(A/N): We've got another adaptation of the Bohrok Online Animations this time around, this one all about the floods of Onu-Koro! As a kid, this serial event was always my favorite - it solidified Nuparu as one of my favorite characters, laid the seeds that would eventually blossom into me wanting to become an engineer, and overall just made my ten-year-old jaw drop. So you just KNOW I had to cover it in this story, and put my own spin on it with RWBY characters involved! (If there's one regret I have about Destiny's Divide and how it turned out, it's that Ruby and Nuparu never did get a chance to be engineering buddies…thankfully, they get a chance to do that here!)
Enjoy!
(Minor content warning regarding panic attacks and mental breakdowns, though - mostly with regards to Ruby. Drew on some of my own real-world experiences with anxiety for this one, sad to say.)
"Everyone, evacuate Onu-Koro! The floods are coming!"
Ruby's heart pounded in her chest and throat as she leapt on top of an abandoned rocky hut, waving Crescent Rose frantically as she shouted. Normally she'd be carving through Grimm or Bohrok with her scythe, but right now it was being used for a far more mundane purpose: directing the flow of fleeing Onu-Matoran as they scrambled through the streets of their underground village. The walls of the cavern rumbled softly, both from the footfalls of the near-frantic stampede and from the distant waters inching closer with each passing second. Neither one helped dispel the pit of unease growing in her gut.
"Head for Onepu and Taipu at the exit tunnel!" she shouted, ignoring how hoarse her voice felt from the constant yelling. "They'll seal it once everyone's on their way to Po-Wahi! Leave behind anything that isn't absolutely necessary - it'll just slow you down, and whatever you're carrying isn't worth more than your life! Hurry, people!"
Fortunately, the Onu-Matoran were a lot more sensible and willing to follow directions than rowdy rioters on Remnant. Some of them protested at first - like Zemya, who tried to bring three entire packs full of glittering gems to "trade for essential supplies" - but eventually everyone was running uphill and making their way into the northern exit tunnel. A Matoran in a purple Pakari was similarly shouting orders from atop his matching Ussal crab, while a miner with a tan body and black Ruru hefted a very large boulder across his shoulders at the top of the underground slope. All in all, it was an efficient evacuation…or at least, as efficient as an evacuation arranged in less than a day could be.
The little rose keyed her Scroll with the press of a finger to call her partner Toa, who - thanks to the near-limitless ingenuity of Doctor Polendina - now had a Scroll of her very own. "Gali, how are things on your end? Are you doing okay down there?"
"Well enough, little one," said Gali in a very strained voice. "I am able to keep the floods halted with my power…but the Gahlok are crafty. Far too often they have tried to dig new tunnels around my elemental blockade, in an attempt to bypass me entirely. It has taken a great deal of concentration on my part to stop the flow in its tracks, and that is to say nothing of the sheer volume of water I am attempting to hold. The pressure alone feels as though I am fighting against the ocean itself…"
"You won't have to push back for much longer," she answered in as comforting a voice as she could manage. "We're almost done evacuating - just a few more Matoran need to get in the tunnels. I'm gonna head over to Onepu and Taipu now. We should be giving the signal in a few minutes!"
"Understood, Ruby. I will give you as much time as I can. Be safe!"
"You too!"
With that she stowed her weapon and took off running in a burst of rose petals, zooming over the heads of a few scattered Onu-Matoran and landing next to the Ussalry Captain. "Is this everyone?" she asked as the black-and-purple villagers raced past her.
"Nobua…Tehutti…Aiyetoro…" Onepu did a quick check against his slate, then nodded. "Yep! That should be everyone! Taipu, drop the rock and -!"
"No wait!" Taipu cried, his words strained and punctuated by servos whining in protest. "Nuparu ran back out while you were arguing with Zemya! He said he left some equipment in his hut!"
"Seriously?!" The purple Matoran threw up his hands. "That's the third time he's gone back for something! What could he possibly be trying to do?"
"I don't - whoa!" After almost losing his grip on the boulder, Taipu shook his head. "I don't know! I couldn't exactly ask him before he ran off!"
After growling in frustration, Onepu produced a sound-amplifying shell from his Ussal's saddle and aimed it towards the abandoned village. "Nuparu! Unless you suddenly learned how to swim, get back here!"
A lone Onu-Matoran scrambled out of a hut with a clumsy yelp, nearly stumbling over as he carefully balanced a backpack that was almost as big as he was. It would have been a comical sight if there wasn't impending danger…and if Ruby's Scroll didn't ring with a desperate Gali on the other end.
"RUBY!" shrieked the Toa of Water. "They are breaking through my blockade! You must get out of there now! I cannot hold them back any -!"
A loud burst of static nearly blew out her eardrums, and then there was silence from her Scroll. Her breath hitched as the worst-case scenario filled her mind, but there wasn't much time for her to worry about the Toa of Water. The trembling floor and walls marked the arrival of a much bigger problem - one that spilled out of every tunnel leading into Onu-Koro.
Ruby's breath hitched as walls of water rushed into the underground village, unstoppable waves of fury and foam that carried carnage and Bohrok in their depths. Lightstones were shattered into glowing splinters by the sheer impact. Empty huts were torn apart or buried in the flood, their contents scattered across the surface and the depths. And anything else standing freely in the village was consumed by the tide, lost in murky dark waters.
That included Nuparu, who despite his best attempts could not outrun the waves that swept him off his feet.
"NO!"
Before either Onepu or Taipu could stop her she took off in a burst of rose petals, taking as deep a breath as she could manage before plunging underwater. Unlike the open ocean, the underground waves were dark and turbulent and bitterly cold; muffled grunts escaped her lips with each piece of debris that crashed into her, knocking her senseless and depriving her of much-needed air and Aura. Nevertheless, through her goggles she managed to pick out the Matoran-shaped object flailing desperately to reach the dwindling air pocket above. With another pulse of her Semblance she scooped up Nuparu and kicked up to the churning surface, poking both faces out just enough to sputter and take shrill gasps.
"Ruby!" cried Taipu. "Nuparu!"
"Close the tunnel!" she choked out through a mouthful of water as it continued to rise. "Close it now! We'll find another way over to -!"
Something snagged on her ankle and dragged her down before she had a chance to fill her lungs, pulling her under with enough force to rip Nuparu from her arms. Ruby tightened her throat and looked down to free herself from whatever debris had ensnared her, only to let out a muted shriek as she saw a massive cobalt hook squeeze her limb like a vice grip. The beady eyes of a Gahlok Va peered up at her through the darkness, and no matter how much she kicked at its fin-shaped faceplate it refused to let go.
Growling up a storm of bubbles she drew Crescent Rose, shifted it into harpoon launcher mode, and aimed it at the stupid little bug trying to drown her. But before she could pull the trigger, something collided into her side. Hard.
WHAM!
"Nghhbl!"
CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT…
The world around Ruby grew hazy and dark as the jaws of a Gahlok pinned her against the cavern wall, knocking the wind out of her in every sense of the word. Her weapon was torn out of her hands. The arm that reached for Naho-Gahi was trapped under a sharp shield. Her remaining fist slammed in a panic against an unmoving glassy faceplate. Her chest screamed for air. Her grunts of exertion became little more than pitiful whimpers.
LET GO OF ME! She grit her teeth and kept fighting and kicking no matter how slow her motions grew. Let go! Let…me…go…
Just as her arms and legs started to fall limp, a heavenly sound reached her ears.
KA-CHUNK!
A muted thump echoed through the waters as a metal spear punched through the Gahlok's head, penetrating the faceplate and the Krana all in one desperate shot. Ruby snapped back to awareness and pushed away the floating Bohrok wreck, silver eyes straining to find where the shot came from. As it turned out, Nuparu had managed to snatch up Crescent Rose and fire a harpoon at her attacker, and was now pointing at a nearby gash in the wall that had bubbles slowly trickling from its entrance.
There's an air pocket on the other side! thought Ruby desperately. It's a tight squeeze, but I can make it with Nuparu if I Petal Burst and grab him on the way over. Just gotta get there without drowning first…
Clutching her throat and fighting the urge to black out, the little rose kicked off the wall and pulsed her Semblance one more time - sweeping up Nuparu, Crescent Rose, the steel cable, and the Bohrok wreckage all in one storm of rose petals that surged through the flood.
She'd just barely managed to slip through the crack when her concentration finally gave out, making her and her passengers tumble into the cave with a painful splat.
Ruby gasped and sputtered before launching into a violent coughing fit, curling up into a drenched little ball as she struggled to get her breathing back under control. She cleared her throat and filled her lungs, then pushed her goggles back onto her forehead and took a look at her dim, damp surroundings. Her Semblance had taken them through the crevice and into what seemed to be a supply cave, one that held old mining equipment and broken carts and dusty pickaxes and a single flickering lightstone. But most of the details were overshadowed by the puddle of water pooling around her - and the stream of that same water trickling through the crevice she'd just squeezed through, threatening to slowly flood their newfound sanctuary.
Nuparu, in contrast to the breathless Huntress, didn't seem too worried about the crack. He set Crescent Rose down and pulled something off his back, a strange rifle as long as his arm with coal-black plating and a wide cylindrical barrel. He snapped a marble canister into a slot with a solid click, pointed the business end at the leaky crevice, and squeezed a stud near the handle. A blinding beam, one as red as roses and hot as the sun, shot forward and struck the stone with a high-pitched whine, boiling away the incoming water and making the rocks glow with volcanic colors. The engineer traced the beam up along the length of the crack before powering down his tool, revealing a glowing orange seam where the opening used to be.
When the stone cooled a few seconds later, no more water dared invade their cave.
"That should keep the flood from getting in, and the air from getting out." Nuparu gave a slight cough and pulled out a lightstone of his own, adding further light to the cave and revealing its dusty, abandoned contents in full. Casting one more look at the impaled Bohrok, he finally turned and looked at the waterlogged Huntress with a slightly guilty expression. "Thanks for the save back there, Ruby…and sorry for getting into trouble in the first place."
"L-likewise," she wheezed as she slowly rolled back to her feet, wiping away the saliva and seawater dribbling down her chin. After taking one more deep breath for good measure, her silver eyes fell on the tool in the Matoran's hand. "I'm guessing that's what you went back for?"
Nuparu nodded as he brought his black-plated rifle up for closer inspection. "Yep. It's a prototype mining laser that Penny helped me put together, shortly after your return to Remnant." He was clearly smiling with pride behind his orange Pakari. "I never thought to use the ambient heat generated by concentrated light before…but under our Maiden's guidance, and a lot of experimentation, the two of us came up with this. Not only can the laser blast apart solid rock faster than a pickaxe, it can even weld them back together. With one of these a miner could seal up Kofo-Jaga nests, plug toxic gas leaks, reinforce weakened cavern walls…the possibilities are endless. And the best part is -"
"It's also a gun?" Ruby guessed with a pained giggle.
"…well, I was going to say that it's all powered by a simple heatstone." The Onu-Matoran engineer chuckled. "But I guess it could be used as a weapon, too, if you wanted. Not that it'll do much more than scorch the surface of Bohrok armor…the beam's not powerful enough for that. Not yet, at least…"
Before she could speak, the sound of shifting stones clattered and bounced off the walls of the cave. Despite being waterlogged and breathless she rolled to her feet and took up a combat stance, one hand already reaching for Naho-Gahi on her back. But when the far wall came tumbling down after a few tense moments, it wasn't the glowing orange eyes of the Gahlok that greeted them.
Instead, it was a black and tan Matoran launching himself at her in a high-velocity hug.
"RUBY!"
"ACK WAIT TAIPU I'M NOT - OOF!"
No amount of warning could have prepared her for the weight of the little digger crashing into her, squeezing her tightly and knocking her right back onto the damp floor. Instinctively she returned the embrace and held firmly to a metallic torso, doing her best to ignore the flood of bittersweet memories that flooded into her mind at the sensation. After Taipu finally withdrew and let her get back into a sitting position, Ruby turned just in time to see a violet-shelled Ussal crab skitter into sight; its rider disembarked with a heavy mechanical sigh, patting his steed and smiling behind his purple Pakari.
"Good work on clearing the wall, Kiki. Take a rest for now, old girl - you've earned it."
The Ussal complied with a purr and a soft chitter, nestling into a sitting position by pulling her legs into her shell. Ruby refrained from cooing and squealing and showering the big metal crab with kisses and scratches, opting instead to watch the other villagers. Onepu greeted Nuparu with a harsh glare and a firm nod, which Nuparu sheepishly answered with a nod of his own, while Taipu was practically a ball of energy that bounced on his feet as he looked around.
"It's so good to see that you're okay!" exclaimed the little digger. "Oh, Nuparu's here too! That's good! And so's a Bohrok - AAH! A BOHROK!"
It was almost comical how quickly Taipu put his fists up in defense, only to trip over the inch-high layer of water sloshing around his heels. Onepu just chuckled and walked over to the cobalt-blue husk that lay in the corner of the cave, assuaging both the fears of his Ussal and his friend by yanking out the harpoon with one solid pull. A splatter of oily orange fluid sprayed from the hole in the Gahlok's jaw, and the servos briefly jerked in protest, but there were no other signs of life or awareness within the metal beast. The mangled rubbery brain barely even flinched as the barbed spearhead tore itself free, and for that Ruby was grateful.
"That's one Krana who won't be crawling back under the rock it came from," remarked Onepu, turning to face the Huntress. "And without a Bohrok Va nearby to slot in a new one, this monster's not going anywhere. Your handiwork, I presume?"
"Nuparu's, actually," admitted Ruby as she gathered up her beloved sniper-scythe and reeled the barbed spear back into place. "I must've grabbed the Gahlok wreck when I zipped me and Nuparu to safety…my Semblance can pick up all kinds of things if I'm not careful." She flashed the engineer a grin. "Nice shot back there, by the way - not many people can just pick up and fire Crescent Rose like that, especially in the middle of a raging flood. She's, ah…not exactly the most accessible weapon…"
"A good engineer lives or dies by figuring out how best to use a new tool, no matter the environment or stakes." Nuparu gave a deep bow of admiration. "But of course, a large part of what makes a good engineer is their tools, as well as the quality and care put into them. In that vein, I can say with certainty that Crescent Rose is a magnificent marvel of machinery and mayhem, unlike anything I've ever seen before. She's a fine weapon, as sharp as the mind that dreamed her and as strong as the hands that built her."
The little rose twirled one damp lock of hair around her finger. "…aw shucks, you're gonna make me blush…that mining laser of yours is pretty cool too…"
Onepu cleared his throat as he looked between the two. "Regardless, it's good to see that you two found safe enough shelter. We thought for sure the floods - or worse, the Bohrok themselves - had claimed you both."
"They almost did," admitted Ruby, whose smile started falling as the implications dawned on her. "I'm glad you guys are okay too, but…what are you doing here? I thought you'd be out in Po-Wahi with the rest of the Onu-Matoran right now."
"We would be, but the tunnel collapsed just after we dropped the boulder." Taipu shook his head, his previous enthusiasm fading as quickly as it came. "Aftershocks…all that water striking a wall at once does more than just surface damage, it rattles the stone and rock up to kios away, weakening any existing faults or cracks. Onepu and I got separated from the rest of the evacuees by a bad landslide…but it weakened the walls between your cave and ours, at least."
Nuparu looked at the weld seam in the rocky barrier, the only thing keeping the floods back for the moment. "Not that it helps much, being all together in one side cave. If you thought it was safer to branch out instead of dig through the landslide, I can only assume that the damage to the main shaft is worse. With rubble on one side, and water on the other…"
"…we're trapped." Ruby did her best to keep her breathing in check as she fumbled for her Scroll, desperate to call someone to help save them. But the piercing tone and the flash of red anytime she tried tapping a friendly face taunted her, blowing out her eardrums and filling her silver eyes with tired and frantic tears.
NO SIGNAL.
Panic swelled in her chest.
No. No no no.
An invisible collar of shock and shadow coiled itself around her throat, squeezing hard enough to send pins and needles running down her skin. She wasn't claustrophobic - certainly not to the degree that her friend Coco was - but since when had her fear and trauma ever been rational? Especially after almost drowning yet again…especially after being away from all the people she loved yet again…
Not now. I can't have a panic attack now. We don't have the air for that. We don't have the time for that.
Her hands trembled and her lower lip shuddered. She tried to take one deep breath. Two deep breaths. Each inhale and exhale felt like she was trying to fill a balloon submerged in cement, with similarly effective results.
Breathe from the gut…out through the mouth…why isn't it working?!
Nuparu tilted his head as he watched the nearly-hyperventilating Huntress. "Ruby? Talk to us. Use your words. What's wrong?"
The voice was enough to ground her, to help her focus just a little bit - enough to speak, at the very least.
"I…" she mumbled, lips feeling numb as she forced out every word. "I can't…I can't get a signal. I can't call for help. I can't…I can't do anything…we're stuck in here…"
"Not for long," countered Onepu in an attempt to be reassuring. "This is hardly the first time we Onu-Matoran have been stuck in a cave-in, and I doubt it'll be the last. Why, Taipu used to get himself stranded in the Great Mine twice every moon!"
"It's true!" chirped the digger. "One time I even dug my way out with my bare hands! Turaga Whenua found me passed out on top of a rock pile!"
She shook her head in numb disbelief. How could they all be so calm about this? How was she supposed to be calm about this?!
"See? It's not the end of our tales, Ruby. It's perfectly okay -"
"NO IT ISN'T!"
The force of her own scream surprised even her. Almost as much as it surprised the Onu-Matoran, whose hearing were all far more sensitive than her own. Unable to contain the panicking thoughts that rose to the surface of her mind, Ruby got to her feet and started pacing restlessly with sharp, shallow breaths that failed to calm her down.
"Nothing is okay right now!" she protested. "Everything's been going wrong ever since we got here…ever since I got here! I can't dig like you guys! I can't use Gali's mask powers! I can't get us out of here! I can't even save myself from one stupid Bohrok trying to drown me! A-and now you guys are all trapped and miserable and worried because I…because I…"
Dammit. She knew she had to calm down. She knew this wasn't helping. But what else was she supposed to do? What else could she do?!
A frustrated growl escaped her lips as she pulled on her bangs. "It's all wrong! We were supposed to come here and help fix things, but all we've done is make it worse! We can barely slow down the Bohrok, or save people, or win any fights! Ta-Koro's in ruins, Po-Koro's abandoned, you guys just got your home flooded, and Lewa's entire village is under the control of those…those awful things! Nora and Neo almost died, Gali's in trouble, Qrow's being stubborn, Ren's avoiding us, and we can't even go home or call for backup because Penny's -!"
There it was. The real key to all her anger and frustration and sorrow, hidden underneath layers of armor and fatigue. With the dam finally broken she stopped her pacing, slammed her back against a craggy wall, sank to her knees, and wept bitterly.
"Penny's…gone…" she wailed mournfully, too tired to fight the tears that had been building up for days. "I don't know where she is…or what happened to her. I don't want to lose her again…I can't lose her again."
Taipu finally dared to approach, laying a metallic hand on her shuddering shoulder. "Oh, Ruby…we understand. We're all worried about her. We all want to see her come back safe. Nobody's blaming you for feeling like that - or for missing her."
"I know," she sniffled. "It's just…I miss her. I miss her so much. But so does everyone, like you said…so I've been trying so hard to keep it together for everyone else's sake. Trying so hard to be hopeful and strong, just like a Huntress should be. But every time I think about her, I can't stop worrying that she might be…she could be…"
Her body wouldn't even let her finish the morbid thought before another wave of sobs rang out. Ruby buried her face into her hands.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I keep ruining everything…"
"I wouldn't say that."
Bloodshot eyes of silver looked up at Nuparu, who was staring at the ground with a somber expression. His grip tightened on the mining laser, hugging it to his chest like a security blanket.
"The only reason we're in this situation right now is because of me," he said as he shook his head slowly. "You dove into the Bohrok-infested waters to save me. Onepu and Taipu had to delay sealing up the tunnel because of me. The entire village evacuation was derailed, and our people were endangered, all because I couldn't let the work Penny and I did together be destroyed by those damned bugs. You didn't get us into this mess, Ruby. I did."
Onepu sighed as he stepped forward, his Ussal cooing and brushing a claw against his leg. "Please, if anyone here should bear the blame, it should be me. I should have been doing a better job keeping track of my people…the people I swore to protect, as the right hand of Turaga Whenua. Had I been paying more attention, I'd have noticed you slipping out and stopped you, maybe even gotten a chance to talk some sense into you. Perhaps then, we could have made it to Po-Wahi before the tunnel entrance collapsed."
"But I was the one who should've realized that it could collapse," protested Taipu, resting his mask against Ruby's shoulder. "I dug the tunnel to the surface myself, all those centuries ago - it was one of the first things I ever did for the village. I'm usually a lot better at making sure they're safe, and stable, and able to resist tremors like that. I even did an inspection of the main exit, just before we started evacuating. I should've noticed all the cracks and faults that built up over time …but I guess I was so scared of the Bohrok, I missed things I should've been watching out for. And, well…here we are. I'm sorry."
The silver-eyed Huntress let out a choked, bitter laugh in the face of the pity party. "I guess we're all just a bunch of screw-ups then, huh?"
"Maybe." Nuparu looked up at her with resolve in his gaze. "But you and your team have carried on in the face of failures before, and you'll most certainly do so again. We didn't win every battle against the Rahi, but each defeat taught us a new lesson about victory. And if there's one thing I've learned from being an Onu-Matoran engineer for as long as I can remember, it's that there's no such thing as mistakes. Just pathways to new solutions."
Taipu looked up from Ruby's shoulder with a smile behind his mask. "That's true…except for that one time your rock-crane thing dropped a boulder on Turaga Whenua's head."
"Or when your digging machine plowed right into a Peka cave bat colony," added Onepu with a wry smirk.
"Or that time you got all our lightstones stuck on the other side of a big lava spill," finished Taipu glibly.
Nuparu blinked sheepishly several times. "…well. Mostly just pathways to new solutions."
The encouraging words, along with the banter between the Onu-Matoran, was enough to get a genuine giggle out of Ruby - which led to another, then another, and another, until she was finally laughing so hard she couldn't keep crying. It wasn't enough to assuage all her fears, but it was enough to pierce the cloud of negativity within her mind and keep it away for a moment longer. After taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and ground her thoughts, she pushed herself off the floor and let out a long slow sigh.
"You're right," she said finally as she wiped her eyes dry. "Onepu, Taipu, Nuparu…thanks. Didn't realize how badly I needed talking down from the ledge there."
Onepu snapped a salute as his eyes brightened behind his well-worn purple Pakari. "You vanquished the Makuta for us alongside the Toa, even when it wasn't clear it would return you to your realm. The least we can do for you is listen to your troubles, if it helps you clear your mind."
Ruby nodded with one more sniffle. "Yeah…yeah. I appreciate it. I…I think I'll be okay for a little longer. At least until we can get out of here."
"That's what I like to hear." The Ussalry Captain hummed, then patted his mount. "Let's all get to work on doing just that, then. Kiki, start looking for safe places to dig back to the main shaft. Ruby, keep trying to get a signal to reach either your friends or the Toa. Everyone else, grab a pick and help me start digging. Nuparu, you're the inventive sort - see if you can think of a way out of this mess while we work, preferably before the air starts thinning out."
With that, the group separated and got to work. The Ussal crab skittered back the way she came and started grabbing loose rocks and rubble, while Taipu and Onepu grabbed pickaxes from the shelves and started splitting stones. Ruby paced the length of the cavern and gestured vaguely with her Scroll in every single direction, calling any and every friend in a vain attempt to get some kind of reception. But no matter where she stood, no matter which way she pointed or faced, there was nothing. The miles and miles of solid rock kept blocking the signal, leaving her and the Onu-Matoran isolated in every sense of the word.
It's okay…it's alright, she repeated to herself. Onepu said that they've been trapped underground before - they know what to do, and how to get out. Trust them, like they trust you. Like everyone trusts you…
"Nuparu! It would be helpful if you could think and dig at the same time!"
Ruby looked up from her signal-less Scroll to see Nuparu standing over the broken Gahlok wreck, head tilted to one side. Concluding once and for all that the outside world was deaf to their pleas, she tucked the little rectangle of light away and joined his side. The pair stared at the unmoving husk for a pensive moment, eyes of silver and emerald trailing over linkages and servos and joints and metal plating and…
Huh.
Huh.
There was a distinct lack of "bio" in these biomechanical lifeforms, apart from the Krana.
"So these Bohrok creatures are not living organisms like us…" mused Nuparu, evidently reaching the same conclusion as the Huntress.
"Right…it looks like they're basically just big robots piloted by the Krana." Ruby caught the smaller engineer's gaze with a grin. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I believe so." The inventive Onu-Matoran smiled back. "If a disgusting face parasite could operate a suit like this…surely we might be able to do the same."
"In that case…" Silver eyes sparkled with delight as she pulled out her pocket tool kit. "Let's get building."
Nuparu had to admit that whoever designed the Bohrok knew what they were doing.
He'd dragged the Gahlok wreckage back to the landslide near the main shaft, and affixed his lightstone to a pickaxe to create a sort of lamp that better lit up his makeshift workshop. While the others were off combing over every inch of the cave for additional materials and salvage, the engineer himself got to work disassembling the offline Bohrok and stripping it down to its base components. The shapes and sizes of the bug's pieces were similar to ones he'd found and used before; some of them were even similar to mechanical elements in the Toa, the Matoran, or even the archive moles that sometimes found their way underground from Le-Wahi. But each gear, each servo, each metal plate was crafted with exceptional quality, smooth and precise down to the smallest edge and tiniest tooth. It felt like poring over the work of a master metalsmith, one who'd spent thousands of years honing each piece to perfection…and yet, the sheer number of these monsters roaming the island showed these were hardly artisanal works.
Penny mentioned that her old Kingdom of Atlas relied heavily on mass-produced machinery, thought Nuparu with a hum as he started dismantling the chest cavity. Maybe these Bohrok were created by a similar process?
"Hey Nuparu! Check out what we found!"
He looked up in time to see the rest of his newfound cave friends bringing two old carts over, one pulled by Onepu's trusty Ussal while the other was pushed by Taipu and Ruby. The carts themselves were with the usual things one expected to find in a mining supply cave - dull pickaxes, spare throwing disks, an old pump for clearing water, and spare hoses in desperate need of patches. Yet the biggest thing that drew the engineer's attention was a black-armored insect with twin chisels for hands and a shattered faceplate, one that occasionally twitched a mangled limb and released showers of sparks.
"A Nuhvok?" The engineer tilted his head. "Where'd that come from?"
"We found it half-buried in rubble over that way," explained Ruby as she and Taipu started unloading all the salvage they'd found. "It must not have been able to outrun the flood with the rest of the pod, and gotten crushed by those aftershocks Taipu mentioned. Took some careful digging, but we managed to pull it free. Figured you could use more Bohrok parts to work with."
Nuparu chuckled in disbelief at the good fortune suddenly gracing them. "Curious that the Bohrok would be so content with collateral damage among their own kind…well, I'm certainly not one to look a gift Rahi in the mouth. Set it over there, apart from the rest, and drop off everything else you found. I'll take a look at it after I've finished stripping this one down. Think I'm almost at the heartstone…or whatever these creatures have instead of one."
His companions nodded and got to work sorting through their salvage, while the engineer himself returned his attention to the Gahlok. After a moment of pulling and prodding he finally managed to pry open the front flaps of the chassis, revealing an entire world of gears and wires and circuits within. As he stared at the inner workings, awed and intimidated in equal measure, his eyes fell on a shimmering crystal at the very core of the Bohrok: a cylinder as wide as his hand that glowed faintly with silver light.
Well well well… he thought with a pensive hum. What have we here? A power core, of some kind? Makes sense…the Krana might control the Bohrok, but they're not a primary energy source like our Kanohi. This must be what gives them life…metaphorically speaking, of course.
He reached out for the battery cautiously, unscrewed it with a twist, and carefully pulled it free of its enclosure. The static that ran along the Bohrok's frame sputtered out, confirming his theory on the canister's purpose - but he never could have predicted what was inside the canister itself. Through the thin glassy crystal he could see a semi-fluid mass of silver light, one that was almost blinding to look at…one that seemed to dance and flow in ways considered impossible.
Nuparu knew what he was holding instantly, yet he still struggled to believe it.
"…energized protodermis," he whispered.
His allies all turned on the spot and gathered around him, clearly intrigued by the silver light shining in the dark cave.
"Oh…wow…" gasped Taipu. "So that's what it looks like."
"A rare treasure indeed…" Onepu hummed. "To think that these beasts would carry it, even in small quantities like this."
"This must be how the Bohrok power themselves," reasoned the engineer. "Even this little energized protodermis can keep these things active for over a thousand years non-stop. If this is where they get their energy, then maybe we can use it to power our machine as well."
Taipu gulped nervously. "Careful, Nuparu. You know what Whenua says about that stuff, right? Anything that touches energized protodermis is either destroyed without a trace, or transformed into something worse."
"Anything except that crystal glass, clearly," pointed out Onepu. "Never seen anything like it in Onu-Wahi…just one more strange thing about the Bohrok, I suppose."
"Whatever the container is made of, it feels incredibly sturdy." Nuparu shook the canister and let the gel slosh around inside. "I doubt even our Huntress's throwing disk could damage this, wouldn't you say Ruby?…Ruby?"
But the silver-eyed human was barely paying attention, instead staring at the power cell with a thousand-bio-stare while clutching her forehead. All three Onu-Matoran looked up at her with concern in their gazes, bristling as she whimpered slightly.
"Ruby!" Onepu's sharp command bounced off the cavern walls, rattling the Huntress to her core. "Report! Are you well?"
"H-huh?" She snapped back to reality and shook her head to clear it, groaning softly. "Y-yeah…I'm okay…I think. Just…got a really big headache as soon as Nuparu pulled the power core out, for some reason…"
The engineer hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side. "How peculiar…some kind of defense mechanism, perhaps? Against anyone who might tamper with the wreckage?"
"But I don't feel weird," said Taipu with a shrug. "My head's fine. Well…fine as it usually is."
"Might not be a bad idea to shield its light in whatever you two end up building," noted Onepu. "Just in case the glow itself turns out to be dangerous, somehow."
"Yeah, that's…probably a good idea…" mumbled Ruby, though her eyes never strayed far from the container of energized protodermis until it was bundled up in spare cloth. As curious as Nuparu was about this reaction, he filed it away within his mind. It would be another mystery to solve later, after getting some payback on the Bohrok that still walked the island.
"…I'm not sure I understand this design. Walk me through it again?"
Onepu looked up from his efforts to field-strip an abandoned Nuhvok, watching as Ruby and Nuparu pored over the design they'd drawn up on a wall of slate. Taipu and Kiki were taking a much-needed break; the Ussal crab was chomping down on some stale berries, while the digger was running around with a Gahlok faceplate over his mask. The engineer and the weapons expert didn't seem distracted - their focus was solely on the sketch of a bipedal machine, which was littered with notes written in both human and Matoran letters.
"The entire thing will be less like a vehicle and more like a suit of armor," explained the silver-eyed Huntress. "See the gauntlets on flexible linkages here? Those'll be the main weapons, held by the operator and loaded with servos and motors that amplify the force of each move they make…including punching. Harriet's got something similar for Fast Knuckles, her External Arm Reinforcement Rig - that's where I'm pulling most of the mechanics for how this machine works. And the extra Bohrok limbs, along with the faceplate, will act like both a harness and a shield against any Krana or elemental attacks that get launched at the operator. It'll keep the Matoran using it safe, while also giving them a way to fight back."
"Intriguing…" Nuparu hummed. "It certainly seems less convoluted than my initial plan. Faster, too, and less bulky. But you're sure the motors in the Bohrok legs have the torque necessary to support the weight of the frame?"
"They will if we double them up and link them in sequence."
The engineer grinned beneath his mask. "Now you're speaking my language, Ruby. So if I understand this right, we're keeping the central torso and neck mechanisms intact for the gauntlets? Using the Bohrok's own headbutting attacks against them?"
"With a few modifications to reduce the weight, yeah," answered the human with a nod. "And maybe even a couple of…new functions."
"Such as?"
"Well, we know that all Bohrok are weak to electricity. We saw that in Ta-Koro, where both the Pahrak and the Kohrak got knocked out by the storm. So if we channel some of the excess charge from the power cores into the fists -"
"- we can ionize the gauntlets for close-quarters combat."
Silver eyes beamed. "Exactly."
"Now I see why you wanted capacitors along the main chassis…still, you sure we can't add a disk launcher somewhere? This thing can move fast thanks to the Bohrok legs, but a ranged option might still be nice."
"I've got something better than a disk launcher in mind. You said your mining laser was powered by a heatstone - how much more powerful do you think it'd be if it was connected to energized protodermis instead?"
"…okay, now you have my full attention."
Taipu stopped running around and came to a halt next to Onepu. "Um…can you understand anything they're saying?" he asked in a confused whisper, never lowering the Gahlok shell.
"Not a single word," replied the Captain of the Ussalry. "But as long as they understand it, and as long as it makes those monsters pay for their destruction…then that's enough for me."
To Ruby's delight, the machine came together surprisingly easily.
Despite the cramped cavern and the thinning air, she almost found herself having fun as she cut and secured primitive screws, binding parts together in ways no one had ever seen before. Nuparu's mining laser worked great as both a cutting torch and a soldering iron, splitting apart metal and welding Bohrok parts together in flashes of light that illuminated the entire cave. Little by little, bit by bit, the piles of scrap and protodermis turned into a ruggedized suit of armor, one carrying all their hopes and dreams of escape on its shoulders.
Part of that ease came from the fact that she wasn't working alone. Whenever a problem came up that she didn't know how to solve, Nuparu was there to help workshop a new solution. Whenever she needed a piece moved that was too heavy for her to lift, Onepu and Taipu were there to share the load. And whenever she found herself on the edge of panic, whenever frustration and dark thoughts and stale air made breathing painful, Kiki was there to brush against her like a trained therapy crab. All of that warmed her heart and calmed her mind, giving her the clarity she needed to focus on the task ahead.
Beyond the Bohrok shells themselves, nearly every odd bit of equipment in the storage cave found a use. The frame of two run-down Ussal carts formed the sides of each gauntlet. Dulled pickaxes had their heads snapped off and linked together into hardened fingers, while their handles were repurposed as poles and levers. An old pump mechanism powered the hydraulics necessary to help the machine move. Metallic cables served as excellent conductors for the electrical systems. Dented throwing disks became layers and layers of extra armor. The mining laser perched perfectly above the cockpit, mounted on a pintle easily aimed from the inside. And when the core of energized protodermis was slotted back into the same socket it'd been pulled from, back into the Gahlok torso refitted to serve as the beating heart of the new war machine, the entire suit came alive with a hopeful hum and a droning whir.
Nuparu and Ruby stepped back and admired their creation with beaming pride.
"My finest work…" intoned the Matoran with a smile behind his mask.
"She's beautiful," agreed the Huntress, silver eyes sparkling in delight.
Taipu just gaped as he stared in awe, while Onepu nodded in approval.
"Good work, everyone," praised the Captain. "Now let's see how well it works. Nuparu, if you'd be so kind?"
With a nod (and a small nudge from Ruby) the orange-masked Matoran climbed into the armored cockpit and snapped the front into place, slotting his feet into a set of pedals waiting to magnetically connect with the operator. Taking a breath to steady himself, Nuparu gripped the handles of the gauntlets and moved them experimentally; the arms, much to everyone's delight, mimicked his movements with singing servos and fluid responses. After a few unsteady steps on the chunky legs - and nearly falling backwards before finding his new balance - the engineer turned around and navigated to the wall of rubble blocking their path, followed by a hopeful Huntress and two mesmerized Matoran.
"Exoskeleton's operating within specified parameters," reported Nuparu, audibly grinning. "Time to test the mining laser's new output."
"You guys might wanna shield your eyes," warned Ruby as she unfolded and donned a pair of emergency sunglasses. "This is gonna be bright."
The two Onu-Matoran followed her advice just as Nuparu aimed the shoulder-mounted cannon at the pile of rocks and fired.
BRRRRRRRM.
If the beam that sealed up the cavern was a candle, this one was a full-on inferno. A solid ray of blinding white blasted through the fallen rocks, surgically cutting away the toughest stone as though it were soft cheese. It didn't completely clear a path before Nuparu shut it off for safety concerns, but it did give him enough room to pull away the rest of the rubble, digging an entrance big enough for the machine to lumber into the main tunnel - and by extension, everyone behind it.
At long last…they were out.
Ruby almost collapsed in relief as she followed the armored titan out of that cave, breathing deeply for the first time in what felt like ages. Taipu flung himself against the ground with a delighted laugh, while Onepu rode out on Kiki and immediately started patrolling to assess the situation. Nuparu himself smiled as he gave a quick examination of the machine, though it faded as he checked the glowing gauges along the inside canopy.
"Interesting…barely even drained the energized protodermis with that, even with the laser at full blast," mused the engineer. "The heat it generated nearly melted the barrel, though - gonna need to keep an eye on that, or work on a more effective venting method…or maybe tune it to a lower intensity? Hmm…should probably run some tests later…"
The silver-eyed Huntress held back a giggle, as Nuparu got right back into workshop mode. Still, who could blame him? The machine functioned, sure, but there was always room for improvement…and now that they weren't trapped, there was significantly less pressure on making it work, more room to tinker and adjust things to his liking.
"Come on," she said with a glib grin. "Let's head back to Po-Wahi with the other Onu-Matoran. I should be able to call the others once we're out, and then we can -"
"Hold that thought, Ruby. Kiki's got something."
She turned and watched as the Ussal crab skittered towards the boulder blocking the way to Onu-Koro, chittering dangerously and waving her eyestalks. While part of her wished desperately that she could just channel Gali's Akaku and see through the wall, she didn't have to - the Rahi was clearly more in tune with the earth than even her rider, and sensed something in the ruined village. Onepu looked down at her for a moment with a tilt of his head before pressing his own mask against the sealed entrance, listening intently as a frown crept onto his face.
"Hmm…good news, and bad news," he finally reported as he pulled away. "It sounds like the waters have finally settled down - Onu-Koro's not completely underwater anymore, but that doesn't mean it's safe. Kiki must've sensed the vibrations of something moving around through the village…and based on the chittering I can hear through the stone, and the sound of thrashing water, I've got a pretty good guess of what's out there."
"Bohrok," muttered Taipu darkly. "They just can't leave our home alone, can they?"
Ruby frowned, then turned to Nuparu, who answered her unspoken question with a glint in his emerald eyes. She nodded back and drew Crescent Rose once more, racking back the charging handle and chambering a magazine of fresh Lightning Dust bullets. For far too long the Matoran had been running away from the Bohrok as they destroyed their villages, relying on either the humans or the Toa to fight their battles against this dangerous new foe.
It was time to stop running.
Gali wasn't expecting a pleasant sight when she finally arrived back at Onu-Koro, but what she saw still broke her heartstone all the same. Her optics fell on shattered huts and toppled homes, torn apart beneath the fury of the flood. Light was low and sparse beneath the veil of darkness, the carnage and its aftermath illuminated solely by the glowing shards of broken lightstones. A shallow layer of dirty water settled along the cavern floor, carrying fragmented remnants of ruined lives - though thankfully the surface was free of masks and Matoran bodies, a single small comfort amidst an overwhelming tragedy. And while her brother's Suva shrine was largely undamaged by the flood, the same could not be said for the pair of statues watching over it; Onua's stony likeness had fallen to pieces behind the metal dome, while a statue resembling Blake lay face-down in the water like a drowned warrior.
And worst of all, over three dozen Gahlok with glowing orange eyes scurried around the ruins, blasting whatever still stood with high-pressure jets of water.
CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT…
They must have split from the main swarm to finish their work here, thought the Toa of Water with a sorrowful frown. All this destruction…all these lives ruined by their presence…and still, it is not enough for them.
A rare anger boiled within her, a fire in her soul that would have been more fitting for her hot-headed brother. One of her hands balled into a fist, while the other shifted into a hook.
But it is enough for me.
She knew that what she was about to do was foolish, that if she attacked the Bohrok they would stop ignoring her. It'd be a risky battle with allies at her side, and right now she was alone. Ruby was missing. Onua and Nora were still far from the village ruins. None of the other Toa were close enough to offer aid, should she need it. All the Bohrok needed to win was one clean shot at her with a Krana, and then the swarm would have a very powerful helper to carry out its dutiful destruction.
She didn't care. She raised her fist and pooled power into the waters that lapped at her knees, guiding them into spears of seawater that stabbed at one Gahlok's undercarriage, lifted it into the air, and tore it apart with a violent spike of pressure.
"Turn your attention to me, monsters!" Her voice, usually gentle and soft, took on an edge that matched the fury of the raging sea. "This is not my village, but it is my element you use to destroy it - I will not allow you to do so any longer!"
The rest of the swarm immediately stopped what they were doing, pivoted towards Gali, and started their battle hymn.
CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT!
And with that, the fight began.
Three dozen Gahlok raised their fin-shaped shields in unison and fired salvos of watery bullets at the Toa, who either flipped out of the way or deflected the projectiles with her own power. She retaliated by shaping the water at her feet into massive tendrils of elemental wrath, using the briny appendages to batter and smash any Bohrok that got too close. Arms were sliced off by razor-tipped waves. Heads and faceplates were slammed into walls. Gali never stopped moving or attacking against the insectoid army, fueled by the rage of an ocean under a stormy sky. Nearly a dozen fell before her, too damaged to rise again. The rest would not be far behind.
I will collect the Krana from my fallen foes later, she reasoned, should any be unfortunate enough to survive my fury.
Unfortunately, the tides of the battle shifted soon after it began. The remaining Gahlok quickly changed their strategies to counter her own; some burrowed underground where her waters couldn't reach them, others triggered shields that let them withstand the crashing waves, and still others took flight and avoided her attacks entirely. Worse, she could feel her stores of elemental energy starting to run dry, making it harder to control the flood and the arms she willed into being. It only took one moment for a particularly daring Bohrok to burst from the ground and snap its neck forward, but that was all it needed - and the headbutt was strong enough to send her golden Kaukau flying off her face and far beyond her reach.
And with her mask went most of her power.
No!
Acting purely on instinct she drove her hook into the underside of the Gahlok that had taken her by surprise, plunging its sharpened point into its guts and ripping out a sparking mass of wires and steel. But the damage had already been done - her muscles strained to support the weight of barely-functioning servos, bringing her to her knees as she gasped for breath. While a maskless Toa wasn't completely helpless or powerless, the lack of Kanohi still made them sluggish and slow…and that was something the Bohrok were counting on, as one opened its faceplate and flung its Krana towards the vulnerable warrior.
Spirits above…Ruby…forgive me…
The orange parasite flew towards her with outstretched tendrils, and in her weakened state she knew she wasn't quick enough to avoid or stop it.
Luckily for her, someone else was.
FWOOSH.
A rushing red blur zipped across her field of vision, snatching up the Krana mid-flight just before it could reach the vulnerable Toa. The cloud of petals reformed into a familiar silver-eyed Huntress that skidded to a halt, waves of knee-high still water rippling as she cut through it. After wrangling with the screaming parasite for a moment, she tossed it into the air and lashed out with her scythe, cleanly cutting off the tentacles before it even started to fall. She caught her prize and stared at the rubbery abomination with a smile that mostly hid her revulsion, then planted Crescent Rose's blade into the floor and started firing electrified bullets at the feet of the gathering Gahlok. Arcs of electricity burst from the water and surged through the beasts, locking them in place with pained screeches for the moment.
"Whew…" panted Ruby. "That was a close one, huh? You alright, Gali?"
Gali managed a relieved chuckle, even as she barely managed to stay upright as fatigue chained her down. Ruby let out a small "oh" before disappearing in a burst of petals again, returning a moment later with the lost mask. As soon as the Toa of Water slotted the golden Kaukau back into place, a surge of power flooded through her - though even that felt more like a trickle compared to the usual rushing river.
"I am…well enough," she said with a breathless sigh. "Thank you, Ruby - I am glad to see that the flood left you unharmed, and that you were able to save the Matoran." Gali frowned behind her mask suddenly. "I do not understand, though. Why are you here, instead of with the rest of Onu-Koro?"
"I got stuck in a cave with Nuparu, Onepu, and Taipu when the flood hit," admitted the Huntress as she fired a few more stunning shots at the recovering Gahlok, "and the tunnel to the surface collapsed near the entrance. Tried calling for help, but I couldn't get a Scroll signal…we managed to get out on our own, though."
The Toa of Water frowned as she tried to rise to her feet, only to fall back down to her knees. "I…see…are you well enough to fight, little one? I fear that I am at my limit, unable to finish the battle that I foolishly started…"
Her partner looked over her shoulder and touched her forearm with a reassuring smile. "Yeah, don't worry Gali - leave the big stupid bugs to us."
"…us?"
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. CRACK!
Her attention was drawn to the cracked boulder blocking the exit to Onu-Koro, which finally shattered into a shower of pebbles as a massive fist punched through the stone. A bipedal figure stepped through the newly-made opening with thunderous footsteps, each heavy movement accompanied by screaming servos and hydraulic hisses. Though it resembled a Bohrok at first glance, closer examination revealed several key differences - the machine sported two heavy gauntlets as large as its egg-shaped torso, a collection of hoses and pistons along the arms, twin curved legs that ended in insectoid feet, a black cannon mounted to one shoulder, and a glassy faceplate that concealed the greatest surprise.
An orange-masked Matoran pilot.
Gali stared hard at the blue-and-black figure as it stomped towards the Gahlok, who faced it as they shook off their paralysis. "What…is that?"
"Pretty cool, huh? That's what me and Nuparu built while we were trapped in that tunnel! We made her out of wrecked Bohrok shells and old mining equipment!" Ruby puffed her chest proudly as she reloaded, then shot a sour pout towards the pilot. "And even though I helped come up with the final design, he still wouldn't let me name her!"
Nuparu - for who else could it be? - chuckled from inside the cockpit. "Sorry, Ruby. I admire your creativity and your…flowery naming conventions, but 'Blue Orchid: Xeno-Organic Rigging' just has way too many words for my liking. I'm an engineer, not a poet; besides, I'd like something nice and simple for these monsters to remember. Which is why I've decided to call it…"
With the pull of a lever the machine widened its stance and raised its fists, electricity crackling along its knuckles and steam hissing from its pistons.
"…the Boxor."
For a moment, it almost looked like the Bohrok were afraid at the sight of the machine. Perhaps they recognized parts of their fallen brethren within its frame? Or perhaps they were only now realizing just how dangerous Matoran ingenuity could be against them? Whatever the reason, the swarm of blue destroyers chittered and cowered in the face of the Boxor for a moment, then resumed their clattering as they charged at the new foe.
CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT!
If Nuparu was worried about the two dozen cobalt creatures cautiously closing in, he hid it well. In fact, all he did was cock back one gauntlet and curl its fingers inward, the steel itself rattling as sparks coursed down its length. When one Gahlok leapt forward with a head outstretched, the Boxor made its first move - a mighty uppercut that crashed against the monster's jaw, the impact and the electric surge making the Bohrok seize up in mid-air. To add insult to injury, the entire top half of the gauntlet snapped forward on a pair of levers, mimicking the neck movement of the very same beast that was sent on a screaming, sparking flight.
The Gahlok hit the roof with a sickening crunch, then flopped back down to earth as a mangled pile of scrap metal.
"Mata Nui…" breathed the Toa of Water.
"I know, right?!" Ruby beamed. "AGH IT'S SO COOL!"
Gali watched as two more Gahlok flung themselves at the Boxor, only to meet a similar end. One was smacked away with an electrified backhanded blow, while the other had its head grabbed by steel fingers and slammed face-first into the cavern floor. Bolts of water flew in volleys from the remaining Bohrok, but Nuparu raised his gauntlets in a defensive stance and weathered the storm long enough for his allies to act. Ruby rushed forward in a burst of electrified red petals, stunning any monster in her path as she zipped across the battlefield. A purple Ussal emerged from the tunnel entrance and threw the pair of Matoran on her back at the nearest seized-up beasts, who pried open faceplates with sharpened picks and pulled out the Krana.
"Onepu, Ruby, look! I got one!" proclaimed a black-and-tan villager, waving his prize and leaping off his disabled Gahlok just as it slumped to the ground.
"Great work, Taipu!" called the other, smiling behind his purple mask while doing the same. "Mind the tentacles, though - make sure you snip them or pull them off!"
"Keep it up, boys!" Ruby grinned as she reformed above a Gahlok's head, bringing her scythe down on the beast in a single cleaving blow. "Nuparu, you good? How's the Boxor holding up?"
"Barely even a scratch from that volley!" Nuparu reported with an audible smile, lowering his guard and slamming the Boxor's fists against Bohrok after Bohrok. "And I think it's safe to say that the results - hyah! - far exceed our expectations! We've got this battle well in hand!"
Indeed, the Gahlok - now down to only half their number - finally seemed to realize that they were fighting a losing battle. Not against a Toa, not even against a Huntress, but against what they clearly saw as just Matoran. But when the dozen remaining Bohrok tried to whip up waves to carry them away, Gali tapped into her limited elemental reserves to pull them back into the fray - and when they tried burrowing into the ground to retreat, the earth itself spat them out in showers of mud and silt.
Everyone turned and watched the far wall collapse, revealing a red-haired Huntress and an ebony-armored Toa standing in the shadows.
"Sorry we're late!" chirped Nora with a dangerous grin and a hammer slung across her shoulder. "Big guy here had to dig around the tunnels that somebody left flooded…wonder who did that?"
"I will not be the one to steal victory from my people," rumbled Onua as he slammed his claws into the ground. "But I will not allow you to escape your fates, Bohrok - not after what you have done to my realm."
The sight of their patron Toa spurred the trio of Onu-Matoran into action. Onepu picked up a spear and charged on the back of his Ussal steed, keeping pace with Ruby as they skewered any Gahlok too slow to avoid the tips of their weapons. Taipu yelled as he started sending Bohrok flying with swings of his pick, grinning as Nora leapt to do the same by his side. And Nuparu targeted the last few cobalt monsters with the cannon on the Boxor's shoulder, widened his stance, and fired.
BRRRMMM.
A burning beam of light cut through the cavern, turning water into mist and stone into lava. Two Bohrok were struck directly by the ray, the heat turning them into molten slag after just a few seconds of contact. The third managed to roll out of the way with only a severed leg, but that wasn't enough to save it. When Nuparu turned off the laser a few seconds later, he piloted the Boxor over to the last Gahlok's fallen frame and grabbed it by the head. It shrieked and thrashed as the machine lifted it into the air, but nothing could save it now. Especially not when the metal fingers started squeezing with enough force to crack the glass faceplate.
"Tell the rest of the swarm that they have more than Toa and Hunters to fear now," growled the engineer. "Today marks the day that we Matoran remember who we are, who we were, and what we're fighting for. We endured the Rahi. We endured Makuta. We will endure you."
A final burst of electricity along the Boxor's gauntlet burned through the Gahlok's frame, liquefying its Krana and overloading its circuits. It let out one more scream of shock, before it and its damned chittering fell silent at long last.
Thus ended the battle to reclaim Onu-Koro.
Three Matoran and two Huntresses waited with bated breath for enemy reinforcements that never came, before erupting into victorious cheers. Gali couldn't help but watch them from the sidelines with a smile, allowing the true saviors of the village to celebrate their victory. Ruby and Nora tackled each other in hugs that sent them rolling across the damp floor, while Taipu nearly knocked Onepu off his Ussal as he did the same. Nuparu smirked and guided the Boxor to collect the fallen wrecks of the Gahlok, clearly intending to gather up the materials needed to build more of his machine.
"They are certainly full of surprises, are they not?"
Gali blinked as she saw Onua at her side, helping her back to her feet with a smile behind his own golden Pakari. "Do you speak of the humans, or the Matoran?" she asked with a knowing grin. "Or perhaps…you speak of both, my brother?"
"You know me well, Gali." Onua gave a small rumbling chuckle. "Though my people's village lies in ruin, the spirit of ingenuity and the courage of the earth still courses through them. And for all the times they stumble and falter, the Huntresses continually rise to each challenge their battles bring…no matter how wounded and weary they grow."
"Yes…" The Toa of Water's heartstone slightly shattered at the sight of Ruby bursting into tears, burying her face into Nora's cloak as the scarred woman held her tightly. "They push themselves to exhaustion for us, and for others…despite the struggles in their world, they still selflessly pledge themselves to the battle on this one. Such a drive is admirable, yet also concerning. I fear the longer this conflict wears on, the further it will strain our little friends."
Onua hummed in assent, his eyes returning to Nuparu and his amazing machine. "Then let us hope that this invention, this…Boxor…will be the key to easing that burden and ending this war."
(A/N): One of the hardest things in this chapter was nailing down exactly what I wanted to do for the Boxor. As much as I love the original canon design, I wanted to come up with something different for this fic - something that could actually be built out of Bohrok sets (with a few other pieces thrown in), and something that Ruby would dream up and build alongside Nuparu. I even got out my old BIONICLE parts and started tinkering, coming up with different designs that would be fun both to play with and to write about! Needless to say, it felt like being a little kid again.
Next chapter's gonna be another anthology-type thing for Remnant, where we get a better look at what the Dustfruits mean for life in Vacuo these days. See you then!