Bionicle Book 1 Unity: Ta Koro

[Avnuva]

Note: This topic will only make sense after reading the the Bionicle Book 1 Unity: Ta Koro. This story is meant to introduce new characters and show more world building. Once again, this story is my interpretation of the bionicle story and isn’t canon at all. The primary focus in this section is to show Ta Koran culture and more makuta stuff. Please inform me of any grammatical errors or story inconsistencies so I could learn to become a better writer.

The Makuta

Krika arrives on Makuta Nui’s black beaches. They would be a tourist spot for ga matoran if the island wasn’t inhabited by makuta and rahi. Despite the beautiful beaches, Makuta Nui is a cold arid wasteland. Its location sits at the top of the known matoran world. Due to its northerly position, the island gets little heat compared to the much more southerly tropical island of Le Koro. Additionally, the island is the second smallest out of all the continental islands in the known matoran world. It’s barely larger than Ta Koro and half the size of the matoran capital island of Mata Nui. Despite these major downsides, the island contains plenty of desirable traits as well. The islands agricultural status is terrible, but the makuta constantly create rahi to till the land in order to make it sustainable for some crop production. These rahi are species specifically designed for this environment and can eat any of the shrublands and grasslands located on the island. The island also contains massive amounts of protodermis, which they smelt into liquid. With that liquid protodermis, the makuta use it as building blocks to their own rahi creations. The metal can also be easily preserved, due to how makuta can simply reuse dead rahi to create new life. As a result, the makuta have an army that feels infinitely oppressive, never being able to completely go away. The island’s location reeks of many benefits as well. The island’s position directly above the island of Mata Nui and beside the islands of Ta and Onu Koro is very advantageous. The island is closest to Onu Koro, which is the reason why certain small areas in the isolated northern part of Onu Koro are colonized. However, the island is still difficult to completely take over due to its tremendous size and rugged terrain. The real fruits of its location come from the ocean currents. The ocean currents around Makuta Nui lead directly to Ta Koro and Mata Nui. This has led to the makuta having an easy time attacking the matoran, without facing much retaliation. Due to this incredible advantage, the Ga Koro navy needed to have a strong presence around the region. Sadly, Ga Koro is very far away from the region, which means that they have to prioritize protecting the island of Mata Nui over Ta Koro. Makuta Nui’s final advantage is its rocky terrain. The rocks allow the makuta to make easy forts and castles across the coast, because of this, almost the entire island is one connected castle.

Exhausted, Krika’s rahi collapsed on the beach to rest. Krika however, is determined. He carries the spinax dog which was mutated by the mask of life and takes it with him. He runs towards the escarpment ending the beach. He takes an elevator and rises to the castles and forts above. He quickly marches through the halls. Through the halls, Krika brushes by multiple makuta and rahi, one of those makuta being a wasp-like makuta containing four arms and two inverted legs. She has a proboscis for a mouth and four wings enabling her the ability to fly. Her name was Gorast. As she opens her bedroom door to start a new day of rahi building, she encounters Krika speedrunning the halls.

Gorast: “Huh, Krika’s back from navy duty.”

An indifferent expression then transforms into a paralyzed glare. Her dichoptic eyes widen and her mask scrunches. She looks back at the calendar in her bedroom, as feared, she finds her name next in line for navy duty after Krika. She rushes out the door and catches up with Krika.

Gorast: “Wait a minute! You’re not supposed to be here.”

Krika: “I know.”

Krika continues to walk, ignoring Gorasts presence.

Gorast: “So why ya here? From my estimates, it would be improbable for you to have circled around all the Koro’s that quickly.”

Krika: “That’s because I didn’t. Check this out.”

Krika then shows Gorast the rahi.

Gorast: “Oh my, is that a spinax dog? Poor thing. What happened to it?”

Krika: “The Ignika, that’s what happened. As I was journeying south, I witnessed a giant beam of light shoot up from the sky in Le Koro. I sent Niazesks to observe what was happening, and as I believed, the mask was there, in the hands of an irresponsible le matoran. Technically it was only a piece of the mask, but still the mask. As I invaded the island, this is what happened. One of the rahi I took over on Le Koro was horribly mutated, I assume by the mask of life. There, That’s my reason for being here. You happy now? You still think I should have continued with my navy duty stuff?”

Gorast: “Yes sir. What makes you think that’s a good enough reason to forfeit your duty? How are you sure that rahi wasn’t just burned? Besides that, where’s your evidence?”

Krika: “On Mata Nui, why you like this?! I get it, you don’t want navy duty, no one does. But this stuff is important, you of all people should know that this is a matter which Teridax needs input on.

Gorast: “What if it isn’t the mask?”

Krika: “What if Teridax doesn’t love you?”

Gorast: “Hey!”

Gorast slaps Krika and then looks away in a subtle sadness.

Gorast: “Uncool…”

Krika: “Jeez, just let me talk to Teridax in peace!”

Gorast: “And how are you gonna do that? You can’t just confront him, he always confronts us.”

Krika: “I guess I’m just gonna have to wait for that?”

Gorast contemplates.

Gorast: “Hey, I got an idea. While you were gone, we created a new room where it would be easier to contact Terry. It’s like a room which evokes Terry’s presence, it’s really weird.”

Krika: “You think that’ll be the fastest way to contact him?”

Gorast: “I know that’ll be the quickest way to contact him.”

Gorast leads Krika to a room filled with spare rahi limbs. Gorast leads him deep in the room.

Krika: “Oh no. I see where this is going.”

Gorast locks the door, leaving Krika in the dark room. Krika bangs on the door screaming.

Krika: “Hey! Let me out!”

Krika gives up knowing that someone will eventually unlock the door. Krika begins speaking to himself.

Krika: “This is so annoying and it’s even more annoying that I keep falling for this crap.”

Krika then hears a loud thunder sound. It was so unnatural. He turns quickly to find himself in a gloomy swamp, with a storm raging over his head. The switch was so random. A second ago, Krika was stuck in a dark room with rahi limbs, the next he would be drowning in mud with rain so furious that it felt like hail hitting against his bare body. The storm was a furious hurricane. He pulls himself out of the mud and begins climbing one of the many trees in the swamp. Once he climbs to the treetops, he stares at the sky. Maybe Gorast’s coincidence had unintentionally brought Krika to exactly what he wanted. Each lightning strike from the sky was like writing. Each strike and the thunder which followed it was like information being sown into Krika’s mind. Krika would yell at the top of his lungs to the sky. Asking about the mask and what Teridax wants him to do with it. In response, lightning would shoot from the sky, imprinting all the information in Krika’s head. Then, suddenly, the storm stops. He returns to the room as is interrupted by the door opening. Two makuta stand at the door frame. Gorast, who looks disappointed with how fast her prank ended, and Antroz, a vampiric looking makuta with a key in his hands.

Antroz: “Sorry about that. She’s been acting annoying recently.”

Gorast: “Why are you wet?”

Krika’s heavy breathing and paralyzed demiener switches back to normal. His body begins to relax.

Krika: “Uhh, well your prank actually worked. I just saw the big guy right before you guys came to save me.”

Antroz: “Nah, there’s no way. This mask stuff must be really important then. You must be jealous, Gorast.”

Gorast: “A little… So, what did he say?”

Krika: “The news isn’t good. Mata Nui’s dying from his sleep. So there’s no option. One way or another, we’re gonna have to revive Mata Nui. So, Ignika’s discovery is actually a good thing. However, Teridax wants us to steal the mask and bring it back to Makuta Nui. He trusts us more with the task of reviving Mata Nui more than the matoran. Our game plan for now is very situational. Teridax wants me to lead the capture of the Ignika, but emphasizes that that’s still not our priority. He’s more concerned with us winning the war before the Ignika is fully restored. For this operation, I’ll need at least enough rahi to fit in a razor whale and someone named Nidhiki. You guys know who that is?”

Gorast: “Oh… That guy?”

Antroz: “We know who that is. Follow us.”

The makuta traveled to the center of the island, where there remained a bell tower.

Antroz: “He lives here.”

Krika: “Oh he’s the bell guy. How come I haven’t seen him?”

Gorast: “Because he isn’t needed. He can’t make rahi, he’s basically as smart as one, he-”

Antroz: “Gorast! Not the time.”

They climb the bell tower and knock on Nidhiki’s room.

Nidhiki: “Hello?”

Antroz: “It’s me, Antroz. I’m here with someone who wants to be your friend.”

Nidhiki: “Friend? Friend…”

Antroz looks over at Krika.

Antroz: “He’s all yours.”

The door opens and a giant claw grabs Krika, pulling him into the room.

Nidhiki: “Hello. My name is Nidhiki, it’s nice to meet you.”

Krika: “Hey, nice to meet you too. By the way, can you put me down?”

Nidhiki immediately puts Krika down and apologizes. Nidhiki was something odd to Krika. He can only be described as ‘built different’. He was quadrupedal, with four dagger-like legs, almost like a spider. But his torso resembled something of an oversized matoran, which led to his hideous arms. His arms were like ordinary arms, but with gigantic claws as a replacement for hands. Working up to the head, Nidhiki’s head shape was like a mix between a serpent and a spider, yet a very mutated kanohi could still be made out from his disturbing face. Antroz walks over to Krika.

Antroz: “I’ll explain what’s going on to him.”

Antroz walks to Nidhiki and talks with him privately. Krika sits on an uncomfortable wooden couch. On the couch he looks around Nidhiki’s room. It was filled with mysterious items. Krika sees a triangular plate hanging from the wall. The plate contained a symbol of the kanohi Kraahkan, with a red background. It was a makuta tablet, an item reserved for Teridax’s most loyal regents. Mannequins were everywhere, with makeshift kanohi on them. He could even see a mannequin with his kanohi on it. Krika also saw a painting hanging on a wall. The quality was mediocre, but he could tell exactly what was going on in it. It was a painting of all the makuta including him. At the left corner of the painting, layed a black jagged stone, he’s guessing that that was supposed to represent Teridax. In the center of the portrait was Nidhiki himself, happy and the center of all attention. After a second look through, Krika began to realize that all the makuta in the portrait are looking at him, with happy faces and open arms.

Gorast: “Creepy place huh?”

Krika: “So this is the makuta who rings the bells every morning?”

Gorast: “He’s not a makuta.”

Krika: “What is he then?”

Gorast: “I have no clue. Some say he’s one of us. Which… I mean, I know we look nasty and all, but he’s no makuta. He can’t even make rahi. Some think he’s an intelligent rahi, which is possible. But I haven’t seen a single one of us be able to mind control him, so he ain’t that. Terry thinks he’s a makuta, so make due with that information as you please.”

Krika: “He’s a makuta, if Teridax has that much respect for him, then so be it. Does he ever leave the bell tower?”

Gorast: “Nope.”.

Krika: “Lucky, we could only wish to have a job this easy and still be respected.”

Gorast: “Honestly, I disagree. He never sees any of us.”

Krika: “He doesn’t know how much of a blessing that is. There’s some makuta here you’ll never want to see.”

Gorast: “Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”

Antorz and Nidhiki revisit the other makuta.

Antroz: “Okay, he’s on board.”

Nidhiki: “Reporting for duty, Krika sir.”

Krika: “Just call me Krika. Now let’s leave this rock.”

Everyone ventures down to the beach again. Krika is supplied with multiple rahi and gains an actual ship.

Antroz: “It’s a stolen vessel from the ga koran navy. You guys will be needing it for your journey.”

Nidhiki: “I wanted to ride in the razor whale.”

Krika: “No you don’t.”

Antroz: “This job would be easier with the boat. Krika, good luck on your mission. Say hi to Icarax when you get to Ta Koro.”

Krika: “Sure thing.”

Note: This chapter is inspired by content such as The NeverEnding Story and the Hunchback Of Notre Dame.

[Rukah]

Ah and this is the next part of the story. It’s pretty good, nice job.

[Rhyla416]

ooo nice

[Avnuva]

Arrival

Lewa finally arrives. He jumps off the boat excited to be on land. Until he notices a sign which says ‘Welcome to Twomaki’. Lewa looks back at the sailors on the boat.

Lewa: “Hey! This isn’t Ta Koro!”

The captain responds.

“We know.”

Lewa: “So why am I here? Shouldn’t I be at Ta Koro?”

“Lewa, Twomaki is a key of Ta Koro. It’s too dangerous for us to take you to the mainland. You’re going to have to take another boat ride from Twomaki to Ta Koro.”

Lewa: “And how am I supposed to do that?”

“We don’t know. What are we, Taraga? Just ask around and you’ll find a way. Anyways, see ya Lewa.”

Lewa: “Bye.”

Lewa waves goodbye as the boat sails in the distance. He watches his last chance to return to Le Koro fade away. He looks at the Ignika, it’s glowing, more than usual. Lewa doesn’t know what this means, but he doesn’t linger on it. As he turns to the island behind him, he sees the city of Twomaki. The first thing Lewa noticed off the boat was how cold Twomaki was. It was a sunny day, yet the air was so cold to Lewa’s tropical body. The wind would paralyze Lewa’s body from the cold. He became worried that he might get sick. Lewa tries to skip into the city in order to get rid of the cold, however many ta matoran would look at Lewa’s behavior in disgust. It also didn’t help how the sidewalks were completely cramped with people. So he stops skipping out of fear that he’d get in trouble. The roads were divided into sidewalks and bike lanes, which are constantly blocked. Lewa is always at least 3 feet away from someone. Lewa was surprised by the sheer diversity of the island. The island could be mistaken for the Mata Nui with how diverse it was. Lewa was expecting a super majority of ta matoran like Le Koro, yet the island barely had a ta matoran majority. Most matoran were native, but it seemed like all the other matoran ethnicities combined made up a larger majority than ta matoran. Lewa would encounter other le matoran which were not bothered by the island’s wind. The city ran completely different to any city in Le Koro. buildings were tall and over three stories. There weren’t any rahi in sight, instead the locals would use other forms of technology for rahi based tasks. The amount of innovation the city contained was revolutionary. To Lewa it certainly looked more advanced than any city in Le Koro. However, there were ugly parts to the city. Alongside the streets and buildings, lay refugees, predominantly ta matoran. Many of these refugees lived in tents beside the sidewalks, or sometimes even on the sidewalk. It was the first time Lewa has ever encountered homelessness at such a massive scale. This isn’t that bad, Lewa thought to himself. He then thought of all the ta matoran he’s met in his life, how they always complained about their supposedly terrible living conditions. Ta Koro wasn’t perfect, but Lewa didn’t think it was so bad. Lewa unintentionally starts speed walking. He gets so frustrated from his thoughts to the point where he enters a building in order to let loose some steam. Once he gets his head straight, he begins to notice the building he’s in. He thinks it’s a bar, but he’s not sure. For starters, there were no seats. Every table was close to the ground with cushions as seats. The walls looked like they were made out of paper and the ground was made out of solid wood. The whole building was indoors, unlike a Le Koran bar. Lewa decides to eat at this place, because he’s hungry and is curious to find out what Kongu liked foreign food so much. He takes a seat, and orders something from the menu. The waiter instantly knew Lewa was new based on his slow decision making, so the waiter recommended a basic dish. After a short wait, Lewa gets his meal. It was sushi with a side of cassava. He first sniffed the meal to see what would taste better. He first tried the cassava since he was more familiar with it. It tasted like a muted potato, nothing like Le Koran cassava. He then tasted suchi for the first time in his life. It was bizarre. It was a decent taste, but he couldn’t describe the feeling. It was just off to him. He pushes his dishe aside and sighed. He is then interrupted by two ta matoran who looked like cops.

“Hmm, you look suspicious.”

Lewa: “Yeah yeah I know. I’m the guy who found one fourth of the kanohi Ignika. So are you guys here to help me find another one?”

The two cops weren’t amused by Lewa’s smugness.

“Do you have your identification card?”

Lewa: “What?”

“Don’t play dumb, where is it?”

Lewa: “What is that? Do I need one?”

“You’re not a soldier, is that correct?”

Lewa: “Yes I’m not.”

“Well that makes no sense, because none of the soldiers are supposed to have identification cards.”

“Your lookin real bad vine swinga.”

Lewa: “Well I’m simply here to find a second piece of the mask. If I need an identification card, then will you guys be able to help me get one?”

Both of the cops look at each other before looking back at Lewa.

“We see what’s goin on here.”

Lewa: “Can you clarify?”

“You’re ain’t the first to use the mask excuse.”

“You’re goin to war boy.”

Lewa: “What?! I just said that I’m not like that.”

“That’s what they all say kiddo.”

“Us ta matoran don’t take desertions kindly.”

Lewa shows them point blank the mask.

Lewa: “See! I’m clean. Now please just help me find someone who could find the second piece of the mask.

“Sure, first put these on.”

The cops take out handcuffs and pin Lewa to the ground.

Lewa: “I’m not a soldier!”

“Mmhmm sure bud.”

“Even if you ain’t a soldier, you should still feel proud of helpin ta koro in real ways.”

The two cops take him to their bikes and ride to the north of Twomaki. They throw Lewa on a boat filled with other matoran in handcuffs.

“Straight to Ta Koro ya’ll barraki go”

One of the cops gestures to Lewa.

“Why don’t ya vine swing to some honor.”

Both of the cops laugh to themselves as the boat sails off into the distance. Lewa tries speaking to some of the matoran on board to see what’s going on.

Lewa: “Hey um, why are you here?”

“I switched kanohi with someone and we planned secretly escaping Ta Koro together. Well, that slimy makuta dung left me on Twomaki and then I got caught by the authorities. That grimlord, now I’m stuck with his ugly mask. With this thing, I’m gonna get no ga matoran. It doesn’t matter, we’re all gonna die anyway.”

Lewa: “Are you a soldier?”

“‘You a soldier’ shut up. We’re all soldiers. What island do you think you’re on? Ga Koro? Don’t play dumb.”

Lewa: “I’m not, because I’m not supposed to be here right now, because I’m not a soldier!”

“Oh no. You ain’t a soldier.”

Lewa: “No. I’m the guy with the mask of life, see.”

Lewa flashes the ignika.

“D4mn that’s not good. If they’re pulling matoran like you to the war front, that isn’t a good sign.”

Lewa: “What is it like out there?”

“You’ll see.”

The boat then finally lands on the island of Ta Koro. The Ignika glows brighter. A sergeant orders everyone on the boat to line up and get ready for action. Lewa copies what everyone else does. The sergeant then orders everyone to get off the boat. As Lewa gets off the boat, he’s hit with reality. The shores of Ta Koro are filled with seaside cities that look abandoned. The few matoran he saw were nasty and native. They looked beaten and aimless. Many were beggars. The infrastructure of Ta Koro looked like a post apocalypse. The buildings contained holes and the streets were littered with bricks. The island overall looked abandoned compared to Twomaki. What caught Lewa’s eye the most was a ga matoran singing to the soldiers on the boat as they got off. She sang a sweet melody with a few matoran playing drums, piano, and trumpet behind her. Her vocals sounded motherly and comforting. From the lyrics, the music sounded like a ga matoran comforting her significant other, despite how he has to face the horrors of war. The music was very popular among the deserters who Lewa met. When everyone got off the boat, the sergeant rushed everyone to the wagons which were pulled by bike riders. Along the ride, the mask continued to glow brighter and brighter. Lewa felt like he knew why, but he couldn’t place a finger on it. As the mask grew brighter, so did the poverty. The more interior everyone went into Ta Koro, the more depressing the scenery got. It was heartbreaking for Lewa to see Ta Matoran trying to farm with dry dirt in cold weather while living in abandoned infrastructure. As the deserters got closer to the center of Ta Koro, Lewa started hearing bomb shells. Him and the deserters then entered into a cave carved beside a volcano. In the Volcano he saw hundreds of Matoran sweating and running across the floors. As soon as the deserters got off the wagons. Matoran came to unchain the deserters handcuffs, including Lewa’s. One of the matoran immediately attacked the soldier freeing him and tried to make a run for it. He was however stopped by a poison dart which put him to sleep. Everyone was then rushed to the other side of the volcano, where they were armed with spears and shoved in a room. The room contained two entrances. One which was where everyone came from, and the other which was on the opposite side of the room and closed. The shut door shakes from loud thuds and screams. The door behind them begins to close and everyone takes one last look back. The sergeant lines up matoran in rows towards the door in front of them; ga matoran in the front, le matoran in front of them, onu matoran second to last, and ta matoran protected in the back. Lewa’s heart drops, he feels like a meat shield. The sergeant begins speaking to everyone.

“Attention! Punishment won’t be distributed among y’all, because being a soldier is punishment enough. When y’all charge out that door, your only mission is to kill. Whether that be through unity, cheats, or deception. If unable to complete your mission, try to at least survive to serve mata nui another day. I wish y’all the best of luck, pray to mata nui for your survival.”

The sergeant then pushes a button opening the front door. As the door slowly opens, hot dry wind rushes through the cracks. It was so unnatural. Lewa overheard a deserter on the boat that the air was hot due to the sheer amount of living things present in the war zone. Lewa takes a look at the Ignika, hoping that it’ll help him through the experience. As soon as the door becomes half way open, rahi begins slithering into the cracks of the doorway. Multiple Rahkshi then pry the doors open with their bare hands. Most of the ga matoran in front of Lewa are immediately mangled by kane ra and tiger like muaka. Lewa panics. Closing his eyes, Lewa charges forward using the Ignika as a shield. He then trips on an object. Opening his eyes, he finds out that he had tripped over the damaged remains of what used to be the front door. Now he’s out in the open. The ground was covered in shadow. When Lewa looked to see the sky to see why, all he could see were the flying bodies of hundreds of diverse rahi. They were so numerous he couldn’t see the sun, yet the environment was still luminous. Luminated by the fires and the glowing eyes of matoran and rahi alike. Lewa could only see red. The soil was weak and looked to have contained the pieces of broken kanohi in it. The place was dysphoric. Spider like visorak which contained a spinning projectile implanted in their back. Serpents like rahkshi hang matoran on the tips of their spears. A matorans arm ripped off by a crocodile like a koaka. A raging scorpion like nui jaga goes on a killing spree before it burns away from being torched. Even small rahi like niazesks and ghekula frogs use their numbers to suffocate down matoran. It was incredible how the volcano range separated the poverty stricken south from the fires up north. Lewa sees matoran work together to defeat and kill a massive tarakava. A rahi known for its ability to box. It became clear to Lewa that most rahi were too powerful for a single matoran to handle. They were like ants, except that wouldn’t be a fair comparison since the ants were even bigger than the matoran. Using his Le Koran acrobatics and cowardly instincts, Lewa manages to escape the grasps of multiple rahi. However, throughout his run, the Ignika revives everything in its path. Many lifeless bodies come to life. Once dead matoran praise Mata Nui for their revival before being slaughtered again by a newly revived rahi. The mask even begins taking limbs and body parts from living organisms and begins mismatching them, creating abominations. A kardas dragon. Lewa didn’t know they were real, yet he was standing in front of one. The kardas dragon straightens its posture to reveal its true size. Lewa wasn’t even tall enough to reach its knee caps. He runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction before he then gets cornered by a sharp escarpment. The dragon then pulls back its neck and shoots a beam of fire directly at Lewa. Lewa couldn’t do anything, this was it, all the adventures, the friends, the journey’s, all going away. Lewa holds the Ignika in front of him as a last ditch effort to survive. However, the fire is redirected around Lewa instead of consuming him. It was like there was an invisible dome in front of him protecting from the fire. At first, he thought it was the mask, but then, as the dragon ended its flame. A tall red armored figure appears from thin air in front of him. It was Vakama, toa of fire.

Vakama: “Vine swinger. What you doin fighting dragons like that?”

Lewa made no comment, as he was still paralyzed from his near death experience.

Vakama: “I’ll handle this one. Now watch.”

Vakama runs at the dragon ahead. Lewa hides behind a nearby rock to observe. The dragon was so much bigger than Vakama, there was no way he was going to defeat it. Vakama takes out what looks to be a crossbow from his back and shoots multiple dish-like projectiles at the dragon. The dishes crash against the dragon’s skin, leaving splinter like fragments in its scaly skin. Despite his efforts, the dragon is only mildly annoying. The dragon then uses its tail to sweep the floor, hoping to trip Vakama. Vakama however uses puts the crossbow back on his back, the limbs of the bow then begin pulsating fiery jets, giving Vakama the ability to fly. Through this ability he manages to dodge the tail swipe. Vakama would be careful to be in range of claw swipes. As a result, the kardaz dragon was forced to use flame; it would launch fireballs. Vakama would dodge them vigilantly, Even reflecting a fireball back at it. The flames blackened the scales on the kardas dragon’s face, even blowing some scales off leaving some of its meaty interior. The dragon raged, letting out a harsh cry to the sky. It then charged at lightning speed towards Vakama, swinging its claws left, right, diagonally, vertically, horizontally, any area that it could cover, however after hundreds of swipes, the dragon noticed Vakama’s disappearance. It stopped, and looked around. Nothing on the horizon. It then looked up, to find Vakama looking down, with a condescending demeanor. The dragon then shoots a beam of fire with everything it’s got directly at the sky. Vakama falls, borrowing through the beam of fire. At the climax of the beam, Vakama crashed directly into the dragon, creating a massive explosion. Flame bright enough to blind. An explosion so high, that it severely burned the rahi flying above, creating a hole for sun to pear in. The blast exuded a wind which flew any matoran or rahi close to the vicinity back. Lewa flipped across the air from the force of the blast. Looking back, all Lewa could see was red, a flame which engulfed the entire region which Vakama fought. And inside the flame, all Lewa could see was the silhouette of a figure, a figure tall and strong. The silhouette of a toa walking through the flames. An image so vivid that Lewa could hear Vakama’s footsteps.

Tahu: “Ahh the toa, aren’t they a marvel? I’m sure you ain’t got them bad boy’s in Le Koro?”

Lewa looked to his side to find a ta matoran.

Lewa: “Who are you?”

The ta matoran takes out his hand.

Tahu: “Tahu, a pleasure to meet you. I’m a commander in the Ta Koran military. Me and Vakama came here to get you out of this mess. I sincerely apologize for your inclusion in this conflict. Under order 6099, anyone lacking the presence of an ID is legally forced to serve in the army. Dumb law I know, but we’re having so many deserters that we’ve got to put it in place. We got the memo late and that’s how you got stuck in this mess.”

Lewa: “Will I be taken to safety?”

Tahu: “Absolutely, follow me.”

Lewa: “What about Vakama? Is he safe out there?”

Tahu: “Is he safe? What? He’s a toa, don’t worry about him.”

As Lewa followed Tahu back to the volcano range, he continued to look back at Vakama walking through the flames, it was the same image Lewa saw in his nightmares all those nights ago.

Note: This chapter is significantly more violent than the previous chapters. This chapter is meant to be an explanation for why so many characters living in Ta Koro are seen as rude. This chapter was heavily influenced by media such as Doom 2016 and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This single shot was the main inspiration for the entire chapter.

Really Important Note: After this chapter, I won’t be projectiling out chapters whenever as quick as I usually do. Due to work, school, and personal issues, my writing will be more infrequent and less daily. Hopefully when summer comes I’ll be able to write at my normal pace.

[Rukah]

@Avnuva

Tahu

Did you mean Vakama here?

Uh either way this is good. I like the amount of world building for the chapter.

[Avnuva]

Thanks you so much for the correction. I sometimes get confused between the two since they are both toa in bionicle G1, but here they are distinct characters and Tahu is a matoran.

[Rukah]

Ah, don’t worry you’re fine.
…
hmm…
Is Tahu going to become a Toa later on though…?

[Avnuva]

The only information I can give is that the next chapter is going to be very boring, but the one after is going to be very important and interesting.

[Rukah]

ooh sounds good

[Avnuva]

Bully

Tahu, Vakama, and Lewa sit at a table in a room all by themselves.

Tahu: “So what’s our plan here?”

Lewa: “I don’t know. I was kind of expecting you guys to help me with that. You guys have no idea what it took to get here, it’s a crazy story let me tell you-”

Vakama: “Lewa, we can only help you if we know what we’re dealing with. Can you at least tell us where you found the mask piece?”

Lewa: “Sure. I found it after I blew up mount Tyfus.”

Tahu: “What’s that and why is it important?”

Lewa: “The mountain is the one of the only ones in Le Koro. It’s very isolated from the coast and even straddles the border between the native lands and the coast. I was working there for an Onu Koro mining company to extract protodermis, aka those things you use on your weapons and stuff.”

Vakama homes into the discussion, plotting intensely. Tahu lays back and lets Vakama take the stage.

Vakama: “Was this place sacred to the taraga?”

Lewa: “Yes. Very sacred. Oh, and when I left Le Koro, a makuta was chasing after it. I had to escape quickly. It’s the reason why I came here so quickly and you guys were ill prepared for my arrival I bet.”

Vakama takes a look at the glowing Ignika.

Vakama: “Has it changed at all since you arrived here?”

Lewa: “Yes. It’s been glowing more and more ever since I’ve arrived here.”

Vakama: “Has its glow been consistent throughout your stay here?”

Lewa: “Um, I’m not sure exactly what you mean, but I don’t think it has. Its glow has been slowly rising ever since I got here.”

Vakama relaxes.

Vakama: “Okay, this is solved. I think we can make a safe theory on how to find the second mask piece?”

Tahu begins clapping.

Tahu: “He’s a genius.”

Lewa: “Please elaborate?”

Vakama: “Okay, the mask piece you have has only given us one clue to where the location is, that being its glow. I don’t think it’s a crazy assumption that the mask glows when it gets closer to another mask piece, since your mask piece glows here more as opposed to Le Koro. And since the mask glows more on the mainland than Twomaki, I think it’s a safe bet that the piece we’re looking for is on this island. You also said that the mask glowed more closer to the range, so using our logic we can infer that the piece is somewhere around the range. Which makes sense, because the range is isolated from most matoran on the island. However, there are loopholes in our conclusion. Tell us more about the makuta?”

Lewa: “All I know is that a makuta landed on shore to steal the Ignika. I never saw the makuta in person.”

Vakama: “Did he give any signs that they already had a mask piece?”

Lewa: “I don’t know. No one told me anything about it.”

Vakama: “That’s bad. We don’t know whether the makuta already has another mask piece. And since they already have control over half of Ta Koro and some parts of Onu Koro, that could very well be a possibility. Did the mask change its glow while you were out on the battlefield? Did its glow get brighter the farther away you went from the range and into the battlefield?”

Lewa ponders. Mentally, he’s blocked any memories from the traumatic battlefield. But he looks deep inside to recall any details. He then remembers his shock when he used the mask as a shield against the Kardas dragons flames. He remembers that after the flames dissipated, the mask was glowing less than it was while he was closer to the volcano range.

Lewa: “It’s glow got weaker the deeper I went into the battlefield.”

Vakama: “Okay that’s a really good sign. The mask then is probably not more northerly than the range. Now the problem is trying to find which volcano actually has the piece.”

Tahu: “We could trail around the range to see where the mask glows the brightest?”

Vakama: “Excellent Idea.”

Tahu and Vakama rush out the military base with Lewa following them. Tahu gathers a small force of ragtag soldiers to come along with them.

Lewa: “Um, why do we need soldiers?”

Tahu: “Most of the range is no man’s land. Sure, our bases our inside most of the volcanoes on the range, but what happens over the volcanoes are almost entirely out of our control. They basically act as a buffer between makuta territory and the rest of Ta Koro. You also said that a makuta is aware that you have the mask, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we find your stalker or who knows what else around the range.”

As Tahu gathered troops, a familiar face appeared from the crowd. A lime green le matoran dawning a dark green kanohi mahiki. Lewa pretends to not see him, but he’s too late.

Airko: “Lewa?”

Ariko rushes through his fellow soldiers to catch a look. He sees Lewa looking down on the ground as he approaches.

Airko: “Lewa! How’s it been dude!”

Airko rushes over to give Lewa a hug. He twirls around with Lewa in his arms.

Airko: “Oh you have no idea how happy I am to see your miru around here.”

Airko then notices the piece of Ignika in his hand.

Airko: “Nah there’s no way! You’re the guy who found the Ignika? Oh my oh my oh my oh Mata Nui. How’d you do it? Are you a soldier now?”

Lewa: “No.”

Airko: “Hmm. Okay, guess you just got lucky, or cursed. Definitely cursed. Out of all the people who would want that job, you’d probably be at the bottom of that list.”

Airko was as judgemental as ever, yet he seemed significantly friendlier to Lewa since they last met each other in Le Koro.

Lewa: “You’re not angry at me?”

Airko: “Lewa, after the stuff I’ve seen, nothing could get me angry. I’m no Kongu. Speaking of which, how’d he react to that news.”

Lewa: “Bad.”

Airko: “I figured.”

Tahu walks towards the two.

Tahu: “Hey, you vine swingers know each other?”

Airko: “We sure do.”

Airko winks his eyes in an almost painful expression before opening his eyes again.

Airko: “Good times.”

Tahu: “Crazy isn’t it. Well Lewa, since you guys know each other so well.”

Tahu walks over to a massive bike rack. All the other militia matoran begin choosing bikes for the long ride around the range. Tahu walks over to two bikes, one with training wheels and another without any.

Tahu: “Maybe you could teach a fellow vine swinger a thing or two about riding a bike?”

Airko blushes and avoids eye contact out of embarrassment.

Lewa: “Great.”

Note: This is by far one of the more boring chapters I wrote. However, I promise that I’ll try to make the next chapter very enjoyable.

[Avnuva]

Warning: This chapter is significantly darker than the previous chapters, so please try hard not to get triggered. I’ve tried my best to create a visually and thematically interesting story without getting too vulgar and still sticking true to the more light hearted tone of the overall story.

Icarax

North of Ta Koro’s central volcano range, lies the fringes of death. A battlefield tainted in fire. However, the environment changes further north. The sky clears from rahi. The soil loses its consistency of limbs and masks. Smoke doesn’t coat the atmosphere. Fire is but a rare occurrence. A land with nothing but golden tall grass and abandoned homesteads. A flat land, empty and peaceful. Eventually a city can be seen on the horizon, and from a distance it looks to be thriving. Small dots can be seen moving around little squares, which look to homes or buildings. Closer to the city, the buildings show an uglier picture. Missing walls, no roofs, broken windows, it was clear that these buildings were ruins. Getting to the fringes of the city, a much sadder image can be seen. Chains wrapped around the hands and feet of matoran, many of them with damaged kanohi or missing limbs. They would carry heavy bricks for repairing the damages of what used to be a bustling Ta Koran city. Rahi would be at every corner to punish the mistakes of their prisoners of war. Occasionally the sound of a zamor launcher, a crossbow like weapon that fired an energy like projectile, could be heard from anywhere across the city. A constant reminder to the matoran on what would happen if they didn’t do their jobs. At the center of the city, a fully constructed palace lies, a golden palace which looked completely out of place in a city of ruins. One of the balinese can be seen watching over his city. A tall muscular makuta with wings that covered his back as a cape. He dawns the very symbol of matoran oppression, the kanohi kraahkan, the mask of shadows, personally given by Teridax himself. The makuta’s name was Icarax, the frontrunner on the war against the matoran. His silence was disturbed by the presence of another one of his coworkers. A tall slender figure with long hair. Her name was Roodaka.

Roodaka: “Icarax! Are you shooting matoran from the balcony again?”

Icarax: “No, I ran out of zamor spheres.”

Icarax walks back into his room and starts breaking objects.

Roodaka: “What’s wrong?”

Icarax: “No one here is incompetent! It’s like no one here does things my way. I wish I could be everywhere, but I can’t! I can never relax here, because I always have that anxious feeling that a taku bird is gonna show up here with a note that has my name on it, because the others don’t know how to handle a simple situation. I love us makuta, I really do! But sometimes I feel like there’s just something wrong with our conscience which keeps us from winning. Teridax would get it.”

Icarax collapses on his bed out of exhaustion.

Roodaka: “I mean, he did assign you to lead us while he’s gone.”

Roodaka stands on the bed directly across from Icarax.

Roodaka: “Besides, that’s their fault. In the end, we’re all gonna have to pay the ultimate price for our imperfections. You should just relax, because when Teridax returns, you’ll be the first person he congratulates.”

A taku bird with a note flies to the balcony.

Icarax: “Ugh, see what I mean?! It’s like they can’t handle this stuff by themselves.”

Icarax walks over to the balcony and reads the note. He paraphrases it outloud to Roodaka.

Icarax: “Interesting, This ones from makuta Mutran. He wants me to fly to the edge of south side.”

Roodaka: “That far?”

Icarax: “Yup, I’ll just tell him to get Grekk to help him out with whatever he’s doing.”

All of a sudden, another taku bird comes with a second letter. Icarax reads the second letter. It’s from mutran again and it reads,

‘Yes I already contacted Grekk and he doesn’t know what to do either.’

Icarax calms his anger and lets his curiosity get the better of him.

Icarax: “I’ll be back in just a minute.”

He then flies off the balcony and reaches to the southern edges of his city. He reaches a dirt road surrounded on all sides by golden grass. Icarax finds a wagon filled with captured matoran being pulled by two kane ra. To the side of the road, Icarax finds what he’s looking for. Two makuta stand at a stalemate with a matoran keeping a taraga hostage. One of the makuta was Greek. He had a cannon for an arm and a massive claw in the other. His shoulders protrude sharp shoulder armor resembling blades. His wings looked metallic, almost like they were shields. The makuta’s kanohi was the shelic, the mask of blindness. A mask unique to Grekk’s strange biology. It allowed his dagger-like eyes to jut out like fangs at the bottom of his mask, yet it also allows room for his third eye to appear from the center of his mask, like a cyclops. The other makuta was Mutran, a green bat like makuta with fangs peering out his mask. His mask was the kanohi shelek, the mask of silence. Mutran had a notebook in his hands as usual. What made the situation bizarre was that they were both at a standstill with a matoran. It was a ga matoran wielding the Pakari, the mask of strength. She stood at a limp, probably due to some leg injury suffered up north. Her mask contained a massive crack to the right of it and her mask was drenched in tears. Her blue complexion was occasionally spotted with purple bruises. She used the handcuffs on her arms to choke her hostage in place, she contained a sharp rock in one of her hands directly pointed into the neck of her hostage. Her hostage was a taraga, a taraga of fire. A taraga who’s name once filled the hearts of rahi and makuta with fear, his name was Norik.

Icarax: “What’s going on here?”

Ga matoran: “If you don’t-”

Icarax: “Don’t care. So… Grekk, What’s going on here?”

Greek: “Um, She can explain it best.”

Icarax gives a cold glare at Grekk.

Icarax: “Fine.”

Icarax directs his attention to the ga matoran.

Icarax: “So ga matoran, what’s your name?”

Ga matoran: “Mika.”

Icarax: “Ok what do you want?”

Mika shakes as she speaks. Her rock on her hand gently vibrates against Norik’s neck out of fear.

Mika: “Let me go, and I won’t kill him.”

There’s a pause between the two sides. Icarax then smiles. He then begins to laugh uncontrollably. Everything starts making sense to him, but at the same time, it doesn’t. He looks at mutran, then Grekk, and then back at Mika.

Icarax: “Oh brother. Okay? And what makes you think that we want him alive?”

Mika: “You’re green friend over there doesn’t seem so keen on that.”

Icarax looks back at a tense sweaty Mutran, then chuckles before looking back at Mika.

Icarax: “You think he has authority over here. This is a war zone, not a science experiment. When it comes down to it, he’s under my claw. And my claw don’t discriminate against who lives or dies.”

Mika tenses, her shaking becomes more violent.
Mika: “I’ll kill him!”

Icarax: “Go ahead then. He can’t even lift a brick with that fragile old body.”

Mika hesitates.

Icarax: “So this was your plan?”

He looks back at his makuta brothers.

Icarax: “This is what you guys called me up for?”

He then looks back at Mika and begins walking slowly towards her.

Icarax: “What do you think is gonna happen if you don’t kill him? Think we’ll let you go free? You’re in the middle of makuta territory. Nothing stops us from killing you immediately after you lend him back. And even if we let you go, and that’s a big if. You’ll have to walk miles south through dry near uninhabitable land, fight through the range, and then explain yourself to unforgiving ta matoran once they ask you how you escaped. Real genius plan you have there.”

Mika’s eyes water, but no tears come out due to her dehydration. All her shaking goes to her legs. As if she were focusing all her energy and will power to stand strong. Icarax calms and walks to her more slowly and comfortingly.

Icarax: “Look, I get it. I once heard that our kanohi are a gateway to the soul. I personally disagree, but I do believe that our kanohi help define us. Matoran like you don’t usually last long, but you keep fighting. I can see it, see it through your pakari.”

Mika takes a step back with Norik in her grasp.

Icarax: “You’re not the only one. Taking it all for granted. The education, teachers, classmates, all of it. I know you wish you could take it back. To live in Ga Koro, study to get those perfect grades, so you could work a happy life as a teacher or engineer. No, doctor, you seem m0re of a doctor kind of matoran. But instead you let the days go by, and you probably justified it by saying ‘oh at least we’re smarter than the fire spitters’. I wonder how well that logic fared with the universities? I wonder how you reacted when a passing grade in all your classes wasn’t good enough for Ga Koro? I wonder if you lied to your friends when they got accepted and you didn’t?”

Icarax pauses and takes a look at Mika. Mika’s legs shake more violently, all the liquid in her body manages to create a single tear running down her face. Icarax continues to walk slowly towards her.

Icarax: “You definitely lied, single tear matoran tend to be liars. And then when you found that the lies didn’t work in securing a job, you scraped the bottom of the toilet bowl. I’m guessing you couldn’t bear being a hula girl. After all, those ga koran social stigma’s run deep. No amount of pakari reassurance could save you from that emotional damage. So I’m assuming that’s why you joined the military. There’s no pettiness in Ta Koro, perhaps you liked that, because no matter how hard the fight, no matter how horrible the conditions; to you, it’s still better than the oppression back home.”

Icarax then notices the purple marks on Mika’s body more thoroughly. Icarax has worked with damaged matoran for so long, to the point where he can tell types of bruises and how long they’ve existed. He noticed that Mika’s bruises were blunt. They were tame and didn’t look like they were obtained from the battlefield. These bruises were numerous and from a while back, possibly persistent.

Icarax: “Poor thing. I know those bruises. I see them on ga matoran everywhere in the camps, and they always have the same story.”

Icarax finally gets close enough to Mika to place his foreclaw under her chin to raise her head up. Mika’s body paralyzes, her shaking stops. Icarax looks deep into her eyes to see a scared matoran, one who has given up on looking strong. Mika sees cold white washer-like eyes with a white dot at the center of them, they were unlike any makuta she’s ever seen. They looked to have not conveyed any real emotions in centuries, staring into her soul.

Icarax: “He seemed cute at first didn’t he? Unlike other fire spitters, he seemed kind, loving, and comedic. A sweet soldier, one who probably saved you from the front lines. Probably a little immature or inexperienced, but you liked that about him. It reminded him of you. Friendship turned into love and days would turn into weeks. You found romance in the most unlikely arena and you both lived long enough for it to last. Little did you know at the time that that blessing was a curse. I’m guessing it started when he rose through the ranks, and that’s when their ugly side comes. It’s the curse of the fire spitter, it’s why they can’t love or be loved.”

Mika’s eyes water again, but this time there’s not even enough water to form a single tear. She takes a deep breath, anticipating painful words.

Icarax: “He hit you, and from the looks of it, he did it a lot. Always blaming it on the rahi when the others questioned. But you dealt with it, after all, who was going to stop him. Not only that, but I bet you genuinely did feel bad for him. Whenever he came home from the battlefield, contemplating the numerous traumatic experiences against the rahi, you knew he was going to hit you those days. After the cut scenes of slaps, punches, and kicks, you’d watch him cry on the floor next to you. Saying ‘sorry’ and telling you he’s not a monster. You’d cry along with him, because you knew that he wasn’t always like this, but molded into Ta Koro’s image, just how your sister matoran were molded by Ga Koro’s image.”

Icarax pauses, letting the words sissle in Mika’s head.

Icarax: “Do you think you’re strong Mika? Do you think your pakari defines you?”

Icarax let’s Mika lose by taking his claw away from her face. She collapses on the ground, dragging taraga Norik down with her. She thrusts the rock into Noriks neck, then pulls it out. Just like that, one of what used to be Ta Koro’s finest warriors dies in the fields of makuta territory. Decades of wisdom and experience wasted at Ta Koro’s northern plains. Murdered by the very matoran he swore to protect. Captured ta matoran spectating from their wagon cry as they see their beloved taraga bleed across the golden field. Norik however doesn’t retaliate, he had gained much wisdom from his vengeful days as a toa. He peacefully lays on the ground, staining the golden grass. Mika cries with no tears, all she can do is make an ugly face and weep on the grass below her. She couldn’t bear to look back at her fellow soldiers spectating from their wagon. She finally takes the rock she used against Norik and uses it on herself. Icarax watches as their bodies taint the grass in red. When they stop moving, Icarax walks over to both of their corpses and collects their respective masks. He looks back at the wagon filled with matoran, they all look away to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Icarax then looks back at Grekk and Mutran.

Icarax: “Okay, pros is that I got two more masks to collect, especially Norik’s mask, I wanted that one for a long time. Cons is that I still don’t know why you two called me here.”

Mutran: “We called you over so that you could resolve our issue.”

Mutran points to the two corpses.

Mutran: “This isn’t a resolution!”

Icarax: “Mmhmm, have we forgotten who’s in charge of our campaign here in Ta Koro.”

Mutran: “Icarax! This could have helped our campaign. We’ve never gotten our hands on a taraga, you know how important that is! So much research could have been done. What if the secret to winning this war simply lied in the taraga’s anatomy.”

Icarax: “You are an intelligent makuta mutran and we serve different purposes to our brethren, but in situations like this, it’s best that we handle things my way. We are at war and I highly doubt that your experiments would do anything to help our cause. Don’t treat them as their special. Maybe when the wars over, we’ll have time for experiments and amputations, but now is not the time.”

Icarax grabs Mutran’s head and points it towards the matoran sitting in his wagon.

Icarax: “See them! When you put yourself at the whim of a matoran like you just did, that gives them power. It makes them think that maybe, they could possibly put us on the spot, that they have value. Don’t let that get to them. I might not be as good as you when it comes to science, but that’s one science I’ll always be ahead of you in, that being social.

Icarax then looks at Grekk.

Icarax: “Then there’s you. Now mutran at least has an excuse for his incompetence. I know you’re new at the Ta Koran front, But that’s no excuse. Don’t they teach this stuff back home? Anyways, Mutran asks you for help and then you just stand there. Why is that? Please explain to me.”

Grekk: “I… it felt wrong. Something just didn’t feel right. I didn’t know what to do.”

Icarax: “Nevermind, I do know what’s wrong with you. It’s your morality. Mentally you’re still stuck in the Miserix era. I get it now, you’re always creating rahi, but never actually fight alongside them. You treat being a makuta like an art, not a tool. Were you thinking of trying to find a way so that both of them would live?”

Grekk: “I mean… yeah. It would help contribute to your workforce and all, so why not?”

Icarax: “I knew it! You value life too much. I remember watching you create your beloved jungle rahi back in the day. It was beautiful, like you were sculpting status. The passion soothed through every design. I could see the thrill in your eyes every time you managed to create life. You valued it so much that I would see you create entire notebooks mapping out the creations of complex ecosystems and food chains, all from your power to give life. However, I’m sorry to inform you that that mentality won’t be tolerated here in Ta Koro. Here, life is destruction, not creation. Listen to me Grekk. A makuta’s greatest power isn’t to create, but to destroy.”

Grekk nod’s his head up and down looking at the floor. Icarax then looks at Grekk’s mask.

Icarax: “I know you could do better than this. I know why your mask looks like that, It’s because you got two sides to you, you just gotta choose the right one. There’s the creative wimpy you, aka the you that’s here right now. Then there’s the other side, you know the one I’m talking about. The side where the monster breaks loose, the true makuta in you. When your wings invert upward and your mask turns upside down. When you become a cyclops and your normal eyes turn into horns, when that smile runs down across your face. That’s the makuta we need. Now, take these matoran into the city, you have embarrassed us enough today.”

Grekk leads the wagon back into the city. Icarax continues to talk to Mutran.

Icarax: “So, how did you manage to capture a taraga?”

Mutran: “It’s not as impressive as you’d expect. He just started running from the range towards the rahi hoards yelling that the mask of life is found.”

Icarax starts laughing hysterically.

Icarax: “What the? Do taraga have schizophrenia or something?”

Mutran: “I have hypothesized that, too bad we won’t be able to know.”

Mutran looks directly at Icarax.

Icarax: “What? It’s just one taraga. You’ll get your chance another day. Don’t let it get to you.”

Mutran: “I don’t know Icarax, It seemed like he was pretty sane to me. You think he was telling the truth?”

Icarax: “I swear on Teridax’s name that he’s lying. The mask has been missing since who knows how long. I’m doubting that such a thing even exists. I think the schitzo hypothesis is more believable.”

Krika: “Icarax!”

Both Krika and Nidhiki run out of the city to meet Icarax. A small army of rahi follows them out.

Krika: “Oh man, you have no idea how long it took to get here.”

Nidhiki: “We traveled on a boat towards here.”

Krika: “Then we hitchhiked through tons of makuta territory to get here.”

Nidhiki: “Then when we got here, you were nowhere to be found.”

Krika: “We only found you because we asked Roodaka where you were. Also, Antroz says hi.”

Nidhiki: “Also, also, can I get your autograph?”

Icarax looks at the two in confusion.

Icarax: “What’s going on here? Why are you here Krika?”

Krika: “Well, to make a long story short, a piece of the Ignika was discovered at Le Koro and I’m here to steal the first piece from the matoran traveling with the mask and possibly locate the second piece.”

Icarax touches his mask in stress.

Mutran: “What were you saying about schizophrenia?”

Icarax: “Shut up. What are you even doing here? Just get out of here, don’t you have matoran experiments or something?”

Mutran: “Indeed.”

Mutran leaves the scene and enters the city. Icarax looks at the strange figure next to Krika.

Icarax: “Who’s that guy?”

Krika: “He’s a-”

Nidhiki: “My name’s Nidhiki, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Nidhiki handshakes Icarax’s hand unconventionally before Icarax pulls his hand away.

Icarax: “Hello Nidhiki, who are you?”

Nidhiki: “I’m the makuta who works at the bell tower. You might not know me, but I know you. Co leader of the brotherhood, general of the Ta Koran theater, wielder of the kraahkan. I wish I could be as cool as you one day.

Icarax: “Makuta? I thought you were his rahi or something.”

Nidhiki: “Nope. 100% makuta.”

Icarax: “I never seen you in the streets Nidhiki, that’s all I’m saying.”

Krika: “Anyways, he was assigned by Teridax himself to go along with me on this mission.”

Icarax: “What help do y’all need?”

Krika: “We need your help on where you’d think would be the most likely spot for the second mask piece to be.”

Icarax: “Definitely volcano Ho-oh.”

Krika: “Holy, that was a fast answer?”

Icarax: “In my spare time I constantly think up fake scenarios to be prepared for anything, and this was just one of those scenarios.”

Nidhiki: “So cool.”

Icarax: “Yeah… Well, the reason why I think it’d be volcano Ho-oh is because I’ve sent rahi there and they’d come back mutated. I’ve also heard horror stories from some matoran soldiers in the camps where they’ve heard of defecters in their army commiting suicide over the volcano to then reappear the next day.”

Krika: “This is wonderful.”

Icarax: “Don’t take my word for it. Matoran can be liars and there’s other volcanoes where suspicious stuff has happened. Those places are also dangerous since they are buffer areas between the north and south.”

Icarax sees a taku bird flying overhead. He then takes control of its mind and sends it towards Krika.

Icarax: “Here, I relinquish my ownership of him to you. He could be of use to you.”

Krika: “Thank you so much.”

Icarax: “I’ll see y’all later. I have business to get to in the city.”

They both walk their separate ways.

Icarax: “Oh yeah, if you guys don’t manage to steal the mask. I’ll kill y’all.”

The way Icarax talked creeped Krika out, since he couldn’t tell if Icarax was joking or not. He smiled while talking, but his smile turned to a frown as soon as he stopped speaking. Krika quickly paid no mind to it since Icarax had been like this for as long as he could remember.

Note: This was by far one of the better chapters I’ve written. I’m very sorry to the people reading this who didn’t like the significantly darker tone of this chapter. I actually agree with that sentiment since I personally believe that bionicle is a story that should be meant for young teens. However, I assure you guys that this chapter is an outlier in book 1. This will probably be the only chapter in book 1 which tackles mature and dark themes. Overall book 1 is going to be a light hearted adventure fantasy, which is what I think bionicle should be. I will warn readers of this story, that this chapter is going to be foreshadowing where the overall stories tone will be going in book 2. So a darker tone will be present when I eventually get to book 2. To some, a darker tone doesn’t seem very bionicle, but I believe it’s necessary for more emotional and light hearted high’s to create a more interesting story. Not to mention that that agrument is strange since bionicle G1 in it’s later years became less shy with with having darker tone.

Inspirations: Characters like Roodaka and Norik have changed a little bit in this adaptation compared to G1 bionicle. For exanple, Roodaka’s a makuta in this story and Norik is in a taraga form. Sadly the darke hunters will not be a thing in this story. And yes, I plugged in Kylernuva’s moc Grekk into this story. I put him in because I think he has a really cool design.

Image of Grekk (Roughly looks the same in this story compared with the moc)
Image of Icarax (He looks a little different in this story.)
Image of Mutran (Roughly looks the same in this story as G1.)
Image of Roodaka (Looks a little differently in this story)
Image of Norik as a toa
Image of what Mika would look like.

Icarax’s character was heavily inspired by the real person and character of Amon Goeth in the movie Shindler’s list.

The music which helped me get into the world of this chapter was the soundtrack for Old Boy 2003.

[Rukah]

oof that chapter was dark. nice job though

[Avnuva]

Yeah that was the tone I was going for in this chapter. Personally I’m not a big fan of this kind of tone, but I think it’s necessary for multiple reasons. Mainly the dark tone of this chapter is meant to exude Icarax’s presence. I tried to give the feeling that whenever he’s around, the tone shifts. Icarax in general is supposed to be a horribly evil character. The dark tone of this chapter was also meant to show the brutality of war in Ta Koro more maturely than my other chapter ‘Arrival’. This chapter is meant to emphasis how the makuta aren’t inherently a bad species, but a species with terrible intentions and questionable leadership. I also wished to give some Ga Koro world building through this chapter. This whole chapters main goal was to introduce the character Icarax, show how terrible he is, and give more world building to the makuta.

If you’re not a big fan of this tone, I’m happy to inform that it’ll not be consistent throughout book 1. Overall, book 1 will have a tone more consistently light hearted and adventurous. However, the tone in this chapter is foreshadowing what will it’ll be like in book 2, where Icarax will have a much bigger role in the story.

[Avnuva]

Ta Ta Ta

Lewa rides his bicycle, following the other matoran as they travel across the tilted border of the range. They headed west from the base, since the Ignika’s light shined brighter as they moved westward. Vakama fly’s high in the sky to carefully scout the activity of the volcanoes along the range. Lewa pays close attention to the mask light, using it to guide their trail. It was a boring job, but a necessary one. Lewa then gets interrupted by the sound of a struggling cyclist catching up to him.

Airko: “Hey… Lewa, can you please teach me how to ride this thing? You know, without the training wheels? How did you learn how to ride these things back in Le Koro?”

Lewa: “I don’t know Airko, the same way you learned how to ride a gucko bird.”

Airko’s friendly demeanor turns to a shocked one. His eyes tilt and his mouth gapes. He felt a feeling of defeat, like he couldn’t do anything. His friendliness was backstabbed by Lewa’s apathy. Lewa then rides his bike faster to escape Airko’s presence, leaving him in the dust. He eventually catches up to Tahu, who observed the whole ordeal. He gives him a stinky looking eyebrow raise with his kanohi hau.

Lewa: “What?”

Tahu: “For one of your longtime friends, You don’t seem to enjoy his company.”

Lewa: “Friends? He says that about us?”

Tahu: “I just kind of assumed it. He seems like a friendly vine swinger.”

Lewa: “Well that’s not an accurate assumption. You see, he’s not like that, it’s weird. It rubs me the wrong way, because I know what he’s actually like.”

Tahu: “He seems fine to me. He stays strong on the battlefield, he shows courage, he’s humble, and he’s flexible like plastic. No matter the stubbornness of his fellow soldiers, no matter the odds, he always finds a way to unite everyone together. He’s definitely better than any ga matoran I’ve seen, I’ll tell you that.”

Lewa: “Are we talking about the same matoran? Because the Airko I know is rude, insensitive, and a bully. When I used to go to school, he would make fun of the way I skipped, how I didn’t have a flying license senior year. Well, to be honest, he never actually made fun of me for those things. But he’d always imply it, like a snake. Every day he’d ask me about my flying progress, or address how I was unique for the way I walked. I could tell he didn’t like me, especially when I would catch him and his friends laughing at me during lunch. And that was the stuff that he wouldn’t make fun of me to my face. One time during phys ed, while we were learning our bullfighting unit, he would flat out make fun of me for not killing the kane ra in our final exam. So I got a bad grade and humiliation in one day. I was nice to him too, I never once did anything to provoke him. I think he didn’t like me because of my weird personality, which is just so petty. There’s a point where I gave up trying to be friends with him and simply started ignoring, I was hoping that I’d never have to see him after school, yet here I am now, with him trying to be friends. Like, what? He missed his chance long ago.”

Tahu listens intently. He doesn’t make eye contact with Lewa or any noise, but it’s clear that he’s listening to every word. Lewa looks at Tahu’s face. He’s frowning with his eyes tilted towards the sides.

Lewa: “I know right, he sucks.”

Tahu: “No, that’s not what I was thinking.”

Lewa gets a little shocked.

Tahu: “I think you’re not judging him fairly.”

Lewa: “Not judging him fairly? What’s wrong with you? He’s clearly not cool and that’s what you say?”

Tahu: “I say that because you aren’t looking at him as a complicated matoran. You might see me a little differently after what I say next, but I feel for Airko. The way you described him reminds me of my younger self.”

Lewa: “Not a good way to represent yourself bro.”

Tahu: “Yeah I know, but hear me out. Matoran like that, or I guess, matoran like me, tend to have a lot of guilt for that stuff later on in life. I know, that’s hard for you to fathom, but it’s true. War also changes a matoran. It wasn’t until after I joined the army where I started feeling bad for my actions. I’m telling you now, fighting a rahi quadruple your weight and twice your size 10 times in a day, with little to no help is a life changing experience. Out there, pettiness dies on the battlefield. Bully’s don’t live out there. Sure, more often than not the worst is brought out of us matoran, out there in the field of battle, but there’s a chance, just a chance, that the best is brought out. And those matoran tend to be the ones that last. Before I was a soldier I took every matoran for granted, and now I only feel guilt. Guilt for all the matoran I’ve wronged for basically no reason. You have no idea what I’d give to right my sins, and I bet you that’s exactly how Airko’s feeling right now. Please give him that chance, don’t be the ga matoran who doesn’t forgive.”

Lewa: “I still think you’re wrong. First off I don’t know you. Secondly I don’t think that Airko is the type of matoran to be forgiven, he’s never said sorry once since I got here and I’m not willing to take his kindness as an apology. I think you’re implying a lot. And besides, even if you were right, I wouldn’t want to forgive him, and that’s a me problem that I have no intention of fixing.

Tahu: “Do ya know Kongu?”

Lewa avoids eye contact and has a suspicion of where the conversation is going.

Lewa: “Yeah, what about him?”

Tahu: “Well I knew him too and he turned out very different from Airko. He definitely leaned more into the ‘getting traumatized by war’ kind of crowd if you know what I mean. He definitely left a more bitter matoran than when he got here.”

Tahu laughs.

Lewa: “Yeah I noticed.”

Tahu: “Oh, so from that I assume that you hated him just as much as Airko.”

Lewa: “Don’t you dare compare the two. Kongu was actually nice when I first met him.”

Tahu: “Key words, ‘first met’”

Lewa chuckled a little before continuing his rant.

Lewa: “And yeah he was a little terrible when he got back from Ta Koro, but through my undying support and patience with him, he became the Kongu I knew and loved.”

Tahu: “What makes Airko any different?”

Lewa: “Airko was never good.”

Tahu: “Now he is, or at least he’s trying. To me it seems like you did all the work repairing your friendship with Kongu, what did he ever do to better your friendship with him?”

Lewa: “Towards the end of my stay at Le Koro he apologized for being rude. Besides, he went through war and that takes a toll on a matoran.”

Tahu: “So did Airko, and he turned out better than before. What are these double standards?”

Lewa: “I don’t know, just let me be friends with whoever I want.”

Tahu: “Fine, It’s not my place to judge anyways. Honestly, I feel like they’re both cool, just in different ways.”

All of a sudden a roasted taku bird falls from the sky and almost lands on top of Tahu.

Vakama: “Oops.”

Lewa: “What the?”

Tahu looks up at the sky and starts screaming at Vakama.

Tahu: “You almost killed me!”

Vakama flies back down to the ground.

Vakama: “Sorry about that. I’ll just stay down here for now on.”

Due to Lewa’s proximity to the taku bird, the Ignika then begins to glow more than normal and reverses the roasted status of the taku bird. It flies away in panic, as if it remembered its brutal death. As it flies, one of the militia men under Tahu’s command quickly defuses the situation by shooting an arrow directly at it, the matoran lands a perfect shot.

Tahu: “Good work soldier!”

Lewa: “Why do you all have the urge to kill anything that moves?”

Tahu: “I mean, does that even need explaining? Use your eyes, vine swinger! I don’t think you’ve noticed, but this side of Ta Koro doesn’t have a single rahi, because you know, we’re fighting a war.”

Tahu points at the dead taku bird that was just shot.

Tahu: “Makuta see through those things, and this isn’t Le Koro where you’re protected through ga koro’s navy and miles of ocean.”

Lewa: “Vakama’s fine with this?”

Tahu: “Are you serious? Every matoran, toa, and taraga on this island is cool with killing rahi. Vakama himself has probably killed more rahi than every soldier we have out there combined. Once again, let me make this clear to you, this isn’t Le Koro. Our taraga don’t waste time with meditation and spiritual renewal through nature. Our taraga are out here giving motivational speeches to us matoran we die on the battlefield. And our toa? Well, let me tell you, Vakama is certainly no Matau.”

Tahu laughs at his own joke, a few other ta matoran chuckle along with him, but the majority of the matoran around him are silent from the supposed joke. The scene eventually turns awkward, especially when Tahu looks back at Lewa and Vakama giving him a cold glare.

Tahu: “Too soon?”

Vakama nods without saying a word. There’s a moment of silence as the militia continues to move on. Vakama decides to run on foot alongside the matoran on bicycles.

Vakama: “Speaking of which… Um, I know this is a sensitive topic and all, but have there been any sign’s back in Le Koro that Matau will be coming back?”

Lewa: “Not a clue, and you’re open to talk about that stuff around me, I don’t mind.”

Vakama: “Oh… good. I just wanted to know, that’s all.”

More awkward silence is shared between the two. Vakama lets out a big sigh to disturb the silence.

Vakama: “You know, I miss him a lot. Did you remember seeing him at all?”

Lewa: “Not really, I’ve heard him speak before. I remember his katana blades. He used to wear the kanohi mahiki.”

Vakama: “Just like Airko.”

Lewa: “Yeah, what a shame that that mask’s only worn by douches.”

Vakama: “Hold up, Why’d ya say that?”

Lewa: “Well, isn’t Matau a traitor? He abandoned us and never returned, I think that constitutes traitorous behavior.”

Vakama: “I don’t think he abandoned y’all, that doesn’t seem right. He always cared about what others thought of him.”

Lewa: “Why are we even talking about him? I don’t even remember what he was like. I think he’s better left forgotten.”

Vakama: “Don’t do that to him. He ain’t deserve that. You might not remember him, but I remember some, and the thing I remembered most was his fear of being forgotten.”

Lewa: “Well, he must be living his worst nightmare then.”

Vakama looks ahead, trying to hide his face from Lewa.

Vakama: “Perhaps.”

The Ignika begins to glow at its highest capacity, its light so strong that the actual appearance of the mask was invisible.

Lewa: “I think we’re here?”

Lewa takes a few steps more westward, and he notices that the mask’s light decreases in brightness with every step.

Lewa: “Yup, this is the right place.”

Vakama: “Wow, how fitting, right here at volcano Ho-oh.”

Lewa: “How so?”

Tahu enters the conversation.

Tahu: “Some soldiers believe this place is haunted. Soldiers go in and never come out, even the makuta are afraid of this place.”

Vakama: “I don’t believe it’s haunted, It’s just really active and that’s why it’s dangerous.”

Tahu: “Leave it to Vakama to be the pragmatist.”

Vakama: “What? Just stating the facts.”

Lewa: “Is there any way to enter the volcano safely?”

Tahu: “Of course, there’s roads leading to caverns inside the volcano.”

Lewa: “Isn’t this extremely dangerous?”

Tahu: “Yup, what? You thought finding the Ignika pieces was goin to be easy?”

Lewa: “I found mine by accidentally blowing up a mountain, so yes, I did think this was going to be easy.”

Tahu: “Really?”

Lewa starts laughing.

Lewa: “Oh Mata Nui, What do you think?”

Tahu is confused and slightly uncomfortable.

Tahu: “Let’s just go.”

Lewa, Tahu, Vakama, and the rest of the militia men follow the poorly constructed roads as they came closer and closer to the inside of volcano Ho-oh.

Note: This chapter is souly meant for character development, world building, and moving along the plot.

[Avnuva]

Ho-oh

Entering Ho-oh was a return, a return to Ta Koro’s more simple peaceful times. Back when the taraga still worshiped the volcanoes of the range. A time when Ta Korans weren’t pragmatists, when they weren’t raised to kill, back when they actually believed in morals. The volcano lived on the island much longer than any matoran; it was as much a fire spitter as the inhabitants of the island.

As Lewa enters the volcano, all he sees is red. The path Lewa followed hadn’t been renovated in years. It ran through the inside of the volcano like a spiral. Lewa and the others had entered from the bottom of the volcano, where they could almost see the origin of the lava. Speaking of which, lava was available on multiple levels of the volcano, not just the bottom. There were pools of lava seemingly everywhere they turned. The caverns also seemed to be aimless, it was clear that they all eventually led to the top of the volcano, but they looked like a maze to that point. It was an extremely dangerous environment to hang around, especially since the air was dry and extremely hot.

Vakama: “Ahhh, this is my kind of environment.”

Lewa: “Yeah… I’m just glad that you’ll be able to protect us from the lava if anything gets too intense.”

Vakama: “Oh I can’t do that.”

Lewa: “What?! Why not?”

Vakama: “Lava ain’t fire, and if you’ve learnt anything in geo class, you’ll know that lava is actually melted stone, who would’ve thought. So yeah, if toa Whenua were here we’d be safe, but not me.”

Lewa touches his forehead in stress.

Lewa: “The goal here is to, you know, not make me more worried.”

Vakama: “No it’s not, it’s to get the second mask piece.”

Vakama gets a chuckle out of matorn listening in on the conversation.

Lewa: “How could this get any worse?”

Airko: “Hey Lewa!”

Lewa: “I swear to Mata Nui this feels scripted, there’s no way you just came out of nowhere.”

Airko: “Sure did. So, what you doing?

Lewa: ”I’m talking with Vakama.”

Vakama: “Hi.”

Airko: “Hello, my name’s Airko, did you know that I used to live in the same town as Lewa?”

Vakama: “I’ve heard.”

Airko’s kindness then turns into a regretful expression.

Airko: “Oh but don’t be mistaken, we’re not exactly friends, we just know each other…”

Vakama looks at both Lewa and Airko.

Vakama: “Right…”

Vakama leaves the two to themselves. Lewa notices something different about Airko’s bike.

Lewa: “I see you’ve learned how to ride without training wheels.”

Airko: “Oh yeah, I have. It was for the best ya know. I was way behind everyone with them on, so I just ripped them off the bike. At first it was hard to ride, but after a while, I learned that it was all about balance.”

Lewa: “So you taught yourself?”

Airko: “Just as you wanted, yes.”

Lewa looks genuinely impressed.

Lewa: “Impressive. I also taught myself how to bike, but it took me a much longer time to learn.”

Airko: “Well there aren’t exactly biking teachers in Le Koro. How’d you even get a bike in the first place?”

Lewa: “There everywhere, at bookstores, mercados, armories. I personally got my second bike at a dumpster.”

Airko: “Huh, I never noticed. I guess it’s fine since they’re probably really expensive, or at least the good ones.”

Lewa: “Not even close bro. Cheaper than a kohli puck, it’s just that no one wants to get one.”

Airko: “In that case it’s probably because they’re hard to maintain.”

Lewa: “Nope, wrong again. Sometimes you gotta work out some kinks, but compared to a gucko bird, they don’t need food, shelter, or water.”

Airko: “C’mon there’s gotta be at least something gucko birds have over bicycles?”

Lewa: “I never said that biking was superior to riding a gucko bird… anyways yeah, riding a gucko bird is technically better because they travel significantly faster.”

Airko: “How come you never learned to ride a gucko bird?”

Airko instantly regrets his question as soon as he notices Lewa’s rhythmic cycling slightly slows down.

Lewa: “I don’t know, Airko. Maybe it just never interested me. Is that wrong? Is it wrong for a vine swinger to not ride a gucko bird? Is it wrong to skip work or ride a bike to work once in a while?”

Airko: “Woah woah woah, what are you implying?”

Lewa: “Okay I’m done with this, the real question here is, what were you implying? What were you implying when you broke my first bike in senior year of high school, when you and all the other vine swingers knew how to fly? That was a gift too, and you broke it.”

Lewa looks back to see Airko trailing behind him, but all he finds is Airko stopped looking at lava falls across the volcano. Lewa also stops.

Airko: “I’m sorry Lewa. I’m so sorry…”

Airko then makes direct eye contact with Lewa.

Airko: “You’ve been putting up with my pettiness for way too long.”

Airko then bows, just as the fire spitters would have when they apologize. Lewa greets Airko’s apology with a frown, but then his frown slowly evolves into an indifferent expression. He thinks about what Tahu told him before and puts himself in Airko’s kanohi, inside the mind of a matoran dawning the kanohi mahiki. That’s where Lewa’s mind went to first, Airko dawning the kanohi mahiki. Matoran are born with their mask, they are a form of identity, the mahiki being an undesirable one. Unlike other kanohi, the mahiki was a mask of shame, especially in Le Koro. It’s the mask dawned by former toa matau, a toa who’s seen as a traitor among the vine swingers. And despite how taraga try to educate their best that mask doesn’t equal identity, that didn’t stop younger matoran from not knowing any better. Lewa realizes that he only chooses to remember the Airko from his highschool, not the Airko from before. An Airko which was bullied by his peers, for simply dawning a shameful kanohi. Lewa always thought that Airko had a lot of friends, but looking back on retrospect, with a more critical perspective, Lewa couldn’t tell if they were truly friends. It wasn’t till highschool when most matoran learned to judge others based on the content of their character, not the content of their kanohi. An idea which certainly boosted Airko’s popularity in highschool. That was when Airko started his animosity towards Lewa. Lewa never fit in with the other vine swingers, especially when it came to the content of his character. So perhaps Airko’s animosity was simply projections of an injustice done to him in the past. Lewa’s mind turned more angrily. Shouldn’t that make Airko less redeemable? Since he dealt with his oppression by simply taking it out on others. But then again, Lewa thought of Airko’s inclusion to the ta koran military. Him being a vine swinger in a land of fire. The biking, food, diversity, it was all new. Perhaps he re-lived being ‘the outsiders’. Perhaps dawning the kanohi mahiki in a land defined by loyalty, changed his perspective on being the oppressor. Perhaps… Tahu was right. Lewa turns his back away from Airko.

Lewa: “You know, forgiveness goes both ways… and I’m sorry too.”

Airko pops from the ground.

Airko: “Wait what? Why?”

Lewa: “One way guilt is toxic. Leaching off of your guilt is detrimental to the both of us. I forgive you Airko, but you also need to forgive me. Forgive me for neglecting your presence here in Ta Koro, and no it’s not deserved. I’m starting to believe that that mindset can only permit a perpetual pain between the both of us. So will you forgive me?”

Airko looks slightly uncomfortable.

Airko: “Sure?”

Lewa: “Okay that’s the reassurance I needed, thank you.”

Airko and Lewa both loosen up.

Airko: “So where are the others?”

They both look around, the others can’t be found. They’re lost in the volcano.

Lewa: “Well this sucks.”

Airko: “What’s the mask telling you?”

Lewa: “It’s glowing really bright, I just don’t know which direction in the cave has the second piece.”

The two then begin walking in the direction that they think the others went.

Airko: “What should we do?”

Lewa: “I don’t know, I’m not a leader.”

Airko: “Really? Because I remember Tahu elevating you to commander status, simply for having the Ignika. So I technically have to take orders from you.”

Lewa: “Uhh, I think what we should do first is to find the others.”

However, Lewa starts noticing that the mask decreases in brightness the closer they go into the direction they suspect the others to have gone.

Lewa: “Actually I think we should go this way, the mask get’s brighter this wa-”

Lewa runs into a tall rock and falls back a little.

“Ow.”

Lewa and Airko froze, neither of them had said anything, yet they heard someone say ‘ow’. The rock then begins to morph into a more describable appearance. 4 legs resembling daggers, 2 arms with claws as hands, and a mutated head resembling a mix between a serpent and a spider.

Nidhiki: “Uh oh.”

Lewa and Airko begin screaming, running in the opposite direction. Nidhiki also gets frightened by his unexpected visitors and runs in the opposite direction of them. The entire volcano echoes with screams. Lewa and Airko tumble over each other trying to make sure to stay in front of one another. Their run eventually leads them to the hands of Tahu’s militia.

Tahu: “What’s going on?!”

Airko: “The makuta are here!”

Krika: “Indeed we are.”

Everyone looks up to a cliff beside their path, they see a makuta watching over. Krika grins as he sees the matoran look at him in aw. Krika then falls down to the path and introduces himself.

Krika: “My name’s-”

Nidhiki: ”Krika!”

Krika suspects who it is from the sound of the voice, but wishes it wasn’t the case. He then looks to his side begrudgingly. He sees a horrified Nidhiki running towards him as fast as 4 pointy legs can possibly run. Nidhiki then halts his momentum and begins speaking at a rapid pace.

Nidhiki: “I found the vine swinger with the Ignika! I found him! He was traveling all willy nilly across the caverns and that’s when I saw him with some other fri-”

Krika: “Mmhmm!”

Krika made an angry look which communicated everything he wanted to say when coupled with his ‘mmhmm’. Nidhiki then begins processing the environment, seeing all the matoran around him, including Lewa with a piece of the Ignika. Nidhiki’s face begins to reden as a response.

Nidhiki: “Oh, my bad.”

Tahu: “Run!”

Airko and Lewa start running away from the scene as quickly as possible. A few other matoran and Vakama follow. Tahu and most other matoran stay behind, fighting the rahi under Krika’s command.

Lewa: “What’s the plan?”

Airko: “Our mission is to protect you and evacuate this place!”

Krika formulates a plan quickly.

Krika: “Go after the mask?”

Nidhiki: “What about the toa?”

Krika: “I’ll handle him. Just focus on acquiring the mask.”

Nidhiki begins his hunt for the mask. As he creeps faster towards Lewa, he picks off matoran one by one. With his claws, Nidhiki would pick up matoran by their embryonic legs and throw them to rivers of lava, not even the Ignika could save them from such a fate. He would close the distance by shooting energy like projectiles from his mouth, picking off matoran at a distance.

Vakama: “Enough of this!”

Vakama turns around, stays his ground, and faces Nidhiki head on.

Airko: “What are you doing?!”

Vakama looks back with a smile, his body itched with uncontrollable movement.

Vakama: “Since when have you heard of a fire spitter who ran away?”

The matoran leaves him behind to take on Nidhiki. However, he is then tackled by Krika and sent to another section of the volcano. Nidhiki continues his rampage towards Lewa. As the matoran runs, Lewa notices the mask getting brighter again. He stops momentarily.

Airko: “What are you doing?!”

Lewa: “Let’s go this way.”

Lewa points to another cavern leading away from the volcano’s exit.

Airko: “Are you mad?!”

Lewa: “Yes Ariko, I’m very mad, because I don’t want to come back here again. If we leave, all that’s gonna do is make this another warzone. There’s no better time to find this piece than now!”

Ariko takes a second long moment of silence.

Airko: “Fine, you’re the leader after all!”

Everyone follows Lewa’s lead to find the second mask piece. Lewa’s decision making however leads to a high body count as it gives Nidhiki more time to attack matoran. Eventually the only matoran left are Airko and Lewa. The Ignika then leaves them to a dead end, where the mask begins glowing to a blinding degree. Airko begins panicking.

Airko: “This is a dead end Lewa!!!”

Lewa: “I know, I know. But I think this is it, this is where the piece is.”

Airko: “We’re going to die here Lewa!!!”

Nidhiki reaches the dead end and begins shooting at Airko first. Jumps, runs, ducks, and dives trying to avoid being shot. One of the energy projectiles ends up hitting a pillar. The pillar then glows immediately and Lewa knows exactly what that means. He digs into the pillar and finds a secondary piece. Not knowing how to merge the pieces together, he begins clanking them together. Incredibly, it works, the metallic textures of the two pieces evolve to a more grassy, rooted texture. The metal around the edges of where the pieces merge begin fusing together with strands of metal connecting with one another. The two pieces finally merge into one completed half of the Ignika. The detail on the now half complete mask looked to be half of a torso. Nidhiki then focuses his full attention on Lewa and begins creeping towards him. Airko tries to protect Lewa byt standing in front of him and preparing his spear for an attack. Airko’s fear was at an all time high, he closed his eyes knowing that he was going to die soon. Lewa’s thinking was sharper, thinking of his previous experiences with the Ignika, he formulates an idea to possibly get out of the predicament they’re in.

Nidhiki: “That mask belongs to me.”

Lewa: “You want it? Then come and get it!”

Lewa runs in front of Kongu and charges towards Nidhiki. Nidhiki quickly picks up Lewa by his legs, thinking he’s won. However, Lewa moves the Ignika to touch the claw that was holding his leg. The mask begins to glow and severely mutates Nidhiki’s entire arm. His claw mutated into a normal hand and his arms changed to resemble more of a toa’s arms. Nidhiki screams from horror. He runs away crying Krika’s name for help.

Airko: “Huh, you should’ve been the one protecting me.”

Lewa: “Indeed, now let me show you why you’re a cry baby.”

Lewa begins running to the halls which they came from, using the Ignika to revive any matoran who were killed by Nidhiki’s projectiles, showing Airko that he was safe the whole time.

Airko: “I think I hate you again Lewa.”

Lewa: “At least you didn’t have to go through a dying experience.”

The two laugh before Airko gets serious again.

Airko: “What about the others?”

Note: This chapter originally was supposed to be significantly longer, but I had to divide the content into two parts since I was taking too long to write the whole thing. The next chapter in this story will be very action based and it’ll probably be the most entertaining chapter to read.

Fun Facts: I listened to green day while making this chapter, even though it had nothing to do with the tone or imagery in this chapter. The setting was also inspired off of Mustafar from Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.

Yes, the inside of the volcano in this story is supposed to look like this.

Small Announcement: My writing pace will hopefully increase now that I’m in summer break, but I’m still probably gonna be busy with work and preparing for college. So the writing during summer is gonna be very inconsistent. I’ve also been making more bionicle mocs recently, which might also eat up some time.

[Rukah]

Ooh this chapter is good.

Hmmmm
Did Nidhiki use to be Matau??

[Avnuva]

Interesting. I can definitely see the connection, since Nidhiki in canon G1 was a former toa and Matau in this story kind of fits that bill. However, I don’t think this story should be compared with G1, since there’s a lot of differences.

[Rukah]

Fair enough. It is your story after all

[Avnuva]

Krika v Vakama

The two stand off on opposite sides of a naturally formed arena, sweat running down their armor; the heat of the volcano never felt so real. Krika grits his teeth, he absolutely hates the deep feeling in his stomach. He doesn’t know why he feels this way. He knows that the matoran, toa, and taraga alike are all inferior species to the makuta, but he still feels an uncertainty, like he can’t seem to find stable ground no matter how he positioned his body. Perhaps it was due to the horror stories back home, toa of fire fighting dragons, facing hundreds of rahi at once, stabbing kraata and roasting with their fire breath to eat them for lunch. To Krika, there were two fears; the fear of losing to a toa, what that toa would do if he lost. Then Krikas eyes widened and all the fear rushed to his head. What would Icarax think? What would he do? Thoughts which were better solved by rolling a dice. Krika had to win this fight. Then there’s Vakama, ready to fight for Ta Koro, but skeptical on making the first move. He partially hid his face with his fists, only letting his eyes peer out, trying to not let Krika see his expressions, thinking it would make him look stronger. Vakama’s entire life and the legacy’s of taraga before him, had led to this moment. All the rahi they killed, all the training, Vakama was ready for anything, yet terrified at the same time. Not a single toa before him had actually fought a makuta before. He was a pioneer against an unknown enemy, and therefore, his experience will become the precedent. The pressure was too much, out of a fight or flight mentality, Vakama shoots three beams of fire towards Krika, one left, one right, and one center. The beams were quick and caught Krika off guard, He barely manages to dodge the first beam, then predictably dodges the second beam. The two beams cornered him to face the center beam, which he comfortably deflects back with his kanohi crast. Vakama, knowing the kanohi’s ability, sees it coming and makes a note to himself that the makuta are able to use mask powers. Vakama simply parts the beam of fire to avoid him.

Krika: “Kanohi crast, familiar with it?”

Vakama forces a fake chuckle, trying to win the mental game.

Vakama: “I’m simply testing the waters.”

Krika: “Ironic statement, coming from a fire spitter. You won’t win by shooting fire, toa.”

Vakama: “A mask is only as powerful as its wielder. Now let me show you what a powerful wielder looks like.”

Vakama completely disappears in front of Krika’s eyes. Krika panics, he knew that toa could use mask powers, but didn’t know Vakama’s gave him the ability to turn invisible. He hears a faceless voice.

Vakama: “Kanohi Huna, familiar with it?

Vakama laughs. Krika then hears a shooting sound and immediately jumps from his position. He sees a dish crash on the floor he was standing on. Krika lands and realizes that he’s forced to use his sense of sound to fight Vakama. He hears another shooting sound, and is quick enough to deflect it with his mask, however he’s unable to deflect towards a target. One after another after another, Krika deflects the dishes with no target.

Krika: “This is a zero sum game, toa!”

The onslaught ends. Krika smiles, thinking his advice broke through. That’s until he feels a feeling of penetration in his stomach. He gags as an invisible fist pushes him back, then followed by an invisible kick to the face. He falls to the ground completely helpless. Unlike the Vakama’s projectiles, Krika couldn’t do anything to predict a physical assault. No sound, no visual, there was nothing he could do. Krika then gets punched back and forth, from his shoulders to his knees. All he could do was stand his ground defensively and wither the rolling punches. Krika knows that if this kept going on, he’d lose. He begins to break mentally, his eyes water from the pressure and the pain. His head then runs to a stop. An idea forms. He relaxes, stands defenseless, and closes his eyes. He was fighting in a cave, a cave which was no man’s land, which meant that the rahi population wasn’t regulated by matoran here. Krika made many decisions in his life, some bad and some good, but there wasn’t a single decision more important in his life at that very moment, than volunteering to create the cave ecosystem, specifically creating the peka bat. As his eyes close, he invades the mind of every peka bat in the volcano, ordering them to join the battlefield. He gets into their eyes, seeing what their heat detector eyes can see, and sure enough, Krika sees him, a toa like figure preparing to spike his fist onto Krika’s head. No matter how powerful Vakamas huna was, nothing could escape the heat detector abilities of the peka bats eyes. Krika parrys Vakama’s spike perfectly, paralyzing him in fear. Krika pushes him back, not making a retaliation, he knows how the fire spitters mind works, and knows how to take advantage of it. Vakama notices Krikas use of bats and shoots a fireball directly at one of them, but the ball then gets deflected right back at Vakama. He’s shocked and barely flies out of the way, landing on the side of a cliff. He then sees a closed eyed Krika face his exact location.

Krika: “Like you said, a mask is only as powerful as its wielder.”

The anger instantly spikes. Vakama rips a small stalagmite from the side of the cliff and crushes it with his bare hands. He flies back down throwing a blitz of punches and kicks. Krika simply parry’s every single hit in succession, all with his eyes closed. Vakama screams and tries something new. Krika sees from the bats eyes that extremely high amounts of heat are exuding from Vakama’s hands. He opens his real eyes to see two spheres of fire, respective to two invisible hands, flailing in his direction. Krika instead now has to dodge every hit, since getting punched once could result in serious burns. At least he didn’t have to use the bats. Krika was always an evasive makuta, perhaps it was due to the inherent defensive nature of his kanohi. No matter what reason, his evasiveness put Vakama to shame. Krika would duck, move side to side, jump, it looked like he was dancing rings around Vakama without getting burned once. Vakama knows his invisibility has no use anymore, so he reverts back to normal, instead putting his full attention to attacking Krika. It doesn’t work however, and Krika gets cocky enough to fight back, stomping on his foot and sweeping Vakama back with his long arms. Krika then diverts two rahkshi away from the fight against Tahu’s militia and brings them into the battlefield. A blue rahkshi uses its staff to pin Vakama’s hand to the side of a cliff. Vakama adapts, and kicks the rahkshi’s staff, breaking it into two. He then grabs the piece of the staff stuck in the cliff, and throws it at the white rahkshi, stabbing its eyes with the two prongs at the end of the staff. The blue rahkshi recovers quickly and tries to use the other end of its staff to stab Vakama. Vakama is forced to use his crossbow as a shield. The white rahkshi, not wanting to give up, rushes to grab Vakama’s foot to hold him down. The pressure put on Vakama’s so immense that an aura of fire forms around him temporarily, melting all the rahkshi in its vicinity. With fire in his eyes, Vakama uses every ounce of energy he has to blitz Krika. But at this point the tables had completely turned. Vakama’s tiredness weakens his ability to summon fire and he’s forced to fight without fire. With every parried punch, kick, knee or headbutt, Vakama loses steam. He loses moral and energy every passing moment. The weaker Vakama gets, the more aggressive Krika becomes. Krika uses his long apendigous to smack Vakama with a lot of force. Krika becomes more confident that Vakama’s ability to counter incoming attacks will worsen throughout the fight, making him more willing to carry out his own slower, but more damaging arm swipes. By the end of it, Vakama’s a bull. A kane ra at the end of a Le Koro bull fight. A rahi with so much rage, but no way of executing it. All that’s left, is to put it out of its misery. Krika uses one of his arms to carry Vakama over a pit of lava.

Krika: “Any last words?”

Vakama: “Yes, you may have won the battle…”

Off in the distance, Vakama sees Tahu and his militia, with the heads of rahi’s on the tips of their spears.

Vakama: “But you’ll never win the war? Oh Tahu, this matoran. Look behind you makuta!”

Krika looks behind him and doesn’t believe it. As he looks away, Vakama uses his crossbow to fly up in the air.

Vakama: “Looks like we really did win the war. Well, at least the war in this volcano”

Krika clenches his fists.

Vakama: “Guess you shouldn’t have used them rahkshi on me.”

To make bad timing worse, Nidhiki runs toward Krika panicking at his mutated arm.

Vakama: “Them too? you must feel real demoralized right about now. I knew them vine swinga’s got what it takes.”

Krika then sees a dozen other matoran peer out, including Kongu and Lewa. He makes it a mission to stare straight at Lewa with his blood shot eyes.

Krika: “You’ll be seeing me again vine swinger.”

Krika then hurrys Nidhiki as they try to make an exit. Matoran throw spears at them, attempting to go above and beyond the call of duty, but their weaponry lies ineffective against Krika’s kanohi. Shockingly, along the way, Nidhiki’s disfigurement wears off, his arms go back to normal. The matoran cheer as their enemy retreats, Vakama lays on a stretcher waiting for medical attention, Tahu and Lewa brag about their accomplishments, and everyone heads back to celebrate their victory.

Note: This is the first battle between a toa and a makuta in this story and I tried making it as cool as possible. Sadly, I don’t think I was able to make the fighting super fast paced, but I tried making up for it by making the fighting very tactical and interesting. Both Vakama and Krika are trying to out get around each others strategies, which I hope was entertaining to read. I think this chapter ends a little too cleanly, but overall the meat of this chapter was really fun to write.

Pictures of Combatants:

Authors Note: I find it super cool how I’m getting questions about my work, especially since they are involving predictions about the story. It makes me really excited to write more. I might not answer questions in the best way, but that’s only because I’m trying to keep secretive about my story.

Schedule Info: There’s only about two more chapters left in this topic, then I’ll be making a summary and inspirations list for this topic. After that I’ll start a new topic which will be about Ga Koro (Spoiler alert: This one will probably be the most important and my favorite place to write about). In terms of a heads up for the coming chapters, the next one will be somewhat of a resolution chapter, while the one after that one will be really cool. The name for the final chapter in this topic will be Night at Sea: Night 2 and it’s going to be one of my most experimental/interesting chapters. I’m really looking forward to it since it will be really weird, contain a lot of info, and foreshadow themes when the characters arrive at Ga Koro.

[Avnuva]

Fire POV

Lewa arrives back at Twomaki, with a ship waiting for him. Two matoran and a toa coccuned from multiple casts follow him.

Airko: “I guess this is it.”

Vakama: “Your next stop is Ga Koro.”

Tahu: “pfh, good luck with that.”

Airko begins to get emotional.

Airko: “Fighting here, I really thought it was a restart. Like my life from Le Koro was gone forever, and to be honest, I embraced that. Nothing but shameful memories back home. But not anymore, you make me feel like there’s a chance, a chance to go back. Thank you Lewa.”

The two hug it out. B0th Tahu and Vakama chuckle.

Tahu: “Ok Ga matorn. It’s time for Lewa to join his fellow sisters. Hoola hoop with them perhaps?”

Vakama laughed so hard that he hurt his rib cage. Everyone collectively heads back to Ta Koro giving one last goodbye to Lewa. As Lewa looks away from them, wind blows out to sea. Despite how everything seems, something felt wrong. Distasteful memories follow his mind; grueling ship work, lonely weeks out on sea, an uncomfortable and unwelcoming experience at Twomaki. It became paramount to Lewa’s mind that he needed someone. Someone he could talk with, or help him out on his journey. He turns around again and runs back to the others.

Lewa: “Wait!”

Vakama: “What’s wrong Lewa?”

Lewa: “I was wondering if one of you could come with me.”

No response.

Lewa: “I have never been to Ga Koro and I’ll probably need someone to guide me. Believe me I don’t want another twomaki experience to happen again. So, who’s with me?”

Everyone scratches the back of their heads.

Airko: “I never been to Ga Koro, So I guess that leaves me out.”

Lewa looks at Vakama.

Vakama: “Really vine swinger? You see these casts? You seen Ta Koro? What you think?

Lewa: “No shot.”

Airko: “Well that only leaves one option.”

Everyone looks at Tahu.

Vakama: “Great thinking Airko, I like that idea.”

Tahu: “No no no no, no way. I’m not going.”

Lewa: “Has he been to Ga Koro?”

Tahu: “Unfortunately yes, but I’m still not goin. I’m not interesten in talking to them sisters.”

Vakama: “He’s not only been there, but he’s also an expert.”

Tahu’s face turns red.

Tahu: “Not true!”

Vakama: “Sure Mr. Ga Koro this, Ga Koro that. I’m pretty sure you’ve spoken more times about that place than you’ve given orders as a commander.”

Tahu: “Don’t make me no expert!”

Vakama: “What’s the matter, scared of a few water sista’s. If you no expert, then go be one. I know you want to, no other ta matoran go off like a rabid dog when Ga Koro’s mentioned.”

Airko and Lewa chuckle as Tahu fumes. The way Vakama spoke sounded like a challenge, which was very intentional on Vakama’s part, he used this way of talking to lure Tahu, lure him to venture off with Lewa. Tahu could see through Vakama’s mind games, but still submits. To Tahu, a challenge was acceptable under any circumstances, even when manipulated to do so, it was the fire spitters way. As Vakama and Airko head back to the dock, they wave an actual final goodbye as they watch Lewa and Tahu disappear into the horizon.

Note: Ya boi Tahu’s finally gonna have some epic character development!!! I’m so excited for where his character will be going in the future.