TOA TITANS

PART TWO: TO BE A HERO

Chapter One/Thirteen: Where the Heck Are We?

Water.

Water!

There was water all around him? Where was he?

Need to breathe!

Oh yeah- hold that thought.

Acting on instinct, he called the Kakama, as he had when looking for it, and sped out of the substance as quickly as he could. Or, well- he tried. His arms and legs didn't seem to be working anymore.

Hrrk- air! Can't stay down here- any longer!

The Kakama didn't seem to be working, so he cycled through his other options. Hau- wouldn't help at all. Akaku- might help, but he was too dazed to use it. Pakari- what was he thinking? Miru- he was in water, it wouldn't work. Kaukau- that seemed like the best option, but he couldn't exactly… swim…

He floundered, trying to get his legs to work; unfortunately, they remained still, stiff as lead. It wasn't going to end like this, was it? He didn't even know where he was, let alone why he was there!

As his vision dimmed, he thought upon this question and came to the conclusion that God- Mata Nui- had sent him there to screw with him. What a shame. He hadn't even lived his life yet…

Oh karz! The armour!

Yes, in his oxygen-deprived state, he'd forgotten that he was actually still wearing the adaptive armour, and could've used it to better his situation. How could he not have known? Was he really that out of it?

I'm such a doofus.

No time to dwell on why- the armour had done exactly as advertised, and morphed into a more streamlined position, allowing him to move through the water easily. The jets that normally attached to his shoulders disappeared, replaced by giant fans. His sabre and skyblaster shrunk, taking on an ocean-ready state, and his mask changed to a diving type, more like Gali's, only without the air, which a new oxygen tank and tube happily provided. Phew.

Now able to move at least somewhat, he quickly turned on the fans, letting himself swim lazily through the water. As the armour did so, he thought back to what had happened- had he fell? Yes, he distinctly remembered blacking out, then falling. He might have disintegrated too. Was he dead? It would seem so. Endless ocean, empty scenery, giant rock-

Giant rock!

WHUMP!

Whoops.

Lost in thought, he- Lewa, the being recalled, hadn't noticed a giant rock coming up in front of him and had banged into it head on. Disturbed by the impact trauma, the armour quickly reverted back to its regular state, leaving Lewa frozen again- and without water. No matter- at least he had been able to breathe somewhat.

It would seem the rock wasn't the only thing in his way- looking around him, Lewa saw many other rocks, and with a bit of perusal, some tiny fish as well. He grinned. So he wasn't dead! The question still remained, though- why was he here? He had fallen- but through what? The sea? The sky? The…

Gotta get to the surface!

Oh. Right.

Calling on the armour once more, Lewa managed to direct himself upwards, trying to swim out of the water. It was a difficult struggle, but he finally managed to get near sea level- unfortunately, though, the armour broke. Gasping in shock, he ended up taking in sea water, and more than he'd liked to-

AIR!

Ohkarzohkarzohkarz. He had to get out. Calling on what energy he had, Lewa was able to push himself off, and drag himself above the ocean…

YES!

Phew. That was intense. Sighing in relief at the end of his ordeal, Lewa stood on his hands and knees in some… sand, coughing out water. How could he have swum like that? He'd told Gali… wait, Gali… that he'd never go in the water again. That had to mean something had-

The protodermis!

Toa!

Aliens!

He scowled. Now he remembered. An insidious Gordanian, who wanted to punish him for helping keep a rutabaga, Tanika, safe, had thrown the Toa into a pool of Energized Protodermis. That had happened because Lewa had fled to Gamarrus Ridge in anger, and that had happened because the Toa had broken up, and that had happened because they had fought, and that had happened because… well…

He didn't know. Best not to cry over spilled milk, anyways. The Toa needed to know just where the heck the protodermis had taken him- if he could call this travel, anyway.

Lewa looked at his surroundings. It seemed it was sunrise and he was on a beach, littered with towels, chairs and umbrellas and thus probably not used by Glatorian- as far as he knew they never swam. He could relate. A little past that, the sandy beach gave way to a grassy field, also littered with chairs and umbrellas- and a little beyond that, there was…

Oh my.

Lewa had absolutely no idea what that was.

It looked like- a bit like- Metru Nui, as far as the Toa knew, but at the same time it looked- modern, if it could be called that? A thin slab of concrete bordered the field- probably a sidewalk- and that let out onto another slab- a road? Probably. Lewa hadn't paid much heed to the City of Legends' architecture- he'd been too preoccupied by the rebuilding of Le-Metru and the later journey to Voya Nui to care. At the time such knowledge had been useless, but if Matau was correct, and the effects of protodermis could not be reversed… he was stuck. And it would be a good idea to keep such things in mind.

Lewa frowned. How could he be stuck? It wasn't fair. Had the Great Beings really intended for this to happen? He couldn't be in this unfamiliar place, like Metru Nui but not, with strange pseudo-Glatorian people, and an endless ocean! The thought made him want to cry, but he left it be. Better just to get an idea of where I am. He did sob a bit though, to let the bad feeling out.

Looking beyond the… road, the Toa noticed a metal thing with wheels. That was probably a car, like the kind Turaga Dume used. Strange that people would use it like that. On the other side of the road, a small store made its home- wait, what was it called? He couldn't make it out- wait… was he illiterate again? Seriously? The first time had been torture! He wasn't even sure he could find a language stone again! The wind called him to call down, and Lewa smiled. At least that was there to help him.

The store fronted a building, not particularly tall, and with the help of the Akaku, Lewa saw quite a few more- some old and made of stone, some newer and covered with glass. There were a few creatures walking between them, but the Toa's mask wasn't strong enough to make them out- he wished Kopaka were here. Wait- no he didn't. Not right now, anyway.

The areas to the immediate left and right of him were much the same- sidewalks, roads, cars, buildings, and people. It seemed pretty uniform, but the aesthetics were actually quite nice. Off in the far, far distance, the buildings gave way to an inlet, and then another island, connected by a long hanging bridge. Lewa grinned. This place actually looked pretty cool. He would go check out more than the sand he currently stood on, but he wasn't exactly sure what to see first-

"Help! Somebody, please help!"

Oh. That was like Metru Nui too.

Turning to the source of the scream, the Toa noticed that the creature who had given it out, a tall pale-skinned woman who looked much like Tanika, was cowering by the store, car slowly being dented by bullets. After a short inspection, these seemed to be fired by a short, stocky man, wearing a hood that covered his features. A criminal. Go figure.

"You're dead, lady!"

Lewa started off to help, but froze- why should he help? He wasn't part of the Toa Nuva now, after all. He had no obligation to. This wasn't a Matoran, and as far as he knew there was no indication that either of the two wouldn't beat him to Karzahni-

"But- my diamonds!"

Wait, what was he thinking? An innocent person was in danger! He couldn't just leave her to die. Silly Lewa.

Calling on his sabre and skyblaster, Lewa quickly sprung into action. "Hey, you!" He landed by the criminal and quickly slapped him on the head.

"Don't you know it's dark-rude to laugh-demean women like that?"

The man turned to this new threat, scanned him over, and froze… then he began to guffaw. "Oh, man! So, what're you supposed to be? The Cyborg Conqueror? The Metal Manhunter? The Titanium Totaler? Give me a break!"

Lewa, unsurprisingly, couldn't catch a word of what he was saying, but the tone pretty much told him that he was mocking him. Not cool.

"I didn't understand that, but I'm not exactly a big fan of ridiculing!" Intercepting a shot from the criminal's gun, the Toa turned around, giving himself momentum, and launched into a big kick, forcing him through the air and onto the car.

Also unsurprisingly, the alarm began to go off. Lewa grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Ehehehe… I hope that wasn't yours, sister."

The man, regaining consciousness, groaned and reached for his gun again. "You aren't getting away with this!"

Lewa moved to take him out, but was surprised to find the woman squeezing the criminal's wrist instead.

"Oh- okay! I give! I give!"

"Sorry about that," the woman intoned. "I was just closer. Guess this is your first time on the job, huh?"

The Toa gave a toothy smile in reply.

"Well, thanks. You did pretty good." She turned, hearing sirens, and smiled. "Looks like the police are here to clean up. You're free to go now."

Still not quite catching her speech, Lewa gave thumbs up and turned to leave. Surprisingly, before he could, he was quickly cornered by one of the "poliz," a tall bulky creature wearing strange blue fabric and a funny silver hat. Was it supposed to protect him, like a Glatorian?

The poliz chuckled. "Sorry for bothering you, sir, but we need a few details. You okay with that?"

Lewa scratched his head and gestured that he didn't exactly know.

"Um… can you speak?"

Lewa frowned and gestured that he didn't understand anything.

The poliz seemed to pick up on this quickly. He too gestured, trying to get something out of him. "Do you… know… any other languages?"

It seemed the man wanted to know if he could speak. The warrior laughed. "Of course I can, brother!"

The poliz wasn't too hot about this. "Ah… okay. So you can." He began gesturing again, now apparently curious as to where he had come from. Lewa facepalmed. Not again! He would have to play this carefully, so as not to earn the man's ire and get himself captured and taken to a weird Le-Koro pastiche where the villagers hated any sort of technology and especially the Great Beings-

"Sir!"

Lewa quickly floated back down to earth. He shrugged in apology.

"That's… alright," the poliz said. "So, you came from… the ground?" The Toa pointed to the ocean, then slightly up. "Oh, from the ocean! Okay. A bit weird, but I can buy it." He flipped a small tablet, somehow writing things down. "I just need to know who you are, sir, then we're good."

Lewa scrunched his mouth in thought. It wasn't particularly easy to get letters through speech… but he would have to try. He began frantically gesturing to the man.

"Um… I? L? O… E? Leaf? Oh… V… W… okay… Lewis? No? Loren? Wait… Lewa! Lewa? That's a weird name… you're not from around here, are you?"

Lewa shook his head.

"Ah. You a hero?"

Lewa frowned and indicated that he did not know what that was.

"You know… a superhero!" The poliz said, also gesturing by flying around. "The guys and girls who go around fighting crime, using their powers to help people. Superman? Wonder Woman? Batman?"

The concept… made sense, as the man put it. A guy who flew around and punched people? He did that. The Toa quickly nodded affirmatively.

The poliz closed his tablet and nodded his head as well. "Alright. Cool. One more thing, though… you go by a secret identity? Lewa doesn't exactly feel like a codename."

Said person frowned again.

"I don't exactly know any secret identities, since I haven't read their comic books, but I can tell you they have them… oh, wait! The Elongated Man! That's Ralph Dibny, if you weren't aware. People use names like his so they can keep their loved ones safe. I think he doesn't 'cause his wife's a hero too." The poliz grinned. "Ah, how much fun that must be. I wish I had a wife…"

Lewa tapped the man on the shoulder, hoping to get his attention again. "Oh, sorry! Do you, though? Is there something under that armour?"

Lewa shook his head. He was about to say no to the… identity thing, too, but… it actually seemed like a good idea? He dwelled on this a bit. His friends and brothers were probably very mad at him. In time, they would know that he was here, and come after him. It didn't make sense to go by his regular name, in case they found him and tore him to shreds… and besides, he was so worn out now that he didn't want people to attribute him to his name. So he gave the first answer he could think of.

"Bion… icle? Is that it, then? Wait... Lewa? You have both? I can't help but imagine you as Bionicle, though…" The poliz gaped. "Mind making a decision quick?"

Lewa sighed, not knowing why he had stopped again, then paled.

Oh my. The fangirls.

It was a shame the concept got through to him so quickly. The Toa hadn't even known that Matoran made fanclubs, but lo and behold- when he returned to Metru Nui, he found himself ambushed by dozens, sometimes hundreds of the little people every day. It made no sense. Yes, he was very kind to the Matoran, but why would they return their affection in such a way? The thought confused him… and it, surprisingly, confused the poliz, too, since he quickly stepped out of their way, frantically collecting his tools.

"You'd better go! They're going to go after you now!"

Lewa sighed and nodded, preparing to fly off.

"Wait!" the man called. "What should I call you by?"

The Toa honestly didn't know. He'd picked the two at pure random- Bionicle because it represented his race and Lewa because he remembered hearing it in a dream and thought it added to his usual saying very well. It wasn't expected to stick, so he shrugged.

The poliz grinned, closing his tablet. "Alright then! See you soon!"

Lewa waved and flew off, leaving the chaos behind. Letting the wind and his jets carry him, the Toa thought over the situation. From what he'd gathered, this world had Toa-heroes much like his own, only much more… present. It was obvious their people loved them more, if the fangirl mob was any indication. Yet… criminals seemed to be here, too, and just as prominent. It was confusing… had he swapped worlds, or had the major concepts simply transferred over? He tried to think this over, but frowned; as he was still a little bit tired… he needed to sleep. Choosing the roof of a building to stand on, the Toa lay down and let darkness wash over him.

Malum opened his eyes and scowled.

Where the heck was he?

Had the aliens taken him aboard their ship? That would be a shame. He'd promised the Vorox he would return from his journey with Akhmou as soon as possible… and the thought of never being able to go back was maddening…

"Oh good, you're awake."

Great. Wherever he was, it seemed Akhmou had come along too.

The Matoran sighed. "If you're wondering the same thing I am, then no, I don't think we've been abducted at all." He pointed into the distance. "Looks like we're still on Spherus Magna, if that makes any sense…"

"Why do you think they left us behind?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. Probably think we're no-good thieves-"

"You guys're alrights!"

Things just couldn't get any worse, could they?

"Ugh, my head."

She rubbed said body part, trying to dull the pain that emanated from it. Wait- why was she in pain, anyway? She didn't remember doing anything stupid last night…

Oh, right. The Gordanians.

She wiped her eyes, hoping to get a better view of where the scoundrels had dumped her. To her surprise, things didn't seem to be any different from a normal shelter on Bara Magna- they had thrown her into a small cell, chrome walls and glass door not unlike those which the Fire Tribe used to house visiting Glatorian. She smiled. If things were anything like back home they probably would have squeezed Tarix in here too-

"Kiina!"

"Gresh?"

A further inspection revealed that yes; Gresh from the Jungle Tribe was apparently her cellmate. Kiina facepalmed. Of course… He'd been talking with her and Lewa when that alien had come in and met them all, and he'd been captured along with them when the reptilians came to play. It made sense that they would group the same species together. In that case, though, where were the others?

She turned to her friend. "Where are we?"

"Beats me." Gresh shrugged. "Gordanians threw collars on me and knocked me out. I don't remember a thing- though, by the looks of it, we seem to be on their ship…"

"Yeah… that would make sense. Do you know where the others are? Lewa and the girl?"

The Tesaran's face fell. "Lewa died, remember? He got thrown into the protodermis. Must've been pretty gruesome."

Kiina sobered. "Oh, yeah… don't remind me. What about… what about the other one?"

"Tanika?" Gresh flinched, apparently recalling a bad memory. "Ugh… I think she's cooped up with us, though not in the same cell. Kept banging and screaming about 'zengtha' or something. She seems really, really angry."

"Who wouldn't be? Those bastards killed Lewa. They deserve to pay."

The green Glatorian sighed and moved over to a wall. "Yeah, but to such an extent? They really don't seem that bad… the Skrall would've done worse."

The Tajunan facepalmed. "Right… but we've gotta do something, Gresh! We can't just sit here and let her take it! It was our promise!"

"Believe me, I've tried…" He knocked on the chrome-plated barricade for emphasis. "These things are hard as rock. Can't move them at all. I wish we could save her, Kiina… but don't you think we're pretty helpless at the moment?"

She smiled. "Don't we have elemental powers?"

"Yeah, but what use would those be?"

The female began to pull out her trident, pointing at the door for emphasis. "C'mon, Gresh, we're bustin' out of… here…"

"You… don't have your weapon, do you?"

Kiina panicked. "No… do you?"

Gresh frowned and held up his hands. "If I did, do you think I would've tried?"

"We can't just be stuck here!"

"Sorry, Kiina…" Gresh sighed. "But unless we get another Mata Nui-esque miracle, I think we're sunk."

Tanika was mad. Really, REALLY mad.

Those clorbags had tracked her! And killed her first real friend! And imprisoned the others, all the while making her situation worse! They were going to PAY!

She was trapped in another cell, only this time they had… 'improved' her handicaps. Not only was she alone, solitarily confined, but they had outfitted her in huge metal cuffs, probably inhibitor collars… and they had given her back her crown! HER CROWN! It seemed insulting, putting the thing on her head knowing that she could no longer return to rule Tamaran… no! It was HUMILIATING! She would not STAND for this anymore!

Fully taken by her anger, Tanika SCREAMED. She pounded the wall, looking for a way out, and growled. When she realized that was not working, she reveled in her fury, activated her starbolts, and turned to the door, fully chrome with a small slot the only window to the outside world.

They were all going to PAY!

A couple of Gordanian troops marched through a corridor, inspecting the rutan'gah that the monarchy had acquired. All focus was currently on the Tamaranean, who had recently escaped only to be recaptured, but if one looked a bit closer, there were many interesting species to be found; among them a Slimorg, a mass of purplish slime that could do naught but spray people with its goop; a Matrix, a giant furry beast with massive claws who had gained infamy for killing several high-ranking members of the Army; an a Locrix, a metallic monstrosity which with time would be able to overrun the Stormfront in ten seconds flat.

As mentioned before, though, these finds were nothing compared to the Tamaranean; it appeared her powers had been grossly underestimated, as Private Le'eUrikk had been unfortunate enough to find out. With a blast that leveled her containment unit and killed the officer, she had escaped the ship and fled to a distant planet, Spherus Magna; thankfully, Lord Tro'gaar and his men had been lucky enough to find her and bring her back, restrained enough to stay put. That said, none of the men working the ship wanted to be in eUrikk's place, so they were working overtime to keep the rutan'gah in check.

Walking to the end of the corridor, the two came upon the Tamaranean's cell. It was fairly nondescript; minimal chrome plating and a small glass opening, the perfect indicator of high-level security. The first smiled at that indication; the second was somewhat unsure.

Two other Gordanians, both crossing spears to prevent it from opening, were guarding the door. The two quickly greeted them; they had become familiar with each other during basic training. It was nice to see them in a more relaxed setting as opposed to the chaos that that clusterbomb was.

The first mentioned how a book signing was being conducted at the Citadel in the Private's honour, and asked if the other three wanted to go; the third said this was a good idea, but was more inclined to play some pool instead. The fourth chuckled, prompting the quartet to strike up a group laugh. It was a perfect moment; four friends in work together, shooting the breeze and having good times-

"HUUUAAAAARGHHH!"

Well, if good times involved that, anyway.

It seemed the Tamaranean was pounding the door- probably in anger, of course. Her enclosure had been changed to accommodate this, of course, but all four Gordanians stood at the ready, just in case.

POUND. POUND.

"AAAAAAAAAGHHH!"

Now fully nervous, the first consulted his friends. "The door will hold?"

The second put a hand on his friend's shoulder reassuringly, although he still flinched. "It must-"

"NYYYEEEEEEEEGHHH!"

POUND. POUND. POUND.

"The alien will be delivered on schedule," the third said confidently. "Lord Tro'gaar has commanded it."

POUND. POUND. POUND. POUND.

The fourth lurched. "And… if this thing gets loose?"

The first froze, before slowly sobering. "Then Zorg help us all," he whispered.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

With a thunderous SMASH, the slot unceremoniously broke. Two dangerously neon green eyes rose into view.

Uh oh. She wasn't supposed to be able to do that. The men trembled, knowing that they could very well die.

"If this is to be our last mission," the third said, "then I just want to let you all know it has been fun."

"Aye!"

"Yes."

"Affirmative."

They all froze, cowering in the rutan'gah's wake.

"HUUUAAAAARGHHH!"

CRASH.

The door had been blown off, slot completely broken and lying in pieces on the floor. The fourth took a hesitant step closer, trying to see what had happened in the inky darkness; he quickly jumped back when the eyes blazed into view again, bathing everyone in a bright green light.

"R… rutan'gah?" the first asked reluctantly. "I… I would ask that you stay calm… stay in your cell, please… we mean no harm…"

"Zengtha ru maka!"

A loud clop marked the entrance of the Tamaranean into the hallway.

The second began breathing rapidly. "What do you want? We will give you anything, anything you desire, just do not-"

"KEK ZENGTHA ROR!"

With that, the rutan'gah roared, charging at the men and knocking the second to the wall with a swing of her handcuffs.

"Zengtha ru maka! Kek zengtha ror!"

"Do not try anything stupid, Tamaranean, I swear to Zorg-"

Too late. Screaming incoherently, she swung again and took him and the fourth out. One WHUMP later, the first was the only one left. The rutan'gah coming on to him with a big uppercut, he quickly blocked it with a spear. Heart pounding in his throat, the man attempted to punch her back, but only caused her to slip, breaking his spear. Whoops. In a last-ditch attempt to save himself, the troop brought up his hands menacingly, but was violently kicked in the head towards a nearby control panel, sliding down it and triggering the breakout alarm.

Tanika smiled viciously. It seemed the old adage did apply to her powers after all. Unbridled joy and boundless confidence were obviously not going to get her anywhere, but righteous fury might just have been the key to getting the revenge she so desperately desired…

"Heska vo," the girl whispered in glee.

She was not going to break through the wall again, but Tanika knew she needed to escape quickly. Hijacking a decommissioned fighter, the exile aggressively took the controls and flew off, heading towards the bottom of the ship…

BOOM.

A section of the Stormfront's hull had exploded. Again.

Smirking at the destruction she had caused, Tanika turned to the fighter's control planet to decide where she was going to go. It looked like Mars or Venus might be a good idea, but… she looked back to the massive smoke cloud drifting away from the ship and frowned. No time for that. The closest planet would be the way to go, and that seemed like…

Earth.

A mass of blue and green, more like it.

Sounds like a pretty pathetic planet, the girl thought. But it will have to do.

Commandeering the controls, she quickly told the fighter to make a beeline for the rock… and she was off.

And we begin Part Two with a bang... Literally!

Part One was basically a prologue, if that makes any sense. Or a backstory. This is where the actual meat starts. (Ew. Meat.)

I should probably mention the whole review thing now. Because it's making me anxious. Blah.

First comments!

1. You don't need to be a Nobel Prize winner to figure out where Lewa's washed up. And that I'm going to have severe issues writing the whole language barrier thing. Bear with me here.

2. The Glatorian and Matoran are going to be fine. Mostly.

3. This chapter ends with the cold open of Go!, which will take up a majority of the story from here on. I'm doing that weird thing where you transcribe some stuff from scripts and add more to them, so I hope I won't have any trouble. On that note, big thanks to (which I know is gone, but am accessing through the Wayback Machine, believe it or not. I am a horrible person.)

Read and review... I promise! Things get better!