Chapter Five

It was a familiar scene. Six Toa, accompanied by a Turaga, were fighting to escape the prison of the Dark Hunters. It hadn’t been that long ago that the Toa Metru made their escape with Turaga Lhikan. Now, as the Toa Hordika escorted Turaga Dume away, they found their entrance blocked by a horde of the ruthless Visorak.

Memories of their last escape came flooding back for the team as they looked out upon the Rahi. One of the Lohrak had apparently escaped the ice seal the Toa had created for them, fighting alongside the massive troller that Onewa had taken control of to travel across Po-Metru.

Amidst them all, of course, was the Kikinalo herd that had led the Toa to find Turaga Lhikan in this prison in the first place. With fire in her eyes, Nokama watched as the Visorak incapacitated the creatures one by one, binding them in their silken green webs.

Her hands clenched with fury, enraged to see her former allies subjected to the same fate she had endured. She leapt forward recklessly, charging into the battlefield at once.

“Nokama, wait!” cried Vakama, but to no avail. The Toa of Water’s anger was not going to be held back.

There goes surprise, bemoaned Onewa.

The remaining Toa Hordika and Turaga followed closely behind as Nokama fought her way through the sea of Visorak. To their luck, the spiders were primarily concerned with containing the Rahi, allowing them to dispatch them with ease.

As she at last reached the Kikinalo herd at the center, the chief roared with fury. Sweeping away Visorak with its horn, the beast slammed its body into the Toa Hordika, sending her flying back across the room.

“He bright-remembers Nokama!” Matau cried. “He’s getting her to safety!”

“Or,” growled Vakama, “he thinks she’s another Rahi.” He activated his blazer claw, firing upon a group of Visorak.

“She looks completely different, and I must imagine her smell is different too.” Onewa noted, slamming his tool into a nearby spider. “That, and she has no Mask of Translation.”

Nokama rose up from the floor, scowling viciously at the Visorak surrounding her. If I still had my powers…

Distracted from their Rahi prey, a lone Suukorak scurried forward, and attacked without hesitation. Nokama backflipped out of the way as a volley of Rhotuka spinners tore through the room, bouncing off in every direction. As the Visorak began to circle around the Toa Hordika, it quickly became an all-out war zone.

“Scatter!” shouted Vakama, over the sound of the troller’s roar.

All across the room, the battle was not progressing well on the Rahi’s side. As the Lohrak fell from the sky, collapsing to the ground below, the spiders made progress on binding the massive troller in a web, while the herd of Kikinalo down below were slowly injected with the venom of the Visorak.

“The Rahi!” cried Whenua.

Matau watched in horror as the silken green webs of the Visorak covered the face of the Kikinalo chief, just before glowing green with venom. Enraged, he felt a fire building within him, and clenched his fists tight.

“NOOOO!” he shouted, roaring with fury. “DO NOT UGLY-MUTATE THE KIKINALO!”

Without even a thought, he took off charging across the room, firing off a volley of Rhotuka with careless abandon. He growled and hissed ferociously, running on all fours as he slammed into the Visorak he passed by. He clawed, he snarled, all acting on pure instinct. Indeed, he was becoming far more Rahi than Toa.

“Matau! No!” cried Vakama, now several kio away.

“He’s gone feral!” Whenua bemoaned.

Two tornadoes now tore through the room, a literal one caused by Matau’s Rhotuka spinner, and Matau himself, whirling and tearing wildly through the crowd. Throwing a Visorak spider across the room, he stood up to howl, before a Rhotuka struck him.

Then, another struck him. Then another, and another more. A group of Roporak surrounded the wild Toa of Air, firing at him repeatedly. With each strike, Matau’s growls grew more and more exacerbated, until he finally collapsed to the ground.

If there was anything a Visorak knew, it was how to deal with frantic Rahi.

Vakama wore a pained expression as he watched the battle unfold. He turned to Dume with pleading eyes. “What should we do, Turaga?”

Dume scoffed. “It is not my place to lead this team. Who is the leader here?”

The Toa looked over his shoulder, watching as the Visorak spiders swarmed around his friends. Each of his fellow Toa were putting up a good fight, but the odds were hopeless. It was only so long until they all ended up like Matau, fully succumbing to the beast inside.

“Turaga…”

Dume hesitated. With each passing moment, the Visorak closed in on Matau’s unconscious body, preparing to wrap him in webs. The other Toa Hordika wouldn’t be lasting much longer, not with their uncertainty. They needed someone to be a strong leader.

With a long sigh, he turned to Vakama. “Take Nokama and attack the left flank,” he said, a newfound boldness in his voice. As the Toa of Fire ran to fulfill the plan, Dume shouted out to the others. “Whenua! Nuju! Get Matau and rein him in!”

The four Toa he had commanded obeyed without question, immediately moving into battle. Now, Dume stood back to back with Onewa, surrounded by Visorak on all sides. “Onewa, look!” the Turaga exclaimed, pointing to the bound Rahi. By the looks of it, Matau’s wild rampage had weakened the webs that held them in place. “Go free them!” he ordered.

“Yes, Turaga,” said Onewa, as he leapt over the Visorak to make his way to the Rahi.

Dume sighed, and hoisted up his disk launcher, firing a Kanoka at a nearby spider.

Battering away two Visorak, Nuju and Whenua at last made their way to Matau, the area suddenly clearing around them. “Real leadership,” Nuju remarked. “It’s refreshing.”

“And effective, look!” As Whenua hoisted the unconscious Matau’s right arm over his shoulder, he watched as the Visorak around them backed up nervously, unsure of their next move. “Visorak are used to Rahi acting on pure instinct. Strategy takes them off guard.”

Nuju sneered. “You’re saying Matau running around like a Brakas who had too many bula berries isn’t a strategy?”

At that moment, the Toa of Air awoke once more, immediately flailing wildly as he dropped to the ground. Swinging his weapon all over, he screeched and hissed, banging his fists on the ground.

“Matau, calm down!” urged Whenua. “It’s us!”

Before long, he had run out of energy, and lied defeated on the ground. “Sorry, friends,” the Toa said with a heavy breath. “I’m gonna need a carry-ride.”

Further across the battlefield, Nokama and Vakama fought back to back, repelling Visorak with their tools.

“The Turaga is quite the leader,” the Toa of Water remarked.

Vakama grumbled. “If I hadn’t gotten us into this mess in the first place, we wouldn’t have needed his guidance.”

“So misguided!” The Turaga’s voice startled them, as he came to defend alongside the Toa. “Your mistakes are in the past, Toa Vakama. Focus on your future!”

Further away still, Onewa was taking advantage of the distracted Visorak. Carefully wedging his tool in between the strand of webs and the Kikinalo’s body, he yanked back, snapping the web and releasing the beast from its bounds. Rising up to its feet, the Kikinalo groaned its gratitude, something Onewa felt very confident that he didn’t need Nokama’s mask to translate.

“You’re welcome, friend,” he chuckled. Looking over his shoulder, he sneered. “I don’t think the Rahi like confinement much, Whenua!”

The Toa of Earth offered a small sarcastic laugh.

As the herd of Kikinalo regained their bearings, they charged across the battlefield, bashing through Visorak as their mad dash carried on. The troller and Lorak soon followed, making a beeline for the opening in the wall.

Nokama watched the Rahi escape, and spotted the entrance built into the wall, blocked by a legion of Visorak. “The old tunnel! If we can get to it, we can escape to Po-Wahi!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” asked a tired Matau, still held up under Whenua and Nuju’s arms.

The group moved at great speeds on the tail of the Rahi herd, following behind them as they forced away the Visorak blocking the door. As the Kikinalo charged forward, the Toa prepared for their escape…

…only for the Rahi to stop, scampering away from the door.

Confused, Nuju slipped past and entered the tunnel. Only a few feet in, a wall of rock had been erected, forming a dead end in the tunnel.

“They built a barricade to trap the Rahi in!” he exclaimed. Turning back, he watched as a swarm of Visorak charged forward like a rushing flood, countless of spiders ready to attack.

Confidently, Whenua walked up to the wall, and placed the edge of his tool against it. “If it ain’t broke… it soon will be!”