BZPRPG: Kini-Nui

IC:

"ANGELUS YOU JERK!" Dalia shouted, standing nearby Verak, "FIRST YOU LEAVE ME IN LE-WAHI FOR TUARA, AND THEN YOU LEAVE TUARA IN TA-WAHI FOR THESE GUYS!?"

She felt her eye twitch involuntarily. Her staff was firmly planted in the ground, and she watched the unfolding events with an unusual amount of seriousness. She had been on her way to Le-Wahi, Tank's words still ringing in her ears, when she saw the light. Interested, she had started towards it, running as fast as she could. Tank had told her to find her own path, and by chance, it had led her back to Angelus.

Perfect.

"So Mr. Po-Toa," She said, glancing at Verak, "You think we should help them?"

IC: Aurum

Ah, so HERE's when my faith gets tested. Act retarded? Or act the only way you can?

Technically, it wasn't much of a choice. Aurum was right now at the stage where acting retarded got him nowhere. He knew his duty; he'd both luckily and unluckily enough been too lazy to even move away from this temple of sunshine, and now he was suffering - he'll have to fight, instead of hang around acting heroic like the other Followers of Makuta.

IC: My head is quiet. Onua has stopped speaking. Yet it doesn't matter. I'm not so certain, not so stable anymore, because I've considered that there's a fate choosing things for us. That's bad enough. A fate might not allow for total peace even if it does mean we win, simply because it wasn't prophesied. But that isn't so important as the fact that I'm a step closer to the edge. My conviction is near to waning. Hobbled by another of my own blades on that hill of war.

...In the end, does that matter, either? The path on that hill is combat. It is equivalent exchange-for each step closer to the dream, another injury to myself. That is a reason why I am not sure anymore. The equivalence of equivalent exchange is subjective. I have lost a lot, moving towards the dream, family and friends traded for power. That is fine. If I can bring about peace for everyone, a few losses are acceptable. But it doesn't feel that way. It feels like I've hurt the most important people, the ones I know, in order to make a meaningless gain. And when people feel that believing in something is hurting them, they stop believing. I haven't sinned. I just can't avoid selfishness. Under all the future loss that is almost a given at this point, Sulov Koskium will break. Who knows what will happen when that much turmoil is unleashed?And if I fall, the contagion of negativity will spread. Instead of being the servant of others I wanted, I'm going to become their enemy. That's not at all what I wanted.

Well. Isn't that irksome.

I stand before the suva with the others. The assault is about to commence. And so I call to the Earth. The soil under me pulses, spitting a form towards my body. It lands in my hand. I lift it slightly, study its shape. A ceramic saber sits in my gauntlet. It's gleaming, blade keen, length balanced, guard stout, structure strong. It is perfectly built.

And in that moment, nothing on the island could be more ugly in my eyes.

My commander tells me to go ahead. I nod and follow the others, saber low in hand. The ride down is blank. And as the platform stops in the misty blackness, so is my mind. There is but a lone resolution standing for its entirety at this point.

I will maintain the protection of this group, the "Maru", as my highest priority. Even should it mean the destruction of such a liability as the soul of Sulov Koskium.

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple]

Everything happened at once.

First was the appearance of both Agni and Angelus, their weapons drawn and a fiery determination in their eyes as they drew close. Not to say I didn't expect them to rise to the occasion, but seeing them come to my side boosted my morale more than anything, giving me added strength in this moment of uncertainty. With them at my back I knew we had a shot of winning this.

Next was about a half-dozen toa emerge from the trees, some silent, one speaking to me in some over-proper dialect what the karz was going on, another shouting at Angelus is some agitated fashion. Whether they were here the whole time or had followed the massive early Rahi migration I didn't know, but if they didn't get their act together being trampled to death was the least of their concerns. For right after that the onrushing Rahi broke through the treeline in all directions, further adding to the chaos. But that wasn't what caught my eye. It was the pair that were right behind the first wave, charging in with the rest of the animals. A pair of toa. And even from this distance I recognized one.

How could I forget?

I had but only a few moments to think of something, a battle plan against this hoard. Even with my temporary abilities this was still a lopsided fight, and not in our favor. I could feel the warmth of my fellow Ta-Toa at my flanks, ready and waiting for orders.

I closed my eyes, muttered a prayers, and took a breath.

"If you have any hope of surviving this, get up here and help defend the Suva!" I shouted to the assorted being below, deciding to deal with them all at once. I turned to Angi. "Agni, hold the line. Let none pass you. Right now I need you to stand in the gap and take charge of anyone who has come here to help, form a defensive ring here on the high ground. Use that tactician mind and don't be afraid to play dirty if you have to. Angelus-"

I turned to my spirit-brother. "I know we have our differences, but I need your jungle prowess right now more than ever. Help defend this spot with Angi as long as you can, but as soon as a reasonable perimeter is set up and you are able to I need you to go on the offensive with me. That sword of yours will be most effective taking it to them than standing here waiting. Meantime I'll charge ahead, seeing if I can both divert and thin the herd before they get here... " I paused, looking out over the wave of creatures and the two onrushing figures.

"... not to mention we have bigger issues to worry about than just wild animals."

I saw them both nod in agreement. We had a battle plan. Not spectacular, not the most brilliantly conceived, but the best one available considering our few resources and meager options available. With a raised eyebrow and a smile I turned and rushed forward at the oncoming hoard

* * *

Heuani had been the warm up.

Now instead of one super-powered foe, I was dealing with an uncountable army or weaker foes. I tried to remember my lessons from Angi; which one was more dangerous? Well, at this point it didn't matter.

Time to bust out round two of laser light show.

As I rushed down the stairs the first few Rahi that were the fastest met up with me, mouths wides, teeth bared, foam and saliva streaming behind their mouths as they wide-eyed and recklessly charged. Thrusting out my left arm I concentrated, a large holographic light shield forming around it, lowing my center of mass as I did. This occurred not a moment too soon as the first Rahi, an Ash Bear, slammed head-first into it. I cringed not only at the force of the impact, but at the crushing sound that followed as the Rahi literally crumpled as it's body broke against my near-impregnable shield. Being lower to the ground I let the momentum hit me as I stood up, the end result the animal hitting and raising up over my body and I pushed it up and away into the stone wall; if it wasn't dead already it would be soon from injuries. Despite the impact I barely slowed, and as I moved my right hand was already in motion behind me as I summoned another object out of light: a hammer. But not just any hammer - no, this needed to be a warhammer worthy of such a fight, so I summoned it with a head as massive as my torso, double-sided. I felt like being blunt today.

If only Agni could hear my thoughts...

Moving forward my next obstacle was a Muaka, but those I had already dealt with on a regular basis. As my arm swung to the front of my body the hammer continued to move away as the handle grew until my weapon resembled a quarterstaff with a massive metal block at the end of it. Not only did it look menacing, but the sheer momentum involved would be catastrophic - in which the cat before me sadly found out as I finished the swing, my weapon embedding itself into the side of the creature, causing a shower of sparks and metal shards. Needless to say it promptly performed a ninety-degree turn from forwards to moving to my direct left. I completed the spin, only to press upwards with my feet, propelling my body towards the heavens as I brought the hammer to bear, floating directly above a lone Nui-Jaga.

It's eyes bulged as I came down for a landing.

My hammer hit so hard it liquified the central body mass of the scorpion, it's legs straight out as if I has squashed a fiku spider. The impact was so hard in fact that many of the extremities were forcibly ejected from the body, the tail shooting straight up in the air while the claws flew past me on both sides as I stood, scorpion goo on my new armor. I gazed out over the temple basis, teeth clenched at my true opponents.

Utu and his friend.

As much as the hoard was a problem, they posed the greatest threat. The Rahi were many, but they were mindless; simply obeying commands from their master in the best way they knew how. There were Toa, not mindless beasts, not to mention personal servants of the Master of Shadows; I was certain between them they could do more damage than the hoard combined. But I couldn't take them on together. No, that would be too difficult.

I saw the black toa raise something into the air, his lips twitching for a moment. In immediate response Utu broke into an avalanche-like run, the dark toa's feet rising from the ground and the levitating, gliding silently through the air behind him. The duo were a deadly contrast; one, white as bone, a physical powerhouse oozing raw strength; the other, black as onyx, an elemental master embodying 'mind over matter'. Truly an unstoppable force and an immovable object coming right at me. I don't know what unsettled me more; the fact that they were here, aiding in the blitz, gunning in fact for me, or that this dark toa was somehow possibly controlling Utu through that object.

That made this engagement even more important. If he could control Utu... then perhaps he could be helping Makuta control the infected rahi? Maybe with the threat of the Maru he was delegating the micromanaging off to his trusted minions. As much as Utu was a problem this toa presented a much greater threat. Ergo my full attention.

But I couldn't just just let Utu run amok...

... could I?

A plan formed in my head as the unstoppable force bore down on me. The dark toa's motives may be unclear, but Utu's were as plain as day: we had unfinished business, and he planned on finishing it right here and now. I could use that to my advantage, single-minded aggression. I slowed slightly as Utu neared, his arms raising in preparation to unleash his powers. I simply sidestepped and flicked my wrist.

Below Utu's feet a solid holographic ramp of light appeared, and true to the nature of momentum of a massive, unstoppable force he was unable to react to my deft movement and instead went rushing up the ramp, launching himself into space somewhere into the dense jungle, safely away from where the defenders stood. With Utu momentarily out of the picture I was left with my true quarry, a rather surprised-looking black toa.

Did I ever mention I had a distinct dislike for black toa?

His surprise was further accented when he blinked, only to find myself standing right before him, my arm on the upswing. Traveling almost as fast as light was a bit dizzying, but I had plenty of practice moving at break-neck speeds.

"Oh, hello."

He could only minorly flinch in automatic reflex reaction as my hammer hit him squarely under the chin, the the dull dong of metal hitting metal echoing over the din of rampaging rahi. As his body arced lazily overhead I finally got a good look at him: black and acid green armor, sleek and light construction, complete with spikes in several places. His mask was nothing I had ever encountered before, giving him a rather malevolent appearance as it was infected and covered with a tattoo-like appearance. His fingers came to a claw-like end, and he wore robes that match the colours of his armour. Physically he was tall and thin, and I could tell that he would be feeling that one strike for days to come. It was his choice of weapon, however, that interested me the most: a staff topped with three ornamental blade-like tines and a green jewel, in his other hand three inch-wide spheres of condensed metal. That staff... that was the object he held up when he spoke. Perhaps... perhaps that staff was the thing controlling Utu and the Rahi?

Thoughts aside I got a lucky break as his grip on it slackened from the force of the blow.

Taking a gamble I broke away and dove for it.

OOC: corv, ty, you have your orders. Everyone else, you know what to do. Knock yourselves out

IC: Utu — Kini-NuiWait a second.That's the Toa of fire from Ko-Wahi. The one that froze me somehow. Still not sure how that worked, but whatever. Point is, it was still him. But he was different now. Looking at him through all the shaky stupid sprinting we were doi- oh roke was that a hammer of ##### light? Hahaha Echelon stop! This is ridiculous! I need to catch my metaphorical breath!Echelon?Echelon, what are you- He's faster than last time. Stop Echelon. My hands go up, and I feel my elemental powers well up inside me beginning to materialize, something. Probably something useless considering how brilliantly thought out the whole encounter had been so far. Can we just- Echelon he's clearly a Toa with light powers can we please-Ooh, huge surprise, totally didn't see that move being easily avoided with nothing more than a single step. Bet he had to think about that one all night to come up with it and practice. But as I passed him, I saw something in that brat's eyes. The look that somebody wore when they thought they figured something out. It was smug, but only in his eyes. The rest of his body language was telling my something totally different. He thought he had used my blind sprint to his advantage. Well, he did, but if I was in control, that would've been a totally different story. I'm not saying I would've beat him there, Joske Nimil turned out to be quite a powerful Toa. But the thing about what I saw, was he thought he was being so clever, like he figured me out or something. And I hated, and still kind of do hate when people figure me out. When really, he didn't, Echelon just made a very stupid move.Luckily, my body isn't totally stupid. As I hit the ramp of freaking light, near the end, it slammed my one hand down, trying to grip it. Un-luckily, it's made of light, so trying to grip it was a move that didn't make much sense in the first place, nerfing the comment about the body not being stupid. The light ramp seemed to somehow increase my speed, and the velocity at which my mountain of a body was moving shot up like I did, back towards the tree-line. My body tried to stabilize itself, but of course because you can't do that in mid-air, it changed nothing. I still soared over the trees, luckily though, my body ended up hitting the canopy at an angle that wouldn't break any bones. The branches broke my fall.I slammed into the ground hard, what was left of the tree's appendages following me to the floor.The body did not lie there for a moment. My shell soon turned over again, slamming both of my massive hands into the dirt before pushing myself up. I remember thinking that if I could, I would've punched a tree in anger. Good therapy.However, I did not punch foliage in frustration. In fact, I didn't do anything. The shell could not do much in terms of longer term goals. If there was problem in front of me, and Echelon was not there to instruct me, it would take charge, put two and two together, and go from there. And since a shell is stupid, it couldn't do much for basic math without the variables being directly in front of its face.So I stood there.

IC: Trizvan

The wild Toa hissed in anger as he watched the golden Toa smash through the Rahi. They were infected, but they were alive! Being forced against their will! They weren't like the Muaka he had killed earlier that night, gone mad. Well, not all of them at least. And the Toa certainly had no need of their pelts or meat. That Fikou was perfectly normal beneath the infected mask on its abdomen! Clenching his fists, the Toa shook until he couldn't stand it. He knew he was no match for a Toa of Light, so he did the next best thing: go for the infected Rahi.

Leaping from his hiding place, the Toa of Plantlife created his own hammer, out of wood, and swiftly borrowed the powers of a Phase Dragon. Phasing through swiping arms and gnashing teeth, the Toa wove through the Rahi's defenses expertly, driven by centuries of experience. An Ash Bear collapsed as it was freed from its mask. The Tarakava that was about to trample it stopped, motionless as its own flew from its jaws. The wild Toa was a blur of green and brown as he circled around, protecting the island's inhabitants from each other. Before long, there was a literal pile of Rahi where he had begun (which wasn't saying much, considering an Ash Bear and a Tarakava alone make a pretty decent pile). The infected, realizing it would be faster to go around, did just that.

Unable to take both sides efficiently, the Toa focused on only one, swiftly taking out the Phase Dragon whose own power he was borrowing. He mouthed a swift prayer in thanks for its ability, before parrying a swipe from a Brakas. Not looking back, he prayed internally that the others would understand and spare the lives of the innocent creatures. That his actions would speak louder than words.

IC: Zauk

Many long moments had passed since the silent explosion of pure light that had ripped through the area. After the intensity of the blast, it was amazing that that anything was still left in the area at all. Although, it didn't disappear without leaving signs of it's fleeting existence. Grass was flattened from the wave of energy, trees singed by the searing light. Those were just the more lasting effects, as the faint glow that seemed to cling desperately to the surrounding area had faded to darkness, leaving a sense of something missing when it left. Zauk himself had took the time to orient himself after being thrown against the unforgiving stone side of the Kini-Nui Temple, the Ko-Koroan analytically cataloging his injures.

Nothing more serious than extensive scratches along the teal armor that covered his back and arms from sliding down the rough granite, although a minor concussion was a distinct possibility at this time. It could be ignored. For now. Nothing had been too damaged, nothing that wouldn't slow him down, that is. With the confirmation of his relative safety of bodily health, there was no way he could truthfully say he was completely "alright", Zauk continued on his list of immediate priorities. At the moment, his personal safety came before only one other thing, his weapons.

They will be no use to you if you're not around to use them, guard them well, but not at the cost of yourself.

The Toa of Lightning kneeled to the ground, his knees popping from the movement. His eyes, still stunned from the light, couldn't entirely see the ground around him, even though he was less than a metre from it. Swiftly, he ran his hands along the ground, blindly searching for what was his. His armored palms pushed aside burn blades of grass. Strange, it had been a while since the old Toa's words had risen to the forefront of his mind. Perhaps it was the concussion, or maybe it was just something he had always been thinking of, but only now listening to. His hands brushed up against something metallic, round, smooth and polished. Wrapped in leather. His long fingers curled around the hilt of the weapon, lifting it from the ground where it had fallen. It wasn't his weapon, but it was the one he was using nonetheless. He knew how to wield it well enough.

That wasn't the problem.

Slowly, he spun it around in his hand, trusting his coordination and reflexes to prevent from injuring himself on it's sharpened length. It was an elegant tool, the hilt curved like that of a hatchet's, notched to allow for excellent grip. A shaft, about a third of a metre long, extended from this. The otherwise bare metal was painted with the frightening visage of various skulls, Toa, Matoran, Vortixx, Skakdi, it was impossible to tell. They were bone-white, and gleamed coldly in the light. At the end of the shaft, an emerald blade stuck out, sharpened and almost leaf-like in curving design, it's crystal construction contrasted sharply with the rest of the scythe.

No, the scythe wasn't the problem, but who had used it was.

With a flick of the wrist, the intricately painted shaft extended more than twice it's current length, becoming more staff-like, able to be used with both hands rather than one. They scythe's twin was probably still somewhere around the temple, clutched in the immovable grip of the dead. The dead. Zauk had killed the Toa. Killed him, and took his weapon from his dying grip. The teal-armored Toa rocked back, the heels of his leather boots digging into the earth, a small smile spreading across his face. He had killed him with lightning, killed him with a extension of his very being. Funny, it had been a blind shot. The rage-induced power had more of a chance of missing it's target, harmlessly dispersing into the trees, than actually killing him. Mata Nui definitely hadn't been smiling down on that Toa of Crystal, on both of them. Zauk's smile grew, despite himself. It wasn't funny. He had to stop. Stop smiling, it wasn't funny.

It wasn't funny.

No...

It was hilarious.

At the moment, Zauk couldn't decide whether to start laughing or crying at the Toa of Crystal's misfortune on that day, at that moment. He got unlucky for a moment, and suddenly a lightning bolt is blasting a hole through his chest. Boom! Ka-zap, gone. Dead. Oops, sorry about that. I'm sure you'll be fine. No, I wasn't aiming. I wasn't aiming at all, actually. Imagine that! Now you're dead, and I've got your scary scythe, eh? I didn't want to kill you... Yes I did. I wanted you dead. So what if you were trying to run away, I wanted you dead. Now, I suppose I don't want you dead.

But I'm alive and you're dead.

And I have your scythe.

The Toa of Lightning shut his eyes tight, tremors shook his form, though his face was a mask of one slightly amused with the world around them. Then, he stopped suddenly. With a single fluid motion, one born of centuries of both hard physical training and the sharpening of an analytical mind, Zauk rose to a standing position. As if that were a signal, the ground vibrated beneath his feet. It vibrated like a distant earthquake. Zauk wasn't an Onu-Toa, far from it, but he'd practically been raised in some of the most inhospitable hunting areas on the island. It gave him a connection with the world around him he felt that few could understand, and even less could appreciate. As it was, while another wouldn't have given the shake a second though, Zauk immediately focused on it. The world around him snapped into a sharp clarity, the blades of grass, the slight sound of the breeze through the canopy, the smell of a dying fire, all coming to his attention. He was aware of everything at once, focused on everything, but not selecting a single thing to listen to.

When hunting, you didn't focus on anything, that got you killed. Second rule.

And the first is quite simple, only direction differentiates the hunter from the prey.

There it was again, memories rising unbidden. Zauk dropped low to the ground once again, arms spread out and stance wide. There, again. The vibrations continued, almost growing... stronger. However impossible that sounded. He didn't like it. The Toa of Lightning glanced up. He knew that he wasn't the only one at the Temple. He had been hearing people for some time now, but had decided for the time being not to make his presence known. But now, more people seemed to be joining them, evident by the additional voices. He had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, their voices distant to the Toa of Lightning. Unless they were senseless, they probably felt it too by now. Whateve-

Wait.

That sound.

An immense crashing sound, as if the very forest was rebelling against itself. It sounded like...

No.

A roar echoed across the area, and Zauk shot to his feet. He wasted no time waiting around, and sprinted flat-out towards the treeline. He reached it in quickly, and was running through the underbrush in less than a minute after leaving the Temple. Rahi were coming. Lots of them. And Zauk didn't fancy his chances against them in open-ground. He'd only heard rumors about things such as this, but it didn't take a genius to figure some things out. They were heading towards the Kini-Nui at a run, and a lot of Rahi on the island were controlled by a being. One specific being, infact.

The hunter launched himself from the ground, grabbing onto a low-lying branch, before using his momentum to swing himself up and over. At the top of his arc, he released the woody limb, flying the next few metres through the air. Zauk landed, somewhat awkwardly, on one of the trees overlooking the Temple clearing, and it took him a moment to make sense of what he was seeing. There was... A lot of Rahi. His keen eyes scanned the area, the telescopic lens built into his Kanohi further enhancing his field of view. Zauk narrowed his eyes, and focused his lens on one of the Rahi, a Muaka, to be exact. There, attached to it's shoulders, were two Infected Kanohi. No surprise, but he had to be sure.

Actually, there wasn't just Rahi in sight. No, there were a few Toa tagging along as well. One of them was flying, of all things. He was tall, dark, and creepy. Not much else could describe him as well as that. The second was... massive. Zauk himself was taller than average, and a lot more muscular than your average Toa, but this white-armored being was gigantic. And running, quite fast for someone that large. Suddenly, there was a golden blur, a flash of movement, and suddenly the mountainous Toa was sent into the air by a ramp of...

Light?

What in Mata Nui's name.

The Toa of Ice was thrown into the sky, over the treeline, and back down to the canopy below. Zauk had enough with trying to make sense of events, and simply dropped from the tree he was currently seated in. It was a good enough guess that tall and muscular was on the opposite side of things, and it might be a good idea to see if he's down or not. His mind made up, Zauk started in the direction where he had seen the Toa land, silently making his way through the trees. It didn't take long for him to find the Toa, white armor not blending into the area as well as teal and grey did.

He didn't look hurt, despite the circle of broken branches, doubtless the remains of his fall, scattered around him. In fact, he wasn't really doing anything. At all. Even with the Toa of Ice's back towards him, Zauk dared not get any closer.

“You're in my forest,” the Toa of Lightning stated simply, crystal bladed scythe held loosely in his hand.

IC: Aurum Eye slits had to be covered against Toa of Suns. And so as Aurum stared, from far up above ground level, upon a thick tree branch, his eyes were hidden behind what looked like webbing. He looked around. The Toa of Suns was now standing beside his Fire Nation buddies, and meanwhile, a whole bunch of Toa had followed the Rahi towards this place; unlike him....who'd been here for quite some time now, having witnessed both Sunshine Toa's heavy laser beams, and the greatest servant of Shadow's downfall. Lucky for him. He turned his head over to where Echelon and Utu were, as they emerged from the west. Aurum's keen eyes caught note of Echelon apparently singing to a rock; immediately afterwards, Utu started charging, barreling straight towards the Suva, and Joske. Aurum knew he'd have to help out; his over-laziness, staying here, led to this form of punishment. But there was another issue - He didn't want to get in the way of Echelon's plan - especially since the Toa of Reanimation had those intricate ripples on top of his mask. And then there was Akuz - and those other Toa. He could deal with them later, as Aurum watched Utu flip over a ramp of light. Looks like whatever Echelon did, it made people a little bit....less in control.Leaping from tree to tree, metal springing up wherever he landed to ensure balance, Aurum didn't really bother concealing himself. But soon he himself was above Zauk and Utu.....And he watched, waiting for the next move. Because, if Aurum's new hypothesis was correct......*Grip!*'Akuz; isn't really 'Akuz'.

IC: Agni had no idea what Joske had spoken about with the Maru's leader. But whatever it had been, it had pulled the kid right out of his sad thoughts and gave him his energy back. Unlike speaking to Angelus or him previously, thirty seconds of talking with the Toa of stone and his fighting-spirit and morale were back right where they should be. And he was glad about that. How did that happen? He didn't know, but made a mental note to work on his people skills when this was through, there was definitely a use for it. But right now he was just happy Joske was back in action and taking the fight to the oncoming beasts, because that meant Agni could focus on doing what he did best. His eyes narrowed as he looked around himself, taking in as much detail as he could and converting it to tactical information. First step: Analyze the situation. That was easy enough: All-out direct assault from multiple directions all around them by infected Rahi of various kinds and dark or fallen Toa serving the Makuta with the goal to take over the temple and cutting the Maru off, preventing their escape and possible backup to help them. Second step: Who's the opposition? The whole island, it seemed, but Agni was no fatalist. The assault-force were mostly local Rahi and more from the surrounding Koro, that had been close enough to answer the call of their infected masks this quickly. They were dangerous, yes, but he was more worried about the dark Toa that joined them. The one of ice, fitting the description of the brute Joske had given after his solo-adventure in Ko-Wahi was already engaged with the Toa of light for a rematch. The other was floating in mid-air, levitating. Agni squinted. No Kanohi Miru. That narrowed it down to air, magnetism or gravity. That would be tricky, but already, Agni started to think of ways to take him down. But first... Step three: Analyze the battlefield. He considered the area. The Rahi were coming from all around them, emerging from the jungle surrounding the basin. But it didn't completely cover the ground. From the bottom of the stairs to the edge of the forest there was the clear, grassy area wherer Joske had battled Heuani and was battling the Rahi just now. Twenty metres of open ground in a three-quarter circular shape around the Suva-part of the temple, except on the far side, where there was only half as much ground and the jungle was growing all the way to the foot of the structure, leaving only a small gap open where the bridge leading to the Amaja-Nui spanned the ravine cutting through the whole valley. On the one hand, they were lucky. The temple was an elevated position with a good overview of the surrounding land, it's structure was massive and stable and the pillars could be used for cover. And their enemies had to cross the clearing first to get to it, so they saw them coming. On the other hand, if they could not hold this spot against the Makuta's forces, they had only the ravine to fall back to and only the bridge to the other side as an escape-route. They needed to make this defense work, lest it turn into a debacle. Step four: What forces do you have? In a perfect world, Agni would have preferred entrenched Ta-Koro guards and the other village-defense forces, covered by Le-Koro's air-riders. But that was just what it was: wishful thinking. Agni quickly looked from the oncoming Rahi over the layout of the temple to the allies right beside him. Joske was already in the thick of things, then there was Angelus next to him and two other Toa, one of stone, who was injured; and one of water. That wasn't much. But then he remembered the tales of Vakama. When the Mata had gone to face Makuta. the temple had been held by nothing but the chroniclers company. The Mata had lost, but the Matoran had held their ground long enough and had survived on that day. Here, he had five Toa. He hoped more had seen the explosion of light and would come to help them, but they were not outmatched yet. All that was missing was the tactic now. Agni finished his mental assessment, the whole thought-process having taken no more than ten second in total, maybe. He looked up just in time to see Joske launch himself at the levitating dark Toa. Good, that was covered for the moment then. Angelus already knew what to do and covered them for the few seconds Agni would need to coordinate. He stepped forward, to the two newcomers, water and stone."Alright, listen up! I'm Toa Agni, you seem to know Angelus and Mr. Lighthammer out there is Joske. You heard what he said. If you want to survive, you'll help us. Here's the rundown: The great spirit picked a new set of chosen Toa to defeat Makuta and they're down under the temple right now, doing just that. These Rahi and others are here to cut them off. We can't let that happen." His tone was sharp, military and that alone was enough to discourage questions. There was no time for those right now. He pointed at the Toa of rock: "You." "Verak." the Toa said. Agni nodded. "Okay, Verak. I need you to make us some cover. Not sure how fit you are, so get up to the top of the temple and either raise barricades or rain down some f your element on these Rahi."Next he turned to the Toa of water, who quickly said: "Name's Dalia." before Agni could give instructions. "Dalia, take the northern side on the right. Anything comes to close, you wash it off this clearing."He turned back to Angelus, who was already looking to his left. Agni nodded. "Always a pleasure." the Toa of fire chuckled and moved to cover the southern side of the temple. Agni stayed where he was, center, facing the oncoming Rahi. They next instant, a Muaka burst through the brush, sprinting towards him. He tightened his grip on his blades, waiting for the Rahi to come closer. It got into range and the head shot forward, jaws wide open, aiming down at the Toa of fire. Agni lept up and sideways in the air just at the right moment, the Muaka's snout burrying itself into the dirt, but under Makuta's influence that did little do deter it. But it bough him time to pull all the heat out of the right infected mask, shock-frosting it. One concentrated blast of fire later it shattered. But the other had to go as well. He activated his mask. The next moment he landed on the Muaka's back, gripping tigtly onto the fur as the Rahi bucked. Hanging on with his left he reached out with his right, jammed the tip of his blade underneath the infected mask on the left shoulder, tearing it away. The Muaka roared and finally, Agni let himself get flung off, landing on his feet with another quick use of his mask. But the Rahi wasn't done yet. Despite being free from the Makuta's influence, it was still confused and angry. And the nearest thing that it could direct that anger against was Agni. It stared him down for a second, the pounced at him. Agni leapt to the side and snapped his fingers, setting the Muaka's tail on fire. It yelped in pain and surprise as it landed, tumbling over itself before hastily retreating into the jungle. One down. Plenty still to go.

IC: Aurum

Na-na-na-na-na~

Aurum continued to quietly hum to himself as he watch intently to the enemies as they planned. Despite all that, he was more unnerved by the fact that 'The Great Spirit picked a new set of chosen Toa to defeat Makuta', not because Aurum thought his master would lose but because the Great Spirit was once again being annoying.

Like, why? Weakness is weakness. Strength is strength. But helping the weak get strong will lead all the way back to that same cycle, over...and over......

And that was Aurum's conclusion, as his mind flashed back to when the Great Spirit last made his mark - a flashback to a memory buried deep into his subconscious, floating in the bubbly liquids of his lazy, ignorant mind.

* * *

"Quick!" A very young Toa shouted to another, even as he acrobatically kicked himself off the ground and landed atop a hut, reaching outwards to pull the other Toa he was addressing, who looked of the exact same age and had nearly the exact same physique; except this one was levitating. The acrobatic Toa could sense it; the magnetic hum, untamed and uncontrolled in the hands of a weakling - no skill, but much motivation - was affecting the metal around them.

"Stop it!" The Toa of Iron said to the Magnet as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, "They might sense us!"

"No they won't!" came the reply, and it was obvious from the voice that the children were crying; there were chokes and sobs hidden inside both of their urgent speeches. "Papa and Mama are fighting them!"

"Papa and Mama will fail!" The Toa of Iron said, and any observer would be able to see that he was more in charge; more mature, more used to....combat.

Combat. A full battle zone raged around the children, a circle in the small settlement they grew up in. And the attackers? When they attacked, they had jumped right over the fence with their elements and mask powers, but the most unsettling was their battle cry.

For The Great Spirit.

"Gold!" The Toa of Magnetism said, "We have to go up!"

Indeed, it was the only way they could escape the flaming battleground beside them; slaughter, as their entire village was slowly but surely crushed underneath the foot of stronger Toa - Toa wielding the powers the Great Spirit had apparently gifted them, following the path the Great Spirit set them. Gold and Silver, as the two children's names were, had thought that the Great Spirit was great, and that those whose powers he bestowed upon would not set about using their powers for destruction.

Apparently greatness came only from power, then.

"Silver!" The Toa of Iron called down, as he began to climb the massive tower glacier wall which their village in Ko-Wahi had be built beside. "Magnetism!"

A massive hum filled the air as a magnetic field was generated, a massive waste of energy by Silver without the manipulation of shape, but soon the 2 Toa were linked to each other and climbing. A lone Toa of Fire attacker caught sight, and flung a big fire ball towards the 2. A piece of metal, about the size of a bed, formed, blocking out the flames as it licked and wisped through the impurities in the metal.

And that was when they first tasted the sound of ringing swords, the smell of gushing blood, the fear of pain, and the anger of vengeance.

* * *

The glossed eyes of Aurum blinked as he returned himself to reality. By now, Verak, Dalia, Agni and Angelus were already in a good combat situation. Joske? Aurum refused to acknowledge Toa, Toa who specifically wielded power the Great Spirit gave to those with their 'Destiny'.

For Aurum, his Destiny was set. He just had to follow the path.....

Looking down towards 'Akuz', he shouted, "This Toa of Ice is...on our side. I believe his name is Utu Kotore. I'm sure you have the knowledge to do your duty; I will do mine."

He didn't reveal his secret suspicion as he launched himself towards the fight, now determined to do whatever he can to topple the defenses Agni had skillfully set up - This was one fight of honor Aurum didn't want to - will not - lose.

OOC:Ankt from Le-Wahi

IC:Ankt

"This Toa of Ice is...on our side. I believe his name is Utu Kotore. I'm sure you have the knowledge to do your duty; I will do mine." Aurum had shouted to Akuz as he launched himself towards the fight hoping he could topple Agni's defenses. However, before he could get close enough to begin doing damage, he noticed a familiar Toa of Oil following behind him.

"Oi! You in the Silver armor! Mind telling a fellow brother what the Karz is going on?" Ankt, who had noticed the light explosion from Joske's earlier escapades, had arrived on the scene.

OOC: What about TrizvanIC: The Toa of Plantlife acknowledged the fact the the Toa of Fire in charge was going only for masks, but didn't jump to any conclusions that it was by following his example. Lighting a Muaka's tail on fire. Efficient, and dealing minimal damage. But he showed no outward approval as he knocked a Nui Rama from the sky and pried off the remaining mask. There would be time for that later, if he decided to stick around. The Rahi were more important to him, especially now.

IC:

Dalia quickly sprinted to where Agni had told her. She wanted to ask when this had started, who had created that brilliant flash, among hundreds of other questions that sprung to her mind. She'd have to deal with that later. She needed to plan out how she was going to defend her side of the temple-

Don't think, just act.

The advice had come from some depths of her mind. To her, it felt as if it was someone had told her that, long ago...

She shrugged the thought aside. She needed to focus.

The first group of Rahi had started to near her side of the temple. What she could see, about thirty or forty of the beasts. She easily could have pushed them all back, if she had her mark still.

No time to regret that now, she thought, quickly creating several small tendrils of water that reached out, and merely knocked the masks off of the first ten that were near. Those ten quickly lost control, and dashed into the horde, causing havok as they ran away. The rest, she pushed back one, by one. Any that got pass her, she quickly knocked back with a good blow of her staff. Inside, she knew she was ill-suited to a fight like this. She had no mark, no kanohi power, and through that, her elemental powers were at a complete low. And so, as the group of Rahi that started to grow around her increaded, she decided to do a sensibly stupid thing.

Anything that wasn't a Toa in the group was finding itself being hit with a blast of water, a good solid hit from her staff, or a good combination of the two. Knocking masks off to the side, or giving any Rahi that were too close a good hit to the head, either knocking them unconscious, or giving them one Karz of a headache.

She felt proud when the crowd started to thin, only to see her next challenge...

A really nasty, brown-tinged specimen of the Muaka cats.

Dalia gripped her staff with both hands, and took a single footstep back, firmly planting her in the ground. She carefully watched the cat's movements, gauging to see when it would pounce upon her.

"Come on you big furball!" she shouted," Over the pask week, I've almost been roasted alive, walked through a herd of Kane-Ra, almost was killed by a larger skakdi, and risked my rear trying to talk to Tank. Bring it."

Ic: After Joske had said the last word Stannis left him to his own devices and jumped into the darkness at his feet. A short flight of steps put him on a flat platform with no other way to go, but he quickly found that it was an elevator that descended down into the darkness. Shadow seemed to envelop every inch around him here and while there was a vague sense of confinement in the deepening chamber the darkness seemed to go on forever. Stannis stepped to the wall as it scraped by and touched it. It was inky black and left an oily residue on his fingers. Unlike the granite he was comfortable with, this stone gave him no happy thoughts. It was as wicked as the resident evil of this realm. Revolted, Stannis stepped away from the wall.

He stood near the center of the round platform as it still descended. Nothing could be seen except for the glowing of the toa's heartlights and eyes but even the light from their bodies was swallowed by the viscosity of the depths; nothing reflected and nothing more could be discerned. As the platform fell the expanse of the chamber abruptly grew vastly and the area seemed to be light, though it was a dark light, foreboding and evil, grey and hazy.

The platform stopped dead. It reached the bottom of the tunnel, leaving the Toa Maru in a great and open cavern filled with low fog and eerie silence. The only noise they could hear was the rustle of their toa tools as they were brought out. Stannis removed his halberd from his back and held it close to his body before he eased the bottom of the shaft to the floor. It clicked as it struck the glossy and flat floor and echoed across the expanse. But nothing stirred yet.

"What do we do now?" Korero asked, eager to move, to do something.

"We move," Stannis replied. Though he wasn't keen on calling himself The Wanderer at this point, he still found merit in the strategy when the path was not clear. "Circle up, we move together. Keep your weapons ready; I feel a threat."

Down there they could see one another again and as the team fanned out Stannis caught a glimpse of Reordin's face. There was a nod of respect to be found there past the Ko-Toa's archetypical smirk. It seemed as if the Sanctum guard had come to realize though the leader's actions and demeanor that Stannis was just as much a soldier as he was. But they would have to discuss the matter later when they didn't have to focus on remaining alive.

Stannis had not given another member the lead so they moved the six-pointed formation according to where Stannis trod. The fog enveloped them on all sides, shrouding an exit if it existed, so they drifted to and fro in the cavern, but they did not have to do it for long. It was Sulov's sharp Onu-Matoran eyes that picked it up first; he scowled in a direction and Reordin, ever bonded to the other trooper, quickly discerned movement and spoke for Sulov. "Six eyes, low to the ground at Stannis' seven o'clock."

They wheeled to face the threat. Korero, the scholarly explorer, quickly used his glossary brain to identify the shapes as they emerged from the mist like wraiths. "Manas. Crab rahi, but bigger and much, much meaner than Ussals."

Stannis, however, stood near Leah, but he alone had not turned to face the coordinates Reordin gave. His eyes were still peering ahead. "They are not alone," he said in a low tone as he stared back at six more eyes as they raced for him, too. Leah spun to look with him and the two toa with polearms prepared to defend their flank. Six manas total on two sides. The Toa Maru had reached the first line of the Makuta's subterranean defenses.

The battle was on now.

IC (Echelon)

As the wave of Rahi broke the treeline, Echelon and Utu followed hot on their heels. Emerging from the jungle, Echelon immediately stopped his forward movement, hovering a few feet off the ground to examine the battlefield. The Rahi were making their frenzied advance towards the Temple itself, where there stood a small group of Toa. Most were unremarkable, but one - one was impossible.

Impossible.

His armour was white and gold, and he shone like the sun. This could only be the being who had caused the massive flash of light earlier. Echelon narrowed his eyes, and not just to protect them from the brightness of the Toa. How did he exist? How could he exist? A Toa of Light? Despite his having earlier hypothesised just such a thing, Echelon was still struck off-guard by the golden Toa's mere existence.

And so, in his surprise, he was unprepared for the Toa's lightning-fast moves as he dealt with Utu. A ramp of what seemed to be solid light sent the charging Mark Bearer flying, disappearing into the trees. Snapping out of his shock, Echelon began to muster his elemental energies - but suddenly, the Toa of Light was right in front of him.

"Oh, hello."

Pain exploded in his jaw and his senses were smashed awry, his magnetic control gone and his vision a whirl of incomprehensible black-and-white. The Dark Toa went soaring away in a parabola with the attack's momentum, his tumbling flight arcing back down towards the hard ground. His cloak and robes flailed about him like the wings of a downed bat.

Regaining his faculties with seconds to spare, Echelon's eyes snapped open and he stopped, mere inches from the forest floor, suspending himself horizontally above the ground. He released the magnetism, and dropped. The Dark Toa heaved himself upright, twisting his head sideways with a series of clicks as his neck-bones realigned themselves.

Echelon might be down, but he most certainly was not out.

***

In the Kini-Nui's clearing, Joske dived for Echelon's staff where it had fallen. Picking it up, the Toa of Light ran his eyes over the long tool. Its design echoed its master; elegant, but menacing, the tines at its head jutting up like the crest of a Tahtorak. The jewel they cradled was a poisonous lime green. Joske grimaced a little; the staff felt tainted, evil, just like its wielder.

Just as he began to stand and turn, the staff was jerked from his hand by an unseen force. The butt of the staff struck Joske in the jaw as it span upwards, sending him reeling back towards the Temple. From the trees came hovering the source of the attack: Echelon, levitating, legs straight down and arms raised at his sides like a black cruciform.

The staff flew into his outstretched hand. Echelon swung it in a vicious arc and immediately Joske was struck by a wall of magnetic force which flung him backwards, colliding with one of the Kini's pillars with a crack. He slid down, pain and surprise etched across his mask, but even as his feet touched the carved surface below another magnetic attack send him flying sideways, skidding across the stone ramp as the friction brought sparks flying from his armour.

Echelon advanced after him, gliding through the air, his eyes narrowed in malice as he continued his relentless magnetic onslaught.

As Joske struggled to pull himself up, yet another attack struck, this time catapulting him upwards into the air, only to pull him back down to earth with equal force. Joske slammed into the ground, dust shooting out from his point of impact.

The Dark Toa hovered a few metres away, staff held diagonally downwards like a fencer's guard, his mask's crest jutting up above his face as he surveyed Joske coldly.

"Toa of Light," said Echelon, as though he were examining an interesting specimen. "I confess I'm surprised you even exist. Then again, what with Heuani running around, I suppose the principle isn't so alien..."

Joske pulled himself into a crouch, looking up at the Necromancer warily.

"Although," Echelon continued, his tone calm as though making conversation, "your power is clearly nothing compared to the Shadow Toa's."

He splayed his hand as though pushing in Joske's direction, and another magnetic wave went rippling towards him.

IC: TrizvanThe wild Toa could care less about the light and dark Toa battling each other. He continued his unending stream of attacks, working his way forward past the mounting pile of unconscious Rahi. A number hadn't collapsed and had turned to run off, instead getting dragged into the fray. Trizvan frowned and attempted to assist a freed Stone Ape. He soon realized that left the way even more open, Nd trusted it to fend for itself. Searching for the most valuable potential ally, Trizvan spotted a Rock Lion making its way forward. Activating his Phase Dragon power, he made a beeline for it. But this one was no pushover. Its mask was on its chest, well guarded, and the Lion gave no entry for the Toa of Plants. Worse, more and more Rahi were still coming. He had to finish this quickly.

IC: Utu — Kini-Nui“You're in my forest.”Right, of course, your forest. Because there wasn't a giant battle going on away from the trees. Daft moron couldn't prioritize properly. If he was so worried about me breaking trees on my way from the sky, why wasn't he worried about the plains and the temple being totally destroyed? Because nobody cares about the plains.Who's going to care about the plains? Me.The shell turned around to view the king of trees.A scythe. A threatening stance.Two and two.The shell placed one step backwards slightly, shifting my center of gravity. I was pleased to see it wouldn't just stand neutrally, because that would be stupid. I couldn't help but feel intrigued about the shell's combat capabilities. When Echelon wasn't controlling it, perhaps it would be as fluent as I was before. I waited to see. The shell gripped the same large blade I had forged myself thousands of years ago, pulling it from its resting place. The Mark activated, my eyes seeming to erupt with the deep dark purple of the Rune of Fear.There was no growl, no smile, and no odd look in my shell's eyes. It was completely emotionless. And it was doing math.Four.

IC

IC: Aurum

Launching himself from tree to tree, Aurum quickly replied to the Oily Toa behind him. "Some time ago, a Toa of Light fought a Toa of Shadow."

Pause.

"I guess you could say I'm on the Toa of Shadow's side, although Heuani's ego being kicked in the butt by a laser beam containing the power of the sun is pretty satisfying to watch."

By now, he was closer to the battle; specifically, Verak. But Aurum's plan for attack had to factor in the fact that there were quite a few powerful enemy Toa here; and chances were, more would arrive. On the other hand, his closest adversary, the familiar Toa Verak. Who seemed to be learning how to fly.

If Aurum was correct, and his ears were listening nicely, then Verak was a Toa of Sand. And yet he's doing nothing?......Lucky Aurum. Would have been sad if Aurum actually faced off a Toa of Sand who actually knew the true potential of their power.

He only had one advantageous situation in this big clusterfight, and that was the fact that he didn't need to focus on stopping the Rahi. Kicking himself off the branch he was on to land upon the clearing, he rolled away from the path of one charging, saliva dripping, animalistic infected Rahi. And looked towards the Suva, where the group of rag-tag Toa had formed.

"If these Rahi are my teammates, please....don't suck." He murmured to himself as he began to form a plan that would utilize the power of the Infected Rahi to bring down a singular Toa - the one who'd assumed command, as he'd managed to see with all the mouthing and finger-pointing.

Of course, there was still Ankt he had to watch out for, although hopefully he'd be caught up in 'Operation: Rahi stahp'.

IC:

They began to spread out to allow each of them room to use their weapon, though not leaving the Manas out of their sight for even a second. Leah took a few steps to the right of Stannis, her Bo-staff lazily spinning in her right hand, ready to block or strike at a moments notice. But, just to be absolutely sure they weren't just naturally dwelling here, Leah concentrated on her mask, the auras of the Maru and Manas suddenly glowing much brighter to her. But it was as it seemed, the giant crabs were under the Makuta's sway, appearing in red to the Toa of water. No surprises there, but still, it was better to be safe than to be sorry. A good motto to follow for this fight as well, these manas were big.

She tried to size it up, but unlike the Muaka and Rahi in the Le-Koro jungle she had been used to, the dead eyes and thick carapace didn't allow for much reading of the creatures body-language, aside from agressiveness and enough bulk to put Sulov to shame. Despite that though, they were fast, a fact that surprised them, as the first Manas leapt at the team. Leah saw the pincers coming for her and brought up her staff. The crab was trying to land on her, to crush her underneath its body before finishing her off. Which meant it presented its underside to her. leah's first instinct was to thrust up with her staff, which she did. It hammered against the chitinous armour but didn't damage it further. However the crabs momentum carried it forward and, using that, Leah pulled on her staff, throwing the Manas over her and to the side. It made an angry sound and disappeared into the fog, but the others were attacking now as well and this one would certainly come back to try again. And in this fog, it was impossible to tell from where.

Leah decided to even the field and reached out to the water in the air with her element. It still felt strange, having only used to power once before now, to fend off the Rahkshi, but the energy flowed naturally. With a push the fog disappeared in a large circle around them, giving the Maru a better view and the Manas less room to hide.

-----------------------------------------

Agni in the meantime was busy with a pair of Tarakava that had used the time he had spent fighting the Muaka to close the distance between the edge of the forest and his position, buty luckily, they had advanced in unison. Agni teleported into mid-air between the two, at eye-height. The Rahi reacted, their powerful limbs shooting forward to slam into the Toa, but Agni was gone already and they comically punched each other in their fanged faces, knocking off their Kanohi and each other out. Good enough for now, but before Agni could see how his allies were doing, Joske hit the base of the temple's pillar to his right. Looking up he saw the levitating Toa from earlier. So, Magnetism it was then. The dark Toa was making some snide remark Agni didn't bother to pay attention to. His friend and student was on the ground, he had to do something. Sparks appeared in the air around Echelon and immediately exploded in bright flashes as they suddenly expanded. It should buy Joske enough time to get back to his feet again.

Agni wanted to do more, but before he could, Verak shouted to him from the ground...where he wasn't supposed to be.

What in the name of...? He thought, but Verak shouted: “Agni! I can’t raise any walls, brother! I’m only good with sand! Sorry!” That alone was a troubling enough statement, but on top of that, the Toa was suddenly snatched up by a Nui-Rama. Agni pushed back his mounting frustration. It wouldn't do any good here, he needed to keep a level head...and he needed the Toa of...well, apparently sand, back on solid ground. Before Echelon could target him either, he disappeared once again, reappearing in the air above the flying Rahi, blades ablaze with fire and aimed downward, striking at the base of the wings. The red-hot metal cut through the exoskeleton of the oversized insect, it suddenly finding itself unable to carry the heavy load. Agni used the second or so he still had before falling down to knock off the Rama's mask, before teleporting back to Entrance of the Suva, watching as the Nui-Rama began to sink lower. He quickly ran back down the stairs to take on the next wave of Rahi.

IC

IC:Ankt ~Following Aurum~

"Toa of Light, eh? Well that explains the flashy thing I saw erupt around here. What about that Toa of Ice back there, the one who crash landed in the trees? What's up with him?" Normally Ankt would've ran off at the mention of such fictitiously strong beings, eager to find this Toa and see how strong he actually was. But this time he had this strange feeling that he should leave the Toa of Light alone for the moment.

Aurum rolled out of a particularly savage Rahi's path, leaving Ankt to grapple with the beast that Aurum had avoided. The fight was over in a second, the Rahi's focus had been on Aurum, so it didn't see Ankt's Pakari strengthened fist flying towards it's jaw. Avoiding the rahi's unconscious body, Ankt continued following Auron, hoping to gain a bit more info about the combatants before he entered the fray.

IC: Aurum

"If I'm correct.....he's the last Mark Bearer, who is currently......oppressed. So whose side are you on?" Aurum muttered back, before saying "You know what, I don't really care. If you're my ally, you'll know who to fight, and if you're an enemy, you know who to fight. If you're an enemy, though, you won't really fight."

Aurum watched carefully as Agni combated the Tarakava and then rescued Verak from his airborne enemy. Mask of Teleportation, huh. Quickly, he activated his own mask, the realistic, holographic image of an infected Ranama appearing, the infected mask placed on the neck. In truth though, it was a loose piece of metal Aurum placed on his back, and it was a plan to fool Agni, the one who seemed to be in charge and obviously someone who could take care of himself.

If it was a teleporter who Aurum was fighting, then he needed to be trapped, and taken down quickly before the fire blasted through. And...the best way to do that was to lure the Toa out.

His twin Sword-Katars were gripped tightly in his hands as he started to run forwards, the illusion of the red yellow fire toad around him, blending in with all the other Rahi, and he ran forwards towards the Agni, ready to form a counter-offensive.

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; dawn]

I was SO happy right now. My deepest, most secret dream had finally come true!

Now I knew what it was like to feel like a rag doll in the hands of a child in the middle of a temper-tantrum.

OUCH.

Pushing myself off the ground with considerable effort, I looked up. The Dark Toa hovered just a few meters away, staff held diagonally downwards me like a fencer's guard, his mask's crest jutting up above his face as he surveyed me coldly.

"Toa of Light," he finally said, as though he were examining an interesting specimen, "I confess I'm surprised you even exist. Then again, what with Heuani running around, I suppose the principle isn't so alien..." as he spoke I pulled myself into a crouch, looking up at him warily, gathering my wits after that rather ungainly bout. He continued to ramble however, his tone calm as though making conversation. "Although, your power is clearly nothing compared to the Shadow Toa's."

He splayed his hand as though pushing in my direction, and I could see the air ripple as another magnetic wave came right at me. It was at that moment I saw some very familiar sparks. Taking my chance I shot sideways and rolled out of the way as the magnetic wave broke up as the Dark Toa's concentration was shattered by the rapidly expanding sparks, momentarily dazzling his eyes. Not nearly as effective as what I could do, but appreciated nonetheless.

Honestly though Angi, I got this. Focus on holding that Suva!

My thoughts were my own, but as I chanced a glance back I noted that things were not looking good. They were holding their own, but at risk of being overwhelmed. I would have to trust my mentor that he had a plan while I worked on this lunatic. A lunatic I finally was able to place a name to the face.

Echelon.

At first I didn't know who he was, but after the last several moments of engagement there was enough familiarity to trigger some of the memories that I gleaned from Tuara. Echlelon, Toa of Magnetism, Creator of the Marks, scientific genius, arguably one of the most evil and vile Toa on this island... and possibly the most powerful and dangerous, at least when it came to elemental control. He could do better in the muscle department. Still, he didn't hold a candle to Heuani.

Wait, was that the right metaphor?

"First off, I'm glad you're so fascinated by my existence; pleased to make your day and acquaintance, Echelon." As I spoke he turned to face me, having blinked away the light from the sparks. "But I regret to inform you your initial analysis is in fact, incorrect. See, I've already faced Heuani... and won. Which mean's you're a lightweight when it comes to that outdated Toa of Shadows. Allow me to demonstrate-"

Raising my arm I targeted my wrist-laser, sending a volley of laser beams at Echelon's chest. Again I underestimated his mastery of his element as he barely managed to dodge them, his floating body much more nimble than an earth-bound one. Still, I managed to graze him, and he hissed at the pain. With a sinister smile he shot out his clawed hand, now less dramatic and showy as this engagement wore on.

The move took my breath away. Literally.

It was as if a giant invisible hand grasped me, squeezing my form in all directions, trying to mangle the very life out of me. I could see a bead of sweat drip down his forehead as Echelon concentrated hard, teeth gritted, as he concentrated his power in an absolutely crushing magnetic hold. Not to say that would deplete his reserves, but this was an all-out gambit; clearly somewhere between my presence and my quick mouth I pushed one to many buttons. My mouth went agape as all the air was forced from my lungs... and in an extraordinary effort I managed to create a ball of light right between Echelon's eyes, detonating it the same moment.

The flashbang was impressive.

The crack could be heard across the plain, even over the din slightly, as the effect hit the Dark Toa square in the face. He staggered, stumbled, flailed back in panicked stupor as he could no longer see or hear, his vision blind white and his ears noting but the sound of high-pitched ringing. That meant he also released his hold on me.

I hit the ground hard, gasping for breath. Nothing broken, but I hurt everywhere, that squeeze taking a lot out of me. I looked up, extremely peeved, and with a snarl shot forward, my fist glowing as a rainbow of colors streamed behind my clenched fist.

This time the blast of light hit him square in the chest.

Echelon rolled on the ground, now completely disoriented and extremely hurt in addition to the previous ailments. In a testament to his mental prowess however he managed to pull out a crystal and hastily, if not incoherently, speak into it.

"Utu! HELP ME!"

It was at this moment I finally got a an understanding of what was going on.

As Echelon spoke I got a good look at that stone. It was a smooth rock, about fist-sized, with a metal Mark of Fear set into it... the same mark Utu bore on his arm. It hit me: the staff wasn't what was controlling Utu - it was that crystal! A crystal that operated via spoken word, not telekinetic thought. Not to say the staff wasn't important, but this small rock was the real issue. Echelon had complete and total control over the massive Toa of Ice... and I was beginning to think it was against his will. As terrifying as Utu was, his actions didn't exactly fit our previous encounter. His movements were simple, stiff, not flowing and calculated... not to mention I hadn't heard him say a single word. As bad as Utu might have been, Echelon was worse; the forced enslavement of another being was as low as one could go, even if that was one villain taking over another. As much as I hated to admit it, I began to feel a little sorry for Utu, even a little guilty... there was a good chance he didn't even want to be here. Maybe he didn't want to fight at all? Perhaps after his failure during our last engagement he had decided to break away from his superiors, thus Echelon enslaving him. Against his will.

And despite my misgivings, free will was the right of all sentient beings... even if they chose evil.

Somewhere deep inside me I had the distinct feeling it was my duty to free him. As my mind began to think of the possibilities, however, my thoughts were cut short by the sound of thundering footsteps.

Utu had arrived.

OOC: alright guys, there IS a plan going on, so unless you want Utu to beat your face in I suggest you don't interfere

OOC: Here, I'm on Utu's side, so yip-yay.

IC: Aurum

Keh.

Another blast of light emerged above Aurum; his hologram temporarily flickered as he lost concentration, his eyes disoriented by the sudden beams of golden light, despite the range between him and the attack.

Regardless, he continued forwards, this time more cautious than before.

IC: Utu — Kini-NuiI felt a sudden urge to run from "king of the forest". Instead of finishing with basic addition, the shell complied. I can only imagine what that Toa must've thought. He comes to confront some guy who draws his sword, than turns around and sprints away. Could've been pretty funny if all parties included weren't total morons.The shell turned on it's heel, slamming its feet into the ground, pushing away from my assailant with much force, each stride pushing me further away and faster. If the command wasn't "run into the open" anymore, whatever was happening must've been pretty urgent if the shell was moving this fast. I broke the tree-line. It was urgent. Not to me, but the shell. I couldn't give two ##### about Echelon getting his behind handed to him; even if it was Joske Nimil.Help Echelon?I really didn't want to.Like, really, really, didn't want to. That guy could burn in karz for a million years, and I would be satisfied with where he would've ended up. I might deserve to go there too, but we all know that ulterior motives were my thing back then. Even if they got me nowhere. Which they did. All I ever did was mess up, my whole life. And yet, the only other thing I did was try to watch out for myself. My village taught me that helping others was dangerous. It got people killed.It got my sister killed.And I suppose in some strange twist of fate, the result of that got the rest of them killed too when I returned home, Mark blazing on my shoulder. I had never tried helping people. I wasn't a hero. Deep down, nobody was a hero. Myself, least of all. So as my feet stopped moving, and the first thing my shell did was try to help Echelon, like he asked. Only problem was, the shell wasn't the best at math.Two and two.Five.

My shell advanced towards Joske, who moved to strike me down, but it walked past him towards Echelon. It moved to Echelon's side, before reaching down and pulling him up. Inside, I was howling with laughter. It seemed the command either wasn't clear enough, or his little experiment wasn't as successful as he anticipated it was. It was new technology, you had to give the guy some credit for what he had done before. He had made a sort of mind controlling device for his greatest weapon. I thought about this as Echelon pushed away from me, angry at my inability to smite Joske Nimil into the nether. I kept trying to pull him up before Echelon hissed into the stone again. If the moment wasn't accompanied by an army of Rahi advancing on Makuta's home, it would've been really funny.My body stepped back, staring off into space.I was starting to hate my shell more and more every second, how stupid it was, and how powerless it made me feel. I might've been a weapon, but I wasn't a very good one. I didn't want to be a weapon anymore, it was only cause for failure. And I was done failing.

OOC:

butbutbutbutbutbut

utu vs zauk

and

meh

We'll meet again Snipe...

*drifts back into the shadows*

IC: Zauk

The Toa of Lightning shifted his weight towards his back foot, his heel digging into the damp ground slightly. At that moment, it seemed as if everything had gone silent. The rustling of the canopy leaves, the calls of the Rahi, the sounds of battle not to far off; all of it; gone. Light stance, keep your knees bent. Once again, the Toa's words came to him. It had been a long time ago, and it was amazing that his lessons hadn't been buried beneath everything else. Well, recent events had dug up old wounds, leaving him raw and unbalanced. But he wasn't here to remember the past.

As it was, the Toa before him looked even more menacing up close. The white-armored being was as tall as a Vortixx, and built like a Skakdi. And he was just standing there. No words of reply, no warnings about running along or else heads would start getting ripped off, nothing. His face was expressionless, not utterly cold and impassive like the beings that Zauk had lived with in Ko-Koro, but devoid of anything that one would expect to see in a living being. For all intents and purposes, the Toa looked dead to the world. Zauk knew about Kanohi such as the Tryna, but this Toa didn't look dead. Physically, that is.

No, he definitely didn't look dead by the way his eyes gleamed with a sudden purple light, nor by the way he unlimbered a massive blade. It wouldn't do it justice to call the weapon a sword. The huge weapon was as large as a Toa, and the white-armored being was holding it with one hand. Pakari, lovely. His mask looked like a Miru, but then again, Zauk's own Kanohi didn't exactly look like a Matatu.

Zauk swung his scythe back, the crystalline blade shining as he held it pointed towards the ground, away from his body. Keep them distracted, just enough to make them doubt your next move. Zauk dropped into a low, wide stance, scythe still swung back with his opposite hand held out towards the massive Toa of Ice. He kept an eye on the being, but he wasn't entirely focused on him. Instead, he was reaching out with his mind, curling it around the base of one of the trees that lined the area. With a mental push, his telekinetic hold began to crush the tree trunk.

Before enough damage could be done to cause the tree to fall towards the Toa, the massive being suddenly turned, and ran off full sprint back towards the clearing.

Zauk just stood there.

For once, someone actually listened to him. Amazing.

With a slight grunt, he let his psionic power slip away, and rose into a more upright stance. That was strange, to say the least. Of course, he did the natural thing. He followed the massive Toa of Ice.

Why? Well, his prey was getting away, and the hunter didn't let that happen. It was easy to find where the Toa had ran, someone that large didn't just sprint through a forest quietly.

Zauk himself stopped just inside the treeline, watching with the help of the telescopic eyepiece on his Kanohi.

IC:

Agni looked where Verak was ladning, cheering as he did. At least he is having fun...Agni thought, happy to see the Toa was not a pile of broken bones from the drop but still moving, despite his injuries. Despite his odd sense of what counted as 'enjoyable' experiences, he was quite the trooper. And he was taking on a Kane-Ra without a seconds hesitation. Agni turned back around. His distraction of Echelon had worked, Joske was back up and fighting. But just as he registered the fact, the giant Toa of ice broke through the treeline again, recovered and with heavy steps. Utu was like an avalanche. But he wasn't the only new appearance.

Makuta's infected Rahi were still coming, Nui-Jaga this time, backed up by another Kane-Ra and more Nui-Rama. And oddly enough a Ranama as well. They were delayed Agni thought quickly...he needed something to stall the oncoming Rahi to deal with the flyers. He looked to Verak once again. Because he'd just had an idea.

"Verak! I need sand. And lots of it!"

IC (Echelon)

"Attack the Toa of Light, you fool," Echelon snarled into the Control Stone, pulling his arm free of Utu's 'helpful' grip. As the behemoth of a Toa turned and began his charge at Joske. Echelon, meanwhile, massaged his temples as he leaned on his staff, trying to alleviate the mind-numbing sensation that was still shining in his eyes and ringing in his ears.

Joske stood in a combat-ready stance as Utu's expressionless gaze shifted back to him. The Mark Bearer began pacing towards him. As he picked up speed in his charge, he hefted the massive weapon he held, raising it up and above his head. Utu swiftly closed the last few metres, swinging his blade in a deadly arc.

But Joske was ready for him. A barrier of solid light coalesced between him and the Mark Bearer, and despite Utu's prodigious strength the sword rebounded from it. As Utu recoiled slightly from the sheer momentum of his attack's deflection, Joske struck, reshaping the barrier into a projectile which shot into Utu's armoured gut. The Toa of Ice staggered back a couple of steps, but the attack had clearly done minimal damage.

And then, Joske was sent flying once more. Echelon, his senses regained (mostly; the flashbang's effects would take time to fully wear off), advanced, this time on foot, jabbing his staff against the ground with every other step. He raised his hand, and twisted it so that the palm swivelled to face upwards. Joske was lifted into the air, almost upside-down, disorientated by the move. He fired off a couple of lasers from his wrist, but they fizzled harmlessly into the ground. Utu moved to strike at Joske, but stopped as a brief order was uttered to his Control Stone. Joske twisted his neck to see Echelon standing nearby, one hand raised as he maintained the magnetic hold.

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," said Echelon. The Dark Toa's tone was almost lazy, confident in his upper hand. "May I inquire as to who you are?"

"Who am I?" Joske replied, suddenly flashing a defiant smirk. "I'm Joske Nimil."

And suddenly, Echelon was staggering back, doubled over in pain. A solid light blast had struck him...somewhere rather painful. Joske dropped to his feet, laughing at the Dark Toa's humiliation, but Echelon's head shot up, murder in his crimson eyes, and he raised a hand, tightening it into a fist.

Joske's laughs caught in his mouth as he felt his throat crushed inwards. The Toa of Light scrabbled at his neck, trying to pry the choking grip from it; but his fingers scrabbled against thin air. Echelon straightened up, his face a cold grimace, clenching his fist tighter. Joske was lifted into the air by the invisible chokehold, struggling in vain as he was strangled by his own neck-armour...

IC

IC:

Agni conjured up a wall of flame as the stream of sand was abruptly cut off by the Kane-Ra's attack on his ally, a wall that shot outward quickly, towards the oncoming Rahi. It scared the Nui-Jaga momentarily, halting their advance until the flames dissipated, but not the Ranama. It barreled through the fire quickly, apparently not taking much damage. Not that Agni placed much importance on that right now, Ranama thrived in the heat near lava-streams, a little fire wasn't going to do much. But right now, he needed Verak again.The sandstorm had been a good start but he needed that sand back in the air. Thankfully, the Toa of stone managed to get out of the tight spot he had gotten himself into just in time, slipping out of the Kane-Ra's reach and looking towards the oncoming Nui-Jaga, then to Agni.

"Raise the sand!" the veteran ordered.

Now that was something Verak could and did do with relative ease. To him the order seemed to be an extension of Agni's earlier one, bringing up a barrier of sand. But what Agni had in mind was something different and a lot more effective. Something Verak hadn't counted on. As the sand shot up with a flick of his hands and whirled around the Rahi, the Toa of fire channeled his own element through his blades. He stretched out his arms towards the cloud of grains, throwing as much heat as he could generate into the blast flames shooting into the sand, fusing the grains together...

Suddenly, the whole wave of Rahi found themselves encased in a barrier of bizarrly shaped glass that was beginning to cool rapidly as Agni absorbed the heat radiating from it until it was a solid mass around the beasts that had just tried to get at them. It also proved to be a nice obstacle in the way of any Rahi following them. Agni took a few seconds to look at his work, but breathing heavily. This little stunt had taken a noticeable toll on his elemental reserves. But he had not run out yet and the reabsorbtion had helped a little as well. He looked at Verak.

"Good job. Keep it up!"

IC: Trizvan

The Toa of Plantlife didn't see Agni's attack until all the heat had been sucked out. He roared with rage, sending pain lancing through his throat and tried to run at the imprisoned Rahi, but was knocked off his feet by a Rock Raptor. Hissing, he lashed out and took its infected mask off using his vines, but three more Rahi came up behind it, and the wild Toa had no choice but to hold his ground once again. At least most of the Rahi caught in the glass weren't from Le-Wahi naturally.

He ducked a spear thrust from an Artakha Bull and attempted to knock off one of its infected masks, but his attack was deflected. He'd had run-ins with the Rahi before and knew how intelligent they were. Dangerously so. So his best shot was to out-skill it. Lucky him, the Rock Lion he'd just freed didn't seem to like it much, and provided an ample distraction. Its masks were quickly removed, and the Lion turned to begin battling its way back to Po-Wahi. Trizvan still had a Nui Jaka and a Vine Crawler to dispatch of, though, and set to that, grudgingly accepting that he couldn't help the Rahi trapped in glass.

IC: Aurum

Unlike the non-sapient beasts around him, Aurum could pay attention to the battle around him. When the sand came up and all the other beasts beside him rammed right in in an effort to get to the Suva, Aurum as the Ramana was able to leap back. Luckily enough, since soon, the beasts were instantly trapped inside an ornament of glass. They would break out soon, but with the density, it would be harder. With the sillyness of all his non-sapient teammates, even harder.

Of course, there was the problem of Aurum having dodged the attack. He had no doubt Agni had been able to spot the Fire Toad out in a place like here, but the abnormal fact that he went away from the heat....Aurum was pretty sure the veteran could, with enough evidence, put 2 and 2 together.

He'd have to stop that. A Toad's leaping power is great, and Aurum's ability to continually focus on his illusion was another good factor of help. Leaping right up the glass barrier, making sure not to snap anything or accidentally cut himself, he leapt over, and launched himself at the Toa of Fire, illusion still active and the infected mask appearing to be up on the Ramana's forehead; Aurum's back of the neck when he was on all fours. In place of it, though, was a piece of metal, similar in weight to an average Kanohi, loose, and ready to suddenly expand and wrap around the hands of one who grabbed him.

Aurum, the hologram of a crimson-red Toad, native to Ta-Wahi, around him, half ran, half walked to Agni, and Aurum hoped the Toa of Fire would still fall for it.

IC: Utu - Kini-Nui"Attack the Toa of Light, you fool."Oh yeah, I'm the fool here. I forgot, let me go back to being unable to properly operate my body in an efficient manner due to your inadequacies. I turned away from Echelon, finally advancing on the Toa of... light, fire, whatever.Each step equal to the previous, gradually gaining in speed. I reached back for my weapon again pulling it from the sheathe. Joske's gaze seemed to contrast the machine like eyes the shell was boring into him; like he was looking for something. I bring up the blade, and bring it down, only to strike a barrier of light Joske had established. As expected, the blade rebounded, bringing my arm back where it came from, holding onto the massive sword. I didn't have time to respond before Joske slammed me in the gut.Echelon returns the favor by shoving Joske away. I move to advance on him. What were we even doing?I go to strike down Joske, Echelon having flipped him around a bit.Echelon made the mistake of asking me to stop."It seems you have me at a disadvantage. May I inquire as to who you are?"I watch useless banter I used to make the mistake of taking part in.

"Who am I? I'm Joske Nimil."Echelon was quickly slammed in the face with a good ol' light smash, sending Echelon off his feet for a moment. Joske, having somehow spun himself midair landed a little rough on his feet, but regained his footing, a smile on his lips and the sound of laughter on his tongue. The sound became something very guttural and painful however, when Echelon reached up and started to crush his windpipe with his magnetic powers. Echelon lifted him off his feet again, continuing the strangling.What were we doing here?Makuta had called for Echelon to return, to defend the Kini-Nui. But we weren't defending it. We were striking against it, fighting the people that guarded it. It took me many years before I found out that the six Matoran I was trying to hunt down, had become Toa and entered Makuta's lair to combat him. But in this moment, I realized just how little it mattered.I realized just how little I mattered: Slave to a Toa I hated, one that treated me like resource; a piece in his games. We were fighting a Toa who the last time I met, told me we had unfinished business. I wondered if either he had bigger beef to settle with Echelon, or something else was happening. I'm wasn't totally sure about it at the time, but looking back on it I think I came the same conclusion I did years ago. I saw it in his eyes when I went to strike him down. He was treating me like the victim.Nobody did that, not ever.I was always the criminal. I was always the killer, the thief, the liar; I was always the one to blame, and only for the bad things. I was never given a chance, I was never given a choice. I was only a product of a hateful and spiteful people, the overall outcome of nothing but disgust and destruction for thousands of years. Push somebody far enough, and they will do terrible things out of desperation to regain their footing on solid ground. It didn't matter what alignment they were in some imaginary battle between Mata-Nui and Makuta. Push, and be pushed back. It was law. I'm not proud of what I've done. But I wouldn't change it. I couldn't change the past if I wanted to.Victims don't get many chances to change.I stood there, watching the life leave Joske's body. My eyes did not move to meet his, but his did to look into mine. I wanted out. And I was going to get out, no matter what. I would've killed for the chance to be free again. And that's what it was going to take. The victim was being pushed again.It was time to push back.

IC (Oreius)

The darkness did not hinder Oreius like it did the other Maru.

Perhaps it was Inu; perhaps it was the darkness struggling to draw him closer to the prophesied betrayal. Whatever it was, where the other Toa saw only heartlights and glowing eyes, the Toa of Fire could vaguely make out the forms of his brothers and sister.

And when the elevator hit the floor with a soft thump and the team looked out into the mists, straining to see through the darkness and the fog, Oreius did not have to strain his eyes. It was less seeing than feeling, but he knew there was something out there.

It was a feeling akin to the one that had tugged at him in the battle against the Rahkshi. An odd sense of kinship. Of brotherhood and alliance. Inu translated the sensation uneasily.

There are friends down here...?

No... the Toa turned his mind away from these thoughts, even as Inu did the same, the golden thoughts of the parakuka retreating slightly as the two sought solace from the skin-crawling sensation. They both knew what it was: Inu was still a son of Makuta. The thing they sensed was the taint of the Makuta, and nothing more.

Even as he fought to ignore the feeling, however, a fire burned inside him to turn and face it head-on. To rage and blaze against the Makuta's dark influence, and burn it away until the Master of Shadows was consumed in flames and smoke, every tendril of thought and shadow incinerated, freeing the Toa Maru and the parakuka entirely from his will. The fire stoked itself from embers into a blaze in his chest, compelling him to lash out, to do something, because courage is the soul of movement and only cowards stand still and wait for the enemy to come to them.

With a start, Oreius realized this was the voice of Tahu, burning within him with the heat of a bonfire and the light of the sun. In fact, he recognized it: it was the same confidence that had awakened in him in the tunnels below Xa-Koro, compelling him to lead the Company without even drawing a weapon. It was the same bluster that had made him speak out against Stannis in the Papa Nihu Reef, debating their course instead of following his leader. And it was the same courage that had blazed forth when the Toa of Ice had cornered him in Ko-Wahi, a courage that refused to die until there was no evil left to burn.

Tahu's voice had spoken to him through the Stone. Now, the First Toa of Fire dwelt within him, urging him on, filling him with a reckless bravery that compelled him to fight.

A chittering noise instantly drew Oreius' attention to his right; the fog briefly slid aside to reveal a monstrous Rahi. It was almost as big as Sulov, with a thick hide, two long, powerful-looking arms, and a set of salivating mandibles.

A Manas.

Monster.

The intimidating Rahi was not alone; within moments, the Maru were surrounded by six of the creatures, all of them chattering softly and grinding their jaws together. As the Toa slowly spread out, it was only now that Oreius could make out the source of the vague brotherly feeling that Inu had sensed as they had entered the vast underground chamber: Each Manas boasted a pair of infected Kanohi.

With a screech, one of the Rahi launched itself at Leah, who dealt with the threat quickly, knocking the creature down and sending it skittering back into the fog. Its siblings followed suit, and the Toa Maru were suddenly under attack.

Oreius faced down his assailant as the Manas leapt at him, swinging its strong arms in an attempt to knock him down, slings of saliva swinging from its clashing jaws. At the last second, the Toa of Fire darted to the side, his speed and agility coming into play as he ducked under the oncoming arm. The Manas was almost as fast as he was, however; the creature quickly spun around and launched another barrage of blows.

Fast, but not fast enough. The brief seconds of space had given Oreius enough time to note and mentally catalogue each of the Rahi's weaknesses and strengths.

Strong. Persistent. Fast. Smart. Name a trait, and Makuta's first line of guardians had it in spades. Not only that, but they fed on heat, making Oreius' element essentially useless. But they had their weaknesses too; they were small and hardly noticeable (unless you had an Auporo), but were there nonetheless.

As the Toa of Fire ducked and weaved between the Rahi's attacks, he shouted out what he had found, hoping his teammates would hear and understand.

“Armour niche at the shoulder! Disables the arm!”

The weakness was beautifully simple: the mask had targeted the Manas shoulders, noting a small gap between the the thick plates of armour. One good hit, and Oreius realized that the Manas' arm would be useless.

“Target infected masks!”

Those were obvious, but important. If the infected Kanohi were knocked off, the Rahi would be freed from Makuta's control.

“Weak to cold!”

The Manas were strengthened by heat; if Reordin could drop the temperature, they would lose much of their mobility and power.

Needless to say, that left Oreius in the position of having to fend for himself without the help of his fire, which was looking to be increasingly difficult. The Manas were smart; this one had already begun to figure out its opponent's strategy, and was trying to separate the Toa of Fire from his team. Without his element, he couldn't get on the offensive.

Not for long.

Oreius smiled, and Inu answered with a flood of joy and battle-lust that swept through his body, filling his limbs with raw, tingling power. His arms elongated as their back hunched over, and their fingers sharpened around the hilts of their swords.

Our turn.

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; dawn]

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

Before me stood two very different ones.

Echelon was simple: hate. There was murder in his crimson eyes, even as tears streamed down from the effect of the repeated flashbangs, blurring his vision. His face was in a cold grimace, his teeth clenched, my very presence an affront to his dark sensibilities and understanding. Who I was and what I represented did not fit in his little box that he used to understand and clarify the world, and people fear what they do not understand. To him I was a freak of nature, an impossibility, and someone who could wipe the floor with him despite his powers and abilities. Not only was I a threat, but a threat with a carefree attitude and smile; I might as well slapped him across the face when it came to how the universe worked.

Thus the rage, the hate, the anger and sheer vileness that oozed off his body as he attempted to snuff out my life once and for all. I should not exist. I was too powerful. Too much of a challenge. Cannot be controlled. I must be eliminated. At any cost.

Then there was Utu.

Someone... I pitied.

I fought him once. Knew how potent and powerful this toa was. His strength, his smarts, his abilities... robbed. Taken from him. His body now a prison as he was forced to obey the very one that had created him. Echelon was using him as a blunt tool when really he was a fine blade, able and capable of not only terrible blows but concise and efficient strikes. I felt bad for him. I felt... sorry.

It was in this moment as I hung gasping for breath that I learned a valuable lesson: compassion.

Here was a being that I despised. Someone who I had blatantly told we had "unfinished business". Someone who, under any other circumstance, I would have loved to see dragged down, humiliated, defeated, and brought to justice. Someone that did not deserve mercy, kindness, and benevolence.

Yet here he was. Suffering from the worst fate possible to befall a being, something worse than death itself. He didn't deserve it.

No one did.

The Toa Code in all it's hidden undertones came to the forefront of my mind, the reason for its existence. Freedom was the ability to make choices, either good or bad, whether beneficial or harmful; it was the right of everyone that lived. Evil had a habit of taking away that choice under the illusion of even greater freedom, enslaving those who turn to the darkness, eventually killing them in the process - one way or another. That's why Toa didn't kill. I never thought of it that way before, but now it made more sense... the power to kill gave you power over someone. The ability to take or grant a life... you take away that choice. By killing you are demonstrating your power over that person, and you cease fighting for the freedom of others and instead begin to rip it from their hands. As Toa it isn't our job to necessarily be the upholders of goodness and justice; we are the defenders of freedom, and then by extension, righteousness. We uphold the law created and given by those in higher authority, whether it be our superiors, Turaga, other leaders, or even the Great Spirit himself; therefore it is only they that can justly and fairly determine of said laws have been broken and what punishment is deserved... if any. We as Toa are nothing but a glorified police force, defenders of what has been laid down, protectors of not only lives but the freedom of choice and life of those we serve. Even if they choose wrongly. Then it is our duty to stop them and bring them in... not before.

Thus is the double-edged sword of free will. But it is our Duty to protect it. At all costs.

And what I saw in Utu was someone who desperately wanted out, someone who despite his past did not deserve what had been forced upon him.

Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

Someone who was fighting back.

But he needed help.

I glanced back at Echlon, who was giving his all to snuff out my existence. At any time I could have stopped Echelon. At any time I could have freed myself. But even as I was hanging there, stars appearing before my eyes, my senses beginning to black out, I sensed that was not the right course. No. Utu saw what was happening to me, to him, to us... yes, he was fighting back. Finding a reason to push back. Finding strength to take on the mental shackles placed upon him.

I had the power. But in this instance I could not use it. Instead I let him find his own, and through my pain and compassion he would find the fortitude to break free of his own indomitable will.

Hopefully before I blacked out completely.

IC (Echelon)

Echelon stabbed his staff into the ground, and with his now-free hand, reached into the pouch at his waist. His hand emerged once again holding the roughly spherical rock, Mark of Fear glinting metallically from the otherwise unremarkable surface, and he raised it to his mouth.

"Utu," he said coldly, never for a moment releasing the magnetic chokehold nor his contemptuous glare, "kill him."

Joske continued to struggle, Echelon pressing the chokehold tighter and tighter as he waited for Utu to make his strike.

It never came.

Echelon whipped his head to the right to look at his thrall. The Toa of Ice stood motionless, staring at Joske. Then he slowly turned his head to look at the Necromancer. Echelon's red eyes glared in anger and confusion.

"What are you waiting for? Do it," he hissed. "Finish him! Now!"

IC: Utu — Kini-Nui

"Utu," Echelon's voice was as cold as my powers, each syllable seeming to hiss a little at his apparent success, "kill him."I'm not a hero.I never was. Probably never will be.The place that I grew up seemed to treat anybody that so much attempted to do anything stereotypically heroic like the dead corpse you dump into a lake. Because that what you'd become there: A corpse. You weren't allowed to look out for other people. It was always just you. You had to be the antagonist in the tragic story that was our pathetic lives simply to continue telling it. You were blinded to the other choices you could make when you prioritized your survival so much it became the only thing you thought about. That desire to simply go on would become aggressive. You would set out to push other people down to pick yourself up, simply adding to the vicious circle that bred people like me. But "winning" wasn't really a victory when you achieved it by using the bodies you drowned out as floatation devices to stay alive.My life was a string of failures. I couldn't accomplish anything I tried.My father and mother hated me, I couldn't stop them from killing my sister when - surprise - she tried to protect me instead of herself, and I couldn't stand up to my brother who was only marginally better than my parents. Even in recent moments before this one, I couldn't really win. I wasn't right about the Mark Temple, I couldn't catch the six Matoran, even with the help of two of Makuta's finest soldiers. Almost every single thing I ever tried, ended in a huge cluster-roke. And even the things that worked out alright only came back around to dig their teeth into my rear end anyways, so even those were essentially failures in the long run. I couldn't get away from it. I was a cursed man in an evil world and an indecent time. I couldn't win. How could I amount to anything of real worth? And don't give me the "some might argue that fighting for anything, even if you fought for the wrong reason, you were worth something". As though action on its own dictated worth. But that's bull, and I know from first-hand experience."What are you waiting for? Do it!"I fought very hard throughout my life, and didn't get anywhere. And I tried. I really did. But the kicker of it all, was a single variable that sort of overlapped every failure that eventuated because of my choices. I was the villain.

"Finish him! Now!"It was then that I fought the hardest than I had ever fought in my life; the first of few select times. Harder than when I tried to save my dying sister. Harder than when I took revenge on my people. Harder than when I fought to unite the Mark Bearers. Harder than when I died and came back to life. Harder than when I tried to hold on to the most fragile friendship I had ever experienced, which only existed out of mutual respect; at least during that time. Harder than when I screamed into the darkness to stop, to let me go and keep the rune I needed to survive and feel. Harder than when I crawled to the only person I thought who would accept me, and pledge my allegiance to his cause. Harder than when I tried to track down six certain Matoran for said cause. Harder than when I took on Joske Nimil and almost died for a second time. Harder than when my Mark was almost taken from me, nearly bringing about my death, again. Harder than when Echelon put me under.I tore at the restraints in my mind, restricting me from accessing my very own body. I slashed and hacked at the shackles the Master Mark Bearer held on me, attempting to shatter them. When I said I would have to kill to be free again:I wasn't kidding.The side of my head would start to warm, my lips and chin following suite. Blood warmed what it touched, and against my cold body, it felt searing coming out of my ears and nose. I was pushing so hard, I started to break the shell I was trapped in.Echelon's face contorted a little, confused at the sudden outburst of my life power.A very low quiet growling sound, not too different from the choking that Joske was currently taking part in started to call from my throat. And after a slight crescendo, a loud guttural choking was finally sounded with the flick of my head. This pushed a little bit more blood out my ears and nose, and my head felt like there was an axe inside of it, but the most important thing was that I had broken free.I was a failure at everything I tried.I never tried doing something for somebody else.I look to Echelon, stepping towards him, I reach for my blade, pulling it out before tossing it to the ground. Echelon reaches forwards with his remaining hand to speak into the stone, only to realize it has had no effect on me. He brings up his index and middle finger from the stone to swipe me away with his powers. I bring up my hand and quickly half strike him, half encase him in an eruption of ice. This causes him to falter, Swiftly, I bring up my foot, hitting him in the chest and smashing the ice, causing his imaginary grip on Joske to falter and his body to fall backwards.Joske was heard behind me, gasping for a breath at the brief release of Echelon's grip. I kick the control stone from the Master's hands, knocking it away. I took the opportunity to turn around, my lumbering massive frame twisting to look at Joske Nimil, Toa of light. We read each other’s eyes very briefly and mutual understanding is established, it is all I will give him, and it is what had given me. I breathe out heavily, the air causing globules of spit and blood to fly from my lips as my Mark of Fear flares up, my eyes shining bright like the sun. I reach down, gripping Echelon with my powerful hands, not being in any way careful about how I held him.I could feel my body hurting, the "axe" still in my temples, the blood still running from my ears: I was starting to think I wouldn't feel good about this later. Spoiler alert: I didn't. I pulled up, my shoulders seeming to fold over themselves as they worked, lifting Echelon up to meet me, eye to eye. Master and the Bearer. The antagonist and the non-hero. The fear fueling my breaking body. I spoke, looking into his eyes, a slightly frightened look seeming to flash across them."I am not your weapon."I push up with my left hand, tossing Echelon into the air while I bring my right hand back behind me. I also take a step back at the same time with my right foot, forcing a better distance between us for the following move. With my right fist, I release a wide destructive blow from the fear powered hand. Before Echelon even starts descending, I have rammed my fist onto the back of his head so hard I initiated his descent, and increased it's velocity tenfold, making him slam into the ground with great force. I remember hoping that I broke his face as it struck the ground, his body crumpling awkwardly. Even a little. Teeth, jaw, I didn't care. I just wanted him to feel how I felt. Broken.Once more I turn back to Joske Nimil who I look at for a short moment before feeling a cough coming on. I gave into the impulse after looking back at Echelon, blood flying from my mouth behind the cough.

I sort of fell, somehow stopping myself before I actually lost my footing. My center feeling very weak and very heavy, as though my top had started to try and fold on what was below it. I felt empty. I dropped to one knee, trying to keep my balance and my consciousness.Was I going to die?No, but I thought I was. I don’t know what I did to break out, but whatever I did, it was not good for me. It was a catalyst to a series of tedious and lethal problems I would have to face as the years went on.Joske took a deep breath, finally having a good chance to regain it. I watch him stand up again just before I fall to the ground, the blood still lulling out of my ears and nose, draining out into the soft grass below me.

IC

IC:

Agni returned Verak's thumbs-up. He knew the glass was only going to hold for so long, but that would still take long enough for the battle to wrap up at this pace. The Nui-Jaga and Kane-Ra were out of the fight. Out of the corner of his eye Agni noticed that Echelon and Utu were both lying on the ground now, Joske nearby and still moving. Just a minute or two ago, the two dark Toa had converged on Joske together. Either Joske had pulled another insane move from seemingly nowhere or something else had stopped them. The sound of a thud nearby drew his attention back. He looked to the left and saw the source of the noise.

Out of all the things throwing themselves at the defenders of the temple, it was the Ranama that was still moving. Agni frowned. How did the frog avoid the fire? These Rahi loved heat, lived right next to it. If you were close to a Lava-stream in Ta-Wahi outside of the main-village, Ranama were one of the things you always kept an eye out for. They were not particularly tough to beat in a straight-up fight, but they loved sneaking up on unsuspected prey and that made them rather dangerous. But even sneaking up on prey did not entail analysing an opponents tactics and avoiding their attack like this. By all logic, it should be encased inside the glass like the others.

Agni could only think of two explanantions. Either the Makuta had developed a liking for frogs, because out of all the Rahi with sharp claws and teeth, he'd picked the Ranama as the smart ones. Which would mean his influence through the infected mask had given the Ranama the ability to dodge that attack, or this Rahi was far more intelligent than it was supposed to be on its own. The Toa of fire didn't know which it was. But it didn't matter.

"I don't have time for this..." he muttered under his breath and reached out for the Rahi with his elemental power, rapidly beginning to absorb its body-heat. It'd be frozen from the inside in just a moment. He was not going to waste a physical confrontation on a Mata-Nui-forsaken frog of all things.

-----------------------------------------------

Leah heard Oreius' instructions and the sound of him beginning his parakuka-powered transformation over the sound of metal against metal, as she used her staff to hit the Manas arms as it tried to strike her, throwing them off so they missed her, as the crab was slowly pushing her back. She needed to push back, do something to deter the Rahi. An idea...yes!

She deflected two more punches and while the Manas drew back its powerful arms she stretched out hers. A spehere of water appeared around the crab's head-region, blocking its eyes. For a moment, all it could see was blue; precious seconds that Leah used to go on the offense. She took a few steps back, ran, planted her staff on the ground and pole-jumped onto the back of the Manas. 'Armour niche at the shoulder', Oreius had said. The Manas was bucking, but more focused on the water around its eyes still, trying to claw at it.

Leah moved left quickly, looked over the thick plating protecting the monsters shoulder...there! She raised her staff with both hands and jammed it into the gap. There was the sound of a metallic crunch, blocking gears and a feral screech from the Manas. Suddenly Leah was hit in the back as the Rahi swiped blindly with its still-working arm, throwing her off its back. It had been an instinctive swipe and at the odd angle there hadn't been the power behind it that was in a regular punch of these creatures. But it still hurt. With an 'umphf' the Toa of water hit the ground with her shoulder, a dull throbing erupting from it.

The Manas whirled around, with only one good arm but fully able to see again. It hissed, or whatever the Manas-equivalent to that was and advanced on her again. Unfortunately, the way she had landed she was now close to the Manas meant for Reordin as well. She couldn't move back, or else that one would finish her from behind. She got back on her feet quickly. The Manas were directed by a single will, she realized one unit. And right now, the Maru were fighting one on one. But they were a team for a reason. They'd traveled together, gotten to know each other, shared successes and mourned together. Now they had to fight together and combine their powers. Leah concentrated, the air around her getting dryer as she absorbed the moisture from it and the fog to top off her own reserves.

Two new spheres of water formed, these much larger than the first one, around both the Manas she had damaged, as well as the one facing off against her favourite Toa of ice. As his opponent was suddenly engulfed in water, he looked over to her. Their eyes met.

"Reordin, freeze them!" Leah called out to him.