BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall

"He never thought he was a true Toa hero. He always said he wasn't an athlete or a leader, 'just a translator.' He turned out to be the greatest of us all."

- Toa Mahri Kongu

BIONICLE Legends 8: Downfall is the eighth BIONICLE book in the BIONICLE Legends series.

==Synopsis ==

Three days after the Toa Mahri were returned to Metru Nui, Toa Hahli tells the chronicle of their journey to the new Chronicler, Kopeke.

In the depths of Mahri Nui, Hydraxon takes aim and fires a bullet at the Ignika after wresting control of it from Nocturn. Before it hits home, a current, controlled by Hahli, sends the bullet off course. Mantax then hurries, grabs the Mask of Life and speeds away. His curse, the ability to drain the energy from others, weakens Hahli and Hydraxon, keeping them from pursuing. Once recovered, Hahli tells the other Toa what happened, and Matoro uneasily tells the Toa of what must be done to save Mata Nui's life. Once they have the mask, they are to destroy the stone cord connecting Mahri Nui and Voya Nui, thus killing thousands of Matoran. It is then decided that the Matoran would be safe in the caverns beneath Voya Nui, so the Toa send them up the cord. As they go up, the evil Piraka, now mutated by the mutagenic waters, appear and attack with their new, snake-like bodies. As the Toa begin to fight, a blast of energy hits them all, rendering everyone unconscious. When they wake up, they find out that Axonn saved them, and he provides them with a transport: the Toa Terrain Crawler. The creature heals the Toa and repairs their armor. As they descend, Gadunka is beginning to rise from his home, now fully grown by the power of the Ignika.

Meanwhile, Mantax and the other Barraki hold a meeting. After a long discussion, Mantax explains that one Barraki betrayed them to the Brotherhood of Makuta long ago. With the mask as his bargaining chip, he demands the traitor face punishment right then and there. During this time, Maxilos, the unknown host body of the Makuta strikes Hydraxon down. However, Hydraxon does not go down without a fight as he commands Spinax to attack the Makuta, who then proceeds to brush off the Rahi. After this encounter, Hydraxon stabs the Maxilos robot's left limbs, disabling them for good. After Mantax explains about the traitor, a giant avalanche carrying Makuta breaks up the meeting, a distraction which the traitor uses to his advantage to steal the tablet and the mask, revealing to all the Barraki who it is: Takadox. After a fight between the Toa Mahri and Gadunka, Mantax uses his paralyzing venom on Takadox, causing him to drop the mask and allowing Mantax to recapture it. Around this time, the Makuta-possessed Maxilos gets up, and begins fighting the Barraki after revealing to them who he is. However, the Barraki beat Makuta, and they race on to fight the Toa Mahri. Matoro, seeing the Makuta approach, freezes him as Jaller reclaims the Mask of Life himself. The ice covering does not last long, as Jaller protects himself against Hydraxon by unleashing a fire wall, inadvertently freeing the Makuta who joins into the fray. Jaller yells for Matoro, who takes the mask, and the Toa leave. Matoro and Jaller talk for a bit, and seal their friendship. When the Toa Mahri meet together again, they are prepared to destroy the cord. After a diversion with a few creatures, they sink the cord and race to where Voya Nui was going. Sadly, before they could make it, Mata Nui dies. Matoro, desperate, consults with his friends, and it is decided that he will go and try to bring Mata Nui back while the others make the ultimate sacrifice of facing the Barraki to buy him time.

Matoro swims to where Voya Nui is going, and, through the urging of the mask, he puts it on and uses it to bring back Mata Nui, which kills him in the process as it requires his life energy. Before he dies, Matoro uses the power of the Ignika to teleport the Toa Mahri to safety, as his friends are on the losing side of the battle against the Barraki. After the teleportation is done, Matoro dies, and brings back the Great Spirit.

Back on Metru Nui, the Toa Mahri realize the awful truth and are deeply saddened by it. Nuju is even worse, even though he does celebrate for the Great Spirit's revival.

At this point, Hahli stops her tales, and tells Kopeke that "... [Matoro is] never truly gone... as long as the Great Spirit Mata Nui exists."

In the Pit, Hydraxon continues looking for runners, never knowing that he was once a Po-Matoran named Dekar.

Meanwhile, the Toa Nuva are on Artakha, getting their new Adaptive Armor and Toa Tools. From there, Artakha teleports them to Karda Nui, where they see a battle raging in the sky ...

Matoro's Final Moments
Taken directly from Downfall

In the heart of a waterfall, Matoro fell.

________ The outside world was a blur of motion. He thought he caught glimpses of high mountains around him. It seemed there was a body of murky water down below, though he could not be sure. At one point, a dark, winged shape flew through the falls just below him, but he could not identify it.

________ Time was measured in micro-seconds now, flashes of sight and sensation as he plunged deep into the core of the universe. He realized that he had made this leap of faith with absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do with the Mask of Life once he got here. It almost made him laugh. His five best friends were giving their lives for him, and here he was, moments from disaster and still clueless about what it would take to be a hero this day.

________ Put on the mask.

________ "What—?" he said, startled. "Who said that?"

________ There was no answer. Had he really heard that, or was he losing his mind?

________ Put on the mask.

________ The Mask of Life — no one really knew the limits of its power. Maybe he was just hallucinating that he heard a voice, but the idea... what if the mask had to be, not just carried to the core, but donned for its power to be used? He remembered Takua, the adventurous Matoran who was hailed as the "herald" of a seventh Toa, meant to bring the Mask of Light to him wherever he might be. Little did anyone know Takua was destined to become that Toa, and the hero he had to find was the one who lived inside his own heart.

________ The universe is a riddle, thought Matoro. ''Turaga Nuju often said that. It hints at the path you are meant to walk, but never makes its message clear. You have to figure that out for yourself... and maybe I just did.''

________ With a trembling hand, Matoro placed the Kanohi Ignika on top of his own mask. He expected to feel a surge of strength, or perhaps the opposite, a sudden, terrible weakness. But instead he felt... different. His body felt light and tingled as if a current of energy ran through it. He was falling still, but no longer tumbling out of control. His form was straight as an arrow and headed for a target still unknown.

________ Images flashed through Matoro's mind. He saw the creation of the Ignika; its millenia of waiting for the proper time to be used and the destined wearer; he saw it taken from its resting place once before, to be used to heal the Great Spirit... and he saw what happened to the one who wore it then.

________ He didn't cry out, or protest, or rush to tear the mask from his face. Nor did he waste a single moment in regret. He had never asked to become a Toa, or desired it, and the mantle of hero had never fit comfortably on his shoulders. But now, now he knew, and the knowledge brought peace.

________ ''Nuju was right. The universe is a riddle. And today, I am the answer.''

________ His arms were thrust out in front of him. They were glowing now, little sparkles of light like the starfield above the island of Mata Nui. His whole body was changing now, patterns of light swirling, energies being unleashed, as the Mask of Life drew forth the essence of the being called Matoro.

________ Is this the end then? he wondered. Is this what it feels like?

________ Yes, he decided. This was death. This was the price the Ignika demanded for its use. He would no longer exist as Matoro, as a Toa, as a living being of organic muscle and mechanical parts... he would be far less than what he was, and far more.

________ The world was changing all around him, and it did not frighten the Toa of Ice. He knew the real change was in how he was viewing his surroundings — no longer with eyes, a mind, a spirit bound to the physical world. He was becoming pure energy, pure life... the force that would bring the Great Spirit back from death. Already, he could barely remember how it felt to be in battle, or to be lonely, or to feel the warmth of a fire on a cold night. Pleasure, pain, satisfaction, disappointment, these were all just words to him now. He was beyond all that, or almost.

<font COLOR="white">________ But there was one emotion, one part of his former life, that he had not forgotten — one memory he refused to surrender. Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu — his friends — his partners — who had fought beside him and laughed with him and made all the burdens bearable. They were out there now in the black water, about to die at the claws of the Barraki. No one on Metru Nui would ever know of their heroism or the sacrifices they were willing to make. They would never see their homes or those they cared about ever again.

<font COLOR="white">________ His own death, he could accept — but theirs? No, that was too high a price to pay, even to buy the salvation of a universe.

<font COLOR="white">________ He was Toa Matoro, at least for a few moments more, and he wore the Mask of Life. Or perhaps the Mask of Life now wore him. He didn't know, or care. He knew his friends were willing to die for him and his destiny, and for that reason alone, they had to live.

<font COLOR="white">________ Matoro pushed back against the power of the mask, fighting to hold on to his consciousness and his own existence for just another heartbeat. He wrestled with the power, pleaded with it, tried to bend it to his will. The Ignika, for reasons of its own, allowed this.

<font COLOR="white">________ Once before, long ago, a Toa had donned the Ignika and lost his life to complete his mission. That Toa had tried to be brave, but there was fear in his heart and he met his end with grief and regret. The Ignika sensed none of this in Matoro — only a will and determination that rivaled even that of Mata Nui himself.

<font COLOR="white">________ The Mask of Life, bound now to the energy of Matoro, granted him its power. Matoro seized upon it to perform his final act. It was not one of grand heroism, not a gesture that would shake the universe, but something more powerful and lasting than either one: a simple act of friendship.

<font COLOR="white">________ With all that done, Matoro surrendered himself gratefully and completely to his destiny. The merged energies of Toa and Kanohi mask exploded in the core of the universe, flooding it with light. Streams of golden power flowed into every part of this realm and then beyond it, until it had touched every place where the Great Spirit had once reigned. Just as countless beings had sensed the death of Mata Nui, so did they now feel life return to him. And in the sky above the city of Metru Nui, the stars shone brightly once before...

Characters

 * The Toa Mahri
 * The Barraki
 * The Piraka
 * Matoran of Mahri Nui
 * Axonn
 * Hydraxon
 * Maxilos/Makuta Teridax
 * Spinax
 * Turaga Vakama
 * Turaga Nuju
 * The Toa Nuva
 * Kopeke
 * Artakha (Voice Only)
 * Gadunka
 * Makuta Vamprah (Briefly, Not Mentioned by Name)

Trivia

 * An excerpt of this story was in BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe.