Vakama fell to his knees, the images of familiar faces bringing a whirl of emotion, swirling in him as fast as those faces and masks orbited around him. Nuju, Matau, Whenua, Nokama, and Onewa…his teammates, but skeptics, untrusting and reprehensive. Vakama's hands came to the sides of his mask, trying to steady the nauseous feeling whelming in his mind.

His eyes widened as he saw Toa Lhikan's mask fly in front of him, from off to the side, among the swirl. It was only there for a second, before it was overtaken by the two faces of Nidhiki and Krekka, their eyes glowing deep, uncomfortable presences amidst the rest of the void.

Then the Dark Hunters, too, fell away, as another mask, darker than any other, rose out of the shadows. It seemed to grow out of the very Dark Hunters themselves, before taking the center stage in his sight. Meanwhile, the other masks—his Toa allies, Lhikan, and the Hunters—continued spinning faster and faster.

"Stop!" Vakama screamed. He wanted nothing but to escape.

Then he did. Now he was standing with his disk launcher in hand, unsure of where he was, but it was clear what had happened. This had gone from a vision…to a nightmare. He stood on an inclined, narrow path of stone. Around, the sky was nothing but darkened shadow, interrupted only by the haphazard flashes of lightning.

In the dim lighting, Vakama did his best to take in the new surroundings. Still beings lay scattered on the ground around him—the other Toa Metru. Vakama wasn't even sure if they were alive. Whenua lay on his back with his drills on his chest, broken and battered. Nokama lay on her chest, her arms outstretched from her form and her mouth open, as if her life had ended during a sceam. Nuju lay farther away, the darkness making it difficult to tell if his crystal spikes were near him…or in him. Matau laid on his side, with one aero slicer visibly broken in two and the other melting in a nearby puddle of some corrosive substance. Lastly, looking to the cliff off to his left, Vakama saw Onewa's arm hanging on to the ledge. The Toa of Fire felt nausea return to him as he found himself hoping that the rest of the Toa of Stone was still attached.

A booming sound yanked his attention back in front of him, to their adversary. No more than five bio in front of him, a monster loomed, towering over him in a way he had never felt before. The armored colossus in front of him, the reason his allies were scattered around the ground, had taken a step closer.

Long arms and legs supported the enormous being. It was covered in thick layers of armor plating, resembling an odd amalgamation and summation of his worst nightmares—the most sinister and darkest intent he could imagine, embodied in the simultaneous forms and armor of Nidhiki, Krekka, Nivawk, and Dume.

Pointed claws made up something of a hand on the being's right arm, while shredding claws resembled a hand on its left. Wings larger than its arms sprouted from the being's shoulders, forming a regal, crown-like array of death and spikes over its head. And on its head was a dark Kanohi covering menacing eyes, underneath which savage jaws laughed as it leaned closer to the Toa of Fire.

Vakama was hoping that he was going to wake up from this nightmare soon…because if he didn't, he might never wake up again.

X X X

Vakama aimed his disk launcher at the giant to fire a Ga-Metru shrink Kanoka. But when he tried to fire, the weapon wouldn't work, and he doubted the combination in front of him would give him time to fix it.

The darkened, razor-mouthed being stood tall on its long legs, now towering several bio high over the Toa of Fire. But instead of smashing, eating, or shredding Vakama, the ultimate colossus took two steps back. This did nothing to ease Vakama's worry, though, as its chest now began to crackle with energy. A moment longer and a large hand made of shadow erupted from the being's center, more intimidating and fear-inducing than any physical attack could have been.

Vakama stood in horror. He wanted to move, but his vision was keeping his body from doing what he wanted. "Nokama! Matau!" he shouted to their still bodies. But no help came. This would be a really good time to wake up, he thought, desperately holding onto his sanity, struggling to remember what was real and what was fantasy.

The shadow hand grabbed him now, forcing the air out of him and threatening to crumple him in his own armor. It pulled him back toward the towering monster, who was delighted at Vakama's terror.

Really, I would even be happy to see Onewa right now! Vakama thought, remembering back to the animosity he had experienced with his Stone brother before he died. No! Vakama caught himself. This isn't real! Onewa and the others are still there!

Vakama was nearly at the body of his enemy, the hand still inevitably pulling him toward the source of the shadow hand's power. Squeezing… Vakama thought, seeing his vision black out. Even with the blackened sky and commander of darkness in front of him, he knew that his consciousness was fragile. Can't…everything is starting to fade…I…

X X X

Where am I now? Vakama wondered, freed from the shadow hand and disturbing mixture of Dark Hunters and Turaga. His head was still spinning, though, and he still felt weak. Why can't I move? After a few more seconds of getting his bearings and forcefully evicting the images of that fight from his mind, he realized not all of his head's discomfort was from the battle. Oh. That's why.

Vakama was hanging upside-down, suspended in some sort of spun cocoon. The cocoon wrapped all the way around and past his feet, while his head barely protruded out the other end. The cocoon, with Vakama inside, was held high by an entire web that stretched in every direction. As far as the eye could see, nothing existed except for Vakama, in his cocoon, held on the web, which expanded into a hazy mist that blocked all vision.

At the sound of a voice at his feet, Vakama jumped in fright.

"You think you can save Metru Nui, little flame?"

Vakama looked 'down' toward his feet to see Nidhiki's spider-like form crawling toward him on the web, his four legs carrying him along just like some kind of arachnid. Even his arms, too, acted as legs, propelling him on sturdy intersections of webbing to his captive.

"You are just a Matoran with delusions of adequacy," Nidhiki continued hissing. Now, he poised himself over Vakama. "Your time has run out, and you don't even know it," he boasted. "Just ask my…brother."

X X X

Now Vakama was on his knees, and the ground was some kind of rocky floor. He looked up from his own slumped form to examine his new surroundings. Well, at least I am out of the web, he thought, trying to think positively and hold on to hope that this mental labyrinth would soon end. But where has this vision taken me? This place looks like Nuhrii's living room…

"Stop asking 'where', Vakama…and starting asking 'why.'"

Vakama knew that voice. Turning toward the sound, he quickly got to his feet. "Toa Lhikan!" he said, surprised to see his hero stumbling forward. "But you were captured!"

Lhikan's armor was no longer fiery red and worn yet shining gold, but just a solid, protodermic chrome. Behind him, a bright wall of light shown. "Why were you gifted with these visions? Why do you see what others cannot?" Lhikan posed. "And, in Mata Nui's name, why do you resist acting on what you see?"

Vakama looked down, lacking a satisfactory answer.

Lhikan continued on with a warning, "Beware, my friend. Listen to the warnings of your visions, or—I tell you, certainly—this is the fate that awaits the Toa. Behold…"

X X X

In an instant, Vakama was in a new location, this time in some sort of cave network. A glowing stone cast flickering shadows in the cave, but that glowing rock was held by none other than— "Turaga Dume!" Vakama breathed, shocked. The elder of Metru Nui stood directly in front of Vakama, peering around the tunnel corner with his lightstone, as if keeping watch for an enemy. "But…but you ordered the arrest of the Toa!"

Dume turned around to face the Toa of Fire. He smiled, putting a reassuring hand on Vakama's arm. "Only in the outside world, Vakama. In your memories, I am still the voice of wisdom you have heeded for most of your life." Dume turned away, leading Vakama down the tunnel. "And it is wisdom you need now," the elder said, as the two walked down the winding path.

Dume and Vakama exited the small tunnel they were in, only for the mouth to open up into a larger cave. Dume's light still only revealed the immediate area though. "Your fire generates heat, but precious little light, it seems. So much that you don't see…" Dume's lightstone suddenly lit so bright it illuminated the entire cavern. As it did so, Dume finished, "…what's right in front of you!"

At the increase of light, Vakama surveyed the cavern. It was maybe twenty-five bio high, and thirty wide. There was the tunnel he and Dume had come from, but the rest of the walls were simply curved rock faces, arching up to the ceiling of stalactites. The only interesting, and unnervingly familiar sight, in the cave, was a giant, flat web on one side of the cave, its strands stretching out from a point at the center with interconnecting branches to support their weight. And the weight that needed supporting were six tightly wrapped cocoons made out of the same webbing.

"What is this place?" Vakama asked the Turaga.

"The path you walk leads here, Toa of Fire," Dume answered solemnly, holding his lightstone up to the web. "This is your destination."

The two walked closer to the webbing. Whether it was their presence or Dume's light, Vakama wasn't sure, but a disturbance was rising in the cocoons now. They were beginning to wriggle back and forth intensely. It was almost as if their occupants were suffocating inside and desperately needed air. After a few seconds of struggling, one of them began to open, the fatigue in the web fibers obtained from the back-and-forth movements.

And it was at that moment Vakama remembered the biggest problem with visions: he couldn't shut his eyes.

Two blue hands reached through the small sliver that had opened, prying and tearing the opening wider. They were covered in some kind of slimy incubation fluid, as were the rest of the arms, body, and Kanohi when it emerged.

"Nokama?" Vakama asked quietly.

Nokama wordlessly continued to push against the cocoon, trying to slip her legs out, despite being upside down. In the other cocoons, similar effects were occurring, with the other four Toa Metru clawing their way out of the organic prisons as well.

Matau was the first to completely escape, though it was with no elegance. Free of the cocoon's material suspending him high in the cavern, he fell twelve bio to the hard ground, where he landed and appeared dead. Then, in an undead, puppet-like fashion, his limbs pushed himself up to approach Vakama.

The other Toa went through the same experience, freeing themselves triumphantly only to fall, and then unenthusiastically pick themselves back up again. Nokama was the first to address Vakama, although they were all nearing him. "Vakama…why did you lead us here?" she asked.

Onewa walked with a drastic limp in his right leg, still covered in a tan-yellow slime. "It's your fault," he murmured.

"You were supposed to be wary," Matau accused, his words bubbling through the fluid film covering his Kanohi. He pointed a weak finger at Vakama.

"Instead, you doomed us all," Whenua finished, his deep voice bearing none of its usual tone.

Vakama took one step backward before freezing. He held up his hands in innocence and defense. "No! I didn't!" he said desperately, Dume now completely forgotten. "I don't even know where we are!"

Nokama ignored him, turning her head lazily to look back at the web from which the five Toa Metru had come. "There is one cocoon left, Vakama," she stated, glancing at the highest of the six, still suspended at the centroid of the web. Only now did it start to move and writhe. She turned back to Vakama, looking hard and directly into his eyes. "Would you like to see what's inside?"

Before Vakama could answer, Nuju spoke up. "There is an easier way, sister," he moaned, lifting two limp hands. From them, ice poured out, creating a mirror-like sheet angled away from Vakama. The estranged Toa of Ice looked back at the shocked Toa of Fire. "Here, Vakama, look into the mirror…do you want to see the future you will make?" he asked, helpfully holding out the sheet to Vakama.

Against all of Vakama's inner desire, he took a step toward the mirror. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't stop himself.

He didn't know why, but he was being forced to know the answer.

As the image in the mirror curved closer and closer to view, Vakama's distraught nature only increased. Whenua and Onewa came closer, grabbing his arms and holding him in place, while Matau roughly grabbed the back of his head and forced his eyes down.

Still, Nuju continued to tilt the mirror.

"No…" Vakama protested, shaking. "No…"

"No!" he shouted.

Nokama stopped walking, turning in surprise to the Toa of Fire. She glanced back at Matau who immediately began looking around for Vahki in the quiet area of Ta-Metru. "Vakama, what is it?" she asked. "Another vision?"

"Hmph…" Matau muttered, reaching his limit with these signs of delusion.

"More like a nightmare…I hope not a prophecy," the Toa of Fire answered, rubbing his head. He looked around, confused. "Where are we?"

Nokama's concern increased. "You don't remember?"

Vakama shook his head.

Even Matau was surprised at that, not making a joke, but eyeing Vakama with suspicion.

"You, Matau and I escaped the airship before the Dark Hunters could capture us," Nokama recounted. "We've landed in Ta-Metru, still on the run. But we have to find the others, and Toa Lhikan."

"And rapid-quick," Matau added, coming over. "The Vahki are sure to be look-searching for us, thanks to Turaga Dume."

Vakama's shoulders slumped at the real-world reminder that Dume, out here, was still their enemy. "Yes, of course," he said, trying to mentally return himself. "Dume…the Vahki…Toa Lhikan. We have to…wait." The ground rumbled and vibrated beneath his feet. "Do you feel that?"

The other two certainly did, as the oscillations increased in size. Nokama pointed a shaking hand. "It's coming from the ruins of the Great Furnace. It couldn't be the Morbuzakh back again, could it?"

Vakama considered that, with all they had seen. He already suspected that the Morbuzakh wasn't what it seemed, but now… Were Dume and the Morbuzakh connected? he wondered.

But the tremors continued to grow, until the explosive sounds of protodermis pipes breaking emanated from beneath the surface. "I have a feeling it is something bad-worse," Matau whimpered.

Several bio in front of the assembled Toa, the ground of Ta-Metru erupted, downing two cone-shaped dwellings into the newly created chasm. From it, even as the buildings were collapsing, some kind of Rahi was rising, climbing out of the pit with long, muscular and reptilian legs and shorter, clawed arms. Its main body was in two primary shades of green and curved in a steep C-shape, making it look like the beast was in a sitting or slouching position. From its back were spiny silver fins, and five iconic silver spikes, giving its roaring and red-eyed head a notion of lethality. Its long legs were mostly brown, with small hues of silver and black. The Rahi's light-green arms ended in smaller claws, but "smaller" was relative—they were still large enough to gather up two or three Toa in one grip. To complete the 9 bio tall Rahi, a long, spearheaded tail swayed, maintaining balance and destruction as it climbed out.

Perhaps what was more striking than all its features was what happened next.

"Who disturbs the slumber of the Tahtorak!?" the Rahi called in a booming, deep and guttural, yet understandable voice.

Nokama turned quickly to Matau. "Something 'bad-worse.' Figures, Matau, the one time you're right about something…"

Matau shrugged, craning his neck to look up at the massive Rahi. "Don't blame me. I didn't wake him from his deep-sleep."

"Oh, yes, you did…or rather we did," Vakama said quickly, recognizing the Tahtorak. "Remember? The massive creature we saw beneath the maintenance tunnels in Onu-Metru? It was large, and dark-colored—especially below—but I recognize those silver fins on its head. Our battle with the Krahka must have awakened him."

"Woke up cranky, didn't he?" Matau noticed, drawing his swords.

The Tahtorak spun in a circle, as if scanning its surroundings, looking for something. As it did so, its tail smashed through another row of buildings. Then it turned back to the Toa, yelling, "Tell me the answer, or I will crush this place to rubble!"

"The answer?" Matau repeated. "I don't even guess-know the question!" Calling on his power of air and wind, he jumped into the sky.

Nokama pulled out one of her hydroblades, turning its cable from flexible to rigid. Spinning it in front of her, it deflected or shredded the pieces of rubble coming at her and Vakama, who was busy searching for the right disk. "Be careful, Matau!" she said.

"That was my thought-plan, sister," Matau replied, before speeding up to the Tahtorak.

Once he was in front of it he began flying around it in circles, confusing and distracting it. "Grrrrarr!" it roared, making several attempts to catch Matau in its claws.

Matau was able to evade one claw, but almost found his flight short-lived when he flew straight into the other. Only quick thinking and an acrobatic mid-air twist allowed his body to slip through the claws of the Tahtorak before they closed on him. "Anytime you want to quick-launch that disk would be fine, Vakama!" he yelled in irritation.

The Tahtorak had another idea, though. "Bothersome gnat…" it murmured, its quiet voice still sending noticeable rumbles through the ground. Reaching toward a factory smoke stack, it casually tore it off in its grasp, as simply as a Ga-Matoran botanist might prune a Bula shrub. The Rahi hurled it, lengthwise, toward the Toa of Air like a javelin. "Fly no more!" it called in triumph.

Matau saw it coming but there was no time to turn. Instead, he angled to face it head-on, retracting his wings into a power dive. His aim was true, and without touching any of the scorching hot inner walls of the smoke stack, Matau shot out of the other end. He re-opened his wings and veered into a sharp turn to gain some distance. "Too close!" he said to himself, just as the smoke stack decimated another facility in the distance.

Vakama had finally found what he was looking for. An Onu-Metru disk, coded 667. "Let's see if this helps," he said, aiming the launcher upward at the Tahtorak with one hand.

Nokama turned from the Rahi, looking down another street. She pointed. "Hope so, because we have company, Vakama."

Vakama looked over. A formation of six bodies was flying down from the sky to their position. "Nuurakh!" he confirmed. "And its anyone's guess if they are here to fight that thing or us." Turning back to the Rahi, he fired. He fully expected the high-power shrink disk to have the most helpful effect on the Rahi, but instead, it simply bounced off the armored hide of the beast with a tink. Thankfully, the Onu-Metru properties brought the disk back to Vakama, where he caught the projectile with a sweeping motion of his arm.

The Tahtorak turned back to Nokama and Vakama. "You think to stop me with toys!?" it thundered, possibly in anger, possibly in its normal voice.

"Have you wondered how it is this beast speaks Matoran?" Vakama asked.

"Yes, but I doubt we will get a chance to ask him for an explanation, brother," Nokama answered, gesturing toward the street again.

The Vahki were nearly here, flying in to end the disorder. Nokama is probably right. The Vahki will make short work of this beast, Vakama thought.

The Tahtorak noticed the new buzzers flying around now, too. More friends of Matau's undoubtedly. They would have to go. Another swing of its tail brought down yet another factory, causing more smoke stacks to bow to the ground before breaking apart. The leader of the squad looked up too late. The group of all six were taken down underneath the falling rocks and metal.

Or not… Vakama completed, at the spectacle. "It's up to us, then."

"But the other Toa, and Lhikan—" Nokama began.

"They will have to wait," Vakama answered. "We can't risk letting this creature rampage unchecked. Our city may have turned against us, but we cannot turn against our city. And I think I have an idea."

Not far from the rubble and broken Vahki heads, staffs, and feet that protruded from under it, the Tahtorak turned this way and that, still searching. "Give—me—the answer!" it demanded.

Matau came to land near the two of them, his own question of 'What are we doing?' in his eyes. Vakama pulled out three more Kanoka, handing his brother and sister one each. "I have three weakness disks left."

"That's not enough to end this fight," Nokama disagreed.

Matau smiled, taking the disk. "Not if we are aiming at him," he said.

Vakama nodded. Matau grabbed Nokama's arm and took to the sky again as Vakama placed his disk launcher in place to fly as well. The three of them reached a peak before Nokama and Matau prepared to hurl their Kanoka.

"This may not be the answer, but it's the only one we have," Vakama said. He cut off his rocket pack function, spinning in the air to load and launch his disk at the target. "Now!" he called.

Matau threw his disk from one hand, while Nokama, hanging onto him, did the same with hers. The three disks clanged together on the ground, striking just a few feet from where the Tahtorak was standing. The beast was incredibly powerful…and incredibly heavy. With the disks' power added to the damage it had already done….

The Tahtorak took one more step, feeling its foot sink into the constructed protodermis like sand, before its entire leg sank. "What madness—?" it started, before the entire ground opened up, weakened and destroyed by the disks, the Rahi's destruction, and its weight. The rest of its form followed its leg into the chasm, sending it tumbling head first into the hole. "Tell me the answer!" it called, while plunging downward. "Tell me the answer!" It's tail swished back and forth against the walls of the vertical tunnel until it was lost from view.

The three Toa came to the edge to see. Matau listened. "He is still long-falling, through level after level," he said. "Is he gone for good?"

"He's gone for now," Vakama replied. "That has to do."

Nokama put away her tools. "Come on, brothers. It's time we were gone too, before more Vahki show up." Matau started walking away, and she followed, before realizing that Vakama was still peering down into the hole. "Come on, Vakama," she encouraged.

Vakama started. "Hm? Oh, sorry, Nokama. I was just thinking…" He walked a quick pace to catch up with the Toa of Water. "The Tahtorak wanted an answer to a question we cannot know. It's efforts brought only destruction…and destruction was all it found."

Matau took to hovering off the ground as the trio walked into the midst of protodermis factories once again. Here, the flames and shadows seemed to gather around Nokama and Vakama. "You know, it's a funny thing about looking for answers, Nokama…" Vakama said.

Nokama looked at the Toa of Fire, wondering sometimes what he had to go through. Vakama, meanwhile, could not get the image of the dark reflection of Nuju's mirror from his vision out of his mind. He walked in Ta-Metru, next to his friends, on a mission. But all he could think about was the mangled picture of his mask, complete with hate, destruction, rage, and a sharp-toothed mouth, destined to lead these very friends to failure, staring right back at him.

"Sometimes you are far better off not finding them…" Vakama finished softly.