Bionicle: The Mask of Imitation

Chapter 1: A Myth and a Mask

A sigh came from behind the crimson mask, sat upon the silver metallic face of the tall figure. He was clad in red and gold armor; energized, transparent-orange plating breaking up the solid armour, partially contained by the golden gauntlets across his forearms and shoulders.

"Tahu?"

Even a voice as gentle as hers was enough to shatter the silence that had formed around the Toa. He turned slowly, seeing her slowly step into view.

"Gali," he greeted in turn, his voice low and trailing off into a heaved exhale.

"Is something the matter?" the Toa of Water asked, her head tilted slightly, eyes peering through the holes of her mask and looking over her brother; concerning filling her view of her brother. And even with her mask concealing most of her expressions, he could tell she had that small frown of hers on.

"Nothing, sister," Tahu responded, attempting to keep from sounding too hasty or hesitant as he spoke. The flames of the torch beside him flickered from a gentle breeze, dancing across the Toa of Fire's form. His hand rose slightly, following the faint trail left behind by the embers, resparking them back to life, if only for a moment. It bordered the line between control and freedom, his power over the burnt out embers, as the path came to its end on the table. His armored fingers brushing against the smooth metal of a mask that rested on the table. A mask mirroring his own, all but in colour; this was a warm gold, reflecting the fire.

"Alright." Gali said with a slight frown as she looked out over the balcony of the forge room. "The city looks marvelous from this height," Gali said, her voice trailing off as Tahu nodded, placing his two, long, katana like blades which glistened a bright gold under the torchlight. He lifted the pair of large silver blades, which radiated with his elemental flaming energy in the center, from the wall, and cradled them under his arm as he tapped Gali's large left shoulder pauldron.

"We should go meet up with the others; it would be best that we don't keep them, or Ekimu, waiting," Tahu spoke as Gali responded with a nod.

"Yes, of course," She smiled, lifted her long, large, but thin, double bladed axe, hoisted it upon her shoulder and turned into the forge room. After taking a few steps, she lifted a mask from the wall; a golden mask, which also looked just like the one sitting over her face. Her bright, almost neon yellow eyes then drifted over towards Tahu. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," the red armored Toa said, making his way passed Gali, walking towards the other side of the room and stepping through the open doorway into the aging, broken city outside. He took a deep breath, making his way down the numerous steps to arrive at ground level, Gali trailing closely behind him.

"Tahu, Gali, we are glad you could join us." Spoke the calm, almost soothing voice of a much shorter figure than Tahu, he was clad in gold armor from head to toe, with energetic transparent blue armor underneath. An interesting and unique mask sat upon his face, covered with ornate carvings, and a large, ornamental crown around the top. This was the same mask that had just caused them so much trouble, the fabled mask of creation.

"Of course Ekimu, we are sorry we kept you waiting." Tahu said, giving him a slight bow as he joined his fellow Toa, and the Protectors. Ekimu shook his head, looking up at the two.

"No need Tahu." He assured.

"This is sweet and all but I'd like to know, what exactly happened to Kulta?" Sneered a more lanky member of the group behind Ekimu, his armor was a bright, emerald green, with two great axes upon his back.

"Excellent question Lewa." Gali added, her gaze shifting back to Ekimu.

"Ahh, Kulta." He sighed. "With the aid of the protectors, we have taken his mask and locked him in the caverns below the city." The Mask maker said, another figure from the group gave a smirk.

Kopaka, clad in white armor with large golden shoulder pauldrons mounted on both sides of his head, his golden mask was a bit more interesting than the rest of the Toa, while Tahu of fire, Gali of water, Lewa of jungle, Pohatu of stone, and Onua of earth, all had perfectly symmetrical masks. But the mask of this white hero, held three magnifying scopes on the right side, likely to aid his vision in the wild blizzards of his region.

"Good, we won't have to deal with him." burst the rather cheerful yet very deep voice of the widest Toa, though his stature was rather small, his chest was massive and hulking, with two large, silver, shovel like plates on his shoulders. The majority of his armor was black, though the armor plating on his shins and forearms was purple, over his shins sat gilded plates, the same over his upper arms.

"Makuta is sure to have more foes for us." Kopaka said, crossing his arms.

"Relax brother, we can handle any of Makuta's threats."

"Don't tell me to relax Onua.." Kopaka said, giving him a slight glare. "We couldn't even handle the Skull Grinder, how can we hope to accomplish anything without Ekimu's help."

"Kopaka is right..why should we be so relaxed?" Interrupted the voice of the final Toa, his right arm glowing a vibrant bright green underneath the burnt orange armor, though his left arm was covered completely in silver armor, with no such glow.

"In time you will come to understand your abilities Toa." Ekimu sighed, getting tired of their arguing.

"Whatever you say, wise one..." Kopaka sighed, leaning his large white shield against a weathered and cracked stone wall.

"Now..Ekimu..what shall we do next?" Tahu questioned as Ekimu brought his hand up to his chin.

"Well..." He thought, giving a sigh. "If we are going to stop Makuta, we will need to find a mask, one from a time before time, if Makuta obtains it then he would have the ability to use the power of any mask he wants when he needs it."

"I don't suppose we can let him have that then." Gali sighed, resting a hand on her hip as Ekimu gave her a nod.

"We need to lock it away." Ekimu said, lifting his hammer up from the ground. "But first we need to leave the city." He continued.

"But how? The bridge collapsed." Onua said, giving a frown and scratching his head. Ekimu simply looked over to him, smirking slightly.

"Then I will rebuild it." He replied.