BL10 & TK - Malfunctioning Mask

“Oh,” said Helryx, smiling, “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Takanuva turned to see an armored titan enter the room, dragging another along behind him. He was tall and strong, but looked as if he had been through a war. Both his armor and mask were damaged. But that wasn’t what struck Takanuva as most strange. Rather, it was the complex breathing apparatus he wore — could this being not breathe air?

“Meet Brutaka,” Helryx continued, “an Order of Mata Nui member with a somewhat less than sterling record… still, desperate times. The Mahri may need a little convincing to work with him… but I can be very persuasive.”

“And this is Dweller,” Brutaka said, kicking his white-armored captive across the floor. “A Dark Hunter planted here long ago to keep an eye on the city — and to kill you, Toa. He has a way of getting into your head… but I decided to be nice and let him keep his own.”

“Wait a minute, I’ve heard of you from the Mahri,” said Takanuva. “You betrayed your oath and almost killed two teams of Toa. It took your own partner to put you down.” He turned to Helryx. “This is your idea of help for Metru Nui?”

Helryx’s expression turned dark. “Understand something, Takanuva. We are in a war. Maybe we have been since the day the Brotherhood struck down Mata Nui. And in a war, you don’t always get to choose your allies or test them first to make sure they are good and pure enough. I would recruit Dark Hunters and Pit prisoners if I thought it would bring the Makuta down.”

“And what kind of universe would that leave you with?” asked Takanuva.

“One full of beings still free to make their own mistakes,” answered Brutaka.

Takanuva said nothing, simply looked from Brutaka to Helryx, unsure of which one he disliked more in that moment.

Krakua finally spoke up, trying to break the tension. “Brutaka will be your means of transport to Karda Nui, using the dimensional travel power of his mask. It’s faster than going by Toa canister, if a little more dangerous.”

Takanuva looked again at Brutaka’s mask. There were hairline cracks in a number of places. It was amazing it was still functioning at all. But there was no turning back now.

“I’d have to be insane to trust him,” said the Toa of Light.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” said Helryx, offering her hand. “You have to be insane to be a Toa at all. It’s the first requirement for the job.”

After a long moment, Takanuva reached out and shook her hand. Maybe she was right, he conceded. Maybe in a time of crisis, the old rules don’t apply — and maybe being a hero was a lot more complicated than he thought.

“Take this,” said Krakua. The object he offered Takanuva was, of all things, a sundial. “You may need it.”

Takanuva took it even as Brutaka triggered the power of his mask. A hole opened in space, its edges ragged and distorted, and its size fluctuating wildly. Taking a deep breath, Takanuva plunged into it, to begin the strangest journey of his life.

“Do you think he’ll make it?” asked Krakua as the hole disappeared with an audible pop.

“He has to,” answered Helryx. “If I am right, the Makuta have much bigger plans than just controlling Karda Nui — and we may need the Toa Nuva, if we hope to stop them. He has to get them out of the core before the energy storm consumes them all.”


- BIONICLE Legends 10: Swamp of Secrets, Epilogue


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Takanuva, Toa of Light, fell through inter-dimensional space, trying hard not to scream. A moment before, he had stepped through a dimensional portal created by Brutaka. His mission: travel to Karda Nui and warn the six Toa Nuva there of a disaster about to occur.

Somehow, though, this trip was not going as planned. Takanuva was being buffeted about, catching glimpses now and then of weird other worlds filled with beings both familiar and unfamiliar. He could guess that if he somehow wound up in one of those places, he might never find his way back to his own universe.

Suddenly, there was a jolt worse than any before. He was spinning wildly, out of control. There was an instant of complete darkness, followed by a very bright light, and then Takanuva slammed onto a rocky shore. He lay there, stunned, for a long time. When he finally lifted his head, it was to view a sight he could never have imagined.

The city before him was vast. It made Metru Nui look like a collection of stone-cutter shacks. Multiple design styles had combined to create a megalopolis that stretched for as far as the eye could see. Some of the buildings looked like ones in Metru Nui — he recognized the Coliseum, for example — others were totally strange and some almost primitive.

Takanuva glanced up at the sky. No, it didn’t look like the one over Metru Nui. It looked — oh, no, that couldn’t be, he thought. It was the same shade of blue as the one over the island of Mata Nui.

That’s impossible, he said to himself. Everyone left Mata Nui to move back to Metru Nui months ago. And Mata Nui was never this size, or filled with so many beings and buildings!

He stood up and looked around. Everywhere, he could see Matoran of all kinds hard at work. That certainly wasn’t unusual. Of course, the fact that they were working side by side with Bohrok, Skakdi, and Visorak was downright shocking.

“Hey,” said a voice from behind him. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

Takanuva turned. A Ga-Matoran, Macku, was there. She gave no sign of recognizing him.

“I’m Toa Takanuva,” he answered. “Can you tell me where I am?”

“You’re not Takanuva,” said Macku, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Try again… or would you rather we call the Hunters?”

“But I am Takanuva. I know I look different, but —”

“That’s for sure,” laughed Macku. “You’re a lot taller. Or have you never seen Turaga Takanuva, stranger?”

“Turaga —?” sputtered Takanuva. He recovered quickly. “Um, maybe I was a little confused. Tell me, do you know where I could find Jaller?”

“At the Great Furnace, naturally,” said Macku, suspicion in her voice. “What do you want him for?”

“I have, um, a message for him from an old friend,” Takanuva replied.

It took some doing, but he finally convinced Macku to escort him into the city, which she called “the kingdom of the Great Spirit.” The first person she brought him to was a tall, strong warrior carrying a massive axe. He looked Takanuva over for a minute, then nodded. “He’s not a shapeshifter. And he really does think he’s Takanuva.”
“Thanks, Axonn,” said Macku. “So he’s crazy then?”

“Not sure,” said Axonn. He reached out and snatched away Takanuva’s Staff of Light. “Might be better not to let him walk around the city with this. You know how the Turaga feels about citizens carrying weapons.”

They walked through the streets of the city, as shock followed shock for Takanuva. Over there were Matoran buying wares from street stands run by Vortixx; further on, a Skakdi was hawking a show, boasting of the amazing Visorak pyramid that could be seen inside for just five widgets. And on every street corner, there was the presence of law enforcers — not Toa, not even Vahki, but Dark Hunters!

Macku left Takanuva with Toa Jaller. The Toa of Fire looked the same as he always had, but he viewed Takanuva without the wariness the Ga-Matoran had. “Well, you’re obviously not Takanuva,” he said. “But as long as you’re not a Makuta in disguise, you’re welcome in the kingdom. What can I do for you?”

“Just talk to me,” Takanuva said. “Tell me about this place. Are we… is this really the island of Mata Nui?”

Jaller laughed. “Wow. I haven’t heard it called that in close to 10,000 years. Anyway, yes, this was the island of Mata Nui, but it’s a lot more than that now.”


- The Kingdom, Part 1