"Run!"

Onua didn't need to say this twice. Baku scooped up Hahli, breaking into a full-on sprint as he turned, Makito close behind and already carrying Kongu on his back. Lewa sped after him, Kopaka and Onua hurrying after him. There wasn't even a point in trying to be quiet by now; the Visorak already knew they were there anyways, and hiding would only get them killed.

"I've got an ever-quick question…" Makito puffed out. "How'd they even way-find us?" Kopaka scowled.

"Ask Lewa. He's the one who broke the floor and screamed." The accused teenager blinked, looking alarmed.

"Hey, I had no say-tell in what happened. It's not my problem-fault if the plank-beams broke."

"That's enough, both of you." Onua commented, his voice holding signs of mild fatigue. "Arguing will only make things worse, for all of us."

"Save the Unity speech for when and if they catch us." Kopaka grunted. "It doesn't matter right now. Our best bet would probably be splitting up. Less chance of them catching all of us." Makito shook his head, keeping his gaze fixed ahead of them.

"Part-splitting is a dark-luck idea. Visorak live-exist for a thrill-chase. If we stay together, we have a better chance of survive-living if it comes down to an anger-fight. Good thought-theory, but it won't work here." That was when Baku tripped, turning so he didn't crush Hahli when he hit the floor. Lewa skidded to a halt, his expression worried. Ignoring Kopaka's shouting to keep going, the fourteen year old hurriedly started to pick up Hahli, though his gaze was fixed on Baku, particularly his legs. The left leg appeared to be fine, maybe just a bit bruised. The right, however, was a disaster. Bent at a highly unnatural angle and bleeding in several places, the twenty-one year old looked blearily up at Lewa, tears streaming down his face. Pain mixed with fear was plain as day in his pale yellow eyes, and as he struggled to get up, he whimpered.

"J-just go… L-leave me behind! I-I'll just slow you down!" Lewa shook his head, free hand trembling as he tried to pull his older brother to his feet. Baku pushed him away. "Go Lewa! I'll make a d-distraction!" Lewa tried to argue, but Onua moved in, picking Baku up and taking off after Makito and Kopaka, with his Lewa racing after him. Baku, in the meantime, blinked, looking at Onua in shock.

"What the… how… How are you able to carry me so easily?" The Toa of Earth grinned, though it was grim and small.

"I work out, I guess. Now just hold on tight and let me know if I'm hurting you. We'll make it through alright." Baku gave a slight nod, though his fear and alarm was still plain as day. Onua hated to admit it to himself, but he was panicking too. What if the Visorak caught them? Would they be killed, or dragged off to some nightmarish pit to suffer? Would something else happen? He was afraid to know the answer.

The ground shook suddenly, causing Onua to stagger. Nearly dropping Baku, the Toa of Earth found himself slowing down a little, struggling to maintain his balance. Hahli whimpered as she and Lewa ran past, her fear obvious. Onua took note of it instantly and grimaced. That wasn't the look of a mildly scared girl. It showed every ounce of the horror she'd seen while growing up in this 'post-apocalyptic' world that'd once been so beautiful. Just how much pain and suffering had she seen?

A sharp, stinging sensation rippling through his back snapped Onua from his thoughts, as well as caused him to stagger again. He knew he'd been hit, and now that he had, it was only a matter of time before he was down and out. Already he could feel the numbing begin to settle in, and it was starting to grow harder to stay upright.

"Baku, I got shot." His voice was quiet and starting to sound dazed. "I'm s-sorry…" Before the Le-Matoran even had a chance to respond, the Toa of Earth collapsed, managing to turn himself just enough so he wouldn't land on the wounded man he was carrying. Even with shifting, though, Onua hit the ground hard, his head smashing against the rocky surface and knocking him senseless. White and grey dots flashed through his blurring vision, and even with his glasses on, nothing was in focus. The echo of clicking started to seem far away, and as Onua succumbed to the numbness, everything went black.

^v^

"Sure is a bother Iruini isn't here. We'd have these two on their feet already. Honestly, where did he run off to anyway?"

"Hush, Pouks, you'll wake him up. They'll both need sleep, especially after what we pulled them out of."

"Oh yes, because being unconscious is such an energy draining experience." The sigh that followed indicated that the quieter voice was tired of the other person's tone. However, he seemed to notice that Onua was starting to come to, and commented.

"Ah, he's waking up. Go check on the other one; one of us will be enough of a shock to begin with, let alone both. Besides, something tells me that this one is… different somehow." As the other being could be heard shuffling off, Onua slowly tried opening his eyes. Once again his glasses were notably absent, and everything was severely blurry, perhaps even more so than usual, as well as everything seemed unnaturally dark. Giving a faint groan, he tried turning his head, though he stopped as a small jolt of pain shot through his neck.

"What happened… Last thing I remember…" He blinked slowly, trying to recall what happened. "Mata Nui… Where is Baku? Is he alright? Please tell me he's okay…" The figure beside the bed chuckled quietly, his tone betraying a smile.

"Yes, your Le-Matoran friend is alright. Most likely sore, but he'll be okay in time. You though… well, I'm a little more concerned about you." Onua raised an eyebrow slightly. He didn't like the sounds of that.

"Why? Did something happen to me? I didn't lose anything, did I?"

"Well… not exactly. Your hoodie has seen better days, but I don't think you lost anything incredibly important. How are you feeling right now?"

"Worried, tired…" Onua winced as he shifted slightly. "And really, really sore." The figure appeared to give an understanding nod.

"I felt the same way when this happened to me. Luckily you don't seem to have taken a severe turn for the worst, which is a major bonus. As far as I can see, the only issues you're going to have are opening doors, and looking at mirrors, though there's very little of either now, so you'll be just fine." By now Onua's mind was reeling. What did all of that mean? However, instead of blurting out dozens of questions like most people probably would have, the nineteen year old only asked one.

"Can I still wear my glasses?"

"Yes, you can. For now though, just rest. Your body has taken severe strain from what happened. As it is, I'm amazed your skin didn't rip apart, or at least split in a few places." Onua blinked again. That really sounded bad.

"Mind explaining why?"

"Well, to put it simply, your skeletal structure morphed, and that added a few new…features. Mainly your new hand claws and the occasional bone spike here and there. As far as I could tell though, you didn't get anything outlandish and freaky." Onua choked on his own breathing somehow when he heard that.

"You don't call bone spikes outlandish or freaky?" He coughed. "If that isn't weird, then what's your idea of it?" The figure laughed quietly at that.

"Well, you don't have any neon colored spots, stripes, or other peculiarities." The Toa of Earth hesitated to think that through before finally speaking again.

"No hot pink feathers?" Again the figure laughed.

"Not a one."

"Great. Guess I'm not so freaked up after all."