Last of the Living

This article was written by Kaihange. Please do not add to it without the writer's permission.

Last of the Living
Story
Setting	Matoran Universe
Date Set	4000 AFMN

Last of the Living is a the first story set in the Fallen Spirit Universe and the first in the Fallen Spirit Saga.

Chapter 1

Crunch, Velika's Power Carver dug into the face of Kazi, tearing through metal and flesh. "Never really liked this one" thought the Great Being as he swung his other Power Carver decapitating the former ko-matoran. Kazi's disembodied head let out an unnatural groan as life left it. Using his other Power Carver, Velika removed the head of Kazi from the tip of the other. As Kazi's head hit the ground with a thud Velika had already surveyed his surroundings. "Looks like no more of those creatures are coming for now." he thought to himself. He looked at the many corpses of matoran that surrounded him.

Velika looked up at the morning sky as groups of Rahi birds flew above him going further south. "I need a plan" he murmured as he began to walk north. "This plan to restore our world has failed, although we weren't aware of the existence of this, disease". Using one of his Power Cleavers he began to pull a kanohi huna off a dead ta-matoran. As the mask came free some of the flesh of the Ta-Matoran ripped and dangled at the bottom of the kanohi. Velika inspected the kanohi near the mouth was a gaping hole where flesh and metal had warped into a set of sharp teeth. The tips of the teeth were crimson, "fascinating," Velika thought, "I would love to study this virus more thoroughly, a shame I cannot under the present circumstances". "Now, as for that plan" thought the Great Being as he put down the mask, "I think I may know some potential allies that can aid me in my departure". Velika chuckled to himself as he began to walk north stepping over the corpses in his path. This was going to be a good day indeed.

Chapter 2

4,000 Years Ago

Lhikan raced over Ta-Metru on his Lavaboard, looking down at the chaos around him. "Mata Nui, what are these thing?" he wondered as Ta-Matoran ran in terror away from the infected among them. Lhikan quickly created a wall of fire to separate the infected from the living. To his horror the infected Ta-Matoran ran through the flames seemingly unfazed at the fact they were now on fire. As more and more Ta-Matoran succumbed to the infection, Lhikan weighed his options.

"Bothers, please forgive me." Lhikan despondently said as he separated his Lavaboard into his Fire Greatswords and began to fall.

As he got closer to the ground some of the nearby infected noticed him and stopped following the ta-matoran. They began to gather around where he would land, thrashing their teeth as he fell toward them. Lhikan activated his hau as he landed and stabbed his two swords into the ground sending out a fire shockwave that incinerated all the surrounding ta-matoran. As Lhikan looked out at the piles of ashes that surrounded he wondered if the rest of his team was doing any better at evacuating the matoran. He didn't have time to stop to think, he had to buy the surviving Ta-Matoran more time. He reformed his Lavaboard and flew up above Ta-Metru as he scanned the area he spotted a ta-matoran cornered by the infected. Acting quickly Lhikan flew over and grabbed the ta-matoran's hand and flew him to safety.

"Toa Lhikan, what is happening?" The ta-matoran asked.

"I do not know, get to Le-Metru several airships are preparing for evacuation there, go now, I must look for others in need of assistance" Lhikan replied trying his best to sound calm.

As he watched the ta-matoran run off in the direction of Le-Metru Lhikan's attention was drawn by a distant explosion at the Coliseum. "Mata Nui," Lhikan thought to himself "what spawn from Karzahni is this". He reluctantly flew to Le-Metru, he needed to know how long until the airships were ready.

By the time he arrived at Le-Metru, all but one of of the airships had already left for the Sea Gate. Before Lhikan could fly down to the airship a green and orange shape flew into the corner of Lhikan's eye. Lhikan activated his hau just as the creature flew into him knocking him off his Lavaboard which fell with him. The creature flew around him, still too fast for the Toa to clearly see, It slammed into him again the momentum causing him to slam into the ground. The creature then flew at him as his hau's shield faded, Lhikan tried to pull as much nearby heat as he could into his hands but he wouldn't be fast enough. The second before the creature arrived it stopped, Lhikan noticed the Air Scythe sticking out of the Rahi's head as Nidhiki deactivated his volitak.

"Need a hand, brother?" Nidhiki asked as he offered one of his hands to help, Lhikan took it and got to his feet.

Lhikan looked at the rahi, it was a Phase Dragon, with it's teeth slightly misshapen and crimson at the tips.

"How many made it?" asked Lhikan as he moved to retrieve his Lavaboard.

"Around three thousand at most, still no sign of Turaga Dume or our brothers and sisters" replied Nidiki as he pulled his Air Scythe out of the Phase Dragon's forehead.

"Mata Nui" said Lhikan looking at the Coliseum towering over both of them.

"Brother, look" said Nidhiki pointing to a distant limping being who was approaching them.

As the being got closer Lhikan could make out the familiar blue armor and kanohi huna of his fellow toa.

"Naho," Lhikan muttered as he ran toward her with Nidhiki closely following.

As the two toa got closer they noticed the wound on her upper arm that she was covering with one of her hands.

"What's happening?" Lhikan asked Naho who looked at the ground for a few moments before speaking.

"Dume is dead, same for the others," Naho said looking up at Lhikan and Nidhiki "Tuyet left us during the fight against our infected brothers, she said there was something in Ga-Metru that she needed to retrieve before evacuating, I managed to survive the battle but not unscathed."

Naho removed her hand from her wound revealing a series of punctures in her arm.

"It seems the infection takes longer to take hold of toa, so I came to deliver this message as my final duty," She said despondently "I've seen how dangerous one of us can be when infected, so I beg of you not to allow me to become such a threat."

"I'll go rendezvous with Tuyet, Nidhiki I trust you know what has to be done" said Lhikan as he threw down his Lavaboard and took off for Ga-Metru, not daring to look back to see Nidhiki's scythe swing into Naho.

As Lhikan flew into Ga-Metru he kept a watchful eye for flying rahi, not wanting to be caught off guard again. He took a moment to admire the Great Temple for possibly the last time ever, he quickly flew down arriving at Tuyet's residence. Lhikan separated his Lavaboard into his greatswords as he cautiously approached the building the door had been destroyed and all around the building were the corpses of ga-matoran and various rahi and a few puddles of water. Lhikan took a step inside the building but quickly backed out as a blast of water flew past where his head was moments earlier. Lhikan peeked back in, on the ground missing both of her legs was Tuyet pointing her barbed broadsword at him.

"Nearly got me there." said Lhikan as he stepped inside her residence.

Tuyet lowered her broadsword and looked at Lhikan.

"I knew one of you would come looking for me," She said "though I was hoping it would be someone other than you."

"What do you mean?" asked Lhikan

"You are the most likely one of us to give up the stone," Tuyet said holding up a gleaming red stone roughly the size of a toa stone "This is what I came back for, it gives the holder small bits of power of every toa in a three thousand kio radius, the powers is then absorbed by a single being, I was hoping it could allow us to fix our current situation."

Lhikan reached for the stone as he grabbed it Tuyet gripped it tighter.

"Promise me this, never intrust it to anyone or let others know you have it, I am trusting you with this power." said Tuyet

"You have my word." replied Lhikan

"Use it only when absolutely necessary," said Tuyet "now go, I'll bury myself with my mask so I can't become a danger to the city, protect the heart of Metru Nui, brother."

Before Lhikan could try to stop her, Tuyet activated her mask of intangibility and phased through the ground, leaving only her broadsword behind. Lhikan grabbed the barbed broadsword and took it with him as he left her residence. He reformed his Lavaboard and took off for Le-Metru.

As Lhikan arrived he noticed the final airship had already taken flight. Lhikan flew after it quickly catching up and landing on the outer deck. He turned and looked back out at Metru Nui as he had once done many years ago when he first arrived at the city of legends. As he turned to see Nidhiki standing behind him.

"Tuyet?" asked Nidhiki noticing the broadsword on Lhikan's back.

"She was dead when I arrived." said Lhikan turning back to look at the city.

"Did you find what she was searching for?" asked Nidhiki

"No" replied Lhikan.

Lhikan looked out at the Metru Nui noticing a small speck in the distance and then another, and another, and another. His eyes widened as the specks became slightly larger and more of them appeared.

"Can this ship go any faster?" asked Lhikan

"I believe so" said Nidhiki noting the urgency in Lhikan's voice. He immediately ran into the cockpit as the ship jolted forward as it sped up.

The specks kept growing larger and in numbers to the point where Lhikan could see what they were. Nui Rama hundreds upon hundreds of Nui Rama, and as they got closer Lhikan could see the red on their faces and they colorless eyes. Lhikan quickly threw down his lavaboard and pulled out Tuyet's broadsword in his other hand he gripped the Nui Stone and felt a small surge of power. As the Nui Rama were nearly upon them Lhikan flew out the meet them throwing out a massive arch of fire incinerating the first dozen and sending many more falling down to the sea below. Not stopping to see how many more there were Lhikan flew through the smoke and cleaved another one in half with his broadsword. He had to divert them from the matoran aboard the airship. Lhikan got a better view of his adversaries, he miscounted, there were thousands of Nui Rama and several of them flew at him with their jaws open. Lhikan activated his hau as several of the rahi slammed into him causing him to be knocked off his liveaboard. Lhikan deactivated his hau and grabbed onto the edge of his still floating lava board, quickly impaling the next Nui Rama that attacked him with the broadsword. He knew that winning this fight would be impossible but he had to give the matoran more time if only a little. As the next Nui Rama flew at him Lhikan cleaved it in two with the broadsword as he began to notice the other Nui Rama begin to drop around him their wings still moving rhythmically. Lhikan felt the air around him grow thin as Nidhiki jumped past him, hopping from one falling Nui Rama to another. Lhikan realised what Nidhiki was going to do, a Nova Blast. Lhikan was then blasted back to the airship smashing through the hull and into the cargo bay past several matoran. Lhikan tried to stay conscious as he felt the airship greatly speed up and tilted forward. Some of the matoran moved to him and talked amongst each other, he couldn't hear them his audio receptors were ringing. Lhikan closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

Lhikan slowly opened his eyes looking up at some of the matoran were looking over him.

"He's awake" said a ta-matoran with a light blue pakari.

"Thank Mata Nui" said another ta-matoran who wore a red pakari.

"Lhikan, are you alright?" asked a ko-matoran.

"I'm fine," said Lhikan as he sat up and reached for his weapons "Nidhiki where is he?"

"We don't know" said the ta-matoran with the blue pakari "after he saved us from the rahi he didn't come back aboard the airship."

"How much further to the Sea Gate?" asked Lhikan as he stood up.

"We're almost there" said the Ko Matoran a look of concern appeared on his akaku.

"Once this airship passes I will close the Sea Gate behind you so the infection is contained in Metru Nui." said Lhikan

"That won't be necessary Lhikan," said a voice behind the Toa of Fire

Lhikan turned to see two beings one large with gold, silver, red, and blue armor. Next to the larger being stood a much shorter Toa adorned with blue armor and a Mask of Psychometry. Her armor and mask had many scratches and dents from many years of combat.

"Who are you?" asked Lhikan

"An ally," she said "I know what you are running from, the matoran on the airships ahead of you were kind enough to tell me, I have a place you can stay for a time, fly southeast of the Southern Continent and you'll find it, tell them Helryx sent you, you can rest there while we clear Metru Nui."

"Are you with the Brotherhood?" asked Lhikan

"No, we're something else," said Helryx "rest, and protect the matoran, we'll close the Sea Gate behind you, then we'll send someone to help with any trouble you may have while getting to our island."

"How will you get past the Sea Gate?" asked Lhikan

"The same way we got on your airship," said Helryx "now relax, we'll take it from here."

"Thank you" said Lhikan as they disapeared before his eyes.

Chapter 3

Present Day

Lhikan awoke from his dreams of the past as he had done many nights before. He reached for his Lavaboard as he headed out the door of his residence.

A light breeze blew past his face as he stepped outside into the streets as an airship flew above him carrying more supplies no doubt. Lhikan dropped his Lavaboard and stepped onto it and flew up to clear his mind. As he flew higher he looked above the walls and out to the sea. Lhikan turned and flew to the tower where the airship was docking. Lhikan rushed past the airship and into the docking bay and turned around to lessen his momentum. As the airship slowed to a halt Lhikan was already walking to the toa of sonics who looked at the airship.

"Clear," said the Toa as his grey suletu glowed faintly, he turned to Lhikan

"Who's the-" Lhikan started

"Lariska, Triglax, "Vanisher", "Eliminator", "Tracker", and "Phantom"." Krakua said as the airship door opened and the dark hunters exited.

"Never pull something like that again, you nearly got us all killed" Lariska said to Triglax

"Mata Nui, I only wanted a souvenir" replied Triglax

"Did you have to alert every single infected being from the next Island over to get it" replied Lariska

"What happened?" Lhikan whispered to Krakua

"You don't want to know" said Krakua as his suletu continued to glow.

After the dark hunters had passed them Krakua motioned to the toa of iron leaning again the wall to help with the cargo. As he approached the toa waved his hand and several Kanohi and various weapons flew out of the airship and hovered in front of the group. Then the weapons and Kanohi gently moved to the ground and organized into piles. Then the toa of iron used his second hand to pull something larger out of the airship. it scraped against the ground as it moved toward them but the toa of iron stopped when he saw what it was. A toa of psionics wearing a kanohi faxon in suspended animation within a stasis tube.

"Mata Nui," said Lhikan "where did they find this?"

"Odina," said Krakua "she was an old trophy of "TheShadowedone"'s"

"Should we let her out?" asked the toa of iron.

"We should get permission from the council first, I'll inform Helryx and see what she thinks," said Krakua "in the mean time, the matoran can take things from here, Zaria your dismissed, you too Lhikan."

Zaria and Krakua began to leave the docking bay as several matoran came to collect the supplies. Lhikan took a long look at the toa in stasis. "must be nice, to not know what horrors are going on outside" he thought to himself as he turned to leave.

Teridax plunged his staff of shadows into the chest of the infected toa of ice and lifted him into the air as he let out a screech and hurled an icicle at the Makuta. As it collided with Teridax's chest it merely shattered as the Makuta activated his invulnerability. Teridax smirked at the infected toa before decapitating him with his laser vision and pulling the body off his staff. Teridax flew up and looked out at the battlefield the Rahkshi were bombarding the infected hordes while the Fohrok and Exo-Toa engaged against the stragglers. Teridax increased the gravity close to a group of infected matoran instantly crushing all of them.

"Teridax" said the voice of his lieutenant

"What" Teridax replied annoyed at the interruption of his battle.

"The Council has called for you on Orepolo Nui for a meeting" said Icarax

"Very well then, support from Destral will return shortly," said Teridax as he turned to face Icarax "I trust that you will not fail to gain a victory here, lieutenant."

With that Teridax flew away from the battle on the Northern Continent. He approached the Island of Destral not too far off the coast of the Northern Continent. Teridax flew down to one of the outer walls and landed looking out at the Northern Continent as the island began to dissipate. In a matter of seconds Destral arrived off the coast of Orepolo Nui and Teridax took flight towards the island. the seas of liquid protodermis shimmered in the daylight. Any other being would have admired the ocean's beauty, but Teridax thought little of such things. In under a minute he had already flew past the outer walls of Orepolo Nui. He looked down at the streets as matoran and various other species took notice of his arrival.

Some pointed while others cheered as he flew by, why wouldn't they, he was the leader in the battle to reclaim the universe, their one true protector. Any mistake he had made before was long since atoned for by his bravery. Teridax smiled down at the residents of Orepolo Nui, he had once planned to take this universe by force, but it seems he was always destined to rule. He landed on one of the larger balconies of the Council's tower, Teridax made his way through the entrance into the Council chambers. The others were already in their seats and looking at him, Teridax walked over to his seat and sat down facing the others.

"The campaign at the Northern Continent is proceeding better than expected, so may I ask why I have been pulled from my duty?" asked Teridax.

"Urgent matters have been brought to my attention recently," said Helryx as all eyes shifted to her "it appears that our temporary measure to ensure the Great Spirit's survival, is no longer enough to keep him alive."

"We need an escape plan," said "TheShadowedOne" "we need to use our resources to evacuate the remaining populace away from this universe"

"My brother Tridax currently possess a kanohi olmak, we could use that to begin evacuations," said Teridax "We could use that to escape."

"No we won't, it will take far too long and we will risk bringing the infection with us." said Helryx

"How much time do we have left?" asked Artahka

Helryx sighed then gave her answer "around a year."

"We could try to reclaim Metru Nui, maybe try to bring back the Great Spirit like we did during the great disruption." said Helryx

"I've seen Metru Nui, that's where these things are coming from, it is beyond saving, if we open the Sea Gate then the remaining islands will fall in weeks." said Teridax just as an idea entered into his mind "Perhaps we require the aid of another Great Spirit."

"You aren't suggesting--" Artahka began

"What other choice do we have." said Helryx cutting off Artahka

"May I ask who exactly are we referring to?" asked "TheShadowedOne"

"Tren Krom," said Helryx "If this plan fails, or worse he gets infected, evacuations with the olmak are to start immediately, this meeting is adjourned, we will meet again in a week's time, I'll have a team assembled for the mission by then."

Teridax stood along with the other Council members and headed for the nearest exit. One thought crossed his mind as he flew from the balcony he had entered from. "How much longer can they delay the inevitability of Mata Nui's death".

Lhikan flew over the crowded streets of Casa Nui, as he made his way to the training grounds. He looked out at the sun, it was around midday now the suns were high in the sky. Lhikan flew over the small arena noting the two toa sparing with each other. He quickly dove down to the sidelines where two other toa waited for him.

"What took you so long?" asked Lesovikk just as Lhikan landed not to far from them.

"He went for a fly, wanted to clear his mind" said Orde as he continued to look at the two dueling toa.

"What happened?" asked Lesovikk

"I'd rather not talk about it." replied Lhikan

Lhikan looked at the combatants he reconised the toa of Iron to be Zaria who was fighting a toa of lightning who wore a kanohi volitak. She launched a bolt of lightning at Zaria as he activated his mask of adaptation and his armor shifted and changed. As the lightning bolt hit the toa of iron he merely stood there unaffected by the attack. Zaria extended his hand and the toa of lightning flew back two bio and landed on her back. She activated her kanohi and quickly became invisible. Zaria looked around him looking for her shadow but could not find it. Zaria recoiled from strike to his back, he raised his hand and motioned with one of his fingers. As he did the toa of lightning became visible as her kanohi was removed from her face. She then was lifted up like a giant invisible hand had grabbed her, she struggled but to no avail. With a wave of his hand Zaria released the toa allowing her to land back on the ground and retrieve her kanohi. As they both looked at each other they both gave the toa salute before heading off to the side of the field.

"I wish we still served some purpose" said Lhikan as he looked at the many toa around him.

"The Council has been considering sending Toa to fight the infected." said Orde

"Where did you hear that from." asked Lhikan

"One of Teridax's Toa Hagah was thinking about it." replied the toa of psionics

"Helryx won't stand for it, it's too much of a risk," said Lesovikk "remember what she did to the Glykovians"

Lhikan recalled Helryx's genocide of the species on the basis of how big of a risk they would be if infected. He was disgusted by those actions it went against everything he stood for as a toa. Although he didn't see himself as much better, he had technically broken the code after all. Orde gave him a look of concern as he no doubt listened to Lhikan's thoughts.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, the infected are hardly sentient," Orde said "they don't think, it's a black void in their heads, rahi are closer to us than them."

Lhikan looked back at Orde and then turned and looked at the other toa who had resumed their training. It reminded him of his old home, his old team, before Metru Nui, before the Great Plague. Lhikan felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Lesovikk who was holding his air sword in one hand.

"Want to train?" asked Lesovikk as he gave Orde a glance to which the latter nodded

"Sure" said Lhikan as he drew both of his great swords and began to walk to the center of the arena followed closely by Lesovikk.

Once they were at the center of the arena they both took a few steps back while facing each other. Lhikan looked at the toa of air, trying to predict the first rahi ability he would call apon in this fight. "Begin", Ordes voice echoed through Lhikan's mind as he unleashed a wave of fire at Lesovikk. Lesovikk's kanohi began to glow as he became translucent and the fire passed right through him as the toa continued to fade. Lhikan activated his hau as Lesovikk attacked from behind him. Turning away from the fading copy, Lhikan deactivated his hau and parried Lesovikk's next attack with one of his great swords. Lesovikk's kanohi began to glow again as he swung his sword again. Lhikan blocked with both great swords as the force of the swing caused him to slide backwards. Lhikan's breathing became short as the air fled from his lungs, he looked over to see Lesovikk motioning with his hand.

Summoning as much elemental power as he could Lhikan aimed the tips of his great swords at Lesovikk and channeled his power into them, unleashing a massive blast of fire. Lesovikk activated his kanohi as the fire washed over him. As the fire wave ceased Lhikan swung both of his great swords at the toa. Lesovikk parried the attack and used his faxon to evade the next. As Lhikan went in for a third attack Lesovikk launched him backwards with a precise blast of air. Lhikan quickly regained his footing and charged at the toa of air blocking another air blast with his hau. As he got closer to the toa of air Lhikan leapt into the air and swung his swords at Lesovikk. As his kanohi glowed Lesovikk parried the attack with enough force to send Lhikan back a bio. Lhikan landed and activated his hau to block another attack from Lesovikk. Lhikan attacked and locked swords with Lesovikk, neither one able to overpower the other. Lhikan pulled as much heat from his surroundings as he could and channeled it all through his great swords and into Lesovikk's blade. Lesovikk dropped the sword and one of Lhikan's swords was at his throat the next instant.

"Yield" said Lhikan triumphantly

"I yield," said Lesovikk as he clutched his slightly burnt hand "smart move with the sword."

Lhikan put his swords on his back and offered his fist to Lesovikk. With his good hand Lesovikk returned the salute. Lesovikk retrieved his sword as Lhikan began walking back the sidelines. As he got closer he noticed that Krakua had joined the group of toa on the sidelines and was currently speaking to Orde. Lhikan headed over to them as the conversation ended.

"Congratulations, on you victory Lhikan" said Orde

"Thank you Orde" said Lhikan as he turned back to the area as another two toa prepared for a duel.

"I have news I think you may like to hear." said Krakua

"What?" Lhikan asked as he looked over at Lesovikk who was getting his hand healed by another toa.

"The Alliance is going to launch an campaign in Metru Nui." replied Krakua

Lhikan turned around and stared at Krakua as he processed what he had just heard. His gaze then quickly shifted to Orde.

"Is he joking?" asked Lhikan although he knew unlikely that possibility was.

"I wouldn't know, his mind is shielded" said Orde

Lhikan looked back at Krakua as the reality of what he was told began to sink in.

"I thought they were still clearing the surrounding islands" said the toa of lightning from the earlier duel

"They are, but all forces not guarding us are being rerouted to Metru Nui."

"Why?" asked Lesovikk looking over at the small group of toa that had gathered around Krakua.

Krakua said nothing, the silence meant only one thing, they were not allowed to know the answer. Lhikan thought of the prospects of returning to Metru Nui, what he would see, who he would see. The thoughts trampled him, the memories, the bodies, the death. Lhikan walked away from the gathered toa and exited the training arena. He continued walking, bio after bio, passing the various species that roamed the streets of Casa Nui, matoran, vortixx, skakdi. He stopped, he had reached his destination, a residence on the lowest of three floors, Lhikan knocked on the door, maybe he was home.

"I'm coming" said a voice behind the door.

Lhikan rolled his eyes as the sounds of footsteps came closer to the door.

"Sorry about that," the po-matoran looked up at the toa, the sunlight slightly reflected off of his akaku "I've been busy lately, much to record, aren't you supposed to be at training right now."

"I don't see much point to it, besides I've done enough for a day," said Lhikan "I'd thought I would visit an old friend."

"Fair," said the po-matoran "well then, why don't you come inside"

"Thanks, Kodan" said Lhikan as he entered the residence.

"So what compelled you to come here." said Kodan as a pulled up two chairs for himself and Lhikan.

"Interesting news," said Lhikan "we may be headed back to Metru Nui soon."

"That is, certainly interesting," said Kodan "who exactly told you this information?"

"Toa Krakua" said Lhikan

"Definitely credible," said Kodan "I really wasn't expecting to ever return there, I'm sure it isn't easy for you."

"I was more worried about you," said Lhikan "I was the lucky one out of the both of us"

"Yeah, I'd rather not remember" said Kodan as his gaze moved down to the floor

"Sorry" said Lhikan.

"It's fine," said Kodan his eyes still locked on some invisible object on the ground

"How are things with your new apprentice?" asked Lhikan, trying to change the subject.

"Takua, oh he's a handful," said Kodan looking up at Lhikan again "I've managed to teach him the basics, when he shows up that is, he shows great promise though, but I have a feeling he is meant for something greater."

"Why's that" asked Lhikan

"When you're a chronicler for long enough, you start to see the signs of these things," said Kodan "on another note, I'm not sure how I feel about Metru Nui, I've grown to quite like it here."

"Me too," said Lhikan "me too."

Chapter 4

The suns were beginning to set as the upcoming chronicler watched from a rooftop. The light was always something he felt a connection to, although he never understood why. As he continued watching he heard footsteps and the repeated sound of a badge of office tapping the ground.

"Beautiful, isn't it" said Turaga Jovan

"Sure is" said Takua as he turned to face the turaga

"Yes, over seventy thousand years later and it still is a marvel to watch," Jovan continued "How are you liking your new profession Takua."

"I find it quite interesting, I've been hard at work recording the daily life of the residents of Casa Nui." said Takua

"Good, I am pleased to hear that," said Jovan as he pulled out a kanohi unlike anything Takua had see before "I have, a task for you, bring this to Kodan"

Takua reached for the mask, something about it made him feel strange. As Takua took hold of the mask it shimmered brightly startling Takua and causing him to drop the mask. He quickly reached down and grabbed the kanohi which glowed again as Takua quickly moved it into his satchel.

"Interesting," said Jovan as he turned to leave, "perhaps this meeting was more than pure chance."

Takua watched as the turaga left and then opened his satchel and looked at the kanohi. It gave him a strange feeling of both purpose and fear, he didn't know why though. As he hurried down from the rooftop, he couldn't get what Jovan had said out of his mind.

Lhikan lay still as he tried to sleep, so far he was failing. Thoughts of Metru Nui, his former teams, and the toa in stasis trampled any feelings of tiredness he had. Giving up on falling asleep he reached over to a small box near the side of the bed. Moving aside the contents until he reached a small object covered by a cloth. He moved the cloth aside and held up the red stone as it glowed with the power of his fellow toa. He observed it carefully, he had a rough idea of how to use it. He carefully placed the stone back into the box and covered it with the cloth and other contents. Lhikan thought back to long ago, when Dume saved him in that industrial accident, when Dume chose him to be one of his successors.

When he arrived at the fortress, when the fortress burned and he failed to retrieve the Makoki Stone. When he met his new team, and saved Metru Nui from the Kanohi Dragon. When Metru Nui fell, when he failed yet again. Was this the destiny that awaited him, to sulk around and remember his shortcomings for the rest of his life, with no way to redeem himself. What was the point, he didn't see a reason to live, but he didn't know what else to do. He wondered what his team, what Dume would think of him now. Lhikan closed his eyes, he tried to fall asleep again, this time he began to drift off, this time to a new dream, one that wasn't another reminder of his failures.

"Here, try not to lose another one of these" said Artahka as he offered the newly forged Olmak to Helryx.

She said nothing as she took the mask from him and looked over it.

"Brutaka's actions were entirely unforeseen," said Helryx "we will be careful not to allow this to escape this universe again."

"Have you chosen any candidates for the mission?" asked Artahka

"Yes, some old friends from the Hand," said Helryx as she "and a few of our other warriors."

Three beings teleported into the room with them. One was the glykovian known as Botar, another was adorned in red, blue, and silver armor and wore a mask of Charisma. The final was adorned in black armor, she held something in her hand, a green and dark blue kanohi that Artahka recognized to be his brother's.

"Johmak, report," said Helryx her voice echoing with authority

"The olisi has been retried, no casualties, Karzanhi was already dead when we arrived, we took the mask from what was left of him." said Johmak

"Good," said Helryx as she reached out and took the olisi, "Botar was the message delivered?"

"Yes, operatives have spread the word to the remaining islands" said Botar confidently

"Have you told him yet?" asked Artahka

"I'll inform Teridax when he returns." said Helryx

"We all need to be kept informed, Helryx." said Artahka

Helryx turned and looked up at Artahka, for the first time in thousands of years Artahka saw fear in her eyes.

"Botar, inform Teridax of the revised plan." said Helryx, keeping up her composure.

"As you wish." said Botar as he disappeared.

"Leave us." said Helryx, Johmak and the other being quickly left the room.

"What did you see when you used the Kratana?" asked Artahka

"I spoke with one of our creators," said Helryx "It was in the future, years from now, I'm not sure how many."

"What happened?" asked Artahka

"We failed," said Helryx "I cannot allow those events to come to pass, I need to know what exact choices will get us through this, the Olisi can guide me to saving us all."

"You don't need to face the burden alone, the other members of the council can help, I can help." said Artahka

"He told me, how I died," said Helryx "I failed everyone when they needed me most."

Artahka placed his hand on Helryx's shoulder.

"Do you know what caused us to fail?" asked Artahka

"Yes," said Helryx

"What was it?" asked Artahka

"Misplaced trust." said Helryx

Lhikan awoke from his sleep as he had done many times before. He got up and walked out of the front door of his residence and threw down his Lavaboard and stepped onto it. For all he knew it was just another day, as he flew up he thought he saw some distant shapes in the water but he thought nothing of it. He flew past the tower, no airships had docked yet, not that it mattered to him, it wasn't his shift there anyway. Lhikan breathed in the fresh air as it flew past him, his normal morning was interrupted by a faint, rhythmic sound below him. Clang, Lhikan stopped his Lavaboard to hear it clearly clang. It was the sound Lhikan had never wanted to hear even since he arrived at Casa Nui. Clang, the warning bell continued to ring as Lhikan watched dozens of horrid figures emerge from the surf and the rahkshi on the walls surrounding the settlements took aim with their staffs. This was impossible, they couldn't be here without passing Relyu Nui, unless, Lhikan pushed the final thought out of his mind as dove down back to his residence.

Others were starting to wake up now, Lhikan knew it would be chaos soon inside the walls regardless of whether or not the infected get past the walls. Lhikan slowed down as he reached the road near his home and landed, he rushed to the door and opened it as hard as he could without it flying off the hinges. Lhikan sprinted inside and ran to the box beside his bed and hastily removed the contents until he found the gleaming red stone and grabbed it. He stood up and turned to the far wall, hanging on two metal hooks was a barbed broadsword that had not seen use in some time. Lhikan paused for a second to stare at it before grabbing it off the wall and quickly heading back outside. Lhikan got back on his Lavaboard and flew back up to get another look over the walls. The rahkshi were firing on the infected beings but for every one killed another seven seemed to appear out of the water. Lhikan looked at the beings more closely, they matched the description of what Orde and Lesovikk told him about zyglak. One thing was certain, the rahkshi were not going to eliminate all of them before they reached the walls.

Lhikan quickly flew over the wall and unleashed a blast of fire down on the infected. Lhikan looked down as the smoke cleared, the beach was mostly cleared now but more infected were emerging from the waters. The rahkshi resumed their bombardment on the infected to little avail. Lhikan looked over his options as three projectiles flew down and hit the infected each one causing an explosion. Lhikan turned to the side of the wall to see Lesovikk, holding a cordak blaster. "Lhikan" Orde's voice echoed through the toa of fire's mind. "The rahkshi can't hold them, we must act", Lhikan listened to the words of his fellow toa. "I understand, do we have a plan?" Lhikan thought, "sort of" Krakua's voice appeared in his mind. One of the zyglak lunged at the wall, its claws digging into the stone as it began to climb up. Lhikan looked down at the creature, even from the distance he was from it he could see its colorless, dead eyes. before the zyglak could climb any higher a blast of lightning struck it. the zyglak let out a horrific screech before falling silent and within moments it fell to the ground where it lay still. Lhikan turned over to see the toa of lightning Zaria had been sparing with earlier. Behind her and near Lesovikk, Zaria had also arrived

"Nice shot." said Lhikan

"Didn't seem like anyone else was going to take it." she replied

"Everyone listen" Krakua's voice said in Lhikan's mind. "We need to engage the infected, buy time for reinforcements to arrive, if one of us gets infected then another one of us will kill them, understand. Lesovikk and Zaria will take the right, Lhikan and Chiara will take the middle, Orde and I will take the left, and may Mata Nui help us." Lhikan turned to see Krakua and Orde leap down off the side of the wall and onto the beach. Lhikan looked back at the toa of lightning for a few moments, her volitak reminded him of better times for a moment.

"Here," said Lhikan as he tossed her the barbed broadsword "you might need it."

Just as she caught the broadsword Lhikan flew over the wall and separated his Lavaboard into his greatswords and fell down to the beach and landed on his feet. He looked at the infected zyglak emerging from the waters, he stared into their eyes as Chiara landed beside him. Lhikan charged at the zyglak as a small fire of rage in the back of his mind began to erupt into a blazing inferno. The zyglak in front of him opened its jaw and lunged forward at the toa of fire. Lhikan activated his hau before the jaw could close leaving the mouth of the zyglak pried open. In a single moment Lhikan thrust his sword upward at the zyglak's head and deactivated his hau. The zyglak stood for a few moments before going limp as Lhikan pulled the sword out of it's head. Lhikan looked to his side to see Krakua swing his sonic vibrator sword into one of the zyglak who instantly shattered into thousands of pieces. As one of the pieces flew right past Lhikan's face as he saw Lesovikk finish off the third zyglak. Lhikan stared at the water, waiting for any more zyglak heads to appear from the tide. And as he anticipated more did, ten more zyglak began to emerge from the waves. Lesovikk fired off the last three shots in his cordak blaster, two hit separate zyglak on the head, the explosion killing them instantly. The third shot hit the water near the other zyglak causing another explosion. Just as the flames from the explosion dissipated another Zyglak lunged forward at Lhikan. As Lhikan activated his hau he saw Chiara leap over him and deal a blow to the zyglak.

As it stumbled backward a shard of metal flew into it's head and then flew back out and onto Zaria's arm. As another zyglak charged at Zaria, Lesovikk threw out his arm and unleashed a blast of air. The zyglak stumbled back as it slashed at Zaria who barely dodged the attack. Lesovikk ran forward and launched himself into the air with two more blasts. The zyglak looked up just as Lesovikk drove his blade between its eyes as he landed. Lhikan looked to his left to see two more zyglak attacking Orde and Krakua. Orde reached out with both of hands and both zyglak were lifted slightly above the ground as Orde strained to hold them. Krakua quickly ran over and hit one with his sword, as it exploded Orde focused all his energy at the other the zyglak and then closed his hands. Just as Lhikan heard a pop and the zyglak went limp another two lunged out of the water at him and Chiara. Lhikan rushed forward and slashed with both of his great swords cleaving off one of the zyglak's heads. As the last zyglak moved to attack Lhikan the tip of Tuyet's sword emerged from its chest. As the zyglak spun around to slash its attacker Chiara jumped back pulling the sword out in the process. Lhikan ran forward and slashed the zyglak's back as Chiara charged and stabbed up through the zyglak's head. As the zyglak fell over and Chiara retrieved the barbed broadsword and offered it to Lhikan.

"Here, this belongs to you right?" she said

"Yeah," said Lhikan as he reached out and stopped for a second after seeing his reflection the blade, he looked back up at Chiara for a moment before taking the sword.

"Did, did we do it?" asked Lesovikk as he looked at his fellow toa.

"It appears so," replied Orde "I assume we will face repercussions for these actions"

"I'll take responsibility." said Krakua as he looked down at one of the zyglak corpses.

"No, it was a collective decision, any punishment should fall on all of us." said Lhikan.

The disgraced toa of fire looked out to the sea as it glowed with reflected sunlight, and for the first time in four thousand years he felt hope for the future.

Chapter 5

Two Days Later

The ten grand giants of carved stone loomed over Takua as he looked up at them in awe. An inscription lay at the foot of the monument, Takua quickly read it, "Dedicated to the fallen Toa Mangai, Metru Nui's greatest heroes".

"Well, I'm glad to see that Hafu hasn't lost any of his talent after all these years." said Kodan as he walked up to Takua.

"Yeah," Takua said, his mind elsewhere.

"You sound distracted, what's going on?" asked Kodan.

"Nothing really, its just something Turaga Jovan said a while back" said Takua his eyes still on the faces of the long dead heroes.

"Well, what did he say?" asked Kodan.

"Never mind it doesn't really matter." said Takua.

"Okay then, we should get going soon, we still have to look over the other parts of Casa Nui to get everyone else's stories." said Kodan as he turned to leave.

"Kodan." said Takua

"Yeah." Kodan answered turning to face Takua again.

"Do you think we will hear any word of Lhikan's trial soon?" asked Takua.

"I don't know, I don't know," said Kodan "I just hope he doesn't get himself executed for what he and the others did."

Kodan as turned back to continue walking he noticed a lone po-matoran wearing a noble kanohi rau watching them from a distance.

"Hey, Takua" said Kodan trying not to let the po-matoran know he saw him.

"Yeah?" said Takua.

"We should probably get going right about now." said Kodan.

"Alright then." said Takua as he began to walk after Kodan as the latter kept watch on the po-matoran out of the corner of his eye.

Meanwhile dozens of mio away the six toa responsible for fending off the zyglak stood before the Council to have their fate determined.

"I will admit this case in particular is a difficult one," said Helryx as she looked over the gathered toa standing before her "while you did indeed save Casa Nui from potentially falling you all did risk making the situation much worse if any one of you were to be infected."

Helryx paused for a moment before continuing.

"With that in mind, you all are seemingly perfectly suited to aid in a mission of great importance." said Helryx her stern expression unchanging "you've proven you can put up a good fight against the infected and work as a team, all of which will be needed for what I am about to ask of you."

"And what is being asked of us exactly?" asked Orde being in the rare occasion of not knowing the answer.

"To save us all." said the first toa and then Orde knew exactly how serious this was.

Chapter 6

Far far north on a desolate island the first Great Spirit was alone with only his thoughts or so he assumed. There had been no visitors to his island for some time now, some time had passed since the makuta had visited him, much must have happened since then surely, wars raged on, monuments were built, and life marched forward, all without him. Once he had a true purpose, he once kept the great heart of the universe beating in its earliest days, but no longer. Now he was alone, forgotten, cut off from the rest of the universe, he had excepted his fate willingly when it came but he did miss the days of his freedom.

Something broke his quiet contemplation, something living, it was moving strange. Tren Krom reached out to the creature's mind, but he found it completely devoid of thought, only instinct. "A rahi perhaps?" thought Tren Krom, no this was different, rahi never come here, and whatever this was stumbled forward as if unused to its own body. Tren Krom could see the creature was it stumbled forward it was a winged being which. Something was off, Tren Krom's memory had rarely if ever failed him and this particular being should be sentient, but it wasn't.

It looked peculiar as well it's eyes were dark, which should indicate death but it was still living and its mouth was strange with flesh and metal contorting into one. Tren Krom looked deeper into the mind of the creature, even the most primitive of minds have intentions, but this creature had none. The creature took off and flew up and around the island before landing near the cave where Tren Krom resided. The Great Beings never made anything without a purpose, even their mistakes were made in the pursuit of a goal. But this thing that stood before him was not of their creation anymore, he was sure of it now. The creature let out a shriek and charged forward at the cave only to be obliterated by one of Tren Krom's eye beams. As he killed the creature Tren Krom had a disturbing realization, something was wrong with the rest of the universe, something was very very wrong.

Chapter 7

Helryx looked over the gathered warriors selected for the mission at hand. Three of their number were her former comrades in the Hand of Artahka, Axonn, Hydraxon, and "Shadow Stealer". Alongside them was Makuta Gorast whom Teridax had personally requested for the mission. Makuta Mutran was also present, despite his initial reluctance to leave his work on Destral, he agreed to brief the team on what to expect on the island. Finally there were the six toa who had recently defended the island of Casa Nui from an infected attack who had agreed to this mission after they learned of it's importance for the continued survival of the matoran universe residents.

"Let's make this quick, I would like to get back to my work as soon as I can." said Mutran "Trem Krom possesses full control over his own island and will know the moment you arrive, you also should try to avoid looking directly at him if he shows himself unless you would wish to go insane I suppose"

Mutran paused for a moment "Another thing you should all be aware of is that he will likely enter your mind to figure out what is going on with the rest of the universe, I have no doubt he is at least some idea of what is occurring."

Mutran stopped, looked over at Helryx before concluding with "That's all from me, you take it from here." Mutran then vanished before the group no doubt teleporting back to Destral.

Helryx stepped forward and looked over the gathered warriors.

"The plan is simple," She said "Botar will teleport you all to Tren Krom's island and from there Orde and Krakua will communicate with Tren Krom while the rest of you will keep guard, we don't know what exactly to expect, so things may turn violent, if Tren Krom tries to attack then Botar will return with Artahka as aid, as for the rest of you, you will secure the perimeter of the island watch for infected, in the unlikely event that Tren Krom has already been infected you are to summon Arthaka and will be tasked with putting him down."

Characters

• Velika
• Kazi - Infected, Deceased
• Balta - Unnamed, Infected, Deceased
• Lhikan
• Mata Nui - Mentioned
• Nidhiki - Deceased
• Dume - Mentioned, Deceased
• Naho - Infected, Deceased
• Tuyet - Infected, Deceased
• Takua
• Kapura - Unnamed
• Matoro - Unnamed
• Helryx
• Botar
• Krakua
• Lariska
• Triglax
• "Vanisher"
• "Eliminator"
• "Ravenger"
• "Tracker"
• "Phantom"
• Zaria
• Varian - Unnamed
• Teridax
• Icarax
• "TheShadowedOne"
• Tridax - Mentioned
• Artahka
• Tren Krom
• Lesovikk
• Orde
• Chiara
• Kodan
• Jovan
• Brutaka - Mentioned
• Trinuma - Unnamed
• Johmak
• Karzanhi - Mentioned, Deceased
• Hafu - Mentioned
• Ahkmou - Unnamed
• Tren Krom
• Axonn
• Hydraxon
• "Shadow Stealer"
• Gorast
• Mutran

Trivia

• The Kanohi choices for Kodan and Naho were influenced by Red Star Game's art of the Toa Mangai