Chapter Five

The Matoran put down his tool and stood very still. He had heard two sets of footsteps behind him, heavy footsteps, and he really did not want to turn around to see who it might be.

“Well, well, well,” hissed a too-familiar voice. “Here I am again.”

The Matoran forced himself to look. Yes, it was Nidhiki again, this time accompanied by a hulking brute with energy crackling from his hands.

“I came back to get the Great Disks,” Nidhiki continued. “You know, the ones I want very badly? The ones you promised to get for me?”

“I — I don’t have them. Not yet,” the Matoran stammered. “But I’ll get them! It’s just taking a little more time than I thought.”

“I see,” Nidhiki replied. He gestured with one of his legs, and his lumbering companion moved toward the Matoran. “This is my friend. He doesn’t like Matoran. He particularly doesn’t like you.”

The Matoran looked up at the bestial face of the brute who towered over him. “I’m doing my best! Really!”

“Your best?” Nidhiki repeated. “Three of the Toa are close to finding the Great Disks. Your efforts to trap the Matoran and divert the Toa Metru have been failures. Do you know what that means?”

The Matoran swallowed hard as the two creatures crowded close to him. “N-n-no.”

“It means you’re going to do better than your best. I’ve been to Ko-Metru and arranged to keep Toa Nuju busy. I expect you to arrange a little surprise for Toa Matau and get the Le-Metru disk. I know you aren’t foolish enough to disappoint me again, are you?”

The Matoran shook his head. He wanted to say something, but his mouth didn’t seem to be working.

“Good. Then I hope the next time I see you, you will have all six Great Disks for me. But either way,” Nidhiki added smiling, “it will be the last time I see you, Matoran. Understand?”

The two left before the Matoran could answer. They were barely out the door before he gathered up his things and headed for the chute station. He had an appointment in Le-Metru that he wouldn’t miss if his life depended on it.

And it sounds like it does! the Matoran thought as he dashed out into the street.