Chapter 10
“Who are you?”
The Kestora known as Makuta retreated backwards, just staying out of reach of her attacker’s glowing blades. He wasn’t one of the ones meant to visit this place, that much she knew. He looked more like one of the ones who had made this place.
Whoever he was, he was obviously a threat, and Makuta had a way to deal with threats. She raised her staff, preparing to call upon her army of Toa…
The attacker moved impossibly fast, his sword slamming against her wrist; she yelped and dropped the staff. Then, the other blade came down toward her head, and the last thing she heard before she went black was the sound of her mask cracking.
Atakus stared down at the Kestora leader. Without a heartlight, it was hard to tell for sure, but Atakus doubted he’d killed her. Should he finish her off now?
Then he glanced down at the staff she’d dropped, with the strange crystal atop it. Hesitantly, he bent down and picked it up.
As soon as he did so, he felt power coming from it. The power to control an army. And it had one, an army of… Toa.
Atakus realized he was shaking, though not from the power he felt from the staff. No, he was shaking with excitement. This wouldn’t just make up for his last mistake. With this, there was nothing stopping him and his master from achieving–
Suddenly, there was a loud groan, and the floor beneath him shifted abruptly.
Orde stared intently at the Toa of Stone in front of him, focusing his powers. The Toa of Stone stared back curiously at first, then lost interest and turned to pay attention to the other conversation going on. He wasn’t skilled enough to feel Orde’s psionic investigation, so to him, it just felt like Orde was staring at him.
Finally, Orde stopped and shook his head. “He still… seems like the same person I met three days ago,” he said. “But he has no memories of… well, anything before waking up on the star.”
“Can you fix him?” Kopaka said. “Like you did with Delara?”
“You don’t understand,” Orde said. “His memories aren’t just suppressed, or jumbled. They’re gone. At best, maybe I could plant some memories in there, but…” Orde slumped his shoulders. “I’m sorry.”
“What about his body?” Takanuva asked. “Maybe we could–”
That was when the floor began to shift
“So she just… disappeared?” Hydraxon said. Once the two groups had reunited, Kopaka had taken Orde aside to analyze the new Pohatu, while Zaria and Chiara explained what had happened to their Great Being ally.
“And now the only person who knew how to stop this Marendar thing is gone,” Zaria said.
“Does her buddy know where she went?” Hydraxon said, staring accusingly at Strakk.
The Ice Glatorian raised his hands. “Mind reader guy already asked that, and probed me to be sure. I’ve got nothing.”
“All right,” Hydraxon said. “Well, we need to get out of here, so we can–”
The rest of was cut off when the floor abruptly shifted, and everyone but Hydraxon stumbled.
Mountains are supposed to be immovable. But under the massive weight of the Red Star, even stone would give.
Ever since the Star had landed, the earth and rock holding it in its upright position had been shifting, breaking, crumbling. Until, finally, one of them gave way, and the Star began to tilt toward its final impact, where it would inevitably collapse under its own weight.
And then, suddenly, it stopped.
Kopaka scrambled to his feet.
Ivohku was standing in the center of the room, his arms raised, his eyes closed, face clenched in concentration. He was using his elemental power.
“Can’t… hold…” he groaned. “Get… out… now…”
It took Kopaka only a second to realize what was happening. “We need to go, now!” he barked. “The Star’s about to fall over!”
“No!” Hydraxon said. “We’re not leaving everyone else here again. This time, we’re getting everyone out!”
“There’s no way we can get everyone out of a place this big!” Chiara protested.
“Than we get as many as we can,” Orde said. “We’re Toa. We’ll be the last ones to leave if we have to.”
Kopaka’s mind raced. He had an idea, but it would require everyone to pull off. “Zaria, I need you to open us up a lot of exits in the same area. Delara, I need you to boost my voice, make it so everyone can hear me at once. Takanuva, go with Zaria. Use your power to make the brightest light you can. I’m talking as bright as Matoro with the Ignika.” Kopaka hadn’t seen that bright flash of light, but he’d heard of it from the Av-Matoran Solek.
He turned to Hydraxon. “Go with Zaria. Use your weapons, blast those walls open. Now!” Hydraxon nodded and took off, following Zaria and Takanuva.
Kopaka turned to Delara, and the Sound Toa nodded. “Attention, everyone! The Star is about to collapse. The Toa are here to guide you. Follow the light and get to safety.” With Delara’s power, Kopaka’s voice could be heard everywhere on the Star.
Kopaka turned to the Glatorian. “Gelu, Stra–” but Strakk had already took off, no doubt running for safety as soon as he realized what was happening. “Gelu, get the Matoran to safety.”
He turned to Pohatu. “Do you have your mask power back?”
Pohatu stared blankly at him. “What does my mask do again?”
His words were like an ice dagger to Kopaka’s heart, but one he’d have to think about later. “Never mind, go with Gelu and the Matoran. If you can figure it out, use your power to make sure the escapees can get to the ground. Orde, Chiara, you’re with me.” Then Kopaka shifted over to the Nuva Mask of Speed, and ran off to save as many people he could.
Left behind by the rest of the group, Ivohku stood, concentrating.
He’d gotten lucky, unleashing his power right as the Star began to tip over. It was just barely balanced, just enough for him to hold it up. But that wouldn’t last long. Bit by bit, he could feel it moving, growing heavier as it did so. In less than a minute, it would be too much for him to hold up.
Ivohku couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, couldn’t do anything except exert his power. It he let up, for even a fraction of a second, it would be over. The Star would tip past the point where he could hold it up. He had to hold on, long enough for Kopaka to get everyone out.
There was no way he could make it out. He was sure of it, and he didn’t care. He’d failed everything else since he’d died the first time. He wouldn’t fail here.