Heroes of Spherus Magna

by Omicron the IceQueen

With distress signals coming from a odd planet (one in the back water of the known galaxy), mechs are sent to investigate, and of course help. Only to be shot down by unknown forces, they must now work together with the natives, these Bionicle, to not only find out who baited them, but how to get back off the planet safely... and what's that in the shadow there?

9. Little Guide

Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

Heroes of Spherus Magna

Little Guide

Bulk laughed quietly as he nodded and started off. "Alright, off we go then. You gone this way often?"

"Nope! This is even farther than the farthest I've been away without carrier or sire," Takiu said as calmly as if noting the rocks.

"Carrier or sire?" Bulk inquired, stepping over part of the broken ship he'd been in as he went and glancing around for any sign of interesting stuff. "What are those?"

"My caretakers! I was born in another Koro, and fostered here," the boy giggled, "Might as well be my creators, and they gave me this!" Takiu held up his staff, having great pride in it.

"Ah... your parents." The mech remarked, smiling as he thought it over. "I'm sure they're very nice people. They sound like they're really nice."

"Sire's a carver," the native kicked his feet in the air, unable to hold completely still, and in that way he was like the younglings back home for Bulk. "And carrier is the village's best healer!"

Bulk seemed very much interested by this, looking as though he wanted to hear more about the society in general. "Do many people carve for a living?"

"That's what Po-Matoran do, well not all but a lot." Takiu said as he stuffed the light weight lava rock made ball back into his bag. "We're stone Matoran after all, but I don't want to be a carver."

The mech tilted his head slightly. "You're sorted by elements?" He asked, not seeming fully sure how the concept worked.

"Our inner elemental energies." Takiu poked his own heart light, "I don't know about sorting..."

"Ah..." Bulk responded, considering that a bit and trying to make sense of how it went. "... Eh, I'll figure out how that works later." He responded, seeming amused about it despite his confusion. Not to forget that his native host may not know everything yet as he was still pretty young, and seemingly easily distracted at times looking around.

"Where are you from?" the boy asked, poking the silver-grey armor next.

"Me? Oh, I'm from a planet a long ways away from here." The mech explained with a small smile, "Was built in a place called Hero Factory, in Makuhero City." He paused to consider a bit more. "I'm not actually sure how far away it is from here, but it's a long ways to be sure."

"What's a pl...an-et?" Takiu asked, tilting his head as that word didn't translate, and he stumbled over the alien word, "And why would a factory be needed to...make? Heroes aren't made-ed, their destined...or...form...ish...ly...into Toa."

"Planets are other worlds, basically." Bulk responded with amusement. "And... well... Toa aren't the only heroes out there, really. My job is to be a hero and save others who need help. Fight the bad guys, all that stuff."

"Magna!" The Matoran child chirped as he linked the words, then he had an oddly adorable look as the young one thought about what was said, as it was true there was Matoran-Heroes and Glatorians too. "So...it's your duty too? Like the Toa?"

"Yeah, something like that." He agreed, chuckling at the boy's enthusiasm and expression. "It would blow your mind, knowing just how many different worlds there are out there, each with its own unique and special ecosystem and way of life. I've seen planets that are completely water, as well as some that are nothing more than vast cities."

"Aqua Magana was all water, and Bota Magna was just jungle, and Bara Magna was a desert magna before the Great Spirit put the magnas back together." Takiu gasped after that rush of words. "And Turaga says that Mata Nui in his old body used to see and go to far off magnas too! He said that Onu-Metro still has samples and living memories in storage!"

The mech smiled again. "It's a fun thought, isn't it? Who knows? Maybe Mata Nui saw my world at some point. Not sure when, if he ever did, but it is a fun thought to think about."

"It was a really long time ago though," Takiu tilted his head, "He left Bara at the Shattering, Turaga said. Turaga said he didn't come back until the Dark Times with the... the Makuta..." He shivered in a mix of honest fear and the fun terror of mostly safe bedtime stories.

"Makuta?" Bulk asked, seeming confused and rather curious. "What's a Makuta?"

"Makuta are...Makuta!" Takiu rubbed at his arms and held tight to his staff again, "Turaga says they're not all bad, but there's only three left. They're Mata Nui's brother...or...brothers... Makuta make the Rahi that fill the worlds that the Great Spirit makes! But some went bad... and really scarydark, Turaga says Mata Nui's brother got je...jell...jelu... I don't know that word."

"...jealous?" The mech tried, figuring that was probably the right word.

"Yeah that!" Takiu nodded before sounding it out a few times, "Jeal...ous. Jealous."

"Yeah, thought so. Jealousy is something that can show up anywhere in the worlds. Even some Heroes have it." Bulk sighed as he thought it over. "A few Heroes have even gone bad because of it..."

"Like being turned into Shadow Toa?" The boy asked, using what he did know to try and link and thus understand the new concepts.

"...if that means going bad and turning on the people you used to work with, then yeah, I guess so." Bulk responded, thinking it over a bit.

"Turaga said that happened to a lot of Toa too... but only a Toa of Light can save them... but there's not many Toa of light." Takiu sat back up, holding his staff out, "That's one of the reasons I'm going to be one! So Taka of the Toa Nuva isn't alone anymore!"

The mech smiled faintly, though he seemed a little unsure. "At least there's a way to help Shadow Toa. The Heroes that go rogue... they do it of their own choice. My team leader got hit pretty hard because someone from his rookie days went rogue. Now he's a big-time villain causing no end of trouble for everyone else. Stormer made it a personal goal to bring Von Ness down after what happened."

"I think that's becoming a Shadow Hunter..." Takiu softly puzzled aloud and then added, "Maybe he had an infected Kanohi put on him?" the boy offered hopefully, "And you just need to take it off?"

"A what?" Bulk asked. "...Not sure what that is, but no. Von Ness went bad without help. Stormer blames himself for what happened, but he really wasn't the one to blame. He didn't have any choice in what happened that day; all he could do was choose to run, or choose to try and help his team leader. Von Ness chose to abandon them, and the rest of Hero Factory. What he did, nobody could have changed."

"So he became a Dark hunter...ish..." Takiu struggled to grasp this concept of someone going bad by choice but just shy of getting it. Maybe that was a good thing for now.

"Sure, I guess. Not sure what a Dark Hunter is, but hey, it sounds like it suits the situation." The mech replied. "Anyway, this is a pretty dark topic, so let's get back to finding you a Toa, yeah?"

"Okay," Takiu nodded, not having a problem with that at all.

Bulk hummed cheerfully as they proceeded on, his blue optics scanning around for anything potentially worth investigating, or at least asking about. "So... what sort of fun things do you find during your adventures?"

"I like playing Kohlii!" Takiu waved his staff in the air, "And the scavenger hunts when Turaga or the Toa hide things- and looking for where Toa Pohatu is hiding for hugs!"

"Kohlii?" Bulk inquired. "Turaga? What are those? Can't say I've heard of 'em before."

"Turaga is the elder of the village," Takiu giggled looking at the mech, "And Kohlii is the best sport, ever!"

"Ah, I see." He replied, thinking it over a bit while he put things into his own perspective as far as a Turaga went. "Kohlii's a sport, huh? Sounds like fun. Maybe you could show me it sometime, eh?"

"Sure! But it won't be a real game since there's just two of us," The boy said, then realized something, "You need a kohlii staff too, and a shield if you're in the guard position. But you can't touch the ball, that's why you have a stick," Takiu held the staff 'stick' he had so Bulk could see the scoop end, and turned it around so he could also see the hammer end, though that had the fossil talon attached and aiming backwards to mimic something.

The mech considered the staff's features curiously before nodding. "Alright. Hm... Sounds like it's fun. The issue will be getting the right gear for it. The most I've got with me is a ball launcher, and that won't really be good for playing games with."

"I guess if its just play-learning its okay to use your hands..." The Matoran said thoughtfully, poking the fossil to be sure it was staying in place.

Bulk nodded cheerfully. "Sounds fine to me. The trick will be getting everything else we'll need. I don't know what all is needed to play, other than a stick, a ball, and potentially a shield."

"Every Koro has them, and the markets." Takiu nodded happily, "I've been saving widgets to get a shield! Maybe you can use yours to get stuff, or trade?"

"...Widgets?" The mech asked curiously. "...Oh, is that the currency here?" It seemed he didn't really have much to trade or use to buy things. Granted, considering what he'd said about himself, he probably never really had to buy things for himself.

Takiu shifted and pulled out a small bag from his just as small subspace pocket, fishing inside to take out a small, but still big to the boy, gear. It was made of some kind of metal that was and wasn't like anything the mech would have seen before. It was delicately carved with a pattern of lines inside many circles.

"That's a five credit widget! I got that after cleaning carrier's storage jars!"

Needless to say, Bulk was very curious about this oddly shaped piece of metal. "Huh... That looks pretty neat. How many credits do you need for a shield?"

"I don't know, maybe nothing if I find something I can trade it for instead, but if the big ones are 20 credits- and I saved up that much!- than something my size should be less." Takiu explained his plan and logic.

"Sounds reasonable." The mech agreed, thinking it over a bit as he glanced around. "What are the shields generally made out of?" He seemed to be starting to get some form of plan, that may or may not have had to do with the wreckage he'd seemed to have showed up with.

"They can be made from a lot of stuff! Metal, Protodermis, rock, but I want a wood one since its lighter and I can't afford a Protodermis one..." The boy put his bag of widgets away very carefully.

"Wonder if that wreck I arrived in could be used as material to build things like that." Bulk mused, considering the situation. "It wouldn't just be 'decorating' the landscape then, and it could be used for something useful... possibly even trade material."

"But I'm not strong enough to carry anything yet, I'm still little," Takiu pouted, he was after all barely above knee high to the mech. "I can't even lift anything as big as me."

The mech chuckled in amusement. "Ah, but I can carry some of it, can't I? I may as well be useful while I'm here, and helping you out, as well as clearing up debris, is counted as being useful."

"But there's a lot of stuff in the wahi!" Takiu pushed at Bulk's head to change direction up a hill now, and once up there pointed back the way they came.

The Hero now could see in full the long debris trail left by the crashing ship, spanning several miles and not all in one single trail but paced and spread out

The mech turned as Takiu pushed at him, not putting up a fuss as he did so. However, he stopped and stared at the trails of debris. "Whoa... my team could be anywhere out there... I wonder if Stormer survived... he wasn't with us when the rest of the ship broke... I wonder if anyone survived..."

"Stormer?" The boy echoed, puzzling but only thinking of the Toa of fire Storm.

"Yeah." Bulk replied, though his gaze remained on the trails of debris. "... Preston Stormer, the leader of Alpha Team. Best team leader to ever be created in Hero Factory, I say. Impossible to miss too; his armor's white as snow unless something get him dirty, and even then he's hard to miss."

"Pris...ton?" Takiu stumbled over the completely new word, "How many were with you? Team...like a normal toa team?"

"Hm? Oh, there's six of us on Alpha Team." Bulk responded with a small smile. "It'd just been three of us until a while ago. That was when Breez, Furno, and Surge got assigned to the team. There's other Hero teams too, but for Alpha team, it's just us six."

"Like a Toa team!" Takiu marveled, now looking just at Bulk as he held on. "Are you elementals too?"

Bulk raised an optic ridge. "Elemental? As in, able to control things with a flick of my hand? Nah, not really. We do, however, get weapons that can mimic something like that... well, the others do anyway. I stick to a ball launcher. Stormer though, he's got a fancy weapon that lets him shoot out ice that freezes over someone's arm on contact, and it also lets him create an ice sword. Then there's Surge, who's got shock blasters. Those can be handy. Furno's got a fire weapon of some sort, Stringer's got a sonic blast gun, and Breez... I'm still working on figuring out how her air boomerang thing works."

"What's a ball launcher?" Takiu asked, mentally chewing though everything else said, "Is it like a Kanoka disk launcher, or the... thorax launcher the Glatorian use?"

"Uh... not really sure what those are." Bulk responded, reaching into his subspace and pulling out a large weapon that seemed to take his whole arm to support. In fact, it seemed to be wrapped fully around his arm, as though turning the appendage into a weapon.

"Here, this is what I use." He remarked with a small smile. "It shoots out large balls of metal at whatever my target is really, really fast."

"Of metal?" the boy echoed as he basically crawled over the mech's head and shoulders to get a look, "Like, pop-bang or pop-whack?"

The mech started to laugh, reaching over with his free hand and popped out one of the large metal balls he used as ammunition. "More like pop-ouch." As for the ball, it appeared to be around the size of a softball, if not a bit larger.

The young Po-Matoran leaned forward, reaching out for the ball with curiosity and want to see and explore in what Bulk would find was a rather normal hands-on way. With this boy in particular, and the Matoran in general.

Bulk was more than happy to let the boy look at and hold the ball. "You can have it if you want. I've got loads more where that came from."

Going by the sheer weight of the ball, Takiu would've been able to tell that this ball was made of solid metal, through and through. Definitely a heavy duty piece of ammunition.

"Oof!" The boy dropped his Kohlii stick to hang onto it, and then Takiu lost his balance and started to fall forward over Bulk's chest with a squeak.

The mech reacted right away, catching the staff with his fingers, and then catching Takiu so he didn't get hurt. "Sorry, probably should've told you it was heavy. You alright, Takiu?"

"I can see your armor now!" came a slightly muffled but not completely yip, the Po-Matoran dangling upside-down where he was basically pined against Bulk's chest to keep from falling, "Very shiny." He added as if this was all according to the plan.

Bulk blinked at that before chuckling and kneeling so he could set the boy safely on the ground. First though, he put his gun away so he could use both hands, carefully putting the young native upright and setting him down. "Sorry 'bout that."

The ball dropped in the process, Takiu staring down at it until his kicking feet touched as well, then with a determined huff and stubborn side of the Po-Matoran, stooped to get a hold. He tried for a good half minute before getting the solid thing up to his center of gravity. It seemed to be a test of stubbornness between child and ball, as Takiu chirped in somewhat strained victory, then dropped it again. "I did it!"

The mech laughed quietly as he watched with amusement, seeming highly entertained. "So you did. Good job, kiddo; wasn't sure if you'd be able to lift it that high after it was on the ground. All that climbing and adventuring is getting you nice and strong, isn't it?" As he said this, he reached over and picked up the metal ball, rolling it absently in his palm while he watched Takiu.

The boy puffed up at the praise, "You really think so?" He deflated a little again at seeing how effortless Bulk lifted the ball and grasped at his free fingers in order to look.

"I do indeed." The mech responded, smiling in amusement as he watched the child's reactions. "And you know what? I think that, when you're all grown up, you'll be able to heft this thing around as easily as I can, if not easier."

Little did the Hero know, at least until he met a Po-Matoran, what adult male Matoran, let alone the stone types were able to do.

For now, the child was wide eyed, the tri-colors bright even in the daylight, "Will you be here to see me?"

"Well, that depends on what happens." Bulk responded, shrugging as he thought it over. "But if I'm still around and able, I'll make sure to do that. I want to see you be stronger than me someday, because I know you can probably get yourself tougher than me. I can't make myself stronger after all."

"Why can't you too?" Takiu asked, looking up and his puff-ness was put on hold.

"I don't exactly have a muscle structure like yours." He explained, shifting and moving his armor just a little so Takiu could see the framework and wiring underneath. "My strength is dependent on what happens in here, and behind my chestplate. I can't train to get stronger. The only way for me to get tougher is get upgraded."

"Upgrade?" Takiu echoed, putting his hands on the new type of metal and peeking in where allowed, and then at the armor itself. He touched the visible stress lines, "Doesn't these hurt?"

"Those lines? Nah, not really. Not unless you put more pressure on them." Bulk responded. "For the moment it just feels like you're leaning on me. It almost tickles a little, actually." He then grimaced. "As for upgrading? ... Not a whole lot. I haven't had any massive upgrades yet, but so far the most that happens is a bit of twinging." He grimaced a bit. "I haven't needed a full-body upgrade before though... not many people get those, and I've heard they can hurt a bit."

"I hope you don't need one if it hurts," Takiu worried, tucking his hands behind his back.

The mech offered Takiu a reassuring smile. "Part of me hopes so too, kiddo. But think of it this way; with that brief moment of pain... if I do get a full upgrade like that... think of how many more people I could help because of being better equipped, and stronger. Sometimes pain is a necessary part of our lives, and if all I need is to spare... oh, an hour at the most, feeling hurt, in order to protect that many more people... I'm not afraid to face it. It would mean I could protect tons of other kids, some your size, some different, that much better."

Takiu thought his words over, and Bulk could see that the boy was chewing it out mentally. "So... sometimes ouches are worth it? But how do you know..." He tailed off, thinking of the stories he heard.

"That's the problem with some ouches." The veteran Hero responded. "You just don't know. But hey, let's not dwell on that, okay? We've got more entertaining things to focus on than ouches."

"But you need to see a Ga-Matoran," Takiu said pointing at the stress marks, "Carrier said to find a healer if I find those on me or someone else."

"I don't know if I'll be able to heal the same way, Takiu." Bulk responded, glancing at the marks and grimacing a bit. "I don't have a shred of organic material to me at all. I'm wires, metal, and a few other things like that. Closest thing to organic that I've got is my Hero core."

"But Matoran aren't all organic," Takiu said holding his arms out, "I'm just little, and sire has more armor and metal then carrier does."

"I'm not a Matoran though." The mech reminded him, indicating his wiring before closing his armor up, making sure Takiu wouldn't get pinched in it somehow as he did so. "I was built in a factory. If there was any part of me that was organic..." He paused to think about it before smiling a bit. "Well, that would be something new and adventurous, wouldn't it?"

"It's still not healthy..." The boy said, still worried, and climbed up the kneeling Hero to hug him around the neck. "Po-Koro's not that far away."

"Well, if you figure we can find someone who can help me," Bulk replied, shifting and carefully hugging the boy in return. "We can head towards Po-Koro and see what we can do. If you want to keep exploring though it's just fine; I've been through a lot worse than this." He smiled as he said that, as though going through a ship crash hadn't been a big deal even if it looked like it.

The Matoran child looked around and held on, "Exploring can wait, or explore on the way back. But I don't think you would go on another adventure with lines, or if you're friends are missing."

"Very well then, we'll head to Po-Koro." The mech confirmed. "... Who knows? Maybe one of my friends showed up there while you were out here with me."

"Maybe Toa Pohatu or Hewkii found them?" Takiu offered, looking to where they had come from, and then glanced upwards as movement caught his eyes, but it was way up there.

"It would be a nice surprise to be sure." Bulk agreed, glancing around before moving to stand up, though he gave Takiu plenty of time to either let go or scramble back onto the mech's shoulders if he wanted to.

He seemed content to hang on and cling like a brown barnacle, but pointed to his prized kohlii stick and talon so not to be forgot. Takiu still had his bag on over his shoulder. The mech couldn't help but chuckle at this, and as such put one arm underneath the boy to help support him in his clinging, and reached down to pick up the child's Kohlii staff with the other.

"There we go." He remarked, smiling as he fully stood up. "Okay, which direction are we headed in?"

"Back, to the trail of weird metals until you see the great temple dome in the distance," the boy said, pointing back down the hill.

"Great temple dome... Alright. Not sure what the great temple is, but hey, it sounds big so it'll probably be easy to spot." As he said this, he started off in the direction indicated, humming as he went.

As for Takiu, he'd have felt warmth where Bulk's core plate was, warm and rather enjoyable to touch. The self proclaimed to be chronicler and Toa stared at the emblem. He poked it with that harmless child curiosity, no harm was remotely, just seemingly attracted to the living energy.

Bulk seemed surprised, and curious about the gesture, chuckling in amusement as he remarked. "Cool, isn't it? The source of my energy, and just ability to live in general, rests beneath that odd plate. I can probably show you what's behind the plate later, but you can't touch it, alright?"

"Like a heart light?" Takiu asked, looking down at his own in the middle of his chest that was glowing yellow.

"Hm... Not fully sure. Could be though." Bulk replied "think of it like a heart, and a battery, among a couple other things."

"What's a battery?" He said the word slowly, as the translation stone didn't have a linked word for it, yet.

"An energy source." The mech clarified, smiling a bit as he considered it. "Engines have batteries, or battery-like things in them to keep them running, and able to start up when someone needs whatever machine they're trying to work with."

The boy blinked both sets of lids a few times, trying to find a link and only came up with two, "Like solar energy or a power stone?"

"A power stone." Bulk remarked, smiling and seeming relieved that there was something he could equate it to. "That sums up my core nicely. Though I'm not sure if power stones here need to be recharged sometimes."

"Some of them you have to leave in the sun for a day, or even a year!" Takiu nodded, shifting in Bulk's hold, "Or you have to wait for a lightning storm... I don't like those, its scary and I heard it sounds like what happens when a Toa is mad..."

"I take it Toa can get pretty scary when they're upset?" The mech inquired, his curiosity seeming to be leading him to asking about it.

"I don't think a Toa has been mad-mad for a really long time!" Takiu added, looking up.

Bulk smiled at that. "Well, that's probably a really good thing. By the sounds of it, nasty stuff can happen when they get legitimately angry."

"Toa are the elements!" Takiu said, looking around and back to the mech. "I did see when Toa Pohatu and Onua close the Tare though!"

"Oh?" The mech asked, his expression showing interest and obvious curiosity. "What was it like?"

"Boom!" The Matoran child threw out his arms and waved them about, and it was a good thing that Bulk had a hold of him, as well. And being the one to hold the staff or Takiu might have either fallen down or bonked the mech in the head a few times. "We heard it all the way back at the great temple! And there was this giant ~fwoosh!~ of rocks and earth and big boulders up in the air! And the temple was shaking from the bio-quake and someone said that it was felt all those bios away to Vulcanus and- and even Metru Nui!"

The veteran Hero blinked, but grinned at the enthusiasm, seeming highly entertained by Takiu's elaborate storytelling. "Wow... sounds like that was an amazing display to be sure. A tremor like that... wow... just wow..."

Takiu giggled and hid his masked face against the silver armor for a moment, "I think they woke up the Great Spirit from his nap...but we didn't see the Nuva for a whole eight-day."

"They were probably plum tuckered out." Bulk remarked with a laugh. "I wouldn't blame them either; fixing a planet would be a lot of hard work."

"But that's when I saw Him..." Takiu added, even just remembering he had an awed tone. Tri-colored eyes wide.

"Saw who?" The mech inquired.

"Taka Nuva," the boy breathed, "He's like and not like the story carvings. The Toa of light is as big as Onua! And he had a staff of light too!"

"I... don't exactly know how big that is, but I'll assume it's really big." Bulk remarked, seeming amused and curious all at once.

Takiu tried to think of how to explain, and finally came up with, "Sire's almost as big as you, and he didn't even come up to Toa Taka's knee."

That seemed to be a reasonable size scale demonstration, because Bulk's optics seemed to widen in surprise. "They're... they're THAT big? Some of the villains I've fought are that big! How big are the sorts of things your Toa have had to fight?"

"Taka had to fight the Makuta, and the rest of the Nuva," the boy blinked innocently. The sheer size of his heroes and guardians was something Takiu and his people were used to, and welcomed by Matoran culture. "Turaga says that some of the old bad Rahi were that big or bigger."

"I don't know how big a Makuta is, or what a Rahi is, but by the sounds of it, I'd be a metal Frisbee if one of them stepped on me." He remarked, seeming highly intrigued, and perhaps a little unnerved. Only slightly, mind you.

"I only saw the carving on the Chronicle Wall. The two big Makuta are on it, they're all that's left," the boy looked up, and deciding to take Bulk to the temple to see the stories. He looked up at movement above, blinking and squinting, having to close the inner lid to cut out the glare from the sun.

---

Reviews!

Dreamer Rose
Omicron: I'm glad you like it! Takiu is such fun to write, but omg if you had to deal with an active 'young' matoran of sixteen that's all over the place

Species Unknown
Omicron: Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell Takiu! Let him dream

Autobot Phoenix
Omicron: Thank you!

Shimmer Mane
Omicron: I hope we didn't kill with cute in this [though that's my alternative motive...]