Chapter 10: The Mix-Up
The combined team had run into another problem. Apparently, whoever counted the sleeping bags didn't do a good job. Twelve people, eleven sleeping bags. Keyok and Cairos looked at each other awkwardly. Nokama lost her patience with Matau and Vakama which resulted in both jealous males getting drenched. It seemed nobody was going to take on the dreaded task of sharing a sleeping bag.
Luckily, Laney nodded to Shane, and it was settled.
"I don't want to hear anything." Onewa set up his sleeping bag on the opposite end of this particular cave. "Got it?"
"I thought you liked smut fics." Vakama was clearly not going to let go of the revelation from earlier.
"I never said that." Onewa glared at his fire brother, the effect somewhat reduced by a yawn. "I don't know if it's day or night, but I know that I'm tired." He fell asleep almost immediately, surrounded by his element of Stone.
"Well I'm tired of the love triangle." Keika grumbled, shoving a pillow over her head. "You Toa need to keep in order."
"That's your task-job..." Matau yawned. He was soon asleep, mumbling Nokama's name. Nokama fell asleep as well, hugging her pillow and pressing her lips on it.
"Aww, they're so cute when they're asleep." Laney whispered. She didn't want to disturb whatever sweet dream the Toa couple was enjoying.
"They've got nothing on you, you're the most adorable sleepyhead." said Shane, pulling Laney into his lap. He reached for Laney's hair, slowly undoing the intricate braided bun and running his fingers through the length.
"Mmm, Shang..." Laney hummed contentedly as she snuggled up next to Shane. In moments like this, they abandoned the names and cover story they used on Metru Nui. Laney thought it was a cruel game, having to switch in and out of her name - her very identity. Then again, she was used to it. Shane also relished these times when he heard his true name falling from Laney's soft lips. "I love you too, Mulan." he murmured, kissing her good night.
"Cairos, have you seen my bristle brush?"
"Wha…" Cairos was still half-asleep, now wishing he had shared a sleeping bag with Keyok. Even with his natural heat, he still got cold. He blinked and saw Laney rummaging through her bag.
"Come on, where is it…" she mumbled.
"Never mind," said Shane, combing his fingers through Laney's bedhead and making her drowsy all over again. "Somebody likes having her hair played with," he teased.
"Oh stop it," Laney bantered, "you're the same."
Cairos suddenly remembered something. "Hey, I actually was using your bristle brush. It's the only way I can tame this growing-out undercut."
"Do you know where it went?"
"I put it back in your things…"
"Someone must have been going through your bag." said Shane. Then a worried look crossed his face. "Oh no."
"What do you mean, oh no?" Now Keika was awake.
"Some random shadow-spawn must have stolen it." Shane concluded. "But as to why? I can't figure that part out."
Unbeknownst to most citizens, Metru Nui had multiple underground levels. Deep beneath the sub-basements of the Archives lurked true danger. It was here that Rahkshi, Bohrok, giant sentient Rahi, and other "shadow-spawn" made their home.
"Well, what do we do with it?" asked one mutated Muaka. It had been gifted with speech, although it still preferred to communicate in growls and roars.
The Rahkshi who had stolen the brush made an exasperated, low hiss. It simply pulled some of Laney's hairs out of the brush, and put them in a vat of some sort. However, it didn't notice that there was blood on them - Cairos' blood.
The vat began to bubble and steam, synthesizing the genetic material in the hair and blood. A few hours passed, with the Muaka pawing impatiently and the Rahkshi watching with unblinking red eyes.
Finally something started splashing around in the solution. It was a clone of Laney. "Perfect," growled the Muaka, "now go off and cause some confusion."
The clone obeyed, tracking the location of the teams.
Laney had volunteered for scout duty. So far, two hours had passed and she hadn't come back. Yes, Shane was keeping time. He was beginning to worry, pacing back and forth.
"You're going to dig a trench in the cave with all that pacing." Onewa sounded careless.
"Not helpful, rock brains." Shane snapped. "Just because you read mushy fanfics about me and Laney doesn't mean you know how much I worry when this happens."
"Quit bringing that up!"
Just then a familiar figure appeared.
"Laney, you're all right!" Shane was relieved and went to hug Laney. Or at least he thought that's who it was...
"Don't call me that!"
"All right… Mulan."
"You don't get it…"
"Cairos, Laney's acting like you. Asking to be called Ping and complaining about her figure." Shane said.
"Oh no..." Cairos came to a realization.
"Oh no?" Shane repeated. "What's the problem?"
"The shadow-spawn must have stolen her brush for genetic material. I was using it too, and it grazed the cut on my head."
Keyok arrived and filled in the blanks. "Which means we have to find the real Laney, because this one's a clone, except with some of the T infusions from Cairos' blood. Speaking of which, Nokama has to administer the next shot..." Keyok held Cairos' hand and they walked away.
No sooner had the two gone away than the real Laney came back. She noticed the clone trying to get close to Shane. "What the…" Anger flashed in Laney's deep eyes. "OK, phony, you're going down!"
Unfortunately, the clone was not easy to take down. It knew all of Laney's moves, including her devastating spin-kick. Shane shouted, "Laney! Think fast!" and tossed her staffs to her. Laney caught the weapons, figuring this clone didn't have weapons. There was no honor in this fight, but it didn't matter. She sliced at the clone's unguarded neck, but the clone ducked. It went on and on, Laney trying to land a hit and the clone successfully dodging each time.
Suddenly, two high-pressure streams of water shot out from behind the clone, dissolving it. Laney got drenched in ice-cold water yet again.
"Sorry, Laney!" Haidie piped. She stood next to Nokama, both of them with glowing blue hands.
"If you hadn't just stopped this poorly-engineered clone, I'd kick both of you into next week." Laney threatened. Hadie said nothing, and tossed a towel to Laney.