Michael Hordika

[takuaE3]

This is a story I began writing early in 2006. Recently I dug it out, and I'm trying to finish it. That's why it sounds several years old. Hope you like it anyway.

Michael Hordika
Part 1: The Day after Christmas

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I glanced sleepily at the alarm clock. This wasn't a school day, I remembered. So why had I set my alarm to 6:00?
Suddenly I remembered. Yesterday had been Christmas, and I wanted to get up early to play with all my great presents! I looked over at my little brother. My alarm usually woke him up too, but today he was still snoring.
I looked a little closer. Michael must have been tossing and turning in his sleep, because his bed was a mess. Sheets, blankets, and quilt were torn off the mattress and wrapped tightly around him, almost like a cocoon.
On the shelf above Michael's head stood his new collection of Visorak. He had wanted the six spidery villains for almost an entire year. I couldn't be sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if my little brother was now the holder of the record time for construction of six Bionicle canister sets.
I threw on some random jeans and shirt and shook Michael. "Hey! You want to play with my new Xbox 360?"
He came awake instantly, though his voice was still sleepy and growly. "Sure! Get out all your games!"

But it seemed to be a rule in our house that you have to eat breakfast before you can play video games. As I poured milk into my bowl, I noticed something peculiar. "Mike, why do you have to have Keelerak on your head to eat breakfast?"
"Cause I like him."
There wasn't much arguing with that, though I did think Michael was a little too fond of the fearsome creatures. Really, there was no need to watch the capture and mutation scene from Web of Shadows four times in a row.
My thoughts were interrupted by a crunching sound. Michael was using his spoon to smash Frosted Flakes into crumbs. His explanation? "It's easier to eat them this way."
"But once you put milk on, they'll be easy to eat."
"Oh. This way is still more fun."
Weird. But of course, I couldn't expect my little brother to think just the way I did.

[toamiru4]

I don't care if it is old or new, that story was pretty good, I liked it.

[takuaE3]

Michael Hordika
Part 2: No Reason

Later that morning, we were setting up Bionicle: The Game. I chose to be Tahu. Michael looked through the character list. "Aren't there any Visorak?"
"Not in this game. It came out before the Visorak were invented."
Mike selected Lewa, but he was less interested. Soon he asked, "Can we play Timesplitters?"
"I though you said that game was scary."
"Yes, but I'm not afraid anymore."
"You know Mom doesn't think that's a good game for you."

Later that morning, Michael began to walk around in a crouch, half bent over. He looked quite peculiar, especially with Keelerak continually sliding off his head.
"Mike, why are you imitating Matau Hordika?"
"Am not. This is how Vakama Hordika walks."
"Then why are you imitating Vakama Hordika?"
"Cause it's fun." His voice was still hoarse and scratchy. Odd.

After lunch, I was upstairs in my room, putting together my new Tower of Toa. Suddenly, a low growling noise, accompanied by hissing, broke out from downstairs. I ran down to find Michael and the cat glaring at each other. Fluffy's back and tail fur was puffed up, and her meows were low and threatening. Michael was pointing Keelerak's Rhotuka at her, pulling the ripcord back and forth.
"What's going on here?" I asked. "Did she steal something?"
"No. I just walked around the corner, and she ambushed me! I won't be trapped!"
"Fluffy didn't mean any harm. Just let her be. Do you want to shoot the Kahgarak catapult?"
I took Michael upstairs to play with the shooter, first pacifying Fluffy with her favorite catnip mouse.

"Take that, Matau! Toa are weaklings and cowards! Visorak, charge!"
"Fiery boulders! Scuttle back to your holes, you monsters!"
"We'll drag you back to Roodaka and string you up, for good this time!" My brother knocked the tower, shaking the Hordika minifigs to the floor. Ramming Kahgarak into the structure, he soon had broken it into pieces.
"What did you do that for? It took me almost an hour to put together!"
"No reason. It just felt good."

[The Storyteller]

I like it. It's a good story. It's a good idea. Make sure you finish it.

[takuaE3]

Michael Hordika
Part 3: A Villain Will Be Revealed

Next day, things had not improved. Michael was still lurching around, talking in a hoarse growl, and wearing Visorak on his head. Worse yet, he was talking complete nonsense. I could hear him now as I sorted through my old Johnny Thunder pieces.
"Yes, but what?"
"And if I don't want to hear it?"
"You're not worried they're going to tell him you said that?"
Who did he think he was questioning? Michael was too old for imaginary friends.

Soon he came over to my bin of parts. He began stacking bricks into rough towers, then smashing them.
"Who have you been talking to, Mike?" I asked.
"You'll find out," he answered. "I'm counting on it."
"I don't understand."
"You don't have to understand the message, Matt," he growled. "Just carry it."
"What message? Why do you keep quoting Web of Shadows?"
"You ruined it!" he roared, and threw something at me. I instinctively dived to the floor. When I got up again, Michael had disappeared.

I sat there, thinking. Michael had developed the ability to throw his own Rhotuka spinners. True, they were just miniature Frisbee knockoffs, but I was almost sure I had seen it glowing oddly. What was going on? Did he actually think he was Vakama Hordika? Maybe I should tell Mom.
Then I saw it- standing on the shelf where Michael had been sitting all morning, orange eyes softly glowing in the sunlight flowing through the window, silver spinner idly rotating in the breeze from the heating duct, mouth slightly open in that anticipatory grin, catcher claws pointed menacingly at where Mike had been. It was the Roodaka set.
We didn't own a Roodaka set.

[toamiru4]

Sounds interesting, keep going, I want to hear more.

[takuaE3]

Michael Hordika
Part 4: Banned for Pretending to Exist

I had to do something about Michael's imitation of Vakama Hordika. Unfortunately, Mom was out shopping. So I turned to the experts: my friends at BZPower.
Using my ultramakutahordikanuva-kal1018 account, I soon posted to the Q&A forum:

"Help! My little brother is turning into a Hordika!

"He spent too much time with his Visorak sets, and now he's walking and talking like Vakama Hordika! He won't stop quoting Web of Shadows, and he breaks everything we build, just for fun! Then this Roodaka set just appeared from nowhere!

"Has anybody heard of this happening before? What do I do about it?"

I soon had many replies, most of them like this:
"This forum is for questions about BZP. You should have posted it in General Bionicle."
"This is spam, reporting."
"The Visorak sets made your brother go crazy? Sets sure are getting worse and worse. We should complain to Lego."
"Joke topics are NOT allowed."
"Why are there all these spam topics? You're not even funny."
"HAHAHAHAHA 10000000/10 write more comedys can i gueststar PLZ?"
"This is a spam topic. STOP POSTING EVERYONE. An FA should be along to close it soon."

Soon I also got an e-mail from an administrator:
"Dear ultramakutahordikanuva-kal1018, BZP rules only allow one account per person. We have discovered that you are a fictional character, which is only zero persons. Therefore, you are only allowed to have zero accounts. Your ultramakutahordikanuva-kal1018 account has been banned. Do not try to create another one. Your IP address has been blocked. Sincerely, the BZP admin team."

BZP had been no help. And they wouldn't even let me use my account again. I would have to come up with some creative ways to get my comedies posted. But for now, I had other things to worry about. Michael was carrying the Roodaka set around with him. And Sidorak, too! Where had he come from? They were talking about battle plans for the Visorak horde. Wait- the Roodaka and Sidorak sets were talking? Or had Michael begun imitating their voices too? Or was I just going crazy?

[takuaE3]

Michael Hordika
Part 5: That Battle-Army

It was almost lunchtime, and Mom still wasn't home. This was unfortunate, because Michael definitely needed to get in trouble. He was stealing stuff left and right. How else could he have possibly gotten a Vakama Hordika voice changer? And all these mini glow-in-the-dark flying disks? They hadn't been in our house before, I knew that much. Was he getting them from Jimmy down the street? How could a seven-year-old possibly break into a house? But what other explanation was there?

Could the Visorak sets actually have mutated him into a Hordika? That was ridiculous. But so was what was going on in the next room. Mike, wearing the voice changer, was yelling orders to the Visorak, which he was pulling behind him on strings. He had strung neon green string all over the room. Roodaka and Sidorak were watching from a high shelf. Now he was stashing the Visorak into the cupboards, ready to swarm out at a signal. How had he gotten four dozen more Visorak sets? Five Rahaga hung from the ceiling fan. Four Toa Metru, with Norik, stood in the doorway, waiting to be brought in and ambushed. Just four? Michael was Vakama, of course, but where was Matau?

"Matt! Come help me with those Toa!"

Oh no. I was Matau.

Then inspiration hit. Michael had left out one character from his reenactment of Web of Shadows- Keetongu. There was only one way to put an end to this madness. I would have to run down to the toy store and get a Keetongu set.

I ran through my room, grabbing some money. Hopefully $19.16 would be enough. Maybe there was an after-Christmas sale going on. As I ran down the stairs, a Rhotuka skimmed over my head. Michael was coming after me. I had better get my bike.

As I lifted my bike out of the shed, a ninja throwing star buried itself in the door. Michael had somehow attached knife blades to his "Rhotuka" discs.

We would never be allowed to play with something like that. The one time you need your mom to catch you, she isn't home.

[◄Toa Nuva Tom►]

Holy crap! this story is getting creepier by the minute.
I love it!

[toamiru4]

Man you are getting me intense, don't stop now go on please!!!

[takuaE3]

I'm glad you like the story, it's almost done. (7 parts)

Michael Hordika
Part 6: The Great Escape

I rode down the street, headed for the toy store. Michael ran after me, still wearing the Vakama Hordika voice changer. He could run surprisingly fast, but he couldn't catch me on my bike.

My friend Jimmy was standing in front of his house. "Is that your voice changer?" I asked as I pulled up.
He looked back at Michael. "I don't think so, Matt- why?"
"Bow down and pledge your allegiance to me!" Michael yelled, hurling a sharp metal stake.
The stake landed point first, right between Jimmy and me. "Can't explain now!" I shouted as I pedalled off as rapidly as possible.
Jimmy ran inside and slammed the door.

Michael almost caught me again as I put my bike in the rack by the toy store. He threw another knife-edged disc that bounced off the sidewalk.
"Stop it!" I shouted.
"I don't take orders from you!" growled Michael. "I give them!"
"What's happened to you?" I said as I ran through the door.
"Don't fight it, Matthew! It is our destiny!"

I tried to elude him by hiding in the little kids' section, but he saw me. Jumping over a bin of stuffed animals, he knocked over a little girl. The stern warning he got from her mother delayed him long enough for me to get to the Lego aisle. Keetongu was on sale for $15.99! I was saved!

I snuck through the model airplane section and arrived at the checkout aisle. As I handed over my money, I heard a snarl from the back of the store.
"Would you like a receipt?" asked the lady behind the counter.
But I had already grabbed Keetongu's box and left.
As the door closed behind me, another bladed disk shattered the front window. I hoped they would call the police. How else could I get a chance to put Keetongu together?

Unfortunately, the toy store workers didn't believe their eyes. I had to bike back uphill, carrying Keetongu's box with one hand, while trying to stay ahead of a deadly spinner-throwing Hordika. What a way to spend Christmas break.

[toamiru4]

Scary, I hope you have a solution. This is intense.

[Kokua aviatrix]

Looks around eagerly for the last chapter.

[takuaE3]

There is a solution. The last chapter is here. Thanks for reading!

Michael Hordika
Part 7: The End... and the Beginning!

I somehow arrived home a minute or two ahead of Michael Hordika. I dashed inside, locked myself in my room, and tore open Keetongu's box. But before I even had the body together, Mike was banging on the door.
"You're weak, brother," he hissed.
"You're right," I answered, scrabbling for a 3-rod. "So are we all."
"So, at last you see the truth."
"Yeah, I guess I do. I've made a lot of stupid mistakes lately. That's what happens when you're brave and tough enough to tell movies from reality." I snapped a leg together.
"Forgive me if I don't believe that, coming from you," Michael spat bitterly. "Now let's finish this." He kicked the door.
"Wait!" I yelled, getting to work on Keetongu's arms.
"Not for long."
I was too busy to argue any more. Soon, he was pounding again. Finally I finished. Testing the spinner, I stood up. Just then, Michael managed to burst open the door. As he dove at me, I fired Keetongu's Rhotuka, scoring a direct hit. Colliding together, we crashed into a set of shelves, which fell over, cracking us on the head.

We woke up in the hospital, but neither of us had been seriously hurt, and we came home that afternoon. Michael was perfectly normal, and doesn't remember anything. I told our parents I didn't remember what happened either. They would never believe the story. I don't quite believe it myself. Roodaka, Sidorak, and the throwing stars disappeared as mysteriously as they arrived. Did my brother really mutate into a Hordika? Did he just think he was a Hordika? Did we just knock the shelves onto ourselves while fighting over a new set, like our parents think, and I imagined the story as a result of getting hit on the head? I doubt that last possibility, as I'm still banned at BZP.

About a week later, I was awakened by a small hard object bouncing off my forehead. At first I thought Michael was back to being a Hordika, but I saw he was still asleep. Looking over at a table, I noticed my new Thok set standing there grinning. His zamor launcher was pointing directly at me, it was empty, and the sphere was still rolling across the floor...

[toamiru4]

Interesting ending, so are you saying that your Piraka was alive? Not that that really happened. AMAZING STORY, I could not get my eyes off of this page. Great job (coming from me that means you are truly a great writer). Keep it up.