Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua marched through underground tunnels to an unknown destination. The three Toa moved in a horizontal formation, with Nuju on the left, Onewa in the middle, and Whenua on the right. Around them were four Vahki Rorzakh, marching nearby and herding them to their arrival point. The confidence of the Rorzakh was so great they even still held their Toa tools.

Finally, Onewa, without turning his head, whispered, "When I give the word, we make a break for the surface."

Whenua slowly, smoothly shook his head, as if he were simply surveying the surrounding tunnel. "Bad idea, Onewa," he said back, very quietly. "In all of their history, the Rorzakh have never failed to capture a runner."

The fact that Whenua was apparently perfectly willing to be marched to Mata Nui knew where didn't help the Toa of Stone. "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas, librarian!" he harshly retorted, still keeping his voice low.

Onewa lagged behind, allowing Whenua to inconspicuously shift toward the center of the three to get a different opinion. Now, he walked to the right of Nuju.

A small, instantaneous flash of light flickered in the tunnel. Nuju looked up to see it was one of the lightstones overhead in this dreary walk; it would need replacing soon, along with several other features. The Toa of Ice looked back at the ground as he muttered, "The past won't matter if we don't have a future, Whenua. There is a side passage up ahead. I suggest we take it—" When the patrol neared the break-off, Nuju grabbed Whenua, pulling him along. "Now!"

There was only one problem with running away from Vahki: Vahki really love to chase.

As soon as the Toa branched off to the left, the two Vahki Rorzakh behind pursued, while the two that had been in front turned around, transforming into quadrupedal forms for speed.

The three Toa Metru put up a good chase. They ran, circled back, and then ran again, continuing that cycle for hours. Finally, Whenua cautiously peered around a corner, peeking only a single eye out before leaning out more. "They are still searching, but they don't know where we are," he breathed to Onewa and Nuju, still around the wall. "I see Rorzakh down this corridor." He nodded behind them in a different direction. "We will have to go left."

Once again, the Toa worked their way through the maze of tunnels, narrowly avoiding the Vahki all the way. With Onewa leading the group down another empty tunnel, he began to wonder, "Is it just me, or does this seem too easy? They should have caught us or given up by now."

"Rorzakh don't give up. Ever," the Toa of Earth reminded his brother, before turning his head at another sound. "I hear them off to the left, now. Quick! Duck into the room, there—on the right!"

The three Toa did as Whenua directed, dashing into a doorway on the right side of the tunnel to avoid being caught by the Rorzakh. However, the sight that greeted them was just as comforting.

"Dead end," muttered Nuju, disappointed. "We had better—"

SLAM!

Whenua, Onewa, and Nuju whirled to see the cell door forcefully shut and locked behind them. "It's a trap!" Onewa shouted, too late. "This 'room' is a prison cell!"

Nuju frowned in frustration. "They knew where we were all the time. The Rorzakh must have used their Staffs of Presence on one of—" He thought back to the silent and almost unnoticeable flicker of light he had seen in the tunnel before breaking away from the squad. The flash had happened right over, or rather, right behind, Whenua. The Toa of Ice turned to the Toa of Earth, refraining from making an accusation. It was not Whenua's fault, nor had it been preventable. He sighed, finishing, "They were able to monitor our movements, what we said, and what we plotted the whole time; one of us was their unwitting eyes and ears."

Onewa pulled his hands up, letting his proto pitons dangle. "We still have our Toa tools!" he reminded the others. "We will break out and—"

"And do what? And go where?" asked Nuju, looking through a small window on the door. It was about one foot by two feet, had three vertical bars to keep hands from reaching through, and allowed Nuju to see the glowing bright-green eyes of at least four Rorzakh on the other side. Those lights stood out against their black forms. "Dume has called us traitors…the whole city is against us…the Matoran we want to protect are calling for our capture."

The Vahki slid out of view from the door, but the Toa had no doubt that they would be dutifully patrolling the area. Nuju's gaze fell to the floor. His eye and telescopic lens squinted in morose pondering. "Maybe the Turaga was right," he said to his quiet companions. "Maybe we are just imposters…Matoran pretending to be Toa."

X X X

After regrouping, Matau led the other two Toa toward a nearby airship hangar. The destroyed Bordakh lay not far from where the Toa were. Vorzakh were investigating, calculating trajectories and scanning the area to track the Toa. At the sound of a hovercraft's engines starting up, Matau glanced over. An airship had just completed its final pre-takeoff check and was close to departure. That was when Matau thought of a way to get them safely out of Le-Metru.

The Toa of Air led Vakama and Nokama in a dash to the ship. "They will be close-watching the chutes and the streets," Matau explained. "They will never think to look above their heads!" When they got to the pointed, elliptically shaped ship, Matau pushed a control that opened a rear storage hatch. "We will quick-hide among the cargo," he said as he beckoned and pulled Vakama and Nokama aboard the craft. "Hurry, get in!"

Just shortly after the Toa boarded, the Le-Matoran pilots triggered the vast network of levitation disks to make the ship rise. The aerial craft powered up and ascended into the air, its leg-like landing gear folding and stowing into the hull on the way. It kept flying upward, after time resting at an altitude high above the city. Then it turned off toward its destination, hovering at a controlled pace.

Inside, the Toa sought a place of refuge where they could figure out just how things had gone so wrong. The small door through which they had entered led to a walkway attached to the rounded shape of the hull. One main cargo space dominated the interior of this particular vessel. Up and down the curved walls of the hull, one could see the metallic protodermis frame supporting the mesh-like exterior which lended the airship its light weight. The three Toa walked along the path at a point of half the airship's height. To their right was no railing, just an expansive view of stacks and stacks of boxes and compartments.

"Perhaps if the Vahki manage to find Toa Lhikan, Turaga Dume will realize we are innocent," Nokama mentioned from between Matau and Vakama, clearly having been thinking about the matter. They all were.

"Perhaps. Unless Dume already knows where Lhikan is," Vakama replied at the front. The walkway opened up to a level, with more doors leading to specific storage rooms.

Vakama's comment stopped Nokama for just a second before she caught back up to him. When she reached a closer distance again, she asked, "What are you saying?"

But Matau, free from the confines of the narrow walkway, walked across the floor to a door. He operated the switch to open it. "Less loud-talk, more quick-walk! In here!"

The three shuffled again into an even more discrete place. In this area, tall rectangular storage units stood for transport. Vakama guessed from their size and physical restraints that they were carrying Po-Metru works. "We will stay deep-hidden until the ship lands," Matau told the other two.

"Fine," Nokama agreed. "Vakama, explain what you said. What do you know?"

"Something simply feels wrong," Vakama said, thinking hard about all the details and facts floating around this betrayal. "First the Morbuzakh, then so many Matoran disappearing. What if the two aren't connected like we thought?"

"Uhh, hello?" Matau muttered, waving his hand in front of Vakama's mask. "They were clear-see related? The Morbuzakh was grab-snatching Matoran!"

"No, I know that, but…" Vakama spoke with his hands as much as his mouth. He held them out in thought, his fingers twitching in frustration, plot, and concern. "What if the Morbuzakh plant's attacks weren't just acts against the Matoran, but a cover for something else—something Toa Lhikan suspected, but didn't have time to prove?"

"And he was captured by the Dark Hunters before he could share it," Nokama added, now thinking that she understood Vakama.

"Right in front of the fire-spitter's eyes, too," Matau also added, earning a wince from the Toa of Fire. He crossed his arms to pout. "Now we have to ever-flee from Vahki all over the city. So much for being Toa-heroes! Ugh…why did I even seek-find that disk…"

Vakama came closer, speaking encouragement where it was needed. "But we are still free, Matau. Maybe it's our destiny to find Toa Lhikan so he can solve this mystery." He looked at the walls of the garage and the storage units behind Matau and Nokama. He nodded his approval of Matau's hiding place. "We have time to think and plan."

A squad of quadrupedal Nuurakh loomed over his head, creeping slowly and silently down the cargo to their unsuspecting victims.

"After all," Vakama continued, "what could threaten us here?"

X X X

Above a Le-Metru section with a broken chute and components of Vahki below, two odd-looking figures watched, searching. The lean, frail-looking insectoid thought to himself, summarizing their events: I am a Dark Hunter. My friends call me Nidhiki…or they would, if I had any friends. Nidhiki glanced to his side, seeing his partner's eyes trace the paths far below on the ground. Nidhiki ordered Krekka to help him survey the area surrounding the destruction, presuming it to be the last known location of the Toa. We came to Metru Nui for our favorite sport: Toa hunting. Capturing Toa Lhikan was too easy. But these Toa Metru…they are going to make us work.

The Dark Hunter moved over to get a better view of the area. The closest building was an airship hangar bay. That could offer hiding, escape, or shelter, and seemed the most likely place an escapee would go.

Almost on cue, Nidhiki's head swiveled at the sound of an aircraft taking off. Then his four legs righted him in the direction of inspection. Nidhiki was a cunning and tactical thinker skilled at trapping his prey. He knew his trio of runaways were aboard. If he were a Toa, it's what he would have done.

Even as the loud airship turned away to leave, Krekka was still watching the wide-open sidewalks, waiting for the fugitives to run by in an attempt to be extra sneaky. This should have been expected—Krekka was a Dark Hunter known for his strength, if not his intelligence. He wasn't the brightest lightstone in Metru Nui, but was strong enough to crumble a Knowledge Tower with one blow. "I don't see them anywhere down there," Krekka told his partner.

"Then try looking up," Nidhiki offered, hoping the task wasn't too complicated.

Krekka did so, his asymmetrical eyes fixing on the ship. The hulking, ape-like being wasn't sure why Nidhiki was so concerned with it, though. He and Nidhiki might have seemed like a strange team to some, but Nidhiki hid many secrets, and no one dared try to learn what lurked in that creature's past. The same could be said for his partner: little was known about Krekka's history, but his love of the hunt was obvious.

Nidhiki, annoyed, elaborated, "I smell Toa on that ship. Scared Toa. The best kind." He curled his legs and arms into his flight mode. Krekka did the same, following along and going with the flow of his ambitious partner. Then the two took off after the ship.

Nidhiki hadn't really smelled them, of course—he wasn't some Rahi—but he knew how Toa thought, how they operated. And right now, he knew they were thinking they had made a clean escape.

X X X

"As soon as we land, we head underground and make our way through the Archives," Vakama instructed.

Matau made a face in mock surprise, nodding sarcastically. "Oh, underground. Dark. Nasty. Sounds like a happy-plan."

"What about the Vahki?" Nokama asked.

"With a little luck, we'll get there before they know where to look," Vakama answered.

Nokama's eyes widened as she spied a Vahki stun staff looming behind Vakama, about to strike. It bore the unique, narrow-clawed shape of the Ta-Metru branch. "Nuurakh!" she shouted in alarm, firing a stream of water. The elemental attack hit the Vahki, knocking it loose from its sideways perch on the cargo.

"There's our 'little luck'," Matau muttered, "all of it bad!" He looked up to see four other Vahki among the transport equipment, too, as security guards for safe travel. "More of them!" he warned.

Two more jumped down and landed on the same level as the Toa, while the last two began firing stun blasts from above. Nokama flipped out of the way and Vakama rolled behind cover, while Matau fixed his aero slicers in place on his back as wings and took to the air. The Vahki on the floor began to pursue while the others higher above moved to reacquire their aim.

Flying over the combatants, Matau asked downward, "Don't you have more dark-serious things to do? Like guard-watching for loitering Lava Eels?" The Nuurakh below launched two Kanoka in response. Matau retracted his wings and flipped forward in the air to dodge, losing a few bio of altitude before flying again. He mumbled to himself, "Well, ask a Vahki question, get a Vahki answer…"

Nokama dodged another stun blast from the Vahki above, but that brought her close to the soldiers on the ground. Surprised, but not out of ideas, the Toa of Water slung her flexible hydro blades around a tall piece of cargo. She threw it at the two oncoming mechanoids, where it rotated to a horizontal orientation in-flight, knocking both of them back against the wall. Turning quickly to face another Nuurakh, she called to her brothers, "You realize that fighting Vahki makes us the outlaws Dume says we are?"

Matau considered. "Hm…maybe we can be legendary Toa-villains, then," he offered, creating a tornado that threw the two Vahki from their high perches. One crashed into a crate, breaking, while the other managed to convert into flight mode and enter the fight again aerially.

Nokama ducked and dodged the staff swipes and stun blasts, looking for an opening. She found one by going on the offensive. She pushed back, forcing the Vahki to use its tools to block her blades rather than threaten to bring her under its own mental control. The fight ended when she completed a fast double-spin attack with her blades. The first round deflected its staffs from protecting it; the second tore two cuts into its body that effectively disabled it.

Vakama surprised a Vahki by quickly coming around the corner of a piece of cargo. Grabbing its staffs, he quickly channeled his flame power through them, melting the tools. He cut off the ability before it damaged the enforcer. "We're not your enemy!" he tried pleading. "We didn't kidnap Toa Lhikan, we're trying to save him! We can help each other!"

Vakama hadn't even finished speaking before the Vahki loaded a Kanoka disk and took aim. Just before it could fire, it just…blew up. Something had fallen on it, destroying the Nuurakh. Looking closer, Vakama saw it was another Vahki. A glance upward showed Matau hovering closer to the ground, cancelling a wind blast. Vakama looked back at the two broken mechanoids—one that had been chasing Matau and one with which Vakama had made an unreasonable attempt to communicate.

Matau looked at his work, too, arms folded. "They're much easier to reason with in small pieces, fire-spitter."

Despite the absence of the Vahki, the Toa only had seconds to rest before the next sound rang out. It started as a low metallic groaning, then a percussive bang of sound. Now light was showing into the airship where there hadn't been before. The three Toa looked up to see a hole torn in the hull of the craft, with a strange insectoid being with two large pincers leaning in.

"Sorry for the interruption, little Toa," the figure mocked, "but I never could wait to open my presents."

Matau and Nokama were just as thrown off guard as the Toa of Fire. He had described this being in a vision, as an adversary to avoid during their search for the Matoran and for the Great Disks. Now, here he was, in the flesh and armor.

But Vakama had an even stronger reaction than they. "You!" he cried. "The one who captured Toa Lhikan—Nidhiki!"

Nidhiki jumped from the hole he had made to a metallic supporting scaffold, his four spiny legs lifting him at an unusual angle. Behind him, the other being Vakama had seen, Krekka, entered as well and took his usual position at his partner's side.

Nidhiki's claws snapped open and shut. "Yes, and he begged for mercy, little flame, just like you will." It was another use of Nidhiki's knowledge of Toa. First rule of Toa hunting: get them angry. It makes them careless. Overconfidence must come with the Kanohi.

As predicted, Vakama triggered his rocket pack, explosively soaring into the air. "Liar!" he yelled, during flight.

Nokama reached after him, but the Toa of Fire was already zooming to where the two Dark Hunters laid in wait. Only when he was certain he could not miss did Krekka ready his shoulder-mounted Kanoka launcher. As he fired a high-power freeze disk, he laughed, "Cool off, Toa!"

At such a range, only a bio or two, Vakama could not move to avoid the disk. It struck him, dead-center, freezing a coating of ice several inches thick around him. The disk did little to knock Vakama back down, but it didn't need to. Its power had halted his jetpack's ascent. After just a second of being iced over, Vakama's momentum ended, and he began to plummet back down to the floor of the cargo area.

Nidhiki watched with amusement. Once he hits the ground, even a Po-Matoran couldn't put him together again.

Nokama saw what was coming, but also knew she was the lesser equipped. "Catch him, Matau! If he falls, he'll shatter!"

Matau nodded, springing back into the air with such speed he became hard to follow. He reached for his Toa-brother but the ice had made him heavier than anticipated—he didn't get a good grip the first time. Angling his wings to chase back down after the still-falling Toa, Matau made a second swoop underneath. That effort was successful. "Got him!" he called down to Nokama, while clinging awkwardly onto Vakama's right elbow and knee.

"Maybe, but can you keep him?" Nidhiki asked, charging and then launching an energy web. As it flew, he queried, "Or are you just a Matoran fraud wearing Toa armor?"

The web projectile hit Matau in the air, his speed slowed by Vakama. His wings were knocked out of place, and the two began to fall. Matau grunted hard as the dark energies coursed through his limbs with pain. But he held on to the iced Toa of Fire, trying at least to land first. I have to twist so I take the hard-fall, or Vakama is doomed!

Once again, Nidhiki watched the Toa fall, pleased to see the battle going his way. Still though, there was a sense of urgency in the back of his mind. We will need to finish this quickly. No doubt our "friend" at the Coliseum is growing impatient… I have no doubt that flying Rahi bait of his is reporting on our progress. After we finish with the Toa, Krekka and I will have to discuss Nivawk's future. Even as Matau and Vakama were still falling, Nidhiki smiled. I wonder how Dume's little pet would look mounted on my wall?