BZPRPG: Kini-Nui

IC: Aurum

For a second or two, the Ramana stood still. Then the hologram flickered, and faded away, Aurum clenching his teeth as he felt the Toa of Fire seep away the heat inside his body. Soon, he'd freeze. Of course, that wasn't to say he couldn't be the one who was interrupting people's thoughts.

He sprinted forwards, his body starting to use much more energy, and quickly ran towards Agni. Aurum didn't know if it would be ok to have a metal spike poke right out of the temple; it was just....wrong. So not risking the fact that he might anger his master - or anyone else, for that matter - he jumped, and formed in both palms two small, metal blades that he threw at the Toa of Fire. In midair, their size increased until they were sword-length spikes. Nowhere near as pretty, but possibly a bit more lethal.

IC (Echelon)

Blackness, empty blackness, gradually parting. Like swimming upwards through tar. Echelon's mind gradually began to coalesce from the brain-numbing smash Utu had performed. Up through the blackness, the tarry depths, as they got lighter and clearer until -

The Necromancer opened his eyes. Pain arced through his face as he lay there. And something felt...different. He pushed himself up on all fours from the hard earth where he had fallen, his eyes still blurred and unfocussed and the sounds of battle around weirdly muffled as though underwater. A self-diagnosis fluttered through his mind: heavy concussion. As he struggled to move his numb limbs, he noticed a spot of black beneath him. His vision slowly swam into focus, the black object becoming sharper and clearer as he stared down at it until he could finally see what it was.

His mask. Cloven in two by a jagged crack, the halves of the mask lying like pieces of cracked eggshell in the dirt, with smaller shards scattered around.

Echelon stared at the shattered Kanohi in disbelief. His control over the dead, gone. His powers, heavily weakened. His link to Makuta, severed.

Groping for his staff, which lay close by, he began to pull himself up using the staff for support. Struck by a sudden wave of exhaustion, no doubt thanks to the loss of his mask, he sagged, clutching the tool in his attempt to stay upright. Closing his eyes, his breathing ragged, he remained there, oblivious to the battle raging nearby, as the implications of what had happened in the last few minutes sank in...

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; dawn]

With a sigh I released the light-tube I had hastily conjured and shoved down my throat. I can't say that was the most brilliant use of my power; between Echelon's death grip pressing on one side of my throat and the tube pushing back on the other, the move caused more damage than it prevented. I felt my neck, only a wheeze escaping my lips; as I suspected, my voice box was damaged . But it DID prevent me from being choked to death. I may be brushing it off now, but I came scarily close to dying right there. Had it been anyone else they would have passed out long before. Utu took his sweet time in fighting back.

Then again, he won. With a little unseen help.

I took a moment to reflect, reaffirming that the war that we all were engaged was more than swords, disks, and infected masks - it was also over the hearts and minds of the matoran, and in fact every being on this island. Even if we managed to removed the Makuta, eliminate every source of evil there was, but lost ourselves in the process, what had we really gained? In the end we simply replaced one tyrant with another, one evil with the next. The Makuta didn't need to physically win anything; all he needed to do was remove our Unity, replace our Duty, and subvert our Destiny, and he would win. Because if these were corrupted, it would trickle down to things like Courage, Faith, Peace, the Principles... eventually eroding down the bone of Mercy, Compassion, and Hope. If the Makuta could remove the Hope of a people, the game was over. We couldn't lose ourselves in your quest for retribution; justice and mercy, that was the key.

Even as we fought back we also needed to be compassionate.

Not for a moment did I think Utu was a good person. That thought never crossed my mind. He had done some truly evil things, and as much was forced upon him, most of it was his doing. His choice. He chose to live the life he had led, whether he realized it or not; we are all in control of our destiny... unless we voluntarily hand it over to others. But if we do, we have no-one to blame but ourselves. This is where I saw Utu, someone who had made a lot of bad choices and those he didn't make he blamed on others - others he let make the choices for him. It was his life, and he was reaping what he had sown, suffering because of it. But that didn't mean I couldn't compassionate and reach out, bend a hand down and offer him a way out.

It's what we're supposed to do, whether we want to or not.

That was Cael's greatest lesson. She spent her life helping people, whether they deserved it or not. I could write a book about the number of less-than-upstanding people she had saved over the years, people that did not deserve to be healed but she did anyway. People that should have been left to rot and suffer in their pain for the stupid decisions they made over the course of their lifetime. People that, despite their past, she reached down and helped, was that saving grace, was that sole lightstone in a dark room, someone that would help those who no one else would. People who didn't deserve it.

People like me.

She didn't save me once; she saved my life twice. Two times too many if life were completely just. Now I may not be Utu; I've never killed anyone, let alone been a terrifying source of evil, but that's not to say I didn't contribute to the problem. I was apathetic. Arrogant. Stuffy. Prideful. Selfish. I was a product of the world that Makuta had slowly been breeding and while I may not have directly contributed to the problem, my lack of fighting back did. Apathy was on his side, and I was the poster child of it. Not to mention I was a source of strife and disharmony for the longest of time, even as a toa. She could have at any time thrown her hands up in the air and walked away, having done more for me than I ever did for her; it would have been in her right to do so. But she didn't. She stuck with me. Stayed despite the difficulty. Had compassion enough to help me through the most difficult time in my life. That was her legacy, what she wanted most, and what she wished to give to others.

So how could I in my right mind refuse to do the same with Utu? With anyone for that matter?

Simply put: I couldn't.

Maybe Utu would change after this. Maybe he wouldn't. It wasn't up to me nor my responsibility to change him. Was WAS my responsibility was to be the one that showed that it was possible for others to care, to be the light and example through my words and actions. It was a terribly large burden, one that I did not feel adequate nor prepared for, but it's what I was supposed to do. So when our eyes met, this silent understanding passing between us, it was enough. I didn't know what path he was going to take here on out, but I had clearly done my duty. Utu saw something in what I did, and while maybe he did not understand nor replicate the sentiment, he was appreciative of it.

Which is all I could ask for.

I turned, leaving the two of them to settle between themselves. Evil had this habit of destroying itself in the end, one way or another; no matter the alliance, in the end there could only be one. I suspected Utu would come out on top despite his condition, for Echelon's mask was removed and broken; the criminal mastermind had been brought down by his own creation. I would have loved to have witnessed the end of this, but I had more pressing matters at hand. Namely the defense of the Suva.

Reinforcements were on their way.

IC:

As Agni siphoned the heat from the Ranama, it started to flicker and disappeaer, a Toa standing in its place. That explained the strangely high intelligence the Rahi had exibited. It was just an illusion. Agni's eyes narrowed but he didn't stop his absorption. Illusion or not, this Toa was with the attacking force, another enemy to put a stop to.

His ruse revealed, the Toa sprinted towards him. Agni assumed a defensive stance, blades raised, but his opponent jumped up, flinging metal blades that formed out of thin air and were growing in size rapidly.

A Toa of iron, he registered. Tricky, but not unbeatable. Agni leaped to the side, at the same time firing a ball of flame into the others flightpath, before tucking into a roll ending with him back on his feet, ready to continue the fight.

IC: Aurum

A hastily formed spherical shield blocked away most of the flames; what little curled off the edges was easily endured by Aurum's own metallic armor. Landing on the ground, he quickly went on the offensive, pressing the fight, and activated his mask and element.

Three metal spikes shot upwards, each angled towards Agni. One of them were real, and the tip was pointed to enter Agni's neck from the back. The other two were holograms, and emerged much faster; both points went straight for the Toa of Fire's eyes.

Even still, Aurum's metal shield quickly resized itself, getting thicker, but also getting much more balanced, better on the weight, easier to hold with more mobility. Half-fusing the shield onto his left forearm, he drew his Sword-Katar on his right hand.

IC:

So, Iron and Illusions...let's see how long you can keep that up. Agni thought as Aurum landed. The Toa had blocked his fireball, to be expected by such an instinctual counter. He didn't wait however, as iron-spikes erupted from the ground around him, aiming to impale him through the head from three different directions. The Toa of fire simply let himself drop straight down to on one knee, the spikes shooting past each other across his head. The next instant, he was gone. Aurum turned left and right, shield raised and Katar at the ready, but Agni wasn't there.

For a few seconds, Agni had time to think, perched high atop the southern pillar of the temple, analyzing what he'd seen so far from his opponent. An idea formed in his mind then. As soon as the Toa of iron got the idea to look up though, Agni disappeared again before Aurum got eyes on him, using his mask to teleport behind his opponent. As he dropped the last foot from the air when he reappeared, he brought down his elbow hard, aiming for the Toa's neck to knock him out.

OOC: Moving from Ko-Wahi with Echelon’s group

IC: Vidar – Kini Nui Area

Once the group had passed into the forest surrounding the temple region, Vidar broke off from the group and began leaping from branch to branch, hoping to have the advantage by having the high ground. Once the jungle-bred Rahkshi-Toa had a visual on the temple itself, it appeared that they had arrived right on time – the Makuta’s Rahi were already beginning to amass.

The Dark Toa could not help by grin at the impending slaughter. He could remain up here in the trees, and watch the bloodbath for pure sport. “Heroes versus villains,” the classic Last Stand scenario.

In the distance, the armored warrior could see a circle of fighters around the giant Suva, attempting to protect it from the brawn of the Rahi and the minds of the lone Dark Toa on the field, Utu and Echelon.

That “lone Dark Toa” part soon changed, however. An old partner, “Aurum” Vidar believed his name was, engaging a Toa of Fire. Soon, the battle became so chaotic that it was difficult to pinpoint each fighter.

Vidar then wondered if he could assist Echelon and Utu without coming out of the trees. He much preferred to hunt, instead of joining in a bloodbath like this.

Vidar heavily disliked fighting in these chaotic battles. They were fun to laugh at from a distance, but it not nearly as funny when you find yourself being part of the entertainment. This was too chaotic, and thus, too dangerous to be worth Vidar’s time. The Rahkshi-Toa leapt onto a branch on another tree, closer to the Suva. If he could get close enough, he could make use of his stash of javelins that have gotten little use throughout this entire quest.

Vidar’s eyes narrowed. It was time to go back to doing what he did best: distributing “headshots” those who to interfered with the laws of the Makuta or the laws of nature.

Because Makuta WAS nature. The Makuta controlled all, and no amount of “new” Toa would bring an end to that.

OOC: Moving from Le-Wahi, quite a while after the arrival of Vidar.

IC: Ronkshou – Kini Nui Area

A couple of miles away, Ronkshou could hear battle cries, Rahi screeches, and scuffling as he traveled through the jungle with Kohra. They slowed down after they cleared Le-Wahi, hoping to conserve and recharge their energy. Ronkshou had little doubt that Wokodin would follow them here.

But because Ronkshou was so close to the presence of the Master of Shadows, he had difficultly being too worried about the General’s presence. He almost hoped that the old fool would follow them here.

IC: Aurum

But like Agni, Aurum had already - and was still - analyzing his opponent. He'd already seen the powers of teleportation used by the Toa of Fire, and in turn, he'd been ready to fight against Toa who liked to just go zip, zap, and zop to and fro, around the battlefield, using their ability to dodge and counterattack to their advantage.

Aurum couldn't say he perfectly knew Agni's plan of attack; nobody could be perfectly certain. But as Agni disappeared and Aurum looked around, figuring the Toa would probably pop up behind him - like all the other Toa who could teleport - and go for an attack they were blind from. And with that in mind he'd slowly begun modifying his back and neck armor.

When the strike came, there was a loud 'gong' as Agni's elbow popped out of thin air, already on it's strike path, and smashed the larger neck armor. Aurum grit his teeth in pain, despite having increased his armor, but successfully failed to fall unconscious, and swung a large arc with his weapon, hoping to drive his engager away for some time but ready to parry with a weapon or block flames with a shield - and happily counter attack if Agni didn't move away.

IC: Vidar – Kini Nui Area

Once again, Vidar had failed.

The Dark Toa’s eyes widened with disbelief as the battle between the Toa they had fought before (now with some light powers apparently) and Echelon and Utu. It had been Vidar’s understanding that Utu was now under the control of Echelon, that this control could not be broken. This is what reassured Vidar and Ronkshou that Utu could still be a viable asset, and that he wouldn’t have to be left to die.

Vidar’s mouth simply hung agape as he watched Utu turn against his master, and smash the fragile Toa of Magnetism to the ground, cracking his infected Kanohi Tryna in two.

Generally, many people judged a victory over a Makuta servant on the state of their infected mask. A Rahi was defeated when its infected masks were removed. If that’s the measure that Vidar was to use here… then that means Utu soundly defeated Echelon… and if Vidar didn’t move quickly, Echelon could be dead. With the influx of Mata Nui followers, the Dark Toa of Air could not be certain that one wouldn’t try to enact some revenge – Echelon has ruined quite a few lives over the decades.

Vidar didn’t like this at all. He hoped to stay in hiding for just a little longer, but Utu’s betrayal happened so fast and so sudden. If Echelon couldn’t even predict, what expectation was there for Vidar to expect such a turn?

In the end, it didn’t matter. He could not let this battle rage on any longer while he hid in the shadows. Yes, this battle was chaotic, but even among the chaos, a series of good one-on-ones could take place. Vidar thought back to his earliest days… days that the Parakuka had reminded him recently. Memories of his final confrontation with the “hero” who killed his parents… and how it was Ronkshou who helped him not only to confront this skilled Toa, but also show him that there were no such thing as heroes in villains… that Toa could be insane as well and do terrible things for what their broken minds believe to be noble.

Vidar did not know this Toa of Light. He hardly knew any of the Toa who were protecting the Suva. He did not know how many were sound in mind, or how many were only here for the blood and the glory. In the end though, it didn’t matter.

The fact that Toa Insontro existed invalidated any pious drive that these “protectors” claimed to have.

At that moment, Vidar wished Ronkshou was here, so that he could thank him again for helping him become the warrior and hunter he is today. Through the pain and transformations, ultimately, they were for the better. He lived and succeeded, while other servants failed and died.

Thank you, Vidar now said to the Parakuka, I'm glad to be your acquaintance. After all of these weeks of the slug being a part of the Dark Toa, Vidar now openly acknowledged to the creature, and thanked it for helping him become a better hunter.

Because that’s exactly what this slug did, and it was Ronkshou who helped them become one. Vidar could only smile as the Parakuka planted a warm image in his mind, one of equal gratitude.

They were brothers now. Their bonding was complete.

Vidar repositioned his legs and squatted down on the large branch that he was on. He was still safely obscured by the many lives that grew on this massive tree. He was about to leap into action and join the fray. He would first make Utu pay for his betrayal, and then he would take advantage of the Light Toa’s exhaustion. There’s no way he would be at his peak after what Vidar saw.

That’s when Vidar saw Ronkshou and Kohra, the enigmatic Vortixx, clear the forest. They were standing upon a cliff, looking down at the battle near the Suva. The Dark Toa followed Ronkshou line of sight, and slowed his breath when he saw a struggling Utu at the end of that line. Ronkshou said something to Kohra, and then the two went on their separate ways, Ronkshou intending to right a very glaring wrong.

Vidar relaxed and repositioned himself so that he now sat upon the branch. Perhaps he would watch a little while longer.

IC: Ronkshou – Kini Nui Area

“Kohra, it’s rather clear that our enemies have already gone down through the Suva that those Toa are guarding,” Ronkshou said to the Vortixx, “We help the Rahi take out these Toa, and we slaughter those ‘Chosen’. Plain and simple. I don't know if you saw what I saw, but there is also a problem with some members of our team. Utu has betrayed us, and Echelon is hurt."

Ronkshou presumed that Kohra also saw the end of that battle away in the distance, along with the Toa of Light, which Ronkshou wouldn't admit bothered him deeply.

"See if you can find a way tp puncture the line of defense," Ronkshou said to Kohra, "I must… avenge a fallen comrade. May the Makuta be with you”

Ronkshou gave a curt nod to his traveling parter, and he then ran onto the field, making a beeline past the hordes of Rahi and Toa, towards Utu, who remained on the ground.

I should have killed you when I had the chance, Ronkshou thought as he approached the continual failure. It started to seem to Ronkshou that every group this Toa of Ice affiliated with turned to mess. Ronkshou was going to fix that here and now.

IC: Trizvan

Throughout all the goings-on, Trizvan hadn't taken a break from liberating Rahi of their infected Kanohi. The exhausted Rahi that collapsed upon the removal of their masks littered the section of the battle that he dominated. But so many were still getting through. He growled and dashed back, knocking a mask off an infected jungle Rahi before it got too close to the other fighters. It looked like the Toa of Fire was preoccupied now, by a Toa of Iron. He was slightly grateful to the infected Toa. Grudgingly so, due to his infection, but he was glad that the Toa of Fire wasn't encasing the creatures in glass. As he turned to face a Fusa, he suddenly realized his Phasing power was gone. He hissed and attempted to block the Rahi's punch, realizing the Phase Dragon had left the battlefield. The punch broke right through his wooden warhammer, but the quick Toa moved aside just before it hit him. The force of the strike set him off balance, but with the hastily-borrowed reflexes of a Nui Rama, he was back on his feet, throwing punches with the force of a Tarakava. The Fusa was sent reeling, freed from its mask. Kofo and Nui Jaga rose to take its place, and the wild Toa fought on, changing his strategy to make up for his lost power.

IC

IC:

Kohra nodded at Ronkshou. She had indeed received the same mental image Ronkshou had, though more vividly, as usual. But the masters presence in her mind was drifting in and out constantly, as he divided his attention on the fronts of this attack. Kohra smiled sinisterly. As soon as the Toa underground were dealt with, these pathetic heroes and their line of defense would be swept away by the full force of his servants. Maybe when this was done she would place a monument to the fallen...made out of the fallen themselves. Speaking of which...

"If Utu could break free on his own to betray us, then Echelon failed." she said, cooly, though the delicious irony was not lost on her. The necromancer had been taken down by his own creation. As Ronkshou moved in to deal with that situation, she ascended a tree to get a better view of the fight and to spot an opening in the line of defense. She snarled slightly as she spotted the Toa of light. If he had been the one responsible for the blast the caught in Le-Wahi she hoped there would be enough of him left at the end of this to pay him back for that. Because that blast had hurt her physically.

But he was not the weak link...she needed to continue observing, at least a minute or two, to determine where to break through the lines of defense.

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

What Aurum had miscalculated was the distance between him and the Toa of fire behind him. The wide arc in which he swung his weapon was just on the right height to decapitate his opponent, but Agni was closer than where the blade was cutting through the air. Instead, he caught Aurum's right arm with his hand,twisting it outward painfully, blocking his swing and following up with a punch to the face with a heated fist.

He teleported away again, to the side and back. If he had stayed that close to the Toa of iron for much longer his opponent would have had an opening for another attempt to impale him from behind, to grow spikes on his armour or encase him in metal. Neither of which Agni planned on experiencing.

With enough distance between the two of them again , Agni raised his blades in a ready stance.

IC: Aurum

Mid-twist from Agni's sleight of hand, Aurum's legs kicked off the ground, and his whole body spun alongside the arm, successfully negating much of the pain. However, Aurum quickly frowned as he held out his left arm, using his new shield to block a blazing punch meant for his head. As Agni teleported away, Aurum instead shook his left hand, aching from pain from the angled striking punch - which now left a hot, fist sized dent in the shield that quickly recreated itself into better shape.

Now that he had a bit of time, Aurum re-adjusted his right hand weapon and also the armor on his back and neck, making sure they fit perfectly, with the best mobility.

And then there was the counter for teleportation. Slowly, he started to create large amounts of metal dust, large enough to see with enough light (Aurum happily smiled at the fact that it was pretty much night time right now, except for that Toa of Light over there), and light enough to float in the air and be pushed upwards or downwards with movement.

Like how Agni could sense heat, Aurum could, in essence, sense metal. But it was harder to sense 'others' than it was 'himself', and the metal dust around him were both his own creation - and, as they slowly spread out, covered a larger area than what he could do if he simply focused and did an elemental 'search for the Toa of Fire' game.

Buying time for the dust to slowly spread, half thanks to the heat from Agni, and half thanks to the pure movement around them, Aurum looked to the Toa of Fire.

"Why are you here?"

OOC: alright, time to shift the momentum a bit

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; sunrise]

Complete chaos.

That was the sum of it.

Granted, Angi and Company were still holding their own; the temple had not been breached yet. That was, however, the limit of the good news. Despite the number of freed Rahi, and those out of confusion either running or engaging the infected ones, the number of infected Rahi still significantly outnumbered both the trapped and freed ones, including the Toa combatants. Not to mention nearly all of Angi's defenders, including himself were either engaged in some of the more rare and intelligent animals, or with Makuta-aligned Toa who had managed to get here and join the fray. With Angi and the other Toa's attention divided, there was no way they could maintain a sufficient defense, or at least for much longer. Utu and Echelon may be out of the picture, but unless something happened fast the temple would simply be overrun. I leaned on a stone obelisk for support, taking in sharp, deep breaths.

The worst news? I didn't know how long I could keep this up.

I felt my mask, and that crack had enlarged significantly; my power levels were dropping as my exhaustion increased. I was almost out of energy, out of stamina, and my body felt like I had been thrown under a rampaging herd of Kikanalo. Going all out against Agni, then Angelus, the temple of purity swim, losing my love, my run across the island, the fight with Heuani, my transformation, now this battle... with only a couple hours sleep in between there. I was pushing across that line, going farther than my body could physically manage, but if I stopped now... I wasn't super-toa...

I leaned my head back against the stone obelisk in sheer exhaustion, looking up with a blank stare as Rahi charged around me. That's when I saw it. A glint.

The very top of the spire was lit up.

With effort I turned my head east, a surge of hope coursing through my veins. The area was light due to the coming of dawn, but there had been no direct sunlight as the sun had not yet risen. I still couldn't see it, but in the distance I could just make out the top crest of the sun. And the pillars were high enough over the trees to be directly bathed in the new morning rays.

I had to get up there.

Summoning what will power I had left I hugged the obelisk and slowly pulled myself upward, even as the stone under my fingers shook and vibrated from the movement of the Rahi below. It was difficult to hold on to, and one slip meant my fall into the fray and probably instant death. Using what trickles of Light element I had left I conjured claws at the end of my fingertips to aid me in my climb, but the top seemed no closer than it did a minute ago. For a moment I thought I would never reach the top-

Warmth.

My hand crested the line, and in an instant I could feel the sunlight soak into my skin, giving me the strength to finish. With a final effort I heaved myself to the top of the pillar, and for a full minute bathed in the light and glory of a rising sun. As I gazed east the sun was golden, it's rays brilliant shades of yellow and orange with the occasional streak of red. Like a starved matoran I greedily absorbed as much as I could, watching as my dull complexion began to glow brilliantly once again. Even the crack in my mask retreated... but only a bit. With wasn't a permanent solution, or even a quick-fix... nothing I did would stop the inevitable. But this DID buy me time.

Time to turn the tide.

Standing to my full height I balanced on one foot, gazing over the battlefield. I may not be able to interfere with the Toa's personal battles, but that didn't mean I couldn't stem the flow. The Rahi were rapidly overwhelming Agni's position.

Time to fix that.

Stretching out my hand on top of the temple a solid barrier of light formed, fueled by my absorption of the new day sun. It was so large, so sudden, and the placement so bizarre that the battles around it paused for the briefest of moments, causing even Agni and his opponent to turn and look. With a sweaty brow and gritted teeth I took a sharp breath, and with force shoved my hand across the body.

The barrier moved in tandem. In silent submission it raced down the side of the sloped temple, moving across the ground and through the mass of glass-entrapped Rahi before moving past into the oncoming hoard. The screams of pain were deafening, even heart-wrenching as the barrier passed over them, but as quickly as it started they stopped, meek and exhausted. For my barrier was not a barrier to stop them - it was to release them. As the wall of light passed through their bodies it removed any presence of shadow and Makuta, burning the infection away in one fell swoop, leaving their masks completely intact but free from the slime and rust that had previous covered it. The effort on my part was tremendous, the concentration crushing, but in a few seconds I had cut a swath through the Rahi hoard, a large section now completely free of the grip of the Master of Shadows. There was a momentary paused as the animals stood there in confusion, then shorted and ran back into the jungle, no longer any reason to be there, the exodus heartening.

But it was no where near enough.

As I stood on my obelisk I realized I would need two, maybe three more passes of this to fully neutralize this Rahi onslaught... or at least reduce the infected Rahi to manageable numbers. Still, the effect of what I did was immediate, a significant number of Rahi turning and fleeing, freed by my light. We were no where near winning yet, but the momentum had shifted in our favor.

Shifted significantly. I could feel hope rise among the beleaguered defenders.

Closing my eyes I took in a deep breath, tensing my body as I absorbed as much light as I could for the next barrier wave.

OOC: Inspiration from the MN Alternate Universe and Takanuva's defensive light barriers Oh yeah, Emzee, I guess you're next on the list *checks off GH and Snipe* Whenever you want to engage, go for it.

All these people who want to fight a toa of light... sheesh... *checks list again* It seems to grow every day...

OOC: Joske vs. the world. Feels a bit like wrestling back in the 90's =D

IC:

"Why are you here?"

Was this Makuta's servant for real? The conflict the forces of light and darkness had fought out was coming to a head here, right now, this moment, and this Toa was asking why Agni was here? He was almost getting startled. Startled...of course. Nobody under the Makuta was so blind. The master of shadows did not suffer fools and if he did, they were only tools to be used and to be discarded. If this corrupted Toa of iron was in the later category he would have been disposed of long ago. No, he was playing a game. Buying time, but for what?

But before Agni could reply, he caught something atop the temple's pillar behind Aurum, the Toa of iron following his eyes as well. That was when they saw Joske. And the barrier of light he created. It shot outward, a glowing breacher, washing over Agni, Aurum , the fallen Echelon and Utu and most importantly...the Rahi. They reared and screeched, but when the light passed, their masks were free of infection, their minds were their own again. The kid had done it again. Joske's luck, despite all the odds, was still holding, it seemed.

Agni's head shot back down, focusing back on Aurum who's attention returned at the same time. There was still a fight to win. But something had changed. In the light of Joske's barrier there were tiny reflections in the air around him, concentrating around the Toa of iron. And Agni noticed something else, a metallic taste after breathing in. Metallic dust was floating around. So that's what the Toa was trying to do. Using his element to have elemental surveillance of his surrounding. A smirkt krept onto Agni's face.

"You better run back to whatever place you came from...looks like you just lost your backup." he said, swords still raised. "And as for why I am here..." he continued, still grinning, and finally announced, loud enough for Joske to hear: "I am here, to chew Bula-Berries and kick scum like you in the rear...and I am all out of Bula-Berries."

Because as much as he had tried to teach the young Toa of fire, Joske, just through his actions, had taught him a thing or two as well. Including his light-hearted banter, it seemed.

Suddenly, a wall of flame erupted around Agni, shotting outwards in a circle and towards Aurum. The Toa of Iron raised his shield and took a step back, blocking most of the fire from damaging him, but it was not about damaging the Toa himself. Instead, it was pushing and then burning away the metal-dust in the air. Suddenly it looked like fireworks erupting out of thin air, the metal sparking up blindingly bright. Even if Aurum was looking, there were too many sparks glowing and flying to keep a sharp focus on Agni, who disappeared again. The Toa of iron instantly turned to cover his back, where teleporters usually tried to attack from is given the chance, but just like when he had trained Joske to fight against Heuani, Agni was mixing it up.

He appeared to Aurum's right side instead, where he didn't have his shield. Agni started absorbing the Toa's own body-heat again, instantly channeling it into a stream of flame shooting from his hands. He didn't need to use as much of his own EE and while Aurum's internal temperature was sinking, the air around him was suddenly ablaze.

IC (Korero)

Korero was the most lightly-armoured of the Maru, and thus the most vulnerable if struck by a Manas' attack. Keeping his shield in a defensive position to ward off as much as he could, he looked around at his teammates. The others seemed to have the close-quarters aspects of the battle handled; so Korero decided to take on a role he was more suited to: support.

Even as he decided, a Manas sprang into the air, propelling its bulk upwards before coming down towards the Toa Maru like a ton of bricks. But before the gigantic crab could crush the team, a powerful but controlled funnel of wind whooshed into its underbelly, sending it flying off course to hit a group of its fellows, scattering them like a pile of disks struck by a Koli ball.

The Toa of Air allowed himself a small grin.

IC (Echelon)

"Ronkshou, stop!" said Echelon sharply from behind his fellow Dark Toa. Still putting most of his weight on the staff, he limped, breathing raggedly, over to his comrade. Looking down on Utu, he weakly pulled out the Control Stone. "Utu's usefulness may be compromised, but it is - " the Necromancer coughed weakly, " - not destroyed. The mental effort it took to break free was so great that...well..."

He gestured to the streams of drying blood that glistened from the Mark Bearer's ears and nostrils.

"I would not be surprised if the strain had caused a...mild brain haemhorrage," he continued, pausing for breath every few words. Utu's strike had clearly shaken the fragile Toa of Magnetism. "He will not be able to muster such...will in the near future. Which means he is still useful."

The wounded Dark Toa's eyes flashed.

"And still eligible for more lasting punishment."

IC:

It was times like this that Reordin felt as though he was kind of glad Leah had him under her thumb.

He didn't register the water hitting the Manas as much as he felt it, felt the way the great brutish crabs were suddenly shocked into a quick second's silence by the odd touch of water on the surface of their bodies. That second was all he needed. It took a simple brush of his mind, just the quick blip of a mental image, to flash freeze the Manas crabs. They were immobile, almost like soldiers in the way they stood rigid, and after a second Reordin reminded himself that they were soldiers. Just for the wrong side.

The losing side.

The Toa of Ice remembered his mask power and smirked mischievously, snapping his fingers and concentrating on the two crabs and the ice around them. As if bidden by the Great Spirit himself, the ice turned to a solid coating of acid that instantly began eating away at the armor and insides of the two crabs. They were weakened, horribly weakened, and even as Reordin watched the two crabs began to burn alive with a heat that even they couldn't withstand and adapt to.

"This is so cool."

-Tyler

IC: Aurum

"Technically, I came from this place, because I was here for.....a long, long time." The sudden outburst of light made him cringe for a second, but enough instinct and prediction allowed himself to hold him his shield and walk back, negating the fire - although he could tell that much of the metal dust he had created earlier had been torched.

Come on. Toa of Light were overpowered, simple as that.

"More specifically....Why are you a 'good guy'?"

Quick as a flash, Agni disappeared again. Expecting the Toa to pop up behind him, he swung his shield around, but as he did, his peripheral vision caught sight of crimson red. Instantly, he started to feel his body temperature lower, then heaten up as his side was scorched.

Aurum quickly dropped to the ground, hiding from most of the flames, and quickly slammed his shield into Agni's gut - and hopefully his hands as well.

IC:

Oh yes, here we go again! Agni thought, gritting his teeth. Why are you fighting for good; why protect the weak; why take a stand when you know you can't win?

Agni snorted. He knew where this was going. And he was not going to indulge his opponents pseudo-philsophical argument born out of a twisted mindset that made him believe his point of view held all the answers.

Because whatever argument the Toa of iron could present, he had already lost. In the past weeks, Agni had witnessed a prophecy being fulfilled, had even played a small part in that and seen the impulsive Toa of fire he had initially taken under his wing, with practically no elemental self-control, turn into a champion of light that had beaten the Makuta's highest-ranking servant on the island in a one-on-one fight. Makuta may have cast the deep sleep over the great spirit, but his will was still very much at work here. It was at work right now, somewhere below the great temple. So as far as Agni was concerned, Aurum could take his spiel on all things beyond good and evil and shove it.

Because the suffering you and your kind cause must end.

Unfortunately he shoved another thing as well, namely his shield, into Agni's stomach. It knocked the breath out of the Toa of fire and hurt like Karzhani as he was pushed back, but instead of porting away, the veteran grabbed the edges of the shield quickly. He dug his heels into the ground, forcefully pushing the shield away from his abdomen again. His opponent still had his blade in his right, but with only one hand to hold against the Toa of fire there wasn't enough strength in his one arm to keep him at bay and his own defense was in the way of a fatal stab. Agni knew Aurum would try something funky like sharp edges or spikes if this lasted more than a second. Luckily, his thoughts were much faster than that.

Aurum's shield was still quite warm from his assault with the flames. Agni, through his hands, sucked out all the residiual heat in the metal shield. It froze almost instantly, becoming brittle and shattered into dozens of pieces. Agni continued right on, taking a forceful step forward bringing up his foot, kicking his opponent into the diaphragm as hard as he could. Bringing up his right fist at the same time, he threw a hard punch aimed for the Toa's temple to hopefully knock him out.

IC: Aurum

Not answering, huh? Guess he's starting to think I'm gonna start some philosophical battle about how I want them to give up because my 'side' is the best side.

If only it were that simple.

Aurum could hear the satisfying sound of his shield smashing into Agni's chest, but he could also feel the heat emanating from it, and the tingling of contact from Agni's hands. However, he soon felt the heat sucked out by the Toa of Fire, and in seconds his shield had shattered into pieces. Not that it mattered, as he could make more - and that was an extra hand.

His right hand lurched forwards.

The punch came first, as Aurum gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs. However, he didn't fully lose focus, and his bladed weapon was already on its path, and its bladed edge intercepted Agni's fist.

OOC: And so begins our (mostly) annual Tuck vs. Emzee showdown!

From (one of) the writers that brought you the EW vs. Emzee showdown! If you liked that one, well, I'd whip up a bag of popcorn for this one!

IC: Ronkshou - Kini Nui Temple"Ronkshou, stop!” Echelon said sharply, prompting the Toa of Electricity to whirl around. Surely Echelon would not be so foolish as to continue to use this load?Ronkshou watched Echelon limp towards the fallen Utu, and pulled out the smooth stone that Ronkshou recognized back at Echelon’s lair."Utu's usefulness may be compromised, but it is - " the Necromancer coughed weakly, " - not destroyed. The mental effort it took to break free was so great that...well... I would not be surprised if the strain had caused a...mild brain haemorrhage," he continued, pausing for breath every few words. Utu's strike had clearly shaken the fragile Toa of Magnetism. "He will not be able to muster such...will in the near future. Which means he is still useful”Ronkshou then saw Echelon’s eyes flash."And still eligible for more lasting punishment."Another wave of light soon caught Ronkshou’s eye. As he turned to see, he noticed what looked some sort glistening golden wall fly down the steps of the temple. The Infected Toa watched in shock and awe as the Toa he watched defeat Utu send this wall of light outwards, enveloping a portion of their animal troops in brightness. When the light cleared, what remained were groups of roaming Rahi, fleeing the ravaged field and retreating into the forest.“Impossible,” whispered the brawny fighter.There were more pressing matters now -- that was the only reason why Ronkshou didn’t protest Echelon’s judgement. Ronkshou growled. “Maybe he’s useful to you, but not to me. Do what you will with him, but I’m going to help make sure that the Toa of Light does not do that again!”Ronkshou turned around and stormed off without even listening to see if his ally had more to say. He didn't have time for this. Utu was trouble, and the Infected Toa was sure of it. And after watching a Toa of Light appear out of nowhere and cut out a chunk of the Makuta’s army with his element, Ronkshou could not be expected to have much patience at this time.How could he have let this happen? They could have killed the Chosen in Ko-Wahi. They could have killed the Toa of Fire (who now has become a Toa of Light). They failed, and now they are paying for it big time.Part of Ronkshou wondered how long he would be allowed to live after all of this was over - after the Av-Toa was killed and the transformed Chosen obliterated. After they were gone, the Makuta would turn to his trusted servants, and punish all of them for letting such a simple situation get out of control -- there’s a war around the Kini Nui Temple! Before today, few dared to venture this close to the Makuta.By the will of the Shadows, Ronkshou - 2nd Lieutenant of the Makuta - would rectify this.My Lord, Ronkshou reached out to his master, hoping to get in touch with him for but a moment, With the powers that this Toa has, the beasts that you have sent will need direction. Give me Rahi to lead, and I shall pierce the line of defense and secure victory!Ronkshou could only hope that the Makuta had not lost so much faith in him that he would deny this request. The Makuta knew how Ronkshou thought, he knew how well the Infected Toa was at strategizing. And one thing was certain: this bum-rush was not going to defeat their enemies.As soon as Ronkshou finished that thought, he heard buzzing and deep foot movements behind him. The Infected Toa turned around to see 30 Rahi of assorted species gathering before him. 2 Kuma Nui, 6 Tarakava, 3 Muaka, 4 Kana Ra, 10 Nui Rama, 1 Nui Kopen, and 4 Nui Jaga. But that wasn’t the only thing that was approaching the 2nd Lieutenant.IC: Vidar- Kini Nui TempleThe recognizable lime-green Rahkshi-Toa skid to a halt in front of Ronkshou.“Finally, our paths converge,” Vidar said with satisfaction, “What is your plan?”He waited for his closest ally for an answer. He knew that the Infected One had a plan; rushing the Toa could hardly be an intention that Ronkshou had. After a moment, Ronkshou looked at Vidar and spoke softly, but with his trademark deep, commanding voice.“Vidar, you see that Toa of Light. You saw what he did,” Ronkshou said, Vidar quickly nodding in response, “At this rate, that lone Toa will stop us all. He’s too dangerous to ignore, yet too dangerous to engage in a prolonged battle. With him able to absorb light, I cannot imagine it would be wise to not rush his death as the sun continues to rise”All around the large group, Rahi and Toa fought and wounded each other, sending battle cries and screams across the field. Despite this, Vidar and Ronkshou continued their talk, separating themselves from the chaos that was around them.“I’m going to summon a javelin of condensed electrical current, and get some flying insects to knock him off that spire. In case the fall doesn’t kill him, you need to be there to finish him off”“You want me to break through that line of defense? Alone?” Vidar asked. Not that he couldn’t do it, but he felt the need to clarify just exactly what Ronkshou was commanding.“Vidar, I have been watching those defenders. One of them is Toa of Water that you could break without the Parakuka activated, much less with it activated,” Ronkshou said, “The older Fire Toa is locked in combat with Aurum, the younger Fire Toa with that sword; again, you could break him -- nothing that your training hasn’t covered there. Break through them, and kill the Toa when he falls. No showing off, either. Activate that Parakuka and take off his head!”“Aye aye!” Vidar said. After taking one last glance at the Toa of Light, Vidar ran and reached out (or in?) this spiny comrade. As the Dark Toa ran, he could feel his body transform and start to fit more comfortably. He felt his body grow taller, and soon realized that he was now moving much faster to the spire that the Toa of Light was on top of. He almost moving too fast, the container holding his javelins, staff, and small items swinging wildly.. He hoped Ronkshou was in position.IC: Ronkshou - Kini Nui TempleOn cue, Ronkshou summoned a javelin made of pure, concentrated electrical current and held it as the current circled around the shape. He then looked to three of his Nui Rama. Motioning his arm towards the Toa of Light, the bugs obeyed and flew with ravenous fervor towards the clearly-visible Toa of Light. The other Rahi spread out, and stayed back to wait for more commands from Ronkshou.With that distraction out of the way, Ronkshou bolted towards what would be Joske’s left, while the Nui Rama were coming in towards his right, and behind him, Vidar was circling around and approaching the spire from behind. He had not reached the Suva yet, and the defenders were preparing.Ronkshou grinned sinisterly at the thought of what would happen to anyone who stood in Parakuka’d Vidar’s way. In the meantime, he had a electrical javelin to throw.*zzzzzzzzzipp*Joske was now in quite a difficult place, to say the least.

IC: TrizvanThe wild Toa was holding his own without his phasing power, but it was difficult, and much slower going. No other power he could find was serving him as efficiently. Bounding like a Fusa and lashing out like a Tarakava, he was a blur of action. But staying up all day and all night, paired with the nonstop action was taking its toll on him. He breathed loudly and raggedly, and fueled his movements only with the Rahi's borrowed skills. It came as no surprise when an attack made it through to him. A Proto Drake's thick tail slammed into his side, sending him flying over the battlefield, barely landing on his feet with borrowed agility. The blow had winded him, and he swiftly fell to his knees. He glanced up to see the Toa that controlled sand fighting nearby. Calling upon the stamina of a Stone Ape, he collapsed, trying to regain his breath, hoping the Toa would offer him some cover for a moment.

IC: Crab, 12-o-clock and fast. if I dodge, it'll hit Stannis behind me, and if I block, I'll sustain substantial damage to elemental reserves or body. Killing it now would not slow it enough to miss. Everything's too expensive but a parry. I need to deflect the manas. Slow it down to my level. Make this fight on my terms. Like always.

I lighten my stance. My saber dangles in my hand, shovel drawn back for a swing. My feet are spread. I relax totally, ready to tense but withholding any defense until the opportune moment. Ready.

In response, the manas' left arm flies into open position around my extended arm to crunch it in twain, headed for my torso if the appendage retreats and shattering the saber if I block.

Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

That was unexpected. More fast, smart, reactive than predicted. So.

Damage to saber, arm, or chest? Arm valuable in long-term for articulation and blood. Saber valuable in the long-term as per the rule of information: As I cannot defeat the manas with merely two weapons, the knowledge of how accessible regeneration and creation of blades is for my facilities makes a display unsuitable for this preliminary combat. I cannot hope to win any fight from this point on utilizing power alone; ergo, I will maintain the attainment and loss of information as a prime resource in this sequence of battles.

Therefore--I will take the trauma to the chest.

I retrieve my arm and step forwards with my other foot, letting the right half of my body fall back slightly to roll with the hit. My shovel thrusts for the manas' side to deflect it. And its claw drives for my chest.

Contact.

KLANG

Oh. Oh, screw me. This feels like my ideal, meeting Destiny, and being pulverized. That thing is irresistibly powerful and intelligent. I don't think I can-

Stop. Assess the situation. Examine results:

A breath reveals no additional pang so I've got only bruises and no fractures. The manas is diverted and scuttling away. For now.

...What if this is all just an act of cosmic stuff beyond our control? What if all this terrible combat is just a farce of a story made for the amusement of the Great Beings? What if, karz, Great Beings don't exist and we're all just part of some elaborate play, every detail of our existence set in an invisible script?

...

Alternatively. What if I shut the karz up about impertinent philosophy and start to actually fight?

The manas is circling back. It charges at me. I can't risk another hit; I only survived relatively intact absorbing as much of the hit as befitted my capabilities. Parrying is too slow for the others in the group. Dodging sends it onwards. Grappling is necessitated.

I step forwards and stand straight, sliding my right foot slightly back. A throw and the saber's hilt is held between my teeth for the freeing of my hand. I pull both hands back and ready. I will not underestimate this again.

This time the crab just continues barreling on. It can easily damage me enough with momentum that it doesn't need to slow by trying to add another attack. So I delay it mid-charge by grasping its body with my hand.

It surges against my grip, too strong for me to hold back long. I hunch and put my heel down to absorb its slide. Its claws lash out at my body, and I let the blows fly past with two rotations of the torso while my saperka goes to work. It slams into the opening between two pieces of the manas' shell.

In the force, I worked with many Ussals. I've seen them fall to rahi pounces and skakdi maces. I've watched necropsies, anatomists taking them apart to examine the cause of death and determine the likely suspects. I know the strengths of the crab form: rahi shaped in this way are tough, amphibious, powerful, and fast.

My left arm slips under the carapace. It shudders a little, working to move free, and I heave it upwards. The armor is thrown up to display the pale flesh of the manas even as it snips at me again. Between its claws and its drive onward, I can't hold it back much longer.

I also know the weaknesses of the crab form.

My left arm retreats. It parries the pincers, pushing them away from their cleaves at my neck and abdomen. The manas, formerly stopped, now begins to lunge again. It could overpower me at this distance if it moves again. I let go. I let it start to win, start to rush forwards.

One of the most prominent weaknesses among those

I toss the saber into it hand, plunge it into its heart, withdraw the blade, kick away the convulsing carcass, swipe the szabla to clean it of blue blood, turn around, and take a look at the ongoing battle.

Objective-terminate manas: completed. New objective: clean up the resulting mess.

IC

OOC: Joske didn't clear out all the Rahi, and not all the remaining ones are under Ronkshou. In fact, it was a minority in both cases. Anyways. IC: TrizvanFor once, the Toa of Plantlife really wanted to take a nap. He'd only taken that one solid hit during the battle, but he was worn out. Still, the Stone Ape's stamina helped a lot, and he was soon able to stand. He nodded a quick thanks to the hyperactive Toa of Stone before calling on his elemental energies. He'd conserved them up to this point, relying only on his mask, skill and experience, but without the Phase Dragon's powers, he was severely hindered. He hoped another would turn up sooner or later.Calling on the power of a Lightning Bug, the Toa charged once again at the oncoming horde, lashing out with electrically charged vines to reach for the infected masks and to keep them at bay with the shocks.

OOC: Of course Emzee takes every advantage he can get. Well played. This will be ugly and short, but fun nonetheless. Well played. Before we engage I WOULD like to see Vidar claw through the defenses if you're going to start this off with a shot like that...

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; sunrise]

A loud and angry buzzing interrupted my concentration, a sound that was coming in hot. I chanced a glance sideways, my body shifting slightly as my eyes were only half-open, taking a look at the small swarm of Nui Rama that out of nowhere bore down on me-

My world exploded.

The next thing I knew, I was lazily and hazily wavering and blinking, completely out of sorts, my backside embedded in the very Suva the Toa Maru used to descend below.

Apparently slight shift had inexplicably saved my life, for the buzzing I had heard was not from the Nui Rama, but from an electricity javelin that hit dead-center of my chest instead of my less-armored and more-exposed side. In that brief moment it had felt like a Kane-Ra had slammed into me, coupled with molten lava injected into my veins and everything else going numb as the electricity coursed through my body. My armor may have stopped the blow from killing me, but it did nothing to negate the momentum that came with it. Like a fly swatted in mid-air I had been launched from my vantage point, shot straight across the plaza right into the duel Angi was currently involved with, so much so that I must have actually passed between the two combatants, forcing both of them apart as they stood there gawking at me. Or at least what looked like gawking. I couldn't be too sure.

Not that I had any conscious recollection of this of course. The impact on the Suva must have jolted me back awake. Was it the Suva? Everything was so blurry... was that my hand? Or a mitt? Did I have fingers? What day was it? And why couldn't I hear anything besides this obnoxious dull yet piercing ringing in my ears? I tried to move but found that motor skill and balance seemed to have gone out for lunch.

My eyes darted about as I tried to focus one something... anything... through the fog I got the sense of shouting, movement. I did finally manage to focus on something, even as the world around me began to come back into focus: a hulking, massive brute bounding up the stairs and seemingly coming right at...

Oh no.

IC:

Agni whinced as the blade cut into him, as it was too late to pull his hand back or change the direction of the punch. However, the angle was so flat, that the blade was pushed to the side, leaving a long cut from the side of his hand to halfway up his lower arm. Despite the sharp pain shooting up from his right hand the fist was still on course, colliding with the side of Aurum's head with force and throwing his upper body to the side hard.

The Toa of iron caught himself with his blade-hand so he wouldn't hit the dirt face-first, but Agni almost instantly reversed the movement of the downward-aimed punch, backhanding his opponent under the chin and throwing him on his back. The Toa of fire began rapidly absorbing the heat from his body once again, much faster than last time, while making sure to stay out of kicking and cutting range. This wasn't going to kill Aurum, Agni didn't want that, but he needed him out of the fight as quickly as possible. There was another wave of Rahi was amassing in the distance.

His opponent struggled against it, trying to summon his element to get out of the situation again, like he had before, trying to focus through the throbbing in his head from the punches. But Agni was relentless and doing a little better as far as elemental reserves were concerned, having relied more on his mask in this fight. Just as he was almost out, Aurum managed to make a last-ditch attempt, using the shattered pieces of the shield, throwing them and expanding them into spikes. Agni ducked to the side, but two of the projectiles grazed the side the left side of his face, drawing more blood. With a frown he pushed harder to absorb as much heat as he. The warmth was drawn out of Aurum's very core and within a few seconds, his body became stiff, frozen.

Agni took a deep breath. The Toa of iron was out of comission for now, he wouldn't trouble them for a while. He then felt something warm running down his arm and raised it, looking at his right hand. The cut was bleeding, quite a bit in fact and stung terribly, something he didn't need in the fight. There was no time to properly apply herbs and bandages in this place either, so he would have apply a more radical method.

He placed his left hand over the wound and concentrated, holding his breath and gritting his teeth. There was another sharp pain and a sizzle as he cauterized the cut with his own power. Not pretty, but at least he wasn't bleeding all over the place anymore. The small cuts on his cheek he could take care of once this was over. Just as he finished he heard another sound and saw Joske fall from the spire he had been perched upon. Nui-Rama were circling overhead as well and another Toa fitting the description Joske had given of the Makuta-servants he'd faced in Ko-Wahi was charging.

Agni turned and ran, to keep up the Rahi-defense and help Joske...

IC: Aurum

Gah! Aurum grunted as Agni's fist also continued on its collision course, slamming into the side of his head with considerable force despite Aurum's bladed cut, and he was instantly pushed to the side, forced towards the ground. His right hand came forwards, preventing himself from suffering more pain to the head -

Before his chin was smashed downwards by Agni's punch. Aurum was instantly knocked onto his back, the dirt leaving scratch marks on his armor, he could feel-

Dirt didn't leave scratch marks, did it?

Even as he felt his body heat quickly drain out and started to feel colder and colder, it only served to help him think of the situation, and of his left hand, which was now clawing into the dirt, holding pieces of shattered metal that was once the shield he used. Quick as flash, he threw the jagged metal pieces towards Agni's face - and with his element, made them expand into spikes.

The Toa of Iron had a duty, and he wouldn't fail it.

Except that would probably happen later, seeing as Agni then focused all his power on absorbing power, and Aurum fell to the ground, unconscious from the lack of heat. It would be some time before he woke up...

But he'd do it before this fight ended.

OOC: All of a sudden I realize this is probably the first fight where I've been pounded and haven't complained about it. Dunno whether to feel embarrassed or happy.

IC:

Dalia hadn't been doing so well.

She had been able to evade the attacks from the large cat, before it had managed to pounce on her, and rake it's claws down her right side. Just as the creature was about to finish her off, a brilliant burst of light seemed to come from behind her. Dalia feebly raised a hand to block the light, for when she closed her eyes, it was still there. She felt the weight of the Rahi lift off her, and she carefully opened an eye to what had happened.

A good number of Rahi had been freed from the Makuta's control, and her side of the temple was clear. For the moment. Dalia wearily stood, using her staff for balance. She numbly cleaned her wound with a more precise elemental blast. The crackle of lighting and a loud crash came from behind her, and she took a glance back to see Joske, thrown into a Suva.

A battle between gods, She wearily thought. What exactly was she doing here in the first place? She didn't even have a Great Kanohi!

Still, she watched for more threats, and the being approaching Joske, ready to intervene if she must.

IC: Vidar -- Kini Nui Temple

7:40...

7:39...

The vile servant of Makuta grinned darkly as the Toa fell from his high place. Even the slug was sending Vidar encouraging vibes, and was hungry for the kill.

And yes, there would be a kill, for as Vidar approached the Suva, he saw the Toa of Light stir, and attempt to climb to his feet.

Vidar, of course, noticed the defenders, preparing for his arrival, and the Toa of Air found that he had multiple opportunities. Plowing through them was an option, though such an option would come with wounds. Avoiding the highly trained group of Toa would be the wiser choice, and fortunately for Vidar, such a choice was actually feasible. The Rahkshi turned to see Ronkshou waving his arms, eyes gazed upon the group of Nui Rama, and it seemed like they were somehow listening to the Infected Toa.

The three Nui Rama circling the spire where the Toa of Light was before buzzed to the impending convergence. The Toa of Light was upon the Suva, though Agni was close by, preparing to take on the feral Dark Toa. The Toa of Water a few yards away, but was watching the scene, likely preparing to step in if needed. Angelus, meanwhile, was also watching Vidar while fending of Rahi from his end.

It would take mere tenths of a second for them to move into position to push back Vidar if he crossed their line of defense, so instead, Vidar took out his Claw Staff and leapt into the air, his Parakuka enhanced legs shooting him to the sky, and into the welcoming arms of two of the lime green Nui Rama, while the third, orange Nui Rama continued flying around the spire, waiting for further instructions.

Vidar quickly deduced that Ronkshou likely had these flying insects catch him... for once, Ronkshou and Vidar were thinking on the same page.

Perhaps the arrogant servant was growing as a warrior after all... or maybe that was just the Parakuka thinking for him.

At any rate, the lime green Rahkshi left the four spiny arms of the Nui Rama as quickly as he entered into them, flying just far enough past the line of defense to make a landing onto the Suva. The two Nui Rama, on the other hand, did not see their help go unrewarded. Agni, still in the fight and close to Joske, sent two fireballs at the Nui Rama, searing their masks and faces and confusing them to the point where they crashed into each other, sending the four infected masks separated from the Rahi as they all fell to the ground, dazed.

That mattered little to Vidar though. He was now within the circle, and priorities were priorities. Ignoring Agni, Vidar leapt once again into the air and landed gracefully beside Joske.

7:01...

7:00...

Vidar simply hissed as he raised his Claw Staff with the intention to slice through the Toa of Light's neck.

OOC: Yes there is a plan. That's all I'll say.

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; sunrise]

NO!

It was a move out of sheer desperation. Dazed, confused, tired, and still reeling from that last blow I had barely enough cognitive function to think, let alone wrap my head around the massive Parakuka-enhanced Toa lording over me and his movements. All I knew was that he was there, his staff was there, and with it a incomprehensibly powerful swipe that would decapitate me in one fell swoop. So I did what any reasonable Toa in my position would do.

Curl up in the fetal position be best I could while sitting.

The blow never came.

As much as my conscious mind was was still coming back to speed, my subconscious mind was more than active, enough to pick up the slack. Even as I curled myself into a ball reflexively, my powers also moved reflexively, producing a dome light-shield over my body. The near-impregnable solid light hologram shield that I had been using so successfully all battle. A shield that blocked even Vidar's savage blow. It was a testament to the power of Light.

But also just how strong a Parakuka-enhanced Toa was.

As his Claw-Staff struck, there was a flash of light as the forces met. My shield did not break, but it buckled. The explosion of light was due to the fact that several solid pieces flew off from the impact site, shattering a small hole in an otherwise smooth an featureless surface, a spiderweb of fracture lines and cracks racing in all directions. Vidar managed to smash a hole where it should have been impossible to, his strength able to mostly overcome even the power of Light.

But it wasn't without it's drawbacks. As much as the shield had absorbed the damage, it reflected the momentum in that explosion, causing the head of the staff to disintegrate in a vapor as vaporous sunlight enveloped it and forcing it backwards with the same ferocity as it came forwards. I saw mutant Toa sail backwards as his arm reversed in it's ark, now only holding a broken staff in his hand, his body stumbling even his parasite worked to balance him out, partially blinded by the burst.

Simply put his swing bounced back.

A fresh wave of adrenaline flooded my system as I shook off the shock of the last attack, now able to stand up in fight-or-flight mode. But it was more than that. Much more. I had taken a beating that most Toa would have already succumbed to. I had fought more battles in a twenty-four hour span than most did in a year. I was physically exhausted, my powers in the retreat, my best friends at their wit's end, my love dead. I had spared my most dreaded enemy, shown compassion to someone who I loathed and could care the less about, and otherwise been the nice guy thus far. Now I was shaken, my face looking like a re-arranged jigsaw puzzle, and my armor was shattered and otherwise pot-marked even as holographic armored plating began to slowly reform in the sunlight. These guys would not stop. They wouldn't quit. Even when I extended every mercy and every chance they still refused to let up. There were times to extend a hand, but that moment was past. Sometimes you just had to beat a few skulls in.

I was tired of these games. Tired of the fighting, tired of the slaughter.... tired of the death and destruction and darkness. Not to say I would stoop to their level, oh no, not by any means, but there was a point where being nice was no longer an option.

That point had officially been reached.

This needed to end.

When the world came into focus for everyone the mutant Toa and myself were facing each other across the Temple Plateu. The Drak One looked enraged, upset at what just happened, and clearly ready to rip off my head, a terror to behold. Yet he couldn't hold a candle to how I looked. As pathetic as my conjured short sword looked in my hand, my face was anything but. It was the face of Toa who had decided enough was enough. A Toa who had decided he had enough screwing around, enough pushing around, enough of these "servants" and "warriors" of Makuta. Someone who had decided to purge every sign of infection from this temple even if it killed him doing it.

No more games. I was through playing.

And the punctuation mark was the whine as I absorbed the sunlight, restocking my energy reserves as much as my elemental muscles would allow. Through my damaged voice box I growled.

That Parakuka parasite had a date with it's maker.

IC: Utu — Kini-NuiPeople talk about change like it's an inherent thing, but universally, it isn't. Certain conditions have to be met.It takes one to realize and fully acknowledge the spiral they're in before being able to correct it. That never happened to me. Months later I recognized what Joske was trying to do. He tried to show me what life could've been like. For a while I thought he was just sort of using that information to simply tease me and torture me if I were to survive; which would've made sense considering what he had said to me during our previous encounter. Turns out the guy was feigning helplessness. After looking back at this memory on multiple occasions, the way he was moving and the whole context of the situation pointed towards a simple ruse. He was too powerful in this moment not to break free on his own. And that infuriated me.He was talking down to me, like he was so self-important that he was trying to teach me something like a little school-boy. Self-righteous people were never worth my time, especially not him. At least, that's how I felt for a while. I wished to meet him again one day, free of my prison again to strike him down out of spite. Why? He showed me a life I could never have and left me a pool of blood to die.He tried to give me a chance and a reason to fight back. And I did fight back. Just not hard enough. Well, hard enough to do what I needed to do in that moment, but long term: I would never be changed. I couldn't. If I were to break out again, I worried I would die. I almost did the first time, what was going to prevent my brain from bleeding out the second time? Nothing from what I understood at the time, I thought the only way out was through death. Eventually I started to play with that information when I ended up in moments I felt I needed to say something. But no matter how few and sparse those moments might've been, I treated each one like my last moment in this world. I don't need to tell you what that's like, you know what that's like: To break and be broken.As long as Echelon had me, I couldn't change. I wanted to. I really did. But Joske left me behind to fall into my same trap filled with the same people I almost broke away from. That's why I hate him. He teased me with chance and left me with a bad hand. And people needed to know that. People needed to understand what I felt. That's why I'm here now; why I came to you. I'm the only one left and I need somebody to remember for me when I'm finally gone.So what are you going to do now?Show you everything. From the very beginning.Let's get started then.

IC: Vidar – Kini Nui Temple

The vile Toa’s mouth hung agape as he held his prized possession. That staff – the “Claw Staff” as many called it – was given to him when he first became a Toa, a worthy tool that was once just a makeshift grabber that was tied to a hunting knife, made out of vines and twigs and used to pick fruit from high or far places. Now what was it? The claw end was still intact, but Vidar was hardly in the mood for picking fruit.

Instead of fear, Vidar’s response was raw anger. Joske would pay for destroying his Toa Tool.

Vidar’s eyes soon locked onto the Toa of Light, whose visage contradicted the shape he appeared to be in. There was a fire in his eyes, Vidar noted that, but how long could that fire drive a near-broken body?

It was only a matter of time before the body would break, and after what just happened, it would surely be Vidar who would break it.

Vidar stood defiantly, legs apart, as Joske stared him down and growled in frustration and anger. Vidar replied with a savage hiss, and took a javelin from his backpack. In one deft move, the Dark Toa slung the bag off his shoulders, laying it against the Suva. Vidar gripped the shaft and held the weapon like a spear.

The Dark Toa took two strides forward, extended the spear, and swung it, attempting to catch Joske’s feet. The quick Toa of Light quickly jumped and followed with a volley of lasers threatening to lacerate the armored foe.

As the barrage of lights raced towards Vidar, the Dark Toa could not help but notice how slow time seemed to move. Vidar thought through all of his options, and after affirming that his back was up to it, he arched it and squatted, letting most of the spikes of light fly over him, save for a couple, which cut across his chest armor. When the Parakuka was activated, everything seemed so… easy. Vidar was already very fast and dexterous, but with these enhancements…

Now, now, the Parakuka nonverbally warned. Vidar couldn’t afford to get cocky. The slug reminded him that this was a Toa of Light he was fighting. A Toa who could never lose a fight with Ronkshou, simply because of the Infected One’s glaring vulnerability.

The nimble Dark Toa straightened his back to see Joske coming in close for a one-two punch. Vidar parried the first strike with the shaft of the spear and sent a kick from his right foot to Joske’s left shin before he could finish the second. The force didn’t fracture anything, but it did cause Joske to stumble backwards a little bit. Now, it was Vidar’s turn to follow up. He ran towards the Toa of Light, readying the spear for a good ol’ fashioned impaling. However, Joske did a backflip while summoning a pillar of light from the floor of the temple, its diameter about the same as Vidar’s head.

*DING*

The sound of light on metal (whatever that sounds like) echoed around the Suva, and the Dark Toa was sent flying through the air and crashing to the ground a few yards away. Vidar anticipated that Joske would not be done with him just yet, and he quickly got back to his feet, his Parakuka reeling from the impact.

Leaving the spear on the ground, the Dark Toa charged again, but this time, he dashed to Joske’s right, spinning around and stopping behind the speedster. Vidar did a spinning kick with his right leg, which Joske dodged. Vidar followed this with a high kick from his left leg, which Joske parried. Both were in the zone now, but Vidar’s shadowy friend could not help but worry for the fact that he was fresh, and this Toa of Light was obviously very worn… and yet the two were evenly matched. Even with Light powers, this should not be the case.

It was time to crank up the juice.

Vidar’s eyes narrowed as he willed his enhanced body to move faster. His mind was already doing his fair share of the work, but he needed his body to match, no… surpass the speed of this Toa of Light.

Vidar took four strides towards Joske and leapt into the air, doing a flip over the Toa. As soon as Vidar landed, he was bouncing from foot to foot, resuming his fighting stance. He raised his right fist towards Joske, but faked him out, retracting the fist and doing a high kick to the Toa’s face.

It landed.

Now, Vidar had some momentum in that leg, and bounced it against the ground, bringing it back up to the stunned Toa of light’s face again, and again. The triple-blow was as fast as it was searing, causing Joske to stumble back. Vidar continued to bounce, arms raised, and fists clenched. He was waiting for the Toa’s response.

Ronkshou – Kini Nui Temple

The Infected Toa continued to direct Rahi around the Suva, trying to draw the defenders towards or away certain spots in order to get an opening. It wasn’t working though. These Toa were on their game. While Ronkshou realized that he would have to up his game, he was also crouched behind one of the Muaka cats, keeping his distance from the Toa of Light.

The Infected Toa needed to do his part for the Makuta. He knew this was the case because nothing in this Toa’s mind even considered the prospect of fleeing the temple, getting as far away from the Toa of Light so that he could fight another day. The Makuta wanted him here, but didn’t want him to be erased from existence.

Despite Ronkshou’s devotion though, Ronkshou was still a consciousness, born out of the caged mind of Ra’lhen. He had needs and desires as well, and currently, they all centered around self-preservation.

Ronkshou peered over the Muaka’s back at the duel between the Toa of Light and Vidar. The Infected Toa was far from having any qualms about pulling more dirty stunts against this Toa if it means Vidar wins. One could call such methods cowardly, but cowards do survive.

Sometimes, fear is the appropriate response.

IC

[Kini-Nui Temple; early morning]

He's... he's... surpassing me...

That thought rattled in my head with all the others; literally. It took a moment for me to be able to re-focus after that punishing barrage, the world finally slowing it's rapid spin. That triple blow did a number on me... Mata-Nui, it felt like my face was an impact crater. My opponent bobbed several paces away from me, arms raised and fist clenched, ready to go another round, his body even bigger now than what I remembered from just a moment before. He was getting faster. Stronger. Physically more powerful. I... I couldn't keep up.

At this point I was out of steam.

The mind and will has such great influence on the body, and under the right circumstances it can enable and in fact force the body to above and beyond what should be physically possible. Mind over Matter. The power of Will. When pushed even the most ordinary and unimpressive of specimens and perform super-toa feats of strength and stamina. The problem is, I hit that point a LONG time ago. As I recovered from that last barrage, my mind finally saw the white flag of my body.

It was done.

It was the oddest feeling. Elementally I was no where near tired, the power of the sun fueling my energy reserves like nobody's business. In terms of my powers I felt like I could go on for hours; but my body had had enough. Enough fighting. Enough punishment. Enough pain. It had done more than what was ever expected of it to do, and now it was calling quits. Even as my opponent stood there, weaving back and forth like an overgrown boxer, awaiting my response, I realized I was in a predicament. There was only one thing to do.

Sighing heavily I staggered forward, a walking staff appearing in my hand as I leaned heavily on it. On top of my grievous list of injuries was my left leg was throbbing; not broken, but enough to make walking difficult. I looked up at him with tired eyes, but ones at peace. I could tell he took it as a sigh an resignment, of one accepting inevitable defeat, but in actuality it was something else entirely. It was me turning myself explicitly to my element.

It was the only weapon I had left.

In a burst of speed that even wearing a Kakama I would have found it difficult to dodge, he shot forward, arm extended, in a blow that would have surely taken off my head, made even easier by the fact I didn't move. But just as soon as it got close, a fist-sized wall of light appeared around his hand, completely blocking the attempt with a loud crack. Flummoxed, and in pain, he tried again, only to have that same hexagon-shaped shield melt away and re-appear. In a fit of rage truly representing a Parakuka-enhanced Toa he proceeded to lay down a barrage of blows so fast it didn't even look like he had arms, the sound of metal on light filling the temple plateau.

Yet, he couldn't touch me.

I didn't even twitch as he attempted in vain to land a connecting punch, my moving shield of light foiling his every attempt of a knockout blow. After almost a minute he backed away, wheezing and in wretched agony, his hands looking rather worse for wear, unable to comprehend what just happened. But in the end it didn't matter. This battle was over.

Very slowly I raised my free hand while the other was occupied holding my body aloft with the staff. As I did so my boxing opponent found himself rising into the air, suddenly trapped in a container of solid light, an opaque prison hovering several bios above the chaos. My hand trembled at the strain, even this simple act almost too much for my body to handle. I wanted to say something, something profound and pointed to this servant of Makuta, something to signify that the parasite that was attached to him, that son of darkness and filth that gave him his wretched power was about to be removed from this realm. I wanted the Makuta to hear these words through that abomination before the Maru got to him, or if they were already engaged, able to hear that the battle above was already lost to him. There was so much I wanted to say, could say, but Echelon's strangle-hold had done it's work, rendering me mute for the time being. All I could do was level my eyes with him and hope that they could convey something no audible utter could ever hope to achieve.

And it was with a clenching of the hand that the box of light imploded, that same purging power that I used on the Rahi minutes earlier was now forced upon him and his parasite, my light passing through and absorbing into the very center of his being.

I dunno what impressed me more: the scream of the slug and it's host as the parasite and the malicious poison was burned away, or the cloud of black vapor that surrounded him as the attached creature melted away. The process wouldn't kill him... probably. With a painful hobble I turned towards the small plain at the base of the temple, my eyes scanning the battlefield below me.

Where was that Toa of Electricity? He was next... if I could stagger to him like a turaga in time.

OOC: alright Emzee, as planned, feel free to explain how such a process works

IC:

It was dark, but Heuani hadn't found darkness unnerving for a long time; he inhabited it, after all. What kept his shackles raised instead was the stillness and quiet which pervaded that darkness now. Despite the presence of others around him in an echo chamber of a room, Heuani's ears only registered an ambient ringing; there were no inadvertent shuffling noises, no coughs or exchanged words or even audible breath to muffle the dim ping. The others were as quiet as he was, another similarity that dissolved unpleasantly in Heuani's stomach as it entered his mind.

Here the Toa of Shadow had been, standing in a loose line with his five destined kin - he recalled the last time they had done so - for minutes, yet none of the others nor Heuani had moved or made a sound. Heuani was used to being around much noisier beings, or else being alone; silence was not customarily related to company. The unshakeable, mild paranoia that came with the fear of a sudden noise grew like a weed in Heuani's mind. The Toa of Shadow did not need to close his eyes to find darkness in which he could gather his thoughts. He tried to calm himself, and he slowed his breathing as best he could; there was a marginal difference. What did he fear? That a pin might drop? It was irrational. Heuani chided himself for being so childish, and in doing so he clung for the umpteenth time in the past few hours to the stability of self-criticism. Only by reminding himself that he was losing his touch could he keep clear what he'd once touched. He was slipping; he resolved not to slip; he would slip.

Heuani felt that he was losing the battle against a frustrating, evasive, ultimately chilling insecurity.

Within the course of just a night, Heuani's assurance of his identity had been excommunicated from his empty soul: firstly by his loss to Joske, and secondly by the revelation of the survival of his kin. Both blows had hammered him in a core he'd long forgotten about, fragmented his vision like impacts on a glass window, and sent him sprawling again and again into a detached numbness. It was extraordinary, a divergent fragment of him chimed in with malicious comedy, that such devastating blows came in quick succession. He was drowning in the thick mud of upended perspective. His subconscious immortality was shattered by a cheating Toa of Fire; whatever peace of mind remained after that shameful loss was smothered by the return of Heuani's former team. He had betrayed them to become what he was, and to have seen them emerge from the ground as his mirror images was a ghastly nightmare. The frothing earth from which they had emerged, the moment of his epiphany, replayed neurotically in Heuani's mind.

Once more, he remarked on his idiocy, a long-standing one, at that. Why had he ever believed the terms of his master's deal? After all, why would Makuta have settled for one weapon when he could have just as easily have had six? Heuani hadn't considered these questions before - he'd been overeager and naive in the moment of his betrayal - but now their answers stood like statues on either side of him. Heuani knew that his deal with the darkness must not have been the only one made: his had merely been the first. Heuani was the flaw in otherwise thick ice that, when struck right, created exploitable fissures. The other Toa had surely been stung by his betrayal, and that must have been an easy point of entry for the same coercive voices that had taken hold of him so long ago. They, like he, had been cast into an inferno and emerged ashen.

These Toa all have new names, he reminded himself. They had not yet spoken, but Heuani had been given plenty of time to obsess over the ramifications of their return.

The others had been changed. Now they were like him, and not just elementally. Around Heuani stood four godly male bodies, irresistible arrangements of features that he found his eyes uncontrollably drawn to. The four faces were heightened versions of their former selves, all clean lines and immaculate proportion, like his own visage. Their armor, like Heuani's, was sharp at the same time as it was smooth; the forms were precise as sword blades, rippling daggers that pierced the mind and drew the eyes. Heuani, when he had looked cursorily at the others, had finally been given the relativity of his own attractiveness; if this was how other beings felt looking at him, he had wondered... Makuta had clever, masterful hands indeed. Among his other more confused and painful reactions to seeing the rest of his kin, Heuani was able to locate distinct pride: he knew that he was as handsome as they. Only Joske's mark tainted his - their cumulative - flawlessness.

But all the devilish tempters were forgettable beside the temptress next to Heuani.

She was a dream, the bestial acceleration of the heart. She was full-body warmth and she was cold, nervous spears in the ribs. She was firm curves, shapely elegance, the tension of slow caresses. She was a graceful, feline stride, the smiling air between eager lips, the visceral thrill of touching. She was the throb of blood in the ears, the gentle exhale of satisfaction. She was the adventure of unspoiled innocence and the allure of skillful experience. She was the comfort of familiarity and the anticipation of secrets withheld. Her face seemed to Heuani mutable, indescribable, for looking on it he was aware simultaneously of her playful humor as her beautiful wisdom, her coyness as her confidence, her pleasure as her pain.

She had hardly needed to be improved by Makuta to be so attractive; even the astute Heuani couldn't tell what had been altered. Yet by merely looking at her changed form for the first time, Heuani had been set instantly afire. Remembering his first impressions of her, the Toa of Shadow could not resist looking again. He turned his head slowly and simply stared; he noted in a corner of his thoughts that his rapture was far too deep for him to be at all apologetic for his hungry gaze. The short look she gave him in return, attempting indifference, could not dissuade him from continuing to devour her graceful, sensual figure, athletic yet soft, with his imagination. The minimal light that fell on her midnight armor only accentuated her gorgeous features, darkened her expressive, albeit enigmatic, golden eyes. Heuani pleaded with his own eyes; he needed her to meet his gaze and unclothe her spirit. She would not look. He had to act.

Heuani's footfalls broke the silence of the dark room, drawing the lazy attention of all the other four male Toa; they looked on casually, and some started to walk in for a better view. She watched him too as he took a few short steps towards her, approached until he was close enough that he could grab one of her flawless hands. She looked down at the connection, and Heuani stroked the inside of her palm lightly with his fingertips. Her fingers were limp in his, but the mere contact was enough to send a flood of emotion high into Heuani's cheeks. She looked up at his face, lips subtly pursed, and her irises traced Joske's mark before locking into Heuani's eyes. Heuani thought he recognized a spark in her dark pools, and his fingers glided over her of their own accord, slipped about her perfect waist and drew her close-

"Stop," she said simply, stiffening under Heuani's grip. Heuani let his fingers fall. "I have not forgotten."

Heuani bowed his head for a moment, exhaling, before looking back up. "Neither have I," he said, smiling more weakly than he intended. He had lent no lightness to the situation.

"We haven't forgotten, either," said one of the male Toa. Heuani's chest gripped angrily; he recognized the cadences of that voice, and hearing it set him on edge, as it always had. "You broke."

"I did not break," Heuani retorted sharply, spinning to the male Toa. "I made a choice. I saw that I had a choice."

"You chose betrayal," the other Toa said, approaching Heuani. They were still the same height - that had always bothered Heuani - and the other Toa even looked a little like Heuani, now that their faces had been carved by the same sculptor. "You chose to follow your selfish impulses. It isn't admirable."

"I-" Heuani said, before stopping himself. He looked back at the dark beauty; she was watching him impassively, and even her distance seduced him. He noticed the way her hand stroked the stone wall, and envied the rock face. "I followed my heart," he pleaded to her. "You have to see-"

"You no longer have a heart," the other Toa sneered, stepping between Heuani and the female Toa. "None of us do, not now. Our hearts have been lodged in others. Once we kill them, we will be able to retake what was ours."

"Who do you think took our hearts out of us in the first place?" Heuani grinned sadistically, gleeful at his informational advantage as he spoke to all the others. "Our master took our hearts, and then he lost them... They were taken by the Chronicler, no less..."

"The Chronicler?" another one of the Toa asked. "I never liked-enjoyed him much. He annoyed-pestered me, and so did his-"

"Even if our master did take our hearts, as you claim," the Toa facing Heuani interrupted, staring him down. "When we kill the usurpers, we will be able to take them back. It was a condition of my deal, and of the others' deals as well."

"Our master does not keep to the conditions of deals," Heuani said exasperatedly, flicking the other Toa in the chest. "He broke the terms of mine... You were never supposed to come back, any of you."

"We'll get over it," Heuani's rival spat.

Heuani rolled his eyes, turned away. "Have you all been together since I 'broke,' then?"

"Yes," the rival replied shortly. "Mostly."

"Have you actually done anything for our master?"

"If we had, would it matter?" the rival said. There was a pause as all the Toa were silent. Heuani felt their attentions fixed on him. "We know what you did, and what you have done since," the rival commented. Heuani risked a glance at the female Toa; she regarded him sadly, coldly. She knew. Had she seen? She did not understand; Heuani had to explain.

"I couldn't match you," Heuani assured her desperately. "I needed... You were-"

"I loved you," she cut him off. "But as a brother. You took me against my will, and sentenced us to death. Do you expect forgiveness?"

"No, I-"

"We cannot forgive you, Heuani," the rival said, using Heuani's new name with irony. "You've turned us all into monsters."

"We are beautiful," Heuani said, though his counter sounded even more hollow as it left his lips.

"A beautiful monster is still a monster," said one of the other Toa from a corner of the room.

Heuani had no answer for that, so he sat down dejectedly on a rocky protrusion and looked at the ground. The others, deciding the conversation was over, returned to their standing spots and assumed silence. Heuani was behind them on the wall; his eyes were drawn again to the gorgeous silhouette of the female Toa, who stood before him. She seemed to feel his gaze, so she turned. Heuani smiled with as much charm as he could muster. "...Come sit," he said. "I promise I won't touch you, though that will be difficult." His smile faded as she ignored his attempt at playfulness, but she sat anyway.

"What do you want to say?" she asked guardedly.

"I don't know," Heuani admitted.

"Fine," she consented cautiously, starting to stand. "Maybe you'll think of it."

"What can I call you, now?" Heuani asked, stopping her.

"...Is that it?" she said with a half-smile that made Heuani's chest ache.

"No," he said. "But I still want to know."

"Reka," she said.

"Reka," he agreed. She left him sitting alone.

But for all his efforts, Heuani still could not banish her real name from his mind.

IC:Ankt ~Kini Nui~ -Fighting Rahi-

"Oi! Brother!" Ankt's booming voice called out across the field. "Karz, what was his name again? Verak I think... Verak!" Ankt usually wasn't one for talking when there was battling to be done, but he had spent most of the battle trying to decide which side he should join to no avail. Eventually he just gave up and decided to ask Verak which side the Sand Toa thought Ankt should join. "Which side is the weaker one?"

IC

IC (Oreius)

The tide was turning.

Even without the help of Oreius' mask, the Manas would not have been able to hold off the Maru for long. The Toa were simply too powerful; their elemental and physical strength was raw and unpolished, but formidable nonetheless in its sheer ferocity. And, as Stannis would have said, they had destiny on their side.

Sulov killed his Manas first, his brute strength not much less than that of the creature he was fighting. He was followed closely by Reordin, who teamed up with Leah to finish off two at once. Water and ice. Unity in action.

Oreius and Inu were next to defeat their opponent. As the Manas jumped at them, they ducked, their transformation complete, then leapt, their strengthened legs carrying them higher than they could have possibly jumped before, as though they were a Toa of Air instead of a Toa of Fire. They landed on the other side of the Rahi, then turned with inhuman speed, battering at the creature with all the strength of a Kane-Ra and the speed of a Muaka.

The Manas tried to regain the offensive, but every time it tried to throw out its claw to catch its opponent, the Toa dodged with uncanny speed and agility and deflected the blow before counterattacking. Their silver knives slashed the air like forks of metallic lightning, scarring the Rahi's armour before finally slipping past its guard and planting one of their knives deep in its shoulder.

The creature screamed, but the cry of pain and fury couldn't raise its useless claw from the dead, nor repair its broken treads. The Manas' entire right side was crippled; all that could be seen of the Toa's weapon was the hilt, protruding from the slit in its armour like a splinter.

With one arm down, the Manas tried to retreat, but Oreius and Inu cut it off before ducking under its feeble attempt at a defense and digging their other blade into the left shoulder.

The Rahi's other claw dead; the creature clashed its mandibles in rage, but the fight was over. Both its treads were torn; it couldn't escape.

Oreius and Inu stood before their opponent, hardly even breathing heavily. They closed their eyes; their fists clenched, and then their arms seemed to retract slightly; their bowed back straightened, and their eyes cleared, the battle-lust draining from their mind.

Oreius blinked, and waited for the familiar wave of weariness, but it didn't come. The battle had taken a minute at most; all he felt was a slight weakening, as though he had just gone for a light jog. Inu had plenty of energy left.

The Manas still struggled to move away from him; dribbles of saliva puddled on the ground, mixing with the blood leaking from its shoulders. The Toa of Fire strode up to the Rahi; it snapped at him, but he paid it no heed. Instead, he lightly jumped over its head, and landed on the carapace.

Planting both hands firmly on the metallic shell, the Toa reached deep into the Rahi and pulled the heat from its body, sucking out every last drop of warmth. The Manas' eyes dimmed and then died, and a thin coating of frost covered its exoskeleton.

That done, Oreius wrenched his weapons from the crab's corpse, and turned back to the battle that his brothers were still fighting.

Korero was keeping his Rahi on the defensive using his element, calling up gusts of wind to pummel it and keep it off balance. Stannis had adopted a similar strategy: using his polearm, he was jabbing and swiping at the giant crab, warding off its attacks. Neither Toa nor Rahi were wounded -yet.

That was open to change at any second.

The Manas were smart; both had already seemed to figure out their opponents' strategies, and were beginning to try to use them to their advantage. Korero's Manas faked a jump to one side, and when the Toa of Air summoned a blast of air to knock it back, it ducked under the attack and sprinted straight for the Le-Toa, having learned not to leap at a Toa of Air.

Korero rolled to the side, dodging the Rahi's first strike, but the infected creature followed up with another blow that managed to glance off the Le-Toa's shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Except... he didn't hit the ground. The Manas leaped, hungry jaws slavering, but landed on the bare rock. Its prey had vanished.

Thanks to his Mask of Jumping, Korero hadn't even bruised himself from his tumble. Activating his mask in mid-air, he had warped behind the Manas, a metre or so off the ground, and landed on his feet, soft as a snowflake. As the Rahi leapt for the spot he had been, he threw both arms straight up, and the resulting vertical blast of wind catapulted his opponent high into the air.

The Manas screeched in dismay as it began to fall, but it was hardly in mortal danger. Its carapace was tough enough to ward off most weapons; it would be bruised from the fall, but nothing more.

Then Korero acted.

His hands, still held high in the air, were suddenly thrust to the ground as the Toa of Air called down a mighty gale that accelerated the Manas' fall exponentially, sending it rocketing down towards the unforgiving stone.

The resulting impact was fatal, as was obvious by the sight of the crustacean's insides splattered throughout the cavern.

Stannis was the last to defeat his opponent. His Manas bit and swiped at thin air, but skilful jabs of his pole-arm kept the creature at bay. The Wanderer's sharp eyes flickered from side to side, weighing options and strategies that only he knew, waiting for an opportunity.

The Rahi forced him to make a choice. Much like Korero's opponent had, it faked an attack to one side and then leapt at Stannis, clearing the Po-Toa's weapon and threatening to crush him.

But Stannis, though both a new Toa and a prophet, was not inexperienced in combat. He had fought Rahi bigger than this crab, and won. His actions, however, didn't support that. He simply stood there; he didn't try to dodge or get out of the way of the Manas' leap.

Instead, the Toa of Stone mentally reached into the earth beneath him, and pulled up a block of stone that pushed through the soil just behind him. Just in time, he managed to brace his pole-arm against the rocky outcropping, and the infected Rahi drove itself upon the point. Stannis' strength alone would not have been able to pierce its carapace; it impaled itself upon the deadly point of the weapon, and fell to the ground, defeated by the staunch strength of stone.

The six Toa stood, motionless and silent, as they beheld the aftermath of the battle. All six Manas were dead, and the heroes themselves, aside from scratches and bruises, had escaped injury. The darkness closed in around them, thick and almost stifling, but even the bleak influence of the Makuta couldn't keep a fierce joy and pride from welling up in the Toa's hearts as they surveyed their victory.

The buzz didn't last long, though. Each one of them knew that the Manas had been only a taste of Makuta's power. A test. There would be far worse ahead; they didn't need a prophet to tell them that.

Gathering together again, the Maru readied their weapons, and walked deeper into the darkness.

IC: Vidar – Kini Nui Temple

What was Vidar even doing here?

This was a valid question, though one has to stop and wonder why you’re asking this now.

Oh, that’s right. You’re (as far as you know) dying; slowly and painfully.

Normally, this would be the part where Vidar thinks back almost 100 years ago, when he first encountered his mentor, Ronkshou. The pain, the promises, the thirst for revenge; one couldn’t blame the young Le-Matoran, raised by the jungle, for walking with the first person who showed even the faintest interest in improving him. One couldn’t blame Vidar for allying himself with the servants in exchange for a polished ability to fight, a sharpened skill in hunting, excellent elemental prowess, and of course, revenge against the Toa who supplanted Vidar’s parents with the brutality of nature: Toa Insontro.

Is that the scapegoat that would justify Vidar’s plight? Is the starting point of a string of painful memories, bloodied bodies of innocence, and unrelenting disdain for his existence nothing more than an objectively insane Toa of Sonics?

Or is the starting point something deeper? Something from within?

. .

It would have been difficult for anyone on that battlefield to not notice the spine-chilling, heads-splitting scream that burst from the Kini Nui Suva in an expending circle of anguished sound. Even Rahi – those free and those enslaved – stopped for a precious moment at the abrupt cry of pain. All curious eyes were on one being – one monster that had spread fear among Matoran for almost a century.

Most people could not be expected to know the exact details of the Parakuka and how they worked. The ones who knew best were the now deceased Turaga, and not all of them wrote down notes of their observations. As such, Vidar had no idea if Joske truly knew what he did to Vidar or if he even knew what he almost did to Vidar.

For all intents and purposes, Vidar was dying.

Imagine for a moment that somehow, your nerves were being ripped from within your spine and any resulting cavities were filled with salt water. Multiply that by a hundred and if you have a faint idea of what Vidar felt. While being forcibly bonded with the Parakuka was a painful and traumatic experience in of itself, at least it was a state of agony that Vidar’s brain could manage.

Vidar’s mind, resilient and quick as it was, could not manage this.

Usually, a Parakuka being cut from its host caused severe mental repercussions and death soon after. Vidar was fortunate though; the parasite wasn’t physically removed, nor did it die in a manner that would normally kill the host. Instead, Joske’s attack was more like the curing of a poison; all of the shadow elements that fed off Vidar melted away, reverting Vidar precisely back to the state he was in before the bonding.

Unfortunately, this process did not do anything to block the pain from the mental separation. As a result, the body lived, but the mind was broken.

Possibly the most tragic fact is that Vidar’s last coherent thoughts were not of regret, not of reconsidering his past actions, not even of an incisive lust for vengeance against Joske as Vidar floated in that shining container. Vidar returned the defiant eyes of Joske with a look of devious toothy grin, one that would have uttered a snarky comment if Vidar could.

Let it all out of your system, Toa. Your power will deplete, my partner will break you, and I will recover.

The subsequent purge, hit all of Vidar’s nerves at once, wrenching and breaking his mind before he could deliver another coherent thought. All screams and movement afterwards were done by his subconscious. Vidar would live, but he would fight no more.

IC: Ronkshou – Kini Nui Temple

Ronkshou’s eyes narrowed as he watched Vidar’s parasite disintegrate before his very eyes. When the light dissipated, only a moaning, twitching Toa of Air remained, lying face down atop the temple.

Direct contact would clearly not work, and Ronkshou began to assess the situation at hand. What he would do next depended on a very important question:

How detrimental could Ronkshou’s body become, in the event that Ronkshou was no longer around to control it?

He refused to acknowledge his own actual name, and stuck to the idea that he and his uninfected half were do separate minds – an idea that has merit, but hasn’t been wholly confirmed. At any rate, if his disinfected body was fresh in mind and strength, the forces of the Makuta might never get to the Suva. Getting to the Suva was top priority.

However, the only way Ronkshou could be certain that his disinfected body didn’t further decimate Makuta’s forces was to destroy it himself… a last-ditch move that Ronkshou wasn’t even sure he was capable of doing. His reason for existing is to serve and help the Makuta, which meant protecting himself from death and disinfection at all costs… including death?

Ronkshou peeked over the Muaka again to see that Joske had spotted him from the top of the temple. He it would take little physical force to defeat the Toa of Light once and for all. The key here was to get a hit in; not send all 20-something Rahi at him. He needed a distraction.

The Infected Toa looked over his remaining battalion: 1 Kuma Nui, 4 Tarakava, 1 Nui Rama, 3 Muaka (including the one he was hiding behind), 4 Nui Jaga, and 1 Kane-Ra. Only fourteen Rahi, and dwindling fast.

Ronkshou would make those fourteen count.

Ronkshou got the attention of 3 Tarakava lizards, and motioned them to attack the Toa of Light. Still operating under the same master, the Rahi obeyed Ronkshou’s motions and sped towards the staggering Toa. The Infected Toa then summoned the fourth Tarakava, and had it circle around to ambush Joske from behind. Ronkshou then considered the possibility of Joske jumping to the side. To take care of that, Ronkshou sent a Muaka to circle around and taker down Joske only if he moved out of the way of the oncoming Tarakava. Ronkshou had witnessed some gorey collisions in the past, and he wanted to avoid that to the best of his ability.

Ronkshou remained by his giant cat to watch the battle plan unfold, while coming up with the next battle plan in the event Joske escaped.

IC (Korero)

As the Manas came crashing down, Korero felt his heart leap in triumph. His opponent was defeated, its brawn outsmarted thanks to his new mask and powers. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, and his face was filled with a smile of fierce joy -

Which slowly died away as he saw the fruits of his victory. The giant crab lay there, its armour dashed to pieces, its masks shattered, its lifeblood draining away onto the black stone floor. And even as he looked into the Rahi's dimming yellow eyes, he saw its sadness, its pain. It let out a quiet, mournful chitter.

The Toa of Air felt his victorious elation drain away, his triumph curdling inside him as his gut wrenched itself with regret. He walked guiltily over to the dying Manas, and knelt down in front of it. Its pained eyes slid to look sadly up at him. Korero felt a lump in his throat.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, placing a hand on the cracked carapace of the creature's head. "I..." He choked on his words, the realisation of what he had done overpowering him. A tear fell, splashing softly onto the shell as he and the crab looked into each other's eyes, a silent exchange of guilt from both; the Rahi, that had, against its will, so viciously attacked; and the Toa, who, in his new-found power, had done more than he intended.

The crab chittered again, more weakly, and tried to move, but only caused itself more pain.

Korero looked down at the broken creature, his eyes full of regret. Calling on his power for more gentle means, he summoned a soft breeze to soothe the crab in its last moments. The Manas made a noise like a sigh, comforted by the cooling breeze, and its eyes began to dim.

They went dark.

Korero closed his own eyes, and bowed his head. A few moments later, he straightened up, walking over to join his brothers. The sorrow in his eyes had been replaced by righteous anger. Makuta had caused too much suffering; too many innocent creatures and beings had been corrupted or killed because of him.

But now, his reckoning was coming.