Chapter 10
In the seconds before Botar teleported, the Xutohki leapt toward them. Just as they began to warp away, one of her claws hit Kopaka’s shoulder armor, the smallest of contact… just enough for her to get pulled through space with them.
And then, as they reached their destination, she slammed into the group, scattering them across the room. The Matoran were knocked down, Ivohku was thrown backward and slammed into the wall, stunned.
Hydraxon slammed to the floor, holding his blades up, trying to keep the Xutohki’s claws and teeth at bay. Forcing his good leg between them, he kicked her away. She slammed against the wall, and immediately charged back in.
Kopaka raised his blade and tried to fire a blast of ice, but all that came was a small chill; he’d drained his powers too much earlier, supercooling the door.
The creature leapt toward Quilha, who was still on the floor. Lhikan stepped in the way, throwing his shield up. The creature slammed into the shield, and Lhikan stumbled back a few steps.
Then, the creature leapt over the Turaga and his shield, heading toward the grey Turaga. Before she could reach the Turaga, a club slammed into her stomach, and she gasped. Pohatu swung again, and she barely managed to dodge.
“You weren’t kidding about how strong this thing is, Turaga,” Pohatu said. “Let’s see if my stone’s stronger.” He held up his hand, and bands of stone appeared, binding the creature’s arms.
The Xutohki just laughed, flexing her muscles, and shattered the stone. Before Pohatu could react, she lashed out, slashing at the Toa’s head. His mask went flying as the claws raked against the side of his face, and he grunted in pain.
Kopaka leapt in, slamming his shield against the Xutohki’s chin. “Back off,” he growled. The Xutohki grabbed the Ice Toa’s shield with three of her claws, and flung him against the wall.
“Teleporty guy!” Quilha cried. “Can’t you get us out of here? Preferably without the monster?”
“I can’t!” Botar cried. He wasn’t sure how his powers worked, and he’d rather not leave anyone behind with this creature.
Ruhko aimed his Kestora blaster at the Xutohki, loosing a blast of lightning. The blast hit her dead center, and she stumbled, then turned to charge at him. Ruhko fired again and again, trying to keep her back. “Pohatu, get your mask and speed us out!”
“I’ve got it!” Mavrah called, running toward the Stone Toa’s mask. Grabbing it, he ran back toward the Toa, just as the Xutohki managed to get close enough to slash at Ruhko’s arm. The Kestora’s Lgihtning Blaster went flying, striking the wall with a loud crack; it wasn’t going to be of any use anymore. Then the creature bit onto Ruhko’s arm, her powerful jaws crushing through the armor, and he yelped in pain.
Kopaka swung his sword at the Xutohki, and it ducked aside. The Ice Toa swung again, this time managing to clip one of her left arms, and she screeched. “We can’t beat this thing!” he said. “Pohatu, we need to run!”
Mavrah tossed the Stone Toa his mask, and he caught it and put it back on. “For once, I agree with that idea,” he said.
Ivohku shook his head, coming to his senses, and saw the chaos that had erupted. He tried to raise his blade, then winced; apparently, his arm had been damaged when he’d been hurled against the wall. He raised his other arm, and increased gravity tenfold around the Xutohki; she slammed to the floor. “This ought to hold her.”
The Xutohki raised her head, and spat something; a glob of green smacked against the Toa’s mask, blocking his sight. Unable to see the creature, he lost focus on his powers, and she was able to crawl out of the gravity field, charging at Pohatu.
Pohatu winced as he swung his club at the creature. He’d seen something like that before, when a Nui-Jaga had temporarily blinded him; it seemed this Xutohki did something similar. “Someone grab him!”
Botar picked up the Toa of Gravity. The Xutohki leapt at him, but the grey Turaga leapt in the way and whacked her with his staff. Suddenly, her feet were magnetically pulled to the floor. The Turaga’s power wasn’t strong enough to stop her, but it could slow her down. “N-Now is our – our chance!” he called.
“Right,” Pohatu said, sharing the power of speed with everyone. As he did so, he began to feel a pain in the back of his head; he’d been using his mask power too much lately, especially with the stunt with the door. But he could do this; he had to.
They ran for only a second before Pohatu had to stop. Every millisecond he ran, the pain increased. “Can’t… keep running,” he gasped. “My mask’s… too drained.”
Kopaka looked around. “Looks like we’re far enough away, for now. Botar, where have you brought us? We seem to still be on the Star…”
“I brought you back to where I was before I came to you,” Botar said. “It was the only place I could think of.”
“Wait a second, you can go anywhere,” Hydraxon said. “You can get us all out of here. Get us off the Star.”
“Or…” Ruhko said, “You can get us to the send-back machine, so I can fix it, and then everyone can get out of here. Botar can get us past the defenses.”
“We just got away from the Kestora, and you want to go back?” Ivohku said.
“If-if we just leave – just go, there will still be – people will still get st-st-stuck here,” the grey Turaga stammered. “We need – have to --to solve the p-p-problem.”
Pohatu glanced at the Turaga. “Are you okay?” he said.
“He’s been like this since we found him,” Ruhko said. “As far as we can tell, he tried to free one of the Kestora’s captured Toa, and something went wrong. Scrambled his own brain, or something.”
“He’s got a point, though,” Kopaka said. “We can’t leave until we solve the problem. Wouldn’t be Toa if we did.”
An angry screech echoed down the hall. “Whatever we’re doing, I suggest we do it quickly,” Lhikan said.
“Right,” Botar said. “Does anyone know where this machine is?”
“I can show you, if we can get to my map room,” Ruhko said.
“Botar, you can go to places you haven’t been,” Hydraxon said. “So long as one of the people you’re teleporting knows where it is.” Seeing Botar again, Hydraxon was starting to remember how his compatriot’s powers worked.
“Right, right,” Botar said. He grabbed Ruhko’s hand, and saw the Fe-Matoran’s map room in his mind. And then… the whole group was there.
“Wow,” Pohatu said. “Who knew we’d go running all over the Star, just to come back here again?”
“Wait,” Quilha said. “Before we go to the Kestora, there’s… something I need to do.”
Everyone turned to look at her, and she shifted uncomfortably. A part of her wished she hadn’t spoken up; but no, she had to do this. She turned to look at Kopaka and Pohatu. “I’m… sorry,” she said. “I’ve been terrible to you this whole time you’ve been here. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. Here we are now, closer than we’ve ever been to getting out of here. You didn’t have to help us; you had every right to leave, with the way I was treating you… but you stayed. So, uh… thanks.”
“Of course we had to help,” Pohatu said. “Yeah, you’re right. We Toa aren’t perfect. But you know what? A good Toa, a good hero, admits to his or her mistakes, and keeps on trying.” Then, to her shock, he held out his fist. Quilha hesitated for a moment, before finally bumping hers against it.
“How very nice,” Hydraxon said. “Now then, can we continue with our goal?”
The entire group turned to look at him. “What? I’m just about done with this place. I’d rather have all the moments of personal growth and all that when we’re not on the Star.”
Ruhko pointed to a point on his maps. “This is where we need to go,” he said. “Can you get us there?”
Botar nodded. “Pretty sure I can, at least.”
Ruhko picked up another Kestora blaster off a nearby worktable, one of the ones Pohatu had taken earlier and left here. “Let’s go put an end to this Star’s problems.”
Author’s notes: Hewkii’s mask of Gravity was stated to make him pass out when he used it to hold up the coliseum, so this is how I interpret overuse of a mask power affecting a Toa. Of course, Kopaka could just use his own Kakama Nuva, if they need to run again, so I’m sure this won’t be an issue…
