And here we have Chapter 4. Nidhiki's in it! Yay! I liked him before he darksided.
Just a note: according to my stats page, Metru Uni has the most visitors of all my stories, even my Harvest Moon fic 7 Days, which had the top number of visitors for the longest time. (It does have significantly lower reviews, faves, and alerts, but since one of the things I'm going by for deciding to do a sequel is visitors, this is awesome!) I'd like to thank you all sincerely for 85 visitors and 147 hits!
Moving on, this is the last update of January, so happy February and I'll see you next week! Oh, and one more thing: the first chapter of the Metru Uni manga I'm doing has been posted if you're interested. You can access it from my homepage link on my profile.
That's all, folks! Please review, constructive critisism is always appreciated. Till next time!
*I don't own anything anymore because Bhek is dead.*

Chapter 4: Discover

Lhikan watched the new Toa leave the security office, back in their 'regular' forms and slightly dazed. "Do you really think it's a good idea to let them be on their own right now?" he asked Dume.

"They will be fine. If things play out the same way they did the first time, it should be alright."

The younger man looked at his mentor. Unlike him, Dume had almost all of his memories from his time on the original Metru Nui, and every other Metru Nui that had gone before. He said that someone named 'Makuta Teridax' was responsible for everything, but they had no way of knowing if it was so in their universe, since in the aforementioned Pluto-verse, it was actually some guy named Artakha who was the evil mastermind. Until whomever it was tipped their hand, they were in the proverbial dark.

"Yeah, well, if everything's so 'fine,'" he muttered, "then why do I get the feeling we've forgotten to tell them something important?"

"Aw, come on, Vakama, let me in!"

Vakama had shoved his chair under his doorknob and was sitting on his bed, ignoring Whenua on the other side of the door, pulling at his hair and repeatedly cleaning and re-cleaning his glasses. "Whenua, I need to be alone to think for a few minutes!"

"Oh, for...all right, fine. Have it your way. But just know that you're not the only one going through this, Vak." Whenua sounded annoyed and hurt, and Vakama felt bad for that, but he couldn't think when he was around other people. He forced himself to calm down, taking deep, relaxing breaths.

Suddenly, a word floated into his mind: Kanohi. Vakama blinked. Kanohi? What does that mean? Does it have something to do with Toa? Images exploded in his mind: plans for a metal mask, rows upon rows of similar metal masks, and finally, a tall, red robot, whose mask was glowing, slowly turning invisible...

When he snapped out of it, he was panting with fear. Why? Why is this happening to me? Why can I see these things, and what do they mean?

Then he looked down at himself, and screamed again for the second time that day.

Whenua's room was nice and dark, and that was how he liked it. He couldn't sleep unless the room was completely dark and silent. Unlike Vakama, he'd gone to bed early instead of trying to contemplate the events of the day, and so he was deeply asleep when Vakama burst into the room.

"Whenua! Whenua, something weird's happening again!"

Whenua groaned and sat up. The first thing he noticed was that it was insanely bright in his room. Oh joy, he thought, I've overslept and now it's noon or something. A quick glance at his clock confirmed it. "Vakama, you let me sleep until nine thirty? I had a class at eight; now I've missed it!"

"What? Whenua, it's nine thirty at night."

"Well what are you doing waking me up by turning the light on?"

There was a pause. "Whenua, I haven't even touched the light switch."

"Well then why's the room so bright? Turn it off, I don't do bright."

"But—! Listen! The room's pitch dark! Hey, Whenua, are your eyes glowing?"

"Don't be ridiculous—wait, Vakama, where are you?" Whenua had just noticed that while he could hear his roommate's voice, he couldn't see him.

"That's just it, Whenua! I'm invisible!"

If Vakama hadn't sounded so panicked, Whenua would have burst out laughing. "Invisible? How'd you manage to do that?"

"I don't know! How'd you suddenly come up with night vision?"

"I...don't have night vision."

"Okay, deny it and whatever, but you've got to come with me to see Lhikan!" There was a pause. "Are you coming?" Vakama's voice asked from the doorway.

"Dude, you really are invisible. Hold something so I can tell where you are, okay?"

A pair of Whenua's jeans, carelessly tossed aside on the floor, suddenly floated into the air. "Happy? Can we go now?"

Whenua followed his floating pants somewhat bewilderedly to the elevators. "By the way, Vakama, do you even know what floor Lhikan lives on?"

"Floor three, room seven," he said matter-of-factly. Whenua blinked at where he thought Vakama's head was. The pants moved up and down slightly, the only indication given that the newest Fire Toa had shrugged. "I asked him earlier."

They stepped into the elevator and Whenua pressed the 3. An awkward silence ensued until the elevator stopped at floor ten.

Two panicked-looking Nujus stepped on. Vakama nudged Whenua. "Is it just me, or am I seeing double?"

Then one of the Nujus spoke, somewhat hysterically. "Guys, I know this sounds crazy, but I'm Matau!" He blinked. "Wait, where's Vakama? I know I heard him..."

The pants, which Vakama had put over his arms, waved. "I'm invisible!"

"What happened, Matau?" Whenua asked, repeatedly jabbing the 'door close' button and trying not to think about what this night was doing to his poor sanity.

"I don't know. Nuju and I were talking—well, I was talking—and suddenly his eyes went wide and I was like "What?" and he was like "Don't look in the mirror" but I did anyway and I looked like this and—"

"Okay, I get the picture," Whenua sighed. It was then that he noticed that there were several random objects (besides Vakama's pants/arms) floating around the elevator. "Um, what's this?"

"That would be me," said the real Nuju.

"Yeah, right after I turned into Nuju stuff started floating and Nuju's eyes were glowing and when he directed them with his mind they went where he wanted but he couldn't figure out how to get them to stop so we're going to see Lhikan." It was really weird to hear a run-on sentence coming out of Nuju's mouth. (A/N: And apparently the run-on sentence is grammatically correct according to Word... O.o)

"Let's see..." Vakama said. "So you're shapeshifting, Nuju's telekinetic, I'm invisible, and Whenua has night vision. I really hope this has something to do with Toa, otherwise I'm going to be really freaked."

"I told you, I don't have night vision!" Whenua sighed, stepping out of the elevator, which had opened on the third floor.

"Well then how do you explain thinking it's bright as day in the room when it was pitch dark?"

"Being invisible makes you blind," he said stubbornly, heading for room 307 and knocking.

"Coming!" came a strange voice from the other side. The door opened to reveal a tall, skinny young man with dark hair and green eyes. He was wearing baggy jeans and a white beater, and was barefoot. He cocked an eyebrow at the strange assortment in front of him. "Lhikan, it's for you!" he called over his shoulder. "Come on in," he sighed, holding the door open. "I'm Nidhiki, Lhikan's roommate," he explained as the four of them filed in. "I'm gonna take a wild stab here and say you're those rookie Toa Dume was talking about?"

Vakama nodded, then remembered he was invisible. "Y-yes."

Lhikan walked out of his room. The dorm rooms were apartment-style, meaning each roommate got their own bedroom, but shared a kitchen and bathroom with one other person. The older Toa of Fire looked them up and down, then smacked his face with his hand. "Oh, I knew we forgot something! Kanohi powers!"

A shiver ran down Vakama's spine. "Ka...Kanohi?" There's that word again, he thought.

"Right. Kanohi were the masks that the original Toa on Spherus-slash-Aqua Magna wore. Each one had a different power. It seems like those powers got transferred here, too, so let's see what I can remember." He pointed to Whenua. "Night vision."

"I do not have—!"

"Yes you do. Nuju...wait, which one's the real..."

"Me," Nuju said.

"Right. Telekinesis, obviously. Matau, shapeshifting. And Vakama, invisibility. Nokama's was...what was it?"

"Translation," Nidhiki said. "And the Stone one had mind control."

"Oh, right, this is Nidhiki," Lhikan said happily. "He's my roommate this year, and he's a Toa of Air like you, Matau."

"Look, this is great and all, but how do we stop, or at least control, our powers?" Nuju asked icily as a stray cup floated dangerously close to Whenua's head.

"Hey, that's mine!" Nidhiki yelped, grabbing the cup. "Rule number one: no using crazy psychic powers on stuff that's not yours!"

"That's not an actual rule, Nid," Lhikan sighed. "It's not that hard, once you're used to it," he explained to the rookies in front of him. "Just concentrate on turning it off. Sometimes, a break in concentration can cause your powers to falter, too, but that's only when you're more experienced and were actually trying to activate your powers. Well, anyway, give it a shot. Just...don't break anything, Nuju."

Nuju scowled—partly at Lhikan's last comment, partly in concentration. Slowly, the random assortment of objects started to sink to the ground at the same time as the top of Vakama's head came into view. Matau-Nuju's hair slowly turned back to Matau's brown-and-green variety. Whenua stood there awkwardly, having nothing to do. Finally, he turned to Nidhiki. "So, you're, um, a Toa too?"

"Toa Mangai of Air," he affirmed, nodding. "Right now, it's just me and Lhikan on our team. There used to be eleven, but..." He grimaced. "Well, shit happened, as shit does."

"Language, Nidhiki," Lhikan admonished, collecting some of Nuju's items as they hit the floor.

"Mangai?" Vakama asked.

Nidhiki gave him a funny look. Toa or not, talking to a floating head is a weird experience. "Yeah. Apparently, that means 'protector' in Matoran or something."

"Wait, I thought Matoran was a religion," Whenua said, confused.

"Here it is. On Spherus Magna, it's a race of beings, and a language."

"Okay, that's confusing."

"Look, I don't make this stuff up, okay?" the older Air Toa snapped.

"I did it!"

This outburst came from Matau, who looked like Matau again, and was doing a victory dance. It was a very good thing that he looked like Matau again, because no one wanted to see Nuju doing stupid disco moves while singing "Happy days are here again!"

"Good job, guys," Lhikan said, putting the last of Nuju's previously floating objects away. "I'd show you how to control them but...this is a bad time. It's getting late. You should all head for bed; training starts tomorrow, or did you forget?"

"Of course not," Vakama said, propping his now-visible hands on his also visible hips. "Tomorrow night, gym, six thirty sharp. Wear athletic clothes." He looked at Nidhiki. "Are you going to be joining us?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. It would be good for the airhead here to see an experienced Toa of Air in action."

"Hey!" Matau said indignantly, since he was the one that the 'airhead' comment had been directed at.

"Right, out, you lot. I'll find Nokama and Onewa tomorrow and explain about their Kanohi powers. It's kind of hard for translation and mind control to go out of control," Lhikan sighed, ushering them towards the door. As he opened it, he saw Nokama and Onewa standing there. "What is it?"

Onewa's eyes were glowing blue, the same colour they'd been when he became a Toa. "I can't get people to stop doing what I tell them to!" he said, his voice panicky.

Nokama said something in German.

"On second thought," Lhikan said, "maybe it's not hard for them to go crazy."

After Nokama and Onewa were back to normal and the Toa Metru had finally left, Lhikan sighed and stretched. He turned to see Nidhiki studying him. "What?"

"When are you planning on telling them?" he asked bluntly.

Lhikan decided to play the innocent card. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can't play dumb with me; I've known you too long," his friend snapped. "When are you going to tell them that you don't have your powers anymore?"

He looked away. "I...I don't know. Hopefully never. Knowing Vakama, he'd just blame himself. I don't want that."

"Well, it won't work forever. You're going to have to tell them eventually."

"I know, okay?" Lhikan snapped. "Jeez, Nid!" The dark haired man shrugged and walked back into his room, leaving Lhikan alone in the kitchen. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and sighed. "Dammit," he muttered, heading for his room too.

Vakama and Whenua talked on the way back to their room. "I don't know," Whenua sighed, stepping out of the elevator. "It was just so weird to think, you know? I mean, having power over the earth is freaky enough without throwing night vision in there too."

"Try turning invisible," Vakama sighed. "Plus, right before it happened, I...I had another vision." Whenua did a double take. This was news to him. "About plans for masks...masks like the ones Lhikan was talking about."

"Kanohi?"

"Right. And that word was floating around in my head before, too." There was a pause. Then: "Whenua? Do you think I'm going crazy?"

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Well...that makes one of us." They'd reached their room by this point, and Vakama unlocked the door and headed for his bedroom. "G'night, Nua."

Whenua shook his head and sighed. "Night, Vak."

Edit: added page breaks. Now it looks less messy.
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