Takanuva's vision of the past continues…

Pohatu could honestly say he had never seen anything like this "Karda Nui" place before. Of course, he hadn't seen much of anything in his short existence, but that didn't alter the fact that this place was incredible. Karda Nui was vast, almost a world within the world, one might say. Vast stalactites hung from a ceiling that was so high, it was almost impossible to even see without the aid of the telescopic eyepiece on Kopaka's mask. A huge, sandy plain stretched out seemingly forever—even with his Mask of Speed to help, it would have taken Pohatu a while to explore the whole place. Pohatu turned to Lewa and pointed toward the sky. "Did you try making it all the way up yet?"

Lewa shook his head. "I need a little more practice with this Mask of Levitation first. I wouldn't want to get distracted halfway up, and then get dead, you know? Besides, our fearless leader says there's work to be done down here first."

The plain was dotted with settlements inhabited by Matoran of Light. The villagers were toiling in various places in Karda Nui, often vanishing for days only to reappear, worn out from their labors. A flash of light in the distance drew the Toa's attention. "Uh oh," said Pohatu. "Here we go again. Grab hold!"

Lewa took hold of Pohatu's arm and let the Toa of Stone pull him along at super-speed toward the site of the sudden illumination. Onua and Tahu were already there and not faring very well. The Toa of Earth was on the ground, his chest plate scorched and still smoking, while Tahu's walls of flame were proving to be no obstacle at all.

These were what the Matoran called "Avohkah," and served as the reason the Toa were there. They moved incredibly fast, as quick as a jolt of static electricity from one metallic structure to another. No one really even knew if they were made of lightning, or just light, but they were very deadly and incredibly forceful. At first, the villagers who labored in Karda Nui thought the place was just prone to violent lightning storms. The Avohkah moved so fast that some Matoran even denied their existence, claiming that things have merely been going wrong due to bad fortune. But after more than a dozen Matoran were killed by lightning strikes, the rumor started that the bolts of energy were actually hostile and intelligent beings. The Toa's first few encounters with the Avohkah seemed to verify their sentience. The lightning bolts avoided obvious traps and seemed to go out of their way to do harm.

"Where's Gali?" asked Pohatu. "She's the only one who has been able to slow these things down."

"Off fighting another outbreak west of here with Kopaka," said Tahu, hurling fireballs to try to divert the lightning strikes. "They'll get here when they can. Meanwhile, it's up to us."

"Ah, this is the life," said Lewa, nimbly dodging a bolt. "Wake up in the morning, have a little breakfast, and then spend all day trying to avoid being fried."

"Look at it this way," said Pohatu, as a lightning bolt shattered his hastily created rock wall. "If you don't avoid it, you won't have to worry about what to have for breakfast tomorrow. And—look out!"

A massive Avohkah was headed right for where Tahu and Lewa were standing. Both Toa reacted at the same time. Lewa used his wind power to hurl a blanket of sand into the air to try to "blind" the creature, while Tahu launched a wave of super-hot fire. Neither really expected their hasty defense to work. Both braced for the painful outcome.

It turned out to be quite different from what they expected. The combination of sand and flame had resulted in a third substance, a hard, translucent, and extremely thick material that formed a wall between the two Toa and their foe. The bolt struck the wall, but did not pierce it.

Lewa didn't waste time being stunned. "What are we waiting for, flame-face?"

"We work together," agreed Tahu, already adding his fire to the sand Lewa was stirring up. "And don't call me that."

"Oh, don't be such an…ash," Lewa replied, laughing.

When they were done, the lightning bolt was completely enclosed in a thick glass dome. It couldn't get out, and its fellow Avohkah weren't having any luck freeing it. Puzzled by this, they withdrew, though no one doubted they would be attacking again soon, somewhere else.

Gali and Kopaka appeared soon after, both looking exhausted. "We drove them off," reported the Toa of Water. "But I have to remember to use water bursts, not a stream. Otherwise, um…ouch."

Lewa wasn't paying attention. He had spotted a spherical structure on the horizon, this one not made by the Toa. "Hey, what's that?"

Kopaka glanced at Tahu so swiftly that none of the others noticed it. Tahu shrugged in response. "It's called the Codrex. It's…not important right now."

"Maybe not to you," answered the Toa of Air. "Me, I'm kind of bored with busy Matoran, angry sparklers, and sand, sand, sand. I'm going to check it out."

"No!" said Tahu, more harshly than he had intended. "You're needed here. We can explore later."

"If you don't want to come, don't come," Lewa answered, already walking away. "Don't pull all that 'big leader' stuff with me—I never voted for you."

Kopaka shot a blast of ice from his sword, completely encasing Lewa from shoulders to knees in frigid ice. "Tahu's team leader, and he said no. So it's no."

Later, Tahu approached Kopaka when they were out of earshot of the others. "Thanks," said the Toa of Fire. "I could have handled it, but I appreciate your support."

"Don't thank me," answered the Toa of Ice. "We should just tell them the truth about the Codrex, about all of it."

"We need to keep them focused on the Avohkah, not on what comes after," Tahu argued. "There will be time enough for them to worry about that…all too much time, probably."

Kopaka turned away, obviously unconvinced. "It's your decision. But think about this—how would you feel if someone you trusted kept secrets from you?"

X X X

Tahu, Gali and Onua picked their way carefully through the swamp. The Makuta had left a trail a blind Archives Mole could have followed. It was obviously a trap, but the Toa Nuva had no choice but to walk into it. They had still found no sign of the Mask of Life, and there was always the chance the Makuta already had it or knew where it was.

"What's the plan when we find them?" Gali whispered.

"Do you remember the one we used when we cleaned out that Nui-Jaga nest on Mata Nui?" Tahu replied.

Gali paused, trying to recall. Then she said, "Wait a second, we didn't have a plan then. You and Kopaka were having one of your arguments. You hurled a fireball, missed, and set the brush on fire. The smoke drove the Nui-Jaga out, and we had to fight them all."

"That's the plan," said Tahu.

"Then it's too bad Kopaka isn't here," Onua joked. "You two haven't butted masks in days."

"Onua, you're not helping," said Gali. Turning back to the Toa of Fire, she said, "Tahu, please tell me we actually have some idea of how we are going to deal with three Makuta."

Tahu stopped walking and looked at Gali with a smile. "Watch this—little trick I learned from Pohatu. It's that thing he did when we were searching for the Staff of Artakha on Odina—the 'present' he left for the Dark Hunters." He looked away from her, concentrating on a spot in the empty air. After a moment, he relaxed again.

"Um…nothing happened," Gali pointed out.

"Wait for it," said Tahu. An instant later, a small ball of fire appeared in midair, right in the spot Tahu had been looking at. It shot down to the ground, starting a miniscule fire. Onua helpfully stamped it out. "Pohatu and Onua would be best at it, but we all can do it," said Tahu. "At least, I think so."

"Do what?" asked Gali, growing exasperated.

"Let me try to explain," Tahu said, keeping his voice low. "As a Toa of Fire, I control flame…I also control heat, without which you can't have any flame. If I start the process of combustion in a spot, I can time when it actually happens. Then, once it does, I can make the resulting fireball go where I need it to go the same way I would any flame."

Gali looked down at the still-smoldering patch of earth. "So you're saying you can plan a fireball for later?"

"Exactly, the same way Pohatu can set a stone to crumbling inside without it actually collapsing until later. Maybe it's exclusively a Nuva ability, I don't know. But I do know we can use this to our advantage—and here's how we're going to do it…."

X X X

Following Onua's directions, the three Toa approached Krika's haven, taking care to keep as quiet as possible. As Tahu had hoped, all three Makuta were there. Better still, they seemed to be hiding some artifact in a hastily dug pit. The Toa Nuva hoped that might be the Mask of Life.

"Spread out, and be careful," Tahu whispered. "We think with our heads, not our fists, and we'll get what we came for."

Gali tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile. This was a far cry from the Tahu she had first met on Mata Nui, who used to charge into Bohrok nests at the drop of a mask. I guess we've all grown up in the last year, she thought.

The three Toa scattered. Tahu took a position to the north of Krika's camp, Onua to the east, and Gali to the west. As soon as they were in position, they put their elemental power to work. Tahu started the process of crafting a huge fireball, Gali a high-pressure jet of water, and Onua a violent earthquake.

Tahu's creation appeared first, and he used his control over fire to send it hurtling into the Makuta settlement. As soon as it was on its way, Tahu was on the move. He glanced back to see Gorast coming to investigate.

Next came Gali's water stream, which she was able to steer right into Bitil. Furious, the Makuta charged out of the camp looking for the source of the attack, but Gali was already gone.

That left Krika alone and wary. But nothing he could do could guard him against the earthquake Onua unleashed. Once he recovered his balance, Krika used his mask to repel the ground itself, sending him into the air to search for the Toa Nuva of Earth.

It would take the Makuta only seconds to realize their attackers were nowhere to be found. But that was time enough for Tahu, Gali, and Onua to have circled around and entered the camp from behind. Onua dug up the pit while Gali and Tahu searched the rest of the area.

"Nothing," Gali reported. "No mask."

"Nor here," said Tahu, disappointed.

"I've got something," Onua said. "It's not a mask, but potentially useful nonetheless." The Toa of Fire and Water turned to see that Onua held in his hand a keystone. That made three they had found. If the other Toa had been as fortunate, they had all six. It was a small victory, even if the Kanohi Ignika continued to elude them.

"We had better get out of here," said Tahu. "The Makuta won't be fooled for long."

"Or at all," said Krika. He was standing on the edge of the camp, flanked by Gorast and Bitil. All three looked amused. "Did you really believe we would fall for that transparent ruse? We simply wanted you in one place so we could take care of all three of you at once."

The Makuta fired their ghost blasters as one, but Tahu was too fast for them. His mask power threw a shield up around himself and his team, deflecting the Makuta's attack.

"It's no good, you know," said Krika. "How long can you maintain that shield? An hour? A day? And when it falls, we will take control of your bodies and make you battle each other for our entertainment. Who knows, if one of you survives, maybe we will permit him or her to serve as a permanent slave of the Brotherhood."

"I say we batter the shield down now," snarled Gorast, "and kill them where they stand."

Krika chuckled. "Please excuse my sister—she has always been light-thirsty, even before the swamp changed her. She has a point, though. Time spent here is time wasted in our search for the Mask of Life."

Tahu flashed a grim smile. Even in their desperate situation, it was good to know the Makuta hadn't gotten their claws on the mask yet. With a little luck, maybe they never would. "You're too late," the Toa of Fire said, trying his best to sound confident. "We already have the mask. It's with Pohatu and the others. They're using it to destroy your brothers even now."

"Ridiculous!" snapped Bitil. "An obvious trick, one I can expose with ease." He concentrated, sending a telepathic flash up to one of the Makuta who lurked in the skies above. But the message he received back was obviously not what he had been expecting.

"Speak, Bitil," said Krika, impatiently. "How stands the Brotherhood?"

"The Mask of Life…" Bitil said, stunned. "It's there…it's become a Toa warrior…and—and Icarax has already fallen before its power."

Tahu glanced at Gali and Onua. Both looked just as surprised as the three Makuta. The Mask of Life was a Toa now? It was fighting? Was Icarax the same Makuta they had fought for the Staff of Artakha? What was going on here?

TIME TO GO, Tahu mouthed, no sound escaping his lips.

Gali nodded. She triggered her elemental power, adding more and more moisture to the air in the immediate area until a dense fog began to form. As soon as they were hidden from view, Onua rapidly dug a tunnel in the soft earth. The three Toa vanished into it and were gone by the time the fog dispersed.

"They've escaped!" yelled Gorast. "We must pursue!"

Krika sighed. "Of course we must. We don't want this to be too easy for them, now do we? Bitil, stop worrying about Icarax! He was a miserable heap of Zivon spittle and no great loss. He was the one who most failed to appreciate the Plan."

Bitil nodded and activated his mask power, plucking three past versions of himself out of the timeline. "Do we follow them?"

Krika shook his head. "Teridax told me once about a remarkable machine the Matoran of his region made called a Keerakh, which policed the icy regions of Metru Nui. From his tale, I learned that it is not necessary to chase your quarry—simply be waiting at their destination."

With that said, Krika used his mask to repel the ground and launch into the air. He was followed by the four Bitils and Gorast. "They will be headed for the Codrex," said Gorast. "Do you think the other Toa will join them there?"

Krika glanced skyward, his twisted mouth forming a cold smile. "One can only hope, sister."