Kalama and Ta Rahkshi

OOC: Thanks for admitting I hit and you never threw me off. XD Just because I jumped ON your back never meant you couldn't have stepped out of the way for a miss. Also, half the weapons are made of a substance other then metal, such a wood or rock. Nothing for your magnetic attacks to affect. No The Mask, Nala is still with Alrin in her house. These are nondescript Marines although Lei and Hotu are there. IC: Is this guy for real? Kalama thought to himself. Due to the magnetic force emanating from the Toa, he was somewhat stuck to the Toa's back which made it easier for him to hang on when the Toa marched his way to the center of the village. Pulling out the self carved blade he'd made, he held it to the Toa's throat. "You just admitted to wanting to kill one of our own. Now we can do this the easy way in which you ether surrender and Nokama gets to pick your fate or the EXTREMELY easy way in which I slit your throat here and now and kill you because that's the penalty any Marine will give you if they catch you. Now take a good look around you." Despite being in the middle of the village, there were plenty of things for the floating Ga-Koroans to grab onto, which they did still being able to move freely. This allowed them to cease their fight. Having moved to the center of the village he'd attracted the attention of far more Marines, many of which were keeping their distance. "Looks like you're surrounded and outnumbered. They've also got plenty of ammunition such as wooden javelins and rock throwing knives. A lot of them have good aim too and you're out in the open. An easy target. I'm pretty sure I see some Toa also lurking around ready to jump you if you try anything funny. Only reason the Marines haven't attacked is because I've already got you at my mercy. What's it gonna be Toa? Nokama? Or decapitation?" He pressed the blade tighter to make his point. ------- Nala grinned, watching as Alrin started to paint. "That's it. Your mind already knows what it wants others to see. You just simply have to let your arm go with it."

Looking up as soon as Nokama yelled for his name, he zeroed in on the target. "MARINES! FRONT AND CENTER!" Despite the fangirlish craze the Marines were exhibiting, the fact that they were still disciplined enough to instantly snap to sober when a superior officer yelled at them remained. Looking around they noticed both their Turaga and a Marine Commander pointing at one of the Toa. "SEIZE HIM!!!" They thundered at the same time. Weapons suddenly flashed out as the Marines armed themselves to the teeth and then the hoard promptly turned their wrath upon Argentum descending upon him as they had on Joske, only with much more lethal intentions should he resist. Once he was sure the Marines were focused on their objective, Kalama took the opportunity to lead the charge by jumping onto Argentum's back. Poor Tanuka was so confused by the commotion she just sat there frozen, unsure of what to do.

"Updates are finished already. I was simply adding the location of the Temple and Suva of Wisdom." Kalama said going back to his reports: Commander, HCM Maya informs me that CM3 Nuraka is making some progress in regards to her recovery. Need your input to placate the Commandant Board. Kotu, CHCOD ATTN: ALL RAIDER COMMANDSPossible stronghold for pirates off the coast of Ko-Wahi located. Be prepared for a raid.Mokea, COM, 17th Ghekula Raider Command TRAVEL ADVISORYIncrease in Marauder activity on the Le-Wahi/Ta-Wahi path is becoming cause for concern. Warn your people and spread the word.Lanoka, HMJR, 5th Seaborne Raider Scouts Kalama, I caught Lei and Hotu trying to sneak into the Officer's Pub again. Please deal with them before somebody else does. They were ID's by 5 other Officers. -Kali Kalama shook his head at the last one. Those scamps! No doubt Hotu had put Lei up to it. ------ Nala winked at him, "That is I good Toa. As for what I'm painting... I'm painting Chaos." Seeing his confused look she went on. "Sometimes I just get the urge to throw paint everywhere and roll around in it. 'Loosing myself in my art' I call it." And throw paint around she had. Her hut was a mess! The walls splattered in all sorts of colors mixing into patters that, although messy, were rather intriguing to look at. Several paint splattered covers were probably protecting some of her more formal and completed works stacked up against the walls. Nala smiled, "I've had offers to sell this place so they could showcase it but I'm a believer in free art. Tell me Alrin. What's the point of crafting a work that will simply be locked away in the cold, dark, dusty vaults while cheap copies are made for showcasing? Artists want their work to be seen! We want to show the world places that have only existed within the mind! To share the vision we've created!" Nala unveiled a few uncompleted works. A few of them were scenes from inside the Temple of Wisdom. "They were beautiful places. But no one will get to see them without significant risk. I think it's heartbreaking really. They will never experience the majesty of the vault doors, the grit of the Guardian's chamber. the breathtaking awe of the Kanohi revealed untouched before we started fighting over it. I want to give people the chance to see these sights that they have never seen and never will. It is the art my Toa friend! Art that inspires others to go forth and drive our imaginations! It defines our culture, our purpose, it give us our dreams..." she re-covered the unfinished works before leading Alrin to another empty canvas. She offered him the paint. "Show me Alrin of the Ice. What is it that you dream?"

Kalama looked up at the Toa trying to squish himself between the desk and the Matoran which were not in any line to Nokama what so ever but rather, off to the side. "Do you mind? I'm trying to get caught up on some work while waiting for Mother to impart her noble wisdom to you visitors before having her take a look at something." He asked rather annoyed.

OOC: The way I'm interacting with them is the Ko-Koro Arctic Watch. They're a bit more stealthy and specialize in siege warfare and assassinations. They prefer to force their enemy into a corner and siege them until they surrender picking off anyone who tries to escape with assassination and ambush techniques. Though Ko-Matoran and Ga-Matoran get along well the same cannot be said for Arctic Watchmen and Marines. This is due to the differing fighting styles, the Arctic Watch being "Wait them out" and the Marines "Take them now, take them hard," philosophy as the Marines don't have the same numbers the Arctic Watch does to be able to engage in siege warfare. IC: "Sure Mom. I'll be over here busy correcting maps... again." Having found the one he was looking for, Kalama move it over the table and started writing on it. Frequently traversing the less traveled areas of Mata-Nui, Kalama often took it upon himself to keep Nokama's maps up to date. Once he was satisfied with that he began dealing with paperwork that came with being a Marine Officer. Tanuka examined Kalama's map corrections. ------- Nala smiled at Alrin. "Even green, becoming a Toa grants one a rather unusual set of natural self-preservation instincts. I'm fairly sure Agarin escaped easily. After all you managed to survive our little skydiving maneuver. I see no reason why he didn't ether. Even Tanuka managed to muddle though it albeit with Juno's help." She chuckled. "Come on in and sit down. The paint is wonderful." ------- "Soooooo THEN ah said... ah sad...... I FERGOT WHAAAAAD I wuz gonna say whatever it waz I said!" Lei, obviously drunk, declared to a group of Marine lower enlisted she'd joined at one of the local watering holes frequented by the Privates and Corporal types. They all burst into laughter and giggles as if she Lei just said the funniest thing on the island. "Lei you... you... you are DRUNK!" Hotu declared. "THAZ RIGHT! I am TOTALLY drunk!" Lei joined Hotu and three of the privates in a toast to being drunk. "Hey! Hey everyone!" Everyone turned to the Lance Corporal who'd barged in panting as if she had just run across Ga-Koro. Which she had. "Joske! Joske is here!" There was a pause as at first this name had no effect. "Jokse Nimil! The Kohlii player!" This fact took a few minutes to get through the addled minds of the Ga-Koroans but once they had processed it, the effect was instantaneous. The bar emptied instantly. OOC: STAMPEDE!

"Come in. Stand out there. I don't care." "Macku?" He said once the Toa had made up his mind. Jumping down from the shelf he dropped a text on the table and started rooting around the hut for a map. "You're new to these parts aren't you?" Glancing up he nodded. "Yeah, I haven't seen you before. This is Ga-Koro. Everyone knows everyone here. Mother is big on all that Unity stuff. I know Macku. Everyone does. Hasn't come out of her hut since Juno's task force went to go investigate the Battle of Kini-Nui and retrieved her." Pausing to examine a map he put it back and rooted though more. "10 Marines went in. 6 came back with Macku. According to Juno it was one of the bloodiest fights in the Rahi Wars. She's never been right since. Juno thinks it's Battleshock. Maya thinks it's something else." "Wise one, I've come seeking training." "Mother apparently isn't home right now. I don't know when she'll be back." He said in response to the call from outside the hut. ------- Nala rolled over on the large canvas to get a look at her visitor. The Matoran was covered in wet paint and obviously rolling around in it creating some kind of artwork. "It's customary to knock before entering a lady's quarters." She stood up and wiped her hands off on the canvas. "Now I'm curious about all that yelling in regards to leaving Toa to die. We left plenty of Toa to die in that Temple. I know I killed 2 of them at least in the chaos." She shrugged, "But then they attacked us so fair's fair isn't it? You might as well make yourself comfortable, you've already let yourself in. Now what are you screaming your head off about?"

OOC: XD Nice try but Tanuka doesn't get ticked that easily. IC: "Excuse me, sir, do you know of where Turaga Nokama is?" Both Tanuka and Kalama glanced at the speaker. Nether of them noticing that he had been referring to Tanuka with his gender reference mishap thinking he'd been talking to Kalama who WAS male. The actual male then spoke up. "You mean Mother isn't home?" He glanced at a nearby sundial checking the time. He facepalmed. "Of course. Mother is probably off overseeing the harbor reports about this time making sure there aren't any discrepancies." He sighed. "She'll probable not be home for another hour or so.":Shrugging he replied, "Well you're welcome to follow me home and wait if you'd like. I don't know how much longer she's going to be." With that he continued on letting himself into the Turaga's hut humming to himself as he climbed the bookshelf routing around the books for something. Tanuka settled herself quietly onto a nearby chair and just sat there.

OOC: Kalama's Raiders in from Po-Wahi. IC:GA-KORO HARBORGA-KORO, 0718 HRS Tired, bruised, and very happy to see home again, the Matoran of the 17th Ghekula Special Forces group, Kalama's Raiders moored their Cutter in the section of the Harbor reserved for military vessels. They along with their Toa of Water companion disembarked. "I, am going to get SO. DRUNK." Lei announced. "That shouldn't be too hard. Not even half a shot is enough to get you wasted." Hotu laughed. "I, am going to get so wasted that I'm not even going to care about responding to that. Then I'm going to find a Le-Koroan and take him back to my place." Lei said again. "Just don't make us come rescue you." Kalama said. "Oi tink the Lee-Korowan is gonna be the wun need'n rrrrescued." Yuni said causing the Marines to giggle. Nala yawned. "With that, it's past my bedtime so I'm going to head home and sleep." "Alright. All of you be careful. We're back on rotation so expect a call on a moments notice." The Matoran went their separate ways. Kalama looked up at Tanuka. "How you holding up?" "Managing..." She said quietly. Kalama patted her leg. "For what it's worth Tanuka, You were superb down there. That took a lot of guts to even stand up and let yourself be counted for that hairball." Tanuka blushed at the praise. "You-you really think so?" "Verily. Come on, I know there's a lot in there that you didn't translate that you managed to sketch when you thought none of us were looking. Plus I need to see what Mother thinks about this..." He pulled out a star shaped crystal that glimmered. Tanuka leaned over to inspect it. "It's pretty." "Nuraka pulled it off Yorlonda while we were falling. She handed it to me when it started buzzing and giving her headaches. Or so she claims. I don't feel anything but this thing IS causing my teeth to buzz so that settled it. Mother is taking a look at it. If Nuraka suddenly starts convulsing and foaming at the mouth from touching this thing then I want to know what it does. Tanuka and Kalama wandered off to see the Turaga.

OOC: Yes but it's far easier on me if you ASK AHEAD Ghosthands. There's no reason not to and it lets me expand on my thinking. It also lets me keep track of who's actually engaged in what I'm doing verses everything else in Po-Wahi. It's also far more polite then just walking up and and doing something sending events in a completely random direction I wasn't wanting to go in. No one likes getting a story hijacked and that's exactly what I saw you doing. One thing I do have control over is the story and I'll be DEAD before I relinquish control of THAT without prior planning and coordination. Even sandbox RPG's have their own brand of etiquette that makes their experience more enjoyable when observed. I don't care if every last boardmember showed up in here, if they ask then it's easier for me to set up events in which everybody can do something instead of having to improvise when the party gets crashed and the story falters and collapses because too many supports were taken out and those remaining were made out of poor quality quick fixes to hold it up. Weak stories don't last long and this one is definitely coming down, there's nothing I can do to stop it. I should have just terminated it when you just quick traveled after my group ignoring the fact they'd already passed though a few chambers without even ATTEMPTING to solve any puzzles between the entrance and where we were. I was not thrilled to learn your crew killed something that would have survived being beaten on by a Toa of Stone with a Pakari. (If it can survive that then how the devil would you have killed it in a few shots? At least you personally had the decency to take three posts to fight it while the rest of your only took one post each? Explain THAT because I would really like to hear how realistic THAT is...) I was even LESS happy to have a 6 member pileup tossed at my feet and after I'd untangled the mess, the claims within were so conflicting and confusing you had pretty much derailed any chance of getting the story back on track forcing me to "deal with my opponents" with which you took to griefing about my methods of damage control. Do you seriously think that's fun for me? Now I know how Tuck feels when his stories got derailed in the last iteration. Only I can't auto-kill meaning I've got to find other more creative solutions to the problem. I probably should have brought in staff when you started to get involved in a way I wasn't comfortable with instead of soldiering on trying to get this worked out. Lessons learned eh? As for how Kalama got through when no one else could, that's a story for another time Legolover and I'm in no mood to tell it right now seeing as how this mess turned out. There's plenty nobody knows about the characters despite having a biography as I've left a lot unsaid so others can discover it by interacting with me. Don't assume you know everything about the character just because you read their biography. They still have plenty of secrets left to uncover. And your character's destiny plays no part in my story. That's for you to explore on your time. Not at the expense of mine. That said, I've had enough. This ridiculous has gone on long enough and I'm finishing it. SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED I'm done. I don't care how unsatisfying this ending is for any of you. It's not satisfying for me but at this point, I don't care. IC: The smack to his hand had not gone unnoticed by Boulder. Both he and Tokain watched as the Ko-Matoran ran off to the pirate captain. Both Toa fired off elemental energy causing part of the nearby wall to come shooting out smashing into Yasurek. The Kartayl flew through the air once more. Yorlonda watched as her precious prize was coming through the air right toward her. Dropping her scythe and abandoning her fight with the Matoran she lunged forward to catch it. It slipped through her fingers spinning in mid-air. Yorlonda felt pressure on her back even as she continued to fall. That infernal matoran she'd been fighting was going after the Kartayl himself! Yorlonda could do nothing but scream as Kalama launched himself off the Toa at the Blood Kanohi. Again it spun off a fumbled catch slowly rotating coming close to the Matoran's head. Kalama was nose to nose with the Kanohi when he swore he saw someone wearing it, not sure if the tranquilizer was still affecting him slightly or if the combat high was causing him to see things. The Kanohi suddenly started glowing followed by a bright flash that blinded everybody in the room. Kalama picked himself off the floor after his vision cleared. Kali was next to him instantly. "Did you get it?" She asked. Kalama blinked for a minute as he clenched his hands. The Kanohi was not in them. Eyes wide his hand went to his mask and he quickly pulled it off thinking it had attached to his face. Nope, upon inspection it was still a green powerless Miru that was in his hands... ...so why was he now hearing that voice in his head again congratulating him on something? Shaking it off he quickly replaced the Miru and headgear. The fighting had slowed to a standstill. Nobody was sure where they Kartayl had gone. Yorlonda was on her hands and knees searching for the mask on the floor. "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?" The Marines, Tanuka, and Tokain slowly gathered around Kalama as Yorlonda frantically searched the room. Some of her minions joining her on the floor fruitlessly searching for the mask. But the Kanohi Kartayl had vanished completely. Yorlonda advanced on Kalama thoroughly enraged. "YOU LITTLE OVERPRIVILEGED PINT SIZED BRAT! YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT! GIVE THE BLOOD KANOHI TO ME AT ONCE!!!" She shrieked. "I don't have it and seeing as how you still owe Nuraka for that job you stiffed her on, even if I did you can consider it payment for services rendered." "KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! NONE OF THEM LEAVE HERE ALIVE WITH MY MASK!" Yorlonda yelled at her men who advanced to start the fighting once again. "Kalama are you sure we can pull off a Falling Towards the Sky exit? I don't see any way out." Kali said giving a look that dared an Air Toa to try something. "Oh Kalienthia, have you learned nothing on this trip? In all of the tombs I've explored they all have one thing in common. There's always ONE chamber..." His foot went backwards searched for something. He grinned as it found a depression. "...where the floor drops out form underneath you." Jamming his heel down on to the switch hard a loud "CLACK" noise was heard before the tiled floor suddenly gave way dropping the occupants into the abyss. ------- DARK ABYSSTEMPLE OF WISDOMPO-WAHI, 0222 HRS Tanuka was terrified, to put it mildly. The free fall reminded her of the time she had been transformed. If it hadn't been for Juno latching onto her at the last second to help steer her fall so that she stayed in formation with the Marines she probably would have blacked out again out of fear. For the Marines, 'Falling Toward the Sky' was a useful exit strategy that turned a once deadly situation in where one was surrounded into a rather enjoyable experience combining the rush of free falling, with the happy feeling that one was going to survive to see their next encounter. It also had the added bonus of having the last laugh at the look on an enemy's face as the Marine escaped so as to return to base and come back after them with more Marines. Normally it was considered more of an outdoors maneuver since the Marines didn't fight well in open spaces due to lack of numbers. They preferred the tight quarters of building and ships. Tanuka watched as all around her, Yorlonda's goons fell around her along with debris. Some of them copying the Marines trying to get into some sort of formation hoping they could grab a ledge and climb back up before they splattered against the bottom. The Marines and Tokain just continued to fall. "LET GO OF ME YOU FILTHY DISGUSTING INSECT!" Tanuka strained to look up. Juno showing her how to roll in mid-air so she was facing upwards. Nuraka had manuivered into Yorlonda and the two of them were fighting over something she couldn't see. Finally Yorlonda blasted the shipwright away from her triumphantly. Nuraka grinned crazily as she went past Tanuka obviously having gotten her hands on something. Yorlonda was rescued from her flight while the Marines continued to fall. Kalama, leading the formation, rolled on his back and gave Yorlonda a two fingered salute followed by snappng it into a rude gesture at her. With that he leaned back into the fall accellerating it into a dive laughing at her scream. The Marines around him followed his example, Juno ajusting Tanuka to match and matain position. Heat blasted her in the face making her stomach turn as she saw what was up ahead. Magma. They were being dropped straight into a river of Magma! And Kalama was leading them straight into it! She struggled against Juno trying despertly to save herself when the Marine whacked her. "Quit struggling! You won't catch your board if you aren't in formation!" Tanuka quit struggling in confusion. Catch her board? Kalama yelled something at Tokain as the Toa of Stone shot past and flipped, firing a blast of energy into the wall causing it to shatter throwing debris in their path. "IMPROMPTU IGNALU!" Kalama shouted as he tackled one of the board shaped pieces of stone out of the air. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN THIS TIME KALAMA!" Lei challanged snatching her ride. One by one the Marines zipped through the debris snatching up the needed to protect themselves as they would hit the lava. Juno pushed off Tanuka as she got her board underneath her. The Chief Petty Officer snagging her own ride. Kalama led the way driting toward the slope below them that the lava flowed down. Coming in contact with it, he let gravity do the work of picking up the speed necessery to get underway. One by one the Marines followed with Tanuka landing followed by Tokain. They zipped and slid down the river. Some of the Marines even pulling tricks laughing as they were carried off by the lava flow. ------- MARINE LANDING ZONEPO-WAHI, 0246 HRS "I still don't get why you were on our side when all the chaos broke loose in the vault." Kali asked Tokain. Kalama had led them up some stairs they had found when they had reached the end of the river. It lead up to a trapdoor that had depositied them right outside the main gates to the Temple. "Becuz Ah WAS hired to prevent artifacts from falling into Yorlonda's hands. And Ah always finish a job." He grinned. "After all, getting paid is nice..." "...but so is getting paid twice." Kalama echoed. "Hur! Hur! Hur! Very true professor. You sure you don't wan ter come along? There's always more artifacts that need... reclamin'." "We're due back on rotation soon and after what just happened in there... I think I need a break from excitment for awhile." Tokain chuckled. "Don' we all sometiiiiimes. Next one is on me... professer." Tokain turned and wandered off into the chilly air of the Po-wahi morning whislting a jaunty tune. Kalama watched him go while Tanuka raised the cutter from where they had sank it under the cover of night previous on the beach to prevent it from being found when they made their landing. Suddenly a thought struck him and he grabbed his bandana tearing it off his head and threw it to the ground angrily. "SON OF A SEARAG!" He swore. "What's wrong?" Maya asked. "HE GOT PAID MORE THAN I DID!!!" OOC: I'm taking a break writing my own storyines for now. No amount of story was worth this much headache. *Follows his characters back to Ga-Wahi*

OOC: Yeah. Boulder is currently the only immune one. Still they aren't pushovers so expect more of a fight. IC: Nala caught the Kanohi in mid-air only to land in the middle of a group of Yorlonda's Renegades. The ShadowWalker tumbled under one that attempted to pounce on her blocking another's body shot with her arm and striking the Matoran making pop loose and away from her. Quickly turning she flipped out one of her trenchknives and blocked an swipe from another Matoran's knife before punching him in the throat. Grabbing him by the head she spun him around into a Toa's legs tripping up the Toa. Vaulting over the tumbling Toa she missed another Toa's foot which struck her and sent her rolling into the fray. She was pounced on and restrained by four Matoran. One was gutted by Kali as the swordswoman raked her blade through the Matoran's chest, freeing Nala's arm which she quickly flipped her trenchknife too and punched the one holding her other arm with the spiked knuckler blinding him in one eye. One of them managed to get their hands on the Kanohi and rushed to deliver it to Yorlonda who was engaged with Kalama... Only to get swatted into the wall by Tokain's blade. The mask pinged off the wall and slid across the floor before being snatched up by Boulder. Tokain clobbered Boulder across the face. The Toa of Earth quickly returned the favor. The two of them alternating heavy powerful blows to the head as they fought.

Boulder grabbed one of Yorlonda's Matoran minions and flung the sacrificial projectile at Arzanyos knocking his shot upwards into the ceiling. He followed this up by tackling the Toa to the ground wrestling for control of the Kartayl. Kalama glanced over, confused, wondering how the devil he'd lost the mask. However he didn't give it much pause as he was forced to re-concentrate on not getting sent flying by another one of Yorlonda's water blasts. Yuni joined the now three way fight for the Blood Kanohi, her frying pan finding it's mark against Boulder's temple. The meat cleaver screeching as it cut at Arzanyos's armor. The Kartayl went skittering lose from the fray. A Matoran from Yorlonda's group snatched it up and tried to run... Only he ran smack into Maya. Maya countered his cutlass and the two dueled before Maya spun around smashing the butt of her spear against the Matoran's face. The action sent the Kartayl flying through the air.

OOC: There are three levels of character in story development. God, Mortal, and Demi-god. The term of God belongs to beings who are of course, super powered, they require no effort to do anything and literally shape the world around them. Mortals are the nameless ones. Those that have no interesting destines and are throwaways. They are the faceless crowds you see but don't know their names. Then there are the Demi-gods, nether Godly nor Mortal but are a blend of both. Their natural abilities are greater than that of their Mortal counterparts but they will never surpass a God. If we were to equate values to these beings then Mortals would rank at a 5. Gods, a natural 10. Demi-gods rank anywhere from 6-9 depending on how much they're in their comfort zone. Protagonists (player characters) are by nature, Demi-gods. They are the Deus Ex Machinima's. While a nameless Matoran would have no chance against say, Tahu, the minute I turn them into a character such as Kali, they now have a fighting chance. Will she actually win? Maybe, depends on the story but more than likely 9 times out of 10, Tahu is going to beat her senseless. Still she'll make him work harder for it than she would if she were "Just that Matoran". In other words your complaints about Kalama being more than just a simple Matoran warm my heart since that means he's right where he needs to be and I thank you for that input. He's the hero of his own story and until the story says so, he will never die. And even when he does, then he becomes a Legend. After all, normal people just become statistics. Not immortalized by tales of their normalness. Right now there's three factions in the room, Yorlonda and her troops, Kalama and his Marines along with those that came with him, and Lohkar and his pirates since nether Yorlonda nor Kalama consider them allies. His reputation precedes and works against him here. Yorlonda has numbers superiority while Kalama has the better trained troops. Lohkar and his pirates are considered wild cards since while they are a single unit, pirates are not the most cooperative by nature bound only by loose guidelines meaning Lohkar's faction may suddenly split at any given time with each pirate a faction to themselves. They also have the element of surprise if used correctly. IC: A bubble of energy suddenly shimmered around the mask protectively before shocking the Skakdi. The occupants of the room watched as he was sent flying across it. Yorlonda clicked her tongue. "You didn't seriously think something that powerful would just be sitting around defenseless would you?" She walked past where Kalama and Tanuka had dove out of the way up the pedestal. She stared into the eye holes of the mask. The empty holes of the silver Miru shaped Blood Kanohi stared back. "You're coming with me one way or another Kartayl." The Kanohi just floated. As Yorlonda proceeded to have a staring match with the Kanohi, Kalama led Tanuka back toward their group. "So Tokain." The Matoran looked up at the Toa. "Do you still keep to your word of finishing a job?" "I've never broken that word before Professor, you know that. That's why I split after that last job." Kalama chuckled. "You never did tell me why." Tokain grinned. "I had a hot date and didn't want to be late." Then he frowned. "Shame she turned out to be a real ice queen." Kalama burst out laughing. "That's just like you Tokain." He glanced at Yorlonda. "That's just like you." "Commander a word if you please?" The Marines did not look happy. "Pardon me Tokain. I have my own hot dates to attend to." Marching over he found himself surrounded by 7 very upset Ghekula's. Not where any sane Matoran wanted to find himself. "What?" He demanded crossing his arms. "Have you gone MAD?" Lei hissed at him. "What are you thinking just handing over the mask like that!?!" "I say we take up arms and take them all right now! There's only 50 or so!" "How do we get the Mask?" "Why did Tokain turn on us?" "How are we getting out of here?" "If all of you don't shut your airsuckers right now I am busting each and every last one of you back to Private!" Kalama snarled getting their attention. He took a steadying breath. "Now. For now bide your time. I have an exit stratagy. We just need to get our hands on the Mask first. Don't worry about Tokain. He's a moot issue right now." He looked up to see Tokain leaning over the circle trying to hear Kalama. "A little privacy please? Marines only." Tokain grinned and left them to the devices. "I've already spoken with Tokain and he's confirmed we're cleared for a 'Falling Towards the Sky' exit stratagy." "I thought he wasn't-" "OF COURSE you would think that. You don't know Tokain like I do Kali. We've worked together just like I've worked with the rest of you. We have those little 'in' codes and nuisances between us that we, Kalama's Raiders, have amongst each other that allow us to swap information without anyone else knowing." He glanced at Nala, "Let the Toa know about 'Falling Toward the Sky'. The rest of you, stay frosty. Launch commences once we have the package secure." The Marines seemed to relax a little, reassured that their Commander had control of the situation. "Acadamy wench! Get over here!" Tanuka jumped and glanced at Agarin and Kalama. Kalama nodded and followed Tanuka as she approached the more irate Yorlonda. Yorlonda pointed at the inscription on the pedistal, "Read it!" She commanded. Tanuka gently brushed off the dust. Her mouth moving silently over the words. "Out loud!" "I'm sorry! I was just translating!" Yorlonda struck Tanuka over the head. She fended off the blow yelling, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" "Striking Tanuka is not going to get you your mask any faster." Kalama said evenly. Yorlonda bore down on the Matoran. "What do you know whelp!" She snarled. Kalama met the burning glare with a cold uninterested stare. "She can't focus on the words if you're hitting her like that which will slow down the process. Have some patience..." "I WANT THE KANOHI!!!" "I'm sure you do Yorlonda but throwing a tantrum isn't going to get you what you want this time." Oh how he would regret the irony of those words later... Without breaking eyecontact Kalama said calmly to Tanuka, "Translate the inscription." Nervously Tanuka turned not wanting to give Yorlonda the chance to strike her again. Yorlonda however was locking in a staring match with the Matoran keeping her from turning on the Toa again. Shakily she turned back around to find that nether of them had moved an inch. Had they not moved the entire time? "What did it say?" Kalama asked calmly despite the size of his opponet that should have been intimidating him. "It-it-it said only that with true Wisdom will be allowed to remove the Kartayl." One side of Kalama's mouth curled into a smile. "Well it looks like nether of us is walking away with that Kanohi. If the story is anything to go by, only WIsdom can touch that Kanohi. And since she isn't here, I'd say we're out of luck." Yorlonda screamed and grabbed up the Matoran by the throat. "GURK!" She hurled him at the bubble of energy hoping the ricochet would be enought to kill the Matoran. Kalama braced himself expecting the shock and feeling of flying foward into a wall. instead he felt the cold metal of something at his back as he continued to fly backward into the rear wall. Clattering to the floor he shook himself off to realize everyone in the room was standing in shock. Kalama glanced at the floor curious as to what every one was staring at when he saw it too. "Well... that was unexpected." The Kartayl shimmered innocently on the floor free of protection. Chaos decended on the room. Kalama pounced on the Mask grabbing it and rolling out of the way just as Yorlonda went to hit him with a water blast. Tanuka leaped up and shoved the other Toa of Water off the platform. "GET THE KARTAYL!" Yorlonda screamed at her men retailating at Tanuka before drawing the scythe attached to her back. "PROTECT THE COMMANDER!" Kali barked snatching up her blades from the floor and lauching herself at the nearest goon. The Marines quickly snatched up arms and engaged their Renegades opponets. Kalama ran around the Suva only to run headlong into a furious Yorlonda. "WHOA!" he ducked the scythe narrowly avoiding getting tripped up by the butt of it as Yorlonda attemped to sweep it under him. "Kalama!" Hotu shouted as she and Juno flung his large shields like discs in his direction. Yorlonda attemped to cleave him in two. The matoran leaped clear over her, flipping in mid-air before catching his shields and landing, twisting just in time to swat away the scythe as Yorlonda attemped to claim his head. Lei and her opponet bounced on their feet facing for each other before leaping at each other at the same time. Lei gained the upper hand with her greater height and thumped him over the head. He landed heavily but recovered quickly lashing at Lei with a high kick as she came down sending her flying backward sightly. Lei's chain fished out wrapping around the arm of the Matoran and quickly jerking him over to her as she landed. She got in several quick body shots before flipping the Matoran over her back. Now back to back, Lei and the Matoran mirrored the direction they were going striking and blocking as they went before rasing up opposite feet and kicking each other in the back. Stumbling they recovered and turned only to come at each other once again. Juno fended off two the Toa as they swung both their blades at her. knocking them away with two quick flourished she leaped up and smashed the Toa's head together before headbutting them. They collasped but only dazed. As Juno landed she jammed the sword under her armpit spearing and killing a Matoran that has tried to attack her from behind. As the Toa tried to regain their footing she smashed them both in the face with an elbow before flipping a charging Matoran over her shoulder. Hotu picked up speed, leaped throught he air and hit three Toa in the head with a single punch before she bounced off the Hau of a Toa of Ice. The ice Toa flash froze the strongwoman but this cage lasted shortly as Nuraka blasted it with her wielding laser slightly singeing her sister Marine. Hotu didn't look happy with the rescue but grunted her thanks as Nuraka blasted the frosty Toa.

OOC: Didn't I JUST say NO COMPLAINING? For those of you who were invited to come along(which was only two of you and you know who), I apologize. I intended to include you more often but events have forced me to speed this along and terminate it prematurely and rather hastily. To those of those of you who FORCED yourselves into the plot in a rather rude manner and disrupt events, I don't want to hear any complaining. You were not planned for and were never meant to be included. Now if you had ASKED before thrusting yourselves into events, i would have been able to more seamlessly integrate you without issue and would have happily done so to prevent the rather nasty pile up you threw in my path. I may not be a GM but this is MY storyline and I WILL terminate it on a moments notice WITHOUT WARNING! *arms the self-destruct button* NEXT TIME. ASK. There is no harm in doing so and it prevents messy situations like the one you just created. IC: Yorlonda rolled her eyes. "I almost pity you Kalama for having to put up with such uneducated barbarians." "Believe me I'm curious as to why you would even strike a deal with them. We both know they're not much worth." "So true. I believe I said something about having a choice about dropping their weapons or leaving. Boulder could you tell me what I said?" "I believe Mi'lady you said they could ether drop their weapons OR leave. OR we kill them." "Nowhere in there did I say anything about dropping their weapons AND leaving them?" "No Mi'lady." Yorlonda tsked. "Boulder, Tokain, if I don't hear the sound of ether weapons hitting the ground or feet walking away in the next 5 seconds, feel free to kill them." "Yes Mi'lady." "I get paid for the bodies right? Our deal was only for delivering the multicolored brat." "Only if they don't comply and you live." "Oh I'll live." "Boulder I'm still not hearing any weapons hitting the ground. Disarm them yourself if you have to." Yorlonda gestured. The archivist was brought forward. Yorlonda turned to the one remaining door. "Well?" She said. "Get it open." The Archivist nervously examined the door. Yorlonda tapped her foot impatiently. "Well?" "I-I-I can't read it." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You. Can't. Read. It?" "N-n-n-no." Yorlonda looked around before her eyes rested on Tanuka. "I know you. Your that scholar aren't you? From the Academy?" "Y-yes?" "You can read this can't you?" "Um... well... I haven't gotten a chance to really look at it..." "Then read the bit behind you!" Tanuka turned slowly doing what she was told. "Well?" "I can read a little bit... yes I'm sure I can translate most of it." Yorlonda grinned. "Splendid! Retire the Archivist." "No! No wait PLEAS-!" A Matoran gutted the unfortunate soul. "Thank you... whoever you are... you! Academy Toa! Open that door for me!" Tanuka nervously approached the door and started reading. Kalama looked at the pirate who had quietly approached him and asked for his forgiveness. "You wanna live?" He asked. "Keep your head down and run the first chance you get. I'll probably be too busy doing the same to really bother you." What seemed like minutes later with Tanuka's mouth flowing around words that didn't make any sense, Yorlonda finally had enough. "Well?" "This... this is amazing!" Tanuka gesture to the room. "All of it! It's words from a Great Spirit itself! Listen to this! I have been tasked to create two guardians for the primary processor. They will be my finest work! Years later he writes, These two Toa will be a bonded pair. One given the gift of Courage, the other the gift of Knowledge. The one with courage will be placed in golden armor and will be a fierce warrior. I shall call him Valor. His bonded Toa companion, the one with knowledge will be given armor of a silver sheen and she will be a wise thinker. She shall be Wisdom." Tanuka moved to another part of the wall. "I have finished work on the Blood Kanohi. These Kanohi are very powerful though not anywhere close as powerful as those my brothers have created to simulate Life, Time, and Creation. To prevent them from being taken they have been linked to the bio-signatures of my Toa. Once bonded they cannot be removed and can only be used by those they are bonded to the blood to. Hence the term 'Blood' Kanohi." Tanuka shifted and brushed the dust off the wall. "I can hear them... they are not alive and yet I can hear them! I came in to check on the noises and heard Wisdom talking with Valor! Their souls... I must be hearing their souls! I... I need to find an Elda! Later he goes on to write, I talked with them today. Wisdom is a very bright girl. She'd already figured out what they were being created for. Valor seemed excited at the prospect of doing something of great honor. Both of them were very happy when I chatted with them. They'd been watching me since i had created the Blood Kanohi. Drawn to the essence of the masks from my mind of how I imagined them to be." Tanuka shifted. "They keep me company while I work on producing the physical forms they will inhabit. It's very difficult work as they need to be specialized unlike the other Toa in order to handle the power of the Blood Kanohi as they will never be able to take them off. Wisdom has been very helpful in making the necessary adjustments and Valor has volenteered to test them despite the danger. He is every bit the couragous scamp I could hope for! They called me Father today... I don't know why but... it makes me happy when they do that..." Tanuka scanned over part of the wall. "We have finished construction on the Temples and Suva's today for Wisdom and Valor. They were estatic, scampering throught the temples exploring them. it brightened my day to see them like this. They provided so much cheer which I needed. The others have activated their superweapon in an attempt to stop the Core Wars. Valor went on to brag about how they wouldn need it once he was completed as he would strike down any who challanged him. Wisdom however when she saw it looked at me with a very melancholy look and said 'They're not going to work are they Father? No they aren't going to work at all. You won't be able to stop them.' I couldn't bear to see Wisdom look at me like that..." Tanuka dusted off the next section. "Wisdom's prediction turned out to be right. The superweapon's failsafe well... failed. It now runs rampant across the planet making things worse. I have doubled my efforts to finish the bodies for my children..." Tanuka paused at the door having made her way around the room. The last one seemed to cause her to go into shock. "Tanuka?" "Tanuka is everything alright?" "Hurry up welp! Read it!" She felt a hand on her leg. Kalama had come over and gave her a reasuring look. "It's alright Tanuka. Read it." Nodding she swallowed and read the final inscription. "I... I killed them... all my work... everything... gone... and... the looks they gave me... i can't stand it... After we lost control of the superweapon, the others started wondering if they gave the Toa too much power... they kept talking about 'risks' and 'reprogramming'. What do they know? The Toa are just as alive as we are! They have souls! I've talked to them! I've become their Father! They... they came to me and said they'd outsorced the post my children would have protected to some Glatorian. They told me I would have to destory my work! I would have to destory the bodies and hide the Kanohi! I... I would have to kill them... The looks... the looks they gave me... I disposed of the bodies and hid the Kanohi as instructed. Wisdom... she... she just looked at me with... understanding! She wasn't happy but... I wanted... nether of them were upset or anything! Valor just looked on bravely as his body was taken apart. Wisdom helped me hide the Kanohi in the temples." Tanuka paused to wipe away tears before finishing. "I'm very grateful I was the one to destroy them though. The others... they're build another superweapon. This one to destroy all Toa should the Toa turn on those they were ment to protect. I couldn't bear to see my little ones torn apart by that... thing! When this is over... when I've finished destroying it... I'll join them... I'll join my children." Tanuka was openly crying at this point. "Mata-Nui... he... he must have... taken his own life." "Oh boo-hoo! This does not help me get the Kanohi! OPEN THE DOOR!" Yorlonda was getting more agitated by the second. "Hey. It's alright Tanuka. You can do this." Tanuka nodded and steadied herself before turning to the door. Reading the inscription once she took a breath and commanded: "Em to nepO, em hTIw hTe fTig ened legnowk to ebemoc eht rebaer fo KARTAYL!" At first nothing happened. Slowly the sound of locks undoing trickled like water picking up speed as they went down. The doors opened. And before them was the Suva of the Toa of Wisdom. Untouched, unworn by it's mistress, floating above the platform was the Blood Kanohi Kartayl, The Great Mask of Knowledge.

OOC: Then keep your hands off my cut scenes and don't complain when you get hit. I didn't invite you, you invited yourselves. IC: Tokain grabbed Raknar in mid-charge and flipped him sending him through the air to the feet of his crewmates. "How about you ALL DROP YOUR WEAPONS?" A cold female voice sounded from behind the pirates. Yorlonda stood there calm as you please her men ready to tear apart the first person to disobey her demand. Kalama eyed the group as Kali supported him. "And why should we?" Kalama asked. "Because I'll flatten ya if you don't... Professor..." The heavy blade rested on Kalama's back. "You son of a searag..." Kali hissed at Tokain. Yorlonda burst out laughing as she passed through the pirates. "Oh I must thank you Kalama. Without your assistance, Tokain never would have been able to get inside and disable the locks on the outer doors letting me in. I have to say..." She pulled out a book from a sack and waved it in front of Kalama's face. "Without this, we probably never would have even found this place." "So there were no Onu-Koroan Archivists involved." Kalama said. "Oh there were. Only I kidnapped them. When they couldn't get into the temple I let them go and approached Tokain with an offer. They gave him an offer to keep the Kanohi out of my hands." Tokain shrugged. "You know the saying Professor, Getting paid is nice..." "...but so is getting paid twice. So it was the money." Kalama chuckled. "So who paid first?" "The archivists of course. Which reminds me. He's here so where's the money Yorlonda?" Yorlonda snapped her fingers and a Matoran came running forward laden with bags he plucked one from the mass and handed it to Tokain. "Full payment as promised." "Pleasure doin' business." "Now I believe I made a demand?" "Drop 'em Marines." "WHAT?!?!" Kali shrieked in his ear. "DISARM HELM MAJOR! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Reluctantly the Marines let their weapons hit the ground. "You had better got a plan Kalama..." Nuraka growled. Kalama winked at her. Yorlonda turned to the pirate group. "You too or you can leave. Or I'll have my men kill you where you stand. I don't want any unknowns running amok."

OOC: 1) Yes you got into the room AHEAD of me. This temple is not liner in nature meaning although you found a way AROUND at no point did I see you go UP. In fact I think you went DOWN instead. Pay attention to the direction you're going! It may not be the same direction I go! 2) "Lohkar and the crew went back into the previous room." When being generic like that you are implying ALL of your crew. For anybody who did not, in fact, specify a destination(OOC: Which exit did you mean, when you said "Raknar made for the exit"?), they ran off somewhere completely different separate of both of our groups. Your boys are now well and truly lost under the influence of an Arcane illusion since "With that, he took off, headless of traps." You'd better go save them. 3) The Mahiki requires line of sight to work PROPERLY and since Arzanyos IS NOT in fact in the room since he ran off in a totally weird direction with Raknar it would cause any illusions to do something such as "walk through a wall" and any Marine that attacks any of the illusions would go through it and quickly discover it's not there. Even with your numbers remember these are Special Forces Marines and bleak odds do not faze them so challenging them to lay down their weapons is pretty much laughable and is the equivalent of "Please kill me." Seriously, keep track of what you post in the order it's posted because I WILL reset you in some location and make you start fresh if you can't do it yourself. For now I'm more inclined to ignore anything that happened up to this point since no one can seem to figure out where they went in relation to me. IC:GAUNTLET CHAMBERTEMPLE OF WISDOMPO-WAHI, 0045 HRS Kalama eased his way slowly through the long room. "What do you think ever happened to those pirates?" Lei asked. Hotu shrugged. "I didn't bother listening to their gibberish and then two of them simply ran pellmell off in a direction I didn't see." "That was stupid." Lei shrugged. "If they were going to attack us we were standing right there. They didn't need to run in any direction." "Well they ARE pirates." "Point. Not the smartest bunch of people you'd ever meet." "Well not entirely true. A smart pirate probably would have prepared an ambush outside for us and waited until we got whatever the goods were and THEN attacked us when we left instead of following us in, trying to ally with us, and then running off with no idea what they're doing in the least." "But do WE have any idea where we're going?" Lei wondered. "Ah told you. The buzz in yer teeth should tell you the answer to that." Tokain interjected. "'e is roight. Moi teef been burnin' since we came up o' tat lator." Yuni added. "Now that you mention it. I feel it too." Lei said rubbing her jaw. "The Professor is like a bloodhound when it comes to stuff like that. Yer ShadowWalker should be a pretty good at hunting down stuff like that too." "I've found my share of rare and obviously strange objects that affect other objects in ways that is not natural to them." Nala said to Tokain's statement. She chuckled at Alrin's outburst. "Feisty. Didn't know if you were a mute or not since you haven't said one word since I woke up tonight." (OOC: You can always strike up a conversation with the Marines and Tokain or Kalama depending on which one is not actively puzzling out the temple. Right now i know there isn't much to do but you'll get the chance to fight some of Yorlonda's troops after we get through to the Vault.) "HELLO!" The Marines glanced at Kalama who had exclaimed something as he'd slapped at his neck. He pulled something to his face and suddenly started swaying. "OOOooooohhhHHH... MAHA trankky!" He suddenly stumbled drunkenly setting off numerous traps as he rolled, spun, flopped, slid, and tumbled his way around the room. It seemed to be pure luck the Matoran was not hit by any of the spikes, darts, flying sawblades, guillotines, spears, or any of the other sharp and dangerous objects due to his impaired movements. "KALAMA!" Maya and Kali tried to race off to help the Matoran when Tokain suddenly grabbed both of them and dragged them back behind him. "Not with that maelstrom active! You'll get sheered!" Kalama finally reached the end of the room and collapsed against the lever on the other side. It resisted at first before the Matoran's weight forced it down. The walls around them seemed to echo which mechanical devices being shut off. Tokain finally let Kali and Maya down and the Marines all rushed off across the room as Tokain steadily made his way through with the other three Toa. Maya tilted Kalama up. "Kalama can you hear me?" The Matoran's head lolled, his eyes were unfocused and flashing through different colors, "HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE! The banana's are all sparkly!" He looked at his fingers and continued giggling. "Looks like some kind of psychotropic mind altering drug. He's hallucinating." "Hey! Pretty lady! Let's go to space and see the pepper bar on the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" Kalama laughed like this was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. "Can't you do something?" Kali demanded. "It doesn't look like he got that much. We'll have to wait until it wears off." "HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE! You said look! OOOOooooh!! JELL-o!" He suddenly lurched upwards and pounced on Hotu licking her head. "AGGH! GET OFF ME!!!" "Brocky love you long time!" Tokain opened the door. "Well pick him up and let's keep moving." It took Kali and Juno to pry Kalama off Hotu. They carried him along as he was singing very loudly and off key "WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE!!! YELLOW SUBMARINE! YELLOW SUBMARINE!" Tokain grinned at the next chamber. "We're almost there! I can feel it..." This one had a dark chasm smack in the middle of it. On the other side was rather large and ornate door. Lei whistled as she looked down the chasm. "How do we cross that?" "Maybe we should ask the floating specter over there?" Nuraka said sarcastically gesturing at a platform occupied by a ghostly apparition. "That's not a half bad idea Ma'am." The group stood before the shroud. The shroud exhaled sending a gust of wind at the group before speaking. "I AM THE BRIDGE KEEPER. TO PASS THIS BRIDGE YOU MUST PROVE YOUR WORTH. WHO WILL STEP FORWARD AND ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE?" "Hey! Hey shiny man! Shiny man! Why are you so shiny?" Kalama spoke up. "THE CHALLENGER HAS SPOKEN. STEP FORTH." Kali tightened her grip on Kalama. "Let 'im go little lady. If there's one thing you do not attempt to fight, It's spectral guardians. This one strikes me as one of those that doesn't 'lose' a fight to test challengers." Tokain advised her. "He's not going alone. I'm going up with him." Kali helped the Matoran before the specter. "WHAT IS THE SAME BACKWARDS AS IT IS FORWARDS?" It asked. "Go hang a salami! I'm a lasagna hog!" Kalama shouted at it. "CORRECT. WHAT IS THE FASTEST WAY TO A TOA'S HEART?" "Pohatuuuuu's FIST!" Kalama answered punching into the air. "CORRECT. YOU MAY PASS THE BRIDGE." It vanished. The two braziers on ether side of the platform were lit with a blue ghostly fire. In rapid succession a line of flames lit up in midair across the chasm. "Well that didn't help much." Nuraka muttered. "Now there's just floating fire." Kali helped Kalama up to the platform hoping in in his state he could help them in some way. He did. As soon as Kali lay him down to climb up on the platform. Kalama suddenly started log rolling toward the edge between the two flames. Kali watched horrified as he went over the edge... ...only to continue rolling along in mid-air singing "ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!ROLLY!" Tokain chuckled. "A magic bridge. Should have expected that from a spectral guardian. Even tranqed the Professor knows how to roll. Hur! Hur! Hur! Hur!" Nobody else found it funny. Chasing their Commander across the bridge, the Marines found him on the other side face down unmoving. Tanuka had held on to Agarin's arm tightly, her eyes squeezed shut repeating to herself "I'm walking on a bridge. I'm walking on a bridge." as if trying to stave off some kind of fear while they crossed. The flames vanished as Tokain being the last member of the group stepped onto solid ground. The spectral guardian reappeared. "CHALLENGER, TO PASS THROUGH THIS DOOR YOU MUST FIRST ANSWER ME. WHAT IS THE GREATEST SOURCE OF POWER ALL POSSESS?" "My heeeaaaaad..." Kalama groaned not hearing the question. "CORRECT. YOU MAY ENTER THE VAULT." It vanished. The door opened... ------- TEMPLE OF WISDOM'S THE VAULTTEMPLE OF WISDOMPO-WAHI, 0116 HRS Entering the room, everyone looked around. The vault was on the large side, perfectly cubed. Four doors including the one they had entered in from. Ancient writing covered the walls.

So, here we are, in this temple, underground... Hotu swore she heard some of the busts talking after Tokain finished singing and dancing around. I told her to stop being silly. Some pirates ran in and then ran off. I think they were lost. They usually are. Too bad we're not on rotation, I'd LOOOOOVE to hit them and feed them to that... whatever that was in the chamber that challenged Tokain. I think I need to find a new boyfriend after this. I'm going to have nightmares about that... thing for days probably. Maybe that cute trumpet player who came to Ga-Koro a week ago with his band wouldn't mind hooking up... While I'm thinking, I think I need to go shopping when I get home. That thing about free cheddar reminds me that I'm out of cheese and need to get more. We are sooooooo lucky to have Kalama with us to get us through this. If he were actually Le-Koroan I would totally hit on him. Kali needs to hurry up or he'll get taken by some other Ga-Koroan and then she'll start stalking him again.

OOC: Okay since none of you seem to be on the same page, you've all left with Lohkar and are now under the influence of an arcane trap since you seem to be seeing things. Ghosthands you'd better save your crew from themselves since they seem to be attacking each other and are clearly unaware of where they really are. Consider the previous post the illusion if you will. IC:Tokain grinned and started singing in a rather raspy voice. I'd sell your heart to the junkman babyFor a buck, for a buckHe swaggered over to one of the busts and pointed at it.If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditchYou're out of luck, you're out of luckHe whipped out the heavy blade he was carrying and tapped it on the ground with every syllable of sinking Ship is sinkingThe ship is sinkingThe ship is sinkingSwaggering around he continued spinning the heavy blade like a cane.There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler roomThe poor, the lame, the blindWho are the ones that we kept in charge?He picked up Kali, Nala, and Nuraka Killers, thieves and lawyersThe Matoran did not look amused.'Mata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, He tapped the 'cane', businessMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, He then flipped his boonie cap, businessUsing his blade as a pretend shovel he pretended to shovel dirt.Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pickIt's a job, it's a jobHe then stood next to one of the busts and placed his head next to it waving his hand as if showing the status a vision. Bloody moon rising with a plague and a floodJoin the mob, join the mobHe walked into the spotlight and stood there swinging the 'cane' from hand to hand.It's all over, it's all overIt's all overHe swaggered off spinning his 'cane' again.There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler roomThe poor, the lame, the blindWho are the ones that we kept in charge?Killers, thieves and lawyersMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, He spun the 'cane' and tapped it leaving it in the ground. businessMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's away on business, He tilted the boonie over his face and then pushed it back, businessHAH! He grabbed Tanuka as she stood up and whisked her around. The startled female stumbled though the waltz he led her through while Agarin played the instrument segment. Finally he let her go and came back to the blade he'd left in the ground and pulled it free with little difficulty. BY MAKUTA there's always such a big temptationHe folded his hands and swayed back and forth smiling, To be good, to be goodThere's always free cheddar in a mousetrap, babyHe pretended to shake hands with one of the busts, It's a deal, it's a dealMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, businessMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, businessI narrow my eyes like a coin slot babyLet her ring, let her ringMata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business,Mata-Nui's away, Mata-Nui's awayMata-Nui's away on business, He twisted his boone one way on his head and then back, business. Applauding sounded even though no one was clapping. In fact Hotu would later swear one of the busts whispered to the other "How are we clapping?" while the other replied "I don't know, just go with it." Tokain took a bow. The eyes flashed green and a stone ladder fell from the ceiling as the light level returned to normal. "That was one of the more odder puzzles I think we've ever done." Kalama noted climbing up the ladder. "But it was fun." Tokain grinned following him up. ------- "Okay, now we're getting somewhere." Kalama said opening the door from the room they'd climbed up. Beyond it was a long rectangular room. "What we have here is a classic "gautlet" layout. Nobody move or touch anything. beyond this line..." Kalama drew a line in the dust with a toe. "There's a lever over there that should deactivate it. I'll go take care of it." Kalama cautiously started moving across the room. Nala looked at Alrin. "You've been quite this whole time. Not scared you into being a mute has it?"

OOC: Ah, Legolover, are you aware that you are now badly outnumbered as you are the only one in the room as the others are now in another location? IC: Kalama blinked as the axe whiffed over Juno's head, The Chief Petty Officer not even flinching. "Ironically your actions have proven contrary to your statement." He glanced at Yuni. "Sic 'em." The Gunnery Sergent grinned maliciously twirling her frying pan in one hand arming her other hand with the meat cleaver strapped to her thigh. "Roight lad. This woant 'urt a bit naow. Well, nought Oi a' aney rate." She chuckled advancing on the Skakdi.

OOC: And they go running off with little actual direction. XD IC: Tanuka looked up gratefully at Agarin. "Thank you..." she said. Tokain clicked his tongue. "Amateurs." He rumbled watching Lohkar's group go back through the other rooms. "Backwards is never the right way." "Honestly to me it looks like the right idea. This looks like a dead end." Nuraka said referring to the room with the busts they were in. "Nope. Wer' goin' the right way." "And how do you know?" Nuraka glared at him. "Last I checked you didn't have a map ether!" "Ah know you can feel that annoying buzz on the back of your teeth." Tokain countered. "Ah know ah have and it's been getting worse the further forward we go. There's powerful magic ahead and the more annoying the buzz the closer, and more powerful, the object is." Kalama finally examined the plaque on the middle bust. "'ENTERTAIN US'?" He read. Suddenly the eyes of the busts flashed and glowed blue. What little light there was in the room was suddenly sucked out of it to dimmer levels. A light shown down from above on Kalama like a spotlight on stage. "Okay this is weird." The busts 'watched' expectantly. Kalama just stared back before looking at the Marines. "Any ideas?" He asked. "I feel like I should be doing something but I'm kinda lost as to what." Tokain grinned and nudged the Matoran out of the spotlight with a foot before stepping into it. "Step aside Professor. Ah think they whan' a show." He looked at Agarin. "Hey music man guy. Play something Jazzy and Grungy would ya?"

"I-I-I-I'll be f-f-f-fine..." She stuttered trying not to look back at the remains of the dead creature. "M-m-maybe I sh-sh-should sit down..." Her legs almost seemed to give out from under her as she sat/fell down. Her breathing was rapid and she didn't seem like she was currently with everyone. Her mind still trapped in that horrible moment where the Guardian had first dropped down to challenge Tokain. True Tokain was the only one who had advanced while Kalama kept everyone including her back but as soon as she'd seen it... "Tanuka, sweetie, are you there?" Maya's voice startled her. "Battleshock." Juno said.

OOC: I expected you to follow Kalama's lead. Not Tokain's. Also that was not an attack. That was Tokain's equivalent of a "Gibbs slap". IC: "Wuz in it's mouth." Tokain said offhandedly. "Noticed it when it screamed at me." Kalama rolled his eyes and took the key from Tokain. Wiping it off he inspected it before inserting it. The gate fell downward instantly after the locks released. The next room was smaller in nature. There was only one door and that was the way in. "Well it's the only way forward." Kalama trotted in followed by the rest of his group. Examining the contents of the room, there were 7 busts. None of them were anybody anyone knew. The eyes were dark hollows. "Hmmm...." Kalama further examined the room.

Space! Spacespacespace! Whatdoyouthinkaboutspace? Ilikespace.... You are the farthest ever in space... Why is that space? Because you are the best... I'm the best at space! Yes... Dad I'm in space! I'm proud of you son. Dad are you space? Yes, now we are a family again. -Space Core, Portal 2 I'm sure a lot of you are thinking the same thing. Yes my friends, the future is space! Actually Bob (someone who works at the client site of my job) and I were discussing the necessary needs for future advanced space travel and we came up on something with immense potential! Electrical refueling space platforms! As we all know, solar power is a renewable resource and space stations use solar panels for power. What if we constructed space stations that would gather this power and when a rocket ran low on "fuel", would dock and sap some of the stored electrical energy from this fueling platform for power? Think about it... It's ingenious is it not?

OOC: Ditto Ghosthands. I'm THRILLED you and your group just killed something that wasn't supposed to be or even going to be killed. Now I got to come up with something else for Tokain to smack around in a rather humorous manner in the background while Kalama and the Marines have a serious discussion revealing more of the backstory for the temple. As for the confidence, the definition of "Adventure" is "Something screamingly horrible happening to someone else." A lot of misfortune has already dropped itself on the Matoran and you also need to remember he's been on Mata-Nui throughout the rule of The Makuta fighting for life and limb since day one. This isn't his first dungeon crawl ether. Not much phases him anymore which is the reason he can be so confident. Mind over matter after all. Tokain has also been doing this for years and he's actually a Toa. Tanuka on the other hand is on the opposite end of the spectrum. She's never experienced anything like this and has no idea what to do at all, hence why her reactions are completely different and more based on fear. You fear what you don't understand don't you? The Marines themselves vary between these two points as while they've faced the horrors of combat, they've never faced creatures such as the monstrosity you just killed (again thanks for that). IC: Tokain, obviously ticked he'd just had his fun taken away, clobbered Raknar before grunting and wading through the remains of the creature. Kalama frowned at the Pirate. "Obviously MATEY you've been at sea for too long and have no idea just what Yorlonda actually IS. DESPITE the fact that what we're doing may seem immoral, we, as in Yorlonda, Tokain, and myself, are considered something along the lines of Treasure Hunters. There are very few laws in regards to what we do and almost none of them are observed. In fact both Yorlonda and I are forced to dance around each other because if ether one of us even so much as musses the others Kanohi without being provoked, we could easily create a very messy political situation as she has money and I have status. Even though she's unscrupulous, Yorlonda has done nothing to warrant the attention of the Marines and as so, I can't touch her. The Marines are simply here for my protection, I'm here at Tokain's request, who's here at the request of the last site owners seeking to prevent Yorlonda from getting her hands on more artifacts. As I've stated, I can't touch her because we have no reasons to believe she's up to anything unlawful. She won't touch me because she knows this and that if she messes with me then she loses that protection. Therefore the rule "First come, first served" applies so whatever Yorlonda is trying to get, I have to get it first. If it comes to blows at least it's over salvage and people will look the other way over that so long as it's present when we're fighting. "You on the other hand I could beat to a pulp right here, right now and nobody would even bat an eye because you're a wanted man Lohkar. You want to do me a favor? YOU go attack Yorlonda and keep her busy for me. Unlike me there's nothing preventing you from doing that. Also there's a reason they call this a maintenance tunnel. This is a shortcut used to get to where the real treasures are kept and wasn't expected to be found so the traps here are minimal in nature. The main entrance is bound to be crawling with far more traps because it WAS expected to be found. I fully expect Yorlonda to have to sacrifice well over a third of her minions whereas I don't have to worry about losing any of my Marines meaning the numbers will be more in our favor by the time we reach whatever is waiting in the center of this temple. Why waste womanpower and energy on something that the environment will take care of for me when I can better spend it increasing my lead on this race?" Kalama shook his head at lacking of situational information the pirate had. "The fact that you wandered in here missing well over half the pieces of the puzzle does not bode well for you. If I were you, I'd turn around and leave because you're going to get yourself and your crew killed. While I wouldn't shed a tear at the image of your corpses serving as a gristly warning to whomever follows you in here, I'm sure you have other things such as pirating you would like to do tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm really busy trying to make sure none of us get killed by this temple. Tokain! Did you find the key?" "Yup!" The Toa of Stone slogged his way out of the mess, holding a gore covered object that just barely glinted through the mess.