- JL -

IC: The moment the Rahkshi's legs - one of which was now literally in tatters - gave in to Lash's yank, Aurum surged forwards, bushing past Lash with unnerving speed. Without stopping, he pointed his lance downwards, and thrust it with all his body-weight as well as momentum towards the core of the beast.

IC: "No. I-I mean, Yeah!! I know how to line up a shot. Duh." Flay grumbled out before yanking the stick out of Dorian's hands, and lifting it with her own. It's light, she noted as she hefted it up and down for a few moments before she turned back to the table. All I need to do is line up a shot, and poke the ball. Just one single, clean thrust. Just like guard training. Lining up the shot wasn't hard. The cue ball was close enough to a nearby solid that she was pretty sure that even a beginner like her would be able to get it in. Raising her hands onto the table, she pressed down, arching her palm upwards the way she'd seen Dorian do it to create her bridge. Making extra sure she didn't accidentally touch one of the balls while the game was already at play, she placed the front of the cue in between her knuckles, and - "Wait, who's turn is it?"

IC: Two red-white beams of energy lit up the tunnel for a split second before the shadows came back, eating up whatever light was created from the attack and shrouding the tunnel back to it's near-utter darkness. Pushing off against the opposing wall of the tunnel, Aurum surged forwards, weapons in hand. "I'll distract the thing while you whip it at range. If your whip can grate an entire arm off a Rahkshi, I'm sure you'll be able to tear it to shreds. And once that's done, we'll be able to move on." The Toa of Iron raised his hands, and three finger length blades, about half an inch in width, extended in between the gaps of his fingers. With a flick of his wrist, the blades flew through the darkness straight and true towards the Rahkshi.

OOC: Here you go, Nato. Mind you, the post is probably a bit poop, since I'm writing this in the middle of class :3 IC: "We can fight it," came a voice that echoed through the tunnels towards Lash. In front of the sprinting Vortixx, Aurum appeared out of nowhere. One second, there was only darkness within the tunnel; the next, a flicker of black and gold had appeared. Lash blinked. If she had any surprise, they drowned out the moment she noticed the Mask of Stealth on the Toa's face. However, as she sprinted in his direction, she noted that the Toa had no intention to run; all he did was stand there, eyes gazing at her; no, behind her - looking to see if the monster would be coming. Though Aurum didn't have a line of sight on the monster, nor did he know exactly where Lash had originally encountered the beast - the sounds of a feral howl that sounded, at the same time, sick and slippery - was more than enough of a tell. "A pity that the sons of Makuta no longer follow their father. Traitors.....deserve their penance."

IC: "It's whatever. It's cool." Was he lying? That was actually a bit hard to read. On one hand, Flay knew that Dorian didn't like what had just passed; a mercenary who is only used and not paid would most probably be able to empathise with the Toa of Iron. On the other hand, though he didn't always act like it, Dorian's messed-up-ness was on another level - that much was clear to Flay. Was he mad? Sad? Depressed? Or was this just another day in the life of Toa Dorian, one that would be grumbled about today, called nostalgic the next? "Nice....." She strummed her chin for a moment, racking her mind to recall anything and everything she'd seen related to pool. She didn't dare show any lack of knowledge in front of the opposing player, especially considering who he is. "Break."

IC: "But great is subjective. It may have felt like #### for you, but I'm sure at least some good came out of it. Probably more bad than good, but....at least some good." And it sounded like more fun that sitting around in town. Flay shrugged, before reaching over towards the pool rack and grabbing a cue with no hesitation - the nagging sensation came back - before she looked back at Dorian. "Oh, well. Welcome home, I guess. I wonder what the chances are that in your leave of absence, someone has gone over and messed up something at your house. Probably wouldn't be the first time, as creepy as that sounds." She frowned. Cue in hand, table in front, and one supermodel opponent ready for a bout of sticks and balls. What was missing? "Still, I'm surprised. I'd have thought that you'd return with a group of others; your so called soulmate, for one. And Tuara. Where's she?" Oh, right. She'd never played pool before.

IC: Flay didn't have any intention to order anything, food or drink. She was pretty sure that every time somebody did anything of the sort with Dorian in their company, it resulted in somebody sleeping with someone. Of course, that wasn't exactly the problem; the problem was - although the Toa of Iron had said he'd been fired - Flay was still Dorian's supervisor. And it felt horribly wrong. "So, Dorian....." she began as the Toa of Iron took a pool cue, bent down, and thrust forwards twice, heavily reminding Flay of a rapier's jab. As her eyes traced the curves of- Somewhere in the back of her mind, there was a nagging sensation. She still couldn't figure out exactly what it was; either way, she continued. This still counted as work. "How's life been since you ditched me and left on your little adventure?"

IC: "I.....um......uh........right." I turned towards the rest of the group members who had slowly apepared, at the same time beginning to test out my new weapon. I'd only held it for a few seconds; it was time to get a good feel for how I'd use it best. "A bunch of people standing around not fighting within a fighting arena is going to raise suspicions though. I think we might need a plan, and fast. Any ideas?

IC: Loren walking away, Flay turned back to Dorian. "Shall we go?"

OOC: poopy phone post IC: She thought about it. "F-Fine." She glared at Loren.

IC: The sudden appearance of a shimmering wall of air was, ironically, the thing that knocked all the air out of her lungs. Hand flame extinguished, the sudden impact made her doozy for about a second before the fire within her burned that out. Funny; the last time she'd slammed into something at Kakama-speed, she'd stayed embedded within the wall for about 10 minutes. Getting up after a second was a.....drastic improvement. Before she could begin her onslaught of shouting, though, Dorian immediately caught on as to who she was. "Flay?" Flay blinked. She hadn't heard her name being called out by that voice since a loooong time; If not for the fact that she was already fuming from the anger, she might've actually blushed. "You look good. For someone who's supposed to stand about to my abs. Is this your first time seeing my face at eye level? What do you think? And, uh, minorly less pressing...why does it look like everything was...burning? Y'know. More than the usual." The Toa of Fire opened her mouth to try and make some sort of retort that hopefully wouldn't have lead to Dorian controlling the conversation even more, but nonetheless she was vaguely aware of a Toa with a sword charged up with energy pointing at her. Vaguely. "A group of Skakdi who call themselves the Piraka. They started a fight here, in the Lavapool Inn. Reports say that there were a LOT of Toa who tried to fight them; that probably caused more destruction. Then the Maru came, fought a bit more here, and the Piraka decided it was time for them to scurry off." She gazed up and down Dorian. This WAS her first time looking at Dorian since she'd turned into a Toa; and he was good looking. Something she doubted she'd ever admit to his face. "So then they left a trail of destruction in their wake. The Maru were unable to stop them, it seems."

IC: "My first thought is to locate their rum supply," Floria added nonchalantly.

IC: The Lavapool inn. It looks like somebody stepped on it, let loose a flammable fart upon it, and then let the embers of Ta-Wahi light it up in an epic display of fireworks and architectural destruction. And so, as usual, Flay was there working on the clean-up. "Yes, yes, please move away from the scene,", "Yes, we're trying to find the culprit, so are the Maru", "Yes, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to spend the night along with the rest of the people who lost their home" were sentences that she'd probably repeated to a bunch of Toa, Matoran, Skakdi and Vortixx many, many times. There probably wasn't any doubt that some of the questions weren't genuine; they were probably asked for the sake of being able to talk to her. Which, of course, was a bit dumb, but it also made Flay a gleeful little girl deep down. That was one of the main reasons why she'd actually bothered coming out and doing work. It was also some fun practice - racing around with a Kakama on your face all across town was as exhilarating as it was tiring, and though Flay was constantly sitting down in some back alley gasping for air or stretching her arms and legs to try and ease the soreness, at the same time this was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the current job. Speed was fun, alongside everything else that came to her now that she was a Toa. Don't tell that to anyone, by the way. There were many, many broken buildings, shattered structures and toppled edifices that dotted the path that the Piraka and Toa Maru had used during their destructive chase across town, and it was her job to make sure all the litter was cleaned up - supervising the janitors, so to speak. Of course, the 'janitors' were armed and trained guardsmen and guardswomen, so it's probably best if they didn't find that she was actually slacking off. Running around was only part of the job though. There was also a lot of standing around - which was a whole lot less fun, but nonetheless still required. Standing outside the Lavapool inn, her eye traced the edges of the rubble that now took the place of the once-highly-renowned inn for what might've been the millionth time. Just then, a unique figure of black and gunmetal-grey - with a hint of gold - flashed itself into her field of vision. Standing out from within the crowd of crimson to orange shades, he was a magnet of attention - especially to Flay. There he was again, in all his glory - Her police consultant, famous ex-merc, and giant prick - Dorian. A prickly Durian? "D-Do....rian....?" Flay muttered between gritted teeth as her face went through an array of emotional expressions within a second before contorting into an angry frown that burned. Literally, as she felt her body temperature heat up without any semblance of her own control whatsoever. The burst of energy was spontaneous as her Kakama fired up, her right hand lit up in flames - one of her first few times conjuring her elemental power - and she lunged forwards. A warm welcome home indeed, as the super speed slap came towards the Toa of Iron's face within a blaze.

IC: As the black-armored Toa gave me a hand up, I quickly took a glance at him. As far as I could tell, his armor was nearly obsidian-black; but something about that looked a bit weird. I'd only learn later on that with light, a dark red color could be illuminated and unveiled. For a moment, I made eye contact with him - gazing into his fierce, flame-colored eyes - and in that instant I had a tinge of nervousness. The same kind you might've had if you were a child gazing upwards towards a person you knew had more experience than you.......I think. "We can make this the last fight that creep will ever host, with your help. What do you say?" By that creep, he must mean the dude who organised this entire thing. Stopping him? I have no qualms with that. "I'd be interested in giving a hand. I'm Exa, by the way." A silly grin plastered itself over my face as I introduced myself to the stranger. Part of that was because it felt a little bit awkward for me. The other part was because he didn't start laughing at me - something which I myself probably would have done, if I'd been in his shoes.

***And them flashbacks are sooooo gud. Even though there was only one, and it was just a giant tease really, I'm already hoping the next one comes out.....now.

OOC: TUCK YOU'RE BAAAAAAACK WOOOOOOOO @Gear and @Mr. Lightning Bolt - and also @Whoever else this concerns, that's not exactly the case anymore. Rather: Which is why hopefully you won't mind if I take this hit, VF, Wade. IC: (Examus, Within One Giant Prick's cagefight) Oh, great. Well, at the very least they gave me back my mask. I wouldn't have felt complete without my Sohfir, even if I haven't mastered it's powers one bit. Still, the urgency of the situation got to me quickly; while Alfon and his opponent seemed like they were both capable and evenly matched duelists who may or may not actually be trying to take each other's head off for the sake of pleasing some random guy and the audience, I'm sure that somewhere within this cesspool of people who got caught by a Skakdi missing one of every limb, an ear and an eye, there's a guy or gal whose bloodthirsty nature would let them ignore any repercussion they might have felt against putting a blade through me, or anyone else. The moment we got thrown into the cage, I scrambled for the closest weapon around me that resembled the one I had used previously - which had been a hybrid between a large rod, a hammer, a spear/javelin and an axe. But my precious weapon was nowhere to be seen, so now I held within my hands a Bo staff-esque weapon, with a thicker-than-normal stick diameter that seemed as though it may actually be able to support my weight. My new weapon in hand, I sprinted across the battlefield as fast as I can, noticing that others were entering the fray as well. Some were wide-eyed, scared, confused and afraid. Others had a wicked sneer on their face; I'm pretty sure these ######### actually were sick enough to buy their way into participation. I knew that if I had any chance in surviving this battle royale, it would have to be through teamwork and survival in masses. But, alone within a battlefield where each combatant only truly had one allegiance - themselves - it'd be hard pressed to find allies within this cage. After all, you'd think that Alfon and his enemy would've teamed up to try and get out, but instead, after a bit of banter they had proceeded to engaging in the activity of trying to stab the ###### out of each other. Of course, there was this saying - that people connect their hearts on the battlefield (or some dumb stuff like that) - so maybe it'd be my first chance of experiencing that. Clearing all the doubt from within my mind for the moment, I made my way towards the one person who I'd met beforehand - Alfon - hoping that he wouldn't be the type of person to kill me at first sight. "HEY, DUDE, CAN WE TEAM UP?" I shouted out as I stopped running. My mask power activated at this point, and rather than trip, my feet found themselves sliding forwards, as though they were now standing upon ice rather than the.....whatever it was beneath me. I don't know where I am. Having timed my momentum perfectly, I slid right in front of Alfon when he stepped away from the adversary that he had been fighting. Of course, I wasn't exactly paying attention to the fight, and was instead more preoccupied with 'focusing-on-not-mucking-up-concentration-on-my-mask-power-while-trying-to-shout-a-sentence-which-was-(don'ttellanyone)-very-very-hard-for-me'. So when he raised his hand up, the first thought was that he was beaming with approval. Or something. And then I realised it was actually a beam - not of approval, but of intense, shocking electrical energy. The flash of blue lightning blasted me in the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs and also sending me reeling backwards. As I fell on my back with an 'umph', I vaguely noticed Aparangi a few feet to the side of me - and dolefully admitted to myself that he probably thought I was an idiot.

WE HAVE A SCIENTIST ON THE MOD TEAM NOOOOOOOOOO C-Congrats, Ghosthands and Krayzikk! With the abrupt change in pace, it seems, of the metagame tone, I'm sure it'll end up being able to spur some activity; and since it seems like both Kentoku and Mata-Nui are shaping up into two warzones, it's also going to inject a much needed sense of player worth to many people. Can't wait for the activity to begin boiling!

OOC: Inika IC: I stared at my white cards. Some were good. Some, I'd look forward to burning in some of the longer black cards. As my eyes scrolled the sets of printed text, I froze. That one. I pulled a single card out, placing it face down in front of me.

Looks ok. I like the way the blood splatters/red specks mingles with the dark-greenish color of the mask to give it a rust-like look. I don't really like the color of the text though; it doesn't stand out enough, and I also feel like there's a bit too much red. The BZPRPG was dark, but it didn't feel dark in the sense that everybody got all their blood sputtered out in fountains simultaneously. Also don't like how there's more black to the left side of the image than the right. The unbalance throws me off.

OOC: The Inika. Sorry for short post; was very late on time and, well..... IC: "............." I blinked. I already knew what I was going to say. The only problem was it was also highly offensive and probably wouldn't ever be a sentence that could be used at the right time and right place. I prayed to whatever Great Spirits that existed that they don't smite me for this. "Y-Yeah, Kiron..........You get one point." OOC: ban me from the game im so dumb

Happy Birthday! ^.^

IC: 5....4....3....2....1. "Your time is up," I said to the others around the table, before I gestured for them to unveil their answers.

OOC: Minor timeskip for a major convenience. If you don't wanna read some random character development summary hurrdurr stuff I tacked on to the post skip to the asterisks. IC: The Inika sailed onwards, as always. Though I could remember Mata Nui clearly as though I had left it only moments ago, the time spent at sea wasn't unaccounted for either. We had no idea if we were about to reach our destination or if we still had a loooooong time ahead of us - and we were suffering from a.....uniquely unenjoyable thought process - Boredom. See, some time ago, there used to be this big bad person on Mata Nui. When he was around, there was no time to be bored. There was a sense of pressure on us - that we had to make good use of our time in preparation for the worse. Normal lives were led, but with constant torment due to the uneasiness of knowing full well that there was a madman who wanted to rule over everybody living on the island, silently brewing his plans to fruition. Then one day, Worse arrived. Legions of Rahkshi came, tunnelling through the ground to arrive at where everyone lived. And then Worse left us. At the time, the fighting seemed to have lasted an eternity, but looking back, it seemed to be no accident at all that the Maru had appeared right then, notifying to everyone the knowledge that the Makuta was gone - and with that, a heavy burden had been lifted from everybody's shoulders. If Destiny truly exists, this would be the proof. Too bad the Great Spirit works in 'mysterious ways'. But, back to what I was saying - the subtle pressure that was placed onto the backs of every matoran, Toa, Skakdi, Vortixx who weren't working for the Makuta relieved itself, and with that, great celebrations were to be had. Sure, there was tension between the villages when everybody realized 'Oh all that stuff the Makuta used to hurt us, to produce things like Heuani and the Rahkshi, those stuff? Yeah he probably kept the material ones' but still......everything was 'better' now. But with 'better', came inaction. There is no longer an 'evil looming in the dark' for us to fight. I guess.....the best way to sum it up is, the boredom we felt then was simply 'doing nothing while something is coming'. Now, it's just.....'doing nothing'. We don't know if anything is coming, and we don't have the power to take a look. If the Great Spirit truly does have a grand plan for all of us, it's looking pretty darn cyclical and generic right now. So, on to our situation now. We're on a boat. We think we're looking for something but for now we're just going forwards. And now, without any threats other than the occasional sea monster that we need to fight off, we've got the problem of repelling the boredom on our hands. And so, timeskip to now. * * * Eyes flit across the table. It was nighttime; we were all sitting below decks. Each sitting on a stool around a circular wooden table, we could feel the gentle changes in motion as the Inika continued it's journey across the sees - but that was not of notice. Everyone had, in their hand, a set of white cards. At the center of the table was a pile of black cards; placed beside it was a small, transparent container upon which a set of symbols had been printed: Secretly, I gulped. This was a game which would truly bring out the darkest in people. The matoran aboard this ship were about to see the dark side of their Toa protectors. I reached forwards with my hand, silently bringing my fingers to slide the uppermost black card towards me. With a quick twist of my index and middle fingers, I held the card, it's contents facing me. ".........." I opened my mouth to speak. Then closed it again. Streams of thoughts crossed my mind, wondering if this would be a good idea. What- "WHAT-" I half yelled, half grumbled suddenly in surprise from my Anxilia speaking the start of the question for me, before I simply sealed my mind. There would no longer be any going back. "-Does Jaller keep in his desk drawer?" OOC: This is either going to be a wondrous idea, or it'll be one of the stupidest things to ever grace this RP. Either way, Inika shipmates - you're up.

I'm pretty sure that the general gist of it on the BZPRPG is that the actual value in numbers is seconded in favour of simply describing the worth/reasonableness of the value. Many times, this is highly situational and loopy - in one interaction a good deal for an object could be 50 widgets, but in another interaction an object of the same worth could be written as costing 500 widgets, but the character could still find it a good deal - simply because it was meant to be described as such. In the end the important thing is that how reasonable the cost is to the worth of the subject is describe; personally I'd just make it up or just go with the flow. I guess the main rule is common sense here. Don't go absurd with having a simple meal cost a googolplex of widgets or something.

But then how does Electricity and Magnetism fit into this? If we do take into account what Ions are - that is, atoms that have gained a net charge because it has gained or lost an electron (And thus the charge is unbalanced against the protons in the atom) - then theoretically, isn't it possible for Toa of Magnetism/Lightning to create Plasma as well? Unless there's some kind of barrier against their powers being able to add/rip an electron to/from an atom, this should be possible as long as they have the energy, right? Or is the energy required the issue itself? Do Toa of Magnetism/Lightning simply lack the energy required to successfully create an ionized gas (And maintain it?) and Toa of Plasma simply have their robot-magic specifically giving them the ability to do just that?