This certainly wasn't how Vakama liked to spend his evenings. He'd much rather have been able to sit back and relax in the company of Onewa and Nokama than running around and being chased by rahkshi. Especially now that he wasn't nearly as well equipped as he used to be. As it was, the thirty-nine year old had barely managed to avoid one brush with death, and that was only because his weakened mask power held out long enough for his present stalker to get bored and look somewhere else. The problem was, however, that Vakama wasn't sure it would work a second time; the creature had taken to spending more time searching each place it looked into, longer than his mask could hold out for. If he wound up having to rely on it again, he was as good as dead.

The sound of a breaking jar in the building he was hiding behind made him jump, cringing as he registered just how close the rahkshi was to finding him. Just when Vakama felt certain he would have a moment's rest to figure out a plan, he just had to wind up unable to come up with anything aside from on-the-fly attempts at life preservation. The ground trembled as the turaga fled his hiding place and ran for the next building. Surely the rahkshi wouldn't search the same place twice. It was a gamble he would have to make, especially with it that close behind him. Somewhere outside he heard the ground crack and split open, a surefire sign that Ta-Koro's days were over. But at least there was no screaming. Surely that meant everyone else had been able to evacuate. He sincerely hoped it did, at least. The thought of anyone dying in the attack was a crushing one, and thinking about it now was not something that Vakama could afford to be distracted by, not when his own mortality was on the line.

Something moved in the street outside, further drawing Vakama to focus on the present rather than the what-ifs. He pressed himself against the wall, ducking down near the doorway and watching for the rahkshi with baited breath. If it tried looking in again it would have a new thing coming. Staff held at the ready, Vakama was prepared to whack the first thing that dared to try and find him.

'I've yet to encounter someone who could withstand a knock to the head without repercussions.'

A shadow passed by the doorway, hesitating a moment before continuing by. Vakama dared to let a breath escape. So far, so good. Now he just had to figure out how he would get out of Ta-Koro before it sunk. That in and of itself would prove tricky, even without three rahkshi skulking about and hunting for stragglers.

The shadow passed by again, and once more it hesitated as though its owner was contemplating going inside. Vakama held his breath, his grip on his staff tightening a bit. Part of him was afraid it would enter, part of him dared it to try. He just had to hope he could hit it hard enough to let him make a break for it. A low hiss came from outside, the shadow moving and betraying the oncoming danger. Vakama willed himself to disappear, his eyes shimmering as his mask activated and caused him to vanish. Mere moments afterward, a large, lizard-like head moved into view, the being holding its staff ahead of itself, the tip of which glowing an orange-gold hue. However, the sheer size of the rahkshi wasn't something that Vakama had originally considered, and now he had an even bigger problem.; even if he could somehow fully bring the creature down, its frame would be blocking the door, preventing a ready escape through that route. To make matters worse, the building had no other doorways or windows.

Vakama was trapped, and only a miracle could save him.

For a brief moment, the turaga felt a sense of hopelessness. He was going to die here.

The words of his brother returned from his vision then, reminding him that the matoran would lose all hope if nobody could step up to lead them. If he died, who could rise to that challenge?

Vakama's grip on his staff grew a bit tighter as he raised it over his head, his presently invisible face taking on a determined and fiery expression. No, he wasn't going to lose himself in doubts now. He was going to get out of this, and by Mata Nui his present hunter would never shake the headache it was about to receive.

CRACK!

With a chorus of loud and pained hissing, the rahkshi was forced out of the doorway, the now separate halves of Vakama's staff falling to the floor as the invisible turaga dropped it and ran, pushing past the briefly stunned creature and bolting down the cracked street as his frame flickered back into view. A guttural, gurgling screech pierced the air as the creature recovered and gave chase, a glowing ball rocketing past Vakama and blowing up a building to his left. Staggering from the explosion and putting his arms up to try and protect his head, the thirty-nine year old scarce gave himself a chance to slow down; if the rahkshi could do that to a building, who knew what it could do if it hit him. "Just like old times..." Vakama muttered to himself, his mind returning to the fateful encounter with his twin brother in the Metru Nui Archives so long ago. They had been running from the Makuta back then, and now here Vakama was, fleeing from one of the Makuta's followers. Now all he was missing was a gaping hole to fall down.

That was when the ground shoo more violently than any of the previous tremors, a vast fissure tearing through the street up ahead and cutting off his escape. Vakama barely managed to stop in time, his feet mere inches from the edge as he stared wide-eyed into the chasm and the violently roiling lava below. On the far side and in the distance, the gate of Ta-Koro could be just barely made out through the dust and smoke, mocking him with the freedom he almost had. A figure could be seen running through it towards him, but the turaga knew he would never make it in time. It was over. Tahu was about to watch the very person who helped him become the Toa he was now die at the hand of the Makuta.

The guttural hissing behind him told Vakama that the rahkshi had caught up, and as he turned to face it he knew he was about to look his own death in the eye. "If you came to kill me," he said as boldly as he could. "then do it. But know this; your master will not succeed. It is in his nature to fail moments from his greatest triumphs."

The rahkshi merely screeched at him as it raised its staff, ready to destroy the meddlesome and defiant turaga once and for all...

Only to screech in pain as a plume of black fire surged from the darkness, and a new contender stepped from a nearby alley. He was tall and dark, covered in painful looking burns and holding himself like he had nothing left to lose. A large glaive was held ready in case the rahkshi tried to strike again, his eyes burning with an anger that could not be quenched.

"M-Mihkoro...?"

The Shadow Toa only spared Vakama a small glance before his gaze turned back to the hissing and sputtering rahkshi as it drew itself back up to its full height and focused on them again. "I'll buy you some time to get out of here." He said grimly as he walked closer, putting himself between his brother and the now highly irritated rahkshi. "Don't let Tahu get himself killed." Without offering an opportunity for reply, the Shadow Toa lunged forward and initiated a full blown fight, forcing Vakama to focus on his own escape instead of mulling over any details.

"Turaga!"

Tahu had reached the edge of the precipice now, one sword driven into the ground and being used as an anchor while the Toa's other hand was outstretched. "Jump!"

It was more of a reaction than an actual thought that had Vakama taking a few steps back before taking a run for the edge and launching from it. It was a very narrow chance that Tahu could even catch him, and now that he was actually in the air the turaga was beginning to question every choice he had just made.

Tahu's hand missed, and soon Vakama found himself barely clinging to the jagged edges of the fissure a few feet down, nothing but hot and fiery death waiting below. "Tahu!" He yelled as his fingers began to slip. "I can't hold on much longer!"

"I'm coming!"

Moments later, the Fire Toa was dropping past him, grabbing Vakama on the way down and landing squarely on his combined magma blades. "Hold on tight, this could get dangerous!"

"When we're safe, remind me to evaluate your concept of danger." Vakama said shakily, holding onto his rescuer as they hurtled off across the lava, propelled forward by waves created by the crumbling village. "Because a normal person would have deemed this dangerous the moment those rahkshi arrived."

"Rahkshi?" Tahu asked. "Is that what those things are called?"

"Yes, and I see you found the business end of one's staff."

"Oh not you too..."

Vakama frowned at that answer. "It's a lot more serious than just getting whacked in the head, Tahu." He scolded. "You don't know what that thing even did when it struck. One thing I've learned is to never underestimate the servants of the Makuta, especially the rahkshi."

"Am I the only one who who sees the real problem here?!" Tahu snapped. "Ta-Koro is gone! I had one job and I failed it!"

"Nonsense." Vakama replied hotly. "Ta-Koro was a place, not our people. The matorna are safe and that is what matters."

Tahu glared at him as they reached the bank and clambered up onto the edge. "Safe and homeless! They have nothing Vakama! What are they going to do now that they have nothing left?!"

"Survive." Vakama responded sharply. "Just as we have done since we arrived on this island. Don't get hung up on losing a dwelling place; if that was what mattered, the other turaga and I would have failed years ago."

"You did fail!" Tahu yelled. "If you had done your job properly we wouldn't be here!"

That was a wrong answer.

Vakama reacted without warning, grabbing the collar of Tahu's shirt with one hand and his hair with the other, forcibly pulling the Toa closer and glaring at him with all the fury of an erupting volcano. "Now you've gone too far." He seethed, his eyes burning with rage. "We are alive because of the sacrifices my team had to make, and if you think you could have done it better you're dead wrong." His grip tightened as Tahu tried to pull free, shaking him back into submission as he hissed. "I might not have my powers but I don't need them to put you back in your place." Letting go, he pushed the Toa away like some sort of diseased abomination before heading towards the rest of the escapees. "The darkness in your heart is taking over you, Tahu; if you can't stop it you're as good as dead."

"Like your brother?" Tahu shouted after him, clutching at his own, pain-wracked head."

"No. My brother was never this stupid."