Bionicle
The Mask of Imitation
By: Tyler Martinez
Chapter 1
A Myth and a Mask
A sigh came from behind the crimson metal mask, which sat upon hard, silver metallic face from a tall figure, clad in red and gold armor, sporting what seemed to be, translucent orange, almost energized looking, armor plating over his shoulders and on his forearms, hiding under his large, gilded gauntlets.
“What is it, Tahu?” Questioned a gentle, concerned voice from one of his six companions, her name was Gali, the Toa of water, one of the six fabled heroes.
“Nothing sister, it was a sigh of relief, not a sigh of stress.” Tahu replied as he lifted the golden mask off the table, one that was identical to the mask upon his face.
“Alright…” Gali said with a slight frown as she looked out over the balcony of the forge room. “The city looks marvelous from this height.” Gali said, her voice trailing off as Tahu nodded, placing his two, long, katana like blades which glistened a bright gold under the torchlight. He lifted a pair of large silver blades, which radiated with his elemental flaming energy in the center, from the wall, cradling it under his arm as he tapped Gali’s large left shoulder pauldron.
“We should go meet up with the others, it would be best that we don’t keep them, or Ekimu, waiting.” Tahu spoke as Gali responded with a nod
“Yes, of course.” She smiled and lifted her long and large, but thin, double bladed axe, hoisted it upon her shoulder, and turned into the forge room, after taking a few steps, she lifted a mask from the wall, a golden mask, which also looked just like the one sitting over her face. Her bright, almost neon yellow eyes drifted over towards Tahu. “Shall we go?”
“We shall.” The red armored Toa smirked, making his way passed Gali, walking to the other side of the room, stepping through the open doorway into the aging, broken city outside, he took a deep breath, making his way down the numerous steps to arrive at ground level, Gali trailing closely behind him.
“Tahu, Gali, we are glad you could join us.” Spoke the calm, almost soothing voice of a much shorter figure than Tahu, he was clad in gold armor from head to toe, with energetic transparent blue armor underneath. An interesting and unique mask sat upon his face, covered with ornate carvings, and a large, ornamental crown around the top. This was the same mask that had just caused them so much trouble, the fabled mask of creation.
“Of course Ekimu, we are sorry we kept you waiting.” Tahu said, giving him a slight bow as Ekimu shook his head, looking up at the two.
“No need Tahu.” He assured.
“This is sweet and all but I’d like to know, what exactly happened to Kulta?” Sneered a more lanky member of the group behind Ekimu, his armor was a bright, emerald green, with two great axes upon his back.
“Excellent question Lewa.” Gali added, her gaze shifting back to Ekimu.
“He slipped away after I took the mask back from him, no telling where he’s gone off to now.” He sighed, another figure from the group gave a smirk, clad in white with large golden shoulder pauldrons mounted on both sides of his head, his golden mask was a bit more interesting than the rest of the Toa, while Tahu, Gali, Lewa, Pohatu, and Onua, all had perfectly symmetrical masks, the mask of this white hero, held three magnifying scopes, likely to aid his vision in the wild blizzards of his region.
“If the skull grinder escaped, how do we know he isn’t watching us right now?” He asked, the scope over his right eye adjusting as he overlooked the surrounding landscape.
“Relax Kopaka, he’d be a fool to stick around now.” burst the rather cheerful yet very deep voice of the widest Toa, though his stature was rather small, his chest was massive and hulking, with two large, silver, shovel like plates on his shoulders. The majority of his armor was black, though the armor plating on his shins and forearms was purple, over his shins sat gilded plates, the same over his upper arms.
“Don’t tell me to relax Onua…” Kopaka said, giving him a slight glare.
“Kopaka is right…why should we be so relaxed?” Interrupted the voice of the final Toa, his right arm glowing a vibrant bright green underneath the brown armor, though his left arm was covered completely in silver armor, with no such glow.
“Like Onua said, Kulta would be a fool to stay after that battle, he’s likely retreated to his master.” Ekimu sighed, getting tired of their arguing.
“Whatever you say, wise one…” Kopaka sighed, leaning his large white shield against a weathered and cracked stone wall before crossing his arms.
“Now…Ekimu…what shall we do next?” Tahu questioned as Ekimu brought his hand up to his chin.
“Well…” He thought, giving a sigh. “If we are going to stop Makuta, we will need to find a mask, from a time before time, if Makuta obtains it then he might be able to have the ability to use the power of any mask he wants when he needs it.”
“I don’t suppose we can let him have that then.” Gali sighed as Ekimu gave her a nod.
“We need to lock it away with the mask of time.” Ekimu said, lifting his hammer up from the ground. “But first we need to leave the city.” He continued.
“But how? The bridge collapsed.” Onua said, giving a frown and scratching his head. Ekimu simply looked over to him, smirking slightly.
“Then I will rebuild it.” He replied.
Chapter 2
Toa Divided
“How exactly are we supposed to rebuild the bridge?” Lewa questioned Ekimu as he walked beside Toa Tahu.
“You shall see, you all shall see.” Ekimu said with a slight grin as the seven arrived at the entrance of the city, they leaned over the edge, down into the abyss. The casm sunk deep into the ground, a black void was visible where no light could go. It was too wide for any of the Toa to jump across, but Lewa was able to fly the distance, and so he did, landing on the other end.
“Come on then, I’m waiting.” Lewa smirked as Ekimu stood straight, rolling his shoulders as his mask, the mask of creation, and his hands began to become surrounded by a strange blue aura. He pointed his palms down to the pit, turning his hands over and raising them.
In that instant, faint grey specks could be seen rising up from the darkness, they moved with incredible speed as they blasted out of the casm, the same blue aura around them as they lined themselves into their prior positions, the bits and pieces merging back together, the glow fading as the bridge settled.
Lewa stood at the end of the bridge, his eyes wide in awe much like the rest of the Toa. “E-Ekimu…” Tahu muttered “I can’t believe it…”
“They call me legendary for a reason Tahu.” Ekimu smirked, taking the first step onto the bridge.
“I will remember not to doubt you again…” Kopaka said with a snicker. After a moment, the Toa resumed trailing behind Ekimu, eventually crossing the bridge.
“Listen, Toa.” Ekimu sighed, looking up at his six companions.
“What is it Ekimu?” Gali asked as the short gilded figure crossed his arms.
“I must go search for the mask of imitation, it is too dangerous for all of us to go, so I will only be taking three of you.”
“What? No, we are a team, we must stay united.” Tahu said, standing firm.
“Tahu Tahu Tahu…” Ekimu sighed, shaking his head. “You all must learn to be united when you need to be. Otherwise, you need not be together all of the time.” He continued as Tahu crossed his arms.
“So then which of us will you be taking with you?” Onua inquired. Ekimu pondered this question while looking at the Toa for a moment before making his choice.
“I shall take Kopaka, Lewa, and Pohatu.” Ekimu declared as Kopaka nodded.
“Good choice.” He smirked.
“I don’t see why not.” Lewa added.
“Agreed…” Pohatu sighed
“Fine, but what shall Tahu, Onua, and I do in the meantime?” Gali asked, Ekimu simply shrugging his shoulders.
“Go back to your own regions, mingle with the villagers, have the protectors show you around.” He said as he waved to Tahu, Onua, and Gali as he turned around, walking away from them as the other three followed behind him. “Good luck my friends.” Ekimu concluded.
“Well…what now?” Gali questioned, looking at Tahu and Onua.
“You heard him, we can go to our own regions.” Onua replied as Tahu nodded.
“I think we should become more acquainted with the protectors and our new homes.” Tahu added, the three giving each other nods before turning in their own directions, heading into the brush.
These are the first two chapters of my Bionicle story, which takes place just after the first book from 2015