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Brutaka's Game: Ch 17

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Brutaka’s Game Ch 17

    Sarah woke up, startled. Rahkshi hissed and screeched as they entered the chamber with crates in their hands. A few of them placed their crates down near her. She looked over as far as she could and realized they were full of guns and ammo. Ruunaja’s entrance pulled her attention. "Where did you get those?"
    "Where do you think?” he grinned. “There are sites all over the island with your weapons." He took a rifle and held it with pride. "Just think: an army of Rahkshi being able to use these. They will wipe our enemies out in a heartbeat." He then tossed it back to a Rahkshi.
    “But for now, it is time to return to Destral. Come along now.”
    He passed by and signaled a Rahkshi. It hissed and unchained Sarah. When freed, she was pushed until she joined in on the chain of twenty Rahkshi. On the other side of the chamber was a tunnel, leading them to Destral. Sarah struggled to figure a way out. It all seemed futile. That was until she spotted something to her left. An open crate was being carried by two Rahkshi. Inside was an M-16. It was unloaded, but right next to it were its magazines, full of bullets. Behind those two Rahkshi was another, carrying Lewa’s Katana. A plan began to form in her mind, but time wasn’t on her side. Ruunaja and the first Rahkshi were already deep in the tunnel. She took deep breaths before finally running for the gun. She yanked it out, loaded it, and opened fire on the first Rahkshi she saw.
    What happened next went by faster than she could comprehend. The Rahkshi she shot didn’t get the chance to screech as the Kraata inside died instantly. She spun around and shot the Rahkshi meant to escort her. It fell to one knee, fatally wounded in the side of the head. She then sent her attention to the Rahkshi with Lewa’s swords. 
    Ruunaja spun around to see the commotion and saw Sarah running for the exit with Katana in hand. He cringed his teeth. “Shut the doors!”
    The Rahkshi on the other end obeyed. One on each end began to close them. Panicked, Sarah pointed the Katana behind her, hoping to give herself a boost. The sudden gust of wind launched her forward to the point that her feet were barely touching the ground. With only inches to spare she made it through before the doors were closed shut. She landed on her stomach and moaned.
    As she panted, she slowly got on her feet and looked back. As far as she could tell, they were having trouble opening the door. She smiled and began to walk away until she heard a strange sound from behind. She turned around to see Ruunaja at the door, his eyes blood red. The shock and sight made her turn around and run for her life. She could hear his heavy metal joints and feet as he ran. The sounds grew louder, telling her he was catching up. For a brief moment, she spun around and fired her gun. Ruunaja kept running as the bullets ricochet off his armor. With staff in hand, he swung at her. She was able to dodge his staff, but couldn't react in time to dodge him as he swung his free arm at her, hitting her in the stomach. The blow knocked her off her feet and she flew several yards before landing on her
back. The impact forced the wind out of her and she gasped for air while trying to get back on her feet. She looked around for the swords and found them. The only problem was Ruunaja was in the way and walking towards her.
    "I know you’re smart enough to try to think of a plan out of here," he spat, "but I didn't know you’re stupid enough to think you could ever pull one off!"  
    She wasn’t sure how or why, but she was able to pull off a smirk and shrugged. "That’s just part of being Human." She aimed her gun and fired again, only to find she was out of bullets.
    She staggered back a few steps before turning around to run. She didn't get very far when he grabbed her shirt.
    "Let go of me!" she shouted. She then slipped under her shirt and ran off.
    Ruunaja clutched his fist and threw the shirt to the ground. Instead of following, he triggered his power over gravity. The effect was almost instantaneous. The first step, Sarah felt fine. The next step became difficult and the third was impossible. The sudden felling of a weight over her overwhelmed her and she collapsed onto her knees before finally resting on her stomach. She screamed as loud as she could, not just because it was painful, but rather to cry for help. She could hear her scream echo throughout the tunnel, but to her disappointment, only silence replied.
    "Scream all you want," Ruunaja’s tone showed irritation, "there's no one to hear you."
    When he grabbed her arm and lifted her on her feet, Sarah felt the weight on her disappear. She began to yank her arm, yelling at him to let go. As she struggled, she noticed that she was getting weak at an alarming rate. Her legs wobbled and her arms felt tired. She looked up at Ruunaja and realized he was stealing her strength. His eyes changed back from red to green as a sinister smile came on his face. He then let her go and watched as she fell on her hands and knees. Her arms wobbled as she tried to stand up. After several tries she gave up and collapsed as the last of her strength was taken away.
    "Now, you're going to Destral whether you want to or not," he growled.
    His tone scared her and she couldn't help but cry. The sight got him to crack a smile. Sarah didn’t know what to do anymore. Escape wasn’t possible anymore and probably wasn’t possible in the future. Despite the speed at which her thoughts raced, she felt hopeless and cried out.
    "Mom, Dad, help me," she sobbed.
    Ruunaja’s mask contorted. "Mother? Father?” He then almost broke into laughter. “Are you serious?! Oh this is just precious." He placed a hand over his head and took a step back.
    "The Human who acted so courageous against Toa reveals her true nature. You think you're so brave, but you're nothing more than a weak, pathetic meat bag hiding behind a gun." He paused before kneeling down and whispering in her ear. "You know, if you want to, I could be your father," he said in a mocking tone.
    Sarah slowly turned her head and gave him a look of disgust before spitting at him. He jerked his head away and wiped his mask.
    "Bad move," he growled. His staff glowed and electricity crackled around it.
    She closed her eyes and braced herself as he raised his staff in the air to strike. Right as he was about to make his blow, a large boulder flew through the air and struck him. The impact was hard enough to throw him into a pillar. She opened her eyes, startled at the sound of the impact. She looked up and saw a beam of light shoot over her, then heard the Makuta scream in pain as it struck him. Sarah then looked down the tunnel. To her surprise B.J, Eric, and six Toa ran at her, calling her name.
    Her surprise then transitioned into confusion, so much that she struggled to speak. "What are you-? How did-?"  
    The Toa surrounded her as B.J. knelt down and pulled her off the ground. Holding her by the arms, B.J. supported her as she struggled to keep her balance.
    Gali leaned over to Tahu and whispered in his ear, "It's her. From the river.”
    Tahu looked over his shoulder and nodded with acknowledgment.
    B.J looked into Sarah’s eyes. "Sarah, are you all right?"
    She wiped away her tears and looked down. For several seconds she said nothing, until she finally shook her head and spoke under her breath, "No.” She then spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “No, I'm not." She tried to hold herself together. "I'm tired, cold, and- and... I wanna go home." At that moment she buried her head in his chest and burst out sobbing.
    B. J. wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. The Toa were speechless at what they just saw. Tahu decided to make a move and straightened himself before approaching Sarah. Sarah saw him from the corner of her eye, reaching out to her. She closed her eyes and buried her head in B.J.’s chest.
    “Please don’t burn me,” she pleaded.
    Tahu almost pulled his hand back in shock. He slowly put his hand on her shoulder. At first Sarah flinched, but as she began to feel his warmth flow through her, she eased up and looked at him.
    “Sarah, could you ever forgive us? ... Forgive me?”
    Pohatu heard some rubble being moved and looked down the tunnel. “Uh, we’re gonna need to postpone the apologies right now.” He pointed to Ruunaja, who was beginning to stir. Onua walked up next to him and together, the two Toa created a massive pillar of earth and stone that shot up underneath the Makuta and pinned him to the ceiling. Gali snatched Sarah off the ground and began to carry her away.
    “Wait! The weapons!” exclaimed Sarah. “They’re taking a bunch of our guns to their stronghold. They musn’t learn how to make and use them.”
    The Toa gave each other looks.
    Pohatu smiled. “I’ll handle this.” Using the power of his Kanohi Kakama, he sped to the door at incredible speed, to the point that his body was able to pass through the door. The feat stunned the Humans. Soon they heard a rumble, follow by a tremor. Pohatu phased through the door again. There was a fat grin on his face.
    “Looks like the ceiling collapsed. They should really get that reinforced.”
    As Ruunaja groaned and struggled for freedom, the Toa quickly left with their rescued Human and Lewa’s katana. They reached a hole in the ceiling that traveled to the surface. With a wave of his sword, Kopaka created a stair case of ice, spiraling around the edge to the top.
    "This turned out easier than I thought," said Pohatu.
    "A little too easy," snapped Kopaka.
    “I’m getting the same feeling,” replied Tahu.
    Sarah lay quietly in the Toa of water’s arms, staring at the wall in front of her. She then looked over Gali’s arm, saw the ground far below, and quickly pulled her head back in.
    "Not a fan of heights?" Gali asked.
    She shook her head. "I'm not afraid of heights, just falling," she said nervously.
    A smirk formed on her mask. "Don't worry, I won't drop you."
    For the first time, Sarah noticed the gentleness and sincerity in Gali’s voice. That alone was enough to make her trust the Toa. She looked up at her. "Your name is Gali, right?"
    Gali nodded.
    "I was wondering," she paused for a brief moment. "Is it too late to apologize?"
    The Toa of water looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
    "I'm talking about what I did to you at the river. When I first saw you, I thought you were going to hurt my friends, so I attacked you." she said it softly, yet it was loud enough for the other Toa to hear.
    Gali had a warm look on her face. "I'll accept your apology.” Gali looked down at Sarah, who lightly smiled.
    "And I accept Tahu’s apology. However, I’m still waiting for yours, frosty."   
    "Excuse me?" asked Kopaka. He stopped and looked down at her from the other side of the spiral.
    "Well, you did attack me," she snapped. "I was just sitting on a hill using a scope for binoculars to get a better look at Takanuva. Then I turn around and find a shard of ice in my leg and you charging at me with swords in hand. You have no idea how badly I thought I was going to die."
    He stared at her, then turned around and continued to walk up the stairs. She looked up at Gali.     
    "Is he always like that?"
    "You get used to it," replied the Toa of water. “Sort of.”
    The Toa emerged to the surface and were greeted by the faint light of dawn.      
    "Is it morning all ready?" Sarah moaned. She stretched out her body and yawned. "You can put me down now. I think I have enough strength to walk on my own."
    Gali gently put her down. Sarah stumbled on the first few steps before finally maintaining her balance. Eric stayed very close to her and held her by the arm as she walked down the stairs and crossed the bridge.
    It wasn’t until they descended the stair from the bridge that Takanuva spoke. "Well, I think it's time we get back to Ga-koro and find a way to sort the rest of this with your pe-"
    BANG!
    Before he could finish, a shot rang out. He stumbled backwards before falling, screaming in pain as he placed his hands over his chest.
    "Brother!" shouted Tahu.
    He and Eric rushed to his side. He activated his Kanohi Hau and a large force field surrounded his team. More shots rang while bullets ricocheted off the force field. When the firing ceased, four Humans came out of hiding and surrounded them.
    Kopaka faced B.J. “You!” He picked the pilot up by his shirt and lifted him in the air. "I knew this was too easy. You set us up!"
    "What?! No! We have nothing to do with this, honestly."
    "It's true," pleaded Eric. "we didn't know they would be here."
    "Then explain the ambush!"
    "Mark!” growled Sarah. She pointed to the false Human, who had a determined look across his face.
    “Toa,” spat Mark, “Hand over our friends and we’ll make sure your deaths aren’t... slow.”
    Tahu clutched his fist. He was almost ready to turn on Sarah and the others when B.J. snapped back.
    “Not happening!”
    Everyone was taken back, especially Mr. Petrik, Ethan, and Bryan.
    Mark then noticed Eric removing Takanuva’s armor and opening his medical kit. “I see what’s going on. You’re all traitors. After what they’ve done to us, do you really think they’ll spare you?”
    "They didn’t kill our people, you did!" yelled B.J.
    "B. J. what are you talking about?” asked Mr. Petrik. “Mark didn’t do-"
    "He wants you to think that, but in truth, just like Lewa, he’s not Human!"
    "It's true," said Sarah. "I saw him turn into a Makuta."
    “Never heard of them," said Bryan.
    “Well, we just saw one,” Eric said, not taking his eyes off Takanuva. “The Toa helped us rescue Sarah from him.”
    Mark clutched his fist. “Lies.”
    "You’re the liar!" snapped Tahu. He clutched his fist. “Our only interest has been protecting our people. We’ve never gone out of our way to intentionally harm you.”
    “And yet people have been getting hurt and worse,” Marks eyes squinted as he smirked. “Perhaps a result of your terrible leadership.”
    “Why you-"
    B. J. put his hand on his shoulder and whispered, "No. He wants you to make a move. If you attack him, the others will never believe you!"
    "Then how do you propose we stop him?"
    B. J. pondered over it before smiling. "Ask simple questions."
    Tahu raised an eyebrow in confusion.
    B.J. then faced Mark with a stern look. "Mark, what was our flight number?"
    Mark had a stumped look on his face. "Excuse me?"
    "Let me rephrase that: What number was on the plane you rode on? And to add on to that, where were we flying too?"
    Mark's face was blank for a long time. As the silence grew longer, all of the Humans gave him an awkward look.
    "Mark?" asked Mr. Petrik.
    "I- ah- I don't remember." he said nervously.
    “Do you remember where we departed from?” 
    Again, Mark paused. The concern in Mr. Petrik, Bryan, and Ethan began to grow and they all took a step back.
    Mark noticed and clutched his fist. “What does it matter if I don’t know these trivial things?”
    Sarah then thought of something. “Well, then I’m sure you can perform this small, trivial task: Take your shirt off.”
    He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
    "Why not? All Humans wear clothes, no? You should be able to take them off."
    He gave and awkward look, then took off his shirt. “There, see?”
    To his surprise, all of the guns were now pointing at him.
    “What are you?!” asked Mr. Petrik.
    Mark was confused and looked to Sarah for an explanation. She had an eyebrow raised as she smiled and pulled up her shirt. He then looked down at his stomach to realize he was missing a feature: a belly button.          
    Realizing that Sarah's plan worked, Tahu deactivated his mask power and the Toa joined in as they surrounded Mark. As they drew closer, Mark gave Sarah a cold glare.
    "Clever little girl,” he growled. “I didn't realize how much of a pain you are until now." At that moment he began to shift back into a Makuta. Everyone stepped back in awe and horror as he grew to just over ten feet tall. From the corner of Mutran’s eye he saw Eric, back turned as he operated on Takanuva. The Toa of light noticed the way he stared at him and, becoming uneasy, he tried to shuffle himself.
    “Hold still,” snapped Eric.
    Before the Toa could make a move, Mutran teleported in a flash. Everyone was started. Takanuva immediately began to summon all the light he could muster to the point that his body began to glow.
    Eric shilled his eyes. “Hey! What are you doing?”
    Mutran reappeared right behind Eric, about to strike down with claws glowing a sickly-green. As he swiped, Takanuva outstretched his hands and fired all the light in focused beams. The light struck Mutran with enough force to send him backwards, screaming in pain. Eric also screamed before hissing and curling over.
    Mutran groaned as he got himself on his hands and knees. When he looked to see if he made a fatal strike to the Toa of light, he was disappointed to find it was Eric who took the blow. The medic was curled up as he hissed in pain. The other Toa began to surround him and prepared to attack as one.
    The Makuta teleported again, this time reappearing on the other side of the canyon on the top of the Suva. “Make your choice, Toa: You can stop me, or save the Human. If you truly care that is. Oh, and to make either decision more challenging to perform…”
    The screeches of Rahkshi filled the air as they emerged out of the foliage and surrounded the Toa and Humans. Mutran smiled and turned around. He jumped into the hole and disappeared into the shadows.
    “Aren’t we going to go after him?” asked Takanuva.
    Tahu thought about it. “No. There’s now two down there. It’s been dangerous enough just to tackle one.” He then looked at Eric. “And it looks like he’s been poisoned.”
    “We’re going to have to hold off on the healing,” said Kopaka as he took a battle stance. “We need everyone to fight them off.”
    The Rahkchi closed in, pushing the Toa and humans closer together until they were all on the staircase to the bridge.
    B.J. cocked his pistol. “Hope this isn’t a private battle.”
    Tahu’s swords glowed a fiery red. “By all means, join in.”
    But instead of attacking, Tahu and the other Toa found themselves covering their ears as gunshots fired. Rahkshi were dropping like flies, yet more came to take their place. Though excited and terrified by the battle, Sarah felt like she need to contribute. She saw Mr. Petrik, with one knee on the ground, struggling to hit his target. She ran to him and tapped his shoulder.
    "May I?!" she yelled over the gun fire.
    He looked at her in surprise and handed her the gun. She stood up and aimed the rifle at the creature's head. She pulled the trigger and felt the recoil. The bullet made its mark and the Rahkshi fell dead. She quickly began to pick off the other Rahkshi. Rarely did she have to shoot them twice.
    Mr. Petrik was taken by surprise. "Where did you learn to shoot like that!?"
    She shrugged. "I play a few shooting games once in a while." She couldn't help but giggle as a dumbfounded look came on his face.
    As the battle ensued around him, Eric struggled to operate on Takanuva. The poison was taking its toll on him and he was starting to feel light headed. “B.J.! I need you!”
    The pilot ran over and got on his knees.
    When Eric spoke, he did so between light breaths. “I need you... to put pressure on... on the wound.” He then began to slouch to the side.
    B.J. caught him before facing the Toa. “Please tell me there’s an antidote.”
    “Kind of,” groaned Gali as she tried to get rid of the ringing in her ears. “But this isn’t the time to do it.”
    Then, from the corner of his eye, a beam of energy shot upwards and began to descend on them. B.J. braced himself for the impact when he heard it explode over him. He opened his eyes and found himself and the others protected by a shield of energy that engulfed them all.
    "It's our turn," said Tahu.
    The Toa began using their elemental powers to take down the Rahkshi. With their help, the remaining Rahkshi were taken down very quickly. However, as they were about to celebrate their victory, another wave of Rahkshi emerged, larger than the last group.  
    As Sarah took down at the Rahkshi on the bridge, she felt her back hit something cold. She turned around and saw Kopaka, too busy dealing with the Rahkshi to notice her. A Turahk and Kurahk took advantage of her distraction and fired. Before she had time to react, the two beams struck her. Her heart raced and her breathing became heavy as fear and anger seemed to drown her. Adrenaline rushed as the two emotions clashed in her head and mind. Kopaka turned around and saw her kneeling on the ground with her hands on her head, almost ready to scream. He then brought his attention to the two Rahkshi and made the connection. He shot spears of ice from his blade. The shards went through their chest armor.
    While the Kraata inside were unharmed, they struggled to control their suits and both fell off the bridge and into the river below. The affect was immediate and their influence on Sarah was gone. She was puzzled at first before looking over her shoulder and up at Kopaka. Still intimidated by his lack of emotion, she gave a small nod of appreciation and then continued to fire upon the Rahkshi.
    Her speed and marksmanship increased as the adrenaline continued to rush through her. The others were surprised as she seemed to kill more Rahkshi than all of them combined. When the second wave was over, the last shot fired echoed through the mountains. Then there was silence. Everyone stood still and alert, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, they all took a sigh of relief and lowered their weapons.
    “Now will you help Eric?” pleaded B.J.
    Tahu nodded and then looked around for Gali. The Toa of water was on her knees. He noticed that she seemed limp before noticing that the last Rahkshi she faced was a Rahkshi of hunger. He then spoke with concern.
    “Sister, are you well?”
    Gali tiredly looked over her shoulder. “No,” she whispered before looking down at her hands. “I don’t have enough energy to heal him.”
    At first, Tahu was silent, but then he walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Who said you had to heal him on your own?”
    Pohatu walked over and, together, they helped Gali walk to Eric. The medic was at the point of losing consciousness. Together, each Toa stretched forth a hand. A sphere of energy formed at the end, which they then sent over and fused into Gali’s. She pushed the sphere over to Eric and watched as it engulfed him. Sarah and the others watched in amazement. When the energy dissipated, the wound was gone with no scar in sight. Gali had already passed out while he was healing and was being carried off the ground by Onua.
    Eric slowly opened his eyes. While he mentally felt ready to continue on with the operation, his body was still limp. “B.J., I’ll need you to help finish working on Takanuva. I already got the hard part done. You’ll just need to stitch him back up.”
    Sarah had been watching it all from the platform to the bridge. While relieved it was all over, she couldn’t help but feel something was wrong. She was starting to feel dizzy and light headed. She tried to walk down the stairs, but struggled.
    “Sarah, what’s wrong?” asked Mr. Petrik.
    She placed a hand over her head and mumbled. “I don’t know.” She took another step, but her foot missed completely and she fell.
    Being the closest, Kopaka put himself in front and caught her. When he turned her over, she was out cold.
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BRVRpikachu-636's avatar
FROSTY anyone calling Kopaka frosty has a death wish