Mata Nui Comics
2001 - BIONICLE Comic 2: Deep Into Darkness
Adapted by Michael Larson. Edited by Jeff Douglas.
Nuju, Turaga of Ice, cleared his throat. Rarely did he speak, but the arrival of Toa on the island wasn’t something that happened every day. Now all six Turaga had convened at Kini-Nui, the temple at the center of the island. They stood around the Amaja-Nui, a sand pit where they recited the greatest of legends.
“This is the tale of Mata Nui,” he said hoarsely, “As it has been told for so many years.”
Vakama, Turaga of Fire stepped forward. “In the time before time, when the world was new…”
Now Nokama, Turaga of Water, placed one rock in the Amaja Circle, a rounded tan stone balanced vertically.
“The Great Spirit Mata Nui descended from the skies like a burning star,” she said.
The Turaga of Air, Matau, nodded. “He walked the world, and marveled at its beauty, and watched over all living things.”
Onewa, Turaga of Stone, placed a blackened, twisted shard of obsidian in the pit, which towered over the other rock. “But Mata Nui had been followed by his brother, the dark spirit, Makuta. Makuta coveted this world and all that his brother had.” With a rough shove, he knocked the Mata Nui stone over with the Makuta stone. “Makuta cast a spell that made Mata Nui sleep. Then Makuta claimed the world, and darkness and death were everywhere.”
All six Turaga placed small stones on the six sides of the pit.
“Yet all was not lost. The Great Beings sent six mighty heroes — the Toa — to Mata Nui,” said Whenua, Turaga of Earth. “Six heroes with one destiny: to defeat Makuta and save our world. The Toa will need all their power, for Makuta lives to destroy…”
“These are the tales of the Toa, as told by the Turaga,” said Vakama. “They are tales of danger and strife, but also of courage and wisdom. For even now the forces of Makuta contend with the forces of Mata Nui, threatening to destroy all of creation…”
✴ ✴ ✴
Toa Lewa leapt from his perch on the tree branch, grabbing a vine mid-jump and swinging over to where Toa Gali was rapidly sinking. Miraculously, he had found her, where now she was entrapped in a mud hole deep in Le-Wahi. As she slipped against the mud and sank into the mire, shock and desperation whelmed inside her. She could not escape, and no elemental willpower would bring the waters to an easy aid.
Lewa’s eyes narrowed, and he jumped. Even as he swung over her, Lewa lowered his jungle axe and caught Gali’s hooks, pulling her free from the clinging swamp. Added weight slowed his swing, but Lewa was still able to maneuver the two Toa to safety, helping Gali onto the landing branch with him on their arrival.
“Now you see why I deep-hate water,” Lewa said with a frown, sliding down the vine. “You should be more careful, Gali. Next time, I might not be here to quick-save you.”
Gali dropped from Lewa’s grasp and landed on her feet.
“Thank you, Lewa, but I can look after myself. The waters are normally my ally. But these…these seem so…strange, so angry. They did not respond to my command, as though a greater will than mine had taken hold.”
Lewa laughed. “Water can’t be cross-angry or stubborn! It can’t be anything but wet. I’ll stay here in the fun treetops, well away-far from it.”
Gali shrugged. “You know brother, without water there would be no trees.”
The Toa of Air shrugged noncommittally. He crouched on a branch overhead as he surveyed for hostile Rahi.
Gali glanced at him. “Where are you going now?”
“Up.”
She rolled her eyes.
Lewa looked back at her. “So what do you think of the other Toa?”
“They are very noble and powerful,” Gali mused, scraping the muck from her armor. “I regret that we will all be travelling our own paths, rather than working together.”
Lewa turned on his perch. “I don’t. I’m going to seek-find the Kanohi Masks of Power, as the legends tell-say, and free this island from dark-Makuta.”
He summoned a breeze which blew a nearby suspended vine into his grasp. “The last thing I want is someone else pain-slowing me down.”
With that, the spry Toa of Air leapt off the tree branch and swung deeper into the jungle.
Gali watched him go and shook her head. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She had missed her chance to voice support to Tahu’s proposal of cooperation, and now she feared she would regret it. All the more with Kopaka and Lewa determined to do their own thing.
“Your dreams are as grand as these trees, Lewa,” she said softly. “I hope they do not come crashing down around you.”
✴ ✴ ✴
After meeting with the Toa, Gali had returned to the waters that were her domain, journeying far to find her people. Her persistence led her to Ga-Koro, where the water villagers were held captive by Makuta’s minion, the terrifying Tarakava. With the help of a traveling Ta-Matoran, she saved the village and defeated the beast. Knowing that the other Toa had a head start on her, she stayed only long enough to acquaint herself with the village and her Turaga before hurrying off in search of her masks. Her first stop had been to the Le-Koro swamp, where she had encountered Lewa.
It wasn’t long afterward that Gali was swimming naturally through ocean waters in the direction of Ga-Wahi once more. As she swam, her thoughts drifted back to her recent encounter with the Air Toa.
Lewa is daring and strong, she thought, but I fear strength alone will not be enough. She rounded an outcropping, continuing at her leisurely pace. We face an enemy who holds land, sea, and sky in his grasp. Even now, the waters whisper of—
REEEEEEARK!
Gali darted out of the way just as a giant creature chomped the waters where she had been.
—Danger!
The animal lurched, biting again at Gali, but just missing the Toa as she generated a riptide behind her. No, sea beast, you’ll not find me easy prey!
Gali rounded another undersea rock crop, with her reptilian pursuer in hot pursuit. She was fast, but time would tell if she was fast enough. What she could not know was that the hunter of the sea sought to test Gali’s strength and skill, for it was Makuta’s will that he do so. Perhaps Makuta believed these Toa were weak pretenders, easily conquered. He saw nothing to fear in them.
So many years in darkness must have made Makuta blind.
Still, escape was indeed proving to be a challenge. Gali kicked her legs furiously and angled her hooks by her sides as fins, but was still not gaining much distance.
As she fled the Rahi, she scanned her surroundings when she darted for an opening in the floor. There! That sea cave ahead is my answer. This creature can match my speed, but not, thank the Great Beings—
Right before she entered the cave, Gali created a transverse current, blowing her to the side, before cutting it off. The creature, unable to stop its momentum, flew right into the cave.
—My agility! Gali thought triumphantly. She swam above the cave opening, where she dug her hooks into the wet rock, slicing through and letting them tumble downward and closing off the cave entrance.
This beast must be another one of the Rahi—the monsters of which Kopaka spoke. Gali left her place above the cave and resumed her swim. Well, by the time it finds another exit, I shall be safely away. But I wonder… can there be any safety while Makuta reigns?
✴ ✴ ✴
While Gali traveled homeward once more, Lewa had sought Turaga Matau’s counsel in Le-Koro. But he did not welcome the news he received. Now he bounded along vines and through branches through Le-Wahi’s jungle.
Underwater, Lewa scowled. The Mask of Speed is underwater. How incredibly… annoying.
He was still in Le-Wahi, though his destination was in the swampy portion rather than the forest or jungle.
But it’s not a problem, he assured himself. I can handle it. A stroll-walk in an under-cavern… a swim in the yuck-water… a fast swim…
Lewa landed on the soft jungle floor… and found himself face to face with a massive scorpion.
…and a very, very large monster.
The scorpion tail flashed forward, and Lewa narrowly jumped to the side in time. The tail flashed again, and Lewa once more sidestepped, although it nicked his armor. The scorpion snarled and pulled its tail back again.
Lewa waited until the Rahi, a Nui-Jaga, from what he remembered, again thrust its tail at his position. At the last second, Lewa backflipped out of the way, riding an air current high above his foe. At the same time, the Nui-Jaga’s stinger hit the ground so hard, it got stuck in the marsh.
Activating his mask, the Toa hovered in the air above the struggling Rahi. “Ordinarily, I’d happy-love to stay and chat,” he grinned. He swung his axe, sending a powerful gust toward the Rahi. The wind was so strong that several trees buckled under his power, which collapsed on the Nui-Jaga, pinning it.
“But I can see-watch you’re just cover-buried,” he finished, satisfied. With that, he swung off.
✴ ✴ ✴
Lewa soon found himself in the middle of a dark cavern, lined by stalagmites and stalactites that resembled sharpened teeth. Here, he was circling what appeared to be a modest puddle of water. But already he could tell this was not just a puddle—this body of water’s deceptive surface actually hid an underground reservoir, a large pocket of water that stretched deep below.
He folded his arms. Gali would probably find this happy-funny—the Toa of Air, forced to deep-go into wet-water… which he hates.
He closed his eyes, mentally bracing for the task at hand.
Then again, maybe sister-Gali is climbing trees somewhere right now, he thought. The image brought him some welcome amusement, before he looked back anxiously at the water.
Whoever hid these masks had an ugly-nasty sense of humor.
Sucking in all the air he and his powers could afford, Lewa stole himself and plunged into the water. His strong kicks stirred the mud in the water, which quickly fogged his vision.
Hard to see under here… and to breathe, he thought. I’ll have to find the mask quickly if I don’t want to run out of air and—
Something plantlike wrapped around his ankles. “What!?” he gasped, before thinking better of it. Shock made me open my mouth… no air… but I… will… be…
He sliced his axe with all his strength, and felt his attacker give.
FREE!
Lewa kicked with all his might, propelling himself back to the surface, where he gasped for air. As he did, he saw several shreds of seaweed pop up around him, the only signs of what had attacked him. As he caught his breath, he glanced below the lake again, but there was no sign of movement.
He frowned. “Something doesn’t want me to get-find that mask.”
He submerged. “Well, ‘something’ is going to be sad-disappointed,” he thought with newfound resolve.
Lewa groped in the dark, wary of any more seaweed attacks. In the dim light rays that managed to shimmer through the darkness, Lewa caught sight of a lump on the watery floor, more reflective than its surrounding rocks.
There! he thought, as he swam closer, earning a view of a powerless and lonely Kanohi Mask resembling that of Pohatu. Turaga Matau speak-called this the Kanohi Kakama, the Great Mask of Speed.
Lewa pried the mask from the mud and fitted it over his own Kanohi Miru.
So let’s see what it can do.
Lewa aimed toward the surface triggered the power of the new mask. Instantly, the Kanohi’s power shot through his body, and his arms and legs kicked unbelievably fast, faster than they had before, leaving only a trail of bubbles where the Toa of Air had been a moment before.
Hmmm… Lewa grinned. Maybe it is time to challenge sister-Gali to a race!
✴ ✴ ✴
But at that moment, Gali was beyond thoughts of competition.
Her quest had taken her far from the water to the peak of a great rock spire across the border in Po-Koro. With a gulp, she avoided glancing below, much less imagining what would happen if she fell from so great a height. Her muscles burned with exhaustion, and the inside of her mask was slick with condensation.
With a mighty heave, she pulled herself the rest of the way, digging her hooks into the edge and pulling herself onto the top. As she was pulling herself the rest of the way, she found her fortune—sitting just a few more paces away was a Kanohi Mask. Gali sighed heavily.
At last! When Turaga Nokama showed me this peak, I feared the climb would never end. But now, the Great Mask of Levitation is mine!
Gali rose to her feet and started to walk forward. Only this time, something truly unexpected occurred.
The mountain broke.
It was as if she were standing on a tower of bamboo Matoran disks, for the whole of the surface gave out beneath her very feet. What madness…!? The mountain…!
There was no escape. The entirety of the plateau had disintegrated into fragments beneath her, and there was nothing she could grab onto. With a glance to the mask, she saw it had begun falling as well. “The mask…I must reach it!” she realized.
Gali groped for the mask, a task made harder by the fact both were in free fall. As she tumbled along the rocks, she used them to propel herself forward, even as the ground rushed up to meet her. A little closer…please! she thought, swinging wildly with her hooks.
The ground was getting closer…
closer…
Got you!
She fumbled with the mask and jammed it on her face. This had better work!
Instantly, she felt her descent decelerated, as if the air had thickened around her and padded her fall. Within seconds, she found herself hovering a very comfortable distance off the ground. Gali marveled at the sight, as she dropped the rest of the way. Amazing! This mask lets me float on the air!
A sharp scuttling behind her made her turn.
Then again, perhaps this was not the wisest place to land, she noted, as two large Nui-Jaga scorpions closed in on her. No, not wise at all…
✴ ✴ ✴
At the same time, Lewa stepped out of the marshy cave that had held his Kanohi Kakama, happy to see the sun shining through the canopy again. With his new addition obtained, he was prepared for the journey back to the village of his people.
The Mask of Speed brings great power, but I still like-prefer the freedom of the trees, he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a short moment. So once again I will call upon the Mask of Levitation. At his impulse, the shape of the Mask of Speed was sent away, quickly replaced by the Mask of Levitation.
Grabbing the nearest vine, he propelled himself into the air, using his levitation powers to aid his flight through the jungle. He didn’t understand why none of the other Toa seemed to like Le-Wahi—it had beauty, danger, mystery, adventure, and the music of the Le-Matoran. Lewa dismissed the thought as he continued higher and higher into the sky.
For if one thing was true about Lewa, the Toa of Air, it was that he loved to travel among the highest limbs of the trees, so near the clouds.
But even the skies of Mata Nui hold danger. Here, climbing higher only means you have farther to fall.
A large Nui-Rama slammed into Lewa’s back mid-flight, causing him to let go of his vine, and knocking his mask clean off and out of reach.
Now it was the Toa of Air’s turn to gulp as he himself plunged to the forest floor.