kept around.
Maui quickly thought of a plan. "I think I know how to distract him, but we need to get to a spot where you can get on him and get the hook back!"
"Why me?!" Moana demanded as she began to sense what Maui was going to do.
"Because I'm going to be the bait! And you know this island better than me so once you get it back, do not let him get you!" He didn't want to force her into it and put her at risk, but he had no choice and he was confident that Moana would be able to do this if she wanted to. She already proved herself enough for him to put his trust in her and he knew she was not going to try to run away.
Moana tried to think. "I think I know one spot."
Meanwhile back in the village, a group of villagers and visitors gathered together to get ready to go after the crab to try to save Moana.
"Whatever you do, do not attack him!" Arataki yelled at them. "We're trying to get the girl back, not claim bragging rights!" When she saw Tui hurry towards her, she held her hand up. "Oh no you don't! Do you have any experience with fighting monsters?!"
"He's going after my daughter!" Tui yelled.
"Trust me and let me handle this!" Arataki yelled back. "Ok, let's go!" She yelled at the others and ran towards the direction that Tamatoa went, along with her group.
Meanwhile, Sina was rocking back in forth where she sat and was wringing her hands.
"She'll be fine." Tala tried to reassure Sina. "She knows this island better than that creature. They will take care of him."
"What if he does take her away?" Sina worried. "What if this was all my fault?"
"It's not and I am confident that he won't." Tala smiled. "She's got our brains, your compassion, her father's determination, and she has the perfect guardian to help her."
"I suppose that is all true." Sina admitted with a smile before letting out a small laugh.
"What is so funny?" Tala smiled.
"I just realized that we've had demi-god over at our home!" Sina let out a harder laugh. She was trying to ease her fears with such silly thoughts, but it helped calm her down somewhat. Please protect my daughter and keep her safe. Sina pleaded to Maui. Please return her to us. Return her to me.
As Tamatoa came across a hill that was more like a cliffside with a few trees growing out at an angle at the very top so that they were almost horizontal, he was getting annoyed. While the sky wasn't completely dark, there were already extremely faint hints of his bioluminescence on his body.
"You can't keep the girl away from me, Maui!" He yelled. "You can't save every human!"
"You know, you weren't very specific on what you were going to take!" Tamatoa paused and he turned around to see Maui looking up at him with a scowl. "Especially a mortal of all things!"
Tamatoa grinned down at Maui. "Well you do understand that if I take her than that is more than enough for you to lose favor to both the gods and the humans, right?" He then frowned when he saw that something was wrong with the picture. "Wait a minute, where is she?"
"And what exactly would happen if I helped her dad get to Lalotai with all the islanders?" Maui countered back as Moana quickly walked up the cliffside and was also forced to climb up parts of it. She had to put some of that experience of climbing up coconut trees to good use if she wanted to make this easier for herself.
"Actually that reminds me," Maui added as he held a finger up. "You said that Moana was going to go specifically after her dad, right?"
"Hey I was doing her a favor that worked for my benefit." Tamatoa shrugged. "Now where is the human?" He demanded. "Where is she hiding this time?"
"So you didn't tell her to do that because her dad took one of your treasures?" Maui countered with a grin, knowing that he would get Tamatoa distracted with this. The moment Tamatoa paused and then scowled, he knew that he bought it.
"It would have served him right! No one takes anything from Tamatoa!"
Moana glared at Tamatoa when he said this, but she forced herself to get up the cliff so that she could be slightly above Tamatoa's shell. She could see a large fish hook made of what looked like bone in the middle of all the treasures he wore upon it–it had to be Maui's because there was no other. From what she could see, the hook was well crafted and it looked almost as large as its owner–she could see that it could not belong to anyone else but him.
"Isn't that disproportionate retribution?" Maui countered. "From what I gather, he found something of yours but he also didn't know that it was yours to begin with... plus I'm guessing you lost it somehow. Did it have to do with the ocean?" Maui smirked as the idea of Tamatoa fighting with the ocean was amusing to think about. "It was the ocean, wasn't it?" He raised his eyebrow at the crab.
"Shut up!" Tamatoa yelled.
"Hey its ok to admit that you lost a few treasures along the way to Motonui." Maui shrugged as his grin widened (Also he really enjoyed hearing the sound of his voice again, now that he actually had a moment to really listen to what he was saying). "And I know enough to know that the ocean can be a bad person when it wants to be. I'm guessing you were in such a hurry to get away from the big blue that you didn't notice that you lost a piece."
"Shut it!" Tamatoa yelled again as Moana finally made it above his shell and continued to get higher up the cliff. Maui caught a quick glance at this before he got creative.
"So, to recap, you lost a treasure that Tui found and you decided to kill him for it through his daughter. Of course I'm assuming that's the real reason why you did it because I can't peg you as helping her by killing her father. And you also thought you could blend in with the humans and make your escape while she did the dirty work." His masquerade almost cracked to reveal the anger at the memory of what Moana was forced to almost commit, but he was able to keep it in place. "Yeah, the human disguise was good, but I was still able to recognize you in an instant. A little flashy but kind of tacky at the same time."
"Well your little human didn't seem to think so before I had her under my control!" Tamatoa grinned as Moana began to head to the trees. "She followed me by my singing while she still had her free will and she couldn't stop looking at me! And she didn't tell me to shut up like you did!"
Maui lost the mask for a moment as Moana stopped and looked down for a moment. "Uh...what?"
Wait, Maui was the one who told him to shut... oh. Moana got it as she continued to head for one of the trees. Ok, that makes sense now. She rolled her eyes.
"In the end, it proves my point." Tamatoa grinned at Maui. "Only outer beauty is all that matters. Something which you seemed to lack before she found out the truth a few minutes ago. Not that you had much to begin with."
"Eh, unlike you I'm all natural." Maui smirked as he saw that Moana was judging the distance. "Ok, I have to maintain it because I can't let this perfect physique go to waste, but it's a lot better when you got the brains to go with it."
Moana then chose that moment to dash across the tree and leapt off when she was right above Tamatoa's shell. It was no different than diving into the ocean, but it definitely hurt when she landed on the shell and tumbled hands first into the treasure pile with an "Omph!"
Tamatoa (who felt her land on his back) quickly turned his head around to see the girl crawl towards the center of the shell as fast as she could. She looked up in time and let out a gasp when she saw the extremely large set of familiar blue eyes.
Quickly realizing what was going on, Tamatoa turned to Maui and made to smack him away with the back of his claw while moving fast enough to try to throw the human off his back. The movement caused Moana to fall over, but Maui quickly ran away and dodged the attack. Instead, Tamatoa was forced to turn and try again, forcing Moana to tumble across the treasures with a yelp. She was able to stop when Tamatoa made to slam his claw down upon Maui and she was able to get closer to the hook as Maui succeeded in dodging the attack. Finally she was able to quickly get to the hook and grabbed onto it before trying to rush to the side of the shell. As Tamatoa tried one last time to shift hard enough to throw her off and attack Maui, Moana was able to throw the hook off his back as hard and as far as she could before she collapsed onto the treasures again.
At that point, Tamatoa was finally able to smack Maui away and set him flying into the ground a good distance away before he finally reached back to grab Moana around her waist. She let out a yelp when he felt him squeeze her, and she felt herself get turned over and was pulled to the front. She found herself getting thrown up and flipped right side up before the claw caught her again and when she came to her senses, she found herself staring at the true face of Tamatoa.
"So is that what you meant by him inspiring you humans?" Tamatoa laughed in amusement before looking an amazed Moana in the eye. "That reminds me... do you like what you see this time?" He grinned and barred his teeth at her.
Moana couldn't help but stare at the creature before her. Despite his colors and all the treasures he wore, he wasn't that appealing to the eyes. She could see the barnacles on his chin and on his teeth for one thing and the fact that his face didn't look like an actual coconut crab's and his eyes almost looked human was really unsettling. Also he was large enough that he could easily toss her in his mouth if he wanted to. I let that mouth kiss my hand! Moana realized with a grimace as she noticed the barnacles on his teeth again. I was right–his voice is impressive but he is horrible both inside and out. No amount of treasures or charms could make him a better person.
Maui had managed to get up at this point and was running towards Tamatoa. He almost made to yell at him until he noticed that his fish hook was not on Tamatoa's back which meant that... There it is! He saw it laying amongst the rocks near Tamatoa and grinned. As he carefully maneuvered his way to the hook, he mentally laughed to himself. Oh I am so going to enjoy what'll happen next!
"It doesn't matter!" Moana snapped at Tamatoa. "Being a human or a giant crab doesn't change who you are on the inside–you're still the same low level monster who tried to make me kill my own father!"
Tamatoa lost his smile and growled at the girl as he tightened his hold on her, causing her to yelp. "You should be grateful that I was able to offer you any help at all and yet you still threw it away! And you dare think that I'm below you?! It doesn't change what you almost did!"
"You weren't helping me!" Moana growled back. "You were just trying to stop Maui!"
"Well unfortunately for you babe, I'm a crab of my word, so you're coming with me!" Tamatoa snarled as he began to walk away and head towards the nearest shoreline he could find.
Oh no, no, no! Moana panicked as she tried to look around to find Maui and struggled to get out of Tamatoa's claws, but she couldn't escape as his grip was too strong. I can't escape! Wait, maybe I could try to buy some time for us! She realized as she decided to follow Maui's example. She didn't know if Tamatoa would fall for the same sort of trick twice, but she had to try.
"So wait are you planning on turning me into one of your treasures?" Moana asked. "Because you said I would make, and I quote, 'a lovely ruby jewel.'" Which honestly she barely understood.
Tamatoa flinched at this and stopped. "What? No, that was a metaphor! Yes you're wearing red like a ruby, but killing someone means blood, which is also red, and blood is shiny like a–ARGH! Why am I explaining this to you?!" Tamatoa yelled in annoyance. "I bet you don't even know what a ruby is!"
At this point, Maui finally grabbed the fish hook and quickly spun it around in his grasp as he pictured the form he wanted to take. The fish hook's markings glowed with a blue light and he felt his body transform in a way that did not physically hurt him–in fact, it was like putting on a new lavalava.
The moment Tamatoa heard the flash, he realized he forgot about the hook and when he felt a burst of air near his body, he quickly turned around. When he looked up to see a familiar large brown hawk glaring down at him in the air, he realized what was about to happen.
"OH YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Tamatoa yelled as Moana stared in awe at the hawk, before it was engulfed in a flash of blue light and turned into a huge whale.
Tamatoa quickly scurried away with the little princess still in his claw before the whale came down with a crash. The whale scowled in anger before it turned into a hawk again and this time it soared towards Tamatoa who was trying his hardest to get away.
"LET GO OF HER!" Maui yelled as he finally got around Tamatoa and grabbed one of his antennae with his talons. Tamatoa let out a painful yell as the hawk tried to pull his head back and the crab desperately tried to smack the hawk away with his free claw. "LET GO OF ME!" Tamatoa yelled at Maui.
"That's it, get him!" Moana cheered in excitement. Finally she was getting to see Maui do what he was known for and it was actually quite enjoyable to behold!
"Who said you could play cheerleader?!" Tamatoa shook the claw with Moana, causing the girl to cry out in protest and hold on for dear life. At this point, Maui let go of Tamatoa's antennae and caused the crab's head to bob forward, which made him stop shaking the human in his hold.
I need to get Moana away and stop him for a bit. Maui desperately thought as an idea came to him. He soared over Tamatoa's shell and changed into a lizard before landing on it and proceeded to scamper to the side of his shell.
Tamatoa shook his head and looked around. "Where is he?!" he demanded as he looked around. Unknown to him, Maui got to the edge of the shell and then decided to use a specific form that just happened to be a natural predator to crabs. And not just any specific form–this one was going to be spectacular since he got the idea from a monster he faced once before.
He leapt off the shell and quickly turned around as he changed forms.
Without warning, Tamatoa felt something reach over his back and latch on. He turned around in time to see a reddish brown and tan colored octopus large enough to rival his own size as it latched another tentacle around his claw. He let out a panicked yell as Moana held on, and though he tried to kick against the octopus with all his might, the many legged creature was able to latch another arm over his shell.
"See..." Maui grunted as he pulled the shell towards him and used his current form's remaining arms to keep his ground and one of them latched onto a large rock, "You..." He pulled harder, despite how much Tamatoa was trying to kick at him. "On..." He was straining now but then he gave a mighty tug "The..." Another tentacle pried open the claws that held onto Moana and it caught the girl before she could fall and get seriously hurt. "Flip side!" He yelled as he was able to use the remaining legs to help keep his balance and move him along as he successfully flipped Tamatoa right onto his back, causing the crab to yell out while the octopus carefully set Moana onto the ground.
Falling to the ground made Moana tumble to her hands and knees, but she was still able to crawl away from her captor before scampering back to her feet. Her heart was pounding and she was shaking after her encounter with Tamatoa, but otherwise she was ok. As she looked up, she found herself locking eyes with the giant octopus, but unlike with the giant crab, she felt no fear towards the creature. In fact she hurried towards him as fast as she could, while Tamatoa tried to scramble back up.
She let out a breathless laugh as she ran towards the octopus, who quickly reached a tentacle out, which wrapped around her waist. Moana held onto it with a big smile as the octopus pulled her towards him and when she was close enough to see the familiar dark brown eyes smiling at her, the creature placed her on top of him before he shifted forms. Moana felt herself fall until she landed on a feathery surface, but she quickly latched her arms around the neck of the giant hawk that Maui changed into and held on as tightly as she could.
Satisfied to know that Moana held onto him, Maui quickly flapped his wings and took her into the sky. "You ok, kid?" he asked her.
"That was awesome!" Moana laughed. "You got him good!" Had she been scared? Yes, but was seeing that fight worth it? Oh yes it was!
"Not yet, I still need to figure out how to get him off Motonui!" Maui warned her as he got higher and higher. "I just needed to buy us some time!"
Meanwhile, Moana hanged on for dear life as the giant hawk took her up into the air until she could see a huge portion of her island below her. A part of her was enjoying herself as she was being taken high up into the air, but she knew that the trouble below was not done yet. She could see Tamatoa struggling to get up from down below them while Maui tried to look around for a place to lure Tamatoa away. He knew he needed to act fast before he put her at risk again.
I can't lead him anywhere near the village. Maui looked there for a moment before looking around. Where's the nearest shoreline?!
Moana then saw the destruction caused to her island, including the trail of uprooted and destroyed trees, earth, and whatnot from when Tamatoa chased them. What made her heart stop was that she could see the damage done to her village in the distance–the community fale was pretty much gone, including a good chunk of the plant life around it, and there were a few more fales that had been damaged along with some trees.
No... Moana felt a deep regret and was horrified by the sight. If only I had seen that this was going to happen. Are the others ok? Mom, Dad, Grandma? If she could have done one thing differently then this all could have been avoided.
Down below them, Tamatoa finally managed to grab onto a bunch of trees and got himself back on his legs, but now he was incredibly angry at both Maui and the little human. He saw them high in the sky and grinned as he grabbed one of the trees, snapped it in half, and then sent the upper end right at the bird as hard as he could.
Moana looked down in time to let out a warning yell. "LOOK OUT!" The tree managed to not hit them, but Maui was still able to look down in time to see what happened before trying to fly farther up. The crab down below was not fazed by this and tried to throw another half of a tree at the hawk.
Moana tightened her hold as Maui tried to dodge the tree thrown at them. Gritting her teeth in anger, she waited until Maui was forced to dodge a third tree before she looked down at the crab and yelled "QUIT DESTROYING MY ISLAND OR ELSE I'LL COME DOWN THERE AND PUNCH YOU IN THE EYE, YOU OVERGROWN DIVA!"
This made both the hawk and the crab stop in stunned silence.
"Punch me... in the eye?" Tamatoa winced as he wondered if that would actually hurt him, even though he doubted the little human could manage it.
"Uh, you did break the spell upon you, right?" Maui asked as he fought the urge to smirk.
"JUST GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Moana snapped at him.
"Ok Your Highness!" Maui glanced one more time at the spot he thought he could lure Tamatoa away and began to fly there.
"Ugh, I'm getting tired of this!" Tamatoa sighed as he found himself once again chasing after Maui as fast as he could. Luckily he destroyed most of the obstacles in his way, so this wouldn't have to take too long.
"He's catching up!" Moana looked behind her as she kept her hold around the hawk's neck as he soared across her island.
"I need him to be able to follow me!" Maui told her, but he kept himself from saying what he was also going to do when he saw the right moment.
"He's throwing trees again!" Moana yelled in a panic as Tamatoa made to rip another tree off the ground and threw it at them. Maui quickly looked back and dodged, but he could feel Moana about ready to slide off him when he titled too far. He could almost feel her grip tighten before he could quickly readjust himself so that she would not be dangling right off his neck. She didn't scream but he could almost feel her shaking in fear above him.
I never meant for any of this to happen. Maui thought with regret. Especially not to you.
He looked down and saw a group of villagers in the distance. If he was quick enough, he could fly ahead, make a sharp turn, and drop Moana off before leading Tamatoa away.
He had to let Moana go in order to save her and he had to keep his promise to her. He didn't want her to get hurt and there was no telling what would happen when she was out of the way. If he lost this fight, then Tamatoa would kill him or let him live and try to go after Moana. He could not afford that second option.
Plus, as much as he hated to admit it, he promised her father that he would look after her. This was the only way to make amends towards her and her family.
"Hey Moana!" He tried not to let how he really felt be known to her. "You're amazing, you know that?!"
"Huh?!" Moana perked her head up at this, but that was when Maui decided to make the sharp turn as soon as he came across the villagers. He flipped himself over a few times in the air and when Moana lost her grip, he knew with a heavy heart that he succeeded.
The action happened so fast for Moana that she didn't have time to yell and when she found herself falling downward while looking up to see Maui fly away, she realized what Maui had done. Seconds later she crashed through the branches and leaves of a tree that broke her fall before she landed on the ground. It hurt but otherwise she was completely unharmed.
She looked up in time to see Tamatoa's lower half chasing after the hawk, unaware that Maui had dropped her off. When he made a turn and headed away from the area, Moana, she kept staring. She heard her name be called and she turned to see a group of villagers and a few visitors–including Arataki and Kahurangi–approach her. All of them had weapons and were ready to fight the monster that came to Motonui, but it looked like there was not going to be a need for that.
"Oh thank the gods you're ok!" A male villager let out a sigh of relief as he came to Moana's aid and helped her up. "We feared the worst for you!" Everyone else murmured in agreement.
"He... he sent me back." Moana was stunned. "Maui got me away from Tamatoa."
He really meant it. He was going to take Tamatoa away and leave their island... and leave her. Otherwise he would would not have taken the risk to get her out of the fight before Tamatoa could catch up to them.
So why did she still feel uneasy?
"Huh, well I'll be." Arataki grinned as she came up to Moana. "I didn't expect this visit would get so exciting! Too bad I didn't get a chance to go after sparkles myself!"
"Maybe we won't have to." Kahurangi nervously glanced to where Maui and Tamatoa had gone. "I can't imagine the gods would take too kindly to what has happened."
"What do you mean?" Moana turned around to face the young man.
"I don't mean to sound rude, but those two had you as a prize for a bet, correct?" Kahurangi asked. "Not to mention most of Motonui was damaged and you were forced to injure your people in addition to going after your father."
"Plus our brother was stupid enough to deny Maui a reward when he helped us out and Maui responded by stealing a necklace that was supposed to go to your family." Arataki admitted with a grimace. "I see he means well, but it doesn't look like Maui has been acting like a hero lately."
"And then the constellation is–" Moana gasped as she put a hand over her mouth. The gods are going to punish Maui! That's why the constellation has vanished, because he was putting us at risk of Tamatoa's wrath while trying to reject his status as a demi-god! What would the gods do to punish him?!
And what if Maui can't beat Tamatoa? She wondered as a bad feeling crept into her heart. What if he dies? What if Tamatoa does something horrible to him like tear a limb off as revenge? What if he comes after me and threatens my people?! So many lives could be at stake because of both her and Maui.
There shouldn't be any need for her to go after Maui as he was doing everything he could to keep her safe. He got her away from the conflict and she could just go ahead and go to her family. She knew she shouldn't have any obligation to him after all the danger she had faced up to this point.
Yet...
She looked at her necklace and held onto the pendant as her grandmother's words rang in her head.
"We can choose to stick in the same spot forever or we can get up and try to move on. You can make the most of what life offers, you can fight your way out, or you can let someone else decide your path. You can stay on this island or you can leave.
Some people and causes are worth defying all odds. Some sacrifices are worth making and no matter how large your foe may be, you can overcome them by being your true self as well as being true to yourself."
She had no reason to get caught up in Maui's fight and she had many a good reason not to after all that had happened. But on the other hand she didn't want to become a danger to her people if this fight didn't go in his favor... and she didn't want him to sacrifice himself for her if that was what was going to happen. She also did not want him to get punished by the gods if he survived.
She swore never to let herself get kidnapped and she had no desire to play the role of a damsel in distress, but she knew what she really wanted right now, more than anything. She decided to choose what she wanted and if she was going to get punished for it then she didn't care. Maui had been there for her countless times and granted her deepest wish, and though she failed to grant him his own, she refused to let his story end like this. She didn't care who he was or what he had done, he was still her friend. She had to take a big risk to help him as well as her family and her people.
"I'm sorry Maui." She said as her hold on the necklace tightened. "But now its my turn to help you." She looked at the siblings. "Tell my family that I love them." She then hurried past them and the others as fast as she could to the cave where her boat was. At the same time she thought she could hear thunder off in the distance.
The moment Maui reached the shoreline, he flew over it and turned around to come face to face with Tamatoa, who looked incredibly out of breath, but that would make this next part of the job much easier.
"You can't–" Tamatoa panted "Keep her–" Another breath "Away from me!" He wheezed as he struggled to stay upright. His bioluminescence was really beginning to show in the growing darkness of the evening sky.
"She's not going to be part of your revenge, so you can forget it!" Maui snapped. "If its me you want, then here I am!"
Tamatoa took another breath before he chuckled. "You know, I was almost tempted to kill you when you passed out from the transformation. I'm glad I didn't since I got to see you suffer, but I wouldn't mind getting another shot!"
Maui knew which form to take next. It would give him a certain disadvantage, but he needed something powerful in order to draw Tamatoa into the ocean and away from Motonui. The octopus form might not be able to work for too long in this area, but there was something else he could use.
He flew towards Tamatoa and right when he got close enough, he yelled "REMEMBER THIS?!" shifted forms again.
Before Tamatoa knew it, another large coconut crab about his size grabbed onto his claw and pulled him in a halfway arc towards the waters of the ocean. He tumbled into the water and before he could do anything, the other crab charged into him as hard as he could and shoved him farther into the water. When he was able to get a chance to smack the other on the back, his opponent was able to stop.
"ARGH!" Tamatoa growled as he turned to face the crab form that Maui took on. It was a form that Maui had used a few times back when they were much younger for the fun of it, though that form had of course been much smaller compared to this one. Unlike Tamatoa, Maui's crab form was composed of deep reds, oranges, and brown colors and it lacked any particular treasures. While Tamatoa did have the ability to go bioluminescent, Maui's crab form was able to do the same with intense reds and oranges that made him look like there was a fire glowing within him (in fact, he almost looked like a volcano that could erupt at any moment). Finally, Maui did not have the barnacles that were on Tamatoa's teeth and chin.
Maui charged again and tried to shove Tamatoa farther into the water, but this time the crab was able to cross his claws together and kept his footing. He only moved several feet (possibly yards) across the water instead of falling over.
"You really think you can beat me in that form?!" Tamatoa laughed. "I am that form! I inspired it when you were a child!" He sent both claws into Maui's back and caused the crab to collapse into the water. "In fact if I recall correctly, I always defeated you when you turned into this!" He smacked Maui across the face before grabbing his neck as tightly as he could with his other claw.
"It's never too late to change that!" Maui struggled to say, but Tamatoa merely laughed.
"So where's your precious little human now, Maui?" Tamatoa asked as he looked at the other crab's back. "You really think I wouldn't notice?!"
Maui growled as he grabbed one of Tamatoa's legs and pulled him down into the water.
Maui then quickly rubbed his neck with the side of his claw before forcing the other crab up and shoved into him. "I'm more focused on beating you in this form than answering that and I'm pretty sure I'll win!"
"I BEG TO DIFFER!" Tamatoa yelled as he lunged forward with claws wide open, but Maui also did the same and when their claws were locked together, they both tried to press against each other.
I can't let him get back to Motonui! Maui strained as he tried to glance out to where they were. If he could get Tamatoa past the barrier reef, he could change into an octopus and pull Tamatoa away from the island. First he had to get out of this lock he was stuck in. Can I bash his head? Kick him in the legs? Nah too far, but I got a better idea.
When he got him right where he needed him to (by that, he meant facing the ocean) Maui quickly let go of Tamatoa and moved aside as the crab accidentally launched himself forward towards the barrier reef.
Maui let out a laugh before he himself charged forward again.
Moana ran as fast as she could until she saw her village, but even then she kept running. When she heard her father yell "MOANA?!" She shut her eyes and forced herself to press on. I can't stop for them. I have to keep going.
Tui himself could not believe that Moana was safe and unharmed as he had feared the worst. He had tried to follow the trail of destruction but he came to a stop when he saw his daughter coming. For one moment it was as if the nightmare had ended and yet she still ran past him, despite that she was finally safe.
"MOANA WAIT!" He yelled to her.
"I HAVE TO HELP MY FRIEND!" Moana yelled back, hoping that he would understand through those exact words.
This made Tui pause for a moment.
She really was like him.
And yet, even if her friend happened to secretly be a demi-god (that came as a huge shock to him–he tasked Maui of all people to look after Moana), Moana was still his daughter. He still did not want to risk losing her, so he tried one more time to run after her and get her away from the ocean but she was already way ahead of him. He heard the thunder and he could see the clouds coming towards Motonui, which meant the worst case scenario out on the ocean, which he had feared for a long time.
As luck would have it, Heihei had somehow been launched up a tree when Tamatoa had changed back into his true self and began his chase after Moana and Maui. Having just come to his senses, Heihei looked down to see Moana run under him and her father was not too far behind. In an extremely rare one out of ten moment of intelligence, Heihei saw that Moana was trying to get away from her father and when the moment was just right, he fell out of the tree and landed on Tui's head.
Tui freaked out with a yelp when he felt the creature land on him and he came to a stop so he could untangle Heihei's talons from his hair (which was unpleasant and earned him a few scratches). He grabbed Heihei off the top of his head and after identifying him, Tui set the rooster down before resuming his chase after Moana who was already too far ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Heihei's IQ dropped back down to its usual number and he continued on his way as if nothing happened.
"Son of a–!" Tamatoa growled as he remerged from out of the water and looked at Maui, who hurried towards him. Not discouraged by this, Tamatoa went ahead to charge forward at him. But right when he made Maui think he was about to tackle him head on, he changed directions and went around him.
"She's going to make a nice addition to my collection!" Tamatoa taunted as he hurried towards Motonui.
Oh l don't think so! Maui internally snarled before quickly shifting back into a hawk and flew towards Tamatoa. This time when he managed to turn into a whale above the bottom feeder, he was able to crash down upon Tamatoa, who let out a yell of pain.
"THIS HURTS ME TOO IF THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY, CRAB CAKES!" Maui yelled as he realized that he forgot that Tamatoa not only had his treasures on his back, but some of them happened to be pointy, long, and stuck out far enough that it was like the equivalent to getting a painful sliver or stepping on a spiky sea urchin.
"YES THAT DOES!" Tamatoa angrily roared out his agreement. "NOW GET YOUR HUMONGOUS FAT SELF OFF OF ME!"
Maui smirked as he shifted into an octopus and grabbed Tamatoa. "Don't you know its rude to insult someone's body type?!" He asked.
He flipped him over and then pushed him with all his might with all eight tentacles into the air before shifting into a shark so that he could flip right side up. As Tamatoa was sent back to the edge of the barrier reef with a crash, Maui changed back into a hawk and flew towards Tamatoa.
It was so tempting to turn this into a game of fun, but Maui had to remind himself that this was not a good place to fight and he was trying to keep Tamatoa away from Moana.
I think I almost liked him better when he couldn't talk! Tamatoa scowled as he struggled to get back up before Maui could reach him.
When Moana found the boat, she pushed against it with all her might. It wasn't easy without help and while she was still catching her breath after all that running, she had to make do.
"I am not going to put my people in danger!" Moana grunted. "And I am not going to let Maui get in trouble!" She finally got the boat in the water, just as she heard Pua squeal for her at the other end of the cave. Somehow Pua had found her and it almost looked like he was going to try to go with her.
"I'm sorry Pua, but I got to do this on my own!" Moana turned around to look at her companion before she shoved the boat farther into the water and got onto it. "Thank you for trying to tell me that it was Maui after all this time!" She took the oar and began to paddle as furiously as she could.
She had no clue what she was going to do when she got out there. She knew that she would give herself up to Tamatoa only as a very last resort. If there was a way to offer Maui help, she would be ready to give it to him.
Just as she went through the waterfall, she swore that she heard her father yell out "MOANA, NO!" But she refused to stop. She knew that if she did this, she might not be able to to come back ever again. She could not risk drawing Tamatoa to her people and those she loved if that was to happen.
"I'm sorry father." She whispered as she paddled across the water.
She could hear the sounds of splashing and yelling somewhere nearby and when she released the sail from its binds, she paddled towards it to increase the speed of the boat. As she did, she became aware that clouds were starting to form over Motonui and the water was starting to become aggressive. Combined with the sounds of thunder, she realized that a storm was coming without any warning.
"NO!" Moana pleaded as she quickly got the sail set up so that she could maneuver it if she needed to in an emergency. The waters were getting increasingly rough to navigate, but she recalled everything she had been taught so that she couldn't get flipped right into the water.
She gradually got closer to the yelling and then she could see two giant crabs fighting at the edge of the reef. Both were glowing, but she already knew which one was the one she had to avoid and which one was the one she wanted to help.
The waters were getting more violent and she quickly realized that there was no way anyone would dare go after her or aid Maui by crossing the reef. Was it possible that the gods had come after all and were going to invoke their wrath?
Meanwhile, on the shores of Motonui, Tui and Sina were both desperately trying to get onto the sea to reach their daughter, but the fishermen and the visitors were preventing this from happening.
"Trust me, its not safe!" Arataki told the couple as she and Awhina struggled to keep them away from their boats. "The storm, those monsters–you would have to be nuts to go out there!"
"Our daughter is out there!" Tui yelled at Arataki. "She has no reason to get involved with those two!"
"She didn't have to, but she chose to!" Arataki yelled back. "Maui saved her and got her back to you, but she's made her choice!"
Sina looked towards the creatures fighting near the reef. "Please be careful." She pleaded to Moana. There was nothing she could do now but pray that the ocean would be kind to Moana and that she would be able to do what she was hoping to accomplish.
Meanwhile, Moana turned back to see the two crabs locked against each other. In a flash of blue, the crab with the red glow turned into a familiar looking giant octopus that grabbed the crab with the blue and pink glow and threw him over the reef and out into the ocean where he created a great splash that looked more like a tidal wave. The octopus quickly sank into the water and right when the crab remerged from the ocean, it was pulled back in by the other creature, just as the sky flashed bright with lightning for a brief second.
As Moana got closer, she eventually saw the crab force his way back up, along with the octopus who was determined to keep him away from the reef by wrapping his arms around the crab. It was a great struggle, yet when Tamatoa finally succeeded in clamping down on one of the tentacles as hard as he could, Moana could hear a familiar yell of pain from Maui before both creatures sank back down into the ocean.
"MAUI!" Moana yelled as she stood up and pulled the sheet so that the boat could get over to that exact spot as fast as she could make it. It was getting difficult since the waves were getting bigger and she was getting water thrown at her while she did everything she could to keep her balance on her boat. Eventually she made it at the edge of the reef, but the waters were still acting violent.
"I know you can hear me ocean!" Moana yelled out in hopes that it would hear her. "I don't know if this is the work of the gods or if you decided to create this storm, but I'm asking you to let me help Maui! There's too much at risk and I don't want Tamatoa to go after my people if he'll go after me!"
Somewhere far down below Moana, Maui was still trying to cling to Tamatoa while swimming away, but the crab was wising up and trying to test how long he could hold onto him before he was forced to let go. Unfortunately, Maui knew that it was soon going to be a matter of how long it would take before one of them couldn't be able to fight back and Tamatoa was going to eventually figure out a way to catch him off guard if not kill him. At this point, he was struggling more than Tamatoa was, who would recover faster than him, in addition to the fact that the strong currents from the storm were not helping him in any way. Also he was completely unaware that the person he was trying to protect was about to face a dangerous obstacle.
Just as Moana made it past the reef, the water began to rise up ahead of her to create a wave larger beyond any she could imagine. There was no way she could sail through it–death was certain.
Why was this all happening to begin with? If the ocean was causing this storm, then why was it doing it now of all times? Hadn't it saved her and Maui the day before and revealed that it was alive to her?
Wait a minute... she had found an abandoned boat near where she found Maui but he didn't confirm that was how he got to the island and he also acted as if the changes to his form were completely new to him when he woke up. Maui didn't recognize her at first when she found him on the shoreline, so he wasn't on Motonui because of her. Somehow the ocean itself brought Maui to Motonui, but why? Why her island of all places?
"You brought Maui to my island for a reason, didn't you?!" Moana yelled at the giant wave as thunder crashed once more. "If it was to help him, then let me pass!"
The wave continued to rise and head towards her. She was terrified that it would consume her, but her determination was far greater as she faced the wave.
"OCEAN PLEASE!" Moana yelled out her final plea as the wave grew so high that it was almost like a mountain. "LET ME HELP MAUI! LET ME HELP MY FRIEND!"
To be continued...
*drinks tea as she observes the fight from a safe distance* Ah yes, Godzilla esque battles. Truly the most sophisticated of all fights.
I think Tamatoa and Maui's fight has been among my favorite fights to write out in fan fiction history, including my Zelda fan fics. Good thing there's still more to come in the next chapter.
Funny thing was, I had this idea to have Maui turn into a giant coconut crab like Tamatoa for one Moana fan fic idea/ that Tamatoa origin 'what if' I haven't gotten to. I have yet to get around to it (if ever) so I was able to use it here. Maybe not an original idea because I've already seen other attempts at crab!Maui, but was it worth it? Well... best decision ever! :D
So I chose the hawaiian day octopus as a form for Maui because 1. I wanted an animal form that just happens to be a natural predator to crabs 2. Auli'i Cravalho is from Hawaii, so there was a reason why that creature's form would be used to protect Moana/ it's my way of honoring Auli'i 3. I like octopuses 4. I wanted a giant octopus 5. I WANT A KAIJU BATTLE BETWEEN THOSE TWO, YOU WANT A KAIJU BATTLE BETWEEN THOSE TWO, AND I CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS IN THIS FAN FIC, HECK YES!
Also yes, I am aware of the irony of giving Maui an octopus form when it comes to this AU.
Next time we reach the second half of the final battle. The boat might not be used that much, but Moana IS going to get her chance to fight this time around.