Reawakening of the Darkness

Intro: Have you ever wondered?

Have
you ever wondered how the legacy of a time before time can live on in
normal humans? Yeah, so have I. I've wondered that since the day I
became a Toa. I've wondered how all the pieces of a universe from such
a long time ago fit so well with our universe and in this time. But I also know that
some people, like myself, aren't meant to understand. All I am meant to
understand is, with my allies...my friends...I must save the
Earth--and, at times, pizza shops--from total destruction. That's my destiny. That's OUR destiny.

It all
happened so fast, the day I became a Toa. And yet, it was so slow...

I'll start from the beginning.

Chapter I: The School where Good People come in Yellow Buses

"Oh, jeez, It's hot!"

I ran across the pitted black coal
mountain, trying to get some exercise in before the new school day
kicked in. It was about 98 degrees in the month of September, the
perfect day to run. I was just a skinny kid back then, trying to build
up some muscle. But that objective went by a lot quicker than I
expected.

My
story begins here, on Earth. It was, as I said, a calm, hot day, with a
good breeze going on. It was a time to take in all the things that
summer brought to me. But mostly, it was a day I would remember for the
rest of my life—the day I met a beautiful girl. Her name was Joyce.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I continued until I had the back-end of the
Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall Store in my sights. I then looked at my
watch. I was 6:30 A M. “Uh-oh,” I said to myself, adding, “I better get
to the bus stop or I’ll be late!”

I barely made it to the bus a
half hour later. I got to sit next to one of my friends, Tony. He
talked to me about how he was going to drop a class period to be with
his girlfriend.

“That’s kinda sweet,” I said.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I know.”

Then we were talking about a new arrival coming in from North Dakota. He--or, rather, she--was expected to enter Pottsville today.

"I wonder how he or she's going to turn out." I said.

"Maybe you'll find another of your kind," Tony joked. He and I both agreed that I was a nerd, but sometimes he joked that I was an alien because of it.

"Shut up," I said with a smile as the bus finally pulled into the school driveway.

It’s a funny thing, really: wherever Tony went, trouble followed, whether he wanted it or not.

The moment he went off one of the steps of the bus, he slipped and fell flat on his face. Amazingly, he didn't bleed. I helped him up, saying, “You clumsy machine! You know, you deserve that!”

Tony
rose to his feet and brushed himself off. “Sorry, I was paying
attention to that.” He pointed at a girl near the school doors. My jaw
dropped. She was one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen in my
life. “She’s…she’s…” I stammered.

“She’s a fox if I ever done seen one,” Tony said. I glared at him, then looked back at the girl. I wore a confident smile on my face.

"I'm making her my girlfriend today, Tony," I said.

“Riiiight,” he said, unsure if I could accomplish that. We walked up to her.

“Man, this is a lot bigger than my school in Dakota…how am I going to find my way?” she said.

“Well,” I said, surprising her, “You can look at the maps, or just ask me.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Who are you?”

“The name’s Chris,” I introduced. “This is Tony.”

“What’s up?” he said.

“Hi,” she said nervously.

“So who are you, and how did you get to be so beautiful?” I asked her.

“I’m Joyce, and it’s hereditary,” she answered.

Then
I felt like I got tapped on my shoulder. I turned to see Jenn, a big
flirt at my school. She hurt me about a year ago. She pretended to be my girlfriend, and when I found out she was dating someone else, I held bitter resentment towards her. I think I still do.

Brushing my anger aside, I turned back to introduce Joyce to
the school. I held her hand and kissed it, and she blushed. I guess I
was a bit too kind that day, now that I look back on it. But that
kindness was the thing that got her to ask me out, and only in a few
hours afterwards.

It was at lunch that she asked me out.

We
were having pizza that day—my favorite food—and we had the same lunch
period, so I sat next to her. But before I even made it to the table,
Jenn bumped into me--twice in one day was a rarity. She walked out of
my sight, and then I noticed a piece of paper on my tray. It said, “Ask
me out sometime.” I looked back at her with anger, and she walked away like she didn’t
know me, so I turned back around and walked
over to Joyce. We both said hi, then I sat down.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“That was the flirt de la escuela, Jenn. I tend to ignore her because she once decided to make a dumb mistake.”

“What kind of mistake?”

“Well, she started hitting on me, even though she had a boyfriend, so—“

“You didn’t like her after you found out?”

“Exactly.” I smiled. “You seem to predict everything I say.”

“That’s because I‘ve actually been there before.”

I looked up. “You have?”

“Yeah,” she began, “See, I once had a boyfriend named Randy; he said he liked me, but it turns out he was just using me.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

She
smiled. “He apologized. And I forgave him after letting him out of his locker.”

I smiled back. “And he never saw you again.”

“Yeah,” she said. “He moved to Davenport, in the south the next day.”

We both laughed at that. "How the heck did he get to the south so quickly?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Who knows? And for one thing, who cares?" She said.

That impressed me a little. 'Kind, but tough as nails...nice combination,' I thought to myself.

"He must have been really scared," I said.

"Oh, he was," Joyce continued. "I actually was going to push him off a cliff, but it's not in my nature to be EXTREMELY violent."

She matched exactly what I would have done to Jenn. Er, I didn't push HER into a locker or anything, though.

Then
I asked her perhaps one of the stupidest things I have ever said to a
girl: “Are you my long-lost sister or a clone of me or something?”

Joyce chuckled and said, “No, I’m just a mind-reader. And I can tell you have a crush on me.”

I went from normal to super-pale in a second. ‘How did you know that?!’ I thought.

“I know things,” she said, answering the question in my head. “And let me just say,” she continued, “that I really like you.”

I swallowed hard. I was nervous as heck. “Really?” I asked in a high voice.

“Well,
why wouldn’t I? You’ve done a lot for me—you saved me from being
unprepared, took out a person’s teeth just for calling me stupid, and even
protected me from that teacher when I was without a hall pass—and all
in one day! Why else?”

“Well…yeah,” I said, adding, “But that’s me just being normal—“

“Don’t give me that,” she said, grinning. “Are you trying to say you’ve never had a girlfriend before?”

“Uh…well…” I sighed. “Yes.”

"Then let's fix that. Ask me out."

I swallowed hard. I had never been asked to ask a girl out. "OK...would you like to go out with me?" I said, nervously. Then I put my arms up in defense, ready for her to hit me. "No, don't hit me!" I said worriedly.

But Joyce laughed and said, "Relax! I'll go out with you."

I put my arms down. "Really?" I asked.

She nodded and kissed me on the cheek.

Fireworks immediately went off in my head. But the light show was interrupted when...

“I finally got it stuck to my head! Yay!”

Tony
walked in with one of those mini-flags stuck to his forehead. I slapped
my hand on my forehead and shook my head. “Tony…” I groaned.

“Hi,” Joyce said.

“What’s up, dude?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be in English?”

“Yeah,” he said, “But I decided to cut class to see Mandy.”

“Not the best idea,” Joyce and I commented at the same time.

“Well, he always does stupid things like this, Joyce,” I said. “But that’s who he is.”

“Yep,” Tony said. “And darn proud of it.”

Suddenly, the bell rang. “Well, if you’re going to see your girlfriend, you might want to do it now,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, starting to walk away. “See ya later, lovebirds.” He snickered.

I sighed. “He’s a wierdo,” Joyce said.

“Yes,” I replied, “But he’s my wierdo.”

Chapter 2: Born Anew

I woke up to the
sounds of the sirens blaring in the night. I turned on the news
channel, and the NewsSee 17 news channel was on.

“Hello, I’m
Dave Ubetcha,” the news guy said, “With breaking news: the First
American Bank has been robbed in St. Clair. Police suspect the
ever-crafty Joe Mamma and his partner, Yu Suhk are involved in the
theft of $500 American dollars. What do you think of this, Ollie?”

The TV flashed from Dave to Ollie, a short, bald African American, and Ollie said very quickly, “Those guys are really dumb!”

Then it flashed back to Dave, and Dave said, “I believe so too, Ollie. Now, let’s see our eye in the sky, Tank Tucker.”

It
then flashed to a bird’s eye view of several police cars chasing after
a run-down Pontiac Thunderstorm. “Well,” Tank began, “It looks like
these guys are trying to run away in perhaps the worst car to get away
in: a white Pontiac Thunderstorm. And—OH! OH!”

The Thunderstorm
started to turn into a small crevice, and during that turn, the
criminal in the passenger seat jumped out and ran off-screen. The car’s
right side sunk into the crevice.

“The car has sunken into a
crevice on the right side of the road! And it appears that one of the
criminals just jumped out of the car and ran right before it hit!
Amazing!”

‘Why can’t there be peace in this world?’ I thought as I watched the car fall into the crevice. 'Why do people like these guys have to ruin it all?'

“OK,” Tank continued, “The suspect is getting out of the car, and he’s—he’s surrendering! It’s all over for him!”

‘One down…’ I thought, adding, ‘…But one still out there, somewhere.’

“The
suspect is Yu Suhk,” Tank reported, “I repeat: the suspect is Yu Suhk.
Joe Mamma is still out there somewhere. Cops are searching in the
direction where he went off to now…”

I laid on my bed, thinking, ‘A War on Terrorism…a bad depression…Continuous crime…The world is falling apart.’

The
next day, I met Joyce, Tony, and my other friend, Clint in the
cafeteria. Joyce and I were holding hands, and we talked to Tony and
Clint about what happened on the news last night.

“This world is falling apart,” I said.

“Agreed,” Joyce replied, adding, “Someone needs to act to glue it back together.”

“And who are we but mere teenagers to say so?” Clint said.

“He’s right,” Tony said, adding, “There’s nothing we can do.”

I
got an idea. “What if we were to form a union to stop the world from
destroying itself? I’ll call it the ILOWS—the International League Of
World Savers!”

Everyone stared at me with a blank look. “OK…maybe not that.” I crawled into my shirt like a turtle.

“You may be on to something, though,” Joyce said in my defense. “The world does need heroes, now more than ever.”

And then it hit me. I had been planning this for many a month. In my younger days I had created a fictional superhero named Kaita. He was a human Toa with a silver costume and a mammoth sword. And I remembered how dedicated I was to making it real.

I diecided that this was the time. This was the hero the world needed. And I decided that I was going to fill that role.

“You’re right, Joyce.”

I let go of Joyce’s hand and started walking outside. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“Somewhere, for a purpose,” I answered as I left the school campus.

I
entered my warm, cozy apartment, and drew an image of the hero that
stayed in my mind. Once it was finished, I went to the
Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall store so I could buy silver thread, a
life-size mannequin, and a sewing machine. Once that was over, I raced
back to my apartment, and began to create the costume that would seal
my fate for centuries to come. It was everything my imagination wanted
it to be, and more. You see, I thought, ‘Hm…I should have my insignia
represent something I like…I got it!’ I created a Kanohi Aki, the Bionicle's Mask of Valor, out of my
remaining thread and pressed it onto my new suit. It was complete.

I tried it on, and it fit perfectly. I smiled the most confident smile anyone could ever see.

‘A hero has just been born.’

A
week passed by before I was able to put my new hero to the test.
Nothing really happened that week, fortunately. But when Joe Mamma
struck again, I was ready.

I put on my mask, which had crescent shaped eyes and a smlaa hole on the bottom to reveal my mouth, and set off for the bank (which was just across the street from my
apartment, ironically). Police cars were surrounding the entire place.
I jumped inside the “Do Not Cross” area and saw Joe, wielding a deadly
Magnum.

I overheard some police saying, “What the heck is he
doing?” and “He’s gonna get killed!” but I kept my cool. I knew how to
calm someone like Joe down.

I walked up to him slowly and
steadily. When I finally got to him, I saw he was sweating really
badly. He pointed the gun to my forehead. I grabbed the tip of it, and
the both of us lowered it together.

“Don’t do this,” I said. “You have everything you can want: a life. Don’t ruin it.”

Joe began to cry. “I’m not doing this for me,” he whimpered.

“Then who?” I asked, still calm.

Joe sighed. “My daughter…has a terminal sickness!” He burst into tears. I sensed much honesty in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You
don’t need to be,” Joe cried. “All I want is for my daughter’s last few
days to be comfortable, and I don’t have enough money to do it. But I
understand if you can’t let me see her again.”

“You don’t normally do this. You knew the risks.”

“Yeah, I did; I would sacrifice all of my life’s work just to see her happy one last time.”

I took pity on Joe. He really wasn’t such a bad guy after all, though his name…

“What’s your daughter’s name, dude?” I asked.

“Mai Mamma.”

“OK,”
I said. “Since I have a good part-time job at the
Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall-2-Wall Store, I’ll give you my paycheck for 2 weeks
to help you. It’s around $800. Keep the change.”

Joe looked at me with a bright look on his face. “You’d do that for me? Just like that?!”

“I’ll give you that, plus you can spend your time with your daughter before your sentence is served.”

“What’s the catch?” he said.

“In return, I want you to do the same if another like you comes around. And to never rb a bank again. That is all I ask.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you, whoever you are.”

I smiled with confidence. “No problem. Just keep up your end of the bargain.”

I
took Joe to one of the police cars, and he was sent to the hospital to
see his daughter. I asked the commissioner to reduce his sentence as
good as possible. He agreed.

The next day, I talked to Joyce and asked her what she thought about “the new kid,” as I called him, while we were walking to our buses.

“I think he’s you,” she answered.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked.

"Well, you did say I was right when I said the world needed heroes, and then you ran off."

Beofer I could respond, Tony came in. “Are you out of your mind?!” he yelled. “You could have been killed!"

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Don’t give me that! I know it was you!” he said. “Either you admit it, or I’ll find out for sure!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied.

Tony just said, “Just don’t do that again. Especially when I’m not around.”

He walked off. Joyce looked at me sternly. I just pointed my finger at my head and did the “loopy” sign.

After
school, I kissed Joyce good-bye, and got on the bus to scold Tony. I
walked up to him and yelled silently, “You’re the one who’s out of your
mind! You nearly blew my cover!”

“Maybe I was doing it to help you!” Tony said.

“Why would ya help me out?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I? I’m your friend!” he yelled back.

“Do ya wanna help me that badly?!” I questioned.

“Maybe I do!” he snapped.

“Well, maybe you should meet me at my apartment at 6 o’clock sharp!” I screamed.

“I’ll be there! Now, why are we yelling?!” That ended the yell-fest.

6:00
pm that evening, I was finishing another costume. This one was a
powerful reddish color, with eyes shaped like parallelograms, slanted
sides facing downward. The symbol was that of a Kanohi Pakari, the Mask
of Strength, because the suit’s wearer was strong.

I was just finished pressing the mask onto the suit when Tony entered. “Hey man,” he said.

“Hey, dude,” I said. “Check this out.”

I showed him the suit. He looked at it for a long time. “Cool, man,” he said. “But what’s that mask thing?”

“This is a symbol that represents how strong you are,” I explained. “It’s the mask of strength from the Bionicle universe. Personally, I think it suits you.”

“Ah.” Tony sat down. “So, how do I fit in with helping you?”

“Simple,
my friend,” I said. “You will be my ally and you will fight crime and
you will report everything you do today to me the next day. The same
rules will apply to others that join us and myself.”

Tony caught the word “others.” He looked at me and asked, “Whaddaya mean, ‘others’?”

“You’ll
find out tomorrow,” I said. “Your job is to stop crime from happening
and to make this world safe for us all. Times will be from the time you
get out of school to when you go to sleep. Understood?”

He raised his hand as if he were in school. I asked, “Yes?”

He asked me, “Will there be snacks?” I just glared at him and said, with sarchasm, “Yes. There will be snacks.”

He raised his hand again. “Yes?” I asked again.

“Why
do I get the feeling you’re taking me for a ride?” Tony asked. I just
smiled and said, “OK, you understand. Now try this on and see if it
fits.”

I tossed him the costume, and it fit him perfectly. “Nice,” I said, putting on my own costume. “Now let’s get moving.”

Chapter 3: Unanswered Questions, Unsolved Mysteries, and Unknown Teens in Tights

“In today’s top news,” Dave Ubetcha said on the news channel, “It appears that two teenaged boys were found walking out in the streets of Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, with embarrassing costumes. However, when those two boys found a robber trying to steal someone’s purse around 6:45 pm, the two valiantly stopped the crime and returned the purse. The two boys’ names are unknown as of yet, though several people speculated they go to Pottsville Area High School. More on this at eleven. In other news, crime boss Xero and a gang of his Young Blood Troops were found trying to break into someone’s home today. Police suspect it was another failed robbery at the same house—that’s 3 tries on the same house in one week. What do you think of his attempts, Ollie?”

The screen flashed to Ollie, and Ollie said very quickly, “This gang is persistent!”

The screen flashed back to Dave, and Dave said, “Thank you, Ollie. And now, could President Kalin be the end of the world?”

I turned the TV off. Tony was sitting in a chair next to mine. “Great! They’re on to us!” he commented. “I told ya you were outta your mind!”

Ignoring what Tony said, I thought of the word “Xero.” It stayed in my head like my costume idea did. ‘If we could stop him,’ I thought, ‘we could prove to the world that we’re here to make things right…maybe someone might brush off of us!’

I grabbed my new broadsword, which I named Ahvokii (after the mask of Light) and started to leave the apartment. “Where ya going?” Tony asked.

I grabbed my broadsword casing and sheathed my Ahvokii. Then I turned to Tony.

“I’m going to war with Xero,” I said. Then I left my apartment and walked into the streets.

I didn’t tell Tony, but I secretly recruited Joyce and Clint to our new team just after school today. He was going to find out tomorrow.

KA-BOOM!!!

A massive explosion came from on top of the mountain where I always ran. “Son of a—“ I began to say, but the sound drowned out my voice. I got to the mountain as fast as I could, but the police already beat me there.

I got a good look however; It was a massive crystal, surging with pure energy. As usual, there was a “Do Not Cross” around where the explosion occurred. The commissioner asked me what it could be.

“It could be an alien life-form, sir,” I suggested. But in my thoughts, I knew it was something I knew all too well. It had the markings of the Matoran Language in the Bionicle universe. ‘This is amazing…how does something that’s supposed to be fictional exist? Could it be possible that the legend of the Bionicle is real?’ Thinking it could not be true, I returned my attention to the commissioner.

“I will look into this tomorrow, sir,” I said. I needed to see that no-one took advantage of this situation to rob houses or something.

“Where ya going?” the commissioner asked.

“To continue my patrol, and to make sure nobody like Xero takes advantage,” I answered. Then I turned before I left. “You can call me Kaita, sir,” I said, leaving the black coal mountain behind.

When I got to the town, I saw that everyone and everything was all right. Nothing stirred, nothing moved but the wind.

That is, until I saw Xero.

Chapter 5: Know Your Role…

A
day later, I went back into my apartment and then checked out a website called Biolegend—a website
dedicated to all things Bionicle, including weapons. And can you guess
what happened when I got there? You got it—I found a match of the scimitar. I took of
my suit, as did Nova.

“’The Pyron,’” I read, “’Is a tool
dedicated to the use of fire and heat. When touched by anyone other
than a fire Toa or a Destined Fire Toa, the handle will feel like it
was just in a coal furnace. However, when touched by the Fire Toa or
Destined Fire Toa, it will feel like just…any other blade.’” I turned
to Nova. “Dude, did that thing feel hot when you touched it?”

“No,” Nova said, taking off his mask.

Then I started drooling. “Dude…do you know what this means?!”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know,” he said.

“This means you’re a Destined Fire Toa! You’ll be able to control heat, melt the ice, everything!”

“Hey, I do like that!” the unmasked Nova said. “But when will that be?”

“It
says here, ‘When all Destined Toa find their Tools of Destiny, they
will become Toa Hexren—aka Toa of the Next Generation.’
This is insane! Now we CAN be supers!”

Just then, Joyce and Clint came in the door, backpacks on their backs, laughing for whatever reason. “Hey, Chris,” Clint said.

“Hey, man,” I said. Joyce walked up to me and kissed me.

I looked at Nova and said, “You wanted to know who the ‘others’ were? Well…here they are!”

Nova, now as Tony, stared in shock. “Lemme get this straight…I have to work with an overactive kid and your girlfriend?!”

“You have a problem with that?” Joyce asked crossly.

“Not if he does,” Tony said, pointing to me. Then he whispered in my ear, “Why the heck did you choose those two?!”

“Because,” I said, “They’re my best friends, and I’m not letting them miss out on this!”

Tony sighed. “Oh…alright. You win this one. But next time, I get to pick who stays and who goes!”

I
just glared at him. “Now to focus on more relevant matters,” I said.
“My friends, you have been chosen for this task because you are the
best of the best. You have stayed strong throughout these 16 years of
your lives. You have overcome obstacles that stood in your way of
getting to what you want. Now it is time to overcome obstacles to help
others achieve what they want. You will be remembered for your bravery
should you stop a robber. You will be remembered for your courage
should you die…which probably won’t happen for years to come. But most
of all, you will have done a good thing for the world, and that will be
the most honorable thing you can do in your lives. You are now entering
the lives of heroes. You are now entering the lives…of Toa!”

Just
then, I opened my closet door to reveal two more suits—one blue and one
brown—with iron-pressed masks on them. That, and some of my dry
cleaning.

“Wow…they’re beautiful!” Joyce said.

“Yeah!” Clint added. “I didn’t know you wore boxers!”

Everyone except me laughed. I just glared at Clint. But then he said, “And the costumes are good, too.”

“That’s
better,” I said. I grabbed the blue costume and gave it to Joyce. Her
costume headpiece had eyes similar to my suit’s—crescent in shape—but
they were slightly straighter. The brown one went to Clint. His
headpiece had crescents with rounded triangles in the middle. Without
waiting for an answer, they put on the suits. They fit perfectly.
Joyce’s suit had the Huna, the Mask of Invisibility, and Clint had the
Kakama, the Mask of Speed.

“Perfect!” I said, admiring my own work. They looked incredibly great.

"So," I asked, "I'm assuming everyone knows their duties? If you have any questions, ask. Understood?"

Clint and Joyce nodded. Tony raised his hand. “What?” I asked.

“Can I bring snacks?” he asked.

I glared at him and said, “That’s worse that one of Clint’s jokes!”

Clint stared at the ground, frowning. Then he swerved his head up again with a normal look.

Then I said, “One more thing: choose the weapon you want.”

I
opened a drawer in my closet. In it were weapons I had confiscated from
Xero and his goons. Clint found a pair of daggers that apparently
seemed to grow into swords when they were drawn, and Joyce found a
wristband axe that she could attach to her arm. They traded, and Clint
remarked that it felt cold on his arm, whereas Joyce said the swords
Clint had chosen were heavy and awkward to lift. ‘The other Destiny
Tools,’ I thought in amazement.

“So,” I said after Joyce and Clint traded back, “Joyce, what kind of hero name do you want?”

“Um…how about Jocen?” she said.

“Perfect,” I said. “Clint? What name do you choose?”

“Rocky? No…Stone Son? Nuh-uh…How about…Ultimate Master Of Rocks!”

“How about we call you Umor for short, Clint?”

“Why Umor?”

“Because Ultimate Master Of Rocks is too long to say in conversation.”

“No, I mean…why Umor? Why not just call me ‘Ultimate?’”

“That works, too,” I said. “But I like Umor better. And why rocks?”

“Because they can hurt! And I can lift them!”

Chapter 6: The Warning, The Powers, and, uh…The Powers

Later
that day, we met at the Original Italian Pizzeria. We ordered a large
pie. While we waited, we tried discussing tactics on how to bring down
criminals.

“I like using SINN,” Clint said, “As in, stomach, incline, nose, and my personal favorite, nuts!”

Joyce chuckled at that. “I guess you can be funny when you want to be.”

We didn’t say too much after our pizza got to us. Once we ate and said goodbye, I went home and took a nap.

After
school the next day, my friends and I got together at the Burma Road in
St. Clair; the police commissioner asked us to “go on up there and see
what that there meteor is.”

Once we met up at the Burma Road, we
headed up the road onto the mountain—the true Burma—where the crystal
hit. It was still brimming with energy from last night.

“I’ll go first, and everyone line up behind me,” I said. The others nodded.

I went down the crater and was within arms reach of the strange object. I touched it, and then…

KA-BLAM!!!

Bright lights erupted from the crystal, electric currents surged from its ends, and then…it started to float.

It
ripped itself right off of the ground and floated a few feet from where
it was before. I clambered up the crater, as did my friends, to see
what it was doing.

Then it exploded in a flash of light that nearly blinded us all. When I could see again, I saw the mask of Mata Nui himself.

‘Holy crud…’ Those were the only words I could think of at that moment.

Then…the mask spoke.

“Faithful
beings,” it said in a deep voice, “I need your help. Makuta has
returned to bring darkness upon the universe. Now he plans to destroy
all light everywhere, if he can.”

‘Makuta…why does that name
send shivers down my spine?’ Makuta was the main baddie in the Bionicle
Universe. He could summon darkness and shape-shift at any given moment,
had he gotten the chance.

“Without light, this universe will
become dark and cold…and when that happens, it will die. That is why
you have been chosen to become the next generation of Toa. But you will
not be alone, for others will also be chosen this day to help you. You
will find them along the path to your destiny,” Mata Nui continued.

“But Great One,” I asked, “Where or when will they show up?”

“You
will know when you meet them, and I predict you will meet one in two
months time,” he replied. “And I will also be there to guide you…in
ways you cannot imagine possible.”

The last thing I remember
before losing consciousness was being zapped in the heart by the very
mask that spoke to us. I was flung at least a foot from where I was
standing, if I remember correctly.

When I woke up, I saw the sun was rising. I looked at my wristwatch and saw it was 6:55 am. We missed the bus to school!

But school was the least of our worries. The Kanohi Mask was gone. My head was throbbing like crazy. And yet…I felt great.

“Hey,
guys! Wake up! We’re late!” I shouted. Everyone was on their feet in
no-time. Nova also had a wristwatch. “Aw, man! We missed the bus!” he
whined.

I noticed there was a symbol on Nova’s head. It looked
like a symbol…for fire. “Hey, Nova,” I said. “You have something on
your mask…it looks like a tattoo etched on your mask.”

He tried
to rub it off, but it didn’t move. Then he looked at me, and he said,
“There’s something on your mask, too…3 wavy vertical lines.”

I
ran my hand smoothly across my head, but I didn’t feel it. When Umor
and Jocen got up, I saw Jocen had 3 wavy horizontal lines, and Umor had
lines taking the shape of a rock.

He was about to punch the spot where the symbol was…and a fireball formed in his fist. He screamed.

“Tony!
Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!!” I shouted. He rolled in
the rocks, trying to douse the flame in his hand. But it wouldn’t go
out! Nova stopped for a minute, and let the fire rest on his hand.

“What the heck are you doing?!” Umor screamed.

“Guys! I don’t feel it!” Nova said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whaddaya mean, you can’t feel it?” I asked.

“I mean I cannot feel it! It’s not burning me!” he answered.

That was the oddest thing I ever heard, besides this:

“This…is amazing! There is a water ball in my hand now!”

I
looked at Jocen, and sure enough, she was right; there was a sphere of
pure water in her hand. I had no idea what was going on.

“Floating rocks! Floating rocks!”

Umor had his hand in the same position as Nova and Jocen. In front of him were, sure enough, floating rocks.

“WHAT
THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!” I screamed, swinging my hands up to
emphasize my point. My friends were blown off their feet, and they
landed on their butts.

‘Whoa,’ was the only thought in my mind
at that moment. Then I said, “Guys! This is no time to lay around!
We’re late for school!”

Nova got up and said, “Shut up, you!”

I had a thought. Acting on impulse, I jumped into the air…and I didn’t land!

“Hey
guys! I’m flying! Whee!” I said. But I wasn’t really flying; moreover,
there was an air cushion under my feet to make it look like I was
flying. Everyone stared in amazement. ‘If I can do that to myself, what
if…’ I thought.

“Want to go for a ride upstairs?” I asked
everyone. Then I lifted everyone off their feet, simply by expanding my
air cushion. “Next stop: Pottsville High! Please keep your arms and
legs inside the vehicle at all times. If you get airsick…tough, no
refunds,” I said, pretending to hold an intercom system thing to my
mouth. Then I lifted the cushion beneath my feet a mile up in the air.
Once that was done, I willed it to move towards the school’s position
while moving it down. By the time we got to school, the cushion touched
the steps in front of the school cafeteria. When we checked the time,
it was only 7:05, 25 minutes before class began.

I ordered
everyone to remove their costumes as soon as possible, before someone
showed up. We did it right before the ever-flirtatious Jenn showed up
to try to charm me.

“Hey, cutie,” she said.

“Hello,
Jennifer,” I said in a monotone voice. Tony and Clint were drooling and
panting like dogs. Joyce just stared at her, a cross look on her face.

“So, ya wanna buy me some breakfast?” Jenn asked. “Then we can go behind the school and do something…fun.”

I
couldn’t take it anymore. I was sick of being treated this way by such
a flirtatious creature. It was at that moment I told her off.

“Before
you get any crazy ideas, Jennifer,” I said, my hate for her bubbling
like a lava pool inside me, “I have a woman already, and you already
have a man. If you can’t get that through your head, someone in this
world will cause you a whole mess of trouble, and it won’t be me!” Then
I sighed, letting my anger go. “I’m asking you, as a friend by heart…if
you love me as much as you say you do…STOP FLIRTING WITH ME!”

I
gasped and panted as the last bit of anger I held against Jenn
disappeared from me. She had a cross look on her face as she walked
into the cafeteria and went out of sight. I never saw her again for the
rest of my school days.

Joyce then kissed me. “Thanks,” she said.

“Er...No problem!” I responded. She walked into the cafeteria. I turned to Tony and Clint. Both of them were grinning.

“Nice work, dude,” Tony said.

Later that day, I felt hot. I decided to experiment with my newfound air powers.

I swung my left hand in front of my face, and was instantly cooled off.

‘This is incredible…truly incredible,’ I thought.

Chapter 7: It’s All in a Five Days Work

I asked Joyce out to pizza that Saturday Night. Needless to say, she said yes.

After
we ate and said goodbye, I went home to my apartment and crashed like a
car. But only moments before I went to sleep, I had a vision.

When I looked around, there was nothing but blackness. Then a flash of light appeared above me. It was Mata Nui’s mask again.

“Young
Kaita,” he began, “You have been chosen to walk the path of the Toa
Hexren of Light. You will be the one to bring peace to this world. You
will be the sole Toa that will have to stop Makuta…though, your friends
will also help you.”

“ME?!” I asked in surprise. “But why me, Great One?”

“Destiny, Kaita. Purely Destiny.”

I sighed. “Will my new Light powers come to me soon?”

“Your
powers will come in five days time, and Makuta will be on your world by
then as well. You must prepare all you can for this dark menace. And
keep in mind, I will always be with you…in mind and body.”

“Thank you, Great One,” I said as the vision flashed away.

The next day, I told the others about my vision. They were stunned.

“First off, we get strange powers…next off, we get visions saying we’ll get MORE powers?! This doesn’t make sense!” Clint said.

“He’s right,” Tony agreed. “This is an unusual set of coincidences.”

“It’s called the Reawakening of the Darkness,” Joyce said.

We
all stared at her. She sighed. “Last night, after I got home, I looked
at Biolegend and looked up the Toa Hexren. It said, ‘The Toa Hexren
will be a group of heroes of a specifically chosen race whose job is to
balance the Light and Darkness qualities in the universe. Sadly, in the
event that the Toa Hexren are chosen, the Makuta of Metru Nui will also
be awakened to conquer the universe. This event is called the
Reawakening of the Darkness, or the Reawakening for short.’ So I
followed the link to the Reawakening and it said, ‘The Reawakening of
the Darkness will be a small, 5-day period in which the Toa Hexren will
be chosen, Makuta will reawaken, and a massive battle between the two
will ensue. The victor will determine the fate of their race…and the
universe.’”

“No pressure,” Tony said.

“Joyce, thank you
for doing this,” I said. I turned to my friends (I was looking at the
sunrise at the time) and told them, “We gotta begin training with our
powers.”

“Why?” Clint asked.

“Because, you knucklehead,”
I said, “Makuta is going to be here in five days, maybe now four! We
don’t have the time to be fooling around! We have to do this…or the
universe will die.”

“OK,” Clint said.

“Now, first things first,” I continued. “We need an operations base…a hideout, if you will. Tony?”

Tony
stepped forward. “I know a place we can rebuild. It’s in the woods, not
too far outta town. It’s about 3 stories high, and it’s big enough for
all of us. I’ll show you guys after school.”

“It’s settled
then,” I said. “Tony will show us the place so we can rebuild it.
Agreed?” Everyone nodded. “Good,” I said. “I hate long waits.”

Later
after school, we rode our bikes through the woods to the spot Tony was
going to show us. When we saw it, it looked like it hadn’t been used in
years.

“Holy crud, that place is run down,” Tony said.

“Nothing
we can’t handle,” I said. “All we need are a list of supplies and we
can get to work right away. I’ll buy the stuff…then we’ll treat
ourselves to Domino’s Pizza.”

Needless to say, we needed a lot of stuff. And I mean, a LOT.

We
were rebuilding the roof when Joyce fell. I got her just before she hit
the ground by placing an air cushion underneath her. Then it carried
her into my arms, and I let her down. She thanked me by kissing me (of
course)…

Tony and I were putting up that stuff that you can put
up to keep heat inside during winter (I forget what it’s called) when I
said, “Hey, isn’t this stuff flammable?”

Tony thought for a moment. Then, he smiled.

“Oh, jeez…” I said.

You’ll
never guess what happened next. Yep, that’s right…the stuff exploded,
so I had to get more of it. I assigned Tony to do plumbing while Clint
helped me with this stuff.

By the time night came, we were
finished. We ordered Domino’s Pizza and had a Halo competition to
celebrate. Tony killed us in every round we played. However, he had
years of experience, so…

We had no school the next day (Labor Day) so we decided to work a bit on the shed. Clint and Tony agreed to work on it together.

At around noon, Clint decided to take a break and play War, the card game.

“So, where’s Tony?” I asked Clint.

“Oh, he’s checking some gas leak in the shed,” he replied.

I looked up. “Do you really think he should be doing that?”

“Well, whaddaya mean?”

“Did you forget he could control fire?!”

Clint slowly turned to the left, then to the right. Then he looked me square in the eye and said, “Duck.”

KA-BLAM!!!!!

An
enormous explosion shook the house. I looked outside, and saw the exact
spot where the shed was located was now a nuclear bomb.

I put a
hand on my forehead. “Oh, Nova…” I said in disgust. We went outside to
inspect the damage to the shed…well, whatever was left of it.

When
the smoke cleared, Tony was gone! “Where did he—“ I began to speak when
he landed right in front of me, his body covered in soot.

He was on his back, so I helped him up. He coughed and said, “Found it.” Then he fainted.

Later
that day, I decided that we should focus on learning our newfound
abilities. We learned to control them so well that day, we were
actually able to make our own special moves. My move that did the most
damage was the Hyper Tornado, a move that allowed me to spin so
quickly, I was like a chainsaw that could cut through people like a
tree. Nova named his own move the Comet, in which he’d create a boulder
of fire above him, then chuck it at his opponents. Jocen had a knack
for controlling water, and her special move was the Drowner, in which
she would fire a constant stream of water right at an opponent’s face
until they were at her mercy. Ultimate’s special move was an
Avalanche—a move that involved him lifting up a huge cluster of
boulders and throwing them down on his opponents. Each of those moves
was used by a criminal each of us encountered that day.

Once we
were done our daily patrol, I decided to sell my apartment and move my
stuff into our new “Base,” which I called New Suva, Nova called home,
Jocen called home, and Umor called home.

Everyone else moved their stuff into the building after I was done. THEN I called it home, and immediately afterwards, New Suva.

“It’s beautiful,” Jocen said.

We had transformed the most run-down house in St. Clair to one of the most beautiful 4-person living spots in the world.

“This is where I say, ‘All in a day’s work,’” I said. “Now, let’s rest up for tomorrow.”

Tuesday
morning, Tony had a few ideas for some pranks to pull on the school
teachers. Joyce said it was childish, and we should only use our powers
when we needed them most. I agreed with her, but I also stated that we
might be able to pick up a few things.

“Well, you can get caught if you want to,” Joyce said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony said. “I won’t do anything serious.”

“NOTHING SERIOUS, HUH?!” I screamed in Tony’s face. At around noon, you guessed it—he caught the school on fire.

“What were you thinking?!” I continued. He whined, “I wasn’t thinking! I wasn’t thinking!”

“Well,
I know that! You never think!” I countered. Joyce patted me on the
shoulder, and I calmed down. She asked, calmly and coolly, “What
happened?”

“We were doing an experiment in physics class—we were
using beakers and test tubes. Mr. Vladimir told us to place the beakers
on the burner, and I—“

“Okay, it was an honest mistake,” Joyce concluded.

“Yeah,”
Tony continued. “I just picked it up and the darn thing exploded, and
then the chemical thing hit the burner while it was on, and then…boom.”

Then his teacher came up and gave him a stern look. Tony said, calmly, “I don’t know how it happened.”

“Riiight,” Mr. Vladimir said. “I’m onto you, Tony.” Then he walked off.

That
was when I believed Tony. I had a theory. “Maybe your power over fire
is always active, whether you want it to be or not,” I said. “Or maybe
you just absorbed heat from the burner.”

“Maybe,” he replied. “I did feel a bit more awake when the burner was turned on.”

“Then that’s it,” I said. “All you need to do is stay away from fire and flames.”

“Okay, then,” he said, adding, “Unless I cause it.”

After
school that day, I realized I left my keys inside the Suva. In other
words, we were locked out! But Tony, as always, had a dumb idea.

“Stand
back, kids,” he said, lighting his entire body on fire. Then, he walked
right through the wall, burning a hole in it as he walked through it. I
slapped him upside the head right afterwards for two reasons: 1) we had
a spare house key, and 2) it would cost me a week salary to fix that
hole.

That night, Joyce and I looked up at the stars outside New
Suva. It was a clear night, and I noticed there were 4 new stars in the
night sky, outshining even the North Star.

“Spirit stars,” I figured.

“Yeah, each one representing our elements,” Joyce added. “They’re beautiful.”

I
nodded. Then she laid on top of me and the both of us just fell asleep.
It was the most romantic night I ever spent with her…the first of many.

That morning, I heard an explosion in Saint Clair. I told Joyce to wake up and get ready. Trouble was just ahead.

And you’ll never guess who the guy was that caused it. Yep, it was Xero.

Chapter 7a: Xero’s Eye

My team and I
saw Xero atop a building, wielding a brand new scimitar staff. As
usual, he had no shirt, black pants, and an “X” etched in his chest.
(‘Man, what a show-off…’ I thought to myself) “Hey, Xero!” I called. He
looked down at me.

“You shouldn’t be up there all by yourself—you’ll catch a cold!” I said.

He
jumped down in front of us and landed on his feet (from about 40
stories), making a hole in the ground. “Is this better?” he said.

“Not much,” Nova said. “Now you’re invading his personal space!”

With that, I punched him in the face, thus sending him flying. He smashed his back against a wall.

“OOH!!!” Umor commented. “I don’t care what element he controls, that’s got to hurt!”

But he peeled himself off the wall and smiled. “Heh heh heh…” he snickered.

“Of course, I could be wrong…” Umor added.

“You cannot stop me! I am the most powerful being on this planet!” he said.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Xero,” Nova said.

I
did a front-flip, unsheathed Ahvokii, and blew a big gust of wind at
Xero using it. It blew him across the street, but he managed to do a
back-flip and land on his feet. Hey! I’m a poet!

Anyways, Xero
landed on his feet, and charged straight at us with his scimitar staff.
He swung, and I blocked it with Ahvokii. Ahvokii and I learned how to
control each other for both of our benefits.

I blocked, and then
I swung immediately at his feet. He jumped, missing the sword entirely.
Then we traded several blows with each other, I blocked his attacks, as
he did mine, and then I heard Nova say, “I’m bored.”

We entered
a sword-lock when I heard him say it. “Mop up the gangsters!” I
strained, trying to win the sword-lock struggle. Nova nodded, and
called Umor and Jocen to help him.

I continued to struggle in the sword-lock, and then I got the bright idea to channel my elemental energy through my sword.
The
added force worked, and I was able to push Xero back. He fell, and just
when I was about to slam my sword on him, he used all the strength in
his hand to block my sword.

I channeled my energy through my sword again, and this time, I broke the staff!

And
then, I saw the worst thing in my life. The staff part with the
scimitar flipped a few times, and then…it permanently ruined his right
eye.

“AAAAAAAAAGH!!!!” He screamed in pain like a banshee.

“Oh, no,” I swore. “JOCEN! GET OVER HERE NOW!!!”

Luckily,
Jocen heard me, and she ran toward the pained Xero. When she saw the
sword in Xero’s eye, she immediately removed it and washed it out with
pure water. She then called an ambulance on her watch-phone. Xero was
going to the hospital, then he was going to jail.

After the ambulance came and went, I sighed. “I can’t believe that happened,” I said.

But Jocen was there to comfort me. “Are you all right?” she asked me.

I
looked at her solemnly. “I feel so terrible about what happened to
Xero. I can’t believe that happened. But, yeah. I’ll be okay. I just
need some time alone.”

And so, I walked to the Burma.

Chapter 8: A Day Alone

I tried to keep
my mind off the incident with Xero by trying to practice using my
element. But I couldn't stop thinhking about it.

I decided to go
for a walk on the Burma. It was a long walk, about a 3-hour hike. I got
good leg exercise and decent arm exercise during the hike. Eventually,
I forgot about Xero and remembered that Makuta was due in a day.

‘How
are we going to stop him?’ I thought to myself, laying in the grass and
closing my eyes. ‘Mata Nui said I was going to be a Toa of Light, but
what good is it if I can’t use it now?’ I thought for another moment.
‘Maybe the key to beating Makuta lies in our unity—the Toa Hexren’s
unity.’

“Your thoughts serve you well.”

Soon, everything I saw went to nothing but blackness, and I saw the mask of Mata Nui hovering over me…yet again.

“Ugh…I hate it when you do this to me, Great One…it leaves me hungry afterwards,” I said.

“It’s
a side-effect, but nothing major,” Mata Nui’s voice boomed. “Getting
back on the subject, the key to defeating Makuta lies in your unity.
The strength of you alone cannot beat him. To defeat him, all your
elements must be combined. Earth, fire, water, air, and light must be
combined. That is the key to defeating Makuta.”

I thought for a moment, and then said, “Great One, I thought there were 7 main elements instead of just 5.”

“Well,”
he said, “You are the next generation of Toa. Your teammates can learn
new elements now. Earth and stone are now basically considered the
same, as are water and ice. Two peas in a pod, as you humans say it.
Just remember: One element isn’t enough.”

I looked down. “I understand, Great One.”

“And
I know you are still upset about what happened to Xero, young Kaita,”
Mata Nui said. “But it was his choice, and you could not stop it from
happening.”

That made me feel better. “I guess you’re right, Great One. Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, young Kaita,” Mata Nui said. “But you won’t thank me after this, for I have dreadful news.”

“Shoot,” I said.

“Makuta
is going to be here one day faster than my calculations predicted. You
do not have much time. Get to your team. Save the Earth. And
remember…unity is the key to defeating the Makuta.”

With that, I flashed back to reality. I opened my eyes and said, “OK. There’s not a moment to lose.”

Chapter 9: Makuta’s Arrival

I
suddenly felt cold and afraid as I saw a dark-looking figure fall out
of the sky. He had a horn on his head, six huge spikes on his back, and
a reddish aura surrounded his eyes. I knew who it was; who it had to be.

'Makuta,'
I thought as I ran towards the New Suva. I had no choice but to warn my
friends that soon enough, all heck would break loose.

I burst into New Suva to find my friends were gone. 'Do they know?' Then I heard a familiar voice, calling out to me.

"Over here!"

I
looked at the direction of where the words came from to see it was
Nova, Jocen, and Ultimate, running towards the direction of where the
Makuta would land. I quickly used my power over Air to create a cushion
below me so I could catch up to them.

"What took ya so long?" Nova asked, jokingly.

"This is no time for jokes, Nova...ya see that dark figure up there?"

"Yeah."

"That's Makuta."

Everyone stopped. We heard a massive crashing sound, followed by a violent explosion.

Umor sighed. “What are we going to do now? We spent our day goofing off!"

“Did you goof off with your powers or did you just have some normal fun?” I asked.

“We used our powers,” Jocen said.

“Then
that goofing off comes in handy now,” I said. “I got a message from
Mata Nui saying that we need to join up and take on Makuta together.
‘Unity is the key to defeating Makuta.’ That’s what he said. Are you
guys going to stand by me?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“OK,
then,” I said. “Here’s the mission. Makuta is about to awaken from that
heckuva crash he just landed in. I say he’s headed right back to it.
Now, who wants to fight for what they believe in?”

“We do!” the team said.

“Who wants to save the Earth from total destruction?!”

“We do!”

“Who wants to kick Makuta’s dark colored butt?!”

“WE DO!!!”

“Good! Now, move OUT!”

We
cheered like a football team about to win the Super Bowl as we raced
for the spot where Makuta had landed. I wanted to use my air cushion
tactic, but I had to conserve my energy.

There was a crowd surrounding the spot where Makuta landed. “Get clear! Get outta the way!” I kept saying to the people.

When
we got to the position of where he landed, we saw a very dark figure
get up. He had a sharp horn atop his head, six sharp spikes on his
back, an eerie red aura surrounded his eyes, and his entire body was
black, covered in a stripe pattern I had never seen before.

Makuta.

The dark figure laughed. I stayed my confident look. “So you’re the one who’s caused me and my team to become Toa,” I said.

Makuta looked up at me. “You? A Toa? Very funny. Where can I find a real challenge?”

I lifted my hands. With a cry of surprise, Makuta landed on his face! “Right here,” I said.

Nova
jumped forward and fired a constant stream of flame at the dark one
while he was still on the ground. Jocen and Umor did the same with
their elements, as did I.

But the dark being was actually able
to stand up while we were still firing! He laughed in triumph. “So you
ARE Toa,” he said. “But you are still noobs at it. Let me show you how
to tap into the full power of your element!”

He lifted his
hands, and a massive rock platform atop a large pillar of boulders
erupted from the ground from where he was standing. The platform was
evenly balanced with the pillar, as if it was attached (and it probably
was, too.), not to mention it was a dark, creepy color—shadowed grey.

Once
the pillar stopped growing, a massive swirl of clouds was generated
right above the dark being, who was now floating in midair. It appeared
to be a hurricane, because rain and thunder soon erupted from it.

“Terrific,” Nova said sarcastically.

“What do we do now?” Umor asked.

I thought for a moment. “I have a plan,” Jocen said.

“Let’s hear it,” I said. “We have almost zero time before Makuta—“

CRASH!!!

A thunderbolt struck the spot where we were standing. We barely dodged it in time. “YO!” I screamed as I jumped away.

When we were on our feet again, I continued, “…Before Makuta takes over the world.”

Jocen looked up. “We need your help, Ultimate.”

“Me?!” Umor asked.

“And we need your help, too, Nova.”

“Aw man!” Nova said.

Then Jocen turned to me. I nodded, signaling that I was ready and willing.

Jocen pointed up. “See that storm up there?”

“Yeah,” Umor answered.

“We’re going to take advantage of it. Lift us, Kaita.”

“Got it.” I created an air cushion underneath us all, lifting us to the very top of the rock platform.

Once
we reached the top, Jocen told us our plan. I stepped onto the platform
first when she was done. We walked as a group towards the hovering
madman. “Hey, shadowfreak!” I called.

Makuta stopped hovering.
The rain and thunder stopped, but the swirl of clouds remained. Once he
was on his feet, he walked towards me.

I asked him, “Have you ever seen the ‘Storm of a Thousand Comets?’”

“No,” he said. “Why? Is it some cheap, ###### move your female came up with as a last desperate, hopeless act to beat me?”

“Er…well…if you exclude the ‘Hopeless’ part, YES!”

More
than an answer, it was a signal for my team to lift their hands up in
the air. I created an inverse tornado using the swirl of clouds.

Jocen summoned hail, in the shape and size of fully loaded mini vans, from the hurricane above.

Umor and Nova teamed up to make the storm rain deadly meteors.

The elements slammed into Makuta like a fly swatter to a bug on a wall. Makuta growled and fell on his knees.

“It’s working!” I observed.

But
then I noticed in the spot where we were hitting him, there was a
small, dark bubble forming around him. We continued to barrage the
area, but the
bubble only grew bigger and bigger.

We heard him say, “That…is…ENOUGH!!!”

Makuta,
now standing, then spread his arms out. The Shadow Shield exploded in a
blaze of energy, and it sent us all towards the edge of the platform.

We all skidded to a stop right before we fell off. Makuta laughed in triumph.

Jocen was the first to get up. “I don’t understand!” She said. “That was supposed to work!”

“You got another bright idea?” Nova asked her. Jocen glared.

Nova, now on his feet, charged forward. His arms were covered in fire. “RRRAH!” he screamed, charging towards the dark being.

WHAM!!!

Nova
landed a right hook on Makuta’s face. A small, dark liquid escaped his
mouth. Whether it was blood or shadow energy, I don’t know. All I know
is, Nova hit him with one heckuva punch. Nova smiled, surely thinking
he had won.

But the dark figure turned his head in the creepiest way imaginable, and said, in a dark whisper, “My turn.”

Then
he grabbed Nova’s face, slammed it against the dark floor, and shot
pure Shadow energy from his hand into his face. Nova screamed in pain,
but there was nothing he could do. Once Nova finally stopped screaming,
he threw him right into me! Both of us fell hard.

Jocen and
Ultimate decided to combine brains and brawns by teaming up and
battling Makuta hand-to-hand. Makuta, however, was able to parry the
attacks with ease. He knocked Jocen out cold and nearly killed Ultimate
with a swipe of his hand!

I was the only one left standing. I
pushed Nova right off of me, and charged forward, drawing my Ahvokii.
Makuta drew his Staff of Shadows, which looked similar to a giant axe.
We engaged in a brief but intense duel, with me mostly attacking, but I
hesitated for a nanosecond. And during that nanosecond, he pounded me
with his Staff of Shadows.

I skipped like a stone across the
platform until I finally came to rest at the edge. Makuta walked up to
me, grabbed me by the throat, and locked his eyes with mine.

“You
are persistent, even without your precious unity,” Makuta said. “But
you will not live like this for too long, engaging me without a second
plan. I have plotted my own downfalls, the deaths of other Makuta, and
even plotted the Re-Awakening of the Darkness! Now, to complete my
plans, you will join me. You will be my slaves! All of you! And once
this world is taken, you will help me find others! Others that, like
you eventually, will submit to the power of the Shadows!” Makuta began
laughing like a lunatic.

But I became confident—now more than
ever—and a warm feeling overcame me. I began feeling a white-hot
sensation in my body. It started at my heart, then spread like a virus
to my arms, then my hands, my legs, and my feet. My air symbol on my
forehead changed into an arc, with the middle pointing upward, and 3
lines shooting out of it, like rays of a sun…and finally, the word came
to me:

“No.”

Chapter 10: See the Light

WHAM!

I
knocked Makuta away from me as he released his chokehold on me. He was
sent flying into the middle of the platform. He shook his head in
surprise. “What the heck?” he whispered in awe.

I then started
floating in midair, without an air cushion supporting me. I felt
positive feelings overwhelm my body—kindness, confidence, and
courage—and then I started to glow. My suit was not just silver now—it
was silvery gold, with a warm, welcoming aura surrounding it. Raw
energy thundered around me, as if I was one of those Super Saiyans from
that anime…uh, what’s it called…Dragon-Ball Z.

Lightning struck
me like a rod, but I didn’t feel it. It actually empowered me more. The
maelstrom above the platform was now changing to focus on me. The storm
itself focused on me.

At that point, I felt like I was the most powerful being in the universe.

“NO!!!”
I screamed, and then, acting totally on impulse, I spread my arms out.
My friends, still lying on the job, started to glow even brighter
shades of their color—in other words, Nova was now glowing a much
hotter red, Jocen was glowing a brighter blue, and Umor was glowing a
bright sienna. Then, like zombies from some cheap horror flick, they
got up, stood on their own two feet, and each of them had confident
looks on their faces. They were P-O’ed.

Makuta stammered in surprise. “Impossible!”

“Nothing
is impossible, Makuta,” I said, more angered than ever before, “Not
even your plans for galactic domination…that is, if I’m not around…but
that’s beside the point! And do you know what else is possible?”

“What?”

“Kicking your dark, rusted butt.”

Nova
charged his Fire Fists. Jocen gave herself Icicle Fists. Umor prepared
a Rock Bed. But I just stood, knowing it was all over for Makuta.Nova
charged again, this time, with more fire in his fists. When he got to
Makuta, he jumped upwards, and gave him a right hook right in the face.
More of the dark liquid-ey stuff escaped his mouth. ‘Blood?’ I thought,
curious.

But this time, when Nova punched him, he actually flew
up! Jocen jumped up to bring her fists down on Makuta’s belly. She
really nailed him. Now I understand why I should never make her angry.

Makuta
fell down, and Umor created a rock pit for Makuta to land on. There
were six holes in the rock pit—holes where Makuta’s spikes were meant
to go.

SLAM—CHINK!!

The plan worked, and Makuta was now trapped!

Jocen
landed next to me, and all of us walked towards the stone pit where
Makuta laid, his spikes buried in the rock. He struggled, but even with
his shadow powers, the rock would not budge.

“So…” Nova began, “You like the dark?” Nova gave him another right hook, knocking him unconscious.

I
turned towards him and ordered him to stop with a swipe of my hand.
Nova unwillingly obeyed. I put out a fist in front of Makuta’s face. I
looked at everyone else and they nodded, and joined their fists with
mine.

Then, a beam shot from my fist. It was made of pure air
energy.A beam shot from Nova’s fist. It was pure fire.Next, Jocen fired
her beam. It was pure water.Finally, Umor’s beam joined with ours. Pure
stone, you guessed it.

Our beams then crossed into each other,
then all at once, they shot outwards towards Makuta. The beams
enveloped him into a crystal-like substance, half-liquid, half-solid.
‘Proto-dermis,’ I thought. ‘This reminds me of Bionicle 2 when the Toa
Metru did this to him…’

But he wasn’t covered completely. I
realized something was missing. ‘But what?’ Then it hit me— ‘Earth,
fire, water, air, and light must be combined. That is the key to
defeating Makuta.’ I put my other hand outward into a fist, then a
brilliant beam of pure light energy shot straight from it. It crossed
into the combo-beam, and finally, Makuta was concealed into a
Proto-dermis prison.

We put our hands down. “We did it,” I said
silently. We gave a quick look at each other, then collapsed as a
group, weary from the loss of energy.

Some time later, I awoke, feeling better than ever. But I decided to play a trick.

“Kaita, wake up,” Nova said. I laid still. “Dude, wake up!” he screamed.

Jocen looked at me, kissed me on the lips, then stood up again. “Nothing,” she said.

“Well, let’s call for a choppuh,” Nova said.

“Dude…it’s chopper,” Umor said.

“No!” Nova argued. “It’s choppuh! As in, ‘Get in the choppuh!’”

“Well, whatever.”“At any rate,” Jocen said, “We won’t leave him here.”

I looked for the right moment, then I grabbed Jocen’s hand, and said, “No, you won’t.”

Jocen sighed with relief as she helped me to my feet and hugged me.

“You
crazy man,” Nova said, “Why do you always jump?”“I like jumping,” I
said. Then noticing the stone pit was still in front of us, I said, “We
did it.”

“What was that?” Umor asked.

“I said, we did
it!” I began. “We just kicked the butt of the Master of Shadows, and
escaped intact! Now, doesn’t that make us sound like Toa Hexren?”

Jocen looked at me. “He’s right. We are the new generation of Toa…now.”

“What does it mean?” Umor asked.

"It means we have work to do, Umor," Jocen answered.

“But we just beat Makuta to the curb!” Umor proclaimed.

“Just one, Umor,” Jocen said.

“But
there are others, out there, somewhere,” I continued for her. “And we
got to stop them. We have to, so long as our Spirit Stars burn in the
night sky.” I pointed up into the air, and everyone looked up. They saw
their Spirit Stars were now burning brighter than ever—mine
especially.Then I looked at everyone. "But seeing as we have no
transportation, we need to let the threat come to us."

Epilogue

Later that day, we saw our fight with Makuta on the news.

"Aw, man!" Umor complained.

We looked at him. "What is it?" I asked.

"I DO look fat on the tube!" he said. Everyone laughed.

"In
other news," Dave Ubetcha said, "There is a robbery in progress at the
Bank of America in Saint Clair; two hodded robbers are now holding the
civilians hostage. What do you think, Ollie?"

The screen flashed to Ollie. "Those guys need help!" he said quickly.

Then
the screen flashed back to Dave. "I'm sure they do, Ollie. And now, the
article that has everyone on the watch: could the United Nations be
falling apart?"

I turned off the TV. "That's our cue, people," I said.

Before we left, Nova asked me the simplest question I ever had to answer: "Why do we have to do this?"

I gave him a smile. "Because that's what Toa do."

That’s the story, as you see. At least, the first one of many to come.

Mata
Nui continued to guide us for years to come, teaching us more and more
about what to do and what not to do to balance the universe. Crime
still lurked, the United Nations was beginning to split apart—yeah,
this world still needed saving.