Mazeka: Chapter Three

The unlikely pairing of Matoran and Makuta travelled fast. As soon as they had found their bearings, they were able to teleport quickly to the crash site and the entrance to the Matoran universe near the Matoran/Agori camps. The Ko-Matoran had been quick to suggest that they simply teleport to Destral, but as one who did not hail from a Matoran universe, much less the Brotherhood fortress itself, Makuta quickly shot down the possibility of warping there. Evidently it was one thing to escape the universe onto the land of a relatively familiar planet, but it was another to go in the opposite direction.

“Besides,” he had said, “Travel on foot will mean we are likely to intercept any Shadow Toa before they emerge.”

After dodging a Su-Matoran gatekeeper, the two found themselves in the dying land of the Southern Island Chain. Although the illumination of the universe’s great lightsources were gone, a giant hole had been punctured in the sky of the world, and the two travellers were able to use it to navigate the apocalyptic landscape.

Though the universe was almost completely abandoned, the two frequently encountered small bands of refugees navigating to the south. From one of these — a group of Matoran hailing from the Nui Caves of the Southern Continent’s Valmai region — they were able to gather that Makuta Teridax’s old Toa Hagah team was still present in the universe, seeking out survivors and directing them to safety. The Toa did so against the backdrop of a sky that could collapse on them at any minute.

“Of course they do,” Mazeka snorted.

✴        ✴        ✴

“Be careful. They’re dangerous,”

“A Matoran?” Teridax chuckled, shapeshifted to a form that didn’t resemble a Makuta. The two were behind a large rock on the shore of Destral.

“They’re Shadow Matoran. He may be hiding his wings and claws, but I’ve dealt with them enough to tell when they’ve been affected. This one is in the daylight, but there are twenty more waiting in the fortress to attack. We’ll have to advance with caution.”

Teridax laughed even louder. “Come now. That doesn’t sound like the Mazeka I know.” Standing from their cover, he activated his magnetic energies. Caught off-guard, the Matoran shot forward, dropping his weapons as he flew through the air and into the outstretched arm of Makuta.

“Shadow Matoran,” Makuta snarled. “What is your game?”

“Wait!” the Matoran shouted, squirming and struggling to loose Makuta’s iron grip on his neck. “Please, don’t hurt me! I’m not a shadow Matoran!”

“Please,” Mazeka scoffed. “Like we haven’t heard…”

But his voice drifted off as he caught a better glimpse of the Matoran.

“I know you, don’t I,” he realized. “We’ve fought before.”

“Yes! Yes!” the Matoran grasped. “Please, don’t kill—”

“First tell me where the other Shadow Matoran are hiding.”

“There aren’t any others! I’m the only one left!”

Mazeka looked at Teridax. “Is he telling the truth?”

“He thinks he is.”

“Then let him go.”

Teridax eyed Mazeka with a flicker of wry amusement. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, and the Matoran dropped to the ground in a fit of coughs.

Mazeka wasted no time, advancing upon the fallen Matoran.

“Where are the other Shadow Matoran?” he demanded. “What makes you think you aren’t one anymore?”

Clutching his throat, the Matoran raised one hand to ward off Mazeka.

“Please, I — It was Vican,” the Matoran blurted out. “Vican… he saved us. He found a way to make Shadow Matoran normal again.”

“That’s impossible,” Mazeka frowned. “Vican? The Vican?”

“He figured it out,” the Shadow Matoran insisted. “The scream of a Klakk, it cures…”

“That’s absurd. The Order’s tried dozens of methods…”

“I don’t know how, but he made us all normal again. See?” he presented his armor proudly. “I’m a Po-Matoran. No more wings, claws…”

“But you still have a hunchback, black armor, and—”

“Enough,” Makuta cut him off. “Matoran, what is your name, and tell us what happened here.”

The Matoran took a deep breath.

“I’m Eegur, a former Shadow Matoran and assistant to Makuta Krika. Well, in the war before the Makuta’s takeover, there wasn’t much we Shadow Matoran could do, right? Tried to stay inside and out of the way. Anyway, after all the Makuta were killed and we were the only ones left here, Vican gets back to Destral, but he was talking crazy talk, that he’d kept the Av-Matoran in Karda Nui, the Toa of Light, and the Toa Nuva from dying, and helped them reawaken Mata Nui.”

“Is there a short version of this story?” Mazeka demanded.

“All the Shadow Matoran were laughing at him, but then he went down to the Rahi pens and started provoking a bunch of Klakk. We Shadow Matoran went to watch him get beaten to death, but when they started screaming, it was like something reawoke in us. I don’t know what it was, but… we weren’t Shadow Matoran anymore.”

“Dubious at best,” Mazeka growled.

The Matoran ignored him. “Anyway, Vican and the others have left for the south where everyone else has been going, but there’s one more Shadow Matoran that hasn’t been accounted for. I wanted to stick around to see if he came back here so I could get him cured. Not sure how, since all the Klakk flew off, but we’d figure it out.”

“Vultraz is not in the Matoran universe anymore,” Makuta said. “You might as well leave before this universe collapses on itself.”

“Oh,” Eegur looked crestfallen.

“How did you lose your wings and claws?” asked Mazeka, less aggressively than before.

“I… I don’t know,” the Matoran shook his head. “I was just standing here several days ago, and whoosh. Back to normal. I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. Just another blessing from Mata Nui, I guess.”

“Has anyone else been here since the war?” Makuta pressed.

“A Toa of Rock and… I think the Toa of Light were here briefly. Followed by a Toa of Earth,” Eegur said. “I didn’t let them see me, though. They got pretty deep, and when they were chased back out, the Toa of Light seemed really disturbed about something. Then I think Makuta teleported them away. I found a journal that the Toa of Light dropped on his way out.”

Makuta glanced at Mazeka. “Does this fit what you expect to be down there?”

“Seems like it. I think I can guess what happened.”

Makuta looked back at Eegur. “Leave this place, Eegur.”

“Sounds good,” Eegur responded, starting for the bay. “Hey, if you see Vultraz, let him know I’m looking for him.”

Once Eegur was out of earshot, Teridax shapeshifted back to his normal form. Mazeka rolled his eyes. “Shadow Matoran,” he muttered under his breath.