Disclaimer: Bionicle belongs to Lego. Lani and CJ belong to me.

Lani awoke to a fierce headache. "What the hell happened?" she groaned as she sat up. Another question popped up in her mind. Where the hell am I? Lani turned at the sound of a groan behind her. She saw CJ struggling to sit up.

"Lani, my arm hurts," CJ said.

Lani crawled over to his side, and saw his elbow has a large purple bruise on it. "I don't think it's broken," she declared. "Only bruised."

CJ looked around at his surroundings. Lani noticed this and asked, "Do you know where we are?" For some odd reason, she really didn't want to know.

CJ looked up at her with a mixture of awe and confusion in his eyes. "Lani, I… I think we're in Metru Nui."

Lani stared at him as if he had just grown two heads. Metru Nui? Where in the blazes what that? "Uh, CJ? What the heck is Metru Nui?"

CJ looked at her and said quietly, "Metru Nui is… well… was a city in the Bionicle storyline."

"What do you mean 'was'," Lani questioned.

CJ shifted uncomfortably. "It was destroyed by an earthquake. Its inhabitants were locked into eternal sleep. And its heros, the Toa Metru, were mutated into beings worse than you can imagine."

Lani twitched. "Hordika?"

"Yes. Hordika. The bestial half of you that you think don't exist," CJ said his eyes and tone growing darker. "In time, they will fall, just like the rest of the city." With that, he slumped over, unconscious.

"CJ!" Lani cried out as she caught her brother. He groaned and opened his eyes slowly.

"Lani, what happened? You… you asked me about Metru Nui… and… and everything went dark. I'm scared Lani! I really am!" CJ said before he started sobbing into Lani's chest.

Lani felt sorry for him. CJ was only eight years old. Lani stroked the top of his head, all the while muttering soothing words. Then, she started humming him a song she had made up all by herself. Lani hadn't come up with the words yet, but the tune was perfect. When sung, or hummed in the minor key it was meant for, it sounded haunting, chilling, calm, and soothing all at the same time.

CJ looked up at her and hissed, "Cut that out. That tune attracts visorak."

Lani looked back at him, confused. "What are visorak?" she inquired. The moment the words left her mouth, Lani knew she had made a huge mistake. A sound could be heard from all around the two siblings. Suddenly, a spinning object flew out of the tangle of webs and struck Lani in the side. Numbness soon followed. She tried to cry out as another wheel struck CJ. They both watched in horror as dozens of spider-like creatures poured from the webs. Why did I have to open my big mouth? Lani wondered.

The spiders were black in color, and had huge mandibles. Lani caught a glimpse of one the spiders' mouths, as it spat webbing at them. Then, Lani lost consciousness. But before she did, she caught a glimpse of something white scurrying away.


Lani woke soon after she had been captured by the spiders. She noted that she was in a cocoon. The inside of the cocoon was lined with sharp barbs that dug into her flesh. Her clothes were in tatters. She was sure her shoes were gone. As the venom in the barbs flowed into her, two questions floated thru her mind. Where's CJ and who was the white figure.

She suddenly felt pain beyond all imagining. Her body spasmed, and her mind felt… strange. Rage and fury filled her. Her body was warped beyond recognition. She screamed in pain.

Then there was a light. Her skinny frame wasn't nearly large enough, even after the transformation, to rip thru the thick web. Something or someone was ripping open the cocoon. She fell out of the cocoon, and into the arms of her savior. Before fatigue and pain brought back the darkness, Lani caught a glimpse at a tall, white figure with a telescopic lens over one eye.