Disclaimer 1: The only characters I own are Kit, Darcius, and Tehreisha, and I don't own the events that occur within the first few paragraphs.

Author's Note: Italics are musical lyrics.

Four figures stood at the bow of the first of a line of six airships watching a red shape swim away in the river below. Just moments ago, their leader revealed his intention to go back to the City of Legends to search for an artifact that they had forgotten all about—the Mask of Time. Nokama said that they should all go together, but Vakama insisted that the rest of the team had to remain with the airships to make sure the Matoran spheres reached safety. With his mind made up, and his brother and sister Toa and human ally's understanding, the Toa of Fire bid farewell and good luck to them and dove seamlessly into the water. "Mata Nui, keep him safe," Nokama prayed.

"He will, sister," said Matau. "Mata Nui loves ever-brave fools; that's why he made so many of us." Nuju responded to the Toa of Air's joke with clicks, whistles, and hand gestures, catching everyone's surprise. "What was that? I didn't quite get-catch it?" asked Matau.

"He's been doing that ever since we left the city," Kit chuckled. "Apparently, he's decided that if we want a conversation with him, we have to work for it."

"But, will it be worth hard-working for?" Matau asked. The Toa of Ice frowned and replied with a slash-like motion and two shrill whistles. "Somehow I get the feeling I've just been insulted," the Air Toa guessed, "and, normally, I'd challenge-dare him to say it again, but I don't believe-think I'd get it a second time." Everyone, including Onewa, who was in the pilot's seat, laughed and Nuju simply smiled.

An hour passed, and there was still no sign of the Toa of Fire. In effort to keep from worrying too much about their friend, the group tried to find things to do: Kit, Nokama, and Matau sparred; Whenua and Onewa arm-wrestled; and Nuju took over the piloting. Eventually, the Toa of Water and Air and the girl found their attention repeatedly wandering toward the match between the Toa Metru of Stone and Earth, so they decided to watch. Both Toa grunted with exertion; just when it looked like one was about to win, the other would gain the upper hand.

"Ow," said Whenua when Onewa finally bested him, pinning his arm down.

"Yes!" cheered the Stone Toa.

"Onewa's the winner," Nokama chuckled.

"How about a three out of five?" asked the Earth Toa as he held up his arm.

"Fine by me," Onewa shrugged.

The two just linked hands when the airship gave a violent shake. "What is going on?" asked Kit.

"I knew it wasn't a smart-good idea to let him steer-drive," Matau muttered, mentioning the Toa of Ice in the pilot's seat.

Nuju, hearing Matau's comment, clicked and whistled in an annoyed tone. Nokama went out onto the deck to investigate. "Kit! Brothers! Come quick!" she called, urgency in her voice. The others rushed out to see what the matter was, and their eyes widened in shock. All of the airships, including theirs, were slowly, but surely, being ensnared by shadow-like tentacles. With no prompting needed, they got to work freeing the ships. The tentacles proved rather easy to cut through, but it seemed the more they cut, the more kept coming. Suddenly, Kit thought she saw something in the corner of her eye. Focusing her sight as best as she could, she could just barely make out a humanoid form in the darkness of the tunnel. She didn't know how, but she had a very good suspicion that who or whatever it was, it was responsible for the attack.

'I've only got one chance,' she said to herself as she aimed her gun-hand, 'so I've got to make this shot count.' Using her free hand to steady her gun-hand, she fired.

A second later, a pained cry echoed and the tentacles seemed to vanish. Before Whenua could activate his mask power, the figure had disappeared. However, Kit and the Toa heard a voice—or rather felt it. "You might've won this round," a sickingly menacing and familiar voice said, "but, I will return." Then, there was a tense, suffocating silence.

"Did everyone hear that?" asked Onewa.

"Yeah, that was Darcius," Whenua answered. "But, if I didn't know any better, I'd say his voice sounded a little different."

"That's because that wasn't the Darcius you guys just met," said Kit. "That was the Darcius from the future; the one that I followed into the warp that brought me here."

Upon her silent mental command, Kit's clothes changed into her Toa Metru armor suit. "What are you doing?" asked Matau.

"I'm going after him," the girl answered. Nokama was about to protest when Kit stopped her. "You heard him. He's going to come back sooner or later. My guess is he's trying to change history by stopping you guys from returning to Mata Nui, and who knows how that will affect the future?"

"But, he could be anywhere in these tunnels," Onewa pointed out.

"I can't explain it, but, somehow, I think I know where to find him," Kit said in reply.

"Then we're going with you," said the Toa of Earth.

"No," denied Kit, "you all need to stay here and make sure those pods get to that island."

'Where have I speak-heard that before?' thought Matau, recalling that Vakama said something along the same lines earlier.

"Besides, this is my fight, not yours," the girl concluded.

Nokama bowed her head and sighed, "Very well. Good luck, Kit, and be careful."

The young human smiled as she offered a thumb's up, then activated her rocket pack and took off down the way they had come. 'Mata Nui, watch over both of them," the Toa of Water prayed once more, watching her little friend's form disappear down the tunnel.

Kit had lost track of far she had flown, or how much time had passed, and she was beginning to feel really antsy. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, her senses instinctively went on the alert as a feeling of dread and alarm raced down her back and through her mind. Spotting a ledge, she came in for a landing. 'He's here,' she thought to herself, certain that it was true, 'but where?' "Come on out, Darcius," Kit called. "We both know that I know you're here." Silence, but the feeling remained. "C'mon, you're not afraid that I'll whoop your butt again, are ya?" she mockingly dared. For a brief minute longer, there was more silence. Then, she caught some movement and almost didn't dodge a streak of purple lightning.

"Me? Afraid of a puny little brat like you? Please," Darcius scoffed as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Could've fooled me, with how you skulk around in the shadows, even at the airships," Kit retorted.

With a roar, Darcius let loose a flurry of bolts, which Kit dodged and launched an attack of her own, but Darcius blocked it. The fight between the two continued for several more minutes this way: one would attack, then the other would dodge or block and counter. Getting a running start, Kit leaped and attempted to double kick Darcius, but he blocked the kicks. He tried to get the girl while she was still in the air, but she twist-flipped, landed, and delivered a powered-up punch before he could react. The force of the blow sent him staggering back several feet. 'I've forgotten how powerful her techniques become when she powers them up like that,' he said to himself as he rubbed his jaw, then launched another attack. Caught off guard, Kit moved quickly and summoned a shield.

However, though the shield did save her from the worst of the assault, it still knocked her to the ground. She looked up just in time to see a sight that made her heart stop—her crystal soaring through the air and over the edge. "No!" she cried as she got to her feet and leaped to try to catch it. But, it was too late; the crystal fell to the river below and her armor suit dematerialized, switching back to her regular clothes. Hearing a chuckle behind her, she rolled away to avoid more bolts.

"Soon, the river will carry the crystal farther downstream," said Darcius. "Then, it will too far for you to access its power. You're finished."

"It ain't over till it's over, Darcius," Kit replied with as much bravado as she could muster, "and, last I checked, I'm still standing."

"You won't be for long," Darcius retorted and resumed his attack. A few minutes of ducking and dodging passed before Kit found her opening and rammed her shoulder into Darcius' stomach, tackling him to the ground. Darcius, however, managed to flip her off, "Now, it you'll excuse me, I'm going to pay the rest of your friends a little visit."

"Not if I can help it," Kit said. "Somehow, some way, I'll be back."

"I'm afraid not," Darcius chuckled as more bolts danced along his fingers.

For some reason, Kit looked behind her and discovered what he meant—she was close to the edge of the protrusion. She just managed to let out a gasp and moved to dodge, but didn't move fast enough to avoid the attack entirely. Because she moved, the bolts didn't strike her head-on, but the force from the impact sent her flying. Screaming, she disappeared over the edge. Darcius peered over just as a splash was seen and heard. After allowing himself a victorious laugh, he turned his attention down the tunnel. "Now to take care of business."

She stirred, slowly and painfully. At first, she didn't understand why it was so dark and she didn't know where she was. 'What happened?' Kit thought. She found herself on another ledge and looked above to find a larger one. The memories of her latest confrontation with Darcius came back in full force. "He's going after the others!" she exclaimed. Getting to her feet, she tried to summon her armor suit only to remember that she lost her crystal during the fight. That left only one other way. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself as best as she could, she grabbed hold of some ridges in the wall, found some footholds and crawled her way across. However, the climb sideways soon proved to be far more treacherous than she originally thought. When she stopped and thought about it, she didn't see how she was going to get to the others in time at the rate she was going. But, the drive to give it all she still had was too strong. 'I took on that guy without my crystal once; I can do it again,' she said to herself. 'Besides, if he thinks I'm just going to sit around and let him do whatever he wants, he's so badly mistaken.' The thought gave her the strength to keep moving, despite her aching fingers and feet. Suddenly, she thought she heard something and turned her head to the direction of the sound. Unfortunately, her foot slipped, she lost her balance, and fell with a scream. Just when she was certain she was done for, she gave an, "Oomph!" when she felt herself caught. The next thing she knew, she was flying. "Vakama!" Kit exclaimed when she finally saw the face of her rescuer.

"Are you alright?" asked the Toa of Fire.

"I am now. You're flying! But, how?"

"A little feature I discovered my disk launcher had while I was at Metru Nui."

"Great, this way we'll be able to catch up to Darcius faster. I just hope we're not already too late."

"Darcius?"

"I'll explain on the way, just try to catch up to the other Toa Metru as fast as you can."

Meanwhile, back at the airships, the remaining Toa were beginning to get a little concerned; they should've heard from Kit and Vakama by now. Suddenly, a form shimmered into their midst. "Darcius!" Onewa exclaimed. Matau, who was back to piloting duty, put the ship on autopilot and went to join his friends. Darcius, however, unleashed his energy bolts and all of the Toa Metru slammed into the walls. Seeing the piloting controls, he aimed and fired.

Ignoring the pain from the attack, Nuju quickly released twin streams of ice from his spikes to form a wall of ice. A second later, the bolts ricocheted off the ice wall and back at Darcius. For the first time, he felt the painful power of his own attack. Recovering quickly, he glared at the Toa of Ice, "Nobody does that to me!" He let loose another flurry of bolts with a range so wide Nuju couldn't dodge it. He used his crystal spikes to try to shield himself, but was flung back toward the railing, which he broke through. Reflexively, the Ice Toa grabbed a hold of the bar, saving himself.

"Nuju, hang on!" called Nokama.

Nuju tried to pull himself up, but couldn't. Whenua noticed and ran to help. Darcius readied another strike to stop the Toa of Earth, but found himself blown into the wall by a powerful blast of wind, courtesy of Matau. While the other Toa kept Darcius busy, Whenua got down and reached out. "Nuju, give me your hand." The Toa of Ice extended his hand to his brother Toa's, but it was just beyond his reach. Both Toa then forced themselves to stretch their arms as far as they could. "C'mon," the Toa of Earth urged, to himself as much as to Nuju, "almost . . ." Their fingers touched and, finally, their hands clasped together, "Gotcha!" and he pulled Nuju back to safety.

Unfortunately, they weren't out of danger yet, for at that moment, the remaining three Toa collided near the Toa of Earth and Ice. While Whenua and Nuju helped their brothers and sister up, Darcius towered over them, malice in his eyes. "I've grown weary of this, so I'm going to end it once and for all." As more bolts danced among his fingertips, the Toa braced themselves for the attack. Darcius, however, found himself tackled to the floor. When he got up, he saw the very last thing he thought he'd see—Kit. "You?" he gasped, more than a little surprised.

The girl smirked and said in her best Terminator voice, "I said I'd be back." Darcius, past the mood for games, unleashed his energy bolts. Kit and the Toa Metru, however, dodged, and Darcius leaped down to the next airship

You got the touch

You got the power

"Nuju, how about a lift down?" asked Kit, and the Toa of Ice used his mask's telekinetic powers to get Kit down to the ship.

After all is said and done

You've never walked, you've never run

You're a winner

Darcius watched with slight confusion as the girl descended in front of him. "Why do this to yourself?" he asked; the girl had to know there was no way she could fight, let alone beat, him.

You got the moves, you know the streets

Break the rules, take the heat

You're nobody's fool

You're at your best when the goin' gets rough

You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

"I could ask the same of you, Darcius," she answered. Without warning, Darcius leaped at her, tackling her down. Kit, however, managed to kick him off and took a fighting stance.

You got the touch

You got the power

When all xxxx's breakin' loose

You'll be riding the eye of the storm

Onewa watched, a little mystified; if he knew anything about Kit's fighting style, something was not quite right. "Since when did that kid not follow up with an energy attack?" he asked no one in particular.

"Since she lost her crystal," Vakama answered a little nervously. The response from the other Toa was no less than he expected, "What?"

"You mean to tell us that she's taking on that madman with absolutely nothing but her bare hands?" asked the Stone Toa.

The Toa of Fire sheepishly nodded. Matau released his wings and would've leaped off the railing if Vakama hadn't grabbed him around his waist, "Oh no you don't."

"We've got to aid-help her," the Air Toa argued as he tried to get Vakama's grip off of him. "He'll destroy-kill her."

Nokama gently put a hand to his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, "She let us fight our battle; now we must let her fight hers." A pause followed before the Water Toa continued, "If it comes down to it, we will step in. But, for now, we must give her a chance."

Reluctantly, the other Toa Metru stayed put. 'I just hope we won't come to regret such a decision,' thought Nuju.

You got the heart

You got the motion

You know that when things get too tough

You got the touch

On the airship, Kit charged, dodging Darcius' energy bolts as best as she could without losing her balance. Finally, she was right in front of him and punched him firmly into the stomach. Darcius staggered, and before he could retaliate, she was in close, close enough for hand-to-hand combat. Now that he couldn't use his energy attacks without risking harm to himself, he tried to back away to give himself some room. Except for one small problem—no matter what he tried, Kit always closed the gap. On top of that, the girl's martial arts training was superior compared to his. That left him with only one option—defend himself as best as he could.

You never bend, you never break

You seem to know just what it takes

You're a fighter

It's in the blood, it's in the will

It's in the mighty hands of steel

When you're standin' your ground

And you never get hit when your back's to the wall

Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all

At one point, Darcius, out of desperation, finally managed to shove Kit off, but she immediately flipped herself back up. Darcius fired more bolts and the girl almost slipped dodging them. Regaining her balance she started running back toward him.

You got the touch

You got the power

When all xxxx's breakin' loose

You'll be riding the eye of the storm

You got the heart

You got the motion

Darcius was ready for an upcoming punch, but he was not ready for a mean right hook to the jaw that sent him to the ground. He looked up to see Kit in a fighting stance with defiance in her eyes.

You know that when things get too tough

You got the touch

That look of defiance made him burn with fury and, faster than the girl could blink, he grabbed a shard from one of the beams of the ship and lunged. With a yelp, Kit tried to get out the way, but was not quick enough. The sharp edge of the shard sliced into her arm and she screamed in pain.

You're fightin' fire with fire

You know you've got the touch

Clutching her arm, Kit backed away a bit. The cut stung like crazy. Seeing a shadow descend upon her, she looked up to find Darcius coming at her. However, as he came down, she upper-cut him away.

You're at your best when the road gets rough

You've been put to the test, but it's never enough

Kit moved in, managing to avoid a sweep from Darcius, but not a double flip-up kick. "At first, I was more than willing to make your friends' deaths quick and painless. But, now, once I'm done with you, I'm going to make them so slow and agonizing that they'll be begging me to end what will be left of their miserable lives . . . just like you'll be soon."

You got the touch

You got the power

Kit glared at Darcius, grabbed his wrist, and positioned it into a very painful wristlock. Darcius cried out in agony. "Not on your life," she said, then kicked him away.

"Yeah, you tell him, Kit," Whenua cheered.

However, the battle was not won yet. Darcius was readying another go of bolts, and, this time, Kit not only was too tired to keep dodging, but she had nowhere to dodge. Just when the bolts were about to hit, Kit felt herself being lifted away. Looking behind her, she saw Nuju's mask glowing. But, even on the airship, they were not safe. Before them, Darcius floated on what appeared to be a nimbus-like collection of his energy bolts. With his free hand, he sent out a flurry of bolts, and the Toa were struck head on. Their bodies aching terribly, they struggled to get up.

"You poor, insolent fools, thinking that you could escape the fate I have in store for you and this world," Darcius said. Lifting his free hand up, a localized storm of purple energy bolts congregated upon the line of airships. "Now, accept it and feel my power!"

With the ice wall gone, Matau got back in the pilot's seat and did his best to steer the lead ship away from the storm; they had to get out of there before the airships were too badly damaged. Unfortunately, it was no use, and the ships were starting to shake violently. Kit spotted one of the Matoran spheres rolling toward the edge almost too late. She grabbed hold of it, but it nearly took her overboard as well. Groaning with effort, she struggled to pull it up, but it was too heavy. "Somebody, help me!" she cried as she felt herself slipping. Thankfully, Onewa grabbed hold of the canister and hauled it up. Darcius, meanwhile, was laughing; he had finally won. Or, so he thought. His attention was suddenly diverted and his laughter halted when he saw a ball of goldish-yellow light. The ball struck him with the power of a fist and he fell to the top of the second airship. Darcius joined the Toa Metru, staring in shock at the energy ball's source—Kit. The glow in the girl's hand was beginning to dim, but there was no mistake about it. The ball was the result of her clenched fist, making it ten times more powerful than a standard energy ball from her palm. And, that wasn't the only amazing new feature—there was a slight glow of the same goldish-yellow color in the blue of Kit's eyes, making them have a swirling effect.

"No, it's not possible!" Darcius exclaimed, unable to believe what he was seeing even more than the Toa Metru. Kit reached her hands above her head, laced her fingers together, brought them back down to her chest, and let out a cry as she thrust them forward, sending forth a ball with rods revolving around it in its wake. Darcius was so stunned he didn't think to move and was sent flying off of the airship. Regaining his senses, and concentrating as best and as fast as he could, he summoned a time warp and disappeared into it. The warp itself dematerialized soon after. Kit stood there for a few seconds, then, all of a sudden, she began to sway and would've fallen if Onewa hadn't caught her. After looking her over, the Toa of Stone gathered the young human into his arms and carried her inside.

"Kit?" Nokama asked concerned when she saw Kit in the Stone Toa's arms.

"She's alright," Onewa assured his fellow Toa, "she's just exhausted, that's all."

You got the touch

You got the power

Meanwhile, in an unseen plain, Tehreisha smiled with pride. "She's done it," she said to herself. The girl had not only regained her memories and made sure everything was as it should be, but most importantly, "She's tapped into her true potential."

Disclaimer 2: The song used in this chapter, "The Touch", is owned by Stan Bush and Lenny Macaluso (I just hope nobody minds if I censored it a bit). Kit's and Darcius' fight was also inspired by a movie (guess which one :)).