EDITED 1/4/13 Rewrote some parts, mostly the ending
* * *
Timeline: Approximately 7,000 Years Before Makuta's Demise
The small fire illuminated the Turaga's hunched form as he sat before the awaiting Matoran. On the last day of every month, the elder of Kora Nui would call for all of the villagers to gather around and listen to one of his tales. Each story was a new one, taking a page from the Turaga's youthful days as a heroic Toa warrior.
As he sat down, a smile creased the worn lines of the Turaga's azure mask. Setting his walking stick down, Turaga Barresh spoke.
"Settle down, my friends, as I tell you the Dreadful Tale of Sorefus and Necrosis."
The Matoran looked on in anticipation, waiting patiently for the Turaga to continue.
"Sorefus and Necrosis were once ordinary Makuta," Barresh went on. "After the terrible civil war which plagued the Great City, they were each assigned an island to supervise. Sorefus was given Kora Nui itself while Necrosis its sister, Ballisa Nui.
"Given time, however, they grew corrupt with the power- however limited- they were given. They began experimenting upon the Matoran which they had sworn to protect. Sorefus would drain innocent children of their life and Necrosis would reanimate them, though they were no longer whom they once were."
A hand from the audience prevented the Turaga from continuing.
Barresh sighed. "Yes, Tuyet, what is it?"
The Ga-Matoran stared at him with eyes full of wonder. "How was Necrosis able to reanimate the Matoran?"
Barresh smiled. "Has anyone here heard of the Kanohi Tryna?"
None of the Matoran responded.
"I wouldn't think so. The Kanohi Tryna, the Mask of Reanimation, is a tool of immoral power. It wields the ability to grant artificial life to bodies which lack it."
"So, these Matoran were... undead?" a De-Matoran asked, his voice quiet with fear.
"In a sense, yes," Barresh said. "Anyway, the two Makuta's schemes were brought to a stop and they were sealed away, never to be seen again."
The Turaga leaned forward, his green eyes glinting mysteriously. "However, rumor has it that, on this very day- the day which they were imprisoned- Sorefus and Necrosis escape their prison and return to Kora Nui, kidnapping Matoran for yet another experiment."
"Yeah, right!" a Su-Matoran called out from the audience. "How is that even possible?"
The Turaga's gaze turned onto the orange and white Matoran of Plasma. "You do not believe me, Seldaan?"
The Su-Matoran crossed his arms. "Why would two Makuta create an army of undead Matoran?"
A peculiar twinkle lit in Barresh's eye. "I never said they were an army."
Seldaan blinked. "Well... what else could they be?"
The Turaga sighed. "Your young minds are still tainted by the horror Metru Nui faced seventy thousand years ago." He then smiled. "I shan't taint it further with fables of horror. Off to bed with you all."
* * *
"Deraln, why are you shaking?"
"I'm not shaking," the De-Matoran said as he and Seldaan headed back for their huts. "I'm just... cold."
"You're not spooked by Turaga Barresh's story, are you?" Seldaan asked. "You know none of it's true."
"I know," Deraln said in an unconvincing manner. "But... what if it is?"
"It's not," Seldaan snapped. "There's no such thing as undead Matoran, and if there were, then the Toa Kora would be able to stop them."
Arriving at his home, Seldaan parted company from the Matoran of Sonics. "Good night."
"Night," Deraln murmured as he continued his trek into the night, not knowing that it would be his last.
* * *
"You really shouldn't tell them stories like that."
Barresh laughed as he set his walking stick against the wall of his room, near his bed. "Where is your sense of humor, Toa Luna?"
"It was replaced by my wisdom." The Toa Kora of Lightning folded her arms across her chest. "It's not just a matter of frightening Matoran with weak hearts, like that poor De-Matoran, but also giving nasty prank ideas to the others."
The Turaga chuckled as he pulled back the sheets of his bed. "More experience for them if they ever become Toa, I say."
Luna frowned. "I don't think scaring their little hearts out will-"
"Bah!" The Turaga waved a dismissive hand as he climbed onto his berth. "They'll probably forget about it by tomorrow, anyway. Good night, Toa."
With a sigh, the Toa of Lightning walked out of the Turaga's hut and began heading for her own. Along the way, she spotted a derelict, Toa-shaped figure limping through the Matoran village. By its red and yellow armor, she recognized it as her teammate, Toa Kemad.
"Kemad?" she said tentatively. "What are you doing out here? Why are you limping?"
The Toa of Fire looked up at her and Luna's heart skipped a beat. The Toa's normally green eyes behind his Kanohi Huna were dead and his mouth was merely a gaping, fanged maw in his mask.
Luna brought out her Shock Trident and aimed its three tips at her fellow Toa. "Kemad, what's wrong with you?"
The Toa responded by hurling a ball of flame at her. The Toa of Lightning dodged the attack and began charging towards her comrade. Once she was within a few feet of him, she stabbed the Trident's prongs into his chest armor and channeled her elemental energy through it. She had expected the shock to merely knock Kemad out unconscious, but instead the Toa of Fire's body crumpled to the ground, devoid of life.
Before she could comprehend what had just happened, a loud screech diverted her attention away from her dead comrade and to the group of undead Rahi that were coming her way.
Lovely, she thought.
* * *
Seldaan was awoken by the sound of battle. Alerted, the Su-Matoran climbed out of his bed and poked his head through the door of his hut. Outside, dozens of Rahi creatures- varying in their shape and size- were attacking five of the Toa Kora. The sixth of their membership, Toa Kemad, was nowhere to be found.
Before he could watch any of the battle, a clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back inside. Seldaan turned around to see the source of the hand... and froze.
A being colored in black and lime stood before him, green eyes staring at him from behind a wedge-shaped mask. At the mouth of the mask was an acid-tipped stinger.
"Hold still, little one," Makuta Sorefus hissed. "This may sting a bit."
The Matoran's screams could not be heard over the noise of battle.
* * *
"I think that's the last of them," Toa Laselv said as he pulled his blade out of the Kikanalo he had slain. "I hope this doesn't break the Toa Code or something."
"I think these Rahi were dead to begin with," said Toa Nuukor, placing a hand on a deceased Kraawa. "I could try using my mask power to find out."
"Yes, do that," Luna said. "Perhaps the same happened to Kemad as well."
Closing his eyes, the Toa of Earth activated his Mask of Psychometry and explored the past of the Kraawa he touched. Barely a moment had passed when his eyes snapped open.
"Necrosis..." he murmured.
"You mean the Makuta in the Turaga's tale?" Toa Rudax asked. "I thought that was just, you know, a story!"
Nuukor shook his head. "It's not just a story...."
"No kidding," Laselv muttered. "We've got company."
The five Toa looked to see a tall being slowly approaching them, clad in black and blue armor with a silver mask adorning his face. In one hand, he carried a long scythe, and the other looked like a claw of razors. A tattered cape flowed behind him, brushing the ground.
The Toa Kora held up their tools at the stranger. "State your business," Luna demanded.
The being said nothing, though he did cease walking, standing ten feet away from the Toa. Raising his clawed hand, he suddenly conjured a blue and black orb, energy pulsing around its hemisphere. With a voice that sounded older than the dirt which he tread, Makuta Necrosis spoke.
"Two minutes. Choose before I do."
"Choose?" Toa Kolak repeated. "What does that mean?"
"One of you dies to join your fallen brother. Two of you come with me to whence I come. And two of you remain to spread the Warning."
"Mahi dung," Nuukor spat. "You're going down!"
The Toa of Earth charged, his Seismic Hammer raised high. Nonchalantly, Necrosis drove the blade of his scythe into the Toa's midsection.
"One of you dies."
Raising his clawed hand, the Makuta cast two beams of energy, knocking Toa Luna and Laselv out unconscious.
"Two accompany me."
Rudax and Kolak prepared to attack but were rendered static by a mere gesture.
"And you remain here. You are to say nothing of this night but one thing."
The dead eyes behind the Makuta's Kanohi Tryna briefly glowed red.
"The Bane of the Great Beings shall triumph over all."
Behind the Makuta, a portal opened and Necrosis stepped through it, dragging his two captives behind him, while Sorefus and his souvenir flew in after them.
When the portal closed, the two remaining Toa would remember nothing of the night but the Warning. And while many would take notice of the absence of Turaga Barresh and two Matoran, they would not know what to make of it, nor of the carcasses of two Toa and several Rahi.
After all, they would never notice the illegible words inscribed on the wall by his bed.
They have broken out
The End
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