Tahu, Ignika, and Gali stood alone in the Codrex. Onua had left a short time ago to join the fight. Now they stood, poised to do what they had been created to do. "This is it," said the Toa of Fire. "All the battles we've had, all the adventures, all the danger and death…all for this moment."

"It's hard to believe," Gali agreed. "You know, there were so many times when I disliked you—when it seemed like you were being stubborn just for its own sake. But I now realize that you were just trying to do your best. It couldn't have been easy leading this group."

Tahu Nuva looked away from the one who was perhaps his dearest friend on the team. For a long time, he didn't say anything. Then he turned back to Gali. "Do what we set out to do. If the worst happens, maybe, somehow, you'll be safe in here. Maybe the Codrex can protect you from the storm."

"What? Why?" asked Gali.

"Because I remember now, sister…I remember everything that happened," said Tahu, his voice heavy with grief. "Seeing this place again awoke the memories. We were here before."

"I know that," said Gali. "We all felt some recognition of Karda Nui when we first arrived. That doesn't explain—"

"No, I mean we were in the Codrex before," he said. "Pohatu and Kopaka were right—our Toa canisters were housed here and launched from here. I led us into this structure 100,000 years ago, knowing they would be here, knowing that we might never leave again." He related the story to her as quickly and simply as he could. How he had learned during his team's initial training what their true mission was and what it would involve; how he knew about the energy storm that would hit Karda Nui back then, and purposely delayed so that the Toa would be trapped in the Codrex by it; how he gave them a choice—climb into the canisters to sleep and wait for the time they were needed, or perish in the storm. The only thing he left out was that, at that time, Kopaka had known all this as well. But the Toa of Ice no longer remembered, and he saw no reason to damage Gali's regard for Kopaka by telling her about it.

When he was done, Gali did something he never would have expected: she smiled. "No wonder you didn't want to talk about it when Pohatu brought up the empty canister slots. Tahu, I can't say I am okay with how you did what you did—but I understand why you did it. You had to make a hard decision, but if you hadn't made it, we might not be here now. The canisters did protect us until needed. If not for your decision of preservation, there might be no one to awaken Mata Nui."

"Thank you," said Tahu. "I should have known if anyone would understand…" His voice trailed off. "But I still need to go. My place is out there, fighting this battle, leading my team."

"It would take the Great Beings themselves to keep you away from a fight, I know," Gali said, laying a hand on his arm. "But, listen to me. We will make it out of here. We will win this day, and then someday we will look back on it and wonder how we survived." She laughed. "After all, with Lewa Nuva as a fighter pilot, how can we fail?"

Tahu laughed, thinking about Lewa's joy in the sky as a Phantoka and now a pilot, even in the midst of crucial battle. His laughter at Gali's joke slowly died as he stared into space, thinking. His thoughts suddenly seemed to be elsewhere. When he returned his attention to Gali, he was smiling. "That's it. The vehicles, like the one Lewa is piloting—that's how we can get out of here in time."

"I don't understand."

"Remember how fast they are? How they passed right through the ceiling when they launched? If they can do that, they can carry us out of Karda Nui in the seconds we'll have before the storm erupts full-force." Tahu nodded toward Ignika, then looked at Gali. "Give me three minutes, then go ahead. We're going to get home, Gali, all of us. I promise."

Before she could respond, he was out of the Codrex. She began counting down to the moment when the destiny of the Toa Nuva would finally be achieved.

X X X

Kopaka left Takanuva to warn the others about the Plan's mysterious dependence upon the Toa while Takanuva kept working to save the Matoran. It wasn't hard to get the Kra-Matoran to chase the Av-Matoran back up to the sky. Hunting their former friends was, after all, what shadow Matoran loved to do. Running into an angry Klakk, however, was not part of their plans. Feeling threatened, the Rahi attacked anyone who came near and its sonic scream shattered the barrier that kept light from reaching the corrupted Matoran. One by one, they dropped out of the fight as the Makuta's hold on them dwindled away. Finally, only one Matoran remained in the grip of darkness. That was Gavla, the first to fall to a shadow leech when the Makuta invaded Karda Nui.

"Can you lead the Matoran out of here?" Takanuva asked Tanma.

"I think so," Tanma answered. "Vican says there's a portal to the outside in the western wall—he went through it to find Icarax. Of course, there's a Makuta base on the other side, but if we move fast enough—"

"Good," said the Toa of Light. "I'm going after Gavla. When you get out, take the Matoran north, to Metru Nui. Toa are there—good friends of mine—and possibly some other powerful allies as well, so the place should be well-defended."

After giving Tanma directions as best he could to the island city, Takanuva said goodbye. He headed back for the swamp, in search of the only Matoran left to be rescued. He found her wandering along the shore of a mud islet, not far away from where Vamprah stood with Chirox. Takanuva flew faster than he ever had before and grabbed her, carrying her up to the sky.

As he knew she would, Gavla fought all the way. Takanuva ignored her screams and rants, knowing that in the end she would be happy to be free of the taint of shadow, like the other Matoran. Sighting the Klakk, Takanuva fired a bolt of shadow at it to bait the creature. The Klakk responded as it had each time so far, with a sonic scream, this time targeted at both Takanuva and Gavla. The Toa of Light immediately felt something change inside of him, as light returned to fill the void in his spirit now occupied by darkness. It would take a while, he was sure, before his armor changed back to white-and-gold from white-and-gray—but at least he knew the damage done by the shadow leech was being reversed.

Gavla's reaction was quite different. She howled with rage even after the Klakk's attack had undone what the shadow leech had done to her. When Takanuva moved to see what was wrong, she struck out at him with a bolt of light. "Who asked you to save me?" she raged. "Don't you understand? The Makuta accepted me—they had use for me—which is more than my fellow Matoran ever did! I finally found a place where I belonged, and you took it away from me."

"But…but you were evil," Takanuva said. "You were threatening people who had been your friends for years."

"Friends?" Gavla said bitterly. "They were never my friends. But you wouldn't understand—you're a Toa. Every Toa is your brother or your sister. You all rush around thinking whatever you do must be right. Well, sometimes it's not."

Takanuva saw it was useless to argue. He wasn't sure how to feel about what she'd said— angry or just sad. "Tanma is gathering the Matoran at the old village to take all of you out of Karda Nui while there's still time. You had better go if you want to join them."

Gavla gave him a long look, her eyes full of sadness and resignation…almost like Makuta Krika's. "I guess I will have to," she said, as she flew past him. "You've left me nowhere else to go."

X X X

Toa Ignika rose slowly, majestically, into the air, then descended into the center of the ring of giant lightstones. For an instant, nothing happened. Then, with a flash of light, his energy lanced from the mask into the six crystals. Truly, it was his energy, as he felt himself slip away to pay for Mata Nui's awakening. Toa Ignika staggered as his body began to sparkle, each point of light scattering in a different direction.

He screamed from the pain, but was somehow equally satisfied. So…this is…pain. But suffering for the good of all…makes it easier to bear. Before Gali's startled eyes, the body of Toa Ignika dissolved in the energies of the Codrex, until only the Mask of Life remained, feeding its own power back into the universe. In a matter of seconds, the body had returned to the random assortment of molecules it had been before the Mask of Life created it. And then it was done, leaving only the mask hovering in the air, trapped in a nimbus of overwhelming power.

"By the Great Beings…" she whispered. "I never dreamed…"

"Go, Toa Gali. You and the others must live," the Ignika replied from a heart of golden energy, still spiking and spasming through the air to touch the six lightstones. "And Mata Nui must rise again!"

A whip of energy suddenly lashed out at Gali. But it caused no pain—instead, it was raw emotion that it carried. At first, she felt a great emptiness. Then there was the sensation of a great mind embracing awareness, reaching out to feel and experience all there was in the universe. She felt joy, a sense of triumph, even a desire for vengeance on the entity's enemies, and something more…something indistinct and far away, which she could not quite identify. Perhaps the consciousness was just too powerful, so alien, that it was beyond her ability to understand. She hoped that was all it was.

Then there was another strange happening. The mask itself began vibrating violently. Power was no longer flowing only from the Kanohi Ignika into the lightstones, but now something was flowing back into the mask! Worried that the energies might destroy the mask, Gali reached out to tear it free. As soon as she made contact, there was an explosion of force, and she was slammed into the wall.

When she regained consciousness minutes later, it was to see Onua standing over her. "Gali, we have to go. The others are locked in battle with the Makuta—we must gather them and escape Karda Nui. It may already be too late!"

"But the Mask of Life…" she began. "What will happen to it? We can't lose it…"

"I don't know." Onua glanced at the Ignika, which was vibrating so fast now it was just a blur. "There's no time. Life here is coming to an end, and if we don't leave, we'll end with it."

X X X

Down below, the battle was raging more fiercely than before. Gorast, Bitil, and Mutran, with what limited assistance Antroz, a wounded Chirox, and Vamprah could provide, were trading bolts and blows with the Toa Nuva. Makuta resistance had stiffened, as they tried to force the Toa Nuva toward the Codrex. Gorast's strategy was simple: pen the Toa into a small area so they would be easy to destroy once Mata Nui was awakened.

Tahu and Gorast were locked in a fight, the Toa using his rotating shield blade to keep her at bay. He knew from Pohatu what would happen if she touched him—loss of control of his elemental powers. If that happened when he was near his allies, he might incinerate all of them.

"The final moments have arrived," Gorast said. "Soon, it will be too late for anyone to change the course of events. The Plan will succeed, and the world as you know it will be history."

"I've heard words like that from Makuta before," Tahu shot back. "They were wrong then, too. Where is the leader of the Brotherhood, by the way? Too cowardly to face us?"

Gorast hissed as a fire bolt scorched her armor. "Do not worry, Toa—you will hear from him soon enough, in words like thunder."

Tahu parried Gorast's blow, but left himself open to a sonic attack that mildly cracked his adaptive armor. "You fool, no one is going to hear anything if we don't get out of here! When Mata Nui awakens, an energy storm will kill anyone who's still here."

"He's telling the truth!" shouted Krika, flying toward them. "I heard the Toa of Light talking above. Makuta Teridax has set us all up to be killed!" Krika had done many things in his life, most of them evil, some bordering on insane. But if he had thought Gorast would ever listen to him, that was truly madness. She turned on him with hatred in her eyes, Tahu totally forgotten now, and charged. Before Krika could stop her, she had grabbed his arm and triggered her Kanohi Felnas. "Gorast, no! Don't you understand? You're all doomed!" Krika yelled as he felt his powers slipping out of control due to the Mask of Disruption.

"I only understand that you are a traitor," she replied. "And there is only one punishment for traitors!"

Krika screamed then, as his ability to reduce his mass ran wild. With his will no longer able to control his power, he grew more ghostly as his atoms became less and less substantial. Finally, with a cry of pure anguish, he vanished completely from view as each atom broke down into nonexistence.

"Gone," Gorast said. "Less than a phantom, now, and soon not even that."

Tahu fired his blaster, forming a clamp that pinned Gorast's four arms to her sides. Before she could break free, he used his elemental powers to the Nuva max, increasing the temperature around her until her armor began to soften and liquify. "I ought to melt you," Tahu said. "How long would your energy survive here, with no body to possess? Krika was trying to save your miserable life, and you repaid him with death."

"Tahu!" Kopaka shouted. "We need to get back to the Codrex. The Makuta want us to wake up Mata Nui—at least, that's what Kirop says. Could this all be some trick?"

Gorast began to laugh. It started out as a soft giggle, then grew into insane, creepy peals of mirth that chilled Tahu's spirit. "It's too late, too late," she cried. "We have won. It has begun—the Great Spirit awakes!"

It was true. The air in Karda Nui had begun to sizzle with energy. Everywhere Tahu looked, the light was growing brighter, dispelling the shadows of the Makuta. In the distance, he could see the Matoran of Light speeding toward the west and, hopefully, safety.

"She's mad," said Tahu. "They all are. What is she talking about? The Makuta have been fighting us every step of the way, and now I'm supposed to believe they wanted us to succeed all along? They have a funny way of showing it!"

"What if we're missing something?" asked Kopaka, with the extremely rare element of worry actually entering his voice. "Tahu, how can we be sure? What if we make a mistake?"

"Look around you!" shouted Tahu. "You know what's about to happen. We'll have to worry about 'what if's' later."

Kopaka glanced at the still laughing Gorast, who was either caught up in a feeling of triumph or completely insane. "Let's hope there is a 'later,' then."