Mata Nui Comics

2003 - BIONICLE Comic 9: Divided We Fall

Adapted by Michael Larson. Edited by Jeff Douglas.

Before long, what started as a playful jest became a team endeavor as battle lines were drawn. Tahu, Gali, and Pohatu took positions on one side of the clearing with Kopaka, Onua, and Lewa moving to the other end. Their silver Nuva armor glinted in the dim light that shone through the trees above them, and they held their Toa tools at the ready.

“Prepare yourselves!” Tahu declared. “The ultimate challenge is about to begin!”

With that, the spry Toa Nuva leapt into action, a veritable blur of colors. Gali raised her axes to summon a mighty flood, laughing over the noise of the churning waters.

“After our struggles with the Bohrok, defeating these three will be no problem at all!” she taunted.

The tsunami rushed straight for her target, Toa Nuva Lewa, who called upon the wind to lift him out of the way just in time, using his air katana as glider wings. Flipping in the air, he spiraled and looped away.

“Think what you like, Gali,” he cried, sending a wall of wind that pushed her wave back at her, knocking her off her feet. “But you’ll have to be faster than that to stop me!”

“Did you say faster?!”

In horror, Lewa looked down to see Pohatu racing in circles beneath him, stirring up a tornado of stones around his brother Toa and sucking him down, then sending him spiraling out of control.

“How about this?” the Toa of Stone called upward. “Let’s see you glide out of a tornado on those air katana ‘wings,’ Lewa!”

Not far away, Onua Nuva chuckled, “Now, Pohatu, my brother…didn’t Turaga Onewa ever tell you?” His hands crackled with elemental power. “You always have to watch where you’re running—especially when Onua Nuva is near!”

Pohatu gulped. Before he could change direction, a wave of earth rose out of a slope to his right, forming an avalanche that rolled right toward him. He tried shifting directions and running from it, but the ground erupted beneath him, and he found himself running up a steep ramp of solid earth. When he tried to stop, his momentum prevailed. Helplessly, the Toa skidded up and over Onua’s small mountain, disappearing from view. A few seconds later, the forest resounded with a distant crash.

Satisfied, Onua took a step forward, only to slip on ice. He landed hard in a patch of mud which froze instantly, pinning him halfway beneath the earth. Kopaka looked on, cool amusement dancing in his eyes. He turned to face the only other Toa standing.

“That leaves you and I, Tahu Nuva.”

Tahu raised his magma swords, warding off the cold. “No,” he smirked. “That only leaves me.”

White flame lanced from his blades, racing to the Toa of Ice. As the elemental energies swept toward his rival Toa, Tahu mentally bent the power of flame with his mind, coalescing it into a swirling cage of flames, encasing the ice-wielder.

Kopaka gazed around him at the fire prison.

Tahu Nuva holds far more control of his element than Tahu did, he mused, wary of the heat that was sapping his energies. But I can already see this will require only a fraction of my energies.

“A fire cage?” he allowed himself to smile. “How… amusing.”

Raising his arms, Kopaka emitted a sub-zero wave of cold energy from his being, instantaneously freezing the flames and hot air solid. “That’s enough to imprison a mindless Rahi, perhaps…”

With a wide, powerful sweep of his tools, Kopaka’s blade and shield broke through the ice. The action reduced the flaming cage to insignificant fragments that fell to the ground.

“…but not Kopaka Nuva!”

Kopaka kicked the ice shards. “You always were a little too confident, Tahu,” he mocked.

Tahu’s temper flared at the insult, and the temperature spiked. “Beware, brother…” he snarled, advancing on Kopaka. “When I turn up the heat, even the Toa Nuva of Ice will melt!”

With that, he roared and raced at Kopaka. So focused was he on his enemy that he failed to notice the small tidal wave coming from the side until it hit him, slamming him into a tree.

“Enough!”

Gali threw the two Toa back in their tracks, then grabbed them by their armor. She locked eyes with Tahu, then with Kopaka, who were each too startled by her boiling rage to remember their own. “We’ve learned what we set out to learn,” she said finally, releasing them.

Just then, the dizzy Toa of Stone stumbled back into the clearing. Seeing Lewa and Onua standing awkwardly to the side and Gali backing away from the other two, he could already guess what he had missed.

“Well, that was fun,” Pohatu said breathlessly. “What will we do for an encore?”

✴        ✴        ✴

In a cave hidden deep in Le-Koro, something stirred in the darkness. There was no slow awakening, nor question of directive; speed was key, and purpose was known.

“Then we are decided…?” one asked.

“Yes, But what if the Toa Nuva should try to interfere?” another wondered. “Can we succeed where the Rahi and the Bohrok swarms have failed?”

“We can. We must.”

“The eyes of the Bohrok Va have seen all. The data is comprehensive.”

The red figure gestured to the cave wall. Six heroic figures were carved into the stone.

“The heart of the Toa Nuva’s power lies in their villages,” the creature remarked. “Steal that heart, and they will be unable to stop us.”

High-voltage electricity erupted from the figure’s weapon, searing the carvings out of existence. “They do not know who we are,” it said. “They do not know we are here. They do not know why.”

It pulled its shield back, cancelling its electric blast. “And when they do…it will already be too late.”

The figures hurried out of the cave, leaving behind only smoke to mark their presence. As the haze cleared, the carving of the six Toa was utterly decimated, replaced instead by a single word:

KAL

✴        ✴        ✴

On the outskirts of the village of Ta-Koro, Tahu surfed atop his magma swords, gliding atop the crest of a lava wave in the direction of his village. Having just spent some time arguing with Gali over the needlessness of sticking together all the time, all Tahu could think about was how eager he was to return to his element. It felt good to be back.

Gali is wrong, he convinced himself, rounding a turn. A Toa Nuva can meet any challenge, alone and unaided. He approached and then leaped through the main gate of Ta-Koro, landing in the village’s entry square. We have our Kanohi and our elemental powers. They are our strength.

Tahu looked up on a rise to see the fire elder, Vakama, coming toward him. Behind him came running two armed Ta-Matoran guards — a far cry from their usual warm greeting.

Tahu frowned, alarmed. “Vakama, why are the guards protecting the village of Ta-Koro from me!?”

At that, the two Matoran started, surprised to hear Tahu’s voice. Then, embarrassed, they turned to return to their posts.

“Forgive them, Tahu,” Vakama answered, taking the Toa Nuva’s hand and leading him into the village. “They are not yet used to your new appearance…or your new power. Remember your first encounter with the Ta-Koro Guard.”

“Only the enemies of Mata Nui have anything to fear from me,” Tahu said confidently. “I may have changed…but my love for my people has not.”

“In their hearts, all Matoran know this,” Vakama said as the pair walked on.

Tahu Nuva was not the only thing new and different since the Bohrok Invasion. The village had changed, been upgraded, also. The Ta-Matoran Guard was known as one of the fiercest village militias, but caught by surprise, it was still the first to suffer at the claws of the machines when the Bohrok Wars began. Much of the village had been redesigned, and with the help of the Bohrok drones, repair work had gone much faster than it otherwise would have.

Vakama led the Toa to the Ta-Suva, the fire shrine dedicated to Tahu, personally, as the hero of flame. The Suva played a relatively large part in the lives of the Toa. Their primary function was to store Kanohi; a Toa could teleport masks to and from a Suva as needed. Suva physically stored the Kanohi, and when called upon, converted them to an energy form and transported them to the Toa’s location.

But what are they for now? Tahu wondered. In their quest for the masks, the Toa had each gathered several different Kanohi. At the Kini-Nui, their six Great Kanohi masks were combined into a golden Kanohi, housing elevated powers of all six masks as well as negating the need to switch masks. Upon the transformation of the Toa into Toa Nuva, the golden Kanohi had also transformed into Kanohi Nuva. We have no need of more masks, now.

But Vakama was focused on another aspect of the Suva. The fire elder reached for a hovering a square-like tablet and picked it up. On the tablet were two L-shaped lines, one facing right and the other mirrored on the left. Just like the symbols of the other Toa, this mysterious object had appeared at the Bohrok’s defeat.

“Even now, in every village, the Matoran gather to celebrate the symbols of the Toa Nuva’s might,” Vakama said, holding the symbol up to Tahu. “For these appeared upon your victory over the Bohrok swarms and the Bahrag—they represent our peace. Each village will honor and protect the symbol of its Toa Nuva for all time.”

✴        ✴        ✴

“Turaga Nuju asks if you are pleased with this tribute to your might,” Matoro translated for the Turaga of Ice. Behind him, a small troop of Kohrok Va formed an assembly line fashion, carving ice and using it to assemble new dwellings for the Ko-Matoran after the village’s damage from the swarms.

Kopaka looked again at the moderately-sized tablet in Nuju’s hands. On it was a carving of jagged lines, depicting a two-dimensional view of cascading mountains overlapping. “I am pleased that my people are safe,” replied the Toa Nuva of Ice. “That is what is important to me. As for this…” he pointed Matoro back to the Nuva Symbol, “…it is only a symbol. It has no power, Matoro.”

Matoro bowed. “I will guard it just the same, and it will be here when you return.”

Kopaka nodded and started off to patrol Ko-Wahi, alone with his thoughts.

Nuju also soon left. Matoro was looking at the path he had taken when, to his surprise, he happened to noticed one of the Kohrok Va eyeing the Nuva Symbol.

He hesitated. Bohrok Va were not known for staring into space, much less gazing at such an important object. For a brief moment, he considered his options.

But then, the moment seemed to pass. The Kohrok Va looked directly at him, then resumed its work, hammering away at the small hut. Matoro exhaled slowly.

No reason for concern.

✴        ✴        ✴

On the slopes of one of the many mountains surrounding Mount Ihu, Kopaka Nuva skied in and out of crevices and valleys. Though the land was peaceful and the Rahi were calm, the Toa’s heart was conflicted.

I am… troubled, he thought. Our new powers are great, but they have driven the Toa Nuva apart. Perhaps that is best, but…did someone—or something—know this would happen? Plan for us to split apart?

Kopaka’s mind flashed back to Gali’s words.

Is Mata Nui in peril once more?

✴        ✴        ✴

On the slopes of one of the many mountains surrounding Mount Ihu, Kopaka Nuva skied in and out of crevices and valleys. Though the land was peaceful and the Rahi were calm, the Toa’s heart was conflicted.

“‘Only a symbol’,” Matoro scoffed quietly. Kopaka didn’t get it. “But to us Matoran, it is much more: it is a reminder that the Toa Nuva will always be here to protect us.”

“No. They will not,” said a voice from behind the Ko-Matoran.

Matoro whirled, startled. “Who—? Oh, no…NO!”

Before he could see his attacker, he felt himself yanked to the ground as gravity itself turned oppressive and he was sucked to the ground. “I will stop you!” he grunted. He felt like he weighed a ton. “I—I’m so heavy I can’t stand…” he exclaimed. “Can’t stand… can’t get up… to heavy—”

Though he could not move his head, out of the corner of his eye he perceived the Nuva Symbol being lifted from its cradle. Horrified, he groaned, “But you can’t—”

“I can,” the attacker sneered. “My brothers and I will find the prize we seek…and neither Kopaka Nuva nor any other will stop us!”

✴        ✴        ✴

Kopaka glided over a valley, forming the bridge beneath his blades as he glided through the air. Still, his thoughts troubled him.

All seems peaceful… but is it the peace that comes before the avalanche?

The bridge ended and he glided off it into thin air. Kopaka looked down in horror—that was not supposed to happen. He angled in midair and grasped for the bridge, but it crumbled beneath his weight, and the hastily-formed supports could not withstand his downward momentum. The whole structure splintered and crumbled as Kopaka tumbled into the valley.

“The bridge!” Kopaka cried.

He thought fast. An ice slide will get me safely to the ground, and then—

Kopaka’s heart stopped. His sword still wasn’t utilizing his will over ice. He put away his shield and tried to manifest his power with an open hand, but that didn’t work, either.

What’s this!? My ice powers—they’re gone!

Kopaka tumbled helplessly down into the valley.

And without them—there is no escape!