While they were still traveling in their Rahi transport, Kit noticed Matoro sitting alone in the back, and decided this was probably going to be her best chance to ask the Toa of Ice something she'd been meaning to ask him for some time. She walked to the rear and said, "Hey."

The Ice Toa started, as if he didn't realize she was there until she spoke up, "Uh . . . hey."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead."

As Kit took the seat Matoro offered, she decided to cut to the chase.

"Matoro, I'm asking this as a friend: is everything ok with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean is something going on between you and that robot, Maxilos? You seemed a bit eager to send him away earlier."

Matoro simply looked at the floor, not saying anything. And so, Kit chose to try a different approach.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I was never comfortable around him. I can't explain it, but ever since I saw him, there was something about him that kind of freaked me out, but I just can't quite put my finger on it." The girl took a slight pause before continuing. "This might sound crazy, but, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that sometimes I can see and sense a familiarly evil presence inside that thing, but I can't place it."

Kit then turned to face the Toa. "Something's going on with you, Matoro. Something big. I know it and the others know it. Why won't you tell us what is? Maybe we can help."

"It's not that I won't, Kit," said Matoro, not taking his eyes off the floor, "it's because I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"It's . . . complicated, to say the least."

Matoro knew why Kit was asking all of these questions—she was concerned about him—but he still couldn't risk telling any of his friends of what was going on. Right now, the less they knew, the better. Thankfully, Kit understood from the look on his mask and in his eyes that he really did want to tell her what was on his mind, but, for some reason, he just couldn't. Therefore, she settled on changing the subject, somewhat. "Earlier, when I asked you if everything was ok, were you trying to tell me something?"

Matoro, knowing she was talking about when the group first split up to search the area around Mahri Nui for the Kanohi Ignika, looked into the girl's eyes and replied, "Yes."

Kit nodded and began trying to decipher the Toa of Ice's secret message. Matoro had said back then that everything was as fine as it was when she was sent back to the time of the Toa Metru, only she knew that wasn't completely true. For about half the time she was in that era, she had amnesia due to some energy attack she suffered on her way through the time portal, and Matoro would've known that. 'Why would he tell me something he knows is not true?' she wondered. She had just come to the startling answer—Matoro was trying to warn her that he was in some kind of trouble and couldn't tell her directly for some reason—when their ride came to a stop. They had arrived. Kit once again turned to look her friend in the eyes. Words didn't need to be said, and the two joined their comrades in disembarking the Rahi.

Kit admitted to herself that she was glad to be out of the animal. The group immediately took notice of the Barraki scattering due to an avalanche. "Over there," Matoro pointed. It was Mantax, still holding the Mask of Life, being pursued by Takadox, who in turn was being pursued by some giant sea Rahi with a huge, tooth-filled maw that looked like it came out of a nightmare.

'Looks like we really have our hands full this time,' Kit thought.

"I guess we split up," Nuparu said, and the girl nodded in agreement.

Once all was said and done, the group also split up: Jaller and Matoro going after the mask, Nuparu and Hahli taking care of the other Barraki, and Kit and Hewkii the Rahi, which was identified as a Gadunka, except jumbo-sized.

Using her fins, Kit shot forward and passed right in front of Gadunka. The Rahi stuttered a moment out of surprise, giving Kit ample time to launch two energy balls. Both balls hit their mark, slightly stunning Gadunka. Once the Rahi shook off the stars that danced in front of his eyes, he charged toward the girl. Kit, however, anticipated this and moved out of the way. Gadunka was about to turn around to continue his pursuit when he found himself knocked off course due to a powerful upper-cut, courtesy of Hewkii. The Toa of Stone barely avoided the Rahi's snapping jaws as it lunged at him, but Kit gasped in horror as Gadunka caught Hewkii's leg on the second try and began to shake in a violent manner. 'If that thing keeps that up, he's going to snap Hewkii in half!' the girl thought to herself. She was about to release an energy attack when the Stone Toa grabbed a rock wall and used his leverage to slam Gadunka into it hard enough to let him go. As the fight raged on, Kit realized something odd, 'Why doesn't he just use his mask power to make that thing too heavy or too light to swim?' Almost as soon as she asked it, the answer came to her—Hewkii was a competitor, and where would there be competition in easily defeating a creature using a power it couldn't even hope to defend against? 'Oh, brother,' Kit sighed as she placed a hand to her head. 'Of all the times to challenge a Rahi to a test of strength.' At that point, Gadunka was on top of Hewkii—and the Toa wasn't moving. Once the Rahi was satisfied, it swam away, apparently having forgotten all about Kit. The girl rushed in, giving Gadunka a powered up punch. "Remember me, fish breath?" she asked as she floated in front of the animal. Gadunka was about to attack when he felt something wrap around his midsection. Finding a chain, he bit into it—only to be shocked by an electrical charge.

Confused, Kit looked beyond Gadunka to find Hewkii, alive and standing, holding the other end of his weapon. "Don't turn your back on me," the Toa of Stone grunted with exertion. "Bad enough you're a rampaging sea monster, at least be a polite one."

"Hewkii," Kit called, "will you stop playing around and take care of this Rahi. We don't have all day, you know."

"Yeah, give me a minute," replied the Toa.

Somehow, Gadunka managed to bite through the chain. Kit expected him to stubbornly continue fighting, but, amazingly, he stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground. Hewkii walked carefully toward the beast to retrieve his weapon while Kit stayed put. "Is it . . . dead?" she asked, also keeping a wary eye on the Rahi.

"No," answered the Toa of Stone quietly, "just knocked out." Hewkii bent down to pick up his chain, or rather what was left of it. Then, faster than the girl could warn him of the danger, one of Gadunka's eyes snapped open. He rolled, causing the Stone Toa to lose his balance, then grabbed his prey by the neck with his pincer and applied just enough pressure to strangle him.

"Hewkii!" Kit cried, shocked and horrified. Without any thought to what she was doing, the girl released a barrage of shooting crescents. Seeing the attack, but left no time to dodge, Gadunka instinctively covered his head. The crescents stung and the Rahi yelped each time he was hit, but refused to let go of his quarry. When the attack stopped, he let down his guard and looked up, intending to grab the small one as well, only to feel a shockwave. He spotted another one of what he had in his grasp and snarled. He was about to finish off Hewkii when he suddenly found himself rammed hard enough by Hahli and Kit to lose his grip on the Stone Toa. Gadunka no doubt would've counterattacked, but Kit fired an energy beam right in front of him. Seeing the devastating-looking hole the beam made in the sea floor made the Rahi think twice. There was also the little one to think about, too; her eyes were narrowed dangerously along with a 'come any closer, and you're dead' look. Meanwhile, Hahli tended to the recovering Toa of Stone and gently chided him for not just using his mask power. For a second, Kit refocused her eyes toward them and said loud enough for Hewkii to hear, "Nitwit."

Gadunka, seeing the girl's concentration had switched away from him, decided now was his chance and he moved forward to finish what he'd started. Kit turned her attention back to the Rahi and was about to fire another beam when she heard the Toa of Water call to her, "Kit, over here!" The girl didn't know what the Water Toa had in mind, but joined her friends, nonetheless. Hahli then summoned an underwater tidal wave powerful enough to knock Gadunka out cold. "C'mon, let's get back to Mahri Nui," said Hahli.

Kit, however, had other plans. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going to go check on Jaller and Matoro." The three Toa nodded and the group split up.

Within minutes, Kit reached the sea floor where her scanner showed the Toa of Fire and Ice were. When she got there, though she couldn't see Matoro, she knew he was nearby, and Jaller was reaching for the Mask of Life, which was halfway buried in the sand. For a moment, a relieved smile formed on her face; it was almost over, provided they could keep up the good work at keeping the Barraki at bay. Then, in the blink of an eye, her smile changed into a startled gasp as she noticed a most unwelcome sight. "Jaller, behind you!" she shouted, but her warning came too late.

The next thing the Fire Toa knew, someone had grabbed him by the throat hard enough to cut off his air and lifted him off the ground. It was Hydraxon. "I think that mask belongs to me," the jailer said.

'Man, this guy either just doesn't know when to quit or can't take a hint, can he?' the girl thought to herself. Next thing she knew, Hydraxon threw Jaller into a rock like he was trash and moved to claim the mask. However, he didn't take more than two steps when he heard something approaching and saw Kit charging at him before she slammed him into the ground so hard, the impact left an impression that was a good few feet deep. Hydraxon started to get up, but she gave a good, solid punch to his jaw, followed by a succession of others. He almost hated to admit it, but the girl's pulverizing was actually causing him to grunt in pain with each hit, and they were not reinforced with whatever power she had. Even he didn't know how he saw it, but he somehow noticed that that was about to change—her chambered fist was now glowing, and he'd seen what that power was capable of.

Desperate, he somehow succeeded in flipping her off him. "Living underwater has obviously clogged up your hearing, freakazoid," Kit said as the jailer struggled to get back on his feet; not easy since he just received a halfway decent beating. "I told you that mask is off-limits," and she went in again, fists glowing. Hydraxon dodged the charged-up energy balls. Kit threw a hook, but Hydraxon caught her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back. He thought he had her, but he was wrong. Unknown to him, Kit retracted the fin extensions on her boots and she sharply skinned his shin with her heel as she stomped hard on his foot. His grip slackened just enough to untwist her arm and she thrust a twist punch into his abdomen, making him double over as the wind was knocked out of him. She followed up with a hook kick to his head, sending him to the ground; with the extensions retracted, Kit could now kick more efficiently for fighting. She proceeded to move in again when, all of a sudden, Hydraxon grabbed her ankle and threw her into a rock much like he did with Jaller. He quickly moved for the mask while the girl was stunned, except a huge and wide wall of fire suddenly appeared. Looking behind him, he found the Toa of Fire to be responsible.

"Stupid runner. I'll just go over or around it."

Jaller, though, shook his head, "No, you won't." Now back on her feet, Kit smirked as she nodded in agreement with the Fire Toa.

For a moment, Hydraxon was confused, then found himself being attacked by his own hound, Spinax. Once more, Jaller reached for the mask, and, once more, he and Kit found themselves stopped—by Maxilos, who looked like he'd nearly been through a trash compactor and a walk-in freezer. "My thanks, Toa, for the well-timed wall of fire," said the robot, though Kit could've sworn there was something about his tone that seemed sickenly familiar. "Not that I couldn't have freed myself," Maxilos continued, "but I was curious to see just how far Matoro was willing to go." After speaking to Hydraxon, Maxilos went to take the mask as well.

However, Kit re-extended the fin extensions on her left foot and used it to flip the Kanohi up. "Matoro! Grab it!" Jaller yelled. Matoro appeared seemingly out of nowhere and caught it and his comrades joined him.

"What's going on here?" the Fire Toa wondered aloud.

"Yeah," said Kit, "what's with tall, red, and spooky back there?"

Matoro sighed, "I guess it's more than time I tell you. Let's talk as we go—we have a cord to blow up."

"What!?" shrieked Kit in surprise. "You mean to tell us that Makuta is not only still alive, but has possessed that Maxilos robot!?"

"And, you knew that this whole time?" Jaller asked with some anger in his voice.

Matoro solemnly nodded, he didn't blame them for feeling angry, shocked, and/or betrayed for not telling them and the others sooner. "Believe me, if there was a way I could've warned you, I would have, but he said he would kill all of you if I said anything."

"We could've taken him, if we had to," Kit scoffed.

"Along with the Barraki?" Jaller asked.

"Um . . . good point," the girl admitted; if they did fight both the Barraki and Makuta, they would've been overwhelmed and killed.

Seeing the somber look on Matoro's mask, like he felt like he'd let his friends down, Kit smiled and reassuringly patted the Ice Toa's shoulder. Even Jaller felt his initial anger draining away; he and Kit understood now that Matoro really did want to tell them, but, due to Makuta's threat, he was, as Kit called it, caught between a rock and a hard place. "You know, Matoro, you don't have to keep secrets anymore," said the girl.

"Pardon?"

Jaller explained that when he was a Matoran, working for Turaga Nuju as his translator, Matoro heard all kinds of things that the elders didn't want the general populace to know. "You were sworn to keep what you heard to yourself. For years, you knew all about Metru Nui and what happened there and you kept it secret."

"I had no choice. I did what the Turaga felt was best."

"I know that," the Fire Toa said softly, not wanting Matoro to unintentionally think he was being attacked. "But, doing so made you alone among the rest of us, an outsider. Now the Mask of Life is doing it too and it can't be helped."

"Still, you're a part of a team now, Matoro," Kit continued. "You don't need to keep everything inside anymore. We'll help you in any way we can, but, with Kongu no longer able to read minds, we can't do anything if you don't tell us." 'I should be one to talk,' Kit thought to herself, remembering that she, too, was bound to an oath not to share some information with her friends.

"What do you mean, 'the Mask of Life is doing it too'?" asked Matoro, confused.

"Remember back on Voya Nui, when Kongu insisted you be the one to remove the mask from Vezon?" asked Jaller. "He didn't explain why at the time, but he told me later that when he read the Ignika's 'mind' he discovered--"

"It wanted you to be the one to carry it," Kit jumped in. "You're the only one who can touch the Mask of Life without being cursed, which possibly explains why Mirna's so interested in you, too. Kongu wasn't sure if he should tell you or not, so Jaller said he would." Kit noticed the Fire Toa's questioning eyes and grinned. "Sorry, Jaller, I couldn't help but overhear."

"Why you little sneak," Jaller said with a smile, and moved to grab Kit, but the girl managed to get out of his reach and he chased after her.

Matoro, meanwhile, could hardly believe it. Out of all the new Toa, the Kanohi Ignika chose him as its new guardian? 'Why me?' he thought to himself. 'Hahli's faster . . . Hewkii's stronger . . . Jaller and Kongu are far more experienced as fighters. Why would it pick me?'

"Hey, Matoro," called Kit's voice, tearing him out of his reverie, "you coming?"

The Toa of Ice nodded and swam to catch up with his two comrades. "We haven't always been the best of friends," Jaller said. "I guess kind of tradition—fire and ice rarely get along, but I wanted you to know . . . I think the Ignika made the right choice." When a surprised Matoro asked him why he thought that, Jaller replied that no matter what the Ice Toa was asked to do, he got it done —even if it was hard, painful, or he hated having to do it. "Back on Voya Nui you questioned your worth to the team because you're not a warrior."

Seeing Kit's confused expression, the two Toa told her of the room where one of them had to be sacrificed before they could be allowed to proceed. "I never had to go through that," she said.

"Well, since you were all by yourself, there was no point to it," Jaller guessed.

Kit then faced the Ice Toa. "Matoro, being a hero isn't about who's strongest, toughest, or who has the best mask power—if it was, I probably wouldn't be this realm's Protector—it's about spirit, which I know about. And, believe me, you definitely have spirit. Therefore, you are great Toa, so don't let anyone tell you or think otherwise."

"Why, Kit," Jaller smiled, "you can be a very motivational speaker when you want to be."

Kit simply scratched the back of her head and blushed. Matoro smiled as well, thinking that maybe Jaller and Kit were right, that he did have what it took to be a Toa. 'Perhaps, when this mission's over, I'll turn down the chance to become a Turaga and stay a Toa,' he thought. 'Even if I can no longer breathe air, there's still a whole ocean to explore.' "Thanks, you two," he said. "I really mean it. Especially that part about secrets."

"No problem," replied Jaller.

"Ditto," said Kit. "Let's just say I've been in your shoes." Matoro cocked a questioning eyebrow, to which Kit just winked, aimed a gun-finger at him, and continued swimming.

The Toa of Ice looked at his fire counterpart, who merely shrugged. "Now hang onto that mask, ok?" Jaller chuckled. "It's been changing hands so fast down here it's made me dizzy."

"Don't worry," Matoro said as he gazed at the glowing mask in his hand. "This time, it's not going anywhere."