M.I.A.: Ch 10

M.I.A. Ch 10

*Six months after departing*

    Toa Naromia sat in her hut polishing her blade. It was a quiet night, but the Matoran were still on edge after a Visorak was spotted. Thankfully, it was killed by Terun. Just then, she heard a high-pitched chirp outside. She looked out and saw a messenger rahi swoop down and perch on her window. She walked over and pulled a scroll out of its carrying case and opened it. To her relief, it was from Xipher.
    ‘Naromia,
    I hope things are going more smoothly for you than for me. So far I’ve followed a lead, but the trail quickly went cold. So I’m going after another less credible lead, hoping it has better results.
    Just as I promised, I’ve been doing my duty and helping out any Matoran and village I can along the way. However, my strange behavior hasn’t gone away. Despite my best efforts to suppress this new behavior, I still hiss and growl from time to time. Unfortunately I’ve had one or two incidents where I became enraged and beat up a Toa. This has gotten me into more trouble than I wanted.
    One Toa, however, had a similar problem once and offered to help me with my growing temper problem. I took his offer, but I can’t help but feel scared over what’s happening to me. Deep down I feel if I can’t find a way to reverse this soon I’ll become some sort of… monster.’

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    “Mike Brigham, serial number 5-5-2-7-“
    “Yes, yes I know. 5-5-2-7-6-3-9, now tell me where they went!” Ruunaja reached out telepathically and tried to probe his mind, only to get blocked off. He huffed in frustration. He then faced the other Marine. “How about you?”
    Sam looked at him with weary eyes.
    “Are you ready?”
    “Name and number. That’s all you’ll get,” she spat.
Frustrated, he reached into her mind again. She clenched her teeth and squirmed as she fought it back.
    “Stop it!” she pleaded.
    “As soon as you tell me where they went.” He pushed even harder.
    “Never!” She put all of her mental strength into fighting him off and she found herself winning.
However, to her surprise she no longer saw flashes of her own memories pass by. There were now moments of events and actions that were both disgusting and horrifying at the same time. She quickly figured out she was in Ruunaja’s mind. Then she saw something she never thought she would see. It was a girl on a bridge trying to flee from a horde of Rahkshi.
    Sam pushed forward, wanting to know her fate, but Ruunaja felt her presence and immediately cut the connection. The Marine’s eyes were lit with astonishment.
    “What… What did you do to her?”
    A buzzing sound filled the room and his hands crackled with electricity. Ruunaja smiled devilishly. “The answer might shock you.”


    Xipher whined in his sleep. Tossing and turning did nothing to stop the nightmare he was having. He woke up with a jolt and panted as he looked around.
    “Sam! Mike!?” he cried.
    There was no sign of them. Panicked, he got up and followed their scent trail, which led him to the beach. The clear, blue sky stretched out to the horizion. The fog was nowhere to be seen and an island was visible a few miles out at sea. The only problem was there shouldn’t be any land there at all. His eyes widened as he recalled hearing about an island that had the ability to teleport. That island is called Destral.
    “No.” he gasped.
    His first instinct was to check on the Marines and sprinted. As he approached the camp he noticed something wasn’t right and stopped. The raft was intact and near the water, but the camp itself was wasted. Broken limbs, splintered wood and debris littered the area and most of the hut was smoldered. Several bodies were littered around; all were Rahkshi or Rahkshi Kaita, except for one. As he got closer to the forest he stopped, his heart sank at the sight of Amanda impaled to the ground by a staff. He stood there, mouth agape in shock.
    “No!” he whispered, and then looked around for any other Human bodies, but more hopefully survivors. “Scott! Saber!” He then let out a roar and waited. There was no response. He shook his head and fell on his knees. “This can’t be happening!”
    His ears then perked up as a distant roar echoed. Xipher faced the direction it came from and roared again. Seconds passed and this time there was a reply. He ran into the forest and followed the trail back to his cave.
    Along the way he would call out and, based on the reply, figure out where Saber was. Soon he could hear her voice.
    “Xipher!” Up the trail was Saber with Scott alongside her.
    She ran down and hugged him. “Mata Nui, you’re alright!”
    Xipher didn’t share the same enthusiasm. “What happened?”
    She took a step back. “Rahkshi Kaita,” she replied with dread. “We fought them off, but Amanda. She-“
    “I know,” he replied with sorrow.
    Scott leaned over and looked behind Xipher. “Where’s Sam and Mike?”
    Xipher’s head and spikes dropped.
    Scott shook his head. “No, they can’t be dead!”
    “Worse,” he whimpered. “Terun, was actually Makuta Ruunaja. He took them to Destral.”
    “What?” Saber gasped.
    “We have to go after them.” replied Scott.
    “We can’t.”
    The marine gave Xipher a dirty look. “What do you mean we can’t?” He pointed to the island, “Those are our comrades Xipher; our brothers! We don’t abandon each other for any reason.”
    Xipher growled and brought his face up close to Scott’s. “Listen here, I’m doing this for your own good. Last I checked, you left them with me when I insisted I go on alone.”
    “I left them with you because I knew if anything went wrong you would support each other. Clearly I was wrong about that.”
    The Toa clutched his fist. “Why you little-“
    “Xipher!” scolded Saber. “This isn’t the time for quarreling. Right now we need to find a safe place for the night and think things through.”
    He didn’t acknowledge her but instead continued to stare down Scott and growled. “I did everything I could, but you wouldn’t understand that. You’ve never seen the power that a Makuta has.”
    “I haven’t even seen your power,” he spat and then marched away.
    Xipher hissed back. Saber’s ears went down as she gave a worried look to her partner.
    “Are you okay?” she asked softly.
    “I’m fine,” he growled.

    Sam screamed while another volt of electricity pulsed through her, sending her body into contractions. Once satisfied with her pain, Ruunaja pulled his hand back and allowed her to take a quick rest, which was nothing more than her head lent back and moaning.
    “Are you going to cooperate now?”
    She gave him a dirty look.
    “Very well then.” Electricity began to crackle around his hand and he grabbed her arm, sending another cycle of pain throughout her body.
    “Please stop this!” begged Mike as he pulled against the pole he was tied to.  
    “You’re in no position to make orders,” snapped the Makuta. “But I’m willing to make the rest of the day less painful if you’ll tell me where your brothers went.”
    “We’ll never tell you.” Sam spat.
    His hand crackled again. She closed her eyes and flinched, as he was about to deliver another strike. A small being entered the room.
    “Makuta Ruunaja,”
    The Makuta stopped himself halfway and glared at the unwanted guest. The being was just less than four feet tall, wore a bat-like mask, had large, red eyes, and had bat-like wings on the back of its body. In his hands was a large, orange sphere.
    “Your leeches are ready.”
    The Makuta grinned. “Perfect timing.”
    He took the sphere away and the small being went off on another errand. Ruunaja held the object with pride and walked back to Sam and Mike. “I’ve been waiting eagerly for this,” he said with a wicked smile.
    The marines noticed something was moving inside the sphere.
    “What is that?” Mike asked reluctantly.
    “An excellent question. It’s a recent creation of ours called Shadow Leeches. This is their name because they drain the very light from your soul. So why resist giving me the information when you can just willingly betray your brothers?”
    The two gave each other worried looks.  
    “Don’t worry, you’ll feel quite a bit of pain, but it’ll be the best pain of your life.” He twisted it along the middle and opened it.
    Several blue leeches jumped out and sunk their teeth into Sam; one on her shoulder, and two on her right arm. Four more latched onto Mike, one of them sinking its teeth next to his neck. For several seconds they yelled and squirmed to shake them off. All the while Ruunaja smiled, knowing it would work.
    But then one by one they began to fall off. It puzzled the Makuta. It didn’t make sense for them to quit halfway through their meal, until he realized why. Those that fell off were dead. Soon all of the leeches were motionless on the ground, mouths filled with blood. He tightened his grip on his staff. To have something that foolproof fail was humiliating.
    “Either that was a bad batch or your blood is toxic. No matter, I will get what I need one way or another.”

    “No.” answered Xipher.
    “I don’t care what you think, we’re going,” said Scott. He took a gulp of water and sat back down.
    The other marines sat along him around the fire.
    “There’s no telling what he could do to them,” argued Daniel. “Besides we owe Sam for saving all of us.”
    Xipher huffed. “First, she and Amanda barely got us out. Second, no one said we were keeping scores.”
    Scott put his cup down. “You’re right, we’re not. But Sam doesn’t need to keep tally to know she should go after a fallen soldier, even if her chances of success are slim. For a self proclaimed hero, that seems to be something you don't understand.”
    Xipher almost jumped out of his seat and showed off his claws. “What was that?!” he snarled.
    “Xipher!” Saber whimpered.  
    He stopped and glared at her, before growling to himself and storming off. The Marines looked at her, hoping to get an explanation. Instead she ran after him.
    “Xipher,” she whispered as she took hold of his shoulder and spun him around. “What in Mata Nui’s name has gotten into you?”
    “Nothing, I’m just upset.”
    He tried to storm off again, but Saber stood in his path.
    “It’s happening again, isn’t it? You’re going-“
    “I am not,” he snarled. “Like I said, I’m just upset over this. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to bed.”

    Rahkshi cut the ropes off and escorted Sam and Mike out of the room, and down a series of hallways. The hall opened up to a massive stadium-like room, reaching several stories in height. In the center was a large, dome cage; the bars were welded together to form the shape of hexagons. The floor was a massive ten-foot deep pit. Thick green webs littered the inside, as giant robotic spiders of various colors chirped and clicked to each other. Sam and Mike looked at the spiders with worry across their faces.
    “I’d like you to meet the Visorak,” said Ruunaja. “They’re beautiful creatures, but watch out for their bite. They have very nasty venom. Now I don’t want to waste two of you on the same thing, so which of you would like to get up close and pet one?” he joked.
    The marines gave each other uneasy looks.
    “Anyone?”
    Still silence.
    He shrugged. “Very well.” And pushed Mike into the cage.
    He yelped and barely landed on his feet, which he then somersaulted until he stopped on his side.
    “Mike!” yelled Sam.
    Mike heard the enthusiastic chirps and clicks of the spiders and looked up. Most of them were at the cage ceiling. They looked at him with curiosity and some began to climb down. He got up and ran to the wall of the pit and jumped. Even with the attempt to climb it at the same time he was still a few feet short of reaching the edge. Sam knelled over to help, but Ruunaja quickly grabbed her collar and pulled her back.
    “Oh no you don’t.” he barked.
    Looking over his shoulder, Mike saw a door thirty yards away. He sprinted over and pulled on the handle. It was locked. Frustrated, he banged his fist on the door. He looked back up and saw they were getting closer.
    Sam watched - feeling helpless about it all - until she remembered that the Rahkshi hadn’t confiscated everything from her. Making sure Ruunaja wasn’t watching, she brought her foot up and pulled her knife out of the boot.
    “Mike, heads up!” She threw the knife and it landed near the center of the cage.
    She looked back up to see what punishment Ruunaja would bring to her, but to her surprise he stood in the same position and his expression was more of amusement rather than anger.
    “This might be the most entertaining interrogation ever,” he smiled.
    Mike ran for the knife. He grabbed it and spun around right as the first Visorak made it to the ground. The Vohtarak screeched and snapped its pincers. The other Visorak chirped with excitement and watched as though they were the audience. With the knife, Mike took a defensive stance and moved around in a circular path.
    The spider wasn’t cautious in its advances, charging and then quickly retreating a few steps as the Marine slashed at it. It screeched and charged again, this time snapping its pincers shut in the attack. Mike jumped in time, but collided with the Visorak while in mid air. He wrapped his arms around the crest on its head and held on. He took a stab at it, but the blade made sparks as it skidded past the armor. The Visorak screeched and began to whip its body around. The scene began to look more like a rodeo as the spider began to try bucking him off.
    Mike’s legs flailed in the air. To keep himself from being completely bucked off he let go of the knife and held on tight. It worked, but not before being spun one hundred and eighty degrees around the crest. Now he was facing the other way and looking straight into the Visorak’s eyes. The spider clicked furiously and stomped the ground.
    “Look out!” cried Sam.
    From the corner of his vision he saw a greenish glow coming from the spider’s back and he was right on top of it. He rolled off right before it fired a spinner straight into the air. As he was picking himself off the ground he got a quick look at the underbelly of the creature. It was mostly organic.
    While the Vohtarak turned around, Mike jumped up and looked for his knife. He spotted the light shimmering off the blade and sprinted towards it. The spider gave chase and was closing in fast. He grabbed the knife and ran back at the creature. It’s pincers opened wide and it screeched. When he felt the time was right he skidded his body on the ground. As it ran over he thrust his knife into its stomach and sliced it along the length of its underbelly.
    The spider hollered and staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Mike’s legs wobbled a bit as he stood back up and examined his kill. Sam gave a quiet sigh of relief and looked at Ruunaja. His grin hadn’t disappeared. The Visorak above were quiet as they tried to figure out what had happened. Mike looked up at them and flashed the blood-covered knife at them.  
    “Wanna end up like your friend here? Then come on down! I dare you!”
    The Visorak looked at each other and quietly chirped at a black and orange member. It chirped back and looked down at Mike.
    “Behind you!”
    Mike spun around. “Sam, there’s nothing there.”
    “I didn’t say that!” replied Sam.
    He spun back around and saw a flash of green. His body suddenly became numb and he dropped to the ground like a rag doll.
    “No!” cried Sam. “Mike, are you okay?”
    He didn’t move. “What does it look like?” he spat.
    Ruunaja chuckled. “Fell for the oldest trick in Oohnorak’s book.”
    Mike could see the horde had erupted in ecstatic chirping and started to descend down. His heart raced and he put all of his effort into moving, which yielded no results.
    “Sam,” he said nervously, “A little help!?”
    This time she decided she wasn’t going to let anything stop her. She ran straight for him, but before she reached the cage she felt as though someone had dropped a car on her. She fell and landed on her stomach. With teeth clenched tight, she tried to push herself up, but the invisible force was too much and she collapsed again.
    Ruunaja casually grabbed her by the collar; the weight on her disappeared and he lifter her back on her feet, yet didn’t let her go.
    “Relax, they won’t hurt him... Yet.”
    The Visorak reached the floor and scurried to the fallen Marine. Mike began to panic as one spider moved him around until he was laying on his back and arms and legs locked together. A Suukorak began to weave a web around his legs and worked its way up until it reached his head.
    A Keelerak attached a web to the back of his cocoon and hoisted him several feet into the air. Another chord anchored his feet to the ground.  They then weaved another layer of web that traveled along the length of his body. The only exception was a hole large enough for Mike’s face to be visible. The spiders cried out in victory, and Ruunaja gestured with his hand, ordering the creatures back away from the web. They complied, except for the Oohnorak. It sat in wait several yards from Mike, staring down at him with eagerness. The Makuta looked back down at Sam and had her face him.
    “You two seem to be close friends. This little… ‘exercise’ will see just how good of friends you are. All you have to do is tell me where your comrades went and he walks out of this unharmed.”
    Sam’s thoughts raced. She contemplated over the idea until Mike spoke out.
    “Don’t do it!”
    She looked at him startled.
    “He wont keep his promise!”
    She looked back at Ruunaja.
    “It’s your call.”
    She gulped and tried her best to put on a stern look. “My name and my serial number. That’s all you get.”
    Ruunaja frowned in disappointment. “So unwise.” He looked over to the Oohnorak and nodded slightly.
    The spider chirped with delight and hurried over to the cocoon. Mike watched with unease. Sensing he could move again, he began to wriggle around, only to find that the web was wrapped very tightly. The room suddenly got darker and he looked up and was startled to find the Visorak just inches above his face. He could see his scared expression reflecting off its eyes.
    It gave a good look at him, before positioning itself a few feet down. It opened its pincers out and sunk them into the cocoon. Mike hollered in pain until the Oohnorak drew back and retreated towards the other Visorak. Sam could feel her heart sink. Her partner’s moaning only added to the guilt.
    “I’m sorry.” She tried not to choke. “I didn’t want it to end like this.”
    She was then puzzled to hear Ruunaja burst out in laughter.
    “Who said anything about dying? I said the venom was nasty, not lethal. Then again you seem resistant against Shadow Leeches so there’s no telling what Hordika venom will do to him. But I’m hoping it will do what it has done to every living creature poisoned by it.”
    Sam didn’t want to know, but her curiosity got the better of her. “And what’s that?”
    “Watch and you’ll find out.”
    Mike’s moaning grew louder. His breathing became short, yet labored. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore and let out a yell. He cringed his teeth for a brief moment and then yelled again, this time in agony. The cocoon shook, making it hard for Sam to see Mike’s face. She did however watch a sickly green glow shining between the strands of theouter layer of webbing.
    A bulge formed on one side of the web and grew until the strands broke apart and an arm came through. Sam was relieved that he was starting to get himself out, but her face didn’t express the same feeling. Something was wrong, very wrong. His right arm was more muscular than usual and appeared longer as well. What really got her attention was that his had had three fingers, tipped with sharp, black claws.
    Mike grasped the webbing and ripped it off. He kept tearing at it until he could get himself out and jumped to the floor, landing on his hands and feet. The more Sam stared at him the more horrified the look on her face became. Mike seemed to be oblivious to the change, until he looked up at Sam.
    “What?” He stopped himself because he noticed his voice was slightly deeper and a little raspy.
    He rubbed his neck and cleared his throat. That’s when he realized something was wrong with his hand and looked at it, then at the other before he began to panic. He looked allover himself to see what else had changed.
    His toes were elongated, his muscles enlarged, making him look like he had overdosed on steroids. The sleeves of his shirt were torn halfway up, along with the back of his shirt. He frisked his face and felt two sets of canines sticking out, while his lips stretched back almost to the end of his jaw. The horrified Hordika shook his head.
    “No, no, no. This can’t be happening. This can’t be real,” he whispered to himself.
    Ruunaja let go of Sam and rested him self against the steel bars, while she partially collapsed to the ground in shock.
    “I don’t know about you, but I think it’s an improvement.”
    Mike faced him and growled. “Change me back!”
    “I’m afraid it’s too late. The only thing that could possibly cure you is Keetongu and he’s a myth.”
    “You’re lying,” he snarled.
    The doors behind him opened and two Rahkshi entered; One being a Vorahk and the other with power over sleep. Mike spun around and faced them.
    He flared his teeth and growled. “Go away!”
    They didn’t listen. He then crouched down and pounced right at them. The Vorahk took its staff and swung, knocking the Hordika away. Mike took a moment to recover and as he turned himself over. The Rahkshi were already over him trying to force the handle of its staff down on him. Its head armor split open and the Kraata screeched. Mike cringed his teeth and pushed the staff back. His progress was slow, yet steady, but then the staff began to glow. He found himself feeling weaker and weaker, until he couldn’t even hold onto the staff.
    Lying half conscious, he wondered to himself how it could steal his strength away so easily. He then whined like dog as the two Rahkshi picked him up by his arms and dragged him away. It wasn’t until the doors closed that Sam was able to get herself together.
    “Where are you taking him?”
    Ruunaja kept his attention towards the Visorak. “Same place you’re going. He will, however, be absent a lot - I plan to train him. Hopefully he’ll make a good guard dog, if not, a pet.”
    Sam cringed her teeth and stood up. “You monster! He’s a human being, not an animal!”
    Ruunaja raised his head up. “Monster?” He looked over his shoulder. “You must have me mistaken for Xipher.”
    She stared at him, caught off guard by the response.
    “Oh that’s right, he hasn’t told you has he?”
    “Told me what?”
     He casually shrugged. “Nothing too important. It’s understandable though, he never was good at being a Toa.”
    “You said that earlier.”
    “Yes, but it wasn’t so much that he was bad at saving people, but rather he did the exact opposite.”
    Sam gave him a doubtful look. “Kill them? That doesn’t sound like him at all.”
    “And how would you know? As far as I can tell, he’s being on his best behavior so you could get him off that hunk of rock.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    He smirked. “Well I believe the proof of his true nature is on your arm.”
    Her eyes widened and her mouth hung partway. She looked over at her scars.
    “So he did attack you.”
    “Yeah,” she replied hesitantly. “But it was an accident; a misunderstanding.”
    Ruunaja huffed. “That’s what he wants you to believe.”
    Sam was left speechless. A hiss came from behind and she looked over to see a Kurahk approach.
    “Take her to the cells where the others are. Oh, and Sam?”
    She looked over her shoulder.
    “Your brothers should watch what they do around Xipher, or else he’ll kill them. Just like he did to his own brothers.”