The unusual being spoke again to the Toa, "You have become both more and less than what you were," he said. "You walk a road that is all too familiar…we know how it begins, and we know how it can end. You must act now, Toa, or there is no hope for you or your city."

A surge of hope ran through the Toa. True, these creatures resembled old foes a little too much for comfort, but if they knew how this change could be reversed… "Tell us how to undo this, wise ones, and I'll personally build a field full of statues in your honor," growled Onewa.

"You would be doing Metru Nui and the Matoran, as well as us, a great service," said Nokama.

"We know of your plight," the stout figure replied. "We have been living in the shadows of this city since before the cataclysm. We know why you returned, and we know what has happened to you. We are aware of what happened to the Matoran, as well as what terrible plans the Visorak have for them. But we can do little to stop them. It is you who must act."

"How?" demanded Nuju. For some reason, the riddles these beings were speaking sparked anger in him. It felt strange, for he was never one to let his emotions get the best of him. Yet at the same time, rage seemed like the most natural reaction to this situation. It was something he would have to think long and hard about.

"Keetongu," came the reply. After he had spoken the word, he waited for some reaction.

Nuju glanced at his fellow Toa. It was obvious that none of them understood the term.

Onewa, at least, was willing to pretend he understood. "The Key to Nongu," he said, matter-of-factly, nodding his head.

Their addressor gave Onewa an amused look, chuckling. "Keetongu is a powerful creature gifted in knowledge of venoms and their counter-agents," the being continued. "And he is our only hope of standing against the Visorak horde. If you are to be the Toa you once were, it is Keetongu you must seek."

"But…what are we now?" asked Nokama. She too was having a hard time keeping her temper in check.

Matau took stock of the short beings' appearances, particularly the disgusting Rahkshi heads each one had. They had two legs, two arms, and each had a staff they leaned on, but those heads…he couldn't seem to look away. He leaned toward Nokama, but didn't make any effort to lower his voice. "How can we know-trust them? Look at them!"

Nokama gestured to the new looks of the Toa. "Look at ourselves, Matau, and ask yourself how can we not?" She turned back to the red being. "Speak, and we shall listen."

The red being went on, "You are half-Toa, half-beast, prisoners of your own instincts, your own rage…until the day your Rahi nature takes hold completely, and you are no better than gibbering things bringing destruction wherever you roam."

The white being began speaking, now. "The Visorak cocoons injected you with Hordika venom. It now courses within you; you are tainted with darkness now…your Kanohi no longer serve you. Your masks have been physically mutated, and even if they were not, you lack the mental prowess to use them."

"But beware," the black being said, walking over with his short staff. "If the venom is not erased from your system in time, if it is not neutralized, it will take root…and Hordika you will remain…forever. Worse, you will become beasts in fact as well as appearance…gibbering things that stalk the night, bringing destruction but possessing no purpose."

Onewa shuddered at the thought. This could not be their destiny! It could not have been why Mata Nui blessed them with the power of Toa! His mind had been sifting through theories ever since the strangers first appeared. Now he looked at them and said quietly, "Like you?"

"We are the Rahaga," the red being continued. "Norik is my name." Then the bizarre-looking being gestured to his companions and introduced each of them in turn. All of them had the head of a Rahkshi, the same projectile launcher as Visorak on their backs, and a walking staff. "And the others are: Gaaki, Bomonga, Kualus, Pouks, and Iruini."

A moment of silence followed. It was finally broken by Matau, who said awkwardly, "So…how's that working out for you?"

"It has its moments," Norik replied. "This is not one of them."

None of the Toa knew quite what to say. It was hard enough to believe all this had happened to them, let alone that such bizarre looking creatures were their only hope.

Nokama shook her head. In the end, it didn't really matter what the "Rahaga" were or why. All that mattered to her was what they knew. Finally, she spoke up. "Rahaga, can you take us to this Keetongu?"

The green Rahaga called Iruini laughed. "Iruini!" Norik said sharply, shooting him a stern look and earning a shrug from the offender.

"I…don't understand," Nokama said.

Norik turned back to Nokama. "What Iruini so inappropriately suggests is that this will be…difficult, you see. We Rahaga came to Metru Nui in search of Keetongu ourselves, and there are those of us that, well…doubt his existence entirely."

"Oh, wonderful," said Onewa. "Our only hope is a myth."

"And you?" Nuju's eyes narrowed as he asked Norik. "What do you believe?"

Norik drew himself up to his full height and said firmly, "l believe in legends."

"Then so must we," agreed Nokama.

"Woooah there, wait, sister-Toa," interjected Matau. "Shouldn't we group-talk about this? What do you say, Onewa? Whenua? Mask-melter?"

The Toa of Stone and the Toa of Earth said nothing. They had both dared to hope that their transformation might be reversed, only to find out that the whole thing hung on nothing more than simply another legend.

Vakama never took his eyes from the ground. He stared into the flames at the center of the group's meeting. He was igniting the tips of his new Toa tools in the campfire and then watching them burn out to pass the time, occasionally lighting them on their own by his will, too. His tone of voice said that his thoughts were far away. "l say we returned to Metru Nui to rescue Matoran, not to hunt down mythical beasts."

"Oh? And you have a way of doing this?" Norik asked sharply, hopping over to him. "Perhaps using your new Hordika powers?" He harshly blew out the torch Vakama had just lit. "Powers you have not yet learned to use."

"I don't know," said the Toa of Fire, through gritted teeth. Something in his voice told Nokama he was dangerously close to an explosion.

"Don't know, or don't want to include the rest of us in your plans?" Norik prodded.

Vakama smashed the fire's open flames with his hand, immediately putting out their primary source of heat and light. He turned from the fire area to give the Rahaga a hard stare. Then he rose and walked off into the darkness, saying only, "Neither."

"Vakama!" Nokama cried after him, shocked at his behavior.

Norik started after the troubled Toa Hordika. "I will talk with him," he said.

"What about us?" asked Matau.

Norik gave him a smile, one laced with little humor and a pinch of menace. "Prepare yourselves. We've a legend to prove."

X X X

The Metru Nui Coliseum stood tall, many dangling webs trailing down its sides or spanning to other buildings and skyscrapers in the city. Once, it was the home of Turaga Dume, Matoran sporting competitions, and Naming Day ceremonies…now it was home to something very different and very dangerous: the Visorak army.

Thousands of Visorak poured into one of the Coliseum entrances, while in a higher chamber, a squad of Visorak reported to their command for debriefing. "I assume you are here to tell me that Sidorak and the hordes have been successful, and the Toa have been recaptured?" Roodaka asked.

The lead Visorak had nothing to say. A second of silence passed. Then it was blasted by a spinning wheel of energy. The projectile hit with such force it flipped it onto its back, where it writhed in pain due to the mutations spasming through its body. Its legs waved weakly in the air as its comrades simply watched. They knew that they would suffer the same fate if one of them dared to look away.

"Because you know how I feel about failure," the Visorak's superior finished, as the lead Visorak finally died, succumbing to toxic and lethal biological changes to its structure. "The success of my plans requires the six Toa…" Roodaka stepped on the Visorak, crunching its already hardened corpse into the Coliseum floor and raised a hand triumphantly for the other Visorak to see and cheer. "And by Makuta's black heart, I shall have them! This I swear! Now go!"

X X X

It was some time before Vakama returned to the group after reaching a compromise with Norik. An uneasy silence lingered for a long while before he spoke. "I can't tell you all what to do," the Toa of Fire said. "It's obvious that my orders led us to this disaster. It's equally obvious that some of you no longer wish my company," he said, looking at Matau and Onewa.

"Vakama, they didn't—" Nokama began.

Vakama cut her off. "But I think we can all agree that our problems pale next to those of the Matoran. We have to be sure they are safe before we can worry about how to reverse this transformation."

Nuju nodded. "As much as I wish it were otherwise, you are right. Placing the Matoran first puts us at risk of being Hordika forever, something I would not wish on anyone. But seeing to ourselves before saving them may doom an entire population to this fate, or worse."

"We are Toa-heroes, even if we don't look like it," agreed Matau. "We have two problems—rescuing the Matoran from the Coliseum, and then getting them out of this city. If you will think-plan on the first, I may have an idea of how to do the second."

"Then let's get started," Onewa said, bounding on top of a pile of rubble. "We are not getting any younger, and Matau is not getting any better looking."

X X X

Norik watched the Toa talk and plan as they journeyed back to Le-Metru. It was good that they had a mission and goal in mind to keep them from thinking about their fate. He knew better than most what Toa were capable of, but in his heart, he doubted that these heroes could avoid their doom.

He signaled to the other Rahaga to spread out and keep to the shadows. If there were Visorak near, the Rahaga would spot them. The Rahaga had survived this long by avoiding the hordes, running, hiding…but no more.

Metru Nui will be our final showdown with these creatures from the pit, he told himself. And before it is done, either Visorak or Rahaga will be no more.

X X X

Roodaka sat on the throne that had once belonged to Makuta. Sidorak had departed to gather his legions in preparation for hunting the Toa Hordika. He would rely, as he always did, on the overwhelming force of numbers to achieve his ends. The Visorak would sweep through the city like a plague, never resting until their prey had been run to earth.

But will that be enough? she wondered. These are Toa…mutated, yes, burdened with the dual nature of the Hordika, but Toa just the same. This is their city. They know its hiding places, and they have the cursed Rahaga to aid them. With luck and skill, they might evade the hordes.

That would never do. She needed the Toa to achieve her ultimate plan, and as she had vowed, by Makuta's dark power, she would have them. The queen of the Visorak rose and walked to the massive sundial that dominated the chamber. Once this device had measured the amount of time remaining before Metru Nui was wracked by the cataclysm. Now it counted down the hours the Toa Hordika had left to live.

Roodaka smiled. Let Sidorak lead his legions on a chase through streets and alleyways. She would make plans of her own, plans so subtle and so devious that even the Master of Shadows would applaud, were he free.

Soon, she thought. Very soon, now. By my hand will the light be banished from this city, and darkness left to rule forevermore.

And deep in the bowels of the Coliseum, the sleeping Matoran trembled in the grip of nightmares that would not end…

X X X

Turaga Vakama took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had thought that somehow sharing this tale after so many years would relieve some of his burden. But it had not. If anything, it made the wounds of so many years ago feel freshly made. Perhaps Nuju was right, he thought. Perhaps no good can come of this.

Tahu Nuva was silent for a very long time. Vakama expected horror or revulsion, but the Toa's mask did not betray his feelings. Finally, the red-hued hero leaned forward and clasped the Turaga's hand. "You survived much to come to these shores," said Tahu. "More than any of us ever knew. And there is more to your tale, is there not?"

"Yes, Tahu."

"Will I have to beg to hear it?"

"No. Despite what my brothers may wish, the time of secrets and lies is over with. You made a choice to hear the tale of the Toa Hordika, and so you shall. As you have seen, sometimes we can be as foolish as any Sand Snipe and as blind as an Ice Bat."

"Meaning what, Turaga?"

Vakama rose, using his staff to support himself. "Meaning you are Toa, not children who need to be protected from the truth. We knew all that went on in those years, and Makuta knew, but you did not. That ignorance might have cost you your lives. Hiding all this from you was as great an error as any we committed as Toa Metru."

Tahu raised his sword and shot a bolt of flame high into the sky. "The other Toa must hear this tale, Vakama. It is one of triumph, after all."

The Turaga shook his head, confused. Triumph? Had Tahu not been listening at all? "I do not understand you, Toa Tahu."

"Well, you overcame, didn't you? You saved the Matoran, you became Turaga…you were victorious."

Turaga Vakama laughed. It was a sad and hollow sound. "Victorious, were we? Perhaps, in your eyes, that might be so. But we paid a price for that victory, Tahu, and so did every Matoran…Makuta's bones, what a price we paid."

No more words would be spoken until the other Toa Nuva arrived. When they were all assembled, Vakama would resume his tale.

To be continued in "Bionicle - Phase 04: Deliverance - Part III: The Beast Within"...

(Venomous Diffusion was compiled from the movie BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows; the books Adventures 7 & 9: Web of the Visorak, and Web of Shadows; and Graphic Novel 4: Trial by Fire, containing Comic 22: Monsters in the Dark)