The brown haired Hordika laughed quietly as he adjusted his cowboy hat. "Yeah, it's me alright. I'm still as sane and solid as ever. Come down here and let me get a look at you."

A faint grin crossed Lewa's face as he nodded, eyes glowing brightly as he floated down and landed in front of Onewa, Hahli still cradled in his arms. "You look-seem shorter than before." The Toa of air commented with a quiet laugh.

Onewa smirked at the comment and replied. "I'd say you looked smarter, but that wouldn't be true. It's good to see that you're back though, so something obviously improved."

Lewa just laughed the playful insult off, and piped up. "Let's just speak-say I'm fortune-lucky. But that doesn't explain-say what you're doing out here. Is there anyone else with you?"

The twenty-two year old shook his head, sighing quietly as he glanced around. "It's just you, me, and the girl as far as I'm aware. But hey, that's probably a good thing. Means there's not as much of a chance that the Visorak will show up to cause problems for us. Even better, we probably won't run into Vakama any time soon. Complete nutter now that Roodaka cooked his head."

Lewa blinked, looking highly alarmed. "She did what? I know he's mask-cracked, but what'd she do to make him go like that?" Onewa grimaced, just shaking his head. Clearly 'Roodaka cooked his head' with something really bad. "Toa-hero Onewa? What'd she do to him?"

The mutant shuddered a bit. "We're not fully sure just what she did to be honest, other than it had to do with water, since he was dripping wet when he came back out of the Coliseum with two of those infernal Visorak flanking him. If you ask me, I think she dunked him in boiling water over and over until he snapped. Not a pleasant theory, but it's the best one I could come up with."

The green haired fourteen year old cringed. He hadn't really asked for Onewa's personal theory, though now that he thought on it he probably didn't even have to ask for it in the first place. From what he could remember, Onewa always threw in his opinion whether it was wanted or not. Deciding it was a good idea to change the conversation now, Lewa asked. "So why are you here anyway? Isn't it dark-lucky to be out on your own?"

Onewa shook his head. "Not yet, it isn't. Besides, it's less people to keep track of. And I'm out here to try and track down some clues about the location of a mythical Rahi that can supposedly reverse the effects of Hordika venom. Personally, I'm not sure if I even believe it exists, but if it'll make Matau stop belly-aching about being a monster, then it's worth looking into."

"Mythical Rahi-beast?" Lewa inquired. "What's it name-called? Do you know what it looks like?"

The Hordika shook his head again. "Not sure what it looks like, but apparently it's called Keetongu. I just wish I had more than that to work with. Mihkoro was going to update me on anything new that might turn up, but I haven't heard anything for a long while. I'm starting to wonder if he's even alive anymore."

The fourteen year old Toa of Air didn't like the sounds of that at all. If Mihkoro died, who else was gone too? Were his parents even alive still? Were his missing siblings okay? What would he do if they were dead? Shifting a bit, the green haired youth held Hahli a little closer to himself and asked quietly. "Where did everyone go, Onewa? All the Matoran-people… they aren't dead-gone, are they?"

Onewa fixed him with a blank stare, as though not fully believing that Lewa had just asked that. "If they were dead, we'd have given up on rescuing them. They're all trapped in stasis right now, and where we can't get at them."

"Oh?" Lewa asked hopefully. "Where?"

Onewa rolled his eyes. "The Coliseum. Where else would an egotistical maniac and a conspiring old hag rule the island from? Did you learn anything while you were away?"

Lewa was starting to get a bit fed up with the mutant's constant hacking at his intelligence, and commented with a quiet sigh. "Just because I think-figure things differently doesn't mean I can't think-figure at all…" Onewa didn't seem as though he was paying attention any more, his gaze scanning around them as though looking for danger. Lewa sighed, shaking his head and looking up at the sky… eyes widening when he saw four white Visorak hanging on the webs above them. How had he not noticed the webs linking the statues together before, he didn't really know, unless they were just put there while Lewa and Onewa had been talking. "Onewa…" He said quietly. "We've got a dark-lucky issue-problem… They found us."

Onewa blinked and glanced over at the boy before looking up, eyes widening a little. "This… isn't good."

Lewa cast him a brief look before starting to run, deciding to say what he thought Tahu might say in this sort of situation. "Are you just going to stay-stand there, or are you going to quick-run?" That shook Onewa back into his senses, and he took off running after Lewa, growling lowly as he glanced at the Rahi above them. Predictably, the Visorak had given chase, clicking and screeching noisily as they went.

"A plan would be good right around now, Lewa!" The Hordika commented with annoyance.

"I'm think-working on it, just give me a moment!" Lewa replied, trying to get together an idea or plan as quickly as he could.

Onewa didn't seem thrilled with the thought of waiting. "We don't have a moment!"

Out of desperation to make Onewa stop shouting at him, Lewa pointed at a random statue to their right. "Bring that down!" Onewa, though perplexed, looked at the stone colossus and snapped his fingers. The entire of the statue's base exploded, bringing the massive structure crashing down behind them. Hahli shrieked with alarm as she woke, clinging to her brother tightly as she looked around. Lewa glanced over his shoulder, jaw dropping as he watched statue after statue collapse like dominoes falling over. Dust filled the air as no less than five monuments came crashing down, obliterating everything they fell on. By the time the dust and sand had settled out again, there appeared to be nothing left of the Visorak that'd been pursuing them only moments ago. No longer running, Onewa and Lewa just stared at the destruction for several eerily silent moments, neither one sure quite what to say. Finally, Onewa found his voice.

"Wow. Okay, you're definitely brighter than I thought. How did you know to do that?"

"I didn't." Lewa replied quietly, just blinking as he looked over the mess they'd just made. "I just wanted you to break-smash something as a distraction."

Hahli spoke up now, her voice quiet as well. "That was scary, Big Brother…"

"Scary," Onewa agreed. "but very well played. You aren't half bad, Lewa."

The fourteen year old beamed at the Stone Hordika, glad that he was finally being praised instead of berated. "I told you I could think-figure things, Toa-hero Onewa. I'm just different." That was when the ground began to shake, nearly knocking Lewa off balance. "Bio-quake?" He asked with unease, glancing at Onewa.

"Worse…" The Hordika replied, his expression betraying his worry. "We need to get off the ground. Hurry!" Onewa began to run, Lewa activating his mask and flying after him with Hahli still clutched tight to his chest. The shaking seemed to be growing worse with every passing moment, and it wasn't long until Onewa was staggering while he tried to reach safety.

That was when the ground split open, a huge snake-like creature pushing its scaly head out of the sand and looking around for something or someone to eat… and right ahead of it was Onewa. Hissing loudly as it launched forwards, the twenty-two year old Hordika had no time to react as the beast came down on him. Onewa's eyes bulged slightly as the reptilian monstrosity tightened its coils around his frame, threatening to crush all the life out of him. He struggled to get free, trying to get an arm loose so he could try and push the serpent off, but it was no use; if he wasn't helped, he was going to die.

Lewa looked around quickly, setting Hahli down on a broken statue before drawing his axe and diving at the snake-like creature, hacking at its body, aiming to distract it long enough for Onewa to get free. His plan was starting to work, the Rahi turning its massive head and focussing on the fourteen year old who'd so boldly attacked it. The great beast's head lurched towards him, mouth open wide and fangs dripping with venom as it tried to bite Lewa. The Toa of Air flew backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack as he swung his axe, hitting one of the giant snake's fangs and breaking the lower third of it off. Hissing in rage and pain, the snake pulled back, tail tip lashing violently as it writhed.

While the Rahi thrashed, Onewa managed to pull free and stumble back out of the Rahi's reach, coughing and gasping the whole time. Eyes watering and footfalls uneven, the Hordika only looked back once he was near the statue Hahli was on. The sight that met his gaze made him gasp. The massive Rahi was now retreating, smashing Lewa with its tail on the way back down its tunnel, flinging the Toa of Air several feet higher and at least fifteen feet away, where he hit the ground, rolled several times, and finally lay still a few feet away from where Onewa and Hahli were. Onewa hurried over as fast as his recuperating body would allow, kneeling beside Lewa's motionless frame and carefully rolling him on his back.

"Kid?" The Hordika asked worriedly, taking note of the fourteen year old's shallow breathing. "Lewa, can you hear me?"

At first, there was no response, but after a little while the green haired youth gave a slight nod and mumbled. "Mhm… loud n' clear-good… did we win?"

Onewa just laughed faintly at the question. "I didn't. You certainly did though. Do you know what you just chased off?" Lewa shook his head a little, but didn't speak. The Hordika smirked slightly. "You just chased off a Giga Tunneler, one of the most dangerous reptilian Rahi on this island. That was pretty darned heroic… well, and psychotic. That thing could've easily killed both of us if you hadn't been so quick to act."

Lewa gave a dazed grin at that news. "Ever-nice to know I did something epic-cool…" He paused before adding. "So… am I a good enough Toa-hero for you?"

"Oh yes." The Hordika replied with a grin. "Definitely good enough."