BC2 - Initial Levitation

Before anyone could respond, the ground fell away beneath them. Tahu found himself sliding down a long, narrow tube. Its walls were clear, allowing him to see the other Toa trapped within similar tubes.

What now? the Fire Toa thought rather desperately. Just when we think we’ve finally won —

Just then the tube ended abruptly. Tahu found himself flying through the air for a split second, and then —

SPLASSSSSH — ZZZZZZT!

He was enveloped in a gel-like substance halfway between liquid and solid. The gel cushioned him, seeping into every joint, making him feel warm and cold by turns.

Protodermis, Tahu thought fuzzily. The substance seemed to be seeping into his mind as well as his body, making it difficult to think or move. We’re swimming in protodermis.

The mysterious substance had been mined on Mata Nui for years, used as a source of power. What effect would it have on the Toa?

The Toa of Fire closed his eyes, feeling the protodermis surround him. He wanted to struggle, to fight his way to the surface. But he couldn’t move.

An immense heat swept through his body, his blood boiling and white-hot flames flickering behind his eyelids. As soon as the heat had come it disappeared, replaced by an icy cold so deep that Tahu couldn’t even shiver. Within a fraction of a second, he felt himself sinking into warm, welcoming water, deep and pure. Then the water evaporated away into a howling wind that swept him around and around — until he landed on the hard earth and felt himself sinking down, down, down into the stifling depths. Finally, he hit the hard surface of a stone cliff, and behind his still-closed eyes, it was as if he could see right through it until it held no mysteries.

Then the stone, too, fell away. For a long moment, there was nothingness.

With a gasp, Tahu broke through the surface of the protodermis. Coughing and choking for breath, he looked around and saw the other Toa surfacing nearby.

They levitated up in a group, landing on a rocky ledge above the bubbling pit of protodermis. The cavern was empty. Cahdok and Gahdok had disappeared. But the Toa were even more shocked by the changes they saw in one another.

Each of them was still recognizable — but they had all changed. Instead of his golden Kanohi mask, Tahu’s face was now covered in a larger mask of gleaming red, while his body shimmered in metallic tones of silver and bronze. The others had undergone similar transformations.

“What has happened?” Gali voiced the question at last. “What have we become?”

“More than we were,” Kopaka answered, his cool voice tinged with the warmth of amazement. “More than anyone has ever been.”


- BIONICLE Chronicles 2: Beware the Bohrok, Chapter 16