Dwellers In Darkness, the Toa Hagah Online Serial

Dwellers In DarknessDarknessThe Dark Hunter who shadows the Shadowed One himself, waiting for any sign of weakness so he can kill his leader and take his place. is a nine-chapter online serial by Greg Farshtey, released on BIONICLEstory.com in 2008, following the Toa HagahToa HagahElite Toa teams appointed by the Brotherhood of Makuta to serve as personal guardians, later rebelling against their creators. and the Toa MahriToa Inika and Toa MahriSix ordinary Matoran transformed by lightning from the Red Star into heroes who ultimately revived the Great Spirit itself.. The Order of Mata NuiThe Order of Mata NuiThe covert organization founded by Helryx to serve the Great Spirit directly, operating in concealment from a fortress on Daxia and waging the open war against the Brotherhood of Makuta that decided the fate of the universe. drafts the Hagah to track down TeridaxTeridaxTeridax orchestrated a thousand-year scheme that ended with him occupying the Great Spirit Robot itself before his death on Bara Magna., and they follow him deep below the ColiseumThe ColiseumCentral tower of Metru Nui, serving as government seat, akilini arena and, during Teridax's masquerade, the place from which the city's Matoran were rounded up into spheres. of Metru NuiMetru NuiThe city beneath Mata Nui functions as the Great Spirit's brain, housing the Matoran whose labor keeps the god alive., only to find that he already controls the Great Spirit's body. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Place in the broader story#

The serial runs alongside the Destiny War. Both cover the Order's open war on the Brotherhood of Makuta: Destiny War follows the wider fighting, while Dwellers In Darkness follows the Toa Hagah's hunt for Teridax and the Toa Mahri. The two stories share scenes, such as the Toa Hagah's arrival on Metru Nui and the Mahri's trip to Artidax. (Destiny War; Dwellers In Darkness)

Its last line promises the story will continue in 2009 in Reign of Shadows, which opens in a universe Teridax now rules. (Dwellers In Darkness; Reign of Shadows)

The Toa Hagah return to active duty#

The serial opens on Xia, where the restored Toa Hagah have just brought down the Tahtorak and the Kanohi Dragon. GaakiGaakiGaaki is a Toa of Water and member of the Toa Hagah, distinguished by her dark blue and copper armor and wielding a Tidal Spear and Rhotuka Launching Shield. She wears the Great Mask of Clairvoyance and once served as a bodyguard to Makuta Teridax before dedicating herself to hunting Rahi and protecting Matoran, residing on Spherus Magna., using her Mask of Clairvoyance, sees "seekers of shadows" coming, and KualusKualusKualus is a Toa of Ice and member of the Toa Hagah, formerly serving as one of the elite bodyguards of Makuta Teridax before dedicating himself to the protection of the Matoran. White and metallic blue in color, he wields a Sub-Zero Spear and a Rhotuka Launching Shield, and wears the Great Mask of Rahi Control, granting him the power to direct the minds of animal life. He resides on Spherus Magna., who kept his bond with flying Rahi after leaving his Rahaga form, sends a smoke hawk to scout. It reports a battle fleet. IruiniIruiniIruini is a Toa of Air, formerly a Le-Matoran and a member of the Toa Hagah who served as bodyguard to Makuta Teridax. He wears the Great Kualsi, wields a Cyclone Spear and Rhotuka Launching Shield with a healing Rhotuka, and resides on Spherus Magna as a Rahi Hunter and protector of Matoran. teleports aboard the flagship and meets the Shadowed One, who means to destroy Xia outright. (Dwellers In Darkness)

HelryxHelryx: the first Toa ever createdHelryx was the first Toa ever made, commissioned by the Great Beings on Artakha long before the Toa Mata. She founded and led the Order of Mata Nui. arrives with a golden-armoured teleporter and a four-armed giant, raises a tidal wave over the fleet, and reminds the Shadowed One she hired him to blockade or occupy the island, not destroy it. Then she drafts the Hagah: find Teridax, last known to be inside a Maxilos robot near Mahri Nui. Their guide will be ZaktanZaktanMutated Skakdi leader of the Piraka, formerly a Dark Hunter whose body was dissolved into a colony of Protodites by the Shadowed One and reformed with its consciousness intact., mutated into a sea snake and carried in a water-filled globe. Gaaki warns that they are going to a place of death and one of them will not return. (Dwellers In Darkness)

On Metru Nui, Zaktan's information is that Teridax has slipped as antidermis into a place below the Coliseum that can only be reached by breaking its foundation. The Toa Mahri take that badly. In the fight, HewkiiHewkiiHewkii rose from Po-Metru Matoran to Mata Nui's foremost kolhii player, then served as Toa Inika and Toa Mahri through the late wars of the universe. goes after Iruini, and Kualus uses his Mask of Rahi Control to wake a huge Rahi in the Archives, but when HahliHahliA Ga-Matoran scholar who rose to become Chronicler of Mata Nui, then Toa Inika, then Toa Mahri of Water during the final crises of the Matoran Universe. blasts him, the three-headed beast breaks free. The eleven Toa have to bring it down together with a tornado of fire. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Afterwards the two teams work together. Jaller, Norik, Pouks and Nuparu cut a tunnel through the foundation while Hewkii holds the whole Coliseum up with his gravity power, and the Toa Hagah go down alone, sealing the tunnel behind them. (Dwellers In Darkness)

The Xia operation and the Artidax mission#

Back on the surface, a black-armoured female hands the Toa Mahri the Heart of the Visorak, tells them to plant it on Artidax to draw the horde there, and shatters into crystal fragments. Jaller, Hahli and Nuparu sail for Artidax; the same figure knocks out Hewkii and Kongu once they're alone. (Dwellers In Darkness)

On Artidax the three meet the Barraki TakadoxTakadoxA Barraki warlord whose hypnotic vision and cunning made him dangerous even in defeat., who hypnotises them and takes their boat, telling them that two strange beings have rigged the volcano to erupt. As the Visorak close in, a mocking voice that Jaller recognises as Makuta's speaks in his head, and a jolt of pain breaks the trance. Jaller singes Hahli and Nuparu awake with small fireballs, and they swim for it just before the volcano explodes on the horde. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Hewkii and Kongu wake in the Coliseum to meet JohmakJohmakJohmak is a member of the Order of Mata Nui who served as part of the rebellion force against the Makutaverse. Bearing ebon coloring and armed with a shield, Johmak operates on Spherus Magna., an Order agent who can break her body into crystal shards. The Order wanted the Mahri out of the way, she explains, and has turned Metru Nui into a fortress, leaking word that the Great Furnace is making the virus that killed Makuta Kojol so the Brotherhood will attack where the Order chooses. The Turaga have been confined to the Coliseum. (Dwellers In Darkness)

The Coliseum substructure and the Core Processor#

Under the Coliseum, the Hagah find ancient inscriptions in a language Bomonga can barely read, except for one name: Bara Magna. Then a magnetic trap pins them to the tunnel walls as molten protodermis flows toward them. Makuta MiserixMiserixThe deposed Makuta leader clawed back from exile to hunt the brother who stole his throne., hunting Teridax himself, tears open the ceiling and teleports them clear. (Dwellers In Darkness)

The tunnel ends in a chamber lined with machinery and two long-dead armoured beings, one red and one green. Miserix finds their armour isn't made of protodermis, which means they aren't from this universe. Helryx and Keetongu arrive through a portal, followed by Axonn and the transformed Brutaka. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Teridax speaks from everywhere at once. He shatters Brutaka's mask and makes Zaktan's tank explode. Brutaka explains what the chamber is: as close to the mind of Mata Nui as anyone can get. They are all living inside the Great Spirit, and Teridax has taken root in that body. When the Toa Nuva awaken it, Teridax will be unleashed. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Significance and the bridge to Reign of ShadowsReign of ShadowsThe year Teridax ruled the Matoran Universe from inside Mata Nui's body, and the scattered resistance plots that ran against him until the Great Spirit returned from Bara Magna.#

The serial ends with Teridax's victory already won. He turns Miserix into a picture on the chamber wall, fills the Hagah's minds with the belief that they have beaten him so that they wander off happy, and teleports Brutaka, Axonn and Keetongu to the dangerous southern edge of the universe. Helryx he keeps, to share his thoughts for as long as her sanity lasts. She vows not to break. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Its final scene adds one more loose thread. In the ruins of Destral, one of the stolen Takanuvas wakes in a cracked canister, his armour turned black, wanting to destroy the world. (Dwellers In Darkness)

Reign of Shadows picks up from there. Early in that serial, the Toa Hagah are patrolling Metru Nui, convinced all is well, until Tren Krom frees them from the illusion. (Reign of Shadows)