While breath raced into and out of her lungs, Dalu ran for her life. Her legs moved in sweeping motions underneath her, carrying her diminished body across the landscape of Voya Nui as fast as they could. Rain poured down, striking her armor as she dashed into it. Lightning struck down from the sky off in the distance, bringing only a flash of light in the darkness and starting a rock slide. It was up a similar rock face that Dalu began to climb, accepting the risks.

Running wasn't natural for Dalu. She was a fighter. That was backed even more so by the fact that she had to try to regroup with the others. Taking only the edge of Brutaka's blade, she had awoken first, but alone with Zaktan for some sinister reason. She had only just managed to escape when he was distracted, doing something with the Zamor spheres. She had seen her island invaded…most of her friends enslaved…her hope and her temporary heroes crushed. So, as Dalu ran for the peak of the rocks, she could be forgiven if she wished she were somewhere else right now…anywhere else.

Dalu used her tools to help her scale the top, only for her eyes to widen in surprise and begin wishing even harder.

"Well, well, well," said Hakann, his three-toed foot uncomfortably close to where Dalu's tool clung to rock. Behind him, Zaktan stood, as well, once again loosely allied with the others. Hakann kneeled down, bringing a savage smile to Dalu's mask. "Don't run, little Matoran," he cooed. "We Piraka might get the idea you don't like us." The red being brought his launcher close to her, its Zamor ammunition nauseating her. "And you wouldn't want us to think that, now, would you?"

Dalu couldn't stop the flashback. It wasn't supposed to be this way, she remembered…

The island of Voya Nui was facing drought and famine when six mysterious canisters washed up on the shore, either on the ice ring or the Green Belt. The island's Matoran villagers dared to hope that salvation had arrived, when the canisters were opened (some of them rather messily, such as the "Earth Toa's").

They were wrong.

Posing as heroic Toa, the newcomers put the Matoran to work building a fortress. Dalu could remember Hakann and Vezok monitoring Ko-Matoran and Le-Matoran, with large, almost unbearable weights tied around them and dragged across the rocky ground. Others were sent to dig holes in the slopes of Mount Valmai to drain the lava from the volcano. Dalu clenched her eyes and even grunted at the memory of Hakann hitting a Matoran laborer, carrying a tool roped around their body, with his heat vision. The explanation was that those who worked too slowly were 'encouraged' to move faster.

Garan, the Matoran leader, grew suspicious…and learned more than he bargained for when he overheard a conversation between the two invaders called Hakann and Avak. After Garan's spying, now aware of the danger they were in, the Matoran began to plan a rebellion. Garan, Kazi, and Piruk had met to strategize. But the Piraka struck first, trapping almost all the Matoran in their village and launching things called Zamor Spheres. The Zamor Spheres transformed the Matoran into mindless slaves of the Piraka (which suited them just fine). Robbed of their minds, they did not laugh, speak, or interact. They only worked until they dropped, with sickly green eyes.

Only six Matoran were left free to oppose them: Garan, Piruk, Kazi, Velika, Dalu, and Balta.

And now, with Dalu caught, there were five…

The Ga-Matoran realized with a jerk that she was no longer on the cliff, but had been carried by Hakann back to the Piraka's fortress. Her eyes darted about behind her powerless Kanohi Rau. She was slung over his shoulder carelessly. The Ga-Matoran didn't even remember how she had gone unconscious. The important thing was that now that she was back, she had to find a way out of this place, again.

"Try not to let her escape this time," Zaktan hissed at Hakann, his tone accusatory. He was so irritated his protodies were buzzing and his waved his three-bladed weapon in the air at Hakann when he continued. "We haven't come this far just to be stopped by pathetic, ignorant villagers!"

Hakann dropped Dalu to the hard floor. "As I recall," he replied calmly, "I didn't let her escape…you did." Even as he continued speaking Dalu saw her opening. The two Piraka were already much more concerned with each other than her, once again. She got to her feet and darted away again as Hakahnn continued, "You were so busy proclaiming victory over those foolish 'heroes' who tried to stop us that you never saw her slip away."

Zaktan smiled at the thought of the Toa Nuva's defeat, despite Hakann's insolence. His vicious teeth shown in the dark chamber; he pictured Tahu Nuva's abandoned Kanohi Nuva, once powerful and unique, now just more treasure.

Still, it was right as Dalu scampered into a corner that Hakann finished, "You really should be more observant. Leaders live much longer that way, or so they say."

Now, the Toa's misfortune didn't keep Zaktan's temper in check. Every now and then, he had to remind the others who was boss. Hakann was making it more and more clear that this was one of those times. The emerald-armored Piraka surprised Hakann with a blast from his laser vision, sending him flying back at an upward angle. "And you, Hakann…should keep your gaping jaws shut," he returned.

Hakann hit the wall hard and fell to the floor. Zaktan even gave him the time to get up. "You know, I was going to be patient and wait for Avak or one of the others to finish you off," Hakann said, eyes glowing and charging. "But now…" He let loose his own vision power, sending twin beams of intense heat at Zaktan. "As a wise being once said, if you want someone melted into slag, you have to do it yourself."

Zaktan's only response of movement was to disperse two holes in his body. "If only your aim was as sharp as your wit," he said, the beams passing through and damaging nothing but the stronghold walls, "you might survive this day. You need a lesson in obedience." The leader of the Piraka took aim and fired a Zamor sphere.

Hakann couldn't disperse his body to dodge attacks like Zaktan, but if he needed that, he wouldn't have lived past a year. He dove to the side, rolling and coming up ready again. "When you find someone able to give it, let me know," he countered. Standing tall, he attacked his foe with a frying mental blast. "Now let's see you handle something you can't dodge, Zaktan!"

Zaktan screamed and groaned as Hakanns mental blast stabbed into his brain, sending him reeling. But eventually Zaktan realized the pain could get no worse, and he found strength in that though (even though all his thoughts were now daggers to his head). He slowly pushed himself up to where he could see a high wall over Hakann and fired his laser vision at it.

Hakann's first instinct against the falling hazard was to turn his current attack at it, instead. Too late, he realized that a mental blast is of little use against a falling slab of rock. It landed with a loud but punctuated thud, leaving the final score: stone block - 1, Piraka - 0.

"Ah, the sweet sound of an enemy crushed," Zaktan cooed, stalking over. He stomped his clawed foot on the ground, looking around at the new pile of rock. "But you're not dead, are you, Hakann? No, I certainly hope not. For if I am going to find the treasure of Voya Nui, I still have need of you." Zaktan turned to the crystal vat of green substance in the chamber, which filled the Zamor spheres, and added, "We still have need of you."

The green Piraka walked up a set of curving stairs to get right next to the surface. "The Kanohi Mask of Life—the most powerful mask in existence—is nearby…" he muttered. "The enslaved Matoran and the other Piraka are hunting for the mask even now, never dreaming of its true potential. The power of life…and so, the power of death as well…all in one Kanohi." Zaktan slammed his Zamor launcher a nearby cave wall. "And so close to being in my grasp! Above all else, the Mask of Life must be found!"

Mask of Life? Dalu wondered, slipping through another exit. Whatever they're looking for, it's not here. Of course, at this rate, it's likely we won't live long enough for them to figure that out.

X X X

Meanwhile, the rest of Voya Nui was as silent as the graveyard it had become. Matoran, leeched of all will and hope by the Zamor spheres, labored ceaselessly on the slopes of the volcano. The only six not yet exposed to the effects of the spheres were sealed away, awaiting Reidak's not-so-gentle means of questioning.

The six Toa Nuva had been given over to the custody of Brutaka, at his insistence. He knew well the threat Toa represented, and he did not trust the Piraka to handle the situation. He would wring whatever knowledge the Toa possessed—not only about the Mask of Life, but other things the Piraka need not know about—and then kill them in his own way.

For their part, the Piraka had given up on even the pretense of being a team. Zaktan, Reidak, and Vezok held on to a loose alliance, while Avak, Thok, and Hakann trailed along behind trying to think of a way to avoid being exterminated. Avak considered trying to throw another field around Zaktan, but he felt sure at least some of the Piraka leader's substance was now watching him all the time.

And so there was no one present to see six silver cylinders wash up on the ice ring elsewhere on Voya Nui, much like six others had weeks before. They carried inside them six Matoran villagers from an island far away. They had braved stormy seas and perils beyond imagination to reach these shores, but their true test of courage was only beginning. Only the lightning in the sky was there to greet the crafts as they ground to a halt on the icy coast. The sky was practically ablaze with electricity, lightning raging more furiously than ever, as if heralding a greater storm to come.

A bolt beyond any seen before lanced from the Red Star up above. Midway through its flight, it split into six forks of lightning, each crackling with energy. Like arrows shot by an expert marksman, the bolts struck the cylinders where they lay on the shore. Sparks danced along the metallic surface, the blinking lights on the sides of the craft exploding from the power overdose. Then the air was filled with smoke and steam.

Nothing could prevent what was about to happen; nothing could change the course of destiny.

Slowly, the lid of one of the cylinders began to turn. Inside had been the Matoran named Jaller, Captain of the Ta-Metru Guard, hero of the Bohrok Wars. He had been on more adventures than almost any other Matoran, braved more dangers, dared all for the sake of his friends. But everything he was and everything he had done was nothing, compared to what was about to begin. And nothing could prepare him for what he would become.

He crawled from the cylinder and rose to his full height. The strobe effect of the lightning made it hard to see if the others were safe. Only their eyes, heartlights, and…other things…were illuminating anything between the flashes of lightning. He wished that he could see more clearly where they had landed.

Thought became deed. Fire blazed forth from his palm, illuminating the area around him. He could see Matoro, Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii, and Nuparu standing on the icy beach, but not as he had known them before. They were tall, strong, clad in mighty armor, and wielding weapons that crackled with electricity. Their masks had transformed from those worn by powerless Matoran to Great Masks that rightfully belonged to their new identities.

There were no cries of shock or surprise, no exclamations of joy at becoming a newly banded team of Toa. None of them saw this transformation as anything other than what it was: the first step toward a dark and dangerous destiny that awaited them all.

In silence, the six new Toa extended their weapons until they touched, lightning leaping from one to the other. It surged toward the spot where all six joined, then a bolt blazed up into the sky and exploded. The blast hurled six stars into the night, powerful beacons of light that fell into orbit around the Red Star.

Far away from the scene of rebirth, the six Piraka looked up at the new stars that now blazed in the sky. And though none would admit it, in that moment, a chill went up their spines.

To be continued in "Bionicle - Phase 05: Apocalypse - Part III: Power Play"...

(Dark Destiny was compiled from the short story Hope by Lady Kopaka, the book Legends #2: Dark Destiny, the guide book BIONICLE: Dark Hunters, and Graphic Novel 5: The Battle of Voya Nui, containing Ignition series Comic 1: If a Universe Ends...)