BC4 - Invisibility

“I believe we have upset this creature.” Onua chuckled as he allowed the power of the Mask of Strength to fill his comrades. “Perhaps it can use some time off its feet.”

Acting as one, the Toa slammed their fists on the floor. Their added strength created a massive shockwave that traveled to the center of the chamber, knocking the Rahi Nui onto its side. It bellowed and tried to right itself, but a second shockwave brought it down again.

“This is more joyfun than kolhii ball,” said Lewa. “At least until we run out of ideas.”

“Perhaps I can help,” said Vakama. His voice filled the chamber, but there was no sign of him. The Turaga had invoked the power of the Mask of Concealment he wore. “Rahi! You have heard this voice before! It belongs to the one who trapped you so long ago!”

Tahu looked at Gali, both wearing expressions of surprise. Vakama, with his Noble Mask and his firestaff, had beaten this monster before? How was that possible?

The Rahi Nui rose again. It definitely did seem to recognize — and hate — that voice. Worse, it could not see where the voice was coming from. It roared in rage.

“Do you remember the last time we met? Or are you too slow-witted?” taunted Vakama. “You howled and roared and even succeeded in harming some of my friends. But in the end, your rage was your undoing, monster.”

The Rahi Nui was turning this way and that, trying in vain to find Vakama. Forgotten were the six Toa, who stood and watched as the beast grew more and more frenzied.

“Vakama does have a smartplan, doesn’t he?” asked Lewa.

“Besides driving the beast wild? One can only hope,” replied Onua.

“How long have you been down here, creature?” Vakama continued, still cloaked by invisibility. “How many suns have passed above? Did your master abandon you… or is he the reason we are here?”

Suddenly the shadows in the chamber grew darker still, and a cold wind chilled the Toa. A pair of massive, glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness of the tunnel and a harsh, grating voice said, “It has not been abandoned, Vakama. It has been waiting for your return.”

“Makuta…” Gali whispered.

“But this beast wears no infected Kanohi Mask,” said Tahu. “How does Makuta control it?”

“There is no need for a mask, Toa Tahu,” said the voice of Makuta. “It hates Toa and all who stand with them. That is enough.”

“And you skulk in the shadows, as you always have,” Vakama snapped. “Striking through pawns because you are afraid to face the light.”

Makuta laughed, a truly horrible sound. “Light? There is no light on Mata Nui. There never shall be.”

“You have been defeated before!” shouted Vakama. “You shall be again!”

“Defeated? Never,” hissed Makuta. “Only delayed. You cannot stop the darkness from falling, Vakama. No one can.”

“We can, and we shall!” Tahu said, stepping forward, magma swords raised.

“Then do so,” Makuta replied. “Defeat my Rahi, and you may leave this chamber. Fail, and Mata Nui is mine!”

The next instant, the eyes were gone, the chill had left the air, and the shadows were merely shadows once more. Makuta had left the Toa to their fate, sure that his victory would be won.

After a long moment, the Toa heard Vakama say, “Go.”

Tahu, dodging a strike by the Rahi Nui, said, “What was that?”

“The beast can be distracted. Run for the tunnel.”

“Toa do not run!” answered Tahu.

“Well, actually…” Onua muttered.

“They do when their Turaga tells them to do so!” Vakama’s voice struck the Toa like a hammer blow. “Now go!”

The Rahi Nui snarled and started toward Vakama’s voice. Gali grabbed Tahu’s arm. “Only as far as the tunnel mouth, Tahu,” she said. “We will not abandon Vakama.”

“Would you make us cowards?” Tahu demanded.

“We don’t have time to debate!” said Onua. “Come, fire brother, let us see what your Turaga has in mind.”

Vakama waited until the Toa had slipped past the angry Rahi into the tunnel. Then he stood with his back to the chamber wall and willed himself to become visible again. He could hear Gali gasp and Tahu shout a warning, but he ignored them. His entire being was focused on the monstrous Rahi that confronted him.

“Come then, monster,” he said. “Let us see what time has done to your power.”

The Rahi Nui lowered its massive head, its claws pawing the ground. Its eyes locked on to Vakama’s as it prepared to charge. Onua and Pohatu held Tahu’s arms, keeping the Toa of Fire from racing into the chamber. “Trust him,” Onua urged. “Vakama must know what he is doing.”

The Turaga was not so certain. True, he had seen the Rahi Nui defeated once before. But that had been a long, long time past, and Vakama had been very different then. Perhaps it was his power that time had swept away, and not the Rahi’s.

But now the time for questioning was over. The Rahi Nui charged, horns lowered and aimed right at Vakama. The Turaga counted the beast’s huge strides and waited until he could feel the Rahi’s foul breath on him. Then he leaped aside, turning invisible as he did, and listening for the satisfying crunch of Kane-Ra horns piercing stone.

He didn’t have to wait long. The Rahi Nui slammed headfirst into the wall, burying its horns in the rock. Its charge had been so powerful that, once in, the horns couldn’t be withdrawn. Try as it might, the Rahi Nui was stuck fast in the wall.

Cautiously, Vakama stepped away from the struggling creature and became visible once more. The six Toa stepped into the chamber and stood by his side.

“Will it ever get free?” asked Gali.

“In time, yes,” said Vakama. “It will bring down the wall, if it must.”

“I would rather not be here to see that,” said Onua. “We have all our Kanohi Nuva Masks. The time has come to return to the surface.”

“You took a great risk, Turaga,” said Tahu as they walked into the tunnel. “If you had failed…”

“Then someone else would have stepped into my place as Turaga,” answered Vakama. “Just as, someday, someone else may become Toa of Fire when your destiny has been fulfilled, Tahu.”

“You knew what the beast would do.”

“I hoped,” said Vakama. “But I had to get it so angry it would forget how it had been trapped before. Whenua would say it was defeated because it forgot the past… Nuju, that it did not think about the future.”


- BIONICLE Chronicles 4: Tales of the Masks, Chapter 6