Chapter Six

Axonn was drowning. The greenish-black fluid filled his mouth and lungs before he could react. His mighty arms flailed about, trying to find something to grab on to, and failing. As he sank further toward the bottom, Axonn knew that here, in the birthplace of the Makuta species, he was going to die.

Then he was suddenly rising rapidly up through the murky liquid. A strong hand had a hold of him and was yanking him away from his fate. A moment later he felt the hard stone of the floor beneath him. He choked and gasped. When the colors finally stopped swirling in front of his eyes, he looked up at his rescuer.

Brutaka floated three feet off the floor. Green fire crackled from his eyes and the tips of his fingers. His armor had cracked in numerous places as the tissue it covered expanded. An aura of pure power surrounded him, so bright that Axonn had to raise a hand to protect his sight.

“Axonn,” said Brutaka, “we are glad to see you have survived.”

“‘We’? Brutaka, what’s happened to you?”

“I… we are the essence of the Makuta species. We know what they were meant to know, but have forgotten. We see the error. The flaws. So much to repair — but it cannot be done.”

Axonn stood, axe at the ready. He knew the effects the Makuta Antidermis had on Brutaka. Absorbing it somehow made him stronger, but he had never seen or heard of anything like this. It was Brutaka’s body and Brutaka’s voice, but the words had not come from his old friend.

“Spherus Magna, the Shattering,” Brutaka muttered, seemingly more to himself than to Axonn, “The three that must be one; the two that must make them one.” Brutaka abruptly reached out and seized Axonn’s arm in a grip of iron. His touch burned, but Axonn fought back the urge to scream.

“He must remember, he must be made to see, or the journey of 100,000 years will be for nothing. He hides beneath, preparing to meet his destiny. We must go there, we must right the wrong. So many wrongs before the Shattering can end.”

Ancient climbed a low-rise, stepping carefully to avoid tripping over the rubble that was once a Xian factory. He had been searching for the Shadowed One for the better part of an hour. They were supposed to be discussing the defense of the city, but the Dark Hunter leader was nowhere to be found.

He was concerned. Toa Helryx had asked Ancient, her spy within the Dark Hunters, for regular reports on the state of things at Xia and the Shadowed One’s actions. She fully expected a Brotherhood of Makuta attack on the island, and he was already overdue with his latest dispatch.

Ancient reached the top of the rise. The first thing he saw was the Shadowed One standing amid a pile of debris. He was holding a small chest, which was open, and staring at the contents with a nasty smile on his face. As Ancient drew closer, he noticed two other things: a dead Vortixx on the ground, his face encased in Crystalline Protodermis, and just what was in the chest: three vials.

“What have you found?” asked Ancient, “And why would a Vortixx be foolish enough to challenge you for it?”

The Shadowed One looked up, surprised. Then, seeing it was Ancient, he visibly relaxed.

“A most amazing thing,” he said, “Have you ever heard of Makuta Kojol?”

Ancient nodded. He knew the story from the Order of Mata Nui: Kojol had been visiting Xia to discuss having a virus added into a weapon the Vortixx were building for the Makuta. During his visit, he was “accidentally” killed by a different virus. Except it was no accident, but an Order operation to remove him.

“He brought a number of viruses with him when he came to Xia,” the Shadowed One continued. “Some were never found. The story was they were incinerated along with his armor. But they weren’t, and I have found them.”

Ancient tried not to look as worried as he felt. Weapons like this in the hands of the Dark Hunters was a disaster in the making. “Excellent,” he said. “We could ransom these for a good price.”

“Ransom them?” said The Shadowed One. “No, no, I intend to make use of them. I will learn what they are and what they do, and then Helryx and the Makuta will answer to me! But I will need time… a great deal of time. And privacy to work. No one must know I have them. That is why the Vortixx here had to die. And it’s why…”

Twin beams of power lanced out of the Shadowed Ones’ eyes, striking Ancient. The veteran Dark Hunter vanished, disintegrated by the force of the blast.

“Apologies, old friend,” The Shadowed One said, “but you know the old saying: ‘A secret shared is no longer a secret.’”

Vezon stalked through the halls of the fortress of Destral, following Makuta Tridax and doing his best to remain unseen. The walls of the ancient structure shook from a ferocious pounding — the Order of Mata Nui had launched its attack on the Makuta base at last.

His mission was simple, purposely so that even his deranged mind could keep it straight: He was to follow Tridax, find the means the Makuta use to teleport the island from place to place, and then disable it. He would then most likely be killed by Tridax, but then, no plan was perfect.

At first it seemed like all was proceeding as expected: Tridax made his way to a sub-basement, seemingly oblivious to being followed. At the bottom of the basement was a massive chamber. What waited within that chamber staggered even the deeply disturbed Vezon. The walls towered forty feet, all around. Lining them were stasis tubes, close to one hundred. And each tube was occupied by an identical figure. A few had armor of jet-black, most white-and-gold, but it was obvious they were all the same being. They were in some kind of stasis.

Tridax walked to the center of the room, where a small table sat. On the table was a Kanohi mask. Tridax reached for it, then suddenly whirled and hurled a blast of shadow at Vezon. Before he could dodge, the shadow had pinned him to the wall.

“Did you think I could not hear your clumsy attempt to follow me?” said Tridax. “Very well, Skakdi trash. You want to learn the most powerful secret of Destral? You want the satisfaction of knowing what hides here before you die? Look around.”

Vezon did, but he didn’t learn anything more by doing that.

“Quite a collection,” he said, “I prefer seashells myself. Sometimes leaves. Oh, and the heads of my enemies, though those take up so much space.”

Tridax smiled and held up the mask.

“Do you know what this is? A Kanohi Olmak, the Mask of Dimensional Gates. One of only two known to be in existence. Not long ago, my fellow Makuta Mutran and I began experiments to develop a creature called a Shadow Leech, a creature that could drain the light of others and turn them into beings of shadow. That was what sparked my idea. I knew the mask could reach not only other places of this dimension, but other realities as well. And so I have begun traveling to those other realities and collecting the Toa Takanuva of each, bringing him back here, and feeding his light to my pets. When I am done, I will have an army of Shadow Toa, all made from the most dangerous enemy of the Makuta.”

The walls shook again.

“I think you’d better hurry up and finish then,” suggested Vezon.

“No need,” said Tridax. “I have only to release the Shadow Takanuva I have already made, and they will dispose of the attackers. And then I can go back to work in earnest. And then I can…”

Tridax stopped at the sound of crystal shattering. Startled, he let his shadow power lapse. Vezon slumped to the ground, but not before he saw the Makuta looking at his arm in horror. Something was dissolving his armored gauntlet before his eyes, and his Antidermis was leaking out into the air. Two beings stepped out of the shadows. One was a Matoran, the other another species, very tall and very dangerous in appearance. He looked at the Makuta and laughed - a harsh and malicious sound.

“‘The most dangerous enemy of the Makuta’?” said Tobduk, “Get ready, you’re just about to meet him.”