“Unity, Duty, Destiny”

Kopaka hit the ground hard as the quake rumbled beneath him. His enemy was on him in a flash.

He managed to block the blow with his shield and then swing his ice blade upward. If he could just aim…

SKREEEEEEEK!

Kopaka smiled as he saw that his enemy was frozen in place. Kopaka sent the frozen enemy skittering across the ice until it smashed into the cavern wall. The creature shattered into hundreds of icy shards.

And each of the ice shards was forming into a new enemy!

Nearby, Onua glanced over and gasped when he saw Kopaka’s predicament.

This is bad, Onua thought helplessly, dodging another blow from his own enemy. How can I fight one so much like myself? How can any of us?

He blinked as the answer dawned on him at last. Of course!

“Listen up!” he shouted. “We’re going about this all wrong. We can’t hope to defeat our own shadow doubles — but that's why we’re a team!” He wanted to say more, but he didn't have the chance — he had to dive aside to avoid another blow from his opponent’s weapon.

Pohatu heard Onua’s words, but he couldn’t respond for a moment. He was too busy fending off his own attacker. But in the back of his mind, he turned over the Earth Toa’s plan and found that it made sense.

“Who are you kidding?” his opponent chortled mirthlessly, as if reading his thoughts. “They’re not going to fight for you, Toa of Stone, or even with you. They’ll use your strength to save themselves, then leave you behind.”

“No,” Pohatu said firmly, putting all his strength into one leg as he shattered another boulder with a mighty kick. His enemy fell back to avoid the shrapnel of stone, but instead pressing the advantage, Pohatu spun away and glanced quickly around the cavern.

He saw the Fire Toa desperately trying to fend off a volley of blows with his fire sword. “Tahu!” Pohatu shouted. “Stand back!”

Gathering his energy, he leaped upward and struck the ceiling of the cave with a mighty blow of his fist. As the pieces broke off and fell, Pohatu directed them straight onto the Fire Toa's opponent.

“Aaaaaaaah!” the smoky stranger cried, raising its arms to protect itself. Flames shot out of its sword, but it was no use. It couldn’t melt the falling stones fast enough. Within seconds it was buried beneath a mound of rocky debris.

Tahu stared at Pohatu in surprise. “What did you do that for? I was just about to —”

“Never mind,” Pohatu yelped, turning to defend himself against his opponent. “Help Gali!”

Tahu glanced over his shoulder and saw that the Water Toa was on the ground at the edge of the the lava pool, her enemy advancing upon her.

“Gali!” Tahu cried. “Hold on, I’m coming!”

“Tahu!” Gali gasped. “Don’t — this thing is too strong!”

But Tahu didn’t hesitate. As the Shadow Gali whirled to face him, he pointed his fire sword. Heat and flame danced out from the end, wrapping around the enemy as it howled in surprise.

Steam hissed out in all directions, obscuring his view. When it faded, nothing remained of the Shadow Gali but a puddle on the cavern floor.

The defeat of two of the shadow enemies gave the other Toa new strength of purpose. Gali re-formed her flood and sent it gurgling toward the Shadow Onua. It cried out in dismay as water pounded against it, eroding it away into nothing but a bit of sand.

The distraction gave Onua the chance to help Lewa. Seeing that the Air Toa’s enemy was somersaulting high in the air out of reach, Onua quickly summoned the earth beneath his feet to rise up, trapping the high-flying enemy in a floor-to-ceiling column of dirt and stone.

Freed from his enemy, Lewa saw that Kopaka and Pohatu alone remained under attack.

While Pohatu was holding his own, the ice-shard enemies had Kopaka surrounded.

“I’m coming!” Lewa shouted, tumbling through the air around the icy battle. “Kopaka!” he cried. “DUCK!”

The Ice Toa looked startled, but threw himself to the floor. A split second later, the whirlwind roared down around him, grabbing the shard soldiers into its grasp and spinning them around and around at dizzying speed.

The icy shard-soldiers crashed against one another again and again. Before long they had disintegrated into tiny sparkles of ice.

“Bad move,” Kopaka said bleakly. “What if they all form into enemies again?”

“Not a problem,” Tahu said, blasting the ice crystals with his fire sword. Within seconds, they had melted and evaporated into steam.

“Guys?” Pohatu called breathlessly. “Um, hey — anyone want to give me a hand here?”

The Toa of Stone was still trading blows with his shadow self. “Oops!” Lewa said.

“I’ll take care of this,” Kopaka said. “Stand back.”

Taking a deep breath, the Ice Toa blew out a frosty blast, freezing the area around Pohatu into a sheet of ice. The Shadow Pohatu skidded across, winding up in Tahu's pool of lava, where it sank with a gurgle.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Once again, the cave was nearly silent. The Toa stood there for a long moment, staring at one another. Then, as a group, they collapsed wearily to the ground.

After catching his breath, Tahu sat up and glanced at Onua, who was watching the others thoughtfully. “What do you think, brother?” he asked the Earth Toa.

Onua smiled, though there was a hint of wariness in his eyes. “I think,” he said, “that we have won an important battle, and of that we can be proud. But there is more to come.”

Tahu nodded, his grin fading as he gripped his fire sword more tightly. Yes, Onua was right. He could feel it, burning in his mind like a half-remembered dream.

There was much more to come.