Chapter 11

Gambar stopped at the entrance of a tunnel, which opened up into the desolate Po-Metru, colored red in the setting sun. After the Dark Hunter attack, they had traveled through a maze of old Archive tunnels, taking care to make sure that they weren't followed. "We will rest here," he said.

"About time," Lanili said, setting down the unconscious Sufina. "She needs tending to."

Nidhiki appeared behind them, carrying the squirming Onu-Matoran. "Let me down!" Kulagi complained.

"Gladly," Nidhiki said, dropping Kulagi face first into the dirt. "I didn't know we Toa were at war with manners too. Matoran these days; can't even appreciate a good rescue."

"I appreciate your help and all," Kulagi said, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. "But I don't like being lugged around, especially when my friend's been hurt."

"She will be fine," Lanili said, pulling some herbs from her pouch. "I have some remedies that should aid the healing process."

"See, nothing to worry about," Nidhiki said, leaning back against the wall. "Now you can properly thank us for saving your Kanohi back there."

"Yeah, thanks and all," Kulagi said. "But I don't get it; why are you here?"

"Our mission is very clear," Gambar said, turning around. "We're here to rescue the Matoran, Kulagi the Kanoka Maker."

Kulagi blinked. "You know who I am?" he asked.

"We were told that a certain Onu-Matoran Kanoka Maker had flown off when news of the attack arrived," Gambar said. "Your Po-Matoran friend Huaju asked us to look for you. Seemed to think you would get yourself in trouble."

"And was he right about that," Nidhiki added. He observed the Onu-Matoran. "So you're that Kulagi, 'eh. I've heard of you. Turaga Dume has a whole file devoted to you. It's in the bin for Matoran with good intentions, but who just don't know how to follow the rules."

"Well, I'm not a fan of the Turaga's, and he's not exactly enthusiastic about me either," Kulagi shot back. "But I know how to handle myself, and I'm not going to back down when my friends need me. And I had a feeling that help from the Toa wouldn't arrive in time."

"Well, you were wrong about that," Nidhiki said.

"Except not entirely," Lanili added, still treating Sufina's injured. "We were in no position to drive the Dark Hunters out of here. Turaga Dume was of the opinion to let them weather it out until we could launch a full assault to take back the region."

"It figures," Kulagi grumbled.

"But I objected, and Lhikan backed me up," Gambar said. "We couldn't afford to send a full Toa army here to take back the region. But we could send a small, tactical team to extract the Matoran and get them to safety."

"And what about the device?" Kulagi shot. "Don't tell me that wasn't on the Turaga's priority list."

"Device?" Nidhiki asked, confused. "What device?"

"The secret project that Sufina was working on," Kulagi said. "The main reason the Dark Hunters attacked. They were after it the entire time." He frowned. "And I guess now they have it. Just like they have my friend Triki."

"Don't believe every legend you hear," Nidhiki said. "There's no secret project going on here."

"Actually, there is," Gambar said.

"What?" Nidhiki barked.

"I don't know all the details, because Turaga Dume and Lhikan kept quiet about them," Gambar said. "But there was a project underway. If the Dark Hunters have it now, then it truly is unfortunate."

"Do we switch tactics then?" Lanili asked. "If Lhikan kept this a secret, even from us, then it must be important."

"It is, but our mission is already crystal clear," Gambar said. "We get the Matoran out of here. And then we worry about what ever plot the Dark Hunters are cooking up." He focused on Kulagi. "You seem to know what's going on here. Do you know where the Matoran are being held?"

"Most of them are in hiding, using the protodermis pipeline underneath the city," Kulagi said. "But one of them was captured. It was my Le-Matoran friend, Triki. He was helping us flee, but he got caught first."

"That's no good," Nidhiki said. "We won't be able to rescue him and the others."

"What?" Kulagi yelped. "Why not?"

"One Matoran versus many?" Nidhiki said with a shrug. "We've got to save as many as we can, and that would be the ones not currently kidnapped by the Dark Hunters."

"Fine," Kulagi said, standing up. "Then I'll go after him myself."

Nidhiki laughed. "Sure, one Matoran against an army of Dark Hunters. They won't stand a chance."

Gambar, however, observed the Matoran thoughtfully. "You know how to fight," he said. It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.

"I do," Kulagi said. "And I've already bested a few Dark Hunters, and I'm not afraid to face more if I have to."

"Then go do so," Gambar said. "Rescue him."

"Wait, we can't let him go, he'll get pulverized!" Nidhiki protested, but Gambar lifted his hand to silence him.

"We won't stop you, but we won't back you up either," Gambar said. "But I can see determination within you, and if you have lasted thus far against the Dark Hunters, then maybe you stand a chance."

"I... okay," Kulagi said, at a loss for words. "Thanks, I guess."

"We will go to the other Matoran and get them to safety," Gambar said. He turned to Lanili. "Can you carry the Ga-Matoran now?"

"Yes, at this point she'll be fine," Lanli responded.

"Please take good care of her," Kulagi said. "She's... she's a dear friend too."

"Well, Onu-Matoran, you're pretty crazy," Nidhiki said, rising up. "And you still owe me thanks for earlier. So make sure you live through this so you can say it next time we meet."

Kulagi nodded, and Gambar led the two Toa back into the tunnel, where he would use his elemental earth powers to travel beneath the surface towards Ga-Metru. Meanwhile, Kulagi turned towards the desert, and strapped his Kanoka launcher securely to his back. "Well, I guess I'm off," he said to himself. "Triki, here I come."

He started his journey, even as the sky darkened above him. Kulagi had to admit that he didn't know where he was going; he had no clue where the Dark Hunters were holding Triki. But he knew that they held most of the Po-Metru territory, so their base of operations must be somewhere within the Metru. Perhaps if he could find a patrol of Dark Hunters, he could follow them secretly to the base and find Triki. It wasn't much of a plan, but at least it was something.

Kulagi pushed on for hours, taking care to cross the rocky landscape. The darkness didn't hinder him, because the stars above provided enough light for his natural night vision to work. Plus, he was small enough and stealthy enough that he doubted any of the Dark Hunters would spot him.

Finally, partway through the night, Kulagi saw shadows moving in the distance. There were two Dark Hunters on patrol, and they were heading northwest, which would only lead them further into Po-Metru. Unfortunately, these Dark Hunters were also moving quickly, and soon were out of sight. But Kulagi now had a direction to head towards, and so he moved on.

He took an hour to rest, hiding in a stone outcropping. Afterwards, he pushed on and passed by a wide flat of plains, where he could see a herd of Kikinalo grazing in the distance. Po-Metru had some of the largest Rahi populations, and Kulagi was happy to see that at least some life in Metru-Nui was apparently unaffected by the war.

He reached another hill, and started to climb up and over it. But he paused suddenly, as he heard footsteps approaching. Somebody was heading towards him, but it didn't sound like a large being. Rather, it sounded like another Matoran.

Kulagi hid behind a large rock and loaded his Kanoka launcher. Once the other being was nearby, he jumped out and aimed his launcher. "Who goes there?" he demanded, but then nearly dropped his launcher in surprise. "Triki!"

"Kulagi?" Triki asked, blinking as if he had only been interrupted during a peaceful nighttime stroll. "Why are you out in desert at dark-time?"

"I'm coming to rescue you," Kulagi said. "But how are you here?"

"Oh, right, the Dark Hunters had me," Triki said, and he broke out in a grin. "But they didn't like playing fun games, so I slipped away earlier."

"Are you alright?" Kulagi said, frowning. "I've heard that the Dark Hunters can be pretty brutal with prisoners."

Triki thought for a moment. "They had bad breath," he said. "And lots of loud-talk. Oh, and I guess they liked to hit too. That hurt a bit."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Kulagi said.

"You too," Triki said. "Did you ever find that thing you were search-seeking earlier? It seems important."

"No, unfortunately, we lost it," Kulagi said, shaking his head. "But there are other things that are more important, like friends." He paused. "Speaking of which, Triki, we haven't properly greeted each other yet." He held up his hand in a high five position. "Come on, you always enjoy this."

"Right, right, our friendly greeting," Triki said, hastily high fiving Kulagi. Kulagi shifted his hand down into a low five, and Triki responded. Then Kulagi tried to repeat the arm movements, and Triki mimicked them, although off by a beat.

Suddenly, Kulagi swung up his fist and struck Triki in the mask, throwing him back into the rocks hard. Triki got painfully to his feet, cursing. "What was that about?" he demanded.

"But that's the new move you added in, Triki," Kulagi said. "It's surprising that you forgot it this time. Unless, of course, you're not Triki after all." He pointed his Kanoka launcher at the Matoran. "Isn't that right, Glax?"

Triki scowled, and then his body began to shift, until he had grown into the spindly yellow Dark Hunter known as Triglax. "So you saw through my disguise," he said.

"Just some advice; if you're going to impersonate somebody, don't try Triki," Kulagi said. "He's a little too unique for you to pull off."

"Then perhaps I should've gone for the direct route," Triglax said, drawing his Kanoka launcher. He fired a Ko-Metru disc directly at Kulagi, hoping that the disc's ability to always seek out its target would strike down Kulagi, even if he tried to dodge. But Kulagi countered it with a Po-Metru Regeneration Kanoka, which deflected the other disc and then struck the boulders next to Triglax, causing them to replicate and fall towards the Dark Hunter.

Triglax dodged to the side, but Kulagi was already taking aim again and fired a Weakening disc. Triglax ducked and the disc missed him and he fired one of his own. Kulagi drew one of his own Kanoka and blocked the incoming disc with it, but Triglax had fired a Reconstruct at Random Kanoka, and it mutated Kulagi's disc into a thorny plant, which pricked Kulagi as he dropped it.

The two darted to the side, firing more discs at each other. But they were evenly skilled with their Kanoka, and were able to counter or dodge each other's attacks. Kulagi fired a Kanoka coded 285, but it sailed past Triglax, who fired a Weakening Kanoka directly at Kulagi. Kulagi couldn't dodge it, but he had already directly his Ga-Metru Kanoka to fly back towards him. Just before Triglax's disc struck, Kulagi got hit by his own Kanoka, and he vanished.

Triglax blinked. "He used his Teleportation disc on himself," he said. "But it wasn't that strong of a disc, so that means he couldn't have gotten far. So I just need to find him before..."

"Before I find you," Kulagi shouted, jumping out from behind Triglax. Triglax spun around, but Kulagi had already fired a Freezing Kanoka, which encased Triglax's body in thick ice, immobilizing him.

Triglax sneered as he tried to break free from the ice, but his strength wasn't enough. Meanwhile, Kulagi knocked his Kanoka launcher away, and then aimed a Weakening disc at his head. Triglax frowned. "So it looks like I lose."

"You got that right," Kulagi said, anger growing within him.

"You are quite skilled with Kanoka, aren't you?" Triglax said. "I've never fought against somebody who knew how to use them so well. Most of the other Dark Hunters don't care about Kanoka, and don't appreciate their worth. But in the hands of a skilled Matoran... Kanoka are indeed quite powerful."

"What do you know about Kanoka?" Kulagi snapped. "That was just another lie to trick us into trusting you!"

"It wasn't a lie," Triglax said. "You see, my powers aren't exactly... ideal for combat, so I needed to learn how to use a tool. And so I didn't just learn how to use Kanoka, but also how to make them. All those discs were really ones I'd made."

"Lies!" Kulagi shouted. "You Dark Hunters are just a melting pot of odd powers. You probably have ice vision or disintegration rays or something."

"Not all of us are as varied as a Skakdi," Triglax said. "No, I am just a shapeshifter, with the added benefit of being a Kanoka Maker on the side. That part, I never lied about." He narrowed his eyes. "And I certainly tried to warn you off this mission. I didn't want you or any of the others to get into a fight you were bound to lose. I just wanted to get that power source."

"But you didn't seem to care what happened to us after you got what you wanted," Kulagi snapped.

"Fair point," Triglax said. "But you decided to go and attack Vengeance, and he has this thing about upholding his pride. You were just asking to get pummeled."

"Well, maybe now it's your turn!" Kualgi said, tightening his grip on his launcher.

Triglax laughed. "If you were going to shoot me, you would've done so by now," he said. "Now, since I'm here, let me give you some advice. Don't wander any further into Dark Hunter territory. I was going to try to lead you away as Triki, but this could work too. If you turn around and go home right now, I'll look the other way and won't pursue you when this ice melts."

Kulagi paused. "Or I have another idea," he said. "You'll lead me to where they're holding Triki."

Again, Triglax laughed. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I'm sparing you now," Kulagi said, lowering his weapon.

"You weren't going to shoot me anyway," Triglax said. "I really don't see the benefit in it for me."

"Look, you said you didn't want to get us hurt," Kulagi said. "Well, your people still have Triki, but now that you have the device, you don't need him anymore. Help me rescue him and then we'll leave, once and for all. I'm not after that device; I just want to get my friend back."

"So you're just going to let the Dark Hunters have their way?" Triglax asked.

"That's not part of my fight," Kulagi said. "The Toa will deal with you soon enough. But for now, help me get my friend. Then we're gone and you don't have to deal with us anymore. Otherwise, I will continue to stir up trouble for the Dark Hunters for as long as I can. And you know that I'm capable of it."

Triglax paused to consider. "A Matoran willingly allying with a Dark Hunter," he said. "An occurrence like this might not ever happen again, so why should I deny Destiny this partnership? Besides, if I'm not mistaken, Hakann is in charge of holding your friend, and I wouldn't mind messing with his ugly mug."

"So, then, we have a deal?" Kulagi asked.

Triglax grinned. "We have a deal, Kanoka Maker."