There were many ways Pohatu would have liked to spend his afternoon. Hanging out with Onua, maybe visit Lewa, see if he could rope anyone into a game of kohlii… Just about anything other than fighting four rahkshi while Gali tried to save Tahu from poison-induced madness.

And yet here he was, fighting off four rahkshi alongside Kopaka whilst Gali and Onua fought to save Tahu from poison-induced madness. Truly, Destiny had a very sick sense of humor. Still, it could be worse; he could be fighting by himself with no hope of backup whatsoever. Ducking an energy bolt sent his way, Pohatu dared to crack a vague and somewhat wry grin. "Just like the good ol' days, eh Kopaka?"

"No." The Ice Toa responded, swatting the black rahkshi's staff aside with his shield and counter-attacking even as he leaned away from a different energy bolt. "We were much shorter then."

Pohatu barked out a quick laugh as he drew up a small boulder and kicked it, sending it careening toward the white rahkshi and knocking it over. "Fair point! But you can't tell me this isn't at least somewhat nostalgic!"

"Only you could find that kind of optimism while fighting for your life."

So far the battle was going fairly well. Sure none of the rahkshi had been defeated yet, but neither had either of the Toa so that had to count for something, right? Hard to be pessimistic when nothing bad happened yet. Besides, Gali and Onua would have Tahu sorted out soon too, and that meant they'd have an advantage in numbers. Hard to top that! All they had to do was hold out a bit longer and then everything would be just fine. The only real issue now was that blasted brown rahkshi; every solid projectile thrown at it was blown to bits, and – in true smart-but-frustrating fashion – it was never close enough to engage in melee combat. To add to the mix, the red and white rahkshi were constantly providing cover-fire for it, making a bull-rush a very unwise strategy. "Any ideas for how to deal with the back-row crowd?" Pohatu asked as he ducked another attack.

"Check the ceiling." Was the only answer Kopaka gave him, the pale one's focus heavily stuck on the creature he was locked in battle with.

Pohatu could hardly blame him for his distracted state, but this really wasn't the time to be cryptic. What could looking at the ceiling possibly-oh. Those stalactites looked pretty sharp. If he could time it right, then maybe he could use those to his advantage… With nothing to lose, the Stone Toa kicked another rock, his main quarry blasting it apart whilst its crimson comrade moved directly where Pohatu had hoped the brown rahkshi would. Not his preferred result, but still useful. As long as it stayed there, he'd be happy. He snapped his fingers, gaze flashing up to the stalactite in question as it sheered cleanly off the ceiling and dropped. That split moment was all it took for the crimson being to fire a shot of its own, Pohatu's eyes widening as the bolt hurtled toward him… and expression becoming a grin as the rahkshi was crushed beneath the falling 'spear', its final attack fizzling to nothingness several feet before it reached its target. "Hah! Let's see you walk that one off!"

"P-Pohatu…!"

Kopaka's call snapped him back to focus immediately, and as he turned the Toa of Stone saw his paler comrade on his knees, weapons knocked aside and one leg bent badly as he struggled to hold his aggressor's staff at bay. There was an even bigger problem at hand, however; for every moment Kopaka held onto the rahkshi's faintly glowing staff his strength seemed to be draining away, siphoning into the foul wretch that seemed so intent on killing him. If Pohatu didn't act fast, his Brother wouldn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately for the rahkshi, speed was Pohatu's favorite flavor. Eyes glowing bright orange as his kanohi kicked in, the Toa of Stone surged forward, racing for his Brother's sword and racing for the rahkshi's back once he had acquired it. In less than a second the offensive fiend went from almost claiming victory over a Toa to hissing in pain and collapsing as a blade was forcibly driven through its shell, limbs twitching once or twice before it fully expired. Not wanting to risk being shot in the back, Pohatu hastily threw a stone barrier up and prayed it wouldn't immediately crumble; he needed to make sure Kopaka was alright, he didn't have time to dodge around! Shoving the fallen rahkshi aside, the Toa of Stone grimaced as he tried to help his Brother stand. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Kopaka responded tiredly, most of his weight resting on Pohatu's frame. "I'm no help to you now; put me out of range and do what you can about the other two; Onua should be back at any moment…"

That was when the rock wall shattered, the two rahkshi now standing much closer than could ever be deemed safe. Again Pohatu's eyes flared with light, throwing himself into motion as he lifted and moved Kopaka away from the fight before doubling back and lashing out with his claw-like climbing hooks, trying to strike the brown rahkshi that had caused him so much grief thus far. He narrowly missed, forced to dodge away as the white rahkshi took a swing at him. "Well that's not very sporting of you!" Again and again Pohatu scrambled to get out of the way, his aggressors relentless and refusing to give him even the slightest opportunity to go back on the offensive. They were trying to wear him down and he knew it, just as readily as he knew trying to lean on his kanohi would only lead to disaster; as it was he had to be incredibly careful not to run into anything for the brief moments he'd already used it for. The whole fight had become an endurance game and so far the rahkshi were seemingly winning; he couldn't afford to slow down to turn the tables when getting blasted to pieces was a very probable risk.

And then he heard it. Something thrumming like an engine as it moved closer on mechanical limbs. At first Pohatu thought it was a new and scarier rahkshi coming to finish the fight, but that misconception that was hastily corrected when he saw two familiar figures sprinting toward him in what could only be described as effectively hodge-podge power armor constructs. "Oh boy…"

Kopaka's idea of 'worst outcome' was now unfolding before Pohatu's eyes, and on top of that it was clear that the Chronicler had convinced Nuparu to join in the escapade. Even as the pair of matoran raced to enter the fray the white rahkshi was turning to face them, leaving its darker-colored companion to prevent the Stone Toa from interfering. "Takua! Nuparu! What are you doing?!" He exclaimed, scrambling out of the way as 'his' rahkshi took a shot at him. "Get out of here!"

The pair either didn't hear or didn't want to, as neither changed their path and instead converged on their opponent in unison, Takua's boxor gripping the white rahkshi's staff and initiating a power struggle whilst Nuparu unleashed his own volley of attacks on the being's side and back while it was unable to defend itself. Hissing in rage, the creature released its staff to try and swing at its Onu-Matoran assailant, only to find itself smashed in the head with its own weapon and dropped in a heap on the floor. Nuparu took it from there, bringing the boxor's heavily armored fists down on the rahkshi's head and crushing it. He then blinked and took a step back as he seemed to snap out of a daze. "Whoa… okay not sure why I just got that angry, but yikes."

"Watch out!"

Pohatu's yell came just moments from disaster, his opponent having turned and fired an energy bolt straight at Takua. The Chronicler's panicked reaction saved his life, his palm slamming down on the eject button leading to his tumbling out of the cockpit and covering his head as the construct behind him exploded. Relief flooded Pohatu's mind as he saw Takua struggle back to his feet, though this moment was short-lived, the Toa swiftly finding himself knocked clean over, head throbbing and vision swimming from the impact of the rahkshi's staff against his skull. Even as he lay there struggling to regain coherency he could see the bleary shape of the rahkshi stalking its way toward Takua, a second clamor of sound betraying the destruction of Nuparu's boxor but saying nothing of whether or not the Onu-Matoran escaped it in time. There was a flare of light, a strange gurgling noise, and a dull, metallic 'thud', followed by little more than silence. Pohatu struggled to sit up, gripping the side of his head and ignoring the wet stickiness of blood as he tried desperately to make his world stop swimming. Even just the attempt made it worse, the Toa of Stone going limp and collapsing back to the cavern floor as his vision darkened. Unconsciousness claimed him shortly after, and even as his eyes closed, all Pohatu could do was pray for a miracle and hope that, somehow, Takua and Nuparu were still alive…

"Pohatu? … Pohatu can you hear me?"

Returning to coherency was about as graceful for him as it had been to leave it, and at first he couldn't even recognize the voice that was talking to him. "Nngh…" He mumbled, head still pounding as though there was an angry rahi trying to break out of his skull. "Whozzut…" He dared to open his eyes, wincing as the soft glow of firelight danced teasingly over them. As his vision slowly cleared, however, he found himself staring up at Onua, spattered head-to-toe in mud and a relieved look on his face. "… Onua…?"

"Well I'm not Gali, that's for certain." The Earth Toa teased, sitting on the edge of the bed Pohatu now rested on and chuckling a little. "You and Kopaka gave us a real scare, Brother; not exactly encouraging to come back to find you two unconscious and Takua trying to get Nuparu out from under a pile of scrap metal. What in Mata Nui's name happened?"

Pohatu was more focused on Onua's summary of the battlefield than he was the question about it. "Takua and Nuparu are okay?" He asked, relief and uncertainty dueling for dominance. "They… They tried to fight…"

Onua blinked at the news. "That would explain the island-sized fit that Whenua is pitching at them, then. I only caught little bits of it but based on his tone I'm much happier in here than I would be next door right now." He shook his head and sighed before smiling a little. "All's well that ends well though, I guess. Tahu's back to normal, everyone here is alright… well, mostly. No idea what's got Kopaka ruffled but he hurried off to speak with Gali the moment he was awake enough to move."

Now it was Pohatu's turn to show his surprise. "Kopaka did what now?"

"He up and went to find Gali at one of the waterways." The shorter Toa replied, his wonderment at the situation clear. "He woke up a few minutes before you did. I told him Tahu was saved and never seemed more appreciative of Gali in his life. Next thing I know, he's hauling himself outta bed and marching off with more fire in his eyes than I've ever seen before, and that's when he's wide awake!"

Pohatu stared at him for several long seconds before – much to the chagrin of his aching head – bursting into a fit of laughter. Really, he couldn't help it; even without any knowledge of it, Onua had pushed Kopaka to make good on what he'd told Pohatu up on Mt. Ihu, and now it was all unfolding where he couldn't even go and see it. "Sneaky, Kopaka…" He muttered as his laughing finally got back under control. "Real sneaky."

Onua was regarding him as though he were insane. "Can you please explain just what in the world is so funny about this? Because I honestly have no idea what's going on. How is Kopaka being sneaky?"

The Toa of Stone grinned, fighting to keep his amusement in check as he offered his brother an explanation. "When I went and hauled Kopaka back to Ko-Koro the other night, he and I were talking and I may have told him to stop waiting around and finally tell Gali he likes her. I also may have said that she and Tahu were being friendly with each other after the kohlii match and that Gali wouldn't wait forever if she ended up liking someone else. And now you've gone and fueled the fire and I'm missing all of it!"

Onua raised an eyebrow as he took in Pohatu's words, laughing quietly to himself and shaking his head at the silliness of it all. "You have been desperate for those two to get together for years." He pointed out teasingly. "And you missing the exact moment Kopaka brings it up is beautifully ironic. Besides, you'd probably get too excited to keep quietly hidden and make the whole thing awkward."

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad!"

"Remember when Matau announced he was going to marry Hlahlu?"

"That was years ago!"

"There's still a tree somewhere with an imprint of your face on it."

"…"

Onua smiled, glad that his point had been made. "Now, tell me what happened. I want to know how a pair of matoran pulled off what you and Kopaka couldn't." He raised an eyebrow. "And no skipping details; you are staying right there until Gali and Kopaka come back."

"Spoilsport."