Chapter Two: The Search For The Masks
Tahu and Jaller powered forwards, despite the heat, their footprints left behind in the thin blanket of ash that one could liken to black snow. They stopped, a river of lava blocking their path. “So how do we get across?” Tahu asked.
“Like this,” Jaller said as he took a fair run-up and leapt across the obstacle.
“Right,” Tahu said doing the same, albeit with a bit of a wobbly landing.
“Not bad,” Jaller said, genuinely impressed. At least he didn’t slip, he thought. “But there’ll be worse than that to come,” he finished. The pair continued walking. “You know, you keep saying that,” Tahu began, “it won’t be long before I begin to doubt you.”
“Well then I’ll be the one to laugh when you’re proven wrong,” Jaller retorted confidently.
It turned out that Jaller didn’t need to wait long, as just then the two were surrounded by Vonahk and two rahi that looked pretty tough. However, Jaller didn’t get the chance to say “I told you so!” as he was a little busy being attacked. Vonahk weren’t the problem, the rahi that had turned its attention on him was. It hissed and charged towards him, its two front legs outstretched. Fortunately, Tahu was there to parry the beast’s assault and prevent Jaller from being skewered.
The other made its move. Jaller leaped onto its back. The rahi bucked wildly, trying to shake him off. Jaller held on. Meanwhile Tahu continued to attack the first rahi. He tried the little sword heating trick from before, it didn’t work. “This is going to be interesting,” Tahu thought aloud.
Swing left sword, parried. Swing right sword, missed. Tahu gritted his teeth behind his mask. Jaller was beginning to tire now, but so was the rahi. Just a little longer. Jaller’s body screamed at him to let go, Jaller obliged. Oh great, Tahu thought. The other slightly worn out rahi shambled towards Tahu, a hungry look in its eyes. Tahu got an idea.
Tahu ran away from his rahi towards the other, vaulting over it. They screeched in outrage and lumbered after him.
As he ran, Tahu joined his swords together to form his lava board. As Tahu passed him, he scooped up Jaller with his free arm. When he reached the lava flow, he leaped upwards and brought the board under him, landing perfectly on the lava.
He sped across the surface with ease, soon leaving the two rahi behind. “Tahu! What are you doing? We’re going the wrong way!” Jaller exclaimed.
“Your welcome,” Tahu grumbled. He used his power over fire to rise the lava under him slightly to send him into the air.
Tucking the board under his arm once more, he landed on solid ground and released Jaller from his grip. “Better?” He asked irritably.
“Yes,” Jaller replied. The two carried on in the direction they were headed, despite being a little lower down than before. “So, are the other Toa being guided by their element’s protectors?” Tahu asked, breaking the bitter silence between them.
“I would assume so,” Jaller replied.
“If so, then aren’t they basically abandoning their villages to the Vonahk and mind controlled rahi?” Tahu continued.
“Do you really think that the protectors are the only ones with weapons in the villages?” Jaller scoffed.
“Well that’s what it looked like to me,” Tahu said uncertainly.
“Just because you didn’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. And besides, helping the Toa get their masks would be in the best interests of their respective villages.” Jaller responded.
“And what of your father’s important mission?” Tahu enquired.
“He… Didn’t tell me anything about it,” Jaller admitted.
…
Narmoto crept along, careful not to make a sound as he was surrounded by Vonahk. He’d traveled to the nest of the Vonahk, and their newly appointed lord, to find out what had given their “lord” the ability to corral them. It had turned out to be a mask created by Kulta. The mask resembled a golden Vonahk without legs.
Kulta’s power only stretches so thin, and by having the lord of the Vonahk control them instead of him, Kulta can turn his attention to others to control. Narmoto edged his way closer to the mask, currently lying idly on a pedestal. He hadn’t been noticed yet, he was slightly confused as surely the mask would be heavily guarded. He kept his wits about him, it was quite likely he was walking into a trap.
He made it to the mask and picked it up, and was just about to make his exit when he was surrounded by Vonahk. It had indeed been a trap, but Narmoto was ready. He fired a volley at the Vonahk from his shoulder-mounted cannon, clearing a path through. He sprinted towards the gap in their ranks, the spiders realized what he was doing and rushed to fill the spot. However, the few that made it by the time the protector got there were quickly dispatched by his fiery blades. It was just then that Narmoto wondered where the lord of the Vonahk was.
…
Kulta was bored. When Ekimu had knocked his mask of the Elements (because the MASK OF ULTIMATE POWAAAR! Sounds dumb) from his face, it had been sent far away. Of course, he had given some of his minions the task of finding it, but so far it had proved fruitless. It was just then the one of his skull legion warriors entered the room. “Lord Kulta,” he began, “The lord of the Vonahk has caught someone,"
“Let it him in,” Kulta said, with his full attention. The spider like rahi was admitted inside and unraveled its quarry at Kulta’s feet. “Narmoto, the protector of fire.” he grinned, “I have no use nor quarrel with him, take him somewhere secluded and end him.”
“You will pay for your actions Kulta, I swear upon it,” Narmoto growled. And with that, he was dragged away.
…
The lord of the Vonahk had found a suitable spot in the Jungle region and was just about to deal the blow when… Vizuna and Lewa burst through the trees and attacked! The creature hissed menacingly and stabbed at the two with its sharp legs. The two of them were easily able to dodge this however. But Lewa got a little cocky. “I could do this all day!” He laughed with childlike glee, dodging two more strikes with relative ease.
“No Lewa! The moment you underestimate your enemy is the moment they will defeat you.” Vizuna cautioned, while letting off a volley of blasts from his bow at the creature.
“Relax,” Lewa began, “the moment this guy gets the drop on me-” Lewa didn’t get to finish the sentence as he was launched into the trunk of a tree. “Okay,” he groaned, “maybe you have a point.”
“We cannot beat this creature, our weapons have no effect and we can only dodge its attacks for so long. We must take its captive and flee!” Vizuna exclaimed.
“Your wish is my command!” Lewa said jokingly, as he ducked past the creature and grabbed the webbed up Narmoto.
“Good work Lewa, now run!” Vizuna yelled. The two ran off in different directions and the lord howled in rage.
Lewa sliced cleanly through the webbing while bringing no harm to the protector of fire inside. “Narmoto? How did you get in there? I expected to meet you at a much later time!” Vizuna laughed, surprised at the sight of his fellow protector.
“It is a long and informative story, my friend,” Narmoto replied.
“How so?” Vizuna asked.
“The large rahi you’ve just faced is now in control of the spiders directly, it is in possession of a mask designed for such a purpose.” Narmoto explained. “If we could get a hold of that mask, we could assume control of them all!”
“So, after my fellow Toa and I get our masks, we strike there first,” Lewa chipped in.
“Exactly!” Narmoto exclaimed. “I shall reach out with my mask of Telepathy and tell the others!” (yes, the protectors have great Kanohi) And with that, Narmoto reached out and projected a message into the mind of his fellow protectors, telling them their next move after claiming the masks of power. “I shall now return to the village of fire and do what I can to help them. Until we meet again.” Narmoto said, heading off in the direction of his village.
…
“Lord Kulta, there is a problem,” a skeleton grovelled, “our soldiers have been inexplicably disappearing without a trace.”
“What!?!” Kulta fumed. “What are you telling me for? Find whoever is responsible!”
“As you wish,” the skeleton said, bowing out of the room.
“Lord Kulta, the Lord the of Vonahk has returned bearing bad news-” a different skeleton began.
“IS ANYTHING GOING TO GO RIGHT TODAY!?!” Kulta bellowed in rage. He used his ill-acquired mask of telekinesis to rip a chunk of rock from the ground and promptly crush it like powder. The skeleton took the hint and swiftly sidled out the door.
“Lord Kulta-” a third skeleton began.
“Oh, what do you want?” Kulta spat irritably.
“We have found the mask of Elements,” the skeleton continued.
“Good, bring it to me.” Kulta grinned. Another skeleton walked in, holding the mask aloft.
Kulta grabbed it with his mask of Telekinesis and brought it to his face. Power surged through him, like an overpowering sweetness. Kulta collapsed to the floor. “Lord Kulta! Are you alright?” One of the skeletons asked in shock.
“I’m fine, just overwhelmed for a moment is all.” Kulta explained, waving him away. And drawing up to his full height, he said: “It’s time.”
…
Onua shoveled his way through the dirt and rock, closer to the mask. He could feel the power, ebbing and flowing through the ground and was following it to the source. Hop followed closely at his heels. Korgot also helped with the digging using her star drill and fended off stray Vonahk with her chest-mounted rapid shooter.
However, a more common occurrence was to be attacked by the rahi which had attacked Onua and Hop previously. Another such attack surfaced, five of them sprang forth from winding tunnels connecting to the cavern they had entered.
One was instantly knocked out with a heavy punch from Onua, using his shovel claw as a knuckleduster and his strength being enhanced by his Kanohi Pakari. Korgot let off a volley of blasts from her rapid shooter, knocking down a second rahi. The third leapt at Hop, who just barely dodged. Onua quickly came to Hop’s aid, knocking out the third creature. “Where are they even coming from?” Onua queried.
“I don’t know! I’ve never even seen these creatures before.” Korgot responded as she bashed one in the face with her drill. The creature bellowed with rage and slashed at her savagely with its tail. Korgot’s legs were swept from under her and she made hard contact with the ground. “KORGOT!” Onua yelled. Korgot’s drill had ruined one of the creature’s four eyes. It decided to run for it, taking Korgot with it. Onua didn’t even look at the last one as he punched it across the cavern. He wanted to find whatever was causing this, now.
…
When Ekimu woke up in the makeshift dungeon Kulta had made, he realised that his mask of creation had been stripped from him and he’d been given an emergency replacement. Clearly Kulta still wanted him alive for something, the question being: what? A skeleton made its way into the holding cell. “You, follow me, and don’t try anything or you’ll wish Lord Kulta didn’t spare your life.” the skeleton said, pointing at Ekimu. Ekimu conceded and shuffled out behind the skeleton. He wanted to find out what Kulta wanted from him.
They went up a plain stairway of haphazardly layered rocks forced into place by hand, which was dimly lit by a number of sputtering torches arranged along the walls. They made it to the surface, and Ekimu had to shield his eyes from the sun due to the sudden light change. When his eyes adjusted, the sight he saw was a depressing one. The place was littered with skeletons and mind controlled Matoran running off on different errands and statues of Kulta were stationed everywhere, the eyes lit by lightstones.
They passed through some of this until: “Ekimu my brother, so glad you could join me. Do you like what I did with the place? Oh wait, of course, you don’t want to talk to me, do you? ‘You’re no brother of mine’ and all that.” Kulta boomed, quite clearly in his comfort zone. “But I thought I’d show you a little something before you inevitably meet your fate. Remember this?” Kulta said, gesturing to the mask of creation. “I have something else that will allow your old mask to do something quite incredible,” With that, he showed Ekimu the recently reclaimed mask of Elements.
“No brother! You must not do this! This is beyond madness!” Ekimu raged.
“Oh, but I will," Kulta retorted, as he placed the mask of Creation on his face. The power pulsed through him, making him glow turquoise for a moment. “Ah, and now…” He said, using the power of the mask enhanced by the others he’d collected to alter his very form. His body twisted and contorted and with a final snap, his upgrade was complete.
Ekimu looked on in horror at Kulta’s new and even more powerful form. Kulta smirked in triumph: “This entire island will now bend to my will, the matoran shall cower in my wake and my very name shall strike fear into those who hear it!”
“You make it sound like that’s a good thing!” Boomed a voice from afar. Kulta recognized the voice instantly.
“You!" He snarled, “show yourself!”
“As the lord commands!” The voice yelled, tossing his giant axe at Kulta, before returning to his waiting hand as he charged into battle: Axonn! Kulta used the mask of gravity to make Axonn 100 times heavier, slamming him against the ground. Beneath Axonn’s feet, snaked their way across floor, beginning to buckle under the pressure. Kulta laughed, “Did you really think you could beat me?”
“No,” Axonn replied, “but I kept you distracted long enough to get Ekimu away,”
“WHAT!?!” Kulta screeched, “skull legion, pursue Axonn’s group, they can’t have gotten far.”
“As you command, Lord Kulta,” Replied the skull legion robotically, running off to find the troublemakers.
“And as for you, Axonn,” Kulta continued with cold, quiet, malice, “Your suffering has just begun,”
…
Pohatu and Nilkuu made their way through the endless sand dunes that rose and fell, up and down: a yellow ocean frozen in time. They came across a herd of docile rahi, feeding on some of the sparse vegetation on the edge of a small oasis. But one of them suddenly stopped grazing and cocked its head to one side. It gave out a sharp bellow that got the attention of the others.
They, as one rahi, took off to other lands with a cloud of sand kicked up in their wake. “That’s not good, is it?” Pohatu observed.
“Not in the slightest," Nilkuu replied, “but many of the rahi in this region are easily spooked. I’m sure we can handle it, whatever it is.” Just then, a chilling harmony of gut-wrenching screeches pierced the air, and trailing behind those screeches came a pack of undead Kopiona, resurrected by Kulta.
There were five in total. One had a couple of its legs missing and its tail had some gaps. Another was a little smaller and had a claw missing. The third was slightly differently proportioned, supposedly a different gender, and the side of its face was a little worn. The fourth was fairly ordinary (considering everything). And the fifth, stationed at the front, was the largest and was supposedly in charge.
Sure enough, the front one seemed to order the others to attack with another screech.
They formed a semicircle and began to close in on the two warriors, clicking their claws together menacingly. Nilkuu fired a volley at the small one without one of its claws, which screeched and keeled over. Pohatu planted a kick squarely in the jaw of the “normal” one, which was thrown backwards. The Leader lunged at Pohatu and found itself smashed into a wall. The “female” one was speared by Nilkuu’s blaster, and dropped to the ground.
The one missing some legs threw itself at Pohatu, using its tail to take Pohatu’s mask, weakening him severely. “I feel… So weak.” Pohatu managed, falling to the floor.
“I’m coming!” Nilkuu yelled, charging over. The Kopiona was just about to finish Pohatu off before Nilkuu fired off another volley from his blaster and the bag of bones simply fell to pieces. The “normal” one took the hint and fled. “Just what was that about?” Pohatu exclaimed, as Nilkuu reunited him with his mask.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure. Those seemed like the skeletons of some Kopiona. I can only assume it’s the work of Kulta” Nilkuu stated.
“Well, that’s just great,” Pohatu observed. And so, the two of them carried on through the desert.
…
Onua clawed his way through the dirt, his eyes saw red and he wanted nothing more than the head of the rahi that had captured Korgot. In the time of Onua’s rampage, poor little Hop decided to leave… At least for now. He was sick of digging, he was almost there anyway. He punched through the wall with utter fury.
He found himself surrounded by at least 20 of the rahi he had been facing for quite some time now. He plowed through them with ease, and followed down a tunnel further into the depths. An endless dripping could be heard from far off, echoing through the darkness. Onua powered onward, taking out rahi left and right: chasing it to the source. His rampage soon brought him to an absolutely gigantic cavern that stretched beyond the line of sight.
It was filled with a massive crisscross of rough stone pathways and ledges along the walls, the stalactites and the stalagmites. This place was absolutely crawling with the beasts, making their way through the huge place. Onua roared and punched the nearest of them. Its cry reverberated through the place and got the attention of the thousands, if not millions present. He grinned, “finally a real fight!”
…
Gali effortlessly glided through the water, with Kivoda: the protector of Water, following close behind. The two had not had that much opposition as they made their way to Gali’s great Kanohi. But that soon changed when the water around them suddenly started to disappear, sucked away by some unseen source. The two were pulled in with it, and found themselves in a strange place.
The walls were soft and a dull purple colour, with helpless fish swimming around at a loss of what to do. The entrance the protector and Toa had entered had been sealed, the only other way out was a currently hole downwards, which didn’t look very appealing. “What is this place?” Gali pondered aloud.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Kivoda admitted.
“Well let’s not just sit on our hands, I’m making us a way out,” Gali announced, stabbing her weapon into the side. The place they were in shook violently. A deep and low roar rumbled through and echoed into silence. At that moment, the exit at the bottom of the “room” opened and began to suck everything in again.
Gali thought quickly and used her limited control over the water to launch her and Kivoda up through the “roof”. They rocketed through the “entrance” and out into familiar waters again. “What just happened?” Gali exclaimed.
“I think we just discovered a new rahi,” Kivoda chuckled.
…
Tahu and Jaller trudged on through the ash, closer than ever to the location of Tahu’s Great Kanohi mask: The Maguma Volcano. The heat, the ash, the smell of brimstone grew stronger and stronger. The Maguma Volcano was no laughing matter, a new eruption taking place at least once a day, even the Ta-matoran found it too intense. “Is it seriously erupting again!?!” Tahu growled, “it erupted just 4 hours ago!”
“You know, the matoran have a joke name for this place: the gift mountain,” Jaller grinned.
“And why do they call it that?” Tahu asked warily.
“Because it keeps on giving,” Jaller said, trying to keep a straight face. His endeavour failed, and he started laughing anyway.
“You think this is funny!?!” Tahu bellowed, “we’re practically dead out here and you’re cracking jokes!?!”
“Just trying to lighten up the mood,” Jaller grumbled. Their banter was soon interrupted by a snorting, stamping rahi. It was reptilian, with orange and black scales. It stood on four legs and had two strange, wing-like protrusions sprouting from its shoulders. Its head was oval-shaped with a sharp beak, six eyes and two sharp spikes jutting from the scalp. It didn’t look very happy. “Great,” Tahu groaned, “another rahi. What’s this one called?”
“That’s a Kapani,” Jaller replied, “it really shows just how strong Kulta’s influence is. This is normally a very docile rahi. In fact, it’s a very popular mount for Ta-Matoran.”
“Who cares what it used to be, all that matters is that it’s in our way!” Tahu said, taking a step closer, in battle stance.
“No Tahu!” Jaller yelled, “I can deal with this. Father taught me how to tame Kapani in Rano Nui.” With that, he slowly edged forward, his hand outstretched. “Oh please,” Tahu scoffed. Jaller ignored Tahu’s lack of confidence and carried onward.
The Kapani took a couple of steps back and snapped at Jaller’s hand. Jaller recoiled slightly and kept going. Eventually his hand came close enough to pat its shoulder. The Kapani looked a little taken aback, and snapped at Jaller again. “No, no. No need to do that. We’re all friends here,” Jaller said.
“Told you it wouldn’t work.” Tahu said smugly.
“Don’t count your Fragor berries before you pick them, Tahu.” Jaller countered, “I’m hardly done.” He patted and rubbed the shoulder of it, slowly. In this action, he began lightly putting pressure on certain areas of the back of the creature which instilled calm. He was mimicking a Kapani greeting.
It seemed a little more placid and it wasn’t snapping anymore. “See? It’s fine now.” Jaller said. Tahu snorted. Jaller bent down and plucked a bright orange plant of some kind from the ground. It was bulbous and also glowed slightly. Jaller offered it to the Kapani, which gladly accepted the offer. “Great, we tamed it. Can we go now?” Tahu asked impatiently, tapping his foot.
“Yes,” Jaller replied.
“Finally,” Tahu sighed.
And so, the two warriors trudged on, with the Kapani deciding to follow. They eventually made it to the foot of the Volcano and began the treacherous journey upwards, with the Kapani still following. They soon found a giant flow of lava blocking their way, some rocks still jutted out from the lava here and there, but they were few and far between. They couldn’t climb around it, the side of the volcano was too steep here, they would have to go over it. “No problem,” Tahu said confidently, “I can use my powers and my lava board to get us across,”
“Get you across, maybe,” Jaller countered, “I’d rather take my chances with the Kapani getting me across.”
“What!?!” Tahu exclaimed, “how?”
“Kapani are some of the best at traversing obstacles like these,” Jaller said, “you see the extra growths? Those are a part of a special balancing mechanism, the most sensitive of any known Rahi to date. It’ll be able to get me across just fine. And I’d rather do that than ride shotgun with you like last time, I was convinced I was gonna fall off half the time!”
“Fine, whatever,” Tahu remarked bitterly.
…
Onua was uncontrollable, the rahi were falling left and right. One leapt forward and snapped at him, Onua gave it a square blow to the jaw. One came up from behind, Onua charged backwards and slammed it against a wall. One dropped from above and met with Onua’s foot. One on his left, uppercut. One on his right, slammed to the ground. One took his legs from underneath him. Onua hit the ground hard, and lashed out wildly at his attacker. The rahi also made acquaintance with the ground.
Onua got back up. He charged through the crowds of them, his fists outstretched, systematically knocking them down. The whole place seemed to congregate on one spot, an entrance of sorts carved into the sheer rock of a stalagmite, and a big one at that. Onua decided he would go there.
Inside, his eyes were greeted with the sight of a throne room of sorts and on that throne, was a larger version of the rahi with four legs, six eyes and a carved staff to top it off.
What astonished Onua the most, though, was when it opened its tortoise-like mouth and began to speak in harsh, clicking tones: “Welcome to my not-so-humble abode, Onua. Do you like it? I’ve made it especially cosy for my guest,” She said, gesturing to Korgot, who was locked in a cage. That set Onua’s teeth on edge. “Who are you!?!” He snarled, “and what do you want from us?”
“Ah, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself: I am Kukusi, queen of the Rutohi hive!” She said grandiosely, “and I, want to make a deal.”
“I will not make deals with filth that capture my friends,” Onua growled.
“My my, that poison has really made you feisty,” Kukusi sneered.
“What are you talking about?” Onua demanded.
“Well, do you remember when one of my children made a very bad slash on your chest?” Kukusi asked.
“Yes,” Onua stated.
“That slash mark administered a special poison of the mind, which slowly deteriorates your mental state until you become nothing more than a raving beast,” Kukusi finished, “I have an antidote, but you will have to witness the unfortunate expiration of your friend to get it,”
“No deal, give me my friend!” Onua yelled.
Kukusi laughed pitilessly: “you really don’t want to lose this one, do you Onua?”
“Don’t tempt me to do something you’ll regret,” Onua threatened.
“I’m afraid you’re not in any position to be making threats. You’re in my throne room, in my hive, filled with my children and you are a single Toa with a vague grasp of your powers.” Kukusi pointed out and then clicking her fingers she said: “Take him.” Two Rutohi emerged from the dark recesses of the throne room and grabbed Onua by the arms. “You really think these two can hold me?” Onua grinned.
“Ah, that reminds me: remove his mask!” Kukusi ordered. The two Rutohi carried out the order and Onua collapsed to the floor, albeit still with his arms up as the rahi held him.
His strength had been halved, and also his extra strength from the Pakari had been removed as well. “Now that you know your place, you will show me where the golden Kanohi has been hidden! It appears this friend of yours will not tell me.” She said.
“I’m not telling you anything. Just because you’ve taken my ability to fight back, doesn’t mean I’ll yield!” Onua spat.
“You will show me the way, or she gets it!” Kukusi said, starting to lose her composure.
“Fine,” Onua agreed defeated, a plan beginning to form in his mind.
The chamber which held the mask was quite spectacular with its ornamental feeling. It was in a fairly large room filled with glowing purple crystals that lined the walls, the ceiling and the floor low down below. Onua, Kukusi, Korgot and three Rutohi to guard them stood on an outcrop overlooking the sheer drop into the crystal bed beneath them.
The mask was on a large pillar in the center, to get to it, you would have to jump across a hovering staircase of the same crystals and hope that you didn’t fall. Kukusi made a number of shrill screeches and clicking noises to order one of the Rutohi to retrieve the mask. The rahi bowed its head in obedience and began its way across.
In the meantime, Kukusi began to speak: “I’ll be sure to keep you alive until the mask is in my hands, we don’t want any funny business, do we?” Korgot had obviously been relieved of her weapons and mask as Onua had, and looked on defeated. “And then?” Onua asked.
“I’ll have one of my children drop you and your friend into the pit,” Kukusi said flatly.
“How dare you!” Onua growled, “you-”
“I never agreed to anything on my part Onua, I just told you to show me the way… I never said you’d live.” Kukusi countered smugly, “and my child has returned. So… Let’s see.” With that, she took the mask from its hands and placed it on her face. She glowed for a moment as the power surged through her. “Perfect,” she smiled.
It was then that Onua chose to strike, launching himself at Kukusi. The two wrestled, Onua trying his best to pry off the mask from her face and Kukusi trying to shake Onua off. The three Rutohi guards had their attention on the two as they tried to break up the fight. Then Korgot struck from behind, quickly and systematically taking them out.
Onua still clung on, now dodging ferocious snaps from Kukusi as she tried to rid herself of him. Korgot joined the fight, who’d had enough time to find most vulnerable pressure points of the Rutohi from attacking the guards: one sharp jab between the shoulder blades, one jab slightly to the left of the small of her back and one jab to the nape.
The Rutohi queen collapsed to the floor. Onua was astonished: “where did you learn that?”
“From my father,” Korgot responded, “he was the Protector of Earth before me. He taught me everything I know about combat.”
“Well, thanks for the help,” Onua stated, “that turned from a bad plan to a victory thanks to y-” Onua fell to his knees and screamed. “This rage…” He could just manage, “is worse than before, I don’t think I can control it!”
“Quick, the mask!” Korgot said, “legend says it can cure many ailments!” Onua used what manner of strength he had left to roll over Kukusi’s body and removed the mask from her face, switching it to his own. He glowed purple as the power surged through him, practically lifting him off of his feet for a moment. Then he stood, cured of the poison. “Many thanks,” Onua smiled, "we ought to leave, before she wakes up.”
…
Lewa and Vizuna were closer to the mask than ever. They had entered a new section of the Jungle, possibly the most bizarre yet. Lewa hazarded a question: “Are those… Giant mushrooms?”
“Yes,” Vizuna replied simply, “let’s not dawdle,” And with that, the two of them entered the strange fungal canopy.
…
The trio had practically made it to the entrance in the volcano. Tahu, Jaller and the Kapani had made it through several obstacles together. “That Kapani actually has been pretty useful. Good call.” Tahu admitted. Jaller beamed at the compliment, getting a “good call” from Tahu was the equivalent of getting a statue built in his honor.
Suddenly, hundreds of Vonahk popped up from nowhere. “They’ve found the mask!” Jaller exclaimed.
“These tiny things are threat? Please. I could take out all of these whelps with one hand behind my back!” Tahu boomed confidently.
“Don’t underestimate the Vonahk!” Jaller warned, “if they can get on your face, they’ll take over your mind!”
“They can try!” Tahu snorted, as he prepared for battle.
“Well Tahu: you take the 500 on the right, I’ll take the 500 on the left,” Jaller said sarcastically.
“I’ll take 501!” Tahu retorted.
“That’s the spirit!” Jaller congratulated.
Tahu, Jaller and the Kapani tried their best to fight off the seemingly endless horde of Vonahk. During the fight, the Kapani was surprisingly effective, probably taking out the most of them. But in the end, even Tahu with his confidence and bravado was eventually taken down too. It was only the untimely arrival of a certain lime-green figure that the three were saved from Kulta’s total control. “I’ll take it from here,” He stated.
The spiders were picked off one by one from a distance, and then the savior came in close to take out the rest with the blade that was fixed onto his weapon. “Well?” he questioned, “go, before more arrive!” The trio made it to the mouth of the volcano without another word, with their savior disappearing without a trace…
To be continued…