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Bionicle Mafia: Operation Rainfall


Portalfig

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-----Portalfig looked absentmindedly at the racers as they flew by under the organizer booth again, a long streak of colors speeding down the track. He tapped his foot impatiently, as his gaze began to wander. He just wanted them to finish the race, he had to leave as soon as he possibly could.

 

-----Of course, at least one organizer had to be at each race, and everyone else was busy. Portalfig almost laughed at this, because of the sheer number of responsibilities he had at this point. Not only was he one of the organizers of the Day Run, which was a full time job in and of itself, he also was now an interim organizer for the Bionifight league.

 

-----Talk to me again about busy. He thought with a grin and a slight shrug of his shoulders. He didn’t really mind, but being forced to not be doing anything productive was really bothering him. He had a meeting right after this, depending on how fast he could run. He hadn’t ever had a reason to sprint from the Day Run stadium to the Bionifight Arena before, so he didn’t know how fast he could make it.

 

-----The racers came charging back towards his booth, moving faster and faster with each lap. Then, for a fraction of a second, the Onu-Matoran’s gaze wandered onto the perfect spot. He noticed the leader of the race, a fan favorite rookie known as Gelosa, as he began to pull even further away from the rest of the pack. He was not anywhere close to any other racer on the straightest part of the course.

 

-----Then, it happened. The leader was speeding along the track to the finish line when, without warning, his vehicle exploded in a blink of an eye. It was flipping in the air, turning over and over, before landing on it’s side with a nasty crunch of metal. The arena fell silent as the remaining racers took off past at incredible speeds. Portal looked on in horror as the audience began to murmur, and he came to a frightening conclusion.

 

-----Somebody had sabotaged the race.


Presenting...

 

Bionicle Mafia: Operation Rainfall

 

6 Months before Isolation...

 

-----“Portalfig, Hat Enterprises just contacted us. They want to talk about renewing their sponsorship again.”

 

-----The Onu-Matoran looked up from the now-spotless desk and the untidy piles of random junk all over the floor to the doorway, where his secretary stood. “Thank you, Yoichi. When can I see them?”

 

-----“You are open this Wednesday after the races. Shall I book it for you?”

 

-----“Yeah, sure.” The Matoran stood up slowly and cracked his back as he looked around. “I had no idea Burn’s office would be such a mess. He always seemed like the clean type.”

 

-----“He certainly wasn't that.”  The Fe-Matoran said, glancing around with a slight grin on his face.

 

-----“Surely he’ll be back soon.” The Onu-Matoran said absentmindedly, “Then we can work permanently back at the Day Run and not keep running back and forth like this.”

 

-----Yoichi nodded solemnly, and then a quick flash of remembrance crossed his mask. “Oh, and the numbers from the last race were calculated finally.” He said, glancing down at the paper in his hand. “Our profits were up a full sixteen percent from the race before.”

 

-----“Really?” Portalfig said, an impressed look crossing over his face. All the while he was planning his next attack on the messy room, before giving up and collapsing into the chair. “Isn’t that the biggest profit we’ve gotten so far?”

 

-----“Yes, sir. We estimate that we will sell out every race in the final set of the tournament.”

 

-----“That’s good.” Portalfig said, “Anything else?”

 

-----“That is everything for the moment, so I’ll leave you to your crusade.” Yoichi said, before turning and leaving Portalfig to combat the room by himself.

 

-----After another scan of the room, the Onu-Matoran just slumped even deeper into the chair. To clean all this up would take much longer than he had time for. He shoved himself up and cleared a path with his foot to the door, where he grabbed his bag and made his way cautiously back to the desk. He pulled out a stack of paper, a lightstone, and a pen and set them down before tossing the bag onto his shoulder.

 

-----He looked back around at the hurricane of a room, and decided that he had done enough with this for the day. It was a temporary accommodation, anyways. And after all, the races started in just a few hours, and Portalfig had to attend. But first, he had to do his pre-race check-ups on everything.

 

-----He stepped slowly back across the room, and let himself out the door. He sighed, a breath of relief escaping his lips. It was clean out here, and he much preferred it. A wave to Yoichi told him that they were leaving, and they left the Bionifight facilities at a brisk pace. They headed for the chutes, making small talk about the weather and the newest kind of vehicle that was sweeping the Day Run, a wheeled model that was quite inefficient in Portalfig’s mind. Yoichi swore that it would be much faster than anything else they had seen before, but Portal was not convinced.

 

-----They passed by a small newsstand on the way, displaying yet another article about JiMing’s success in the Bionifight ring. Portalfig stopped for just a moment to grab one, pay, and then he was on his way. “Might as well see what the press is saying about this tournament, considering that is my job now and all.” He said with a grin to his secretary, before folding it up and placing it in his bag for later review.

 

-----The two continued on their way, and after a quick trip through the chutes, they finally arrived at the Day Run facility. They entered without stopping, and together made their way down the stairs into the bowels of the facility. A long hallway stretched out before them, lit brightly by a multitude of lightstones embedded in the ceiling.

 

-----This underground hallway was the backbone of the Day Run facility, connecting most every part of it together. If you needed to get to the racer apartments, you took the hallway. If you had to get to the engineering hanger, you took the hallway. The kitchens, the janitorial sector, the experimental track, and even the entrance to the real track were all connected by this one artery of stone and mortar.

 

-----This highway of efficiency was bustling at this moment. Matoran were busily zipping from to and fro, trying to put the finishing touches on everything before the audience arrived. Portalfig put his head down, and began to make his way through the crowd. He followed the stream of people heading towards his destination, and decided to take a quick detour into his favorite place in all of the Day Run. He motioned to Yoichi to go ahead to the organizer booth, and then took off through the crowded hallway. Before long, he saw his destination.

 

-----Splitting off from the others, Portalfig opened one of the double doors into the hanger and slipped in. He looked around the entire room, taken aback yet again. He could never get used to the sheer size of this room. The engineers were all climbing up and around the multitude of machines, performing last minute tests to make sure everything would be safe. From the bipedal robots, to the Rahi mecha, to the newer wheeled variety of racer, every one of them had to be double and triple-checked as the race grew ever closer.

 

-----Nodding happily at the busy Matoran all around, Portal then turned around and slipped back out the door. Today’s race was going to be a good one. He stepped back into the speeding stream of people, heading this time towards the organizer booth. Twenty minutes and seven flights of stairs later, he was there. He walked into the room, happy to see it wasn't completely destroyed yet. This booth was Portal’s favorite, because it had the greatest view of the city outside of the Day Run Arena. The skyline just looked fantastic in the dim light of the evening, something that Portal always enjoyed to see.

 

-----Of course, they were going to “renovate” it before the final race. The White Council was coming, but their booth had to be brought up to some security standards before the championship. This saddened Portal a bit because it would ruin the view, but the prospect of being backed by the rulers of the city would have benefits, so he kept quiet about it.

 

-----Yoichi was sitting in one of the six chairs in the room, all around the meeting table in the middle of the room. Portal went and sat down next to the Po-Matoran, looking out onto the clean track. He spun around and looked out the other window out onto the city, then he sighed and spoke.

 

-----“I should probably be doing some productive, shouldn't I?”

 

-----Yoichi looked at Portal and laughed, then responded. “Yeah, I have a few things that you could be signing right now. After that, Djoser did send us a package detailing the Bionifight league and how all that is going to work, so that will need to be read at some point.”

 

-----“Alright,” Portal said, moving his chair up to the table, “Let’s get this stuff done.”

 

--------

 

-----Twenty minutes of signing papers and contracts, and a little more than an hour of reading up on his duties as interim Bionifight organizer later, the Matoran started pouring into the arena. Portalfig sat back in his chair, looking forward to the race ahead but dreading the final few laps. He would be cutting it really close to his meeting with the Bionifight League. Standing up and stretching, he began to walk around the room before the race.

 

-----Yoichi walked back in, thankfully without any more papers. “RomeTech just contacted us, they want to meet with you in a week or so about renewing their sponsorship.”

 

-----Portal visible slumped, his voice starting to tremble as he responded. “Oh. I guess that means I’ll have to meet with Kaiser, then?”

 

-----Yoichi nodded solemnly. He was well aware of Portal’s acute dread of every meeting with Kaiser. He came back every time looking deflated and defeated. “If anyone was going to scare me to death, it would be that Matoran.” Portal often quipped after every meeting.

 

-----Portal rubbed his eyes, and then put his fists down, determination in his voice. “Well, I guess I will be seeing Kaiser soon then. When do we have it scheduled for?”

 

-----“You can go in...” The Po-Matoran said, looking through his notes, “A couple of weeks from now sound good?”

 

-----“Sounds fine. That gives me plenty of time to hope he calls it off.” the Onu-Matoran replied with a grin. He turned to walk back towards the window, and saw that the race was finally about to start. “Come on, sit down.” he said to his friend, “No need for us to stand when there are all these chairs in here.”

 

-----The two sat down, and made themselves comfortable as the sound of the vehicles revving up filled the arena, meshing with the voices of thousands of excited fans in a joyous ruckus. The lights turned, and a explosion of noise hit the arena as the racers took off, speeding around the track. Portal watched intently, but before long the result of the race was pretty much settled. The fan favorite, Gelosa, gained almost a half a mile around the track ahead of the others, leading to a long, boring race. Portal stood up as he became restless, hoping that he could leave soon.

 

-----But then it happened. Gelosa’s vehicle was gone in a second, and Portal had to pick up the pieces left behind.

 

--------

 

-----The flames continued to die as more and more racers passed by or colliding into the flaming wreck; Portal ran around the room as he began to try and do damage control. This did not bode well for the Day Run. The paramedics were already on the track, pulling Gelosa’s body out from the dangerous, twisted frame of the ruined vehicle. Portal called the other organizers about the event, just one thought running through his head the entire time.

 

-----Somebody must have sabotaged the race...

 

-----Review Topic

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Chapter One

 

-----The room was eerily silent as the group of organizers all began to filter out of the meeting room. The crash yesterday changed everything, and they all were nervous about how it would affect the future races. Hopefully soon they would have some answers, and they could figure out what happened.

 

-----The racer who was in the vehicle was barely hanging on to life, a miracle in and of itself. However, Gelosa was so well-loved that the backlash from his fans could actually affect the Day Run’s future endeavors itself. After all, he had been one of the most popular racers this year. But the scariest part of this all was a single revelation, every crash before had been due to somebody driving. Never had it been due to an obvious engineering error.

 

-----This unknown was what set everyone on edge. These waters hadn't been tread before by the relatively new Day Run, and the future of the sport was resting on their shoulders.

 

-----Portalfig got up to leave with the rest, but then he was halted by the voice of his boss. “Portal, a second.”

 

-----Turning around, Portal saw the head of the Day Run, Parugi, looking out the window onto the track. Portal walked forward, and stood next to him, both gazing upon the scene of the crash. The wreckage had been mostly cleared away, but still many small fragments dotted the asphalt. Finally, Parugi spoke.

 

-----“What do you think happened out there?”

 

-----Portal thought for a moment, then he replied. “I think it was entirely intentional. It was too perfect to be a mistake.”

 

-----The Po-Matoran nodded, then turned to look at Portal. “I saw the footage, and I agree. I don’t think this was an accident. I had Rilt look at the wreckage yesterday, he said that while he couldn't prove that it was tampered with, there were signs that it could have been..”

 

-----Portal nodded, not surprised but concerned. “What do we do, then? How could we prove somebody did this?”

 

-----“Well, the police can’t do anything. With that Xaeraz guy keeping them on their toes out there, they aren't going to investigate a hunch we have...” Parugi said, his voice trailing off as he contemplated the best course of action.

 

-----Portal thought for a moment, then he was hit with a flash of inspiration. “I might know somebody who could help.” he said. “I can go visit him and see what I can find...”

 

-----Parugi shrugged, then nodded. “That sounds good. You are the only one who saw what happened live, so you are probably the best for this job. Go ahead and visit this acquaintance of yours, see what you can find out.”

 

-----Portal nodded, then looked at the clock on the wall. “I’ll go at about four. I won’t just leave to go chasing what may amount to nothing in the middle of the day.”

 

-----Parugi nodded again, then turned away again to look outside the window. His brow was knotted as he lost himself to thought again.

 

-----The door shut quietly behind Portal as he left. He was still worried about Gelosa and what would happen next, but doing anything worthwhile would help to calm his nerves. So when he walked into his office, he was more productive than ever, getting stuff done as fast as he could reasonably do. The hours flew by in a whirlwind of papers and statistics, and before long it was time for Portal to go.

 

--------

 

-----A few hours later, Portal approached the cafe that his friend frequented more than frequently. He should be here. Portal glanced in the window, searching for his friend before walking in the door. It took only a moment to see that he was indeed here. The various newspapers and folders gave away his booth by the window.

 

-----A very familiar Matoran of Gravity stood there, a bemused but joyous look on his face.

 

-----“Portal? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here? I would have cleaned up a little more.”

 

-----Portal smiled, then lowered his voice. “I need your help with something, Voltex.” He whispered to the Ba-Matoran. “I don’t know if it would be a good idea to leave a trail, so I didn’t call you.”

 

-----Voltex nodded, and motioned for Portal to join him in the booth. Portal did, and took a seat on a worn bench while Voltex sat across from him. Portal began to explain his plight and his suspicions to his friend. When he was done, he sat back and asked the question.

 

-----“Do you have any idea where I could start looking for a culprit?”

 

-----Voltex’s brow furrowed as he thought for a long moment. “I have no idea.” He said, “but I know somebody who might.”

 

--------

 

-----Portal looked once again at the coffee-stained note in his hand, as he stood in front of the huge structure. He stood under a streetlight, as night was beginning to fall.

 

-----“The Moto Hub...?” he muttered to himself, as he read the next step in the note. He walked up to the ticket booth nervously, then he put the paper in his bag.

 

-----“Hello, I was told to go see Automaton about something?” He asked the guard in the booth.

 

-----“Oh, you’re one of those nutjobs.” the Le-Matoran said, eyes never leaving his monitor. “He isn’t busy right now, so go ahead.”

 

-----Portal thanked the surly night watchman as he pulled the lever. Portal headed inside, then pulled his paper note again to follow the directions to Automaton’s office.

 

-----Reaching his destination, Portal knocked politely on the door.

 

-----“Come in.” A voice that could only be Automaton’s rang out.

 

-----Portal entered the room, hopeful for some answers.

 

-----“Portalfig, eh?” Automaton said, looking up from his desk. “Are you here about that crash at the Day Run, or something else?”

 

-----Portalfig was taken aback. “How do you know who I was?’

 

-----Automaton laughed, then stood up and walked around the table. “I deal in information. I think I would be able to recognize the brains behind the Day Run’s financial success. I am Automaton, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

 

-----They shook hands, and sat down on either side of the desk. “Now,” Automaton said, “Is the crash why you are here?”

 

-----Portal nodded, “It is. Voltex said you might be able to help me.”

 

-----Automaton nodded solemnly, then began to look through his desk. “I don’t have very many facts on this one, but I do have a few leads.”

 

-----He pulled out a couple of folders, and put them down on the desk.

 

-----“This would be my first pick to investigate.” He said, sliding one of the folders to Portal. “This is a newer underground fighting club that in Onu-Metru also seems to dabble in illegal betting on the Day Run. They are known as the Pit, it seems. I don’t know much else about them yet, but that is exactly why they seem to be your best bet.”

 

-----Portal looked at the sparse information in the folder as Automaton kept talking. “This, of course, depends on if it really was sabotage, and also if it was an organized group who did it. An individual Matoran would be much harder to find.”

 

-----With that, Automaton began to put all the folders back in his desk. Portal closed the folder he had, and slid it back across the table along with the fee that Voltex had told him to pay. “Thank you for your time.” He said as he stood up.

 

-----He began to head out the door towards home, but first he had just one more stop.

 

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Chapter Two

 

-----The wind blew softly through the little alley, making the night seem more foreboding than before. The only light came from a streetlight at the entrance, leaving long shadows covering the walls with alien shapes. Portalfig stood in front of the one and only feature in the alley, a nondescript door at the far end.

 

-----Portal looked at the door, wondering if he should actually go in. He would have to go inside at some point, as this was the only lead he had to go on. He would be extremely busy the next day, as he had meetings with both Sumiki and the Bionifight organizers.

 

-----Now is the time. He thought, Who knows if I can get away again?

 

-----He walked up to the door, hand raised to knock, when a slot suddenly slid open and he saw a pair of accusing eyes peeking out.

 

-----“Name?”

 

-----Portal took a half-step back in surprise, He hadn't expected them to be so prompt. His mind raced as he tried to come up with an alias that he could use, and he cursed his lack of foresight. A few moments later, he spoke up confidently with the first thing that came to mind.

 

-----“Protalgif.”

 

-----The eyes glared at him more, then said in disbelief. “...Protalgif?”

 

-----“Yeah, Protalgif. My friends, uh, call me Pro for short.”

 

-----The eyes rolled, then the slot slid shut. The alley was quiet for a long moment, that seemed to stretch into hours to Portal.

 

-----Did I really just call myself Pro? He thought with a wince. How incredibly disgusting.

 

-----The door suddenly was pulled open, and a burly Po-Matoran stood there motioning him in. “Welcome to the Pit, Protalgif.” he said, “Time for your opening tour.”

 

-----The sounds of a group of people could be vaguely heard as they descended down several flights of stairs, before they came to a door on the bottom floor. The brown and grey Matoran opened it for him, and Portal found himself suddenly shoved through it. A multitude of lights cut on, leaving Portal reeling as his eyes adjusted. He heard the solid thump of the door slamming behind him, as he tried desperately to figure out what was going on.

 

-----As his eyes adjusted, he found himself in a octagonal room of sorts. Another door stood across from where he was standing, still closed. The noise was much louder now, and upon glancing up Portal saw that there was no ceiling. A crowd was up above, all leaning against the railing, socializing around the pit that Portal stood in alone.

 

-----Portal scanned the crowds, all talking and laughing aloud as they stood around the perimeter of the room below. Suddenly the sound of another door slamming made Portal look back into the room with him, and he saw a tall Ta-Matoran standing across from him.

 

-----Realization began to dawn in Portal’s mind, and the pieces fell into place. This was the fighting ring, and he was going to be a participant. Portal wasn’t a fighter by any sense of the word, but he knew some of the logistics behind it. He had watched the footage from all the previous Bionifight tournaments, and he knew a little about this tournament fighting. Fighting here would be different, though. More brutal, more close quarters. More vicious.

 

-----The Ta-Matoran strutted forward, obviously much more comfortable in the ring than Portal was. He thrust a fist up in the air, and the crowd continued to increase in noise, until finally their chanting reached full blast.

 

-----The Ta-Matoran put his fist down and motioned for Portal to approach. Portal raised his fists, and began to circle around the octagonal room. Suddenly the Ta-Matoran leaped forward, unleashing a flurry of punches towards Portal’s face. The Onu-Matoran tried to block, but several punches got in, one after another. Portal lashed out with his foot, giving him a little space as he threw himself away from the Ta-Matoran and around the outskirts of the room.

 

-----Before he knew it, the Ta-Matoran was back on him, tackling him to the ground and continuing his brutal assault. Portal still fought to protect his face, just trying to weather the storm of strikes against him. Then a violent punch got through Portal’s defenses, and everything went black.

 

--------

 

-----The world around him was bright and unwelcoming when Portal began to regain consciousness. He glanced around the room he found himself in, tinted with a harsh white light. It held little more than a bed, and a door closed to the outside world. Portal sat up, and began to move extremely slowly. He could tell that he was deeply bruised, although that was hardly surprising after the beating he took.

 

-----His body a dull pain, Portal stood up from the bed. He could barely make out the familiar sound of hundreds of Matoran together, through the plain door. He began to stretch, trying to relieve himself of the constant hurt. The door was unlocked; Portal slowly stepped out into the large forum beyond.

 

-----The long room was overflowing with people from all over the city. Portal put his head down and began to make his way into the room, trying to avoid attention. The room was oddly short. It was so short that Portal could reach up and touch the ceiling without straining. As well, all visible surfaces seemed to be made out of concrete, and the resulting echoes were a cacophony of sound that overwhelmed Portal’s ears.

 

-----Portal forced his way deeper and deeper into the crowd of people, barely able to make out the thoughts in his head as he went. He felt a splitting headache growing rapidly behind his mask, and a quick wave of nausea passed over him. He shook his head as he fought to focus. He had to find a way out of here, the air was stifling in its’ heat.

 

-----He began to push more and more violently through the crowd, fighting to breathe. He looked around nervously, quickly, hoping to find relief from these ocean of noise and heat that engulfed him. The gentle touch of a cool, light breeze brushed his face, and Portal whirled around to see a small door swing shut.

 

-----He fought through the masses of Matoran around him, struggling to get to the door. The world around him was becoming unclear, like he was looking through a dirty window. Finally, Portal staggered to the door and flung it open, throwing himself out the door.

 

-----The cool breeze hit his face, and Portal welcomed the cold relief it offered. He stumbled down the long staircase and collapsed on the chilled concrete, gazing upwards. A quick sweep of the area indicated that this was some sort of outside forum, designed to give respite from the crowded area inside. There didn’t seem to be a way out, other than going back through the Pit.

 

-----Portal closed his eyes, feeling the sudden pain in his head begin to dissipate. He was not alone out here. Somewhere nearby, yet out of sight, Portal could barely make out the sounds of furtive whispering. Where was it coming from?

 

-----The Onu-Matoran slowly sat up, feeling much better already. He glanced around, trying to find out where the voices were. The buildings stretched out far above him, and nobody else seemed to be out here at the moment. The slight breeze began to blow again, and Portal knew what he was looking for. A quick search of the area revealed that there were small air ducts located around the little room.

 

-----Portal investigated more, and found out that these little ducts seemed to lead directly outside to various points. That was actually the breeze wafting through the room, just redirected. Looking up, the black and orange Matoran understood what he had been hearing. He hurried to each vent, pressing his ear up against them, hoping to find something.

 

-----Then he found it. His face pressed against the smooth stone, he heard the voices clearly through the vents.

 

-----"...was it?" A gruff voice asked. A second voice, further away from the pipe, answered with a short laugh. "Let's just say that Operation Rainfall is running smoothly once again."

 

-----The first voice quickly shushed the second and said venomously. "Don't say that out here! You know what the boss would do if we mess this up."

 

-----"Yeah, alright. I won't do it again."

 

-----There was a moment of silence, followed by a sudden shout. "Stop! Where did you come from?!"

 

-----Footsteps echoed off the walls, then a loud crack rang out. Portal stumbled back from the wall, headache back in full force. What had just happened?

 

-----Portal shook his head, mind reeling from the shock. What had he just heard? What was Operation Rainfall?

 

-----Whatever it was, Portal didn't like the sound of it. Glancing back around the open roofed room, he began to make his way back to the entrance. He had learned plenty out here.

 

-----He ascended the steps to the door, and he pushed it open to slip back into the main room. He began to close it quietly behind him, when he was suddenly spun around.

 

-----An Av-Matoran stood there, anger contorting his mask. "What were you doing in there?" He said, motioning for the guards to come before Portal even had a chance to answer.

 

-----Portal stumbled through the words, still trying to answer when the other Matoran grabbed him roughly by the side. "What do you want us to do with him, Mr. Zehvor?" One of them asked in a low voice.

 

-----"Just get him out of here." The Av-Matoran answered. "Luckily the boss isn't here right now. I really would hate to get even more blood on our hands tonight." He then turned and looked Portal directly in the eyes and continued. "So make sure we don't have to."

 

-----The Matoran guards grunted, then violently jerked Portal off his feet as they escorted him away. Portal fought against their restricting grasps as his feet were dragged across the floor, to no avail.

 

-----The patrons of the fight club parted around the bouncers, leaving them a wide breadth with less than a glance their way. That is, except one. A devilishly handsome Le-Matoran stood off to the side, looking directly at Portal. The Le-Matoran nodded, then turned and walked away.

 

-----Portal was a little unnerved by this encounter, if it could be called one, but before he could even make sense of what happened they arrived at the exit door. The guards flung it open, and then flung Portal right out into the street.

 

-----The sound of Portal hitting the sidewalk and the sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the alley. Portal lay there on the cold concrete for a long moment, trying to comprehend everything he had seen.

 

-----As he lay there, looking blankly at the base of the building, he noticed a small trickle of something sliding down the wall. He looked up and gasped at the stain he saw on the wall, thinking only of two things.

 

-----The loud crack that he had heard earlier, and the comment that Zehvor had made.

 

-----"I really would hate to get even more blood on our hands tonight. So make sure we don't have to."

 

-----Review Topic

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  • 4 weeks later...

Chapter Three

-----Dawn arrived too soon, waking Portal from his light slumber. He sat up slowly, and glancing at the clock. He had only about an hour of sleep. He slipped out of his bed and stretched, wiping his bleary eyes. He had so much to do today.

 

-----He stumbled out his bedroom door and into the hallway of his apartment. As he slowly made his way into the living room, he began to reflect on everything he had witnessed the night before. Especially this Operation Rainfall...

 

-----He made his way to the window and opened the curtains, letting the morning sun blaze in. There Portal stood, overlooking the city from above. It seemed so peaceful now. Portal looked over the world like he did every morning, but this time inspiration struck. He was thinking about how in the world he would learn more about this Operation Rainfall and if it had anything to do with the Day Run, when he saw a trickle of smoke rise up from Ta-Metru.

 

-----That’ll do. Portal thought with a slight grin, That’s how I can learn more... Their security was less than impressive, so it shouldn’t be too hard, right?

 

-----Portal glanced at the clock, relieved to see that he had a few hours until he was supposed to meet Sumiki. He pressed his knuckles against the window for a brief moment, checking the temperature outside.

 

-----It was fairly chilly, so Portal went to grab his coat. He pulled it out of the closet, and slipped the long, black coat on. He flipped the collar up, feeling quite mysterious, and then grabbed his satchel and left.

 

-----Down the elevator and out through the front door, Portal began making his way to the nearest chute station. The streets were not crowded yet, but already dozens of Matoran were bustling this way and that. As dawn continued to peak over the city, Portal arrived at the chutes. He walked in, and headed down the familiar way to the chute that he needed.

 

-----He swiped his card, and then he was on his way. Portal was flying through the chutes, coat whipping back and forth as he sped along. Man, Portal loved this trenchcoat so much.

 

-----Portal dodged around the various objects in his way, making sound effects that, thankfully, nobody could hear. He saw his exit coming ahead, and he “whooshed” his way over to it, exiting quite dignified. The chutes were a rare occasion for Portal to unleash his more theatrical side, and wearing the coat made it doubly so. Outside of the chutes, though, he was content to play the part of a businessman, and so he acted as such.

 

-----Portal stood for a moment to get his bearings, then he found where he wanted to go. He made his way through the streets, heading towards his destination.

 

-----When he made it to the Reclamation Yard, he looked at it with a wave of nostalgia. This is where he got many of the costumes from his acting days, and he remembered it quite fondly. Now, it was time to find a new mask, a new persona to become.

 

-----He entered the Reclamation Yard, and quickly began searching the stacks for something new. It was only an hour or so later when he found one that could work.

 

-----He picked up a red Matatu, and looked over it for it’s malformities. As far as he could see, it was just in the one place. Over the left eye a massive scar was scratched into the surface of the mask, cutting deep into the metal. How it had happened, Portal had no idea, but he didn’t care much either. This would work.

 

-----He took off his Pakari, and set the Matatu on his face. He began to experiment, trying out different voices and postures before he found something he liked. Tavahka was this character’s name, he decided, and he was strong and a fighter. So “Tavahka” stood up straight and solidly, and spoke with some authority and force, but not too much.

 

-----Portal smiled as he replaced his mask. He had forgotten how much fun he had creating new characters. He could do this for hours.

 

-----He glanced at the pocket watch he always kept in his trenchcoat, and realized something horrible. He had done that for hours, and his meeting with Sumiki started in five minutes. Portal began scrambling, picking up the Matatu and sticking it in his bag, all while he was running down the streets towards the Chute system.

 

-----He swiped his card and jumped into the Chute he needed in record time, and began speeding through it. He was beating himself up over losing track of the time like that. He could really only hope that he wouldn’t be too late.

 

-----Fifteen minutes later Portal skid into the room where Sumiki was supposed to meet him. He could see the figure of a Matoran sitting with his back to him on the other side of the table. Portal was relieved to see that he hadn’t missed Sumiki.

 

-----“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Portal gasped, “I got a little tied up out there.”

 

-----Sumiki turned his chair around quickly, turning to face Portal.

 

-----“You are very late.” he said with a strict look, as he kept spinning. Next time he came around, Portal spoke.

 

-----"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Entirely my fault."

 

-----Sumiki spun around again, this time with a grin on his face. "It's okay. You've gotta" he spun again, "be a busy man right now."

 

-----Sumiki stopped his rotation after that, then motioned to the chair opposite him. “Have a chair.” He said. “Breadstick?”

 

-----Portal laughed, then reached into the bag on the table and brought out one for himself. “Thanks.” He said, munching contently on the breadstick.

 

-----They chatted amicably for a few minutes, then they got down to business.

 

-----“So, about your sponsorship.” Portal breached, “What are you thinking of doing?”

 

-----Sumiki shrugged, “Not sure yet. I know we will be keeping at least our current level of support, but maybe you could convince me to give you a little more?”

 

-----Portal nodded, and looked through his bag. “I don’t think I have the info here.” he said, “but I can assure you that the final set of races has already sold out. As well, profits from concessions and merch has gone up 16% between the last two races, and have given us our largest profit yet.”

 

-----“As well, the White Council will be at the final race, backing the Day Run with their support. Does any of this sound as enticing as these breadsticks?”

 

-----Sumiki chuckled, then grew more serious. “That sounds pretty good. What about that explosion the other day, though?”

 

-----Portal sighed inwardly. “We are still investigating what happened to Gelosa’s machine. We have increased security in the main engineering bay, and are taking steps to ensure that such events will not happen again. I have no doubts that we can stop this from occurring again. Seems like it may have been just a fluke.”

 

-----“Of course, it might not have been though, right?” Sumiki asked.

 

-----“I don’t really have any more concrete information.” Portal shrugged. “It could have been, we are not ruling it out.”

 

-----Sumiki sat back, thinking for a bit. “Okay.” He said. “I’ll talk to the board. Hat Enterprises will get their answer to you soon. It’s been nice seeing you, Portalfig.”

 

-----“Please, call me Portal.” Portal said as he stood up. “It is what most people call me anyways.”

 

-----Sumiki nodded. “Alright, Portal. We’ll be in touch.”

 

-----Portal nodded his goodbye, and headed out the door. A quick check of his watch showed him that he had just a little more time before his next meeting. He did have some various paperwork for Bionifight that he could probably use to get done. He yawned as he began to walk to the offices there. He could also get a little rest instead.

 

-----He walked into the building, and in Burn’s office he began to do more research into what was currently going on in the league. Stats, the popular fighters, who would the crowds want to see the most? Portal was supposed to oversee advertisement since Burn disappeared, but it was hard to do that when he had no clue what the current state of the league was.

 

-----As well, how was he going to create effective advertising? Portal laughed at the thought of creating a poster himself. He was not the artistic type by any means. However, he did know somebody who was very much an artist.

 

-----I’ll run that by the others, see what they think. He thought. Asking Taka to make art for it would be super helpful.

 

-----His door opened as Yoichi peeked his head in. “It’s time for your meeting with the board.”

 

-----“Thanks, Yoichi. How’d you even know I was here?” Portal responded with a slight smile on his face.

 

-----“You weren’t at the Day Run. Where else would you be but here?”

 

-----If only you knew how true that was. Portal thought as he fought back a yawn.

 

-----“Alright. Let’s go to another meeting.”

 

--------

 

-----After an uneventful meeting, Portal headed out towards the exit. He was curious about the Pit. He couldn’t wait for this new persona of his to try and infiltrate the Pit. Hopefully, Portal would get more done tonight. And so, when he made sure that he was out of sight from anybody else, he exchanged his mask with the Matatu.

 

-----It was time for Tavahka to enter the Pit.

 

-----Review Topic

Edited by Protalgift
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