Interactive MoC Story, Saga of Kynos

[Imatron]

My story, the Saga Of Kynos, which was based on the input of many MoD members some years ago will be making a come back in the next few weeks. Ill have a topic set up for new input once Ive recreated enough of the back story to make me happy. I need to try and track down the original files, but heres what I was able to put together from memory, if you remember something or want to comment please do.

EDIT: FOUND IT! chapters 1-23 are listed five per post starting on the next post

Saga Of Kynos

The story so far...as I can best remember it.

Kynos wakes up on a table while his arm is being repaired in a stranger's surgical lab. It is revealed that he is, to his surprise a toa now, He jumps up in astonishment at the news. Not realizing his increase in height he finds the surgical lamps prove to be a worthy opponent to those who aren't vertically challenged. While unconscious he relives his last memories where he and his crew were digging out a tunnel from an inventors lab that exited at the side of his icy mountain, overlooking the waters. In the process of digging, an unknown species of bohrok is unearthed that attacks them. They fight, Kynos and the creature are wrestled out of the end of the tunnel and fall to the dangerous waters below, Kynos losing his arm in the process.

Kynos is sent off with Gannai, Doctor Kova's assistant and Miraka's shortest height sensitive toa who is an apparent clepto with no sense of ownership. They travel by Kova's instructions through the Ko Wahi Ussel way, to Miraka's community center in the middle of a carved out mountain with no "ceiling" to let the light in. Gannai leads him to a shop called "The Copper huna" where an experienced four armed Po Toa repairs and gives Kynos a chainsaw like tool. After leaving the shop an apparent nemesis of Gannai chases him down. Kynos Grabs Gannai and finds himself frozen in a solid block of ice by the three foot toa.

This is where the story is hard for me to remember in the absence of the original, but Kynos is taken to the Po Wahi carving bays, where Turaga Ariki (Ah reek eye), a unique evolved Turaga uses his heat element to defrost Kynos. At some point from here he bumps into the "Skittering horror", one of Miraka's nightmarish creatures in the Po Wahi carving bays. He learns their legend from one of the matoran guard members that he runs into just after the incident, and shortly afterwords is directed to help a matoran carver move his glyph carving onto the lifts and take it through the back access tunnel to the Le Wahi stadium. He explores Le Wahi and is confronted by the "Bladed Horror" who attacks him. Kynos starts to warm up to the electric kraata living in and powering his high end prosthetic limb when it lunges out from the arm, tasers the bladed horror unconscious, and slithers back into the arm. He heads to the cable lifts to get back to the community center, and is unknowingly set up for the express line, which is a high speed zip cord for toa only. Not knowing how to slow or the correct zip lining procedures, he hits the landing bar and impresses some nearby matoran as the zip line clicks into the landing bar which his swings over three or four times before disconnecting and landing.

He travels through the ussel way, walking this time since the high speed taxi crab left him uneasy. He bumps into a sleepy Gannai in the tunnel, who has apparently tuckered himself out escaping his nemesis. A Ga Toa thief attempts to mug Kynos and her plan is foiled when she trips over Gannai. Being an angry speed-bump, Gannai leaves her frozen in a block of ice similarly to Kynos chapters before. They arrive back at Kova's place, where he and Gannai sit and wait for him to finish with a patient in the other room. The patient is indeed Gannai's nemesis, who confronts the half asleep toa of ice, who disappears leaving an ice statue of himself in his wake. Kynos is introduced to the Le Toa who goes by Durgass. He and Durgass are sent off to the mountain of the mask maker where Durgass has to replace the one Gannai "borrowed". Kynos fallows Durgass to the top of Mt Oniwa only to realize they were on the wrong mountain...Shortly afterwords Durgass, already exhausted from chasing Gannai earlier, runs out of stamina and passes out. Kynos grabs him and runs down the mountain as fast as he can, and runs smack into the leg of a gargantuan toa known as Armory. Kynos now unconscious again is taken the rest of the way to the correct mountain and meets the half insane mask maker, who happens to be my incarnation in this world. this is about where the story left off.

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[glow=black,2,300]The Saga Of Kynos[/glow]


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My chest hurt, my right arm hurt, but so did the rest of me, just not as much. I had no Idea what was going on, or where I was. I felt groggy and saw a dim sun above my head. I was starting to become more aware of what was going on. A drilling sensation went about my right arm, and all of a sudden the pain got much worse. "AAAAAAGH!! I shouted, and started to hear someone talk "Darn, he's coming back a bit sooner than I thought. Sorry about that, you must 'ave been hit pretty hard. I wasn't able to save all of your arm, but I had some experimental parts to replace it, as for your chest, it looks like you where hit with some kind of energy bolt, I managed to replace those parts perfectly. However, we didn't have the technology that was in there before, but I managed to combine a perfected technology into your systems instead" the voice went on for a bit and trailed off as I looked at the raised table with my new "arm" on it. I was laying on a slab of steel a few feet off of the floor. my left arm was lying next to me strapped down. My right arm from the elbow down seemed ludicrously larger, and I noticed three protodermis blades protruding from it. "You like it? Like I said it was experimental, your other arm was pretty badly shattered, not a single reusable part." As he talked he reached toward my arm, flipped a couple latches, and pulled open a panel. At first I thought he was going to adjust something, but instead he pulled something white out. It looked wierd, kinda organic. Then it started to move and hiss, and I realized what it was."KRAAAAAATAAAAA!! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!! ARE YOU CRAZY!!! SOMEONE HELP!!"


"You act like you've never seen one before" The voice called out. His face finally came within view, he wore a silver pakari. His hand brought the kraata close to my face, and I started to yelp, but fearing it might infect me if I screamed, I let out more of a scared, cowering squeal. He now had it nearly a foot to my face. He saw my eyes fill with fear and laughed. The Kraata at first looked off towards the face of the one holding it, then to my own. Now it was a mere inch away. My squeal went silent. The Matoran, or was it a Toa--burst out laughing in histerity."You really are afraid of it aren't you? Well don't worry, just watch" He didn't have to tell me to watch, I couldn't look away, afraid that it may strike. Instead the kraata just looked at me, it's face opened up and made a strange noise that I never heard before. "See? it likes you! In fact he's even fed off your energy, a rare trait among kraata."I started to calm a little, "Please get it away from my face." I said, my voice filled with panic.

"You should thank him, without him you woulda had a stub for an arm insead, or a least an awkward prosthetic, your new right arm needs him to work properly, he works in a symbiotic way. He connects to your nervous system, and transmits energy and signals to the electronic parts of your new arm. He also conducts the energy coming back from the arm, and translates them back." "And what does that do? I dont know anything about bio-electrcity." I replied. "It tricks your brain into thinking it's arm is still there, so it feels like a real arm, like you never lost it. Ive been waiting for an oportunity for years to test and prove it would work."
"So, im kind of a lab rahi? YOU CUT ME UP AND PUT UNTESTED STUFF IN ME!!!" " Well, only your arm is experimen-YOU PUT A KRAATA IN MY ARM WITHOUT ASKING IF I CARED TO HAVE ONE OF THE MOST FEARED CREATURES IN EXISTANCE IN ME!!!!

"Please understand! I did it for two reasons, the first was to help you! You would 'ave died if I didn't, your energy was sparking out of you, if I hadnt sealed the wounds, you would have gone dry, and there would have been nothing to help you then. The other reason was to benifit wounded matoran in the future, they lose thier pride when they cant do thier duty, you should understand, your a TOA!! You have a duty to help the matoran!!!!"

"What?" I said, confused "I'm a Toa?"






Chapter 2, Vision of the past.

All was distorted, hard to see… then I remembered, I was working with my crew, a good team of minors. We were working in exchange for some help from a Matoran, old and wise. A master of machines. He said he needed a tunnel through the ice below his work hut. He said it would be for a great achievement, one for the good of the matoran. He claimed to be building a machine that could fly as high as the Nui Rama, and see as far as the ancient telescopes. It was to be used to find other islands from the legends, so the matoran of the all the Nui could gather and truly have unity. He needed a controlled space, a sort of rail to launch it from without the wind knocking it down before it got the much needed speed to fly imperviously through the strong winds.

We bartered that if we made this tunnel, he would build the ultimate defense against any threat. A device that risked less matoran in the “guards”, the groups of matoran that defended the villages. He said it attacked from a distance, in either hand held versions in the form of a staff, or a much larger “turret” as he called it that could take out the large creatures we came to know as the “Takers”, If one fell to a matoran, a piece of it would latch onto the victorious matoran, and take him from us. Few have returned…

We almost broke through the last bit of ice to the overhanging cliff, we could see the light shining through the ice. Then it hit me, something was off, very unsettling.

I couldn’t remember any of the crews’ names somehow. I thought about it long and hard and nothing came to me, yet they were in front of me, almost taunting me to remember. I tried to speak but couldn’t even do that. Then I started to move, but didn’t will it, like something else was in control. I realized what was happening now had already happened before, it was like the reenactments of the matoran on celebrations, everyone acting out as the legend was told, of mighty warriors who came in times of need, only I was playing myself, and couldn’t change the story. The lead driller shouted ”I’ve hit something, It looks like a hand! Its large and clawed, I think it’s a fossilized rahi, maybe even a toa! Just think, what if it’s a real toa!” I started to run to see, just like before. “No legend talks of a toa with clawed hands, its probably a rahi.” Another matoran shouted just behind him. “Let me take a look, I’ve seen some rahi in my time, I might be able to tell what it is” I shouted, unable to control myself. Unable to warn them! The clawed hand flexed, the lead matoran backed away. The hand squeezed into a fist, a dark black glow appeared and shadows spread from the hole, like they were molten protodermis seeping through the cracks surrounding the hole and engulfing the tunnel as they went. The sound of ice shattering into a thousand pieces resonated throughout the tunnel, And as the shadows spread, a figure appeared with a most familiar shape. It was a Taker! One nothing like the ones we’ve seen, the ones that rose from the pods that washed up on shore so long ago. It had hands, instead of the devices that shot fire and poison.

It kneeled down to the ground, looking, then stabbed it’s hands through the ice in the ground below, and ripped out of the ground a strange device, Its weapon. The matoran had already started to run, but the shadows formed a wall and blocked the way out. The taker raised its arm holding the device and pointed it at the nearest of my friends, I remembered what I thought and felt at that moment. I had to protect them, even if it meant sacrificing myself. I jumped in the path of the device, between it and my friend, and managed to shove the taker backwards, off it’s center of gravity. Pain shot through my chest as something ripped right through it. I was gripping onto it’s face, as it reared backwards towards the thin wall of Ice at the end of the tunnel. I thought the ice was thick enough to keep us from falling, but he smashed right through it, towards the icy sea below. The taker flailed in the air, shoving me into the wall of ice that was the cliff we just fell from. I bounced off of the cliff, but that slowed my fall. The taker hit the water first, knocking it unconscious. I fell onto the creature a second later, using my arm to shield my vital circuits, but the force of the fall was to great for me. I heard a voice shout my name just before everything went black: “Kynos!”

I realized my eyes were closed. My head hurt, very badly. “Your awake again, good, I thought you were dead!” ”What happened?” I said groggily, rubbing my head. “You got up a little too fast, smacked right into the lightstones I had positioned above you, I was using them to get a better look at your severed circuits when I was fixing them. I was afraid I did all that work just for you to kill yourself sitting up.”
The “sun” I saw earlier… But that looked too far up, it couldn’t have been that close to my head. Then I remembered, The reason I shot up so fast, he called me a toa! I looked up this time before getting up, looking at the lights that knocked me out what must have been not an hour ago. They were far up, too far, unless I was a toa after all, or he readjusted them to prevent it from happening a second time…I got up, more cautiously, while looking at the lights. Amazingly, when I sat up, my head rose up to the same level as the lights! I was taller! Which means somehow I had grown, or transformed!
“Am I really a toa?!” “Yes, and a tall one at that, by the way, m’name is Kova. I’m a Toa too, but for a different reason probably. I was transformed when my want to be a more efficient surgeon, to have the strength to wield tools that can save a matoran’s life, surpassed my wishes for self gain. Well, you washed up on shore, so I guess you’re a long way from home. Welcome to Miraka Nui,”






Chapter 3, Arsenal


Miraka Nui, was apparently my new home. I haven’t heard of it before, but there were legends that the Matoran all originated in one place, and spread out across the seas. This legend was first thought to be true when records of the “Toa” came ashore on the beaches of…I couldn’t remember the name, of my first home…but records written in stone told of warriors who would defend the Matoran, who came in times of need. The records were deemed false, because after all that had happened to us, no warriors came. And now, sitting on this table, I look at myself. I remembered being the shortest of my mining crew. All Matoran were essentially small, at least compared to the rahi. But to ourselves, we were tall and strong. Now however, I rise higher than any Matoran I’ve ever seen, and now as “Kova” tells me, I am taller than any other toa he has seen.

“Well, I figured your arm would be useless by itself, so I thought long and hard about what kind of weapon to attach to it” Kova said ”Isn’t that what these three spines are for?” I said pointing to the blades that now extended from my numb arm “Actually, yes, but those would never do for a weapon, you can’t channel your power through those.” “Power? What power?” “You didn’t know? All toa have powers of the koro they come from, and most of the time, a toa can’t use that unless he channels it through a weapon. HEY, GANNAI!! BRING IN THAT TABLE I WAS WORKIN’ ON EARLIER!” A couple of clicks and a pop rang out through the open door in the back of the room. ”TABLE 3 GANNAI” Kova yelled, and the same sound came through the door, again, click click pop. Kova, apparently angry now, shouted: ”CLICK CLICK BLOODY CLICK THREEEEEE, you USSEL HEAD!!!!” A whistle rang out, and then the sound of whirring of wheels, with an occasional thump was heard coming through the door, slowly getting louder. I watched and waited. Finally, a large table on wheels rolled in, seemingly by itself. It traversed the distance with amazing speed, and abruptly stopped just inches from my knee.
Out from behind the table, stepped a matoran…wait, it was a really short toa!! I’ve never heard of a short toa!! The telescopic lenses on his mask readjusted and whirled as he looked at me, apparently he was using it to see his path through the metal shelf which is why he managed to stop the table so close to my knee, thankfully. Then he looked to Kova as he started talking:
“This is Gannai,” Kova said,”He doesn’t know that much of our language, but we’ve worked out a system of communication.”
“He’s pretty short for a toa, and just how many toa are around here, anyway?” I said. That’s when a VERY sharp pain went through my leg. ”AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
“Oh, he must’ve heard you call him short, he’s sensitive about his height” “I thought you said he didn’t know any of our language!!” “No, I said he didn’t know much of-“ Kova paused, now looking at Gannai, who now wore an orange pakari, apparently what let him kick, or at his height, punch me so hard in my knee.”HEEEEEEEEEY!!!!” He shouted,”THAT’S MY PAKARI YOU LITTLE-“ Gannai switched to a green mask of speed, and disappeared in a streak of white. ”Well…” Kova said with a sigh”That’s one pakari I’ll never see again, it was my favorite until I thought I lost it, but I had a mask maker make me this silver one. But where did he get that green mask? I surely would have spotted it in the white ice and snow around here, maybe he dug it up? Oh well, look at the stuff on the table” On the table, there was a small assortment of items. A clawed hand, a hilt, and a saw blade of some kind. ”Those both plug into your arm, which are powered by your own energy. A hand to grip staffs and other items, and a special saw blade to cut, though it needs some repair, I messed it up trying to rig it to attach to your arm. I’ll send you by a weapon smith, he’ll give you some weapons, and repair the saw. Use that hilt to hold the saw. Gannai Will guide you, once he gets back…
Also, your gonna need a mask, I’ll lend you this miru, luckily for you, its in white."









Chapter 4, The weapon smith



Gannai eventually returned, and we were walking to the weapon-smith. Earlier, Kova handed Gannai a piece of paper with a symbol at the top right corner, and a message taking up the rest of the space. Kove explained that Gannai and him worked out a system of symbols, and when Gannai saw this one, it told him to go to the weapon-smith.
We walked through the snow right now, headed off to the rocky desert portion of the island, were the weapon-smith resided. We approached a matoran dug tunnel, which had a sign saying “Po-koro region”. However, it was covered with a wall of ice. Gannai un-slung two tools from his back, which were almost as big as he was. He snapped one end of each tool into his shoulders, and held the other ends with his hands. His arms started to spin, slowly getting faster, until I could see that the tools turned into drills. He then walked over to the wall of ice and tore it open. Gannai casually slung the tools to his back and signaled me to walk through.
Three feet into the hole, there was a pole with a button on it and a sign that read “Ussel”. Gannai pushed it, and after a long wait, a large crab walked up to us. He had two seats on his back, as well as a spot to tie down equipment, there was also a strange device shaped like an unmasked face. Gannai gave the crab a fish from his pack, and jumped on. I climbed on behind him. Gannai then picked the green mask of speed from his pack, and placed it onto the face on the device, and crouched down low on the crab. I didn’t realize what was about to happen, when the crab took off like a lightening bolt and charged through the tunnel, running for about ten seconds as the tunnel and lightstones in it wizzed by looking like streaks in the darkness. At the end of the ten seconds, the crab abruptly stopped, and I was launched forward off the crab and smacked into a padded wall.
I was unharmed however, I got up to look around, and saw that it was a heavy business area, with hubs to many different regions of this island. We were in the center of a hallowed out mountain where we could see the sky above, and walls all around with the exception of the shops in the caves and the hub tunnels. Each shop was essentially a cave with a single wall placed in front, with doors and wooden windows. Gannai was already moving to a run-down looking shop with the image of a huna painted on. I fallowed behind him, into the shop. It was dark inside, not one lightstone. I could barely see Gannai a few steps ahead of me, when I heard the clinking of metal. I turned around, to see a four armed beast in the shadows, with a different kind of blade in each hand! It was walking towards me!! I had no idea what to do, so I screamed:”AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!!!”
Suddenly light flooded the room, the beast wasn’t a four armed beast, it was… a four armed toa!!One of his hands, still holding a blade, was positioned on a lever, and pictured above it a lightstone.
“PLEASE DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!!” I yelled at the brown toa standing before me. “Oh sorry!” He said with a laugh "I was just taking a break so I turned the lights out. Your new here, im…





Chapter 5, Kotaku

“...Kotaku, nice to meet a new customer, or are you an old customer who used to be a matoran perhaps? I don’t really get any customers from the Ko regions, otherwise I might recognize you...” Kotaku said this as he looked at me, slowly focusing and then staring at my right arm. I started to answer him but before I could get a syllable off, he shouted “MATA NUI, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM!!” I realized this would probably be a problem from now on, every time I met someone new, he would look at my arm and shout something in surprise...”I’m Kynos, I’m new here, I was asked to take this stuff to you for adjustments to fit-” He was still staring at my arm “TO FIT MY ARM!!” I shouted. Kotaku snapped out of an apparent trance and looked back at my face.” Oh, sorry about that, I’ve never seen a toa with...an...arm..........like tha-“ He trailed off as his eyes shifted towards my chest, and he stared at the shifting gears exposed within it from the damages Kova repaired.”Will you STOP STARING AT ME!! I was blown up, half drowned and was lucky enough to survive it all and wash up in a strange island, and I don’t need you staring at my repaired wounds!!
Kotaku, now with an embarrassed look on his face apologized:” I’m really very sorry, I don’t normally see such things, they just caught me off guard and-“ suddenly a loud thump is heard and Kotaku starts shouting.” OWW!! Son of a Kane-Ra! Gannai was here this whole time?!” I looked down and saw Gannai returning the orange pakari to his side pouch with one hand, and with the other, waving the paper with the righting on it Kova gave him just under Kotaku’s mask. “Um, how did you know I didn’t just kick you for staring at me?” I asked. ”Oh, Gannai always does that if I don’t notice him, I can’t really look downwards, my neck isn’t very good for that, Gannai tends to do that whenever I don’t see him, and he is, well, short for a toa so I don’t always noti-” Another thump is heard, this time louder. ”OOOOOOWWW!! I swear Gannai can understand more than he lets on!” Kotaku said, half shouting as he holstered two of the weapons he held and rubbed his leg with one arm and grabbed the letter from Kova with the other.
He read what the letter said, and then walked to a nearby work table and waved me over. ”Where is this chain blade tool Kova speaks of?” I thought for a moment and remembered it was snapped onto the hilt I had on my back. I reached for it with my left arm and handed it to him. He carefully set it down, and strapped it to the table with a sturdy cloth material. He took off the holstered tools he had and switched them for some other tools. I watched almost hypnotically as his four arms switched tools back and forth for a few minutes with great coordination. He pried open a panel on the weapon I gave him and pulled out a few wires and components, and replaced them with new ones. He looked at one part for a moment, and tossed it over my head and onto a slanted shelf, it then rolled down the slant and into a bucket. Kotaku didn’t even need to look before he tossed it, he knew his workplace very well it seemed. “Well, you don’t need that, its an elemental power cell, Kova said your arm will power this, and it would short it out to use your ice elemental skills through with this in there. I think that’s why Kova couldn’t get it to work. I’ll just use a wire to connect the two power terminals together.” He continued to work on the tool without even looking back at me as he spoke, a few minutes later, he handed it back to me. ”That should do it, plug it in and try it out.” “What? Plug it in?” I said, confused. ”Yea, into your arm, the socket at the end.” “Oh, ok,” I proceeded to plug it into the stub where my hand should have been.

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Chapter 6, A helping hand

I took hold of the saw with my left arm, and carefully inserted it into the socket on my new right arm. It was a bit difficult to do, since the tool was heavy, and about as long as my arm itself. It clicked into place, and a moment later I felt a strange sensation as something turned inside and a loud click reverberated throughout my right arm. I moved my arm up and down and shook it a few times, and found it was firmly attached.
Then, I felt the kraata wiggle around inside my arm for a moment, considering I completely forgot about it for a while, I was very freaked out when I had remembered it was in there. “Whats wrong?” Kotaku asked, noticing the expression of a combination of fear, realization, and being grossed out playing across my face all at once.
“I’d rather not talk about it” I said as I managed to get control of my face and stop it’s contortion. After a moment, I noticed something, I could feel something, at the end of my arm, not like how I could touch and feel a texture, but more of like an awareness, it must be the electronics inside the saw! I tried to think of it like a hand and make the blade start, with no success. Then I concentrated a little bit on the sensation I felt, I actually felt like the sensation squeezed, and it was like it was my hand! Though not like being able to feel the protodermis casing on the blade, just the sensation at the end of my arm. I started to remember how as I would mine at a tunnel for a long time back at my home before I washed up here, stretching my arms occasionally as they got stiff with tiredness. Then the sensation grew a little, back towards the arm from the sensation at the end. I noticed I had twitched the saw along a sort of wrist, apparently part of Kova’s arm design. I had inadvertently tried to rotate my wrists as the memory went through my mind. I would always rotate my wrists as I stretched, and it kicked in as an instinct when I thought about it.”There you go!” Kotaku cheered, “Looks like you might be getting the hang of it already!”
I tried to rotate my right “wrist” again, and the sensation grew more, or maybe I should say it adjusted? It felt more like an actual wrist! I’m not sure if the kraata in my arm did the adjustment, or if it was part of Kova’s design. Whatever did it, it felt great! Like it was really alive! But only the wrist had the feeling to it, the other part of the sensation, which I could feel at the end of the wrist, wasn’t quite the same. I focused on rotating my wrists like I used to do before I became a toa, and the saw was now moving around on the horizontal and vertical axis by my own will! Then I focused harder on the sensation I could “squeeze”. The chain of the blade started to spin, and as I un-squeezed, it stopped, squeezed again, it started, squeezed with less pressure to reduce the speed, increased the pressure to spin faster! The sensation adjusted as it had with the wrists a moment ago. Kotaku laughed loudly. “You sure are enjoying yourself!” He said. I forgot they were there and started to feel a little embarrassed. Hey, are you going to try out the hand Kova made for you?” I un-squeezed and the blade came to a complete stop. I then used my left arm to grab the saw and pulled on it. After a moment I realized I had to focus on the arm to “unlock” the grip it had used to hold the saw in place. It then pulled out freely with no more hassle. After a moment, all sensation past the wrist disappeared with the exception of a dull numbness. I then gripped the three-fingered clawed hand, and placed it into the socket. I focused and locked the hand into place, and shortly after I felt a slight sensation, sort of like when I first plugged in the saw. The sensation felt like it grew forward and split, filling the fingers. After a moment, the fingers came to life and I could flex them and move the fingers. The hand felt like it had always been mine, I tested it and reached over to a nearby rack on the wall and picked up a tool. To my amazement, I was actually able to feel it in my hand! “Amazing!.” Kotaku said. ”I know that Kova had been working on replacement limbs for some time now, but it seems he’s made a major breakthrough. I owe him a favor, a while back I had an arm caught in the protodermis-press” He said, indicating the machine in the back with a point of one of his four arms. “-And he fixed it up for me, he’s a great doctor and a surgeon, and overall a good friend, but he’s been, well, kind of an out-cast. Ever since he became a toa, he’s been using his strength to experiment on controversial things, like surgically enhancing other toa. Others called him “Mad”, some even called him a monster, but they fail to see that he only wants to help others, and make the toa more powerful to defend the matoran more easily. Oh! Wait here” Kotaku said, and walked through a make-shift door in a sectioned off portion of his shop. A moment later, I heard a clanking noise, and then the sound of metal rolling on the floor. Kotaku came back out from the door, rolling a white shield in front of him. ”This is made of very dense protodermis, see if you can lift it with your left arm.” He gave the shield a push, and it rolled the rest of the distance to me, I stopped it with my right hand, and looked at it for a moment. I located the handle on the inside, and lifted it off the ground.”I figure, if your right arm does the fighting, then you could use a shield for the left arm to guard” He said. “Well, that’s all I can do for you, but remember, Kova did a good thing, but it’s not always a good idea to mention it to anyone, they might see you as an abomination if they found out what Kova did to you, you do know when he replaced your parts, he switched them with his enhancements, the same ones that the matoran thought controversial?”
“No, I didn’t know about it, I’m new here and I just met him when he repaired me.” I said, “Well, then, Kynos, I have seen some of his work in my life, and knowing how advanced his theories are, if you really have that technology in you, then you will come to find yourself to be a very powerful toa. I think you should go out there, use what Kova gave you, and show the rest of the world what good has come from his work.”


Chapter 7, Initiative

I left Kotaku and his shop soon after, wondering what I should do, I wasn’t exactly lost, but I was away from my home, and the creature my people knew as a “taker” was likely to still be loose, we have weapons at my home, maybe not the best, but they have defended us rather well over the years. However I still feared for my crew, and whoever else may have to face the creature, that is, assuming the fall and the water was not enough to stop it. But what worried me the most is, my home has only legends of toa, the great defenders. Now I stood hear, a toa myself, but not at my home, where I could be helping to save my friends, and maybe the whole island for that matter, but I was here, on an island that may be thousands of miles away.
Another thing that bothered me, was if I became a toa to help my people, or if, which seems very possible, that I drifted over to this place, where I then transformed. Was my destiny here, or back home? I looked around me, many matoran walked by, as well as the occasional toa. Also was the fact that Kova, and Gannai, as well as Kotaku were all toa. Gannai and Kova especially made me wonder, they were toa of the same element, come to think of it, I was also probably the same element as them, but I hadn’t about that until now. It didn’t even cross my mind when Kova mentioned using a weapon to channel the elemental energy.
In the legends of my people, there were only six toa, one of each element, and it was determined that the toa if anything, would not come to help my people, we read that they came in times of great need, my people have fought the takers for some time now, surely if they were to come, this was the time, but if I am one of the toa, why was I here? It was time for me to return to Kova, to ask him of this and consider what I should do. Wait, where’s Gannai? I’ll need him to find my way to Kova ag-
“THAT’S RIGHT SHORTY, I REMEMBER YOU! NOW GET BACK HERE AND GIMME THAT BACK!!!!!” The loud, sudden yelling caught my attention, I looked up and saw that the matoran were staring at something, I followed their eyes, and saw that an angry Le-koro toa was seemingly trying to run. His right arm appeared to be weighted down, and I could here the noise of something scraping against the floor, it sounded like metal. “WHERE ARE YOU! YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER! SOONER OR LATER I’M GONNA SPOT YOU! AFTER ALL, YOUR WHITE, AND YOU’RE A BIT BULKY, TOO MUCH TO BE EASILY MISTAKEN FOR A MATORAN!”
White, apparently short, and hiding among the matoran from the angry toa, what are the chances of that NOT being Gannai? The shouting continued: “ALL I HAVE TO DO, IS LOOK FOR WHITE MATORAN, AND FIND THE ONE WITH THE SILVER AKAKU” Oh no, I thought to myself. Definitely has to be Gannai...Just a moment later, I saw Gannai moving right by me. It looked like he was frightened, trying to walk but resisting the thought of running. He didn’t see me, he was looking over his shoulder at the angered toa. He bumped right into me. I decided I was going to find out what the problem was. I picked him up off the ground by his back, almost effortlessly with the clawed hand Kova gave me. Gannai struggled to break free. “HEY!” I shouted to the angry toa, ”Could you tell me what’s going on here?” I said while holding Gannai up in the air. The toa’s eyes locked onto Gannai, and Gannai’s eyes unto his. Gannai froze, almost as if he was hoping he wouldn’t be noticed. “YOU! I HAVE YOU NOW!!!!”
The toa moved forward, towards me and Gannai, accompanied by the scraping sound, the crowd of matoran moving aside, very afraid. I could see that much of his arm was a weapon, a HUGE blade, and he was walking towards us. I could see the blade was holding him back, as it scraped against the ground, sparking as it went. Gannai twisted around, looked me in the eyes, and said something in his language of clicks and pops, and used one of his free arms to grab onto mine. I hadn’t noticed until now, but it felt a little cool in here...Oh no....


Chapter 8, Toa on the rocks

There are some advantages to being a toa, I guess. One of which, apparently, is that after a while, you realize that you are cold, but you aren’t uncomfortable. One disadvantage, I realized, having never experienced the problem before, is that you can’t move after being encased in a solid block of ice. Maybe if I just had a layer of ice on me, I could flex and break free, but with a whole block of it , my arms were motionless, as well as my entire body. I did notice, after the first fifteen minutes of being frozen, that I could rotate my eyeballs, and look around. The ice was a bit foggy to see through, but I could make out a little bit of what was going on.
I had been moving for about ten minutes now, apparently, two or three other toa had lifted me up, and set me down on some kind of rolling platform. I was now moving down a tunnel, I saw a sign nearby, I just managed to make it out, it read “Po-koro” or something like that. I’ll have to assume that I’m being taken to some kind of place to be chiseled out of the ice...Five more minutes passed, and I was being lifted to another kind of platform, much larger than the first. It was too distorted for me to see, especially since now the melting ice formed droplets that made it more difficult. There were two matoran, as far as I could tell, and the three toa. They all moved to a side on me, I think, I could see a matoran and a toa now, but the others disappeared out of view.
The matoran rubbed his hands together, and grabbed the bottom of the icy block I was in. Together with the toa, they lifted me into the air by a few feet, I saw the matoran, who was wearing a pakari, run underneath me. Interesting, he must be using his mask of strength to hold me up while the toa pushed me onto this larger platform. I could make out that it was on a kind of rail, similar to the one I was digging a tunnel for as a matoran. The two matoran jumped up on the device with me, and one walked over to a console, and waved his hands over it three times, and pulled a lever. The console, made of stone, had some weird carvings on it. Some of the carved out parts glowed, and I realized the entire platform I was on was moving.

Nearly an hour since I had been frozen, I was in a room, it looked like there were carving tools, so I was happy. They were about to chisel me out of here, I hoped. Someone had been kind enough to wipe off the water droplets and condensation so I could see pretty clearly. The room was full of stone devices, most of which looked like consoles, similar to the one on the platform earlier. A few minutes later, a group of matoran carvers walked over with what looked to me like VERY dangerous drilling tools, about twice the size they were. I really hope they know what they’re doing...They all revved up their drills, and started to walk towards me. I really started to hate my life.

Chapter 9, the Taruga

Until now, I had been unable to hear anything, with the exception of the thumps when I was dropped and bumped around while being transferred here. Now, however, I could hear the sounds of the drills whirring. I could not here voices as I had been moved, but I can here these drills which must be high powered if their sound can break through the solid block of ice. The matoran holding the drills were using hand signals, one waved his finger in a circle, then at me, and then pointed to the other two matoran. They all gave each-other a “thumbs up” signal, and started to advance in my direction. I really hope the carvers on this island have hands as steady as the ones on mine...I closed my eyes as the first driller walked up and was about to work on my front side. I had them closed for about ten seconds before I realized the drilling had stopped. I opened one eye, and then the other, and a red matoran with light blue joints was talking to the front driller, the other two drillers started to walk over, carefully dragging their tools. I could see that three matoran were talking to the fourth, and seemed cheerful. They ran towards the door in the far end of the room, setting the drills onto the racks as they went. They were moving pretty fast for having to carry those huge drills, so it must have been important. I was a little relieved to see the drills taken away, if those can cut through stone, they could have hurt me pretty badly had one of them slipped up. Maybe thawing out would be worth the wait.
The four matoran ran up to the door, and a dark red toa walked in, or at least he looked like a toa. He had a smaller body, much smaller than the other toa I’ve seen here, but his legs were a bit longer, seemingly to make up for it. He had two large gear like disks around his shoulders, and his lower legs were grey. His upper legs were longer than normal, and on each of them was a blue crystal, purely for decoration I would say. One really strange thing about him, was his hands, they seemed to be glowing with elemental energy. On his back, it looked like he had a tool of some kind strapped to it, couldn’t tell what though.
He walked towards me while almost brushing past the matoran, but he seemed more interested in the frozen guy in the back of the room...me He was now right up next to me, and the matoran gathered around him. Two more matoran ran into the room exited, and joined the others. This toa’s face was now looking into mine, and I could see now that his mask was unlike any other I had ever seen before, it was more streamlined and must have taken great skill to make. Then, I noticed something, I couldn’t hear it, but it looked like he was laughing, and he almost fell over with exhaustion from it! When he recovered, he looked at me again, I rolled my eyes at him, the only expression I could give right now. He put his hand up to the ice, and his hand glowed brighter than it had been, and I could almost see the elemental energy passing through the ice, melting it.
The ice melted all around me, until I could feel the warmth of the energy. I tried to flex my arms, and managed to break off some of the ice. I could finally move! The toa let out one final blast of heat, and the ice turned to water. After a moment I tried to walk “Careful now, you don’t want to move too fast.” The toa said. “I was just frozen in a solid block of ice for nearly an hour, I think I can walk by myself.” I said, and started to move. ”No it’s not that,” a matoran started to say, just befor I slipped on the watter and landed flat on my back.
“OOUch” I said, almost half trying to be funny. The toa reached out his hand and helped me up. “Thanks,” I said, “May I ask who you are?”
“I’m Kynos” I replied to the toa, “I’m new here.”
“I can see that, I’m Taruga Ariki, it’s pronounced Taruga Arikeye, but some people don’t always address me the proper way. I prefer to just be called Ariki anyway. I haven’t seen a ko-toa who used a miru, so I figured your new here.”

.............

“I would like to talk, but I have things to get done, unfortunately...I cant be a good taruga if I’m not a busy one.” he said “Thank you for the...um...defrosting, when they came in here with those drills, I started to worry.”
“You're very much welcome, it is my duty to help the people, I’ll be off now, there seems to be a rahi stuck in a drainage pipe have a good day.” he replied, and walked off though the door. As he walked out, I saw the tool on his back, it looked like a kind of projectile device, it held a disk which even had his face painted on it.
One of the matoran tapped me on my leg to get my attention. “You must be strong for a toa of ice, I’ve seen a few in the tournaments, but none that could just be de-thawed and walk away. I know they are ice elementals, but even they cannot normally withstand those temperatures. Are you planning on entering? I’ve seen so few of them these days that it would really draw a crowd, or at least I think so.”
“Tournaments?” I asked, "I've never heard of them before now.” ‘
You haven’t?!?!” he said surprised, ”You really are new here, there are some tournaments that are established for different reasons, such as for entertainment, but also to determine your strength and skills, and assign you to tasks you would be best suited to in order to help the people.”
“What do you do in these tournaments?” I asked “You either battle other toa or perform acts of skill, sometimes you have to accomplish a task better or faster than your opponent. You may sometimes even battle for a prize!”
“Thank you,” I said, ”I’ll look into it, but I need to find someone, do you know what happened to the toa who froze me?”
“Oh, him? I heard he was last seen running around here somewhere, he dropped the mask that was supposedly stolen, but getting you taken care of was a priority.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your help.” I said, and proceeded to look for Gannai.

Chapter 10, “The Skittering Horror”

I searched for Gannai, through the different hallways and rooms, it would take me forever...This entire place was devoted to carving the strange consoles I saw earlier, they came in different shapes and sizes, some had levers, others had buttons, but they all had these sort of trenches carved into them. I would have asked the carvers to explain what they are, but it seemed they were out for the day.
I realized another factor that might make this hard, besides the fact that I had to check every crevice for Gannai, him being so small he could be hidden in or behind almost anything. He had a mask of x-ray vision, so if he was around here, he could be avoiding me. I only have this mask of levitation Kova gave me, which I don’t even know how to use yet. Most matoran can’t use their masks, some can but I can’t. Now that I am a toa, having never used a mask’s power, I have no idea how to use my own.
“IIEEEEeEEeeEEEeEEeEEEEEE!!” someone shrieked loudly, it sounded like a ga-matoran in trouble! It sounded far off in the distance, I would have to forget about Gannai for now, maybe the rahi Ariki mentioned was loose here nearby. I ran towards the sound, around the consoles and equipment, and through the doors. As I ran through a darkened room, I caught something out of the corner of my eye, movement between the consoles...low to the ground...Gannai? It is certainly possible he just pilfered another mask, the scream of the ga-matoran would be explained, I guess I would scream if someone grabbed my mask and ran into the shadows. I tried to fallow the movement, and walked into the shadows. I saw something move to the right, behind the shadows, I turned to look, but it was gone. More movement!, to my left, I turned again. Again, I saw it move, to my right this time, but closer, I could hear many clicks as something’s legs scuttled across the floor. That could not be Gannai, and he dropped the mask of speed, so he could not be using it to run circles around me, unless he grabbed another mask of speed from the other matoran? I felt three taps on my shoulder, I felt something in my stomach sink, Gannai was not tall enough to even reach my lower arm, whatever it was, it was tall. I slowly turned around, then, I felt that same feeling in my stomach from before, but instead of it sinking, it PLUMMETED. It had an elongated blue-ish head, with pincers for it’s jaws, as well as many clawed arms, I was too frightened to count, but I think it was four. Believe me, if you saw this thing, staring directly into your face, you would not be able to count, or think straight for that matter. I could feel it breathing on my face, letting out a low grown as it inhaled and exhaled. I didn’t move a millimeter, with a strange hope it did not see me. I heard some footsteps, a small band of matoran, rushing to the same place I was headed.“MATA NUI!!! IT’S THE SKITTERING HORROR!!! THE RUMORS ARE TRUE, EVERYONE RUN TO THE SOURCE OF THE SCREAM, WE’LL LET THE TOA TAKE CARE OF IT!!” Toa? I thought, that means someone was here to help me! Maybe he could distra...Oh, wait, they were referring to me...
“Yes SIR, captain! The rest of the matoran shouted, and ran off” ...The creature looked back at the matoran running into the next room, got down on all it’s legs/arms, whatever they were and skittered off, I watched it move towards the wall, and climb straight up to a large pipe on the ceiling with it’s claws. It pulled away the grating, slipped inside, and replaced it. I could hear it moving through the pipes to another section of the building.

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[Imatron]

Chapter 11, Legend of the three horrors

I was very unsettled, it’s not everyday a clawed, fanged, and horrible looking monster with several clawed arms stares at you right in the face. Then again, this kinda makes up for when I first met Kotaku, in a strange way... I wasn’t really scared, at least not now that the creature simply walked...skittered away up a wall and into a pipe...
I walked through the door the matoran guard marched through a moment ago, and looked for them. They were no where to be seen. I listened, and heard a voice talking calmly, as if to sooth a scared child. I fallowed the voice, until I could see who was talking. In a dark corner of another large room, the guard of matoran were crouched down nearby a white shivering matora-wait a minute, it was Gannai!! Curled up into a ball, shivering with fright! One of the matoran guard was talking to him, trying to calm him down. Come to think, he must have been the one that screamed! Well, maybe he deserves this. “Don’t worry, it’s only the toa, he would not let it hurt you again.” The matoran said. “You,” he said, indicating me, ”What of the beast? Did you destroy it?” he asked me. “Uh, no, it escaped before I could do anything, what was it, I’ve never seen such a creature before?” The matoran looked at me puzzled, and gave a hand signal to the others.” He is too frightened to move, take him to a place of rest, keep it well lit and have someone from his region stay with him.” Two of the members of the guard got up, and unwound some of the cloth and poles from the packs on their backs. They used the items to make a cot, and lifted Gannai up, and placed him on it. They carried him off with haste, being careful not to make a bumpy ride.
When Gannai and the two matoran were out of sight, the matoran spoke again. “What you saw was one of the three horrors, beasts that have for a long time haunted us. We have dealt with it before, this one is called the skittering horror” as he said this, he dug out a protodermis plate and handed it to me._ The image of the very beast I just saw moments ago was on the plate in a raised image. “We used a new technology to make that picture, and this is a copy of the original.” He spoke ”There is a legend to this and the other beasts, but the one you saw is the only one we have gotten an image of.
“Long ago, many years in fact, there were three matoran, one from the ga region, one from the ko region, and one from the le region. They each talked of stories of their own beast, their horror, their stories were intended to inspire courage in the matoran, and convince them to prepare. One day, they all set off, each one from their village, and sought out to bring evidence of the beasts. The matoran grew weary of the stories, and questioned them, which was their reason to seek the proof. The three matoran never returned. The guards of each village sought to find them, but to no success. They did bring back stories with them, of the very creatures the three had spoken of.
The first beast, of the le region, was called the “bladed horror”, stories tell that it has two great blades, to cut the very trees from under the swinging matoran of the le region, and thick armour to protect it from their spears”
The “Skittering Horror”, is the second, and originated in the ga region. It climbs on the walls, and through the pipes that carry water to the other regions. It is told it likes to loom from the ceiling, and snatch the ga matoran from the ground they stood on. Not once that anyone can recall, has it killed, so it is believed it feeds on fear.
The third, and last beast, is the “Unseen Horror”. Not once has it been seen, but it’s presence is known by its growls and shrieks, as well as it’s glowing gold eyes seen only in the darkest places. Claw marks are often found around the places it is sighted. It is the most mysterious of the three horrors.
As the legend goes, to this very day the three matoran were never found, but the legends, and the sightings of the beasts have made the matoran prepare, and build courage, just as the three matoran had ment the stories to do. My guard, is a special guard, one matoran of each region came together. And now we fight the beasts, and look for a way to end their wrath, and bring back the missing matoran, if they’re still alive.
A new development in the past hundred years, is that the creatures each seem to alternate their positions in the regions. Never do two be sighted in the same place during the same day. It is as if they take turns, tormenting each region day after day.

Chapter 12, Glyphs

I decided to explore a while, see what I could find out about this place. There were many things here that were much different from my home. I should at least get to know the place so I wouldn’t have to learn any more things the hard way.
I left the small matoran guard, they had work to do and I was in the way, they told me. They wanted to prepare plates for the strange image making process and see if they could look at them later to compare the regions where the monsters strike, and maybe determine a pattern. I was given a little stone pendant, and told to leave, I looked at the circular piece of stone as I walked, and had no idea what it was for. It had strange patterns engraved in it, as well as several circles of varying sizes connected by the engraved lines. I walked for about an hour, looking at the consoles and other stone devices in the large facility. It looked as though the entire region was one long rectangular room carved from stone, with walls dividing it into sections. I had only been traveling through the small doors, but not the large ones, which were closed off by bamboo tied together. All of those doors were on the same wall off to my right.
I heard the sound of chiselling in a nearby room, and walked in. There was a single po-matoran, who was working on an incredibly huge piece of rock. The size seemed to be limited to be just small enough so it could still fit through the large bamboo door.
The matoran was tied to a long vine supported by a complex system of pulleys, and it looked like he could get just about anywhere on the system. He looked at a device on his wrist, which glowed blue. ”Aren’t trying to sneak up on me, now are ya’?” He spoke in a confident voice. "I’m just looking around, I haven’t seen a place like this before.” I noticed that he was carving a similar pattern to the one in my pendant on the huge rock. “Well, this is where we make the glyph consoles for the entire island, I surprised you’ve never been here before, but then again...” He looked back behind himself to look at me.”...Yup, a Ko-Toa, just what I thought.”
He turned back around to work more on the piece of rock, "Honestly, I don’t understand why people from your region can’t just get out more, you always keep to yourselves. Imagine, taking all that time to become a toa and you’ve never even left the ko-koro.”
"Actually...” I started to speak ”I’m new to the island, I uh, washed up here.” He started to move a little strangely as he carved. After a moment, I could hear him start to snicker, he had been trying not to laugh, but suddenly burst out uncontrollably. “Well now boy, of all the things that have washed up on shore here this is the first time we’ve gotten a toa!” He started to laugh some more. “Well, uh, what are you working on?” I said, referring to the stone device, “Can’t you tell? This is a control module for the stadium! This one is going the Le region. I’m the master glypher on the island! And...” he tapped one last thing into the large rock, which upon closer inspection I could see it was now entirely covered with symbols. “...I just finished it.” He un-slung a vine and lowered towards the ground all in a fluid motion. After unhooking the vines from his waist, he walked over and introduced himself. “I’m Urapu, it’s pronounced ooh-rap-poo. Like I said I’m the master glyph carver. I was trained by Imatron himself!.” He proclaimed with pride.
I thought to myself, that name sounds familiar...Have I heard it somewhere before? No, must be my imagination. Oh well, couldn’t hurt to ask... "Who’s Imatron, and what’s a glyph?” Urapu stared at me for a moment, almost glaring, “You really did wash up on the shore, didn’t you? Just about everyone knows about him and the glyphs. He’s rather strange actually, he used to travel a lot, and he was always trying to learn new things. Traveling from one place to the next merely to learn one skill or another, but he settled down here on Miraka Nui. He learned how to combine a sort of magic with symbols and technology, and shared it with our island when he decided to stay here around, hmm fifty years ago, I think. By carving certain patterns into an object, it makes a sort of energy flow, and depending on how you carve it, you can get different effects. You may be able to make an electric energy flow, or a magnetic propulsion system, like in the lifts”
“Most glyphers just copy the symbols for certain properties that have already been established, Imatron taught me how to understand the symbols, and how the flows affect eachother, so I can make more complex designs that the other glyphers. However, he only had time to train one person, he was always busy. And I am too now that I’m the only one who can make the more complex devices”
“Well, thank you, but I think I should get going now, I have much to learn.” I said, I figured I should try and see this Imatron, “Wait just a moment.” Urapu urged,” How’d you like to earn a few proofs? I need this thing moved to the lift.” I wondered what proofs where. ”I guess I’ll help, but what is a proof?” Urapu looked like he wanted to beat me with one of his large rocks...”CURRENCY YOU!!...Proofs represent work you’ve done, they prove how long you’ve worked for so you don’t have to work for each person you want to barter with. I would like your help moving this stone through that door to the lift.” he said indicating the sealed bamboo door. “Ok then, open the door and I’ll push it though.” I walked over to the piece of stone and placed my right arm on the rock and used the left to stabilize it. I crouched down low and got ready to push. Urapu shouted something. ”Hey, let me get you...a...pakari?” I had already started to push the rock along before he finished talking. He had a puzzled look on his face, like I was doing something amazing, “Mata Nui your strong! I‘ve never seen a toa who could move a rock that size so easily, even the Onu-toa need to use a pakari to get that sized rock on the lift!”
While Urapu ran over to get the door, I started to remember some of the things Kova talked about, he said he replaced my damaged parts with stronger ones, that combined with the strength of my arm must be allowing me to move the stone.
“HOLD IT!” he shouted, ”Wait there, I need to recall the lift to our position.” he squeezed through the little space between the door and the rock, I got out from behind the stone and watched as he waved a pendant, similar to mine over a stone panel, carved into a pedestal jutting out from the floor. The panel glowed blue for a moment, and then I heard a strange sound. Moments later a large stone moved along a rail in the floor, hovering a ways from the ground, it had been too dark to see the pitfall to wear the rail was before, but the lift had some kind of lighting on it. It slowly hovered to the ground, and I guessed it was time to start pushing again. ”You need to inch it to the left a little, get on the right side and push, I’ll tell you when to stop” Urapu spoke. I did as he asked, and pushed it just a slight bit before he shouted: ”Stop!, okay, push it in.” I did as he asked, and got on the backside of the stone once again. I pushed the stone, and partway through I felt it tip forward slightly, along with a resonating thud. I kept pushing and felt a second thud, and kept pushing until Urapu shouted once more: “Stop! Okay, lets get this lift going, would you mind helping me until we drop it off at the stadium? With your strength it should be easier than hiring a few small hands.” I figured it couldn’t hurt to test myself, and help someone all in one move, two gukko with one rock.
”I’ll go, it’s not like I have anything important to do.” he nodded and said ”Sit down over there, and strap yourself in.” he walked over to a panel, the same one the matoran used to activate the lift when my frozen body was brought here in the first place. He did as the matoran earlier had done, and the lift started to move.


Chapter 13, The Great Stadium

The lift started to slow, and after a seemingly long time of traveling, we were finally at our destination. We had traveled through a special tunnel, rarely used except to get heavy shipments to this island’s Le Wahi. Urapu explained on the way that Le Wahi is higher up than the other wahi, and it is impossible to ship a stone this large there through the other two routes. This lift track had taken us directly into the stadium of Le-Wahi, which was so large, that it could include a shipping center.
“Now, all I need for you to do, is push the stone into that slot, it will then be lifted up by the hover rail into the glyph network for the stadium.” Urapu spoke. After a few moments, I had pushed the giant stone into the slot he had spoken of. Two protodermis harnesses automatically snapped around the stone, and it rose into a perfectly made hole in he ceiling. Feeling curious, I asked: “What does that do, and what is the glyph network?” Urapu paused for moment, trying to think of how to describe it. “That stone, when activated, controls the score system and display for the entire arena. It projects energy to a prism, which then refracts the light into a large image that acts as a scoreboard large enough that everyone in the audience can see. It also uses a concept the onu-matoran thought up, it can lock onto the energies of the toa engaged in battle, and project an image of the fight through the prism as well.” Toa fighting? I wondered, why would they do that? “What is the purpose of the toa to fight? I have never heard of such a thing.” Urapu looked almost annoyed, which was starting to be a casual thing out of how many times he already gave me that look.
“The toa test their skills in battle, fighting up against one another to increase their power in hopes to protect the people of the island better. The stadiums were established to help promote the battles, and eventually prizes were being given out to the victors to encourage them more. Nowadays, matoran from all wahi come to the Great stadium of Le Wahi so they can watch them battle. They pay an entrance fee in most cases to go towards the prize for the winners. This stadium itself represents unity in how all the people will gather here, some will even pay for perfect strangers to enter so they can enjoy the tournaments as well! This stadium is truly one of our greatest accomplishments, all of our technology has gone into it, and many new inventions have come from it’s development.” Urapu finished speaking, and walked over to one of a series of small doors. He took out a stone glyph and waved it in front of one of the doors, which also had similar glyph markings. The stone and door both glowed blue for a moment, and the door popped open. Urapu reached in, and pulled out a small bag, he then counted off a few small disks, small enough to fit in his palm. He walked over, and gave them to me. ”Here you go, this is for your help, these are the “proofs” I told you about earlier, you can use them to barter for goods.”
I thanked Urapu and decided to explore the Le Wahi of this island., and see what else I could learn. As I walked away, I could see that the stadium was in fact enormous. It was many stories high, and looked like the entire community could gather there at one time. I turned around and continued to walk into the forest, which had many tall trees, some had a sort of set of steps nailed into them, so that matoran could climb on them I guessed. I looked up, and saw a small group of huts in the trees, suspended from vines and rope, and linked together with bridges. While I was looking up, I heard a scream coming from my left:“AAAAAARRGGHH!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!”


Chapter 14, Shock to the system

A matoran was screaming for help, a monster with two huge blades on one arm, and a claw on the other stood before him, instincts kicked in, and I jumped between the two. The creature roared and snapped it’s mandibles, and lifted it’s bladed arm. The teeth on the blades started to vibrate...and so did my spine. I realized I had acted without even thinking! The monster swung, and a feeling of doom filled me, knowing at this range he could not miss. I felt the blow of the blade, but realized it hit me with a blunt part of the weapon? It could have killed me right there... The creature then tilted the blades, the blunt parts still on me, so that the blades pivoted towards my chest, and stopped about a millimeter away before I finally managed to get control and push it back. It staggered a few feet away, carrying the momentum of my push. I took that break to reach for my own tool, the blade Kotaku had repaired for me. It regained balance and smacked the tool away as it lunged for me again. It swiped a second time, managing to shove me to the ground. Once again, it lunged at me, using the back of the blade to hold my arms down. I was beginning to hope the matoran had gone for help, since I couldn’t hear his screaming anymore...The creature was about to bite me with it’s mandibles, so I guessed unless I pulled off something, I was pretty much doomed. The creature hesitated for a moment, relaxing it’s grip just barley enough to rest. I noticed that my arm was numb, but when did that happen? OH NO!!!! IT MUST HAVE SAWED IT OFF!!! Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if I’m about to-“SCREEEEAAAAAAAHHHHGGGGGG!!!!!” the creature jumped back as something latched onto it’s face, fallowed by a sizzling noise as sparks and electricity came off his body, and jumped around his skin. It continued to screech, and I wondered what was on him? Had the matoran brought help? The creature stopped moving, and fell face first into the dirt. A large white worm squeezed out from under it, and wriggled it’s snakelike body towards me. It hit me pretty hard when I finally realized it was the kraata that powered my prosthetic arm... You’d think a toa would remember that a worm lived in his arm, wouldn’t you? Perhaps it has attributes other than it’s ability to process electricity.
I felt a sick feeling around my leg, and realized the kraata was creeping it’s way on me back to my arm, which was only numb from the kraata’s absence. Slowly it climbed up to my waist, and I decided it was more worth it to touch it by picking it up and putting it on my arm than it was to let it creep the rest of the way, with the sickening sensation of it anywhere else on my body.
As it slipped back into the cavity of my arm, I could feel it wriggle around until my arm came to life again. I proceeded to wipe the goo from the kraata off of me as I heard familiar footsteps of matoran. “Look.” Someone called out, “He beat it, I can’t believe it!” another shouted. I turned around to see that there was a small crowd of le-matoran, as well as a few familiar faces. The le-matron cheered a bit, as I approached the band of matoran from the Po Wahi’s carving chambers. “Well,” a matoran started to say “We meet again! First you encounter the “Skittering Horror”, and now you’ve knocked out the bladed horror, you surely are making a name for yourself!” This was the matoran who had told me the legend of the three horrors, it was too dark to see his face then, but I could recognize his voice. He had a red body, feet, and hands, but his arms and legs were blue, as well as the huna he wore. He also had something coming out of a pack on his back, it seemed to be an arm with a device like Ariki’s disk launcher.
“That le-matoran over there told us a toa was fighting a horror in Le Wahi, but I didn’t think it was you. Our guard arrived here a few moments ago by the sky, we used the updraft lift in Ta Wahi to glide in.” I wondered how the matoran got there so fast, if these matoran had to glide in from the sky, then that would mean Ta Wahi had to be far off from here...”How did he bring help so fast? Ta Wahi must be far away.” The matoran gave me that look everyone seems to give me when I ask a question. ”He ran over to a friend with a communication glyph to our facility and reported it, one like the one we gave you in fact...Wait a moment, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN KO WAHI FOR!!” He yelled in frustration.” How much solitude does a Ko Toa need?”


Chapter 15, off to Ko-Wahi

I figured it was time to go to Kova, him being the first person I met here, I could talk to him without getting that same strange look, which was really annoying by know. I had to talk to someone who knew wasn’t from around here, and wouldn’t spend half the time complaining about how I should know this already...
I discovered I couldn’t just take the same path back, I had to walk over to the Le-Wahi’s cable lifts, since I would need special clearance to use the great lift from the stadium. Just as well though, I had to get used to the place. And it would probably have taken too long to use that path anyway. I walked for a long time before I finally could see the cable lifts, they were on a high up platform, that overlooked a great and steep fall, I had to use a sort of ladder to get to the top of the facility. Many matoran were climbing up and down the ladders with ease, but I had learned for the first time, I don’t like high up places...
Once I arrived at the very top, I had a good view of the platform. There were mostly matoran, and a few toa. All of the toa had a sort of yellow color to them, but as I found out by watching, they were here strictly for work. I noticed they all were waiting at consoles, and when a sort of box loaded with matoran, they used an electric elemental burst to power a nearby device, which spun and wound a cable, and moved the box filled with matoran. I got a good view over the top edge, and saw that the lifts took them through a gigantic hole, but I looked up a little ways, and saw an even greater hole above it. I looked around some, and found a little wooden monument with an engraved protodermis plate:
“This platform takes matoran and toa to and from the community center of Miraka Nui. If you will look outward, the first chasm is an entrance into the greater chasm up ahead, The greater chasm lets in light into the cavernous area, so the way is lit for those traveling through. From the city center, you may access all other wahi. The great cable lifts was a great challenge to make, and before it’s establishment, there was no other path to and from this location via the great cable lifts”
“Well,” I thought aloud, “A toa can use these lifts after all...” I had wondered if I had to find another way, because I saw no other toa using these lifts. Probably answering my thoughts, a matoran grabbed my left arm. “This way please, if you are ready.” she spoke as she led me around to a separate platform, which had no toa to power anything as far as I could see. She started to attach some stuff to my arm, and thinking she had the wrong person or something, I confusedly started to speak. “I need to use the lifts, I think you may-” Interrupting me before I could finish, she got a little annoyed. “HOLD ON NOW! I know your in a hurry, Ko toa always are, why do you think I’m getting you set up on the zip line?” she said, calming down as she talked. What’s a zip line? I wondered as she pulled a cable, and it raised my arm up above my head. “Off you go!” she spoke, as she gave me a good push. As I stumbled backwards, I wondered how in Mata Nui’s name she was that strong. I regained balance after a moment, hard to do with my arm held up by these cables...”Please face forward while you ride the zip line!” she spoke cheerfully. Nervously wondering what a zip line was as I turned around, I started to ask as she pulled a lever, releasing some cables that held up a sort of trapdoor I realized I was standing on, which overhung a ledge right at the end of a platform...I started to mumble some forbidden ancient dialect when I realized what was about to happen.

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[Imatron]

Chapter 16, a few fans

You know what? Ko-Toa seem to be impatient on Miraka Nui, but I have another word for them, INSANE!!!!!!! I was sliding down a REALLY long cable almost as fast as that ussal was with the great mask of speed back at the tunnel. I was NOT happy, aside from the fact that bugs were smacking me in the mask, I was so scared I thought I just might short something out of fear...To make things worse, my mask being a miru, I was a bit more aerodynamic, and I would give anything to slow down just a slight bit.
I had now been on this thing for a good thirty seconds, and could tell I still had a while to go, if anything I was just a good halfway through...I couldn’t tilt my head much with the wind blowing over the mask’s aerodynamics, but I could see many other of the cable lift’s passengers riding up in carts, just out of the corner of my eye. Some were looking at me, and some were pointing too. I even noticed some that were almost cheering me on, but I couldn’t really tell since the wind dulled my hearing as it blew by my ears.
I was able to pass some time and fear by watching the matoran that I could see, and before I new it, the light darkened away as I entered the chasm. I looked at the path ahead, and to my dismay, the end of my line didn’t have room to slow down before it ended, nor did it have a padded landing zone... Almost to taunt me, a sign read “Welcome” as I wizzed towards what appeared to be my doom. “Yeah right...” I thought to myself.
The end came up on me, and I heard and felt a few clicks as the wheel clipped on my arm shifted onto some kind of pole wired to the ceiling. The next thing I new, I was spinning around and around on the pole so fast that everything was a blur. As I slowed down, I heard a snap, and was launched into the air, landing face first into the ground with the scrapping sound of my metallic body as I skidded across the stone floor. I opened my eyes to see the feet of many matoran just inches away. I heard the clapping of many hands, as well as some cheering and laughing. I saw a hand reaching out to me, so I grabbed it, and thankfully a few more pairs of hands grabbed my shoulders and helped me to stand up.
A few more voices cheered and clapped as I got to my feet. “Well, toa! You sure fast-rode that line! You must have a good heart to go through that kind of pain jut to entertain us! I hope to watch-see you at the tournaments, may I have your name?” I glared at the le-matoran angrily as I spoke, ”I’m Kynos, and why you think I would do that on purpose is beyond me!” The le matoran laughed as well as the rest of those watching me. “So a hard-bad crash landing it was? My mistake brave toa, but do not worry, we only laugh at your fast-funny landing, none of us would be brave-strong enough to do that ourselves! So who are we to fun-poke at you? You sure spun-fast round about that pole though! We counted thirty eight loops before you landed!” The matoran cheered again, and stepped aside so I could walk through to the exit.
I can’t seem to do anything or go anywhere without getting noticed...I had no real desire to attract attention, I just wanted to get back to Kova and get some answers.


Chapter 17, {you’ll find out}

I could finally enjoy a peaceful walk, no horrid monsters, no angry midgets...and no drills...........But I do have to wonder for how long things will stay quiet. Maybe if I end up stuck here, I can dig out a hut for myself, find some work to earn “proofs”, and build a wall. A nice, big, wall; to keep others out so I can have a quiet life by myself.
The tunnel seemed endless to walk, yet it only took seconds for an ussel with a kakama to traverse. It did kind of nag me a little, that the walk was seemingly endless, but otherwise it was almost comforting how quiet it was. It wasn’t more than an hour later when something had to spoil the mood. Gannai...I could see him up the path just a little ways, walking along tiredly on his stubby legs. From this distance there was no mistaking him, I could see him plainly in the light-stone’s glow. It looked like he was half asleep the way he walked...maybe I could walk right by without any trouble, speed up my pace for a while to gain distance, and not have to see him until after I got back to Kova’s hut.
I put my plan into action as soon as he disappeared into the shadows nearby, and walked right by him. I looked back as I walked to see if he didn’t notice me, and thankfully, his dull red left eye stared sleepily ahead, looking towards the next light-stone a small ways ahead. I continued on, trying to walk faster without running or making too much noise.
I was about to reach the next light-stone’s glow when I was grabbed from behind, and tilted off balance so I couldn’t move without falling over. I saw a blue arm reach around my neck holding a deep blue crystal dagger at my face. “Hello there.” a voice said into my ear, “I’ll just be taking this and be on my way.” I felt what must have been another dagger wedge between my waist and my strap, cutting my recently acquired tools loose. I was the let go, and fell backwards to the cold dirt. I heard a feminine laugh accompany the footsteps running away.
I got to my feet as soon as I freed my arms from under my own weight, and ran towards the ga-toa thief. It turned out to be futile, as she was much faster than I was, but luck seemed to be in my favor: WUMP! “AAHGH!” WUMP WUMP WUMP. {and so, as writer of this epic, I deem the title of this chapter; Gannai, the angry speed-bump. }


Chapter 18, foiled by shorty

Not to say that I hate Gannai, but more of to say I dislike him, I was starting to realize he wasn’t that useless. Gannai, now fully awake having been tripped over by the thief who stole my tools, was pretty angry. I could tell this by two reasons, first he was jumping up and down yelling stuff that sounded like a rabid ussel. Second, a now frozen Ga Toa thief with a surprised look on her face stood before the shouting midget.
I proceeded to snap my frozen tool belt from the thief’s hands. Easily accomplished but I now had the need for a new belt to hold this stuff. It was pretty cold, so I figured we could continue on and leave the thief here, who wouldn’t be thawing out for a while. It wasn’t too long before me and Gannai reached the end of the cave, and soon afterwards Kova’s hut. We entered, and Gannai gestured towards a bench made of a protodermis slab across two chunks of ice. I sat down and he joined me. Apparently Kova was in the next room over, working on another patient. I could hear him talking to another through the door. Being curious I listened in as I waited. I tried to sort out the words from the humming machinery coming from the same room.
“You really have to stop overstressing the compressive systems in your arm, this is the second time you’ve been here for the same problem.” Kova’s voice spoke. “Yea, well, if that midget hadn’t taken my kakama, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I need it to quick-move my arm, otherwise the blades drag-slide along the ground.” the voice spoke with the familiar Le-Toa tree-speak slang. “And you haven’t gotten a new one?” Kova asked. “I don’t think it’s right that I have to pay-work for a new mask to be cast for me, and if I find that sneak-running midget again, he will be your new patient.” The toa spoke harshly. “Well, just go up to Mt. Kikoru, the mask maker there would gladly forge you a new one no problem. Just tell him Kova sent you by.”
With a few final clicking sounds, the conversation wound down; “There you go, try moving your arm, how does that feel?” Kova asked his patient. “It feels fine now, thank you for your help. I’ll be sure to come by later and help out with something, after all I have to give you something in return for the repairs.” He spoke. “Not so fast, I take proofs too you know...” Kova said with a joke hinted, “Like I said I’ll come by later.”
The sound of footsteps drew near the door, and with a creak it opened. A green mask-less toa walked through the door...I knew it was going to be trouble when I recognized him from before. He glanced at me, feeling somewhat anxious and embarrassed for staring, I started to look away.
“Hey, I remember you, the frozen toa of ice!” He started to laugh, but he glanced down...which means he was now looking at Gannai, I feared the worst, looking at the huge blade that made up much of this Le-Toa’s arm. “Poor little guy, he looks so tired, did he get worn out walking here?” He asked. Gears started to turn in my head as I realized Gannai had been mistaken for a matoran, yet again. “Uh, yea, he walked here all the way from the Ussel way.” I replied, hoping he wouldn’t realize he was inches from his prey, “Well, I know those from this region don’t speak-talk much, so I won’t bother you.” He turned and started walking down the hall towards the hut’s door.
“WaaAaAAiiT, just a fast-flying second!” The le toa spoke as he started to turn around ...Oh gukko droppings... I thought to myself, “You better be quick-running ‘cause when I catch you, YOUR MAUKU BONES!!!!” With that, Gannai awoke with a snort and started to stretch. With his arms halfway in the air and yawning, Gannai’s eye’s began to focus as the toa neared him, but it was too late, had Gannai been paying attention he could have run...I feared the worst.
Before I could react to help Gannai from certain doom, things turned around. “EEEP!” Gannai shouted as his nemesis lunged for him. All of a sudden there was a quick gust of wind and snow particles kicked up from the ground. As they started to clear, I could see the le toa attempting to strangle him...?
Ok, never mind. Gannai was safe. And apparently, he is also a skilled ice carver. Gannai was missing, and in his place was an ice statue in his likeness, making a face at the toa who’s hand was frozen to the statue’s shoulder. And he wasn’t strangling the statue either, he was trying to break his hand free from it.


Chapter 19, “How’s the weather up there?”

For the next few minutes, the only thing I could hear were words I cannot repeat. For words that are forbidden in public, I was sure hearing a lot of them...The racket caught the attention of Kova, who a few minutes later chizzled the le toa’s hand from the ice statue. Kova, impressed with Gannai’s skillfully produced, and life-like statue extracted it and placed it just outside of his hut, and placed a sign carved with the words “World’s shortest toa” on a post nearby. “That ought to get back at him, heh-heh! Little ankle biter gets on everyone’s nerves!”
Once things settled down, I and the Le toa, who after some conversation I learned went by “Durgass” left for the mask maker. Neither of us had been to his home before, which had proved difficult. We had been traveling up the mountainside for a couple hours now, with no sign of his hut. Then we both realized we could go no higher, we were in fact on the top of the mountain, and despite the snow that was starting to fog up our view, would could clearly see down all sides of the mountain, with no trace of a hut whatsoever. “OooOOoOoh!...” Durgass spoke out with a sigh of realization. “So this is Mount Oniwa! We were supposed to be on that mountain!” Durgass said as he pointed the other way. I fallowed his finger wondering what in Makuta’s lair he ment, and then my heart sunk, I saw another mountain, seemingly twice as high as this one off in the distance, and on top of that mountain, I could see what I was guessing was the mask-maker’s hut. I turned to meet Durgass’s eyes, who’s face contained a combination of exhaustion, and amusement. I glared angrily back at him. He then proceeded to faint.

*********

...GUKKO DROPPINS!, GUKKO DROPPINGS!, GUKKO DROPPINS! I only hoped I could get him back in time, I had no idea how long a Le toa could stand the cold, he must have been freezing the whole time out here...I didn’t realize that it could have been that cold, apparently with being a toa I was resistant to the cold weather of my region. I hadn’t even realized it until now, when I was a matoran I would shiver when the wind blew in Ko Wahi back at my home land, I could feel the cold then but I wasn’t as badly affected by it being a Ko matoran...As a toa apparently I don’t even feel the slightest bit uncomfortable in the cold weather, even though it must be freezing now. I know I would never be running through a snowstorm like the one I was in now. My mind was going a bio a minute thinking about getting Durgass back in time as well as wondering about the physiological differences between a toa and matoran.
I had to focus on running, as fast as I could, downhill, while being careful not to trip and drop Durgass...I couldn’t break my mind from the panic, I had to keep my mind off the situation...”Gukko droppings, gukko dropping...” I whispered to myself, over and over,”Gukko droppings gukko droppings gukko dro” *SMACK* I ran straight into something at high speed running down a mountain...needless to say I felt dizzy, *WUMP*...too dizzy to stand. I tried to fight blacking out, but all I could see was black...coming at me! “NO!...STAY...back...”
All I could see was black, I couldn’t move, but I felt like I was going forward, *Thump*, *Thump*,*Thump*.*Thump*, *Thump*, *Thump*,*Thump*


Chapter 20, A toa half his own size

“Where is he?” a voice called out. “I don’t know, I saw him digging a moment ago, I looked away, and then he was gone!” Another replied. “Geez, where could that ko matoran have gone?! It’s never a good idea to lose track of a ko matoran, especially when on their turf!” I smiled to myself, they knew what they were up against. I just needed to take out two more and my job was done. It’s simple enough to catch them by surprise when your right under their feet. The opposing team had already eliminated everyone on my side, but simple strategy could cure any problem. My plan was set up from the very start, poke around with a stick until you found a open area where the snow had piled high, and use a torch to melt the top-most layer of snow, which would then seep into the snow under it and harden into a thick icy layer that could support the weight of a matoran. Dig a small tunnel network in the snow under the ice, and add a few landmarks on top to locate where the tunnels were from the topside.

That aside, all I had to do was lure them into my trap, sacrifice my teammate as a diversion, and make a run for the tunnel networks. “I know you’re here!” my next victim shouted. I started to crawl my way to his position when he partner shouted something rather rude ”Ko matoran couldn’t catch an ussel if it were trapped in mud, let alone me! Why are you getting so nervous!” Correction, he was my next victim, the arrogant ta matoran! Honestly do they take after the legend of Tahu or are they all just foolish to start? I re-plotted my course through the snowy tunnels, and prepared my ice pick as I crawled to the position just under the ta matoran.

*Tink* “Huh? What was that? Hmmm...” Confused, the matoran fool looked around, thankfully without moving any farther or I’d have to dig the tunnel closer to him. *tink*, “There it is again!” He shouted. “There's what?”. Hmm...sounded louder, probably means the other matoran was facing my victim, it would ruin my chances of catching them both if one saw the other taken out. I had to wait for...”Your gonna be rahi bones if you get this panicked on a real hunt Mavu...” His voice got quite again, so he must have looked the other way, now was my chance! *TinkTinkTinkCrrAaaACk, *WUMP*. Gotcha! Mavu fell right through the ice and into my tunnel, except I could only see as far as his neck, his head must be sticking out of the hole, a drawback but I suppose it was to be expected since the snow was only tall enough to hide me if I was crawling. Oh well, one more to go. I tapped his foot three times, three taps to signal that he had indeed fallen for my trap and not just been unlucky...More commonly used to signal that you were snuck up on by an opposing team member, that you had been “assassinated”, and to play dead.

I heard footsteps as the other matoran came in to investigate. “What happened!?!?! He got you?” Mavu nodded, the only response he was permitted at this point. Once “dead”, you were allowed to confirm it with a nod, but any other response could inadvertently give away my position, and he was on his own now. Oh well, he was about to find out anyway. *TinkTinkTink* “Whats tha-” *crRrAaAhk* “AAwww, gukko droppings...” *WUMP* Mavu and his partner po matoran could now see eye to eye. “Hiya Mavu!...What? No welcome into the great beyond?” Me, Mavu and Cubek couldn’t help but laugh In the time I’ve known him for the hunting tournaments, he always knew how to lighten up the mood. I tapped him three times, and the game was over, my team wins.

I felt a tap on my own shoulder...Hey, whats going on!? I just finished them off agai...*TapTapTap*...There it was again, I felt a tap but knew it wasn’t possible, I was surrounded by snow. Oh I’m asleep again, and starting to remember where I was, or where I thought I was. Everything started to go black as my mind popped out of the dream. Ill have to hope Im still a matoran when I un-dim my eyes, if I’m a toa then that means the whole lost at sea stranded on an island thing was a reality. My eyes started to fade on, all I could see was a big blue glowing abyss “OH NO I”M DEAD!” I shouted as I jumped up, smacking into something. “ARRGH!” Someone shouted. I heard someone hit the floor and I saw his mask bounce and skid across the floor. The toa got off of the floor and rose to his knees to look at me. For a moment I saw his unmasked face, something wasn’t quite right about it... Once the toa saw that I was starring he grabbed at his face. Realizing his mask was gone he turned around and started to search for it, mumbling to himself as he felt around for it. Once he had his great akaku mask in hand he quickly put it on and turned around to greet me. “So...Armory tells me you ran into him running faster than Pohatu late to a kohlii tournament, everything all right?”

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[Imatron]

Chapter 21, Wait...is it me who’s crazy or is it you?

“Who’s Pohatu?” I asked, “Never-mind that, how old are you?” the toa asked, I started to open my mouth but he interrupted. ”How many rahi does it take to calculate the molecular rate of a makuta fish?” For Mata Nui’s sake, as if I wasn’t confused enough as it is...”Look up while singing the national anthem of po matoran running from a angry nui rama swarm.” Is this toa crazy?! “How many fingers am I holding behind my back?” Yup, crazy as a tarakava on energized protodermis...”UUh, five?” I replied. Holding up my right hand which he apparently swiped in the confusion, he yelled: “No eight!, five on my hand, three on yours!”

“...I’m sorry, I must be confusing you.” He said with a sorry tone. ”Yes, very confused” I retorted half mumbling. “Oh I’m sorry, lets start over, I’m Imatron, c’mon let's shake on it!” He held out my prosthetic hand as if it were his own. After snatching it back I clicked the hand back into place, wondering how he managed to remove it without me noticing. “Cranky are we? Hmm, looks like Kova’s work.” The eyes of his akaku mask glowed a deep hypnotic blue as he started to examine my arm with it. It was the same shade of blue as the “abyss “, must mean he had his face right up to mine when I was waking up....scanning it or something I imagine. “His work always had one vital flaw” Imatron spoke, pulling out a tiny hammer from a slot in the underside of the table on which I sat. *Tink* *WUMP*. With the tiniest of taps, the prosthetic part of my right arm collapsed to the floor.

“What?” Imatron spoke in an intrigued voice, “Must you glare at me like that?...I guess so.” After glaring for a little bit I felt a smack in the back of my head. “Wat’cha see-starin’ at Kynos?” Spoke Durgass. ”So, your alive still?” I replied, glancing back at Durgass. I could see his bladed arm’s shoulder was now level with the opposite shoulder, and he had a brand new mask of speed. “Like it?” he asked, “A brand new mask straight from the smelter! Still hot-warm too...In fact, Imatron, you have something for a burn?...Imatron?” Looking back the other way where Imatron stood there was just the empty room. “Hmm, look away for a second and he disappears, All I did was make eye contact with you and he slipped off...He seems pretty busy, have you gotten to look around this crazy place?...Hello?” I was already lost in thought. I was half wondering if this was real, everything was just happening so fast, I had hardly even thought about the fact I was a toa now, it hadn’t even sunk in until now, and how I was lost, probably not going to see my friends again for a long time if that... If I ever would get to participate in a hunt and trick the foolish Ta matoran again, It just felt unreal, but the fact was this is the current and true situation I was in, not some sort of false reality. I was yet again waking up in some sort of laboratory, facing circumstances I have never dealt with before.

“Hello? Ko toa...You alive or what?” Well, I suppose it was time to assess the situation and get my bearings. “Pardon me, just half asleep, what do you mean by the mask-maker being crazy?” Durgass walked around the table and sat down in front of me “Well,” Hissssssssssss! “What in the!?” he shouted and jumped up startled. Looking at where he attempted to sit, which was a container housing a now angry kraata. “Oh uh, sorry there my...uh...slithering friend...” The kraata chirped and settled back down in it’s glass chamber. ”Hmm, crazier by the minute...” He mumbled. “As I was speak-saying...”Durgass said while glancing back and forth between me and the kraata before setting his eyes on me, “This place is like a big ring-circle with a hole in it, the hole being a telescope and some sort of recreation room, and the rooms in the outer ring each have a different function, like a surgical section or glyph carvin’ room. He’s even got his own private prosthetics lab, imagine that! It’s like a one stop shop for all your toa needs!

“As for Imatron, he’s been fast-jumping all over the place, from one room to the next turning on one thing or working on some sort of machine or project, I wonder if he ever sleeps, or if we just caught him at a busy time!” Durgass reminded me of something, talking a lot... Something I never got accustomed to, was communication. Hear I am trying to access things and I was likely trailing off again, such was in the nature of a ko matoran. I wonder if though, if it’s something built in to us, or if we pick it up from eachother? Perhaps we just individually come to pick up these things analogously as a result of our environment? For example I had noticed Durgass’ “accent”, if you could call it that. I know in history logs we ko matoran discovered some regions of le matoran picked up the habit of slurring two words together because of their tendancy to be moving around all the time on a vehicle or something, often one that was a one matoran device. Since they would zip by eachother so fast, they spoke fast. Some words however were naturally harder to pronounce after the other, and thus instead of pronouncing the two properly with precious time zipping by, they slurred the words for the purpose of conveying the message without slowing. A le matoran only slowed it’s speech to other regions, such as ko, ta, ga...especially the ga who were used to intelligent and well worded conversations, as most other types of matoran would get a headache trying to translate the fast spoken words. However even with the slowed speech they made no great effort to avoid the word slurring. However, I noticed Durgass was not even slurring the hard spoken words, but mostly slurring two similar words together. For example the quickly traversing le matoran were slur words or phrases like “I need to quickly fly this machine to ta wahi for some fish!” into “I’m quick-flyin’ this thing for some ta fish!” Since he slurred two similar words I had to imagine they were either pointlessly and habitually being slurred, or they served to help convey and describe a word or term, meaning perhaps the le matoran and toa of this land were once operating fast equipment as the stereotype goes, but now have developed into needing to convey information better? Perhaps I’m thinking too much on the subject...wait what was the subject? Something tapped me twice in the forehead, “Heeeelloooo, ice guy, you in there or are you sleep-standin’?”

Chapter 22, My brain hurts...

I have to say, Durgass can slay logic with his tongue. With a single sentence, he has unknowingly destroyed my entire thinking process. So many thoughts, wasted trying to determine any background by approaching the way he spoke. “Sleep-standin” huh? One word slurred into another of different meaning for the purpose of saving time. As versus his mentioning “ring-circle”, which I was thinking was intended to better describe something. These two usages of slurring his words have obliterated so much thinking. If I ever return home, many ko matoran will hear the tale of how pure logic was slain with two simple words, not for those weak of heart in ko wahi...”Sleep-standin’, a horror story by Kynos.”

Where I come from, we often hunt for sport as some say, but it’s really for practice. We attempt to determine our opponent’s next move based on simple logic, and to lay a trap for them by determining how they will act in a certain situation. Ko matoran win this game every time, and just because you catch a ko matoran, doesn’t mean you win anything at all, it’s often a sign of impending doom if you catch a ko matoran, for his team mates are soon to fallow through with their trap. It’s funny actually, in a three team hunt involving ta matoran, ko matoran, and any other region, the ta matoran avoid and try to pass along ko matoran to the enemy camp and use us to eliminate that team before we go for them. They have gotten used to us beating them every time so they aim for second place from the start. They already know you only catch a ko matoran when he’s being used as bait for some scheme. Other wahi have yet to learn...

Hmm? Everything was quiet, Durgass was gone. How long was I thinking to myself like this? I stood up and started to stretch, it was much needed, I could feel the energy that had built up in my joints breaking up and flowing again. I started to hear the faint sounds of talking...and clicking...and popping...oh gukko droppings, Gannai was here. I moved toward the talking, it was muffled but I could tell I was getting closer, or I thought I was. Door by door I moved down the rooms, trying to get to the source of it...Something was wrong, with each door sometimes the talking sounded more quiet, or more muffled, and a couple doors later it sounded more clear, yet with all these doors the talking always sounded close! What was going on here? I sleepily walked through door after door when it finally hit me: ring-circle. I felt the servos around my eye twitch with annoyance. I had been walking in a great big circle. “Hiiiissshhhhh”, from my right came the familiar sound of that kraata as it reared up to look at me from its glass chamber. I merely had to look at it and it moved back and hid it’s face fearfully under itself. I could see my face in the reflection, no wonder the thing had been frightened, for one the look of anger in my face could peel bark from a tree, that and I could see my bare face...my mask-less bare face.

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Gannai was struck with both fear and horror as the conversation was interrupted by the nearby death threat that had just echoed through the walls. He shivered in fear as he slowly and steadily crawled underneath the table he, Durgass, and Imatron had been sitting at for the conversation, hopefully neither of them were looking to kinloka out his hiding spot when a likely angry toa finally found his way through to the recreation room in the center of Imatron’s home...



Chapter 23, As seen by the midget

Gannai could only hope he would have a chance to run for the door and make a break out into the snow, for him it was no problem, being a ko toa, to hide for months and hope no one after him would find him. All it takes is a little patience, a month or two and it all blows over, usually… The big green one with the large blades wasn’t too happy then, if it wasn’t for the big crowd at the community center he would surely have been in trouble. With any luck the big white one with the new arm wouldn’t hold his rage long. After all, he was just sitting there staring, if he didn’t like the idea of me borrowing his kanohi then why did he allow me to remove it from his face? He was clearly awake. It seems everyone on this island is crazy, in his thousand some years this was the only place he’d traveled to where people chase you for no apparent reason. Take a mask lying on the table, nobody was wearing it so why get angry afterwards when I borrow it? If they don’t want anyone touching it then store it in their pocket space or on a suva!

The door slammed open and footsteps hastefully approached the table, it was the angry white one! Gannai held his breath as he listened to the gibberish they squawked…He couldn’t understand much, other than the familiar angry tones and what he had to assume was a demand of his location, after all everyone who yells like that seemed to be after him. He was relieved when he heard the sound of the seats scooting back, and saw three pairs of legs moving towards…judging by the way he was facing and how he remembered the layout…the kanohi room! Angry white toa couldn’t be mad for long if he had a new face! Gannai crawled slowly out from under the table and quickly located the first of the two doors leading out, and before leaving noted the note tablet. He knew he had to leave but he couldn’t resist! He held out his hand and willed the ice to form and rise, once complete he had a nice stepping stool to get to the note tablet. Gabbai pulled a bit of charred wood from his pocket and used the blackened end to doodle a picture of himself making a face.

Satisfied with the picture he started out the door into the snow. He walked while keeping a low whistle to himself and marched happily. *WHUMP* Before he had gotten to far a black column rushed into view and he walked straight into it…It was the gigantic black one’s way of greeting him, perhaps not too friendly but a greeting none the less. He crouched down to the ground, though rather pointlessly, as he was still many times his height. Big Black, as he called him was one of very few who Gannai could understand. Big Onu didn’t speak with his mouth but instead tapped and knocked against himself or a wall to speak. “And why are you leaving here so fast, little one?” Big Onu spoke. “Well, this time the new white one started yelling something that roughly sounded like; When me get you, me remove limbs!…Or something like that, so I figured I’d better clear out.” Gannai replied. “Hmmm, I think I heard that one, only it sounded closer to; When I catch you I’m going to remove the first limb I see and beat you with it..” Gannai winced as Big Onu spoke this retranslated version. ”You always were better at translating that weird language, but I kinda wish you would leave out the, shall we call it, more violent parts?” Gannai requested. Big Onu dragged his finger across his knee, his equivalent of a sigh, “You really need to realize that the residents in this place are very different from where you came from, just remember if you don’t know where it came from then don’t touch it…” Gannai thought to himself, but it didn’t make sense. Why leave something out and let it go to waste? Angry white one probably didn’t know how to use his mask, and at that he didn’t seem to mind letting him take it off his very face. “Give it to me…” Big Onu spoke in an annoyed tone. “What?” Gannai replied. “Whatever it is you took! I’ll give it back, it sure beats getting smacked with your own arm.”

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[Imatron]

Chapter 24, Prudence

Well, it was a borrowed mask anyway. I'll have to assume it will eventually make it's way back to Kova in he hands of that miniature toa, and while I honestly cant call myself an expert on toa, only knowing them as legends up until...this incident...the only indication he's a true toa is the fact he encased me in a solid block of ice not too long ago.

I'd been listening to the odd one talking to Durgass, and by the bits and pieces of conversation, I didn't need to worry about the lack of kanohi mask. It seems along with a toa's elemental capacity, and...in most cases increased height, they gained the capability to survive for an indefinite period of time without it. The mask maker was operating a forge, centered in the room where it dominated my vision no matter which angle the room was viewed at. The room was apparently one of eight or nine sections forming a ring around the main room with each room being a separate research and development center, in this case the mask forge room.

Durgass's attention was focused on the forge as he and the operator spoke, and they were currently chatting about a common strategy used by toa in combat being aided by a matoran, in which the matoran would actually remove his mask and toss it to the toa to use, and then toss back to the matoran within moments of their components shutting down...It was as disturbing as it was fascinating. Several small arms extended from the roof of the ring like forge, and the heating elements underneath began to glow. Imatron reached over to a nearby automated conveyor that rose through the floor, and removed two plates of metal and held hem out-wards into the forge. Two of the nearby ams reached over and grabbed the plates, holding them high above the glowing flames. Three other arms tilted into place and began working on the first plate, seeming to eat it away as it glowed with a tiny light. The arms had etched out the very vague eye-holes as it burned, cut, and melted the whole plate in a flimsy wire frame.

The mask maker again grabbed some objects from the conveyor, which rose apparently after each step was completed and the forge required the next pre-worked material. His right arm only reached into the forge, handing out the objects one at a time, rather than both arms at once, the heating elements now going full blast he seemed to be making sure he only had as little contact as possible. The forge's smaller arms moved the framework closer to the flames to heat the whole mask up, and pulled back as the smaller arms refined the framework. Two of the plates had now been molded into wire frames, with the second one appearing to be much more sturdy, but maybe it was the hot air causing the illusion that it was bigger? The arms grabbed the other components one by one and placed them into different sections of each half, while the mask-maker kept feeding it the next piece with his right arm, until the majority of each frame was filled with the components.

The arms then fit one frame neatly over-top of the other and the skinny arms welded the two pieces into place at various locations. The wired pieces now mostly filled with components looked about the right size as a normal mask, except a little on the thin side. The arms extended the framework back to Imatron, who grasped it and moved it over to a nearby table bare handed. He held the mask over-top the table, and a circular bin rose up. A nearby dispenser seeped a clear jelly like substance into the bin, and he dropped the mask in. Looking back at my curious expression, he answered my perplexed look, "This chemical is a non-conductive substance that acts as an insulator. It hardens when introduced to heat, so when I drop it in there, a layer of it forms around the mask and fills the gaps in the construction by hardening around the heated frame." The bin drained out the loose substance and receded, a light glow around the edges of the receded bin seemed to suspend the mask in mid air.

Continuing his monologue, the mask-maker spoke, "And nearing the final stages of this particular style of mask making, to keep my hands from touching and distorting the insulator, this field suspends and rotates the mask. This particular mask is technologically based on using simple computers to fine tune the mask for Durgass's unique arm. It acts like a brace by micromanaging his arm tissues and imbuing it with the power of speed so he can move his rather oversized arm without damaging the tissue. Most traditional masks in Miraka use a traditional carved mask from a stone or protodermis base carved with glyph technology, and then, like this mask in my hand..." Imatron proceeded to yet another nearby station..."are finished off with the final materials being overlayed."

The final station had arms much like the ones in the forge, they reached out and grabbed the mask, a couple arms seemed to glance over it before two others started to layer an unidentified green substance onto the surface of the mask, one feeding the melted material while the other blasted a dusty cold-white cone of air to cool it. The arms quickly finished the task, after making several layers of the final coat to make it sufficiently thick. One of the arms reached out again, clicking with what sounded like annoyance. "Oh I forgot the mouth parts!" the mask-maker shouted as he proceeded to the conveyor were he obtained the other parts feeding into the forge.

He picked off the last piece, which was pre-assembled. It was a small part that seemed to fill the gap lower on the mask's frame, along with some minor mechanical components sticking out. He handed the part over to the machine, which quickly gave a single layer of the green substance and delicately hooked the smaller components of the mask's lower "jaw" into the upper frame of the mask. With a buzz the arm shocked the mask and the loose hanging lower jaw snapped shut into the upper frame of the mask as if pulled into place by a magnet. "And here we have a completed mask for Durgass." he spoke as he grasped the mask. He took out a small drill and etched something into the inside portion of the mask's back, and handed it to Durgass. He accepted it with glee as he placed the mask over his face, his own lower jaw clipping into the jaw of the mask. Durgass opened and closed his mouth in odd faces to test and work it into a proper fit. "That'll be eighty-three proofs!" Imatron spoke cheerfully. "Oh come on..." Durgass's glee suddenly irked into annoyance as he fished out his bag of proofs.

Chapter 25, Unexpected repairs

"Now with that out of the way," Imatron spoke, "I have some business to take care of with you, Kynos." I thought to myself for a moment and snapped to attention when I realized what it must be, "Oh, you mean my mask, I can hold off-" He cut me off before I had time to finish, "No, its not that at all, Ill deal with that later, what I need to talk to you about is bonk." Confused, I replied "Bonk?" "Yes, BONK!" he spoke cheerfully. "And what is bonk?" I asked. He pulled a staff that had been leaning on the nearby wall. He then said "Bonk," as he smacked me on the head with it, enough to agitate me but not to hurt. "And what, may I ask, does that have to do with ANYTHING!" I said as I expressed my annoyance. Then everything went black.

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I was groggy, and numb, all I could feel was the dull sensation of my torso starting to wind up it's mechanical components. I couldn't feel much of anything else. My eyes cleared up a bit but I could only see a little ways into the room, something had my eyes out of focus. "Did I smack my head on the ceiling lights again?" I spoke with annoyance, "Because I could have sworn "Bonk" wouldn't be enough to knock me out." I heard the rattle of machinery and hands sifting through a container of something, but got no answer, at first. I was expecting Imatron, but Durgass spoke in his place."I don't know how he did it..." He started to walk into view, where he appeared to be twice his size. I felt like I was standing up, but I must have been crouched down. "You just sorta quick-fell a moment after he tapped you with it." He crouched down to meet my gaze, a curious look in his eyes. "Huh, this is kinda disturbing to see you like this, I would have expected you to freak out waking up now of all times." a feeling of fear started to creep up my back, and I fought to bring myself to speak, "Why?" Durgass stood straight up and pulled out of my view, opening my now cleared up vision. My eyes had to focus for a moment to see. "Well, one arm is over there, your insides and head are on this table, and the rest of your body is sound-standin' up by itself over there." I blinked, "Huh..." I said, mimicking the tone of voice Durgass spoke when he said the same a minute ago. "You're not gonna freak out and scream, cause normally I think that's what I would have done."

"Well, I guess compared to the first time this happened, it's not so bad, of course I woke up toward the end of, whatever Kova was doing. Maybe I'm used to this now, or that abomination had me discomforted the first time?" Durgass reached out next to me and started to drag something over. "Oh you mean this harmless little guy?" He dragged the transparent container into view that held the Kraata that had been living in his newly made arm. It was looking at me. I couldn't speak, afraid that saying anything would invoke it to do some terrible thing. "Hehe, now yer silent-talkin' like an ice toa!" Durgass shouted. "Pickem'up and haul him over." the mask maker-surgeon half shouted as he popped out from a side door, his arms holding some gears and tools. "Argh!" Durgass shouted in surprise, not expecting the sudden noise. "He's been zombie-walkin' around while working on you, thats the first time he's spoken all day." Durgass disappeared to my side, and I started to rise. Durgass grunted as he lifted me, and I almost thought I was walking against my will towards...my torso which was rather creepily standing up on it's own, not propped up on any sort of device. It even shifted weight from one leg to another by itself. I couldn't exactly feel my stomach, but I think wherever it is, it lurched.

The mask maker approached as my components were turned around and I was now face to face with Durgass, who was now moving me backwards toward my torso. Durgass disappeared to my left as Imatron dumped the components somewhere to the opposite side and aided Durgass. I felt a pinch in a few places on my back and just under where my torso had been numb, and I started to feel the branching sensation of the numbness disappearing and filtering into the sensation of warm air on my body. My right arm still not connected, my shoulder was numb and missing, but the two directed me to walk toward the device from which my prosthetic arm had been connected to. I stepped groggily, my feet still waking up as they helped me over. It took both the mask maker, and Durgass to disconnect it and hoist it up, Imatron paced his hand on my torso to indicate I needed to hold still, while he used his other arm with Durgass's help to lift it up. The mask maker quickly knelt downward for a second, leaving Durgass to hold it alone while he plucked some of the components from where he set them, and plugged a couple into each other and then into my vacant shoulder cavity. He grabbed another item and plugged it over the first few, and my shoulder's numbness seemed to disappear.

A moment later, he aided Durgass in shifting the arm around until it fit into place. Imatron reached next to me and picked up the staff he apparently knocked me unconscious with before, and reach it toward the jar holding the kraata. I groaned realizing that while the arm looked more refined, and had some added components, that the vague design still appeared to hold the creature I feared. He tapped on the jar twice with the staff, and the creature stirred from it's own grogginess. It appeared to have stretched, yawned, and then proceeded to crawl out of the jar and along the staff. It reached the end where it crawled onto Imatron, and onto my arm where it unlatched the locks by itself with its mouth, and crawled inside where it latched itself back in, somehow. My numbness then started to crawl away as my arm came alive.

The mask maker grabbed some more components, as he took out some tools and started to tinker away at my exposed innards. He took a drill-like tool and used it to bolt something into my side, and grabbed the plate that originally covered my torso. He bolted that into the apparatus not plugged into my side, and with great caution picked up an odd gear with a snow-white carved crystal extending from it. "This, my friend, is something very important Kova had to leave out when he was saving your life." Imatron spoke with awe as he held it in his hands, looking at it and then me. "While you don't need it to live, it's the core of your elemental functions, and essentially completes you as a toa. Kova's work practically brings dead things back to life, long dead things, which is why a good few people are discomforted by his work." I thought for a moment. Long dead? I thought working with putting those wretched things in people is what the other toa were talking about. Before I could ask anything, he spoke again, "I don't know how far gone you were, but some beings have a stronger side to them, that let's their spirit hold on long after the body is dead. The kraata has unique abilities associated to it as a result of their former relationship to the Makuta, and in some cases rare breeds of kraata seem to be able to restart functions in dead tissues, and a skilled surgeon can stabilize the wounds and bring the being back to life."

"I've finished reworking and rebuilding much of your mechanical augmentations used in this process, and replaced them with components capable of permanently sustaining you while the organic components regenerate. Ive also given you more appropriate armor to help you fit in. The arm itself is perfectly good, so I just refined it a little bit. For now you should keep using this to keep the kraata nearby in case something happens." I shuddered. "Hmmph, well, on the other hand until your tissues have regenerated, this is a pretty powerful arm. If you thought it was strong before, well, mow your going to be amazed. Even A normal prosthetic can't do what this thing can do, plus having this little friendly guy here handy won't hurt." Still holding the odd gear, he flipped down a device in my torso and place the gear on it. Then he flipped it back inside. It started to get cold, very cold.

Feedback and planning topic for the next set of chapter.