"They fear you," the voice said. "You understand why, of course?"

Antroz did not answer it.

"Yes, you must. No doubt you hope to regain their trust? That is impossible. It is as Zaekura said: you have been nothing but a burden to everyone here. Why should they ever expect that to change?"

Antroz turned sharply at the sound of someone climbing the staircase. From where she stood atop the watchtower, she drew her sword, faced the steps, and reached down with her mind, trying to identify the newcomer as quickly as possible. Upon realizing it was Bitil, she let out a heavy sigh and sheathed her weapon.

Bitil emerged soon after and eyed Antroz warily. "Lady Zaekura tells me you're hearing voices?"

"Just one," Antroz mumbled. "…I am not insane, Bitil. Someone is here, someone I cannot properly sense. We could all be in very grave danger!"

"Yes, that's how a lot of us feel."

Antroz faced him. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. I know my behavior must appear strange, but—"

"Antroz, just stop for a moment," Bitil interrupted. He took a step forward and set a hand on Antroz's shoulder. "I know that you wouldn't simply make up such a tale, but at the same time, I can't exactly believe something so…well, ridiculous. So I ask you to consider that perhaps the stress of our situation is taking its toll on you, and—"

"I told you, I am not insane!"

Bitil scowled at her. "Let me tell you something, Antroz: the word 'insane' doesn't mean anything. It's just used by people who are afraid of deviations in thought they don't understand. So stop saying it, and acknowledge that, for one reason or another, your thoughts have deviated. And that you need to handle that problem."

Antroz was slow to absorb his words, but absorb them she did. She realized that her teeth and fists were clenched; relaxing them, she took a deep breath, and then stepped back and out of Bitil's reach.

"Why don't you take a walk?" Bitil suggested. "Get some fresh air, a change of scenery—maybe that will help to clear your head."

Turning away, Antroz said, "You just want me out of everyone's way."

Bitil brushed some sand off his armor.

"…Fine. Whatever is happening, I suppose what I'm doing now is only making it worse. Trying something new does seem the wiser approach." Antroz took a step towards the stairs, but then paused. "Keep an eye out. If I am right, if someone is here—"

"Yes, yes, I'll be vigilant," Bitil said. "Go enjoy your stroll. Just don't wander too far."

With some lingering reluctance, Antroz made her way down the stairs, across the outpost, and out into the nearby desert. As she trudged up a nearby dune, she heard nothing but the sand beneath her feet. She paused at its peak. Silence greeted her, and in light of recent events, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever heard.

Perhaps Bitil was right, she thought. Perhaps, with this, I can—

"Why have you stopped?"

The desert sun did nothing to fight the cold emptiness that overtook her.

"He's right, of course. A monster like you doesn't belong with other people—not even with those lesser monsters Bitil tends. You belong out here, on your own, where you can do no more harm to anyone else."

Antroz broke into a run. She was barely aware of the path ahead as she barreled forward, hoping that somehow she could escape this tormentor, but it followed, taunting her all the way. Eventually her feet stopped. She dropped to her knees, facing up towards the sun as a small sigh escaped her.

"Why?" she croaked. "I've done everything I can think of, yet you still won't stop. Why is this happening? When will it end?"

What she heard was not what she expected. Something shifted—she could hear the sand moving about a bio away. Antroz scrambled to her feet and reached out over the area. To her dismay, she could sense nothing where she had thought the sound had come from; a bit farther away, however, she sensed a living being, and her mind focused directly upon them. They seemed to be a Matoran, judging from their size, and they sat at the base of a sand dune a few hundred paces ahead. She could sense their presence, but for some reason, she was unable to glean even the slightest glimpse of their mind. Antroz grew curious, and for a moment that was enough to break through her panic.

What is a Matoran doing out here? They won't be able to survive in these conditions for long. And why is it that their thoughts—

"What will you do, Antroz?" the voice asked. "Leave them to die, maybe? No one would ever know."

With a grunt, Antroz stalked off in the Matoran's direction. She slowed to a less threatening gait as she drew near, also veering off to the side to be sure they would see her approaching. They didn't move when they spotted her.

"Hello there," Antroz said, coming to a stop a few steps away.

The Matoran gave an odd smirk. "Well hello. If I'm not mistaken, aren't you the noble Makuta Antroz?"

"He thinks you are 'noble'," the voice said. "How mistaken he is."

Antroz froze for a moment. Doing her best to ignore the voice, she said, "Ah, yes, I am. May I ask what brings you out here? It's quite unusual to find a Matoran roaming the desert."

The Matoran leaned back and set his hand against the dune. "Who, me? I'm out here on business. What about you? Taking a look around, so to speak?"

"Such vagueness," the voice said. "He doesn't trust you. And why should he?"

Antroz fought back against the rising panic. "I, uh…suppose you could say that. Are…are you certain you are alright? I would be happy to lend you assistance should you require it."

"Hm, actually," the Matoran said, "there is something you can do for me, oh honorable Makuta Antroz."

Her confusion at his words were lost in her relief at the voice's silence. "And, what might that be?"

The Matoran pushed his hand back into the sand. "Hold still."

He moved quicker than she had ever known a Matoran to move. Drawing a scythe from the sand, he lunged forward and swung at her, catching her totally off guard and slicing a long opening down the front of her armor. As she realized what had happened, all she could do was stumble away and yelp, "Wha?!"

The Matoran swung again. This time Antroz was able to turn away, but she couldn't quite get clear, and the sickle lopped off her wings like they were blades of grass. Antroz finally managed to hurl herself away from her assailant, and hastily drew her sword before he could close the distance. Antidermis spilled out of her body from either side—it was fortunate she did not rely on her eyes, else her own bleeding would have been enough to blind her.

"Wh…who are you?" Antroz asked. "No Matoran should be able to wound a Makuta!"

"Ah yes, I should take this chance to introduce myself." The Matoran held his scythe off to one side as he bowed. "My name is Nidhiki, oh esteemed Makuta. And I think you'll find I'm a bit more than a mere Matoran."

Antroz repeated the name in her head, and soon enough she remembered. "Nidhiki…you were the one who attacked Atero. The one who tried to let the Zyglak into the academic district!"

Nidhiki laughed, lifting his scythe to rest it on his shoulder. "That's right, that's what it was! It's been so long that I forgot what it was I did. I was such a fool in those days…but, in the end, it was that foolishness that led me to my true purpose."

"Miserix apprehended you," Antroz said. "You were to be taken to Karzahni! How are you…" As the realization dawned, she once again felt a cold emptiness. "Then…you were selected?"

"Indeed I was! My crimes were too grave to be forgiven, but the Keeper saw potential in me. Instead of Karzahni, I was taken to Odina. I suffered just the same, but now, I find myself thinking far more clearly than ever before. At one time I sought to sully the laws of the Great Beings…but now, I know that they must be upheld. They must, no matter the cost." He laughed. "Funny: isn't that what you once thought?"

Antroz kept her sword high. There's no reasoning with an Odinan. No doubt he's been sent to capture Zaekura…so why hasn't he attacked the outpost?

She adjusted her stance as Nidhiki readied his scythe.

No, that's not important right now. This could be my only chance to stop him.

Antroz pulled her sword back and leaned forward. A fireball struck her in the back, hitting her wound directly and vaporizing a large piece of her essence. The Makuta cried out in pain, slumping forward as Nidhiki ran at her; she managed to fire a light bolt, but Nidhiki leapt over it and twisted as he flew over her, hooking his scythe into her chest wound and prying her armor open further before running away. Another fireball hit Antroz as she turned around.

Where is that coming from?

Antroz hurled a surge of magnetic energy from her palm, trying to immobilize Nidhiki. He jumped as she fired, but this time, two massive gusts of air shot from the soles of his feet, flinging him high into the sky and well away from Antroz's attack. Not allowing herself to be shocked, Antroz instead moved to intensify the gravity around Nidhiki. But, suddenly, Nidhiki was not in the air anymore: he was behind her.

"How—?!"

She narrowly evaded another slash, but a fireball found its way inside her armor. No, it was worse than that: an entire combustive reaction was taking place inside her body, searing away antidermis until only a tiny cloud of it remained. Losing so much of her essence at once was overwhelming, and Antroz hit the ground, stunned and unable to even lift her sword.

"There we are!" Nidhiki said as he stepped forward. "Now, to make you a bit more…travel-sized."

He produced a small sphere made of transparent crystal. Antroz recognized it instantly. She tried to teleport away, but she was still recovering from being incinerated, the pain too much for her to think clearly. Nidhiki held the sphere forward and prepared to speak. Before he could, two blasts suddenly shot down from the sky, one of them striking him head-on. He looked about in confusion, holding his scythe ready, and Antroz tried again to teleport. This time, however, something grabbed her, an item was pressed into her hand, and she found herself being carried away from the Odinan by two Rahkshi.

Antroz recognized them quickly once she had a moment to think. One was Serk, the Rahkshi of Heat Vision who had manned the walls during the battle at the outpost—the singular "eye" atop his head made him easy to remember. The second was a Chameleon Rahkshi, and she made sure to keep Antroz's hand firmly around the chain that both she and Serk held onto; thinking back, Antroz knew this one as well, and remembered that her name was Chloae.

Seems Nidhiki can't see any of us now…but, why did Serk launch two attacks?

The Rahkshi carried Antroz up into the air, choosing a safe distance to hover and regain their bearings. Antroz felt Serk press his mind against hers—a part of it was being opened to her, and, tentatively, she entered. A second later, she saw what Serk saw. The sudden visual information left her head spinning at first, that sensation soon replaced by an odd sort of nostalgia, and that one giving way to more confusion at trying to figure out Serk's unique, all-encompassing field of vision. Once she made sense of things, however, she spotted Nidhiki pacing the sands quietly. And not far away from him, she saw someone else. A Toa of Fire stood there, leveling a dead, emotionless gaze in the direction Serk's attack had come from. For some reason, massive weights were attached to his feet—blocks of metal so massive that there was no way he could move them—and some sort of binding was wrapped around his torso, similarly locking his arms in place. Antroz probed the area with her mind, but she could not sense him, not even his physical presence. Such a thing baffled her. But as she thought about it, she finally figured out the truth of the situation.

It's him. He's the one who's been driving me to madness!

Antroz's fatigue at once gave way to a terrible rage. Thrusting her sword forward, she fired a wide beam of light in the Toa's direction. He slowly turned to face it. And then, in the blink of an eye, he was standing several bio away. The attack hit the ground.

But…that can't be…

She still hadn't realized that she had given their position away. Nidhiki used his air gusts to launch himself directly at his targets, enduring more of Serk's heat vision and swinging his scythe in a wide arc. Serk and Chloae decreased their altitude quickly, just barely getting them all clear of the weapon. Unfortunately, a pillar of flames was now rising up to meet them; finally focusing again, Antroz summoned a shield of plasma to push the fire back, and then held on tightly as the Rahkshi carried her aside. The Toa reappeared next to Nidhiki long enough for the Matoran to grab his shoulder, and then they both appeared on the ground.

He's wearing a Ruru. I don't understand how he can teleport without a mask power. Then again…the Odinans do tend to have bizarre modifications made to them. This explains why no one else ever saw him.

She gritted her teeth as rage filled her again. Serk grasped her shoulder, shaking his head violently.

Yes. I need to remain calm if we're going to succeed here.

The Toa inhaled deeply. The air around him shimmered, and then dozens of fireballs spewed out in every direction. The Rahkshi wove through them all carefully, but the attack grew more relentless as it continued, filling the entire sky with a thousand orbs of flame. Antroz thought fast as their running space slowly ran out.

We need to subdue that one swiftly, and in one fell swoop. If we capture his partner first, or if he is injured but not incapacitated, he will certainly use this ability to flee, and we cannot allow that. So…we need a way to distract them both.

She sheathed her sword, opting to hold onto Chloae's chain with both hands. Summoning what strength she had left, Antroz called upon her powers of light, and nearly a dozen illusions of herself appeared on the battlefield. The Toa's radial attack ceased.

"Fine with me," Nidhiki said as he faced one of the illusions. "More targets to cut down is never something you'll hear me complain about!"

Serk hissed something, and Antroz felt him shift in the direction of the outpost. She bumped against him mentally, stopping him in his tracks, and then pointed at the Toa. Serk hesitated. With an encouraging nod, Chloae aimed in that direction, and they slowly made their descent. Antroz watched their approach carefully, but at the same time she had to keep careful track of her illusions—each one Nidhiki cut through was useless, so she dismissed them to conserve energy, but if he discovered they were all fake it would place them back in their original position. The illusory Antrozes did their best to keep their distance. Nidhiki shot from one to the other, making fairly quick work of each, while the Toa just stood there with that same, dead look on his face.

They were nearly there when Nidhiki stopped to count, seeing only three of Antroz remaining. He grinned and turned to his partner, saying, "Not going to lend me a hand, Kapura? Ah, I suppose I should watch my phrasing."

Automatically, Antroz thought back in an attempt to recognize the name. She did, but with so little focus to spare, that alone was enough to make all of her illusions waver. Kapura narrowed his eyes at this.

No!

She sent her Sleep power out in front of her, hoping to put the Toa under before he had a chance to act. It affected him: the fireballs he spawned flew off in random directions, and he slumped at an odd angle. But then he was somewhere else, out of range of Antroz's blast. He straightened up immediately, and a single fireball far larger than all the others began to take shape over his head. The Rahkshi retreated, but Antroz knew they wouldn't escape. She let go of the chain, becoming perfectly visible as she dropped to the ground; Kapura saw her immediately and hurled the fireball straight at her. Antroz's armor glowed as she made herself invulnerable and absorbed the attack. When it was over, however, she collapsed once again, feeling even more drained now.

Nidhiki ran at her. Antroz pushed herself up as Serk also shed his protection, charging through the air and ramming shoulder-first into a very confused Nidhiki. The Matoran flew back a short distance before vanishing, though his scythe soon dropped next to where he had disappeared, and all could hear the sound of him choking. Kapura quickly moved closer to him. He had enough time to create a small explosion, knocking Chloae and Nidhiki apart, but that delay was all Serk needed to sear shut the eyeholes of his Kanohi. Kapura twisted in place for a bit, feeling Serk's heat vision now battering his entire body. He transported himself off in a random direction, but it was impossible for him to escape Serk's gaze. Antroz extended her hand.

Just…a bit…more…

She waited until Kapura had just completed a movement. In that exact second, she focused upon where he stood, and a shimmer of light engulfed the Toa once again. This one, however, was a stasis field. And though he could not be physically restrained, suspending his mind within a single moment in time meant he could no longer use his ability, and that was all that was needed to defeat him utterly. Antroz gritted her teeth as she poured all her focus into maintaining that field.

Nidhiki had reclaimed his scythe in the meantime, and he stopped eyeing Chloae when he realized Kapura had been trapped. His expression was one of pure horror. Then, his eyes glinted with a shine of desperation, and both Rahkshi started towards him. Throwing one foot out, Nidhiki fired off a gust that sent Chloae tumbling away. He then swung his foot in a wide arc, kicking up a massive cloud of sand, protecting himself from Serk's heat vision and creating a warped wall of glass between them both. With one powerful leap, Nidhiki shot through the barrier and clipped Serk's arm—the Rahkshi lost his balance, but he did his best to keep Kapura in his field of vision, not sure if Antroz could maintain the stasis field without his line of sight. It was only after ensuring that that he realized Nidhiki had landed right beside the Makuta.

"Got you now!" Nidhiki said as he raised the sphere. "Zamor, con—"

He stopped short as an arrow knocked the ball from his hand. Nidhiki turned to see a third Rahkshi standing atop a nearby dune: Viq, the Rahkshi of Accuracy, with another arrow already in his bow. The Matoran gave a frustrated grunt.

"I won't fail!"

He raised his scythe.

"I promised the Keeper, there's no way I can—"

Chloae appeared then, delivering a hook that knocked Nidhiki's mask from his face. The Odinan swayed and fell, and Chloae was on him a second later, using her chain to bind his limbs so that she could be absolutely sure her foe was defeated. Viq lowered his bow as he approached the group. Serk, now back on his feet, turned to him and hissed in thanks. With only a short nod, Viq turned to Antroz.

The Makuta was only vaguely aware of this. The pain she felt was still excruciating, and she was sure that if she slipped even a little, her hold on Kapura would be lost. Sparing as much energy as she dared, she managed to just barely breathe, "…Bitil…"

Viq immediately took to the skies, soaring back towards the outpost at top speed. Chloae hauled Nidhiki off to the side while Serk crouched next to Antroz, and after a short hesitation, gently put pressure on her armor so that he could carefully weld shut the openings in it. He stopped after only a few seconds to make sure this didn't break Antroz's concentration. Seeing that it held, he then continued. He managed to patch up all the wounds by the time Viq returned with Bitil, as well as the healing Rahkshi Surja and another one that Antroz wasn't sure she recognized. Bitil stopped in the middle of the scene to take it all in.

"Antroz," he muttered, "was it really so difficult to take a simple walk?"

Surja waved Serk off and put both hands on Antroz's back. Antroz immediately felt relief flow throughout her body, and let out a very long sigh. The other Rahkshi approached Kapura—she could tell now that they were a Rahkshi of Stasis, and they stopped in front of the field she had created to take a good look at it. The Rahkshi clapped their hands and then drew them apart: in the space between appeared a large, circular disk of energy, and they spun it around on one finger before tossing it up above the field. The disk floated down and landed atop the field, causing its whole expanse to flash and take on a more solid appearance. The Rahkshi turned and gave a thumbs-up to Antroz. Tentatively, she released her power. The field remained.

"They're Odinans," Antroz said, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position. Surja looked a bit annoyed that she was moving, but said nothing.

Bitil put a hand over his mouth. "…Oh dear. Oh, this is not good at all…"

"And that one—" She pointed at Kapura. "—can teleport of his own will. Not only is his mind shielded, but somehow his physical presence cannot be detected telepathically either. It was his voice I heard: teleporting next to me when no one else was around, because he is totally imperceptible to me. No doubt that's why he was sent."

After regarding the captive Toa for a moment, Bitil closed his eyes and turned towards Antroz. "Then I owe you an apology, Antroz. It seems sending you out was the worst thing I could have done."

"…You had no way of knowing," Antroz said. "I have no need to hold a grudge, especially not when your Rahkshi are the ones who saved me." She turned individually to Serk, Chloae, Viq, Surja, and the one who stood next to Kapura's stasis field. "Thank you all. I am in your debt."

The Rahkshi accepted her thanks, and it was then that Antroz realized she was still using Serk's sight. She withdrew then, feeling a hint of sadness as her world went dark once more, and once again opened her mind to see for her.

"Who do we have here anyway?" Bitil said, craning his neck to look at Nidhiki. "Not many Matoran criminals—and even fewer who get selected by Odina's Keeper."

"Do you remember the Zyglak advance on Atero?" Antroz said.

"That was him? Huh. And what about the other one?"

"Toa Kapura. He was a traveling peacekeeper well-regarded for his wisdom…until just recently, when he tried to burn down a research facility. The Great Beings were quieter about that particular incident."

Bitil nodded, humming to himself. "And now they've both been inducted into that warrior cult…well, at least we subdued them. I doubt Nidhiki will be hard to keep restrained, and Erves has a lock on Kapura, though I suppose that still leaves a question of what to do with them."

Antroz shook her head. "We have bigger problems that that, Bitil. The Odinans never give up once the Great Beings have designated a target for them. On the rare occasions where their operatives fail, they have always answered by sending other, stronger agents in search of that prey…and in all this time, they have never failed twice."

"Right," Bitil said, his hand twitching a bit. "We'll need to be far more cautious. But for the time being, why don't we appreciate the victory? It looks like you fought hard for it."

After a short pause, Antroz hung her head and murmured, "You've no idea."

Bitil smiled, coming over to crouch down in front of her. "Once Surja says you're safe to move, we'll all head back and you can get some rest. I'll see to it you have some peace and quiet for a change."

"…Thank you, Bitil. I think that's exactly what I need."

It wasn't much longer before the party got moving. As they re-entered the outpost, a large crowd gathered, the Rahkshi all curious to see who these prisoners were. Antroz turned when she sensed Zaekura nearby. The Glatorian stared at her for a moment, and then turned and walked the other way.


ADDENDUM:

-Only a few hours to spare, but I got it out in November! Arbitrary, yes, but I'll take what accomplishments I can achieve.

-"[The word 'insane' is] just used by people who are afraid of deviations in thought they don't understand. And also by teenage edgelords who think it makes them cool. It doesn't."

-While the Odinans are obviously primarily this universe's equivalent of the Dark Hunters, the fact that they answer to the Great Beings prompted a bit of influence from the Order of Mata Nui to find its way in; the main way this comes through is that all agents have mental shielding, but there might be more connections later on. Anyway, the story is that a long time ago, someone now known only as the Keeper of Odina made an arrangement with the Great Beings: that if a criminal is condemned but the Keeper thinks they have potential, the condemned is sent to Odina and undergoes arduous training to become an efficient killing machine wholly loyal to the Keeper and the Great Beings. When the Great Beings need someone hunted down, they contact the Keeper, who analyzes the situation and sends suitable operatives to accomplish the task. How their frightfully intense loyalty is instilled in them, or how they develop the varied and bizarre abilities they display, is a secret to all but the Odinans.

-Again, Nidhiki was just an obvious pick for a starter Odinan. He carries a scythe much like his prime universe counterpart (and thought it would be fun to let an enemy force into his home city), but being a Matoran means he cannot use Kanohi or Elemental Powers. His ability to generate gusts from his feet are the result of implants made to forcibly draw out and focus the dormant Air energy within him, but I'll get more into that in the next Section.

-Since Nidhiki was more general (and I already killed Krekka), I wanted his partner to be more tailored to Antroz specifically. Someone who could only be seen, not sensed, who could torment her and lead her and her allies to believe she was losing her stability. With mental shielding being standard for Odinans, I thought it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine some advanced method that makes the user totally imperceptible via psychic means, which just left the problem of getting them in and out before anyone else saw them. There were options here, but in the end I really came to like the idea of Kapura. (Come to find out he was very briefly mentioned in Brothers In Arms, so that's why I specified the GBs were quiet about his crime so it wouldn't necessarily contradict Macku's statement in canon.) The restraints are to "help" him master his ability to travel great distances by moving very slowly—it becomes far easier to learn when you can't move at all. I haven't hammered out all the specifics of the ability, but its range is fairly limited just by necessity. There needed to be a way to defeat him, and that would've been very difficult if he could have just teleported back to Odina at a moment's notice.

-The Zamor Nidhiki has is specially modified to forcibly trap a Makuta's antidermis—Antroz is aware that such items were made as a failsafe in case of rogue Makuta. It is possible to resist the containment, however, which is why Kapura burns away so much of her essence: to leave her weak and unable to escape. I'll probably go over this in the next Section, just wanted to clarify here in case there was any confusion.

-Probably won't re-introduce the Rahkshi every single time they become relevant, but it has been a while, and I feel like the ones that don't talk might not stick as well. Especially since a lot of them were introduced all at once. Heck, even I forgot Chloae's name until I went looking for it. Anyway, when Kapura appeared to prod Antroz deeper into the desert, they were still just barely in view of the outpost—Serk spotted a second figure, so he grabbed Chloae and they charged off to see what was happening. Viq noticed them leave and followed at a slower pace, he was just curious what they were up to.

-I needed a Rahkshi that could make a stasis field permanent, and I got the image of them stuffing their enemy into a jar they could place on a shelf. So Erves (from "preserves") just creates a lid for the field, screw it on top, and BAM: enemy in a jar! There's a lot of fun to be had in twisting these weird Rahkshi powers Lego gave us.

-It'll be a while still before the Keeper is positive that Nidhiki and Kapura have failed—longer still for them to select a new team, and then that team will need travel time, so we'll be able to get another few events in before more Odinans attack. Next time, however, we'll be doing something I've been wanting to show ever since The Gargoyle Knight!