Interlude Five

Takanuva’s vision of the past continues…

Gali hurled a water burst at an oncoming avohkah. The creature struck the water dead-on and exploded with a bright flash of energy. Exhausted, the Toa of Water looked around, but there were no more of the sapient lightning bolts to be seen. The battle was finally over.

It had taken months, but the last of the avohkah had been defeated. Whether they might return one day was unknown, but for now, the Toa’s work in Karda Nui was done. And so, apparently, was that of the Matoran of Light, who were now occupied with packing up their possessions and preparing to leave this realm.

All, that is, except one Matoran, who stood gazing up at Gali with wide and wondering eyes. “Can I help you?” asked Gali, smiling gently.

“What you did… all of you… that was amazing!” said the Matoran. “How can I learn to do that? How can I become a Toa?”

Gali shook her head. “I wish I could tell you… but I don’t know myself. I’d like to think that the universe knows when it needs a hero and finds a way to bring one into being.”

The Matoran pondered her words for a while. Then he brightened, “Then I will just have to make sure I am around the next time a hero is needed! That shouldn’t be too hard.”

The Matoran walked away, a new energy in his step. “Remember me, Toa Gali,” he said over his shoulder. “You’ll be hearing my name someday, whenever people talk about heroes — Takua!”

Gali laughed. She turned at the sound of others approaching and saw Tahu and the rest of the team. The Toa of Fire looked grim, even for him. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Nothing,” said Tahu, unconvincingly. “But we need to talk… and I need to show you all something.”

The Toa of Fire led them across the plain to the structure he had called the Codrex. A circular stone floated in empty air about five feet from the entrance. Lewa looked at it, curious, then reached up and plucked it from its invisible perch.

“Put that back!” snapped Kopaka.

“Why?” asked Lewa. “I just want to get a look at it.”

The Toa of Ice started to respond, then visibly relaxed. “You know, you’re right. But you’ll have an easier time examining it inside the Codrex. Why don’t you head on in?”

Lewa gave a nod and started forward. He had only gone about two paces when he collided with an energy field and was sent flying. When he finally crashed to earth, Kopaka was standing there. The Toa of Ice snatched the stone from him and said, “That’s why.” Then he marched back to the Codrex and put the stone back into the field.

The six Toa, including a chastened Lewa, approached the sphere. Tahu raised a hand and the entrance slid aside. Even Tahu and Kopaka, who knew what to expect, were surprised by what they found.

The interior was huge, dominated by machinery that none of the Toa could even begin to understand. One whole section was sealed off, and even then, the place was bigger than any the heroes had ever seen. Onua and Gali looked at complex devices with wonder, while Pohatu ran a hand along the stone wall that blocked access to the other section of the sphere.

“I could probably bring this down,” he said.

“It’s not our concern,” Tahu replied. “This is.”

The Toa of Fire tossed a fire burst toward the back wall. When it flared, the light given off illuminated six canisters standing side by side, each about nine feet high. “What are those?” asked Onua.

“They’re called Toa canisters, for want of a better name,” said Kopaka. “They are a means of transport. Quite remarkable, from what I have been told.”

“Well… great,” said Lewa. “It’s got to be better than that dimension-hop we took to get here. So where are we going?”

There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence, with Tahu and Kopaka both waiting for the other to speak. Then the Toa of Fire said, “Nowhere.”

The hatch of the Codrex slammed shut. Onua rushed to it and battered it with his enhanced strength, but it wouldn’t budge. “Tahu, use your fire power — melt this thing!”

The Toa of Fire put his hand on Onua’s shoulder and gently pulled him away from the hatch. “We’re not leaving, brother… at least, not for a long time to come.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Gali. “We’re prisoners here?”

“Not prisoners,” said Kopaka, “more like… emergency reserves. Remember what we were told? If Mata Nui should ever be struck down, it would be up to us to restore him to power. That is our goal and our destiny.”

“Terrific,” said Pohatu. “Can’t we keep busy until that happens, preferably someplace other than here?”

“Try to understand,” said Tahu. “Someday, the fate of the entire universe may depend on what we do. And until that day comes, it’s vital that we stay together and stay whole. If we were to be killed, there would be no one to do what has to be done.”

“These canisters — they will keep us safely in slumber until we are needed,” said Kopaka. “When the time is right, they will be launched and will take us to where we need to go. We will emerge, armed with tools and masks to carry out our mission.”

Pohatu touched one of the canisters. Its top began to rotate, finally opening with a hiss. The Toa of Stone grabbed the lip of the canister, hauled himself up, and peered inside. “Right. Not so much as a carving to read in there. I don’t think so.”

A tremor suddenly shook the Codrex. Kopaka looked at Tahu, alarmed. “So soon? Do you think the Matoran made it out?”

“I hope so,” Tahu replied. “If not…”

Onua read the expression in the two Toa’s eyes. “Wait a moment,” he said. “There’s more to this than what you’ve told us. The avohkah were just the start, weren’t they? There’s worse coming.”

Tahu turned away and walked to the hatch. He passed his hand over a portion of the wall and a small segment of the hatch opened. The other Toa crowded around to see what looked like a massive storm of raw energy descending on Karda Nui. Already, the Matoran structures on the plain had been incinerated. The glare was so blinding Onua had to look away, but the others could not tear their eyes away from the sight. It was overwhelming in both its majesty and sheer horror.

A vast, swirling cloud of power hovered just above the ground, extending upward for as far as the eye could see. Spears of lightning flew from it in all directions. The heat emanating from the heart of the storm fused the sand of the plain to glass in all directions.

“It’s… incredible,” breathed Gali.

“It’s devastating,” corrected Lewa. “And we’re right in its path!”

“When it reaches full power, no living thing will be able to survive out there,” said Kopaka.

Tahu shut the gap in the hatch. “The Codrex can protect the equipment inside… but only the canisters will protect us. So it’s your choice: get into them and wait for the day we are called, or take your chances with the storm.”

The Toa of Fire looked around the room. He was far from happy about the decision he was asking them to make. But he believed what Helryx had told him and Kopaka that day on Daxia. Without Mata Nui, there would be no universe, and millions, maybe billions of lives would be lost. Against that, he had to balance the freedom of six Toa. There really was no choice.

Pohatu was the first to make a move toward the canisters. “Well, I could use a nap,” he grumbled as he climbed in. The lid sealed itself once he was safely inside.

One by one, Onua, Kopaka, and Gali followed suit. None looked happy, but at least they seemed to have resigned themselves to their fate. Onua paused before Tahu and said, “I can’t say I agree with everything that has been done… but I can guess the burden you and Kopaka have been carrying. Were I in your armor, perhaps I would have done the same.”

Lewa, on the other hand, was in no mood to be forgiving. “You knew this storm was coming all along,” he said angrily. “And you knew we wouldn’t have time to follow the Matoran out of Karda Nui. You and I are going to have a long talk when we wake up again, Tahu — count on it.”

But there would never be any long argument between Lewa and Tahu. The special mechanism that put the six Toa to sleep in their canisters would damage their memories as well. When, 100,000 years later, they found themselves on the shores of Mata Nui, they would remember only a long and fitful sleep disturbed by dreams and nightmares. Gone would be all recollection of training on Daxia, meeting Helryx or Hydraxon, their time in Karda Nui, or the fate that forced them to give up millennia of their lives.

Most importantly, it had eliminated one important fact from their minds: the knowledge that, when Mata Nui awoke once more, the storm would return. And when it did, every living thing in Karda Nui would be turned to ash.