Chapter Nine

The six Toa Metru hung in cocoons high above the city streets. All around them, on the rooftops of Metru Nui, hordes of Visorak spiders were assembled to watch their demise. The cocoons were connected to the webs above by only a few thin strands. In time, the weight of the Toa would tear them loose and then it would be a long fall. If they were lucky, their sheer velocity on the way down would be enough to end their lives long before they struck the ground.

“Well, fire-spitter, we can’t say you didn’t show us the city,” Matau muttered. “’Course, we can say that you got us captured, poisoned… and seeing as I don’t think we’ve been brought up here for the view, imminently mash-dashed!”

Vakama struggled to think of what to say in reply. His head and body hurt all over. He could feel the barbs of the cocoon biting into him and the Visorak venom coursing through his form. He glanced at the other Toa, now all facing destruction because he had made the wrong decisions.

“I tried to lead you as best I could,” he said. “I wish I had been better at it. But if I’ve learned one thing from all we have been through, it is that I am what I am. And no matter how much I might want to, I can’t just change.”

A spasm gripped Vakama, sending violent shudders down his body. Suddenly, an arm tore its way free of his cocoon. He looked at it, confused. Surely, that twisted, bizarre limb did not belong to him.

The effect was spreading to the other Toa. Their bodies warped and mutated, masks changing shape, muscles expanding, their very minds feeling like they were being torn apart and reassembled. It was a pain beyond pain, made worse by the certain knowledge that there was no way to stop whatever was happening to them.

“I’m not liking this!” shouted Matau.

Nuju managed to shift his focus from the rapid changes happening to his body. As the Toa’s bodies mutated, they were tearing through the webs that made up their cocoons, the only things that were keeping them in the air. At this rate, they would not have to worry about their new forms for very long.

“You’re going to like it even less in a moment,” he said.

Vakama’s mutation had begun first, so his cocoon was the most badly damaged. As Nuju watched, the Toa of Fire tore free of the webbing and plunged into space. One by one the others followed, their strange, animalistic new forms flailing in the air as they fell. Then the Toa of Ice lost his grip as well and plummeted toward the ground.

The ground rushed to greet him. The wind made it impossible to breathe. He shut his eyes, bracing himself for his last moments.

Impact!

But not the kind he was expecting. Someone had slammed into him, cutting off his fall. Now he was being carried away by his rescuer, moving by leaps and bounds across the rubble of the city.

Nuju opened his eyes. The being that held him was like none he had ever seen before. Bent and twisted, it looked like a cross between a Turaga, a Rahkshi, and some other Rahi species. Despite its small stature, it seemed to have no difficulty scaling walls or swinging from loose cables. If Nuju’s weight was a burden to the strange creature, it gave no sign.

Their journey came to an end in the ruins of Ga-Metru. The other Toa were already there, all of them transformed into freakish combinations of their own forms and the bodies of beasts. They were confused and horrified by what they had become. Even Matau could not look at his reflection in a puddle of water.

The Toa of Ice turned to ask his savior a question, only to find that all six of the little creatures were gone. Mysteries built atop other mysteries, he thought. And none of them helping to solve the greatest of them all — what have we become?

His mood was not improved by the discovery that his mask powers no longer worked. Whether that was a result of damage to the mask itself as a result of the mutation, or some side effect of the transformation on his own mind, he did not know. Even worse, his ice powers no longer responded to his commands. His Toa tools were gone as well, replaced by strange pieces of equipment whose function he could not comprehend.

He looked at his friends — where once they had been powerful, noble Toa, now they resembled something that would be hidden in a sub-level of the Archives. Matau looked by far the worst. Nokama instinctively moved to comfort him.

“It’s all right,” she whispered.

“All right? You call this all right?”

“We’re all here. We’ll find a way. Together.”

“That’s what friends do,” added Whenua.

Matau got to his feet with surprising quickness and advanced on Vakama. “I don’t hear you saying that, smelt-head. What’s the matter — too busy think-planning another master plan? Maybe you can get us killed next time, instead of just turned into monster-beasts!”

Vakama stepped away, snarling, “I’m through making plans.”

“Well, that’s the first happy-cheer thing I’ve heard since I turned ugly!”

Nuju frowned. Bickering was going to get them nowhere. Their future as Toa, or whatever they might be now, was going to depend on the decisions made in the next few moments.

“Regardless of how we look, it might be better if we use our energy to find out why we have become… whatever it is we are,” he said.

“The sooner we do that, the sooner we can rescue the Matoran,” Nokama agreed. “But where do we start?”

Matau shrugged. “How are we to be-saving when we are the ones need-saving?”

“If you are wise, if you wish to be what you once were, you will listen.”

All six Toa turned at the strange voice, half wise sage, half snarling beast. The strange beings that had saved them from their fall had reappeared, seemingly out of thin air. They regarded the Toa not with fear or horror, but with sadness and resolve.

Norik spoke again. “You have become something both more and less than what you were,” he said. “You walk a road that is all too familiar… we know how it begins, and we know how it can end. You must act now, Toa, or there is no hope for you or your city.”

A surge of hope ran through the Toa. True, these creatures resembled old foes a little too much for comfort, but if they knew how this change could be reversed…

“Tell us how to undo this, wise ones, and I’ll personally build a field full of statues in your honor,” growled Onewa.

“You would be doing Metru Nui and the Matoran, as well as us, a great service,” said Nokama.

“We know of your plight,” Norik replied. “We have been living in the shadows of this city since before the cataclysm. We are aware of what happened to the Matoran, as well as what terrible plans the Visorak have for them. But we can do little to stop them. It is you who must act.”

“How?” demanded Nuju. For some reason, the riddles these beings were speaking sparked anger in him. It felt strange, for he was never one to let his emotions get the best of him. Yet at the same time, rage seemed like the most natural reaction to this situation. It was something he would have to think long and hard about.

“Keetongu,” said Norik.

Nuju glanced at his fellow Toa. It was obvious that none of them understood the term.

“Keetongu is a powerful creature gifted in knowledge of venoms and their counteragents,” Norik said. “And he is our only hope of standing against the Visorak horde. If you are to be the Toa you once were, it is Keetongu you must seek.”

“But what are we now?” asked Nokama. She too was having a hard time keeping her temper in check.

“The Visorak cocoons injected you with Hordika venom. It now courses within you. If it is not neutralized, it will take root, and Hordika you will be forever. Half-Toa, half-beast, prisoners of your own instincts, your own rage… until the day your Rahi nature takes hold completely, and you are no better than gibbering things bringing destruction wherever you roam.”

Nokama shuddered at the thought. This could not be their destiny! It could not have been why Mata Nui blessed them with the power of Toa!

“I am a Rahaga,” the being continued. “Norik is my name. These others are Gaaki, Bomonga, Kualus, Pouks, and Iruini.”

None of the Toa knew quite what to say. It was hard enough to believe all this had happened to them, let alone that such bizarre looking creatures were their only hope. Finally, Nokama spoke up. “Rahaga, can you take us to this Keetongu?”

The Rahaga called Iruini laughed. Norik shot him a stern look, then turned back to Nokama. “What Iruini so inappropriately suggests is that this will be… difficult. We Rahaga came to Metru Nui in search of Keetongu, and there are those of us that, well, doubt his existence entirely.”

“Oh, wonderful,” said Onewa. “Our only hope is a myth.”

“And you?” Nuju asked Norik. “What do you believe?”

“I believe in legends,” said Norik.

“Then so must we,” agreed Nokama.

“Wait,” interjected Matau. “Shouldn’t we group-talk about this? What do you say, Onewa? Whenua? Mask-melter?”

The Toa of Stone and the Toa of Earth said nothing. They had both dared to hope that their transformation might be reversed, only to find out that the whole thing hung on nothing more than simply another legend. Vakama never took his eyes from the ground as he said, “I say we returned to Metru Nui to rescue Matoran, not to hunt down mythical beasts.”

“And you have a way of doing this?” Norik asked sharply. “Perhaps using your new Hordika powers? Powers you have not yet learned to use.”

“I don’t know,” said the Toa of Fire. Something in his voice told Nokama he was dangerously close to an explosion.

“Don’t know, or don’t want to include the rest of us in your plans?” Norik prodded.

“Either,” Vakama replied. Then he rose and stalked away.

“Vakama!” Nokama cried after him.

“I will talk with him,” said Norik.

“What about us?” asked Matau.

Norik gave him a smile, one laced with a hint of menace. “Prepare yourselves. We’ve a legend to prove.”

It was some time before Vakama returned to the group. An uneasy silence lingered for a long while before he spoke.

“I can’t tell you all what to do,” the Toa of Fire said. “It’s obvious that my orders led us to this disaster. It’s equally obvious that some of you no longer wish my company,” he said, looking at Matau and Onewa.

“Vakama, they didn’t —” Nokama began.

Vakama cut her off. “But I think we can all agree that our problems pale next to those of the Matoran. We have to be sure they are safe before we can worry about how to reverse this transformation.”

Nuju nodded. “As much as I wish it were otherwise, you are right. Placing the Matoran first puts us at risk of being Hordika forever, something I would not wish on anyone. But seeing to ourselves before saving them may doom an entire population to this fate, or worse.”

“We are Toa-heroes, even if we don’t look like it,” said Matau. “We have two problems — rescuing the Matoran from the Coliseum, and then getting them out of this city. If you will think-plan on the first, I may have an idea of how to do the second.”

“Then let’s get started,” Onewa said, bounding on top of a pile of rubble. “We are not getting any younger, and Matau is not getting any better-looking.”

• • •

Norik watched the Toa talk and plan as they journeyed back to Le-Metru. It was good that they had a mission and goal in mind to keep them from thinking about their fate. He knew better than most what Toa were capable of, but in his heart, he doubted that these heroes could avoid their doom.

He signaled to the other Rahaga to spread out and keep to the shadows. If there were Visorak near, the Rahaga would spot them. The Rahaga had survived this long by avoiding the hordes, running, hiding… but no more.

Metru Nui will be our final showdown with these creatures from the pit, he told himself. And before it is done, either Visorak or Rahaga will be no more.

Roodaka sat on the throne that had once belonged to Makuta. Sidorak had departed to gather his legions in preparation for hunting the Toa Hordika. He would rely, as he always did, on the overwhelming force of numbers to achieve his ends. The Visorak would sweep through the city like a plague, never resting until their prey had been run into the earth.

But will that be enough? she wondered. These are Toa… mutated, yes, burdened with the dual nature of the Hordika, but Toa just the same. This is their city. They know its hiding places, and they have the cursed Rahaga to aid them. With luck and skill, they might evade the hordes.

That would never do. She needed the Toa to achieve her ultimate plan, and by Makuta’s dark power, she would have them.

The queen of the Visorak rose and walked to the massive sundial that dominated the chamber. Once this device had measured the amount of time remaining before Metru Nui was wracked by cataclysm. Now it counted down the hours the Toa Hordika had left to live.

Roodaka smiled. Let Sidorak lead his legions on a chase through streets and alleyways. She would make plans of her own, plans so subtle and so devious that even the Master of Shadows would applaud, were he free.

Soon, she thought. Very soon, now. By my hand will the light be banished from this city, and darkness left to rule forevermore.

And deep in the bowels of the Coliseum, the sleeping Matoran trembled in the grip of nightmares that would not end…