BL5 - Imprisoned

Velika stood before the doorway to a narrow passage leading downward. He looked puzzled. “The mountain can be shaped by rain and wind… but can the mountain shape itself by drive and will?”

“Will someone please tell him to stop that?” muttered Kazi.

Balta went to stand beside the Po-Matoran. “No, he’s found something. Remember, Velika oversaw the team of Matoran who built this fortress for the Piraka. He knows every corner of it. If he says this wasn’t there before, then it wasn’t. The Piraka must have carved out a lower level.”

The Matoran rushed down the passage, heedless of any traps that might be waiting. If the Toa Nuva were still alive, every moment that passed could place them in terrible danger.

“Down here!” Balta shouted. He had found a chamber sealed by a door made of stone three feet thick. An iron ring served as a handle, but it would take someone with the strength of Reidak to open it.

Garan turned to Kazi. “We’ll work together. The rest of you, back off.”

The Onu-Matoran and the Ko-Matoran prepared themselves for their task. Then both raised their weapons and fired, Garan launching a pulse bolt and Kazi a blast of sonics. Despite its strength, the chamber door could not stand up to this double bombardment. With a sound like thunder, it shattered into rubble.

Balta did not even wait for the dust to clear before scrambling over the stone. He could make out six figures, maskless, chained to the wall. Elemental energies flowed from their hands into a bottomless well in the center of the room. They looked drained and exhausted, and their eyes glowed with a faint red gleam.

“Incredible,” Balta said. “They must have been enslaved by the virus and imprisoned here. Whoever did it ordered them to pour their elemental energies out until there was no more, and then go beyond that point.”

Piruk and Velika set to work breaking the chains. The Toa Nuva did not respond, seeming to take no notice of the fact that anyone had come into the chamber.

“Even if they fought off the effects of the virus, they would have had no power left to escape,” said Garan. “And who knows what else might have happened? The constant drain might even have killed them over time.”

All six Toa Nuva were free — physically, at least. Now the Matoran had to free them from mental enslavement as well. Each loaded his launcher with one of the same zamor spheres the Toa Inika had used to free the Matoran population of the island.

“Fire!” said Garan.

The spheres struck their targets. All six Toa Nuva immediately slumped to the ground, as if struck dead. Dalu rushed to Tahu Nuva, only to find he was still alive, just badly weakened.

“Wake up!” she urged. “The Toa Inika need you!”

“Your tools are here. We can take you to your masks,” Balta said, helping Kopaka Nuva to rise. “I just hope it is not already too late.”

“Toa… Inika?” asked Onua Nuva. “What… what are you talking about?”

“It’s a long story,” said Garan. “We’ll tell you on the way.”

[...]

The Matoran resistance members led the Toa Nuva up to the main floor of the Piraka stronghold. The building was in sad shape, with entire walls blown out by the battles that had been fought there. Now all was quiet. The Matoran almost dreaded what they might see — what if the Inika had lost? To their surprise, there were no bodies to be seen.

The virus chamber had changed significantly. The crystal vat had been shattered and there was no sign of the antidermis virus anywhere. Another wall had been smashed, evidently by a being or force more powerful than any yet unleashed in the room. Even the rubble had been pulverized.

“What went through there?” wondered Kazi.

“One problem at a time,” answered Balta. “The Kanohi masks are through here.”

The Matoran watched in silence as the Toa Nuva reclaimed their masks. The act seemed to re-energize them. Tahu Nuva turned to Garan and shook the Onu-Matoran’s hand.

“We thank you,” he said. “Now where are these Toa Inika you spoke of?”

“I wish I knew,” Garan replied. “Toa Jaller said —”

“Wait a moment,” Tahu interrupted. “Toa Jaller?”

“That’s right, he and Toa Kongu and Toa Matoro —”

Lewa Nuva chuckled. “Kongu a Toa-hero? Oh, this I must see.”

“When you are finished being amused, Lewa, they may well need our help,” said Kopaka.

Garan nodded. “Here’s hoping they aren’t already beyond help.”


- BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno, Chapters 5 and 8