Despite not knowing fully who 'they' were, Tahu felt an overwhelming sense of dread rising up within him. Finding his voice as Mihkoro moved closer to where Nuju's child lay, the Toa of Fire asked.
"Who is 'they' exactly? Why are they chasing you?" Mihkoro frowned somewhat as he shifted his weight a little.
"They are the Visorak. I can explain it easier when we aren't trying to find somewhere new to find shelter." He glanced at Gali. "Please help Kaidihka. The sooner we can get out of here, the better." As the Toa of Water quickly obeyed, Mihkoro bundled up Matoro and picked him up. Now looking at Tahu and Pohatu, he said.
"Try and give us a little more time. I'll come out and help as soon as I can, but I have to make sure that Matoro is healthy enough to transport." Nodding once, Tahu and Pohatu ran out of the shelter, both ready to fight. Through the slowly lifting fog, the pair of Toa could see the shapes of several spider-like Rahi.
"So those creepy blighters are called Visorak…" Tahu muttered. "At least we have a name for them now." Pohatu nodded, grimacing a bit.
"Yeah. Just don't light up everything like you did earlier, alright? As cool as that was, I've had enough close calls for now." The Toa of Fire gave a faint and hollow laugh.
"I have no intentions of doing that again." He paused as sudden realization hit him. "Oh no…" His Brother looked at him curiously.
"Oh no what, Tahu? Forgot something at the boat?" The red haired teen shook his head.
"Worse…I forgot that Onua was still looking for Kopaka and Lewa…" His face paled as he said this. "Mata Nui…I think I killed them!" Pohatu blinked.
"U-uhm…t-that's not good… n-now what do we do? O-other than fight the Visorak that are trying to kill us?" Tahu gulped.
"Pray that they're alive and don't know I did it? …And hope that Gali doesn't figure it out?" Pohatu nodded slightly, his gaze returning to the oncoming Rahi.
"Sounds good to me…so, what's the plan this time, other than burning the area down?" Tahu gave a hollow laugh in mock amusement, glancing around a little to get a feel for the area they were in.
"No plan yet, wise guy. What about you?" The brunette thought a little while, watching the Visorak as they came closer. The faintest of grins formed on his face.
"Tahu," He asked. "How good are you at bowling?" The Toa of Fire gave him a questioning look.
"I'm alright at it, but how is that relevant?" Pohatu's grin grew a little as he pointed at the Visorak's legs and then the webs they were standing on.
"As long as you can roll it hard enough to knock one off balance or break a web, then we're right as rain." He picked up a piece of loose rubble, and said, holding the somewhat rounded rock like a bowling ball. "Observe." He then moved closer to the edge of the roof, and let the makeshift weapon fly. With pin-point accuracy, the 'ball' landed between two webs and rolled along them as though they were specifically for that reason. Shaking the web violently and causing several Visorak to fall off, Pohatu's rock didn't stop rolling until the webs separated far enough to let the heavy stone drop, effectively taking out another Visorak as it fell. Impressed with the result, Tahu found a rock of his own and took a shot at the new and destructive version of bowling. Though his attempt wasn't quite as satisfying as Pohatu's, the Toa of Fire managed to snap two strands of web, dropping several more of the arachnid-like Rahi to their doom on the rubble-strewn streets below.
Though this had stopped a fair few of the Visorak from reaching the roof, others were moving in from the side, opening fire with the same sort of energy disks as before. Pohatu, unaware of this until it was too late, let out a pain filled scream as a red colored disk hit him in the ribs, knocking him off his feat and leaving him writhing in pain on the roof, tears streaming down his face.
"M-make it stop!" He wailed, unable to focus on anything save the intense burning sensation that was coursing through his frame. "Make it stop!" Tahu could tell already that things were taking an abrupt and drastic turn for the worst. Panic setting in, he stood next to Pohatu, sword drawn and ready to strike as the Rahi closed in, clicking and chittering as though they were mocking him.
"Just give up." He heard Lhikan's voice say in his mind. "A smart Toa would just surrender." Something about this voice unnerved Tahu greatly. Why was he hearing Lhikan's voice if Lhikan was dead? And why was it telling him to surrender? Lhikan had told him constantly to never give up on the others, or himself, so why change the story now? He shook his head nervously.
"No…never give up…you always told me that… I'm not going to give up! I just won't! Get out of my head!" The voice didn't answer. Instead, several energy disks laughed at him, barely giving Tahu enough time to activate his mask power and protect himself from the oncoming attack. The energy disks hit the shield with a resounding crack that echoed all around the battlefield. Dropping the barrier, Tahu moved a little closer to Pohatu, hurling a small fireball at the closest Visorak and making it fall off the web, smoking and screeching loudly until the tell-tale thud and eerie silence that came from where it had fallen, a sure sign that the foul creature was dead. Now a few of the Visorak were on the roof, heading full tilt towards the panicking Toa and his agony-stricken Brother. Forcing himself not to run and abandon Pohatu, Tahu heated his sword, lashing out at the nearest Rahi. Hissing in pain and anger as the blade bit into and burned its flesh, the creature fired an energy disk, hitting Tahu square in the chest and knocking him over. The fifteen year old's body went numb before he'd even hit the roof. Trying in vain to move out of the way, there was nothing he could do to escape the monstrous Rahi that advanced with more aggression and hunger than it had before…
Only to find a sharp blade come crashing down on its back and finish the job that Tahu couldn't. Jerking his glaive free of the Visorak's corpse, Mihkoro unleashed several jet black fireballs, scorching his targets within mere moments of contact. The Visorak let out angered and fearful screeches and chirping noises as the infuriated dark Toa continued his assault, striking down one after the other with incredible speed and strength. It was almost as though he was a completely different person. He wasn't fighting for the thrill like he used to when Tahu had first met him. Now Mihkoro looked as though he was fighting to protect at all costs. This new style was both shocking and confusing to Tahu. Deciding to ask later, the Toa Mata did the only thing he could; watch and wish he could help. He tried to speak, but even his voice refused to obey at the moment. Luckily, Mihkoro seemed to know what was he was wanting to ask, and said.
"Gali, Kaidihka, and Matoro are all safe. I got them out of here as soon as I could." Relief swept over Tahu when he heard that. At least they were safe.
It was then that a loud roar erupted from somewhere above the Visorak, launching them into unorganized panic and terror as they scrambled to try and escape. Mihkoro looked up quickly, lowering his weapon as he did so. Once the Rahi had all vanished from sight, he called out.
"Took you long enough! Where in this apocalyptic nightmare were you!" He didn't sound angry. If anything he sounded vaguely amused. A strange looking creature flew down and landed nearby, its muscular frame shifting awkwardly, as though mildly sheepish.
"I came as quickly as I could, Mihkoro." The creature responded, his voice slightly raspy, and calm in tone. "I would've been here sooner, but something came up." Tahu's jaw would've dropped were he able to let it do so when he saw the creature.
With a semi-light build and standing a decent bit taller than an average person, the strange, animal-like creature reminded Tahu of what happened to Vakama, though his color pattern was virtually the opposite. Instead of a dusty red color, this being's hair was a pale, ice blue, rather messy, and ear length. The massive wings and tail he had resembled those of a Kanohi Dragon, and were covered in ice blue scales with light grey membranes on his wings to enable flight. Silver, plate-like scales covered his shirtless chest, and by what Tahu could see, his sides and back were covered in icy blue ones like those on his wings, tail, and large, clawed feet. Shaped like a mix between bird feet and reptilian feet, the claws on each toe were greyish white and appeared to be very sharp.
The being didn't wear much as far as clothing was concerned. In fact, all he really seemed to be wearing were faded jean shorts that most likely had been customized because of his tail, and a silver chain that hung around his neck, a silver Kanohi Hau charm hanging off of it. The eye sockets of the charm were filled with two small light-stones the color of pale, blue topaz. All in all, the creature looked like he would be a devastating opponent in battle, and scary if he was ticked off. The paralyzed Toa was amazed that Mihkoro wasn't even unnerved in the slightest at the sight of this being.
"Something came up?" Mihkoro repeated, his tone sounding uncertain. "Did it have to do with you know who trying to take you know what?" The creature shook his head, letting Mihkoro sigh with relief before speaking.
"I left the situation in Kualas' care, and Norik is already tending to you know what." Tahu was beginning to get feeling back, and said, sounding rather annoyed at the present situation and lack of detail.
"Okay, are you two done talking in riddles? Pohatu's hurt, I'm confused, and you two are just chit-chatting. Who is Norik, and Kualas, or 'you know who'? And what is a 'you know what' anyway? A Kanohi or something? Is it the Vahi?" Mihkoro looked down at Tahu and shook his head.
"Kid, just be quiet. You'll get to meet Norik and Kualas, who would be better at explaining who 'you know who' is. As for a 'you know what', it's…" His voice trailed off as he glanced at the dragon-like being, seeming uncertain. "You're sure he's safe?" Tahu spoke before a response could be given.
"Who is 'he'? You aren't making sense!" The dark Toa sighed quietly as he looked back at Tahu.
"He and 'you know what' are the same thing."
"And that is?"
"…that would be my son."
