Just before the armies were upon them, Kit's scanner came to life on the far right of her visor. She turned until the dots centered on the visor, at this point facing back down where Matoro went. There was white dot that she knew was the Toa of Ice and gray dot moving after him—and closing in. "Jaller, something's after Matoro," she informed the Fire Toa. "It must be one of the Barraki's sea Rahi."
"Go on!" the Toa of Fire commanded, and the girl was off like a shot.
As she swam, she kept an eye on the dots on her visor, gasping when the gray one literally got on top of the white. Within minutes, she had reached her destination. Matoro was under attack by Mirna again and the two were now tumbling through the water toward Voya Nui's goal. 'Honestly, she's as bad as Darcius,' Kit thought to herself, and went in.
Mirna was about to attempt to meld with Matoro when something slammed into her, dislodging her from the Ice Toa. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?" she asked the girl.
"I could say the same for you," Kit retorted, and she sent the woman against a wall and flipped over.
Looking back, she saw the Toa of Ice continuing on his way and giving her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, then released a sure shot. Mirna shifted, but the shot got her shoulder and she screamed in pain. Clutching her wound in agony, she looked past Kit to see Matoro was almost out of sight; there was no way she would be able to catch up to him now. She glared at the girl, "This is not over." She changed into her more cloud-like form and drifted toward the surface.
"And, I'll be waiting," Kit said with narrowed eyes as she watched the cloud disappear, then made her way back to the battle.
When Kit returned to the battlefield, she found the Toa Mahri fighting the good fight . . . and losing. Sea creatures were attacking left, right, up, and down in waves with no regard for their own well being. She joined in and rammed a shark. "Kit, behind you!" Nuparu called. Kit turned to find Pridak charging right at her. But, to everyone's save Pridak's surprise, instead of gaining some distance from 'The Shark', Kit swam right at him. She chambered a fist in preparation for attack.
"I've had it with you!" she shouted, and punched—right in Pridak's right eye. The white Barraki roared from the pain and clutched his eye; it was unlike anything he'd suffered before.
Kit, meanwhile, smirked. It was as she suspected. The Barraki shared the same weak spots as the Rahi they commanded, in Pridak's case, since he resembled a shark, the eyes and gills. Then, she turned her attention back to the other Barraki and their Rahi and narrowed her eyes, rage and adrenaline making her blood boil like it never had before. Carapar was coming right at her, intending to cleave her in half with his pincers. However, Kit moved too quickly for him and, with charged up punches, hit his joints, the only kinks in his strong armor. Ehlek moved in after his comrade fell, but fell victim to Kit's twin energy beams. Suddenly, Kit felt a grip on her ankle for a split second before she found herself being slammed onto the ocean floor. She shook her head to clear it in time to find Kalmah standing over her and preparing to strike with his tentacle. Thinking fast, Kit rolled aside, grabbed the appendage, and leveraged the Barraki against a rock. Before Kalmah could react, the girl, with fin extension retracted on her left foot, kicked him in the face several times before she let him go. Then, she moved to join the Toa—only to have Takadox get in the way. The mantis-like Barraki peered at her with his eyes. Knowing what the Barraki was planning, Kit instantly dropped to the ground and swept his legs. Off balance, Takadox fell and Kit dug her heel hard into his abdomen. Takadox wheezed as the air was knocked out of him. Before she could take a breather, Kit felt movement behind her. She looked to find Mantax meaning to spear her with his poisonous barbs, but she managed to flip over at the last minute. She landed onto the Barraki's back, sending him into the ground, and left to join up with the Toa in taking care of the Rahi.
Although, it seemed the more they defeated, the more the fallen were replaced. Before anyone knew it, they were in a circle with their backs to each other, surrounded. Hewkii spotted some sharks trying to go the way Matoro did and used his mask power to make them so heavy they went through the ground. Hahli figured out that the Rahi were trying to get around them. "The Barraki know they just need to tie us down here," Jaller said as he and Kit repelled a group of venom eels. "And, if enough of their creatures reach Matoro--"
"He'll be fish food," Kit finished for him.
"Not if I can help it," said Jaller. Hahli heard the strain in the Fire Toa's voice and looked to find him glowing white-hot.
"What are you doing!?"
"If there's no other way . . . I'm going to go nova," answered Jaller. "If Matoro's far enough away, but his pursuers are close enough--"
"Are you crazy!?" shouted Kit. "You'll kill us all and everything for miles around!"
"If Matoro fails, we're all dead anyway," Jaller responded. "You five go, try to get out of range. I'll wait as long as I can. Go!"
Hahli, however, shook her head, saying that the group had already been through a lot of battles and they weren't going to stop now. Kit, at the moment, glanced down the way Matoro went, wondering how the Toa of Ice was doing.
Down, down Matoro fell in the heart of a waterfall just after nearly getting crushed by Voya Nui when it fell back into place. Everything was a blur and he couldn't be sure of what he was seeing: high mountains, murky water far below, and dark winged shapes. It was now he realized that though the Mask of Life was now where it needed to be, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with it.
"Put on the mask," a voice said.
"What? Who said that?" he asked, but the voice, a voice he was not even sure he was really hearing, simply repeated its last statement.
Matoro gazed at the Kanohi in his hands, remembering how Turaga Nuju once told him that the universe is a riddle and, though it won't give direct answers, it will give you clues so you can figure out the answer. Then, Matoro knew what he had to do and he put on the mask. Almost immediately, he felt as if a current of energy tingled all over his body and he fell toward an unknown target. He also noticed that his body was changing, turning into pure energy. He was dying. The Matoro everyone knew was dying, yet he didn't feel any fear, only peace. As his transformation continued, he began to forget how it felt to be in battle or lonely. He was now beyond pleasure, pain, satisfaction, and disappointment. Then, he remembered his friends—Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu, and Kit—whom he had shared so much with over the past few weeks. They were now fighting the Barraki to death, but no one would know of what they had done for the greater good. He couldn't let that happen. And so, for his last few minutes as Toa Matoro, Toa Mahri of Ice, he held onto his consciousness and asked the Mask of Life to let him use its power to save them. The mask obliged, and Matoro proceeded to perform his final and simple act of friendship. Only when that was done did he finally surrender himself completely and gratefully to his destiny and his and the mask's energies merged, filling the universe core with light as it exploded.
Jaller knew he had to do it now. Carapar got the best of Kongu, Nuparu was captured by Kalmah's forces, Kit was out cold, Hahli and Hewkii couldn't hold out much longer, and there was still no sign if Matoro was successful. He closed his eyes and prepared to unleash his powers in their extreme. "Jaller, stop! Don't! Stop!" Hahli shouted. The Fire Toa opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the Ko-Metru Knowledge Towers and Coliseum of Metru Nui. It took all of his willpower to force down his nova power.
"W-We're back!" said Kit as she deactivated her armor suit.
"We're back. How's this possible?" asked Jaller.
"And, we're on land and breathing air," Hewkii commented. "I thought we couldn't do that anymore."
"Wait a second, one of us is missing," Nuparu said as he helped up Kongu. "Where's Matoro?"
All of a sudden, the group heard a sound they'd never heard before—Turaga Nuju speaking Matoran from atop a Knowledge Tower. "Mata Nui lives! The Great Spirit lives!" Kit and the Toa Mahri smiled; they'd done it, Mata Nui had been restored to life. That's when they realized their missing comrade was the reason why they were there.
"We have to go back and find him," said Jaller. "We owe him that much."
"We all owe him a great deal more than that," said a voice. It was Vakama followed by Nuju. The Turaga of Fire told the group of how he'd seen Matoro give his life to save the Great Spirit's. "Come, my friends, let us go and celebrate a Ko-Matoran who became a Toa . . . and a Toa who saved a universe." With reluctant hearts, the Toa followed the two Turaga into the city, though Kit needed to be snapped out of her trance by Nuju. Only Hahli noticed that the girl's eyes were downcast.
Later that day, Jaller absently walked through Ko-Metru, thinking of his lost comrade. Though he was happy for what Matoro did, it still didn't take away the aching, empty feeling he felt inside his heart. Suddenly, he was aware of something that sounded like pounding. He followed the sound until he found the source and, quite frankly, he didn't know what to make of it. It was Kit punching the wall of a Knowledge Tower. Jaller silently approached her, feeling a little concerned about this behavior.
Kit, meanwhile, had no idea he was there. She just kept venting her feelings of guilt, sorrow, hurt, and maybe a little anger through her fists and into the crystal wall. She hit and hit and hit until she didn't have the strength to do it anymore. Seeing a hint of red on the wall, she looked at her right hand. It was bleeding along the space between the index and ring knuckles where the skin had actually split open. She simply let her hand drop to her side, as if there was nothing wrong with it. "Kit?" she heard a voice say her name, but she didn't even start. Instead, she slowly turned to look behind her.
Jaller started a bit when he saw his human friend's forlorn expression. Judging from the moisture on her face and her red eyes she'd been crying for a little while. Then, she turned back around to face the wall. "Are you going to be ok?" asked the Fire Toa.
Kit wiped her eyes as she shrugged. "I'm going to miss him," she finally said when she found her voice.
Jaller stepped beside, gently grabbed her shoulders, and turned her to face him. She didn't resist, as if all of her energy, her drive to fight back, was gone. "I'll miss him, too, Kit," the Toa admitted. "But, he did what he was destined to do, and in doing so, he saved not only Mata Nui's life, but all of ours as well."
"I know, but it doesn't make it any easier," Kit responded.
"No, it doesn't," Jaller agreed.
Kit then embraced the Toa of Fire in a hug, which Jaller reciprocated. "Are you coming to the memorial ceremony?" he asked. Kit remained silent for a little bit; of course she wanted to go, but the problem was she didn't know how she was going to get through it. "You don't have to go if you really don't want to," said Jaller. "I know everyone will understand."
Kit shook her head, "No, I-I want to go."
Jaller slightly smiled, patted the girl's head, and the two of them headed for the Coliseum.
The sky became overcast with gray clouds that threatened rain. All of Metru Nui was gathered at the arena of the Coliseum. Normally, it was used for sporting events, celebrations, and public gatherings. Today, though, it was being used to hold a city-wide memorial ceremony for Matoro. In the stands, Matoran comforted each other as they mourned the death of a great Toa. Meanwhile, at the doorway, the Toa Mahri and Kit stood in a line, their minds thinking of their friend rather than focusing on the words of the Turaga. Kit's hand was wrapped in a bandage. Hahli, naturally, was the first to notice the first raindrops on the ground.
"It's raining."
"Even the heavens weep," said Hewkii.
Kit looked up at the sky, raindrops hitting her face. Hewkii's comment made her remember something she heard the Turaga say earlier in the service—that since Matoro gave his lifeforce to the Great Spirit, one could say the Toa Mahri of Ice was now a part of everything—the sky, the water, the sunlight, every living thing that walks, flies, swims, or crawls on this world. Therefore, though Matoro may be dead, but, so long as Mata Nui lives, he would never be truly gone. 'Could he be in the heavens, the rain, too?' she wondered. 'If so, could this rain be Matoro or Mata Nui grieving with us?' Feeling her eyes sting again, she dropped her head. Hahli noticed and wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders.
As the service continued, Kit became aware of a change. Looking up she saw the clouds starting to part to the point a beam of sunlight shone through—right on her and the Toa Mahri. More and more beams shone through as the clouds continued to dissipate and the rain decreased to nothing more than a light sprinkle. Then, a rainbow appeared a top the Coliseum for everyone to see. Some, including Kit, gazed at the sight in amazement, it was quite beautiful. On her part, though tears of grief still flowed, Kit smiled with pride and joy. To her, the whole thing was a message from Matoro that he would miss his friends as much they would miss him, but he had no regrets.
