#yes yes I have and I have no regrets in doing a Bionicle version since it was originally going to be one before they scrapped the idea 😂

[musurvivalistguide]

So in my attempt to better grasp how to write the Bionicle fantasy!AU I'd brainstormed before, I decided to fiddle around with a classic case of "the Toa Metru get Isekai'd into a fantasy AU and meet fantasy versions of themselves and need to find a way home". 😂

Still working on this fic, but decided to share this little snippet I had! Will probably explore more aspects of this AU when they're on Mata Nui itself as well, but otherwise I'm gonna have fun with it. Enjoy while I continue hammering away at things/remember how to write these characters again!

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“What happened to my Metru?!”

These were not the words any of the Toa Metru wished to hear, yet it was hard not to share in the confusion and worry as they looked around Le-Metru…or what appeared to be Le-Metru. All around them they saw Le-Matoran chattering as they continued their tasks, a sight that would be considered normal…save for the blatantly obvious differences. Each Matoran wore cloth or leather material over their armor, goggles and other odd accessories decorating their masks and body. Most carried normal tools the Toa recognized, yet others held weapons like daggers, bows, and short blades. Perhaps the biggest difference that unnerved them, however, were the rahi.

The strange organic beasts mixed in with the normal biomechanical ones.

“Uh…any idea what that rahi is, Whenua?” Onewa asked, pointing out the Toa-sized two-legged bird tromping by. It possessed a wickedly razor sharp beak, its wing-arms tucked close to its body yet showing just enough to reveal what looked like barbs hidden beneath the feathers. Yet strangely enough, the terrifying looking rahi seemed unbothered by the fact it was being led by a Matoran with a rope lead, carrying saddlebags and packs worth of unusual wares towards what looked like a bustling marketplace.

“Honestly? Not a clue,” came the response, though it was hard to tell if he was excited or worried as he looked around at the other creatures around them. “It looks like an organic rock raptor, but…I’ve never seen anything like it—like any of these before!”

“Great. Just great!” Throwing up his arms, Onewa said, “First, we fight a giant plant in a giant forge, and now we’re in some weird version of Le-Metru with no clue how we got here from Ta-Metru? With rahi beasts even our resident librarian hasn’t seen before? What’s next? Flying razor whales?”

A low, melodic cry echoed above them as a shadow fell over the group, looking up to see a tri-horned organic whale floating leisurely by with a large cargo-carrying platform on its back.

“……you know, when I said that, I didn’t actually mean literally.”

“This must be some illusion or trick of the Morbuzakh,” Nokama uttered. “Did the Great Disks not work?”

“No, they did what they were supposed to do. The Morbuzakh was defeated,” Vakama said, pulling out his own disk as he examined it. The disk was whole, looking just as it had when he first found it. And yet…he felt something off about the disk. The tips of his fingers tingled with energy—different than it had been during their last battle. “…something’s not right. We’re not in Metru Nui anymore—at least, not the Metru Nui we know.”

“Oh really? What was your first clue?” Onewa asked. “The fluffy rock raptor bird or the giant flying razor whale?”

“Vakama’s right,” Nuju said, surprising the others as he frowned and tapped the side of his scope. “Outside the obvious, there’s something…different about this place. My scope goes haywire every time I use it, but what I can see is that everything is…glowing.”

“Glowing?” Matau repeated, looking around in confusion. “I don’t see any bright-glow.”

“That’s because you’re not seeing it through the scope,” came the retort as the device in question clicked and whirred. “When I look at the Matoran, they appear to be glowing from within. When I look at these…these…monsters…the light is so blinding that I can barely tell them apart from a lightstone! There is no mass, just…light. It’s almost as if they were made of-“

“Magic,” Whenua rumbled, his eyes wide in either shock or disbelief.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Magic doesn’t exi-“

“No, look!” the Toa of Earth said, pointing towards a group of Matoran near the chute. “Magic!”

Surrounding a large chunk of broken protodermis, a group of Le-Matoran—with palms glowing a mysterious blue-green light—chanted unfamiliar words in unison. To their utter shock and amazement, the broken pieces rose from the ground, rising higher and higher as the Le-Matoran raised their hands palm-out. Following the path, the Toa Metru spotted another group of Le-Matoran standing on what looked like glowing disks or puffy clouds, their palms also glowing as the protodermis floated in place. The glow flickered on their palms before the structure began to mend, melding together until there was no sign that the chute had ever been broken.

“…huh…”