A single ray of light shone through as the rubble was removed. It had been several days after the sudden earthquake of the great city, Metru nui. The earthquake had caused the Matoran's most sacred place, The Hall of the Toa, to be buried in rubble. Since then, the city had been completely overrun by spider-like creatures called Visorak. Once Roodaka, the Visoraks' ruthless queen had discovered the location of the temple, she had ordered the Visorak to dig it up and retrieve anything that was inside.
A red, insect head poked through the hole as the boulder was removed. Roodaka had sent 6 Visorak, one of each kind, to investigate the area. The leader of the group, Vohtarak, quickly climbed through, followed by the other five breeds. They looked on at the remains of the once great hall. Their mission was to stake out the area, and, if anything was found, to be brought back to her immediately.
The six different Visorak began to spread out, each searching a different area of the once great temple. Vohtarak observed the search, making sure nothing was overlooked, which none of them wanted. Even though the Visorak served Sidorak and Roodaka, it was not by choice. The Visorak were slaves to these two and if they even tried to rebel, they would be destroyed on the spot.
Vohtarak was wondering whether they would find anything, when he heard one of the others call from deep within the temple. Vohtarak was known for his speed and in mere minutes, he had met up with Oohnorak, his noble follower. The Pith-black Visorak's yellow eyes glared at a large door, covered in strange markings. They both knew that something lay beyond that door. A wave seemed to pass through the air as Oohnorak used his telepathic abilities to summon the other 4 Visorak.
First to arrive was Roporak. His brown color seemed to reflect the light, causing him to almost blend in with his surroundings. The next one to arrive was Suukorak, the pure white tactical master. Boggarak arrived right after him, her blue color glinting in the light. The last one to get there was Keelerak, a leaf green Visorak who was the most unpredictable of them all.
Vohtarak started to make a loud screeching noise, which was their way of speaking. What he was saying was "What do you all have to report?"
Boggarak started screeching as well, saying, "I found nothing of interest."
"I found nothing as well." Responded Roporak.
"Nothing of interest or concern caught my eyes." Answered Suukorak.
"Nothing but rubble, rubble and more rubble as far as the eye can see." Was Keelerak's answer, meaning that he too had found nothing.
"Good. I suspect that whatever Roodaka wants us to find, is behind this door." He turns to the door. The door was immense, covered in carvings of previous Toa's throughout the ages. The symbols of the six elements: Fire, water, earth, wind, ice, and sand were also present.
"Great. How do we get through this thing?" asked Keelerak.
"Leave that to me." As he said this, Vohtarak's eyes seemed to shift from his normal green, to a bright orange. His skin began to glow, transforming into armor as tough as steel. He had entered into his Berserk stage, where his body became invincible as he madly charged at the door. With a loud crash, he collided headfirst into the door, kicking up a cloud of dust. For a moment, a cloud of dust filled the air, clouding the area. Slowly, the dust cleared and what they saw, was something they thought they would never see.
Vohtarak was lying a few feet from the door, as if he was pushed. He appeared to be in pain, even though he had been in his invincible berserk stage. What was even more shocking, was that the door didn't even have a scratch on it. This was impossible! Vohtarak had been able to break through anything before, even hardened steel and he couldn't even scratch a stone door!
"Owwwww…. What is this thing made of?!?"
"Let me try." Volunteered Boggarak. Suddenly, she started to vibrate and a slight humming could be heard. As she slowly walked towards the door, the rubble around her started to shake and break itself apart. A small wisp of gas floated up from the once solid rock. If Vohtarak couldn't break through it, she'd just make so that door no longer existed.
As she was nearing the door, gas floated all around her from the once rubble. Baring her sharp pincers, she rammed them into the base of the door. What happened next really shocked her. Normally, the door would of shaken itself apart the moment her pincers came in contact with it.. Instead, the door started to glow and, just like with Vohtarak, she was thrown back by an unseen force.
"Well…that didn't work. Anyone else got an idea?"
"I say…let's just blast it to pieces!!" Keelerak yelled at the top of his lungs.
Arching his back, energy began to gather behind his head. In seconds, a green spinner-shaped ball of energy, a Rhotuka spinner, had formed on his back. With one quick motion, the spinner was sent hurtling from his back, straight at the door. The spinner struck the door hard, an acid appearing where the spinner struck. Usually, the acid would eat away at the door, but instead it just dripped down, pooling onto the floor and eating a small hole into the floor.
It was at this point, that Vohtarak noticed it. As the acid dripped down the stone door, he thought he saw a glint of light for a moment. For a minute, he thought he'd just imagined. He needed to prove it though…
"Drat! Even my acid can't bust through this thing! Now what? If we don't bust through this door, Roodaka will kill us!"
"Don't worry Keelerak. We'll figure something out." Roporak reassured him. As they were trying to figure out a way to break this down, Vohtarak spoke up.
"Hey Keelerak. Do that again." Every one of them stared at him as if he was insane.
"Huh? What for? You all saw that it didn't work! For what reason would you want me to repeat it?!"
"Just do it. I need to test something." Keelerak was still baffled by this, but decided not to go against it. Once again, he launched his acid Rhotuka spinner towards the door and once again, the acid did nothing to damage it. Once again, he saw a glint of light and he knew that this time he hadn't imagined it. For a moment, he wondered what it was and in a moment, it all clicked into place.
"That's it!" Everyone looked up at him for his sudden outburst. They all wondered why he was acting so strange, and a few of them started to wonder if he had gone insane. Before any of them could say anything, he fired off his own Rhotuka spinner, hitting the fire symbol dead-on.
"Vohtarak!" Spoke up Suukorak, " What is wrong with…"
"Shut up and look." Although they were still unsure about him, they all looked up. It was then that they saw it as well. When his spinner had hit the symbol, red residue fell from it and covered up the marking. When the mark became completely covered up, they saw a round marking below it, burst into red light. It only lasted a moment but they all saw it.
"What was that?" asked Keelerak.
"These markings react to the energy in our disks. If we all fire our discs at the same time, all the markings will light up, which may cause the door to open. This is only a wild guess."
"That sounds logical. This may actually work." Stated Sukkorak.
"Alright, on 3. 1…"
All six of them arched their backs and started gathering energy. In moments, spinners of red, blue, green, silver, yellow and brown were aimed at the door.
"2…3!" With a flick, 6 different Rhotuka spinners were sent hurtling towards the door. Striking the door at the same time, red dust, blue water, green acid, a white forcefield, yellow dust, and brown sand covered up the six markings, causing all six lights of identical colours to light up. A rumbling noise could be heard once the lights lit up. The ground beneath their feet began to shake as the enormous doors slowly slid open, revealing a pitch-black chamber. Slowly, they all stepped in.
"What is this place?" asked Boggarak. Before she could get an answer to her question, the doors behind them slammed shut so fast; they didn't even have time to turn around.
"This is bad! I'm calling for Roodaka!" Using his telepathic powers, Oohnorak tried to send a message to the other Visorak. This was a mistake, as a sudden wave shot into his head the moment he tried to send a telepathic message, giving him a serious migraine. The pain was so intense, he was actually flailing on the floor. The others gathered around him, worried.
"Sorry I had to do that." They all turned at the sudden voice. It had seemed to come from nowhere and yet…it seemed to come from everywhere. As they looked around for the source of the voice, it spoke again.
"His pain will cease in a moment. I just could not allow him to call that she-devil Roodaka." They all looked on as the air in front of them seemed to waver and bend, taking on the form of a silhouette. That silhouette soon took on a more solid form and they all looked on as a cloaked figure stood before them.
"Hello my friends."
Vohtarak began to screech, calling the cloaked man words in his Visorak tongue. The cloaked man began to laugh.
"You may call me anything you want, but it won't make a difference…Vohtarak."
Vohtarak was shocked. Could this guy actually understand him and how did he know his name? As he was thinking this, he heard a groan from behind him and turned to see that Oohnorak had gotten up, and he was angry.
"Why you…" without even finishing his sentence, he breaks into a run, heading straight for the cloaked man, his pincers bared as he prepared to attack. The figure didn't even twitch as he charged towards him. He slowly raised his hand, palm facing out. At the same time, Oohnorak leapt at him, ready to tear his eyes out. Before he even came close through, he stopped…in mid-air. His eyes were still twitching in their sockets, showing that he was still conscious.
"Sigh…I do not wish to cause any harm to you. I just wish to talk, so please refrain from anymore outburst like this."
With a flick of his wrist, Oohnorak was sent flying back and he somehow landed safely. He wanted have a go with this guy, but he knew that he would only get the same result, so he backed down. As he backed down, Vohtarak stepped up.
"I know can understand me, so what is it you want from us?" He had a serious tone in his…"screeches".
"Want? I don't want anything of you. I am here to give you what you want."
Vohtarak was perplexed.
"And what is it that we want?"
"Why, you want freedom do you not? Freedom from being in fear of Roodaka's wrath, freedom from having to do her bidding, freedom to do what you wish, when you wish. Freedom to be yourselves, not mindless slaves. That, is what you want."
Vohtarak was silent for a moment. Could this guy really give them the freedom they all dreamed of? The freedom to run away from Roodaka and not be in fear of her hunting them down? It seemed too good to be true! Almost too good…
"How do we know we can trust you?"
"Excuse me?"
"You trap us in this place, hurt one of us when we tried to call for help, then promised us freedom with no strings attached? It's just too good to be true… How do we know you're not just planning on using us for your own selfish gain!"
"Ya!" Spoke up Oohnorak, "You could have killed me with that blast you sent into my brain! I don't trust you one pit!"
"Neither do I!" replied Keelerak, "This guy's been freaking me out ever since we came in here!"
"Why would you give us everything we've ever wanted if there's nothing in it for you! Your whole proposal doesn't sit right with me." Responded Boggarak.
"We know how to open your door, so what's to stop us from leaving this place and bringing back a whole army of us?" added Roporak.
"In a tactical manner, everything you said doesn't fit. We have no reason to believe anything of what you've promised." Spoke up Suukorak.
"Show us some proof that you can really promise all you say you can!" exclaimed Vohtarak.
The cloaked man began to sigh.
"I should have expected this. You have only known slavery your entire lives so a sudden proposal for freedom leaves you a little sceptical. If you choose to leave, I will not stop you. But know this. If you do leave, you may never learn the truth."
"The truth?" asked Boggarak, "The truth about what?"
"The truth…about your very existence." They all became silent as he continued.
"If you wish to leave, you may do so know." With a wave of his hand, the huge stone doors slowly slid open.
The six of them just stood there for a moment, taking it all in. They had no reason to trust this guy and yet, he seemed to know more about them then they did. If they left, they would remain as slaves, doing Roodaka's bidding until they died or she killed them. But if they stayed, who knows what could happen? They could learn their true purpose in this world, their destiny or they could be forced to go up against unspeakable horrors just for someone's personal gain. It was a tough decision.
"What is your decision?"
Slowly, they all stepped away from the door. Their decision had been made. None of them said anything as, they began to realise what difficulties lay ahead of them because of their decision. Vohtarak was the first to speak.
"We wish to know the truth."
"Excellent choice." With a wave of his hand, the doors once again slammed shut. With that, their last chance of returning disappeared as well.
Before they continued, Boggarak spoke up.
"Before you begin, I just have one question: who are you?"
The cloaked man grew silent as the question was asked. He seemed to have expected this question, but he still seemed uneasy about telling them. Slowly, he reached back and pulled of his cloak, revealing his face. Every one of them gasped at what they saw.
The man's face was beaten, scars running up the sides of his face. He had hollow light blue eyes, eyes that looked like they had seen the horrors of the world. He was wearing something that resembled the mask of time that Vakama had carved, then lost before the earthquake had befelled Metru-nui. They could hear rasping noises and realised that the mask was the only thing keeping him alive.
"I realise you are shocked by my appearance. I have had a hard life, seen horrors that would make most lose their mind, and done many things I have long since regretted. But enough about me. It is time you learned about…yourselves."