"You take a wrong turn somewhere, Toa?"

Jodhan pulled his cloak around him tighter and glanced back at the forest-green Skakdi standing behind the bar who'd called him out. "No."

She clicked her tongue disparagingly. "Really? Not a lot of Toa pass through Xia."

"I bet neither do a lot of bartending Skakdi."

She grinned, a sight that he would rather have gone without. "Guess we're both just anomalies, then. What're you having?"

He coughed, the smoggy city air difficult to tolerate even indoors. "Nothing."

"Sorry, let me rephrase that. Either you buy a drink, or you get out of my bar. I didn't come here to run a charity."

His bronze-gray Ruru furrowed into a frown. "Water, then."

"You're a brave one," she said, and turned to the faucets beside her. Jodhan turned his attention back to the dim parlor, keeping one eye on the entrance. Aside from a Vortixx passed out under one of the tables, he and the bartender were alone for the moment.

She plunked a glass filled with something that was probably liquid down onto the bar. "Six clacks."

"You take widgets?"

"Sure, along with dirt, pebbles, and Rahkshi crap. Six clacks."

Grumbling, he dug into his cloak and pulled out a few dinged-up coins. She scooped them up and made a mock bow. "Many thanks, o noble Toa."

He grunted in response and turned his attention back to the entrance. Time passed; behind him, the bartender pulled out a dirty rag and started wiping down the bar.

Some thirty minutes later, he heard her sigh. "You're new at this, aren't you."

Jodhan glanced back irritably. "What?"

"Seriously, what, is this your first day? If you're waiting for a target to show his face, you don't sit in plain sight at his favorite bar wrapped up in a cloak. You think that makes you less obvious? If I know I've got a Toa on my trail, I don't take chances with ominous cloaked guys. 'Sides, your leg's sticking out one side."

"Don't tell me how to do my job," he snapped back.

She smirked. "Since when is playing bounty hunter a Toa's job? And anyway, you're awful at this. Anyone with half a lick of sense wouldn't've said a word to me after they got their drink, 'less it was to grill me for info. Now I know you're after one of my regulars, and you still stick out like a sore thumb, and you've yet to realize that six clacks is above and beyond highway robbery for a glass of water."

Jodhan sputtered for a moment, then regained his composure. "Do you have something you want to say, Skakdi?"

"Yeah. Go home, Toa. Xia ain't friendly to your kind, and whoever you're looking for ain't showing up tonight."

"My business here is none of yours."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Closing time's in about four hours. Tell you what, if the man - or woman - you're after ever does show up, I'll pay you back your clacks."

"That won't be necessary," he snapped, and turned away from her. She clicked her tongue disparagingly and returned to mopping up the bar.

She tapped him on the shoulder three hours and fifty-nine minutes later. "Time's up, Toa. Even us Skakdi need to sleep once in a while."

He didn't bother to look over at her as he stood and made for the door. Her tone was jovial as she called after him. "Hey, stop by again sometime! Regulars get a sixth off highway robbery!"

The warehouse was cold, crowded, inexplicably wet, and all in all maybe the least pleasant place Jodhan had ever been, which meant he was not surprised at all to be there. He could hear his quarry's feet slamming down against the cold concrete ahead of him; he gritted his teeth and pushed himself to pick up the pace. It was dark all around them, but his mask let him see every stray box and half-broken pipe scattered throughout, and he grinned as he heard the crash of a Vortixx tripping over debris.

"Almost got you," he muttered to himself, as he leapt over a crate that had tumbled down onto the walkway. Soon as he turned the corner, he'd-

He stopped in his tracks. The Vortixx's arm was sticking out from under a pile of smashed wood, the rest of him smothered by the remains of the crate that had come crashing down upon his head. For a moment, Jodhan stared dumbly at the remains.

Some Toa instinct kicked up in him, and he spun and gazed up into the darkness in time to see a Skakdi's leg clatter out of sight on the walkway above. "Stop!" he yelled, and dashed for the nearest ladder. He leapt for it and slammed against it about a third of the way up; soon he was clambering up. He could hear the Skakdi's footsteps against the metal above. As he heaved himself over the top, he reached for the protosteel crossbow he kept attached to his back and loaded it as he gave chase. The bolts were light, but in the hands of a Toa of Iron, they could put a Cordak Blaster's round to shame.

He looked over the railing and saw the Skakdi was already close to the exit, leaping from girder to girder. Without thinking, he brought the crossbow to bear and launched a bolt ahead of the fleeing figure; it slammed into the girder the Skakdi was about to leap for and sent it crashing to the ground. He allowed himself a smirk of satisfaction.

It didn't last long. Without stopping, the Skakdi launched into the empty air where the girder had been, flying towards the cold concrete wall. At the last instant, she turned and slammed against the wall feet-first, using the impact to launch off towards one of the warehouse's support pillars. She grabbed onto it as she passed, whipping around for a moment before sliding down towards the ground. Jodhan made to follow, then stopped - it was too late at this point. She glanced up into the darkness where he stood, but at this distance it was difficult to make out any particular features, night-vision or no.

She grinned, and that he could see.

And then she turned and fled, and Jodhan was left alone on the walkway, with nothing but a smashed Vortixx and a lost bolt to show for it.

The bartender seemed unsurprised to see him. "Welcome back, Toa," she called out as he walked through the door. A Vortixx seated at the bar tensed and glanced over his shoulder at Jodhan, his scarred face narrowing into a scowl. Jodhan ignored him and slid onto a stool at the other end of the counter. Her grin was as ugly as ever. "What can I get for you?"

"Information."

The grin remained. "You've got all the subtlety of a brick, you know that? 'Sides, you know house rules. This ain't a charity."

He frowned. "I don't have time for this."

The Vortixx at the other end of the bar leered at him. "Hey, Semeka, you want me to take care of this guy?"

"You couldn't take care of a crippled Mahi, Lestas. Stay in your seat. Besides, this guy's not any trouble."

Jodhan's hand twitched. "Semeka, was it? You really want to make a Toa angry?"

"You really want to make a Skakdi bartender on Xia angry?" Before he could respond, she grabbed a glass from behind her and went to fill it. "Water it is, then. 7 clacks. You get one off for the regular discount, but two on top for the 'terrible-at-intimidation' tax."

He glowered at her as she clunked the glass of probably-not-solid down in front of him. "Now, as for the information, that's going to be a higher rate. And I don't discuss such matters in public. Doesn't do well for business to sell people out in front of them."

Down the bar, Lestas choked on his drink. Semeka didn't bother to look over at him. "Not you, Lestas. 'Sides, there's not a lot of people willing to pay to hear that you tried to go down on Tassa at the docks and she kicked your little metal ass so hard it's a miracle you can still sit. She's been spreading that story enough herself."

Jodhan ignored Lestas' sputtering. "How much?"

Semeka leaned over the counter, the grin now more relaxed. "More than you can afford, Toa. How many clacks have you got in that little cloak, anyways? Ten? Twelve?"

"Seven hundred, for your information. I had my widgets converted," he said, glowering.

For a moment she stared, then burst into cackling laughter. "Spiriah on a stick, you're dumber than I thought! Not only do you carry around your whole damn savings with you, you'll tell anyone who'll listen how much it is! It's a miracle you aren't dead in the street by now."

He gritted his teeth. "The information, Semeka."

"Fine. Lestas, out."

Lestas was still sputtering. "Just a minute, Semeka-"

Her grin vanished. In a single smooth motion, she grabbed Jodhan's glass and hurled it at the Vortixx. It smashed against his chest, and he let out a yelp more of shock than pain. "Out. I got actual customers here. Go see if Tassa's willing to clean your clock again."

The Vortixx cursed at her as he left the bar. Semeka turned to Jodhan, the grin restored. "Now, what can I do for you, o noble Toa?"

He pulled the crossbow from his back. "You can explain to me why you killed the Vortixx I was chasing."

Her grin only widened. "Ooh, you did realize it was me. Good on you. I thought you were so thick you couldn't even get that."

"Answer the question."

"Aren't Toa not supposed to kill?"

He notched the bolt back a slot. "The Code doesn't say anything about maiming."

She rolled her eyes. "Very tough. Great Beings, you're awful at this. But fine. Sorry to disappoint you, hon, but I did it for the money."

For a moment Jodhan stared back at her blankly. "What?"

"The money, Toa. Come on, I know you're thicker than the water I serve you, but it doesn't take a Barraki to see this place isn't exactly thriving, highway robbery or no. Most nights I tend bar, and when I catch word of the occasional bad guy with a bounty on his head, I take a night off and earn a little extra income. That's all there is to it." She shrugged. "Satisfied?"

He glared at her in silence for a second, then jerked the crossbow away and looked down. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could he slammed a fist down on the bar. "Karzahni take it all!"

"Wouldn't be that much different from this city on an average day. Our mutual friend do something to you?"

"Not him," he spat. "And not to me."

Semeka groaned and reached below the bar to pull out a bottle of something a little stronger than water and a glass. "Alright, Toa-boy, lay it on me. But this is the good stuff. Fifteen clacks."

"It's none of your business."

"I'm a bartender. Everyone's business is my business. Spill it." She uncapped the bottle and filled the glass.

Jodhan hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the glass and downed the contents in a single gulp. He closed his eyes and let the burn thread through his body for a few seconds.

"My name is Toa Jodhan. Until three months ago, I was a Toa for a village of Fe-Matoran on a pair of islands two hundred kio south of here."

She filled the glass again as he continued. "We weren't anything special - just a bunch of crafters who the Great Spirit had shunted off to one side. Once in a while some Xia ship would stop by, and we'd sell them a few tools or some good iron in exchange for information about the rest of the world." He picked up the glass again and stared at morosely. "I should've seen it coming."

"There were a Vortixx who took a special interest in our island. While we never saw most traders more than once, she started stopping by once a month, always eager to trade. Soon she and her crew were even touring the island, making small talk with the villagers, going on long expeditions of the cliffsides we spent our days mining."

"We never suspected them - why would we? We had a simple life. And then one day I was down in the forest, collecting wood with one of my Matoran, when I heard an explosion from the quarry. By the time I got back, the Vortixx had loaded a good few hundred pounds of solid iron back onto their ship and were half a kio away from shore."

He stopped for a moment and took a shaky breath. "When I got to the quarry... they..." he downed the glass and slammed it onto the table. "They were dead, Great Spirit damn it all. Every single Matoran who'd been working there that day. Some were shot, some had been pushed into pits, some... some had been crushed under the wheels of the Vortixx's transports. Run down like bugs. I don't even know if they fought back, or if the Vortixx just killed them for fun."

Semeka tutted. "That's business for you."

Jodhan stared back at her hollowly. "Business?" There was a shatter as he crushed the glass in his hand. "That's business?"

"It damn well is, Toa." She put her hands on the bar and leaned forward. "Tell me something, you have any luck with the joke of a police force here trying to track down these oh-so-hated Vortixx? Or did they give you the run-around, maybe say that they didn't have any solid charges to file? I told you last time you were here, this ain't a place for Toa. It's a place for people to get ahead. Believe me, a few dead Matoran is far from the worst these people have done."

He was seething now. "So what, I should just let them go?"

She smirked. "I never said that. You want to go track down your enemies and bring them to whatever a Toa calls 'justice', be my guest. But you're on your own here. Sooner you realize that, the better."

He stared down at the bar in silence. Semeka sighed. "Look, I'm not sorry I killed your lead. That's the way things work around here - you want to be first to a job, you've got to put in the legwork for it. Ask around. Use a few of those clacks to loosen some lips. Find out who he was working for, where he used to hang out, why he had a bounty on him for scumbags like me to collect anyways."

Jodhan grunted and pulled a few coins from his cloak. "Thanks for the drinks," he muttered and turned to leave.

"Come back anytime," she called after him. "You might learn something!"

Jodhan shivered as he loaded a bolt into his bow. The warehouse had been bad enough, but the docks were wet and cold enough to make him feel like he was rusting. It had taken two days of scouting around town, lining purses and occasionally having his crossbow make his point for him, but he'd gotten a few murmurs of information. There were a lot of Vortixx groups that took to the seas to find raw material, but only a few ran the chain of islands he hailed from, and only two had been active there three months ago.

The one he was after this time was a low-level manager for the group, not the kind to make raids but the kind to move the plunder once it made its way back to Xia. He was set to meet with some local low-life; Jodhan hoped to get a few words in beforehand.

Quiet as he could, he stalked along in the shadows of the dock office. Above him, a balcony looked out over the harbor; a fire escape ladder hung off to one side, locked into place. Silently, he reached out a hand and heard the metal unlock with a satisfying clink.

Minutes later, he was pressed against the wall to the side of the office's door. Inside he could hear the shuffling of papers and the occasional cough; peeking inside, he saw a Vortixx with his back to the window. With a quiet determination, he took aim with his bow at the light above.

With a smash, the bolt crashed into the light above and plunged the room into darkness. The Vortixx inside yelped in confusion, but Jodhan was already through the door. Before the Vortixx could orient himself, Jodhan tackled him to the ground and brought his foot down on his foe's chest.

"This can be over quickly. You need to answer a few questions."

"Go to Karzahni," the Vortixx spat. "Who sent you, Mazek? He think he can edge in on my turf?"

"Nobody sent me."

"What, are you a bounty hunter? I'm honored. Didn't think I had a price on my head yet."

"You don't," a voice chirped to Jodhan's left. He spun to see Semeka leaning against one wall, absently tossing up a knife up and down in one hand. She nodded to him cordially. "Carry on. I'm not here for him."

"Semeka- what in the-"

She pointed the knife at the struggling Vortixx. "Eyes on your target, Toa. You don't start interrogating someone and then stop to have a friendly chat unless you want them to slip out from under you. Possibly literally, in your case."

Jodhan opened his mouth to his respond, then shook his head and turned back to the figure pinned to the floor. "Ignore her. Who did you send to the island of Essens three months ago?"

"What?"

He pulled the bolt back another notch. "Essens. Three months ago. Your people came back with a shipment of particularly good iron that day."

The Vortixx snarled. "You soft in the head? We haven't been in the metal business in half a year. That's Mazek's turf. Not worth the trouble."

Another notch. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

He heard the Skakdi sigh. "Because Mazek just landed a contract to manufacture three hundred new sets of armor for Warlord Nektann, and the fellow you're so clumsily interrogating sells fish, Toa." Semeka sounded almost bored. "Good try though. You got the area of operations right, you just missed the timeframe."

"Who is that?"

"Just one of those bounty hunters," Semeka replied happily. "Now, since I really need the both of you out of here as soon as possible, tell our mutual friend Jodhan here where to find Mazek, and y'can both be on your way."

Jodhan turned back to the Vortixx. "Mazek. Where is he?"

The Vortixx laughed. "If you wanted to know that, you could've just told me you wanted to put him to the screws in the first place. His office's across town, a little place over Shantak's Forge. When you're done doing whatever it is you Toa do to people who piss you off, tell him Lekas says 'hi' and 'go suck a Kraata.'"

Jodhan lifted his foot and kept his crossbow trained on the Vortixx as he stood up. "Out. Now."

"Sure thing. I dunno what the deal is with her, but I ain't stickin' around to find out. You two partners or something like that?"

"No," replied Jodhan through gritted teeth. "Now go."

"What, exes? Ah, who cares. You Toa and you Skakdi are nuttier than a Makuta." He stepped through the still-opened balcony door and disappeared into the night with a wave.

Jodhan let out a sigh of frustration. Behind him, Semeka continued to toss the knife up and down, and for a minute there was no sound but the rhythmic clap of it against the palm of her hand.

Finally, she spoke. "Care to clear out, Toa? Lekas' would-be-customer'll be here any minute, and I can't promise it won't get ugly. Actually, I'm hoping that it will."

"Did you follow me here?"

"No, the Great Spirit gave me a vision. 'Course I followed you here. You haven't exactly been subtle in your little investigation, you know. Once I heard the Toa out for blood was tracking down the same small-fry smuggler my latest bounty was planning to meet, I figure I'd let you do the heavy lifting and mop up what was left."

"I'm honored."

"You should be! I've made use of better men than you before."

He snorted and turned to leave, but she wasn't done yet. "Stop by the bar tomorrow, would you? I've got a few things I need to look into that you might find interesting."

He looked back over his shoulder. "Are you offering to help?"

"I'm offering to see if it'd be to my advantage to do so. Come late, so you miss that joke I call an evening rush."

He turned away without replying and trudged out onto the balcony.

He was two buildings away when he heard a voice cry out in anger and then pain in the distance behind him. It was undoubtedly male.

"So," Semeka said, wiping the inside of a glass clean, "Mazek."

"He wasn't the one who did it," Jodhan muttered. "The one who was there that day - the one giving all the orders - I need to find out who she is."

"Well, Mazek'll probably take some convincing on that front. He might be managing the sales, but I can guarantee that that's only because she likes to go out and get her hands dirty herself. I'm sure he knows what'll happen if he double-crosses his boss."

He frowned and took a sip from his glass of something that was probably two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen. "So what did you have to 'look into'?"

"Bounty postings, of course. Mazek's got a good thousand clacks with his name on it. It seems we both want the same thing."

"I need that information," scowled Jodhan.

"Cool it, handsome. Whoever put out a hit on him wants him alive. You can get all the info you want from him; I just want him when you're done."

Jodhan considered it. Semeka sounded like she was being honest, but even he had started to get the impression that taking her at her word was a bad idea.

Still, she was the only person in this city willing to give him the time of day. "Fine," he said. "We go tonight."

She grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that. Let me close up shop and grab a few things out of my toybox."

The forge was stuffy and smoky, even late at night, with batches of molten slag bubbling in massive iron canisters. Jodhan and Semeka slid between them, and he felt a tingling in his fingers from the sheer amount of his element that surrounded them. The Skakdi spoke quietly. "Up and through, Toa. Mazek's going to be awfully surprised when his office floor collapses."

"That's your plan? Cave in his office?"

"Ordinarily I'd be a bit more subtle, but I've got a Toa of Iron with me on this one. May as well make use of my resources."

He grumbled but made no objection. The duo followed what felt like an endless set of staircases and ladders up and up, past workstations and stockpiles of freshly-forged blades and guns. Jodhan frowned to himself - to see this much weaponry in one place was -

"Don't look so shocked, Toa", Semeka murmured. "I don't know what your island life was like, but out here in the real world people need weapons. These'll probably be halfway to Zakaz by tomorrow."

"Come to think of it, you still haven't told me what you're doing on Xia, Semeka."

She smiled. "You're right, I haven't."

They continued to climb.

The roof of the forge was a mess of metal, and Semeka tutted to herself. "Typical Vortixx architecture. Don't give a damn what a building looks like as long as it holds together. Not that that's a bad strategy, mind." Unceremoniously, she reached over and plucked a bolt from his cloak. He spun in surprise, and she tapped it against his mask. "Stay here. I'm going to go make myself known. When I throw this thing down against the ground, you bring down the roof where it lands. Think you can manage that?"

He reached out and touched the bolt for a moment, gathering an imprint of it somewhere deep inside him. "I should be able to."

"Good Toa. See you soon." She spun and dashed towards a window set in the upper wall, leaping up and through it in a single bound. He heard a clatter as she grabbed onto one of the pipes clinging to the building outside and began to shimmy up it.

And then he was alone with only the bubbling of the forge to keep him company. He looked down over the walkway to the bubbling slag below, and stepped back with a shudder. In a flash, he felt the alienness of his situation crash down upon him, and he took a deep breath. This was wrong. Toa weren't meant to spend their days trawling through cities with a crossbow in one hand, no ally save a charming Skakdi and more enemies than they could shake a stick a-

Something about his thought process registered as odd, but before he could dwell on it he felt something clatter to the floor hundreds of bio above him. Without thinking, he raised his hands high into the air and pulled - and a moment later, part of the roof simply ceased being connected to the rest. He lowered the chunk slowly through the air, and as he did he saw a chair come bouncing down out of the hole. He brought it closer to eye level, and was greeted by the sight of Semeka atop it, standing over a terrified-looking Vortixx. "Nicely done, Toa!" she called.

He grimaced in response. "Ask him who was in charge of Essens three months ago."

She nodded and slammed her knife down into the floor by the Vortixx's head and pulled it back out. Jodhan couldn't hear anything from this distance, but from the Vortixx's shaking it seemed a safe bet that he was happily spilling the beans. Semeka absently pulled the knife out and slammed it down on the other side of Mazek's head, and his shuddering increased. Semeka looked up with a grin. "Lady by the name of - behind you, Toa!"

He spun in time to see another Vortixx diving toward him, a rough wooden bat of some sort in his hand. Jodhan fell back, struggling to keep his concentration on supporting the platform Semeka was on, and the bat bit air. The Vortixx pulled back for another strike, but a knife came whipping through the air and lodged itself in his throat before he could launch the attack. With a gurgle, he fell backwards, and Jodhan snapped his head back to see Semeka struggling with Mazek on the platform. "Semeka!" he yelled, and without thinking yanked up on the iron beneath Mazek.

The metal slammed into the Vortixx, who tumbled back in a daze. Jodhan and Semeka realized the mistake, but by then it was too late - Mazek was tumbling over the edge of the platform and into the waiting abyss. His screams echoed for a moment before being replaced by the sharp crack of him hitting the ground.

Jodhan rushed to the balcony and stared down in shock. "I... killed him."

"Damn right you did," he heard Semeka say, and turned just in time for her fist to slam into his face. He tumbled backwards, and she stood over him, a low growl building in her throat. "How damn thick are you behind that mask? You don't think to check for security? You won't play hardball when you're out looking for info, but you kill the first bounty I've had in months that's supposed to come in alive?" She spat over the edge. "If all Toa are this dumb, it's no wonder that Vortixx had such an easy time killing your Matoran."

Fury leapt up inside him. "Do not taunt me, Semeka."

"I'll taunt you all I damn like, Toa! You screwed up!"

"You might be dead if I hadn't intervened!"

She laughed. "What, am I a little damsel in distress for you to rescue? If you'd just kept the damn platform steady, he'd be tied up and we'd be halfway home by now."

His eyes went wide. "The plat-"

There was a massive crash as the roughshod iron smashed into the foundry floor below, the concentration holding it in the air long since lost. Semeka cursed and made for the window. "Well, that'll bring the whole district down on us. Have fun getting out, Toa. I'm taking the scenic route."

"Semeka, wait!"

But she was already through the window and fleeing into the night.

She didn't even bother to look up from the bar this time. "Get out."

"We have to talk, Semeka."

"We really don't."

Clang. She looked up to see a thick pouch resting on the bar. Jodhan met her eyes. "Four hundred seventy-three clacks."

"The bounty was for a thousand."

Wordlessly, he lifted his bow from his back and laid that on the counter as well. She snorted. "Good try, Toa. Going price on a top-of-the-line crossbow's two hundred-fifty."

"Even one made of protosteel?"

For a moment, he saw her eyes widen. She grabbed the bow roughly off the counter and turned it over in her hands, getting a feel for the weight. "How in Karzahni does a Toa as thick as you get a protosteel bow?"

"It was given to me when I transformed. A tool sent by the Great Spirit."

She glanced back at him, and for the first time he saw something more than playful avarice or sharp anger in her eyes. "Are you Toa even allowed to do that?"

"It wouldn't be the most a Toa has given up."

She regarded him in silence for a few moments, then set the bow back down on the counter. "You must really want that name."

"I do," he said. "But the money and the bow is just repayment for a debt."

She clicked her teeth together. "Just repayment, huh?"

"Just repayment. I don't know you well, Semeka, but I know you aren't someone who lets herself get cheated out of something she thinks she deserves. You went into that mission expecting a thousand clacks, and you did all you were supposed to. The money's yours."

She snorted. "I'm the bartender here, Toa. It's my job to pick your brain, not vice-versa."

He smiled. "Sorry. Us Toa have a bad habit of sliding into dramatic proclamations."

She smirked back and tucked the bow and bag away under the counter, then went to pull a glass of something that was probably at least vaguely susceptible to a Ga-Toa's powers from the faucets behind the bar. He took the glass thankfully and downed it in one gulp.

"So, what now?" she asked.

He lifted the glass. "Now I ask you to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous for me."

"I thought as much."

"Listen, Semeka. This city isn't my place. It took everything I had just to get as far as Mazek, and then I even screwed that up. But I can't go back until I've gotten what I came here for. My people deserve more than that." His eyes flickered down. "Toa aren't made to work alone. Even back home, I had – I was surrounded by friends from before I'd become a Toa. It sounds corny as Karzahni, I know, but I knew that no matter what happened, I'd always have someone watching my back. I don't have that here." He looked up at her. "Except for maybe one person. Please, Semeka. Help me."

She leaned back against the shelf behind her, plucking a toothpick from a glass as she did. For a minute she said nothing, absently working it back and forth through two of her massive teeth. "And what do I get out of this, Toa?"

"I can't tell you that. You look this over and decide for yourself if this is a deal worth taking."

"Fair point," she muttered, and continued working the pick up and down. Eventually, she sighed. "Fine. If you get yourself killed, who else am I going to sell water a Rahkshi wouldn't drink for seven times the going price?"

Jodhan bowed his head in relief. "Thank you."

"Knock it off with the platitudes, Toa. I reserve the right to change m'mind, after all." She flicked the toothpick away. "The Vortixx you're looking for is named Senn. I've heard her name around - she's a nasty piece of work. One of those folks who really, really loves her job." Semeka smirked. "Guess that makes us kindred spirits."

"Where is she?"

"Tonight? There's a barge down at the docks set to leave tomorrow morning on another 'mining' trip. She'll be on board."

His eyes narrowed. "Then so will we."

It was a foggy night, and even with his Ruru Jodhan was finding it difficult to make out anything more than a few bio in front of his face. Semeka followed alongside him in silence; she had her usual knife strapped to one leg, and a plain black cloak wrapped around her shoulders. The sounds of water lapping against the docks grew louder.

Ahead of them, the sloping steel side of a cargo barge emerged out of the fog. Jodhan pursed his mouth. "Is this it?"

"Sure is. Not likely to be too many guards on board - they haven't got anything worth stealing. Yet."

The two of them stopped before the ship, and Jodhan reached onto his back and pulled out two light metal pipes they'd plundered from one of the derelict warehouses lining the docks. He handed one to Semeka, and she took it without a word. He wrapped his own hands around the other.

"This better work," he heard her mutter. He ignored the jibe and focused on the metal between his hands. Slowly but surely, it began to rise into the air, and he tightened his grip on it.

"Hold on," he murmured back, then threw his concentration into the pipes. They jerked higher into the air, taking Toa and Skakdi alike with them. Without thinking, he activated his Ruru once more, and the slope of the ship came into sharp focus as they climbed.

Quietly as he could, he lowered them down onto a corner of the deck, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he dropped his concentration on the iron. Semeka tapped the now-lifeless rod against one hand with a grin of satisfaction. "Not bad, Toa."

He made no response other than to flash a moment's grin, and then turned his attention to the deck before them. Further out in the fog, he could see a few spotlights dimly shining, and if he strained his ears he could just barely hear the footsteps of a few Vortixx patrols.

"Leave this bit to me," Semeka murmured, and darted into the fog. Jodhan followed slowly. A minute later, he heard a faint thunk, and as he slid forward he saw the unconscious body of a sentry stuffed haphazardly into a lifeboat. "Not bad yourself, Semeka," he muttered to himself.

By the time he'd reached the nearest door into the ship, he'd passed two more bludgeoned Vortixx and heard a splash that suggested one hadn't gone down quite as silently. Semeka was waiting by the door, absently twirling her knife between her fingers. She shot him a glance that he'd seen a few times before. Ready?

He nodded, and quietly as he could he pushed open the door, hoping the creak of its hinges wouldn't arouse suspicion. The corridor within was dank and damp, and a single light shone weakly from the ceiling. The two edged forward, Semeka's eyes darting about in search of the slightest sign of movement.

They paused briefly at a map of the ship. "Where'll she be?" asked Jodhan.

"Someone this involved in her work, night before a castoff? My money's two-to-one on the engine room."

He nodded, and the pair slipped through an adjacent doorway onto a flight of steps. As they descended, Semeka began to speak in hushed tones. "Listen, Toa. What's your game plan for when we do get to her?"

"We stop her."

She gave that oh-so-familiar tut. "I need specifics, iron-boy. Are we planning to just tell her off? Break a few legs? Break a few necks?"

"Semeka!" he hissed back. "I am a Toa."

"So tell me, what do you noble Toa do with your enemies?"

Jodhan glowered. "I'll figure it out once we get there, all right? What's important is that I meet her face-to-face."

Semeka said nothing, and when he glanced over her face was unreadable.

The door to the engine room opened surprisingly quietly. Again, Jodhan felt his hand start to tingle at the sheer mass of machinery that filled the room. In the distance, he could hear the clank of a tool against metal. Semeka nodded in that direction, and the two stepped into the room together.

The clanking stopped. A roughshod voice shot up at them. "Better have a damn good reason for interrupting me while I'm working."

Neither Toa nor Skakdi replied as they slunk forward. The silence was broken only by the hisses and putters of the ship's boilers.

The voice came again, now dangerous and smooth. "Now, now, are you ignoring me? You're either incredibly stupid, or not supposed to be here. And I don't hire incredibly stupid people."

There was the clatter of feet against metal, and Jodhan and Semeka alike broke into a run. Semeka leapt from the catwalk they were on onto a waiting boiler, and Jodhan took the stairs two at a time in the other direction. The clanging made it impossible to tell where Senn's footsteps were coming from, and Jodhan cursed that he did not have a more useful mask on hand.

Senn's voice came out of the steam. "Now, now, who might be so interested in me, I wonder? Could Opini be hoping to muscle in on my turf? Did I forget to send along my monthly donation to the police retirement fund?" The voice turned jovial. "Or maybe it's a little Toa that doesn't know when to give up."

Hot anger leapt up within him. "Show yourself, Senn!"

Her laughter was cruel and soft, and Jodhan spun in vain trying to figure out where it came from. He could still hear the clanking of footsteps against metal, but it was impossible to tell where-

He swore, and slammed a hand down onto the ground. The metal whispered to him, a map of iron and noise, and he reached out with his power instinctively. From somewhere, he heard a sound like a rotten fruit falling into the sand and a hiss of fury, and he took off running.

Senn was still cursing when he found her, struggling to get her foot free of the metal that had inexplicably turned to an insane glue beneath her. She glanced up at him with a look of disdain, and in spite of himself he felt the shock of recognition. He had seen those speckled yellow eyes many times before, laughing or smiling or teasing his people, eyes that had seemed then to be those of a friendly traveler, nothing more. Now they were narrow and hard, two balls of black steel that forced back any intrusion. "Toa," she spat.

"Senn," he said, his voice shaking in spite of himself. "It's over."

She snorted. "What is? Are you planning to put one of those crossbow bolts through my eye? I hear the Great Spirit frowns on that."

"That's enough." He stepped closer to her. "Give up now and I'll promise you mercy. You'll be tried-"

"By who?" She threw back her head and laughed. "The police here? Give me a break, Toa. Everything I do is completely legal under Vortixx law. If there's any laws being broken, it's idiots like Mazek who get held accountable."

"Mazek's dead."

"Of course he is," she smirked. "He was overplaying his hand. Thought he was the 'brains' of our little operation, if you can believe that." She sighed theatrically. "Ah, what a shame it was that my bounty didn't go through as planned. I was so looking forward to crushing his throat with my own two hands."

Jodhan felt a chill run down his back, but it was too late. A forest-green arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him close as a second brought a familiar knife to his throat. "Don't move," Semeka's voice whispered in his ear. "I know you Toa don't like things to get messy."

He felt something inside him smashing to pieces. "Semeka?" he said weakly.

"The one and only. Now, if you'd be so good as to let my employer out of the floor, we can have a nice civil conversation."

He concentrated for a moment, but the knife didn't move. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Semeka's smile grow wider. "Sorry, handsome. Tempered glass, not iron. I believe in planning ahead. The floor, would'ya?"

He closed his eyes, fighting against the fury building up in him. There was a soft hiss, and the floor suddenly relaxed its grip on the Vortixx's foot. She stood smiling. "Thank you, Semeka. You always are so reliable. You're a credit to your race."

Semeka's voice was cool. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Senn strode closer to them. "You're not a very bright one, are you, Toa? You go smashing through the city with all the subtlety of a... well, a Skakdi, and you expect that nobody besides your friend at the bar will notice?" Her tone turned pitying. "Really, you're just lucky I didn't put a bounty out on you sooner. If someone else had gotten to you first, we couldn't have had this nice reunion." She reached out a hand and stroked the side of his Ruru, and he shuddered away as best he could in Semeka's iron grasp.

He glanced away, and he could just barely see the side of Semeka's face. "Semeka... why?"

"Sorry, Toa. Business talks in this city. It's just the way things are done around here. If someone gets in my way, it doesn't much bother me to get them out of my way."

He snarled. "Is that all this is to you? A chance to earn some cash? She's a murderer, Semeka!"

"So am I." Semeka sounded almost bored. "So are you now. It comes with the territory around here."

He could feel the last bits of his grip on sanity starting to slip away. "Great Spirit, you truly are the same as her. You - was there nothing real about you?"

Senn laughed softly. "He said the same thing, you know." Jodhan snapped his head back at the Vortixx. Behind him, Semeka raised a brow, and Senn caught the look. "Oh, didn't he tell you, Semeka? His little island had two Toa."

"Has," Jodhan whispered. "It has two Toa still."

"Oh, he survived? Impressive. Most men can't stand a knife in their gut." She sighed. "I can tell the two of you were cut from the same cloth, though. He was so quick to trust me, so eager to show me around. You'd think the poor man'd never seen a woman before." She smiled again. "Maybe if he'd been a bit more forward about his attraction he'd have found me out. I can see it now - he could've cornered me behind some hut, cupped my face in his hands, gazed deep into my eyes - and realized who he was actually dealing with."

Semeka said nothing. Jodhan glared at the Vortixx, feeling a sort of black heat tunneling through him that he guessed had to be hatred. "You took advantage of him. He was honest and good, and you spat on that. He trusted you."

"And you clearly didn't seem to be paying much attention, considering your own situation." She stepped around them to Semeka's side. "Very nicely done, Semeka. I didn't think you had it in you to play the helpless romantic."

Semeka smiled. "I don't," she said, and shoved Jodhan away. The Toa tumbled to the floor and heard a fatal thunk from behind him. He leapt to his feet, spun-

Senn was staring down at the knife that protruded from her neck, Semeka's hand still wrapped around the hilt. The Skakdi's smile was fierce, every one of her teeth on display for the choking Vortixx. "I could give you a nice long explanation for why I'm doing this, but I don't really think you deserve it. Do you?" Senn gurgled. "I'm glad we agree." Semeka ripped the blade from the Vortixx and kicked her away.

Jodhan stared at her blankly as she wiped the knife down on her cloak. "Semeka?"

She looked up at him, and there was no malice in her smile. "Much appreciated, Toa. This was the first time I've actually gotten to meet her face-to-face. You wouldn't believe how paranoid she was."

"This was just - to get to her?"

She shrugged. "I think we've both got some explaining to do, don't we? Come on, let's head back to the bar." She dropped to the Vortixx's corpse and grabbed the pouch tied around its waist. Jodhan heard the clink of clacks as she tore it away and waved it happily in the air. "Drinks are on the house tonight," she chirped, and started to stride towards the exit.

He didn't follow. She glanced back at him. "Oh, drop the suspicion, it doesn't suit you. 'Sides, if I'd wanted to I could've slit your throat, gotten my thousand clacks, and given that money-grubbing slime what she had coming just as easily."

Jodhan glanced down at the body of the Vortixx, then back up at Semeka. And then he followed.

She clapped a bottle of something down onto the bar with a glassy clunk. "A toast!" she proclaimed.

He didn't smile. She rolled her eyes. "Everything's got to be a hassle with you Toa, doesn't it?"

"I want to know what happened back there, Semeka."

She pulled a pair of glasses from under the bar and began to fill them. "You first, iron-boy. You never said anything about having a partner."

"He was... he is more than a partner." Jodhan reached out and took one of the glasses. "We've been together as long as I can remember. Just a pair of Fe-Matoran punks, goofing off when we could, putting in the minimum when we couldn't." He took a swig of the dark liquid. "The Great Spirit must have a twisted sense of humor, that we were the ones to find the Toa Stones that had washed up on the beach."

Semeka took a sip of her own drink. "When did you become a Toa?"

"Three years ago," he said miserably.

She whistled. "No wonder you're rubbish at the job. I've had lunch older than that."

"Look, we just - we did what we could, all right? The other Matoran had always liked us anyways, and now that we were Toa they loved us. We thought we had things under control. Neither of us had even been off the island before." He took another gulp. "Nobody told us the friendly Vortixx who stopped by once a month were planning to stab us in the back."

Semeka swirled her glass idly. "And he fell for Senn?"

"Like a rock. I thought it was beautiful. The way he talked about her - never to her face, he never was brave enough for that - but I knew he was crazy about her." He finished the glass, and Semeka refilled it without a word. Jodhan took another shaking gulp.

"That day... when I found him, he was on the beach, the Matoran doing what they could to heal him. He looked at me and he said just one thing. 'Why?'" Jodhan took a shuddering breath. "After that he closed his eyes, and he hasn't opened them since. Alive but unmoving. Waiting for an answer."

"So that's why you came here?"

He nodded miserably. "To find out why. Why she betrayed him." He knocked back the rest of the glass. "And the answer is that there was nothing for her to betray. It was all a lie, from the very beginning."

The Toa fell silent. Semeka watched him for a moment, then plucked another toothpick from her stash and began threading it through her front teeth.

"Alright, Toa. Listen up." He looked up, exhaustion lining his face, as she went on. "The world's a damn ugly place, and that's coming from a Skakdi. I know a lot about ugly.

"You can go back to your island and tell your partner that. But 'till he sees it himself, he ain't gonna believe you, not really. There's gonna be some part of him that thinks whatever it was he and Senn had was real. That's just the kind of people you Toa are. And sometimes I kinda envy you that.

"But that ain't how the world works. You go out there long enough, you're gonna meet people who really can't give a damn about anyone but themselves. Who don't care about anything but getting a little bit more power, a little bit more influence." She turned and spat. "And if you let them, they'll happily screw things up for the rest of us.

"So maybe that's why you Toa are around - to balance those kind of people out. But you can't do that if you can't even admit they're out there."

Jodhan looked at her for a long while. Finally, he spoke. "Who are you, Semeka?"

She grinned that dashing grin of hers and flicked the toothpick away for a new one. "Just a Skakdi who's damn sick of the usual business, Toa. I was born and raised on Zakaz. Every day of my life I watched the others squabble over a patch of dirt, or bicker over who had the larger spines. If you made it a year without a knife in your back, you were doing something wrong.

"Anywhere you looked, that's what it boiled down to. Showing who was the strongest of us all." She spat again. "What a damned joke. Why should I have to spend my days scurrying to be top of the mountain of dirt that was that island? I wanted something of my own, something that had nothing to do with those wastes of air."

"So you came to Xia?"

"So I came to Xia. Someone with my skillset ain't exactly going to be a big hit with Matoran, and the Makuta all think too highly of themselves to allow a lowly Skakdi to be anything more than a lapdog. Wouldn't mind meeting Spiriah someday, though. I'd thank him and shank him."

He sighed. "So why kill Senn?"

"Because she was no better than the warlords back home. She wasn't doing her job for the money, or even for the fights - she did it so she could show off to anyone she came across. All that mattered to her was holding people under her thumb before she killed them." She clicked her teeth. "She'd have made a damn good Skakdi."

Jodhan didn't know how to reply to that. For a while longer they sat there in silence, Jodhan staring off into space, Semeka sliding the toothpick up and down.

"Why did you help me, Semeka?"

The grin again. "You tell me. I wanna see if you've learned anything."

"Alright. If I had to guess, it's got nothing to do with me being a Toa."

"Good."

"In fact, it hasn't got much to do with me tracking down Senn, either. That was just a happy bonus."

"Getting warmer."

"I think you helped me because I had something I had to do for myself. Something that wasn't just about showing off to others. And I was going to do it no matter what it took."

She clapped her hands. "Not bad, Toa. Maybe you're not as thick as you let on."

He smiled back. "I can't be all that thick. I knew to trust you, after all."

"Nah, that just proves you're dumber than a sack of rocks. Nobody in their right mind'd trust me."

"Maybe not, but I did, and it worked out pretty well."

"Lucky you," she smirked back. "Well, I can't have a perfect record, I guess."

"Sorry to disappoint." He stood slowly. "I think I should go. I need some time for all this to sink in."

She nodded. "Good idea. It's past closing time anyways." Without another word, she grabbed the cloak wrapped around his neck and pulled his mouth against hers as best she could. By the time the Fe-Toa's mind had reassembled itself, she'd already broken away, clicking her tongue experimentally. "Not bad," she said, "but I'll never know how you Toa get by with such tiny mouths." She patted him on the shoulder. "Go get some rest, Toa. You've had a long day."

Semeka turned back to the shelf behind her and began tucking away the few dirty glasses that still remained. A hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. For a moment, Jodhan gazed down into her eyes, her face cupped in his other hand, and then he met her mouth with his own with a ferocity he didn't know he had. She wrapped her arms around him greedily and returned the kiss. She was grinning that beautiful grin of hers when she broke away. "You really are learning. Upstairs, Toa. I didn't wipe this bar down just for us to get it filthy again."

"Great Spirit be good," he muttered weakly.

She snorted. "Great Spirit, nothing. Go thank Spiriah for teaching us Skakdi how to cut loose."

He awoke to find her fiddling with his mask, pressing it up against her face awkwardly in an effort to get it to stick. "I'm going to need that back," he murmured.

"That's a shame. One of these things would come in right handy."

She stuck her tongue out at him, something which by all means should've been far more disturbing than it actually was, and handed it back to him. He affixed it back to his face and pulled her closer. "Well, now what?"

She made a show of looking up at the room's window. "Now, I'd say it's about an hour past dawn, and the last ship headed your way leaves in two hours. You should probably be on it." He fell silent, and he felt her run a hand along his back. "Don't have second thoughts now, Toa. You and I both know you have unfinished business back home."

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Listen, you could always-"

"Go back with you? Spend the rest of my days surrounded by dancing Matoran and peace-loving Toa?" She snorted. "Sorry, handsome, but I'm a Skakdi bounty hunter bartender, remember? Both my jobs involve me killing people, one just involves me listening to them blather while I do it. I got my place, and you got yours."

"I know." He closed his eyes for a moment and let himself breathe in the warmth of her body against his, the bitter musk that hung about her, the rough feel of one of her spikes under his hand and the tingle of her claws digging into his back. "Is this it, then?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Life has a way of screwing with what you expect. Could be that friend of yours decides he wants to come see Xia for himself, and if he does you better come with him, 'cause I ain't playing tour guide to another Toa."

"Could be," he agreed. For a while they laid there in silence.

Eventually, he pulled away, and he felt her arms release him without the slightest resistance. He stood and gathered his cloak from where it lay at the foot of the bed.

"Toa," she called after him. He turned to her once more. "There's a crossbow under the bar with your name on it."

He shook his head. "It's yours."

"Screw that, I ain't going through the trouble of fencing that thing. Take it. You're going to scare your Matoran enough when you get back, you don't need to throw away your trademark as well."

"And the rest of the debt?"

She shrugged. "Let's just say that after last night, we're even on basis of services rendered."

He smirked. "A fair deal."

For a moment he lingered in the doorway of the bedroom. She stared back at him, her eyes unregretful and unrepentant, same as they'd been when he'd looked into them the night before.

They were the most honest eyes he'd ever seen.

"Goodbye, Skakdi," he said.

She grinned. "Goodbye, Jodhan."

A/N: blame the peoples of Tumblr for bringing up the idea of "half-Toa-half-Skakdi", and then blame my brain for running backwards with that and asking what circumstances might lead to that particular pair-up. also apparently in my headcanon xia is new york city with extra forges?