BIONICLE Legends 3: Power Play

	Power Play
	Book
Series	BIONICLE Legends
Author	Greg Farshtey
Publisher	Scholastic, Harper Collins Children's Books
	ISBN 0-439-82804-X

"No, Vezok, it was no trick of ours. I don't know who or where they are, but there are six new Toa on this island. And they are coming for you."
— Garan

Power Play is the third BIONICLE book in the BIONICLE Legends series. It tells the story of the Toa Inika and how they battled against the Piraka, which eventually leads to the discovery of the pathway to the Chamber of the Mask of Life.

Synopsis

After witnessing the crushing defeat of the Toa Nuva and Matoran Resistance at the hands of his former partner and friend, Brutaka, Axonn rests, recalling how it all led to this. He and Brutaka were stationed on Voya Nui to protect and watch over the legendary Mask of Life, in the service of the Order of Mata Nui. While there, they see the ascent of Voya Nui from the Southern Continent, the fall of Mahri Nui, and countless volcanic eruptions from Mount Valmai. Soon after the Great Cataclysm, Brutaka begins to lose faith in the Great Spirit, Mata Nui, believing him to be dead, or that he left their Universe. Brutaka continues to serve the Order of Mata Nui, but his heart is no longer in his work. Soon, he betrays Axonn and the Order, and allies with the Piraka in order to get the Mask of Life for himself.

Similarly, Brutaka also recalls these memories, while hauling four of the members of the Matoran Resistance outside, as one is being questioned, and the other Matoran escaped. As he turns to leave, he sees a deadly Doom Viper about to attack the Matoran. He activates his Olmak, Mask of Dimensional Gates, and drops the Doom Viper into searing lava, saving the Matoran. Troubled by his noble actions, Brutaka leaves.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Matoran Resistance, Garan, is being questioned in the Chamber of Truth by Vezok. Garan, not wanting to betray his friends, lies to all the questions but the last, which refers to six Spirit Stars that appeared in the sky. Garan replies that it was no trick of theirs, and that there are six new Toa on the island to destroy the Piraka. Before Garan could react, he is thrown into a crevice full of lava, and is moments away from death. Soon, Balta and the others break into the Chamber and rescue him, beating Vezok, and run to safety.

Fresh from their adventures in the deadly realm of Karzahni, the newly-born Toa Inika take shelter in a cave to figure out what just happened. They discover that they became Toa, and their unique masks are, in reality, alive. Whenever they remove their masks, their faces give off a blinding light. Nuparu, skeptical of the odds of the team's success, points out how much time it would take to master their mask powers. As this thought crosses his mind, his mask power activates, vaulting him into the ceiling of the cave. When they depart the next day, a similar phenomenon happened, and Nuparu is hurled into the sky, and, to his amazement and fear, flying. Back on the ground, it is complete chaos. Each of the Toa are trying to figure out a way to get him back to the ground, but Matoro has activated his mask, and is only able to speak to Hahli, due to her mask power. Hahli tells the others that Matoro spotted an odd figure. They manage to coax Nuparu close enough to the ground to travel with them, and the group soon encounters a large chasm full of lava, with no sight of the figure Matoro mentioned.

To cross the chasm, Nuparu uses his mask power to fly each of the Toa to the other side. No problem strikes until he carries Hahli. A wind veers Nuparu off course, and he accidentally drops Hahli. Subconsciously, Jaller runs and catches Hahli, and, his mask allows him to land on the other side. After a small discussion, the Toa encounter Vezok not far from their current location. A brief struggle ensues, during which Vezok finds out that their Antidermis Zamor Spheres do not work on the Toa Inika, and the Toa Inika captured him. He soon frees himself from his bonds, and escapes the Toa.

Garan arrives and explains the events of Voya Nui so far to the Inika. They arrive at the Matoran's base of operations, and are relieved to find Dalu among them. Velika gives them new Zamor Launchers loaded with Energized Protodermis. The Inika then split up. Hahli, Jaller, Dalu, and Piruk use the Zamor spheres to free several Matoran working nearby and add them to their ranks. Matoro, Hewkii, Balta, and Kazi go to meet Axonn, who has been badly injured by Brutaka. Nuparu, Kongu, Velika, and Garan go to the Piraka Stronghold to find the Toa Nuva. They encounter Nektann, but manage to get inside. They find a room with several strange training devices and the Nuva's masks on the wall. They move on and find Brutaka and the six Piraka. They get ready for battle, as the other four Matoran and Toa burst in to join the fight. They are almost completely defeated when Hakann reveals what he has been plotting with Avak, Thok, and Reidak. He has a Zamor Sphere that contains Vezok's power to absorb another creature's ability. He shoots it at Brutaka, but at the last second Thok manages to collide with Hakann, splitting Brutaka's immense power between the two. Hakann uses a mind blast to knock out all the rest of the Piraka, Inika, and Matoran. Then he and Thok leave.

After walking through the forest Hakann and Thok begin to fight, determined to be the only supreme being on the island. Hakann uses his Heat Vision to cause a gas chamber far below to explode, sending them both reeling. The Inika arrive, ready to fight the super-powered duo. The Piraka arrive soon after, with a Zamor Sphere that will reverse what Thok and Hakann did. They fight and eventually succeed in returning Brutaka's power. Axonn and Brutaka both begin to fight, while the Inika go after the Piraka, who have all fled into the tunnel leading to the Mask of Life, uncovered by the explosion Hakann created. Down below, Vezon and his steed rise from the lava, waiting for their new friends to come and meet their doom.

Characters

Quotes

Dedication

"For Michel and Marie, with love"
— Greg Farshtey

Trivia

In the list of characters on the opening pages of the book, the names of Hahli and Hakann are misspelled as "Hahl" and "Hakvann", respectively. Nuju is also presented separately from the other five Turaga of Mata Nui.

External links

Power Play archived on Wall of History