That night, at the Coliseum, Vakama summoned a flame with his blazer claw for what must've been the fiftieth time. He finally figured out how to make it work a long time ago, now all that remained was for the others to arrive. He personally wished they'd just hurry up; he was getting impatient. Suddenly, a booming sound was heard, but, before he, Sidorak, and Roodaka could determine its source, an explosion occurred in the arena and six figures could be seen through the haze walking in. The Toa Hordika and Kit had come. Nokama called out the Toa of Fire. Vakama hopped down onto a spire and replied, "You've made a grave mistake coming here!"
"Nice to see you, too," Kit greeted sarcastically, her sensitive ears catching the sound of an annoyed growl.
"We came here to save you," said Whenua.
"The only ones you can save now are yourselves," said Vakama, and he ordered them to bow down and swear their allegiance to him and to Sidorak.
"And if we don't?" Kit challenged, feeling the bestial urge to just go in after the traitorous Toa for a brief moment before her human intellect fought it down.
"I will make you," answered the Fire Hordika. He tore off the point of a spire and threw it like a javelin. When it struck, the entire Visorak horde spilled out from the arena doors, instantly surrounding the Toa.
While the Toa Hordika readied their spinners and Kit grabbed hold of Nuju's shoulders, Roodaka observed from above. 'So, that's the Hordika venom's effect on . . . humans,' she thought, taking note of the girl's animalistic appearance.
"Uh, Nokama?" Onewa asked nervously, considering all the surrounding Visorak were also almost ready to launch their spinners.
"Now!" shouted the Water Hordika. "Let's go."
The Toa Hordika launched their spinners, having them catch onto their tools, thus carrying them into the air. Vakama also gave the spiders the order to fire and spinners zoomed through the air. "Hey, wait for me!" called Onewa, who was the last to launch and was now spinning out of control in mid-air. Kit and the others dodged them and landed on a ledge above a doorway—all except Matau.
"Catch you guys soon-later!" the Hordika of Air called to them as he continued on his way up.
"Where is Matau going?" asked Nokama, surprised; his departure from the group was not part of the plan at all.
However, that didn't matter at the moment; they had Visorak to take care of and, though outnumbered, the Toa launched spinner after spinner. Then, the hairs on the back of Kit's neck bristled as her newfound sixth sense warned her of something. She looked around and discovered that some of the spiders were trying to take them from behind. "Jump!" she called to the others and they all leaped off just in time, right in front of the entire horde. The battle for Metru Nui was now officially on. Nokama shouted a warning to Whenua, but by the time he saw what she was talking about it was almost too late. A Visorak got on top of him, its teeth gnashing. Seeing he was in trouble, Kit tried to get to him, but Visorak after Visorak blocked her way, forcing her to slash them down with her claws. Thankfully, Whenua was able to wrestle enough room to smash his thumper into the spider.
Kit, meanwhile, thought of where Matau was headed and where Vakama was. 'Crazy airhead,' she thought to herself, 'he's going to need help if he's really going where I think he's going.' She took off like a shot toward the doorway into the tower, either shoving or slashing away any Visorak that tried to stop her. Just as she reached the elevator, a tremor shook the ground violently. She would've gone back to investigate if the dinging sound from the elevator hadn't caught her attention.
Roodaka and Sidorak casually walked out of the elevator. Then, thinking she heard something, she looked behind her, but saw nothing but the still open doors of the elevator. "I must be hearing things," she said to herself, unaware of how wrong she was.
"Phew," Kit breathed, "close one." She had held onto a shaft cover above the elevator just before the doors opened, flipped into the elevator, then jumped onto the ceiling just before Roodaka turned around. Now, she was on her way to the balcony. She was halfway there when the elevator shuddered. "What the heck?" she wondered, then yelped when dents suddenly appeared on the ceiling and she heard a familiar screech.
The hatch slammed to the floor and a red Visorak, Vohtarak, jumped in only to look around in bewilderment. There was no one and nothing in the elevator, but it could've sworn the human Hordika was inside. "Hello," a voice from above greeted. It looked up and there was Kit on the roof. "And goodbye," she waved and sliced through the cable with her claws, sending both the car and the spider inside down the many floors below and the Visorak's screech echoed throughout the chamber. Kit held onto the cable, hanging in mid-air, until she heard a dull crash. Then, she started climbing to the next set of doors; with the elevator now out of commission, she would have to take the stairs. She finally reached the doors and, using her tail for balance, she stood on the ledge of the floor and applied all of her Hordika strength to force them open. Once she got through, she saw a sight that made her heart stop—Matau falling. By the time she got to the window post, it was far too late for her to do anything. She felt sick to her stomach and the strength in her legs just left her. Head bowed and on her knees, she could feel tears beginning to form behind her closed eyelids. Her hand suddenly squeezed into a fist so hard her claws threatened to pierce into her palm, but she didn't care if they did. Her sorrow changed into a rage that filled her heart and seemed to make the tears that once threatened to fall evaporate away. There was only one reason why Matau was falling to his death, "Vakama!" In a flash, she ran up the stairs, certain of where she would find the traitor. Three Visorak charged toward her, but she kept coming with no intention of stopping or slowing down. In fact, their appearance just seemed to fuel her fury. "You junkyard rejects, out of my way!" she roared as she slashed at them with her claws. She continued on her way up the steps, leaving three dead robot spiders in her wake. Because of her anguish, she was not at all aware of Vakama's call to Matau, or Matau's rescue.
Vakama and Matau ran down the stairs toward the arena, considering the elevator was down for some odd reason. Suddenly, Matau tripped over his own feet, fell to the floor, and skidded towards the center of the room. "Matau, are you alright?" Vakama called to him.
"Let's just speak-say I've had soft-better landings," Matau replied, before the floor underneath him gave way and he disappeared from view. Vakama was at the hole in an instant, unaware that he was being watched.
Kit kept to the shadows while still keeping the Hordika of Fire in her sights, eyeing him like a predator that had found its target. Arriving just after Matau's fall, she was totally unaware that he was still alive. Seeing this as her chance, she pounced. But, somehow, Vakama just barely managed to dodge and faced her. "What was that for?" he asked. His answer was an angry snarl as the girl glared at him. "Kit?" he asked nervously, not liking what he was seeing.
"You killed him," she said quietly, then roared out, "now I kill you!" It took all of Vakama's agility to keep away from Kit's claws.
Down in the hole, Matau could hear the commotion of the fight. "Hey, Vakama, what's going on up there?" he called. When more roars answered him, he got to work trying to climb out.
"No, Kit, you don't understand," he tried to explain.
"I understand this," Kit growled, "you betrayed us and killed one your own, so now you must pay in kind."
Knowing that he had to get her to stop long enough to explain that Matau was alive, he grabbed her wrist when she took another swipe, and pinned her on her front side to the ground. Kit roared and thrashed as he held on to her wrist and twisted her other arm behind her back, struggling to get free. "Kit, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Vakama pleaded. "Please, listen to me--"
His sentence, however, was cut off when Kit slipped her hand out of his grasp and slashed her claws at him. Vakama cried out as he placed his hand to his cheek, blood slowly oozing out between his fingers. Groaning, he looked at her, down in an all fours posture. When he looked into her eyes, that's when he realized it. There seemed to be some sort of bestial presence in those eyes that he'd never seen before; a part of her that had been long dormant but the Hordika venom either released, awakened it, or made it strong enough to influence her. This was not the Kit he knew or even the human Hordika she had become—this was a very deadly animal. Before he knew what was happening, Kit had him on the ground and was now going for his throat. Try as he might, Kit's claws slowly inched closer to Vakama's neck. "Kit, please stop," the Fire Hordika tried again desperately, but his plea landed on deaf ears.
Kit lifted her left hand high, intending to spear-hand her way to Vakama's throat. Her hand just started to descend, claws outstretched, when it suddenly stopped. Confused, she looked behind her to find Matau, her wrist in his hand. "That's enough, Kit," the Air Hordika said firmly. Slowly, but surely, Kit's grimacing expression changed into one of disbelief.
"Matau?" she asked, her arm relaxing.
"The one and only, as I think-believe you say," he said, slowly releasing his grip on her.
"But . . . I saw you fall," she slightly stuttered with puzzlement.
"And, Vakama-brother saved me," he winked with a smile.
Kit looked to the Hordika of Fire who confirmed it, "He purposely put himself in danger, betting that I would come back to my senses and save him."
"Mata Nui, Vakama, what happened to your mask-face?" Matau exclaimed, seeing the deep cuts on his brother Toa's cheek.
Kit laughed nervously, "That would be my fault."
The Air Hordika's eyes widened, "You did that?"
"It's nothing, I'll be fine," Vakama spoke up. "Right now we have to get down to the arena and get on with the plan."
"Plan? What plan?" Kit asked as she followed the two Toa Hordika toward the steps.
"I'll explain on the way," Vakama called, and the trio ran down the staircase.
Down at the arena, the battle raged on. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the Toa Hordika and Rahaga soon found themselves surrounded by the horde. Then, all of sudden, the spiders dispersed for no reason. "Oh . . . I don't like this," Whenua thought aloud. Seeing something, Nokama gasped and a green Rhotuka spinner sent them all to the ground. Winded, but not hurt, the heroes discovered a Kahgarak coming toward them. A tall, dark, and feminine figure walked off of its head and casually approached them. Though, none of the Toa have personally met her, they guessed from the Rahaga's description that this had to be Roodaka.
"You have something I want," the villainess said. "Your elemental powers. Earth. Stone. Ice. Water. Fire already belongs to me." Then, a thought crossed her mind: she only named five elements, and there were supposed to be six Toa in the group. "One's missing," she mused as she tapped her chin in thought.
"That would be air," said a voice. It was Vakama. "And, I caught this one sneaking around in the tower," and he shoved both Matau and Kit hard toward the others. "They're all yours, my queen."
Onewa and Whenua looked at each other in disbelief while Matau and Kit joined the line. "Thank you, Vakama," said Roodaka. "Now, about those powers. . ."
"You desire-want them so bad, take them," Matau challenged, and he launched a spinner. The other Hordika followed suit and all of the launchers hit their mark. However, not only was Roodaka still standing with red energy dancing all over her body, she also began to laugh evilly. "Alright, who fire-launched the tickle spinner?" asked Matau.
"Fools!" proclaimed Roodaka. "You, like your powers, are nothing if you are not united, and as Vakama stands with me. . ."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," said Vakama as he readied his launcher, which was aimed right at her.
Though she didn't count on this, Roodaka still saw a loophole. "You can defeat me, Vakama, but not all of them," she pointed to the Visorak horde. "Strike me down and they will surely destroy you and your friends. Think about it."
Unfortunately for her, Vakama had, "And, seeing as you convinced Sidorak to put me in charge of them. . ." Then, he turned to the horde, "Get of out of here, all of you! You're free." After a momentary pause, he added, "That's an order."
To everyone's astonishment, the entire horde obeyed Vakama, clearing out of the arena. "Traitors!" Roodaka called to them.
"You can't betray someone you're enslaved to," the Fire Hordika corrected.
"And, to think I thought you could be king."
"I lead only those that choose to follow. That's the difference between being a leader and a tyrant likeyou. A certain Toa taught me that."
Seeing Vakama looking toward Matau, who smiled, the Toa Hordika looked at him, puzzled. Kit, however, just gently elbowed him. Power flowed from Roodaka's heartstone and her eyes changed from blue to red, almost looking like she had become possessed; only Norik knew what it meant. "No, Vakama, don't!" he called, but it was too late. Vakama fired his spinner, it flew, and hit Roodaka square in the chest—right on her heartlight.
At the Great Barrier, the form of Makuta remained perfectly still, trapped in his protodermis cage. Suddenly, his consciousness became aware of something different and he discovered he could move his fingers a little. The red hue in his eyes returned as he began to free himself. The Toa seal on his prison had been broken.
Back at the Coliseum, Roodaka collapsed, out of exhaustion from the hits she willingly took, or from the power surge, nobody could tell. Then, a giant red and black, and too-familiar-for-comfort, hand sprouted out from her chest, picked her up, and the two disappeared. There was nothing left of Roodaka, except a small piece of stone. Curious, Vakama went to take a closer look and Norik trailed after him. The Fire Hordika just picked up the stone when Norik said, "Vakama. You have no idea what you've just done."
"Her heartstone . . ." Vakama realized. "It's Makuta's."
"Yes, carved from the same protodermis you sealed the Makuta with. In destroying it, you've broken that seal."
"I know, and set Makuta free."
Vakama took a brief moment to gaze upon the stone, and said, "For some reason, he doesn't scare me anymore." He let the stone slide off of his hand as he looked upon his fellow Toa. They were all alive and safe, that was what mattered. When his eyes landed on Kit, he said, "Kit, I--"
"You're a jerk for betraying us like that, Vakama," the girl said with a stern tone. A downcast expression formed on the Fire Hordika's face, knowing she was right, just the moment before the girl started rubbing her head against his torso affectionately and smiled. "But, I forgive you," she purred, "and, sorry about those scratches."
Vakama patted her head, assuring her it was ok. Then, the sound of clanking gears was heard and Keetongu showed up, looking like he was stomped on by a Tahtorak before he collapsed, his arms straining to hold him up. "Keetongu. Help him up," instructed Norik.
"In light of all you've given," Vakama said with effort in his voice as he helped the giant to his feet, "you owe us nothing, but, my duty requires I askwill you change back?"
Keetongu spoke, and Norik translated, "He wants to know why you would want that, being as you've made peace with the beast withinthat you might even be the better for it."
"It's our destiny to be Toa," Vakama answered, "and to keep our promise to the Matoran."
"Duty," nodded Keetongu, understanding.
"Then, so will you be," said Norik.
Kit and the Toa gathered in a circle around the giant Rahi and joined hands. Keetongu stretched out his arms and a light from within him illuminated his entire being and washed over them. They all felt a sensation like they were being cleansed, of the Hordika venom in their veins being rinsed and purged out of their bodies.
Down inside the Coliseum, the Toa Metru and Kit approached the Matoran spheres. They were all back to normal. "Now then, let's get all of you to safety," said Vakama. He touched the door panel, which opened to reveal a Ga-Matoran with a Komau, and Whenua came holding a screen board. It was then that Kit noticed something on Vakama's mask—faint claw-like scars where she scratched him. Evidently, Keetongu's power healed the wounds, but not completely. When he spotted her looking at him, she quickly looked away. The Toa of Fire, however, gestured for her attention and winked. Kit smiled, feeling a little relieved, and observed the Earth Toa checking off names.
A thought suddenly crossed her mind and she looked at her hand and mused, "It's kind of weird, in a way."
"What is?" asked Nuju.
"It was so weird being half animal, now feels weird being back to normal," the girl answered as she flexed her hand, noting the missing claws and fur. The Toa of Ice smiled while everyone else chuckled.
Soon after, everyone, the Toa, Kit, the Rahaga, and Keetongu were loading the spheres onto the only six airships that, amazingly, survived the Great Cataclysm. "Put your back into it, brothers," encouraged Matau, who was riding one the spheres that were being loaded via conveyer belt.
"Speak for himself," Kit muttered to Nokama as she rolled a sphere.
Matau, meanwhile, hopped off and admired the aircraft ahead, "Nice ship."
"Hey, Matau," said Onewa as he knocked on the Air Toa's shoulder hard, earning himself a glare. "Let's not crash it this time."
The Toa of Stone then picked up a sphere, placed it in Matau's arms, and casually walked away. "Hey," Matau called to him, but when he heard Kit sniggering, he rolled his eyes and carried the sphere to the airship. Off to the side, Vakama talked with Norik.
"Well, my friend, I guess this is it. Thank you."
"You are most welcome, Vakama. But, it's me that should be thanking you."
"I don't understand."
"It's not everyday I get to see a legend come true, you know."
Hearing some laughing, they turned to find Keetongu carrying two spheres on his shoulders.
"Oh, yes, Norik. He is quite a sight."
"Indeed, but I wasn't talking about Keetongu."
"The Great Rescue," Vakama realized.
"Yes," Norik confirmed. "And, now we know that the Matoran are in most capable hands. Your hands."
Vakama smiled and nodded, then went toward the ship. "How are we coming, Whenua?" he asked.
"Once Kit, Nokama, and Keetongu get their spheres loaded along with the ones on the conveyer belt, we'll be all set to go," answered the Toa of Earth.
"Good," Vakama nodded, and leaned against the floating floor of the cargo hold.
"Hey, Vakama, what were you and Norik talking about back there?" Onewa asked.
"The Great Rescue," Vakama simply answered.
The Toa of Stone and Air looked at each other, then at the Toa of Fire, then back at each other, and Onewa finally said, "Get 'im!" The two grabbed a surprised Vakama and pulled him in. The next thing the Fire Toa knew, once his back was flat on the floor, Matau pinned his wrists down, then Onewa got on top of his waist and tickled his ribs.
"Oh dear," Kit giggled, watching the scene.
Vakama, meanwhile, tried to plead to Onewa to stop, but found it practically impossible to talk and laugh at the same time and he couldn't wrestle himself out of Matau's grip. And so, he was at the mercy of his brothers.
A few minutes later, Onewa and Matau were done torturing Vakama and all of the spheres were loaded into all of the airships. In the lead ship, Matau took a seat at the pilot's chair in the cockpit and got the aircraft going. "Next stop, Mata Nui," he announced. On the deck, the rest of the Toa and Kit met eyes with Norik and Keetongu. As Kit waved farewell, Norik extended his staff and Keetongu spread out his arms with a slight bow. The group looked on longingly at the City of Legends as the ships continued on their course.
When they neared the Great Barrier, Onewa leaned on the railing with a start. The protodermis cage where they left Makuta was empty. "The Makuta!" the Stone Toa gasped. "He is gone."
"Not for long," said Vakama in a low tone. "I imagine we'll be seeing him again very soon."
"And, when we do?" asked Nokama.
"We'll find a way to defeat him," replied the Toa of Fire, "because that's what Toa do." Everyone gave either approving smiles or nods; it was good to be a team again.
Elsewhere, hidden in the tunnels, Darcius stirred. Although, this was not the Darcius that Kit just recently defeated. No, this was the Darcius from the future, the one Kit had chased into the time warp. Realizing he rested longer than he wished, he worked to get back on his feet, knowing he had to work fast. Time was running out; the Toa Metru were now in the tunnels heading for the surface with all of the Matoran from Metru Nui. They were almost successful in completing their mission, something he could not allow to happen.