BIONICLE: Faux - Part IV

FAUX: PART IV

  At the crack of dawn, they had resumed their journey. At the rate they were going, Hydraxon calculated that they would be back in New Atero by at least sundown, if not a bit later. That was, of course, if they did not run into any more trouble along the way.

For the few hours, the Matoran had been mostly silent. Then, the Po-Matoran started to complain.

“It’s too bad we don’t have Toa Pohatu with us,” griped Podu. “He could probably get use there in no time.”

“Well, I don’t exactly have a Mask of Speed handy,” Hydraxon groused back. “Now keep quiet.”

He then heard a cry and a fall and looked over to see that Tejuto had fallen over. Hydraxon had noticed that the Ko-Matoran’s legs were uneven, making walking difficult for him without the aid of some sort of walking stick. Clearly he had been robbed of it by either Zakron or Sahmad and now had to rely on one of the other Matoran to help him walk. With this in mind, it was probably going to take them even longer to get back to New Atero.

Realizing what he was going to have to do and hating everything about it, Hydraxon walked over to the Ko-Matoran and picked him up, carrying him on his shoulder.

Tejuto’s eyes went wide behind his Kanohi mask. “Th-thank you,” he said timidly.

“Quiet,” Hydraxon muttered as he resumed walking.

Defilak looked up at him and couldn’t seem to keep a smirk from crossing his mask. “That’s something the Dekar I know would have done.”

“Less talking. We’ll get there faster the less we stop to talk.”

The Matoran dutifully remained silent as they continued their journey. About another hour or so had passed when Hydraxon heard the distinct sound of a rumbling engine.

Readying his Cordak Blaster, he turned around to see some sort of motorized wagon drive towards them. Piloting the vehicle was a being of a species Hydraxon did not recognized but appeared to be biomechanical in nature. The transport slowed to a stop and the pilot poked his head out.

“Hey there. You guys seem to be lost. Need a lift?”

Hydraxon narrowed his eyes. There seemed to be just enough room for the six Matoran and himself, which was awfully convenient. Too convenient, for his liking.

Keeping his Cordak Blaster partially raised, Hydraxon asked, “What’s your name?”

“Ah, you can call me Kraklin. So, are you gonna hop on or what?”

Hydraxon continued to hesitate, but some of the other Matoran had already made up their minds and were walking towards the vehicle. “What are we waiting for?” said Podu. “My legs are getting sore anyway.”

Hydraxon still did not like anything about this scenario but complied anyway, seating Tejuto in the back of the wagon before taking his own seat at the very back. He kept his attention focused on Kraklin as the pilot started to drive them away.

Within half an hour, Hydraxon began to see the outline of New Atero on the horizon. They were getting close, he could tell, but something about their trajectory had him at unease.

“There’s a tavern out here on the outskirts,” he called to Kraklin. “Just drop us off there and we’ll walk the rest of the way.”

“Are you sure?” Kraklin asked. “I can take you all the way into the city.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Hydraxon said curtly. “In fact, just pull over now and we’ll be on our way.”

Kraklin sighed. “And here I was hoping you weren’t going to catch on that soon.”

What happened next would have caught even the most experienced of Toa off-guard, but Hydraxon’s specialized training allowed him to react in time. As Kraklin’s form began to morph, Hydraxon hurled one of his boomerangs at the shapeshifter. At the same time, mere seconds before the resulting explosion, he pushed Kotu out of the vehicle, and the Ga-Matoran ended up taking Gar and Dezalk along with her as she fell out. He then grabbed Podu and Tejuto before using the explosion from the exploding boomerang to propel himself out, landing on his feet as the wagon spiraled out of control.

Gar was quick to bring himself back to his feet, waving his arms wildly. “Wait! Defilak is still in there!”

“Already on it,” Hydraxon growled, adding silently to himself, Don’t tell me how to do my job. He then ran after the transport, which tripped over a rock and fell onto its side. Defilak was sent flying and the Le-Matoran fell face-first into the sand. As Hydraxon ran towards him, Kraklin emerged from the wreckage of the transport, now in the form of a vulture-like Rahi that matched the descriptions of Makuta’s pet Nivawk. The winged creature dove for Defilak even as Hydraxon threw his last boomerang. The Nivawk dodged the blade, which circled back around and headed straight for its target. To Hydraxon’s surprise, the Nivawk dodged again and the blade ended up hitting the ground at Hydraxon’s feet, sending the hunter flying.

He managed to recover his footing by turning his fall into a roll. However, by the time he had gotten back up, the Nivawk had already grabbed Defilak and was now flying back up into the sky. Hydraxon raised his Cordak Blaster but hesitated from firing. Cordak missiles were notoriously explosive, and even if Defilak wasn’t caught in the blast, the fall from that height would certainly kill him if Hydraxon didn’t catch him in time… and as confident as Hydraxon was in his own abilities, he wasn’t confident enough to take that risk.

So instead he let the Nivawk fly off with Defilak, watching it carefully to map its trajectory. He then looked back towards the other five Matoran.

“Do any of you know how to repair a vehicle?” he asked.

“I might know a thing or two,” said Gar.

“Good.” Hydraxon nodded towards the downed wagon. “Help me get that thing repaired. After I drop you off in New Atero, I’m going after that shapeshifter.”

“Do you know where it’s going?” asked Kotu.

“Not yet. But after I have a talk with a few friends, I’m sure I will.”

*  *  *

Defilak grunted as he was dropped onto the ground. Behind him, the Nivawk shapeshifted into another form and grabbed him by the neck, hoisting him up as the being carried him into some sort of dark lair.

“I found one of your dumb Matoran, Roodaka,” the shapeshifter growled. “The others got away. You’ll have to pay me extra if you want me to go back for them.”

“One is still better than none. Excellent work, Triglax.” From the shadows emerged a tall, lithe figure in black and silver armor, blue eyes glowing from a sinister face. “This one will still do nicely.”

Defilak glared at the Vortixx standing in front of him. “I don’t know who you are, but you have another thing quick-coming if you think you’re going to get away with this… whatever ‘this’ is.”

Roodaka laughed mirthlessly as she ran a sharpened finger along his mask, causing Defilak to flinch. “My dear Matoran… by the time your heroes find where you are, it will already be too late to save you.”

She then took Defilak from Triglax’s grip and carried the Le-Matoran over to a slab, dropping him down onto it. Before the Le-Matoran could even attempt to flee, Roodaka raised her Catcher Claws and readied her Rhotuka spinner, which whirred with energy.

“I never know what sort of mutations are going to come out of this,” the Vortixx mused aloud to herself. “That’s honestly half the fun. I’m sure you can guess what the other half is.”

Defilak’s eyes went wide and his mouth opened in a silent scream as the Rhotuka spinner launched from the claws.