"Mister Norik, sir? Are you awake?"
The Rahaga in question drew a deep breath as he heard Matoro attempt to whisper at him. He hadn't been awake, that was certain, though the five year old's not-so-quiet hushed voice had been enough to rouse him from his only-somewhat-restful nap. "Yes, Matoro, I am." He replied quietly, a fiery red, serpentine eye opening just enough to regard the child who was sitting in front of his head. "Did you need something?"
"You were mumbling." The child pointed out, a little blunt but still maintaining a soft tone, likely one he had gotten from his now deceased mother. "What'cha thinking about?"
Norik resisted the urge to grimace. He had been dreaming of the siege of the Great Temple, his mind trailing through its events and filling his thoughts with an untold amount of what-ifs, trying to discern if things would have been different if other actions had been taken. That was not the kind of answer to tell a likely frightened child. "I was thinking about how nice it will be when everything is back to normal, and the city rebuilt. There are a lot of things that would probably be a lot different."
Sure, it wasn't really truthful, but it was something Norik considered often, so it wasn't totally dishonest.
Matoro hummed a little, as though trying to deeply contemplate the Rahaga's reply before making one of his own. "Am I gonna live with Daddy again? I miss him... And Mama... is she coming back?"
It was almost too hard to withhold a grimace at those questions. How was Norik going to explain death to a boy who was only five? Not to mention wasn't even his own son? Perhaps he could dodge the last question. "I'm sure you will be able to settle down again, even if it takes a while to do so."
Again the boy was quiet, mulling it over before frowning a bit. "That's gonna feel real weird, I think. Dunno what I'll do for fun anymore either; all the crazy stuff and hide n' sneak will be over."
That was a better answer than Norik had expected to get, and relief swept through him briefly. "I'm sure you'll manage, little one; a calm life means you will get to do happier things after all." The Rahaga could only hope the conversation kept drifting in a better direction than where it had started. Otherwise it could be tricky to dodge around again.
"But only with Daddy, because Mama is gone."
Well, so much for that idea. Perhaps he had been hoping for too much. "Matoro," Norik tried, praying that the child would drift with the topic change without going back. "do you have any favorite stories?"
"Uh-huh!" The child's face lit up at the thought. "Daddy told me one about a super brave Ice Toa who could do anything!" A pause. "I don't remember the rest though... do you know it?"
"I know a few stories, but I'm not sure if I know that one." He confessed. "I was never really good at remembering stories that people told me. But maybe we can get your father to tell us some when we see him again."
Matoro pouted, crossing his arms and mumbling. "But I don't want Daddy to come in here." He protested. "It smells funny in a bad way."
Norik couldn't help but chuckle at Matoro's logic, though before he had a chance to speak, someone else added a comment of their own.
"Guess it's a good thing I'm calling jailbreak then, huh?"
Both of Norik's eyes opened fully as he sat up, red eyes turning to focus on the figure outside the cell door. He was taller than Norik was, and remarkably well built muscles were easily seen in spite of the gravel-brown hide that had once been normal skin. Dusty blond hair that was barely longer than an inch at most decorated his head, adding just enough contrast that his already vibrant orange eyes were even more noticeable compared to his darker, rather abnormal skin, the golden yellow tattoo – the symbol of the Three Virtues – on his left shoulder standing out just as glaringly as his eyes did.
"Pouks! Thank Mata Nui you are alright!" A smile had soon found its way onto Norik's face as he got to his feet. "How did you get loose? And where are the others?"
The taller Rahaga grinned as he idly crossed his arms over his chest. "Roodaka forgot about the fact we can still conjure up a Rhotuka. I'm surprised she even got that careless, honestly; she might be losing her touch. All the better for us though; move out of the way and I'll get this cage cracked in no time."
Norik didn't have to be told twice, scooping Matoro into his arms as he shuffled quickly to a corner of the cell and pressed himself against the bars, smiling a bit more as he recalled that, of all the Rahaga, Pouks' Rhotuka had the most potential for being destructive. While most of their abilities were focused on snaring and catching their target, the former Toa Hagah of Stone could use his to knock the feet out from under whoever or whatever he hit with it, so long as he put enough power into the charge, which also meant that a stray shot could quite readily dish out a lot of destruction with very little effort. It hadn't taken Pouks very long to figure it out either, and now it was proving to be a very useful trick to keep in mind.
With a bang like a gunshot, the Rhotuka was unleashed and slammed into the door, the orange wheel of energy crashing hard enough that – due to hitting dead in the middle – it blue it clean off, tearing and snapping the lock and hinges as though they were little more than paper.
Matoro stared down at the horribly bent metal that had once held them at bay, his eyes wide with amazed wonderment. "... Can I learn that?"
Pouks laughed at the question, flexing his fingers as he replied. "Sorry kid; that's a Pouks-only thing. Besides, your dad would probably be fit to kill me if I taught you how to wreak havoc like that. Now, are you two coming or not? The others are already running amok and we're missing out."
"Yes Pouks, we're coming." Norik replied, laughing quietly as he hurriedly toted Matoro out into the hallway. "Please tell me you at least have a vague idea of where everyone else is making trouble at."
The loud crashing noise that sounded as though it came from a floor or two higher had all three of them staring at the ceiling. "What was that?" Matoro asked, blue eyes wide.
The two Rahaga exchanged knowing looks, Norik looking a bit exasperated and Pouks barely holding back another grin as they said in unison. "Kualus."
Matoro inclined his head slightly to the side. "What could he do to make that much noise?"
Pouks let his mirth show now, setting off down the hallway as he replied. "Probably 'forgot' to catch his Rhotuka on the return trip."
Norik knew all too well how that stunt could play out. Kualus' Rhotuka had a boomerang effect, and while it wasn't able to tear doors down, it could definitely be used to fling objects and enemies. Even team members, as they had discovered once when Iruini got in the way and wound up flung across the warehouse they'd been in at the time. "Let's just hope he didn't end up flattened by whatever he just did." Norik mumbled, sighing and shaking his head. Sure, the chaos was amusing, and the mental image of a Visorak getting flung bodily down a hallway was greatly entertaining, he couldn't help but worry for his team's safety. After all, they weren't exactly as spry as they used to be.
Climbing the Coliseum floors was a surprisingly easy endeavor for the trio, without finding any trace of Visorak – save for a few that were either dead or unconscious, and one that was so disoriented that it kept walking into walls – until three floors up. That was where they actually had to dodge out of the way, one particularly unlucky Rahi hurtling past – carried by a white energy wheel – and ending up rolling quite vigorously down the stairs behind them. Matoro yelped in surprise. "I didn't know they could fly! ... They fly like Matau does."
While Pouks fought to contain himself, Norik shook his head and explained. "Kualus' Rhotuka acts like a boomerang, little one. And if he doesn't want whatever he's bringing back, he tends to let it just keep going."
A loud thud indicated that the 'flying' Visorak had ceased its unwanted adventure.
"Regardless of where the undesired thing ends up."
That was when Kualus moved into view, seeming pleased with himself as well as with the fact his Brothers and Matoro were there. "You missed the one that launched out the window, actually." He smiled, the pearly feathers that were scattered through his hair lifting like some sort of crest, though rather haphazardly. "It's good to see you made it; I heard a crash up above and wasn't sure who was to blame. Do you three have any ideas?"
Pouks stared at him in surprise. "You mean that racket wasn't you?"
Kualus shook his head. "I actually thought it had been you, Brother. No matter; we'll figure it out soon enough. Let's find the others, shall we?"
Again the group set off through the building, climbing ever higher and even locating Bomonga and Iruini without any clues as to who was responsible for the noise. That is, until they reached the 'throne room', where they discovered that many of the old statues that had once depicted prominent Toa were now shattered across the floor, as though someone had played dominoes with them. In fact, every statue save for six had been destroyed, the last ones – in some ironic form of poetic justice – depicting the Toa Hagah in their former splendor...
Gaaki happily perched on top of hers and smirking down at the dead Visorak below. "And that's what I think of your tyra-oh!" She'd apparently just seen the rest of her rather dumbfounded team at the other end of the hall. "Good to see you lot, and Pouks you officially owe me that drink you promised."
Pouks just stared at her. "When I said I was gonna get a drink for whoever stirred up the most trouble, I didn't mean you had to blow the room up."
"Nonsense." Gaaki replied, clambering down off her roost and shrugging. "You're just bothered that I beat you. Now enough about your wounded pride; Roodaka's got Mihkoro out on the balcony and rushing out there now would be utterly pointless, if not make things worse. What we need is some sort of distraction."
Bomonga glanced around the room for a moment, and then started laughing, albeit quietly. "I hate to break it to you, Gaaki, but if she didn't come to investigate this mess I doubt she'll be coming at all."
"N-no... she... she won't."
The sudden new voice drew all attention to the speaker, and a wave of horror washed over the Rahaga as Mihkoro shakily stumbled towards them, each movement a testament to the agony he had been put through. Coughing, gasping, barely able to stand, the Toa before them was little more than a bloodied husk, his former glory utterly stripped from him. "Roodaka..." He coughed out, stumbling over some of the rubble and collapsing to the floor. "She's gone to join the battle outside..."
Norik paled as the other Rahaga moved in to help Mihkoro, eyes wide as he took in how badly hurt Mihkoro was. Any news about Roodaka fled his mind as he too drew closer, setting Matoro down as he knelt beside the fallen Toa's frame. Already he could see that Iruini was charging up a healing Rhotuka, whilst Gaaki fussed about making sure Mihkoro hadn't smashed his head open when he fell over. All the while this was going on, the subject of their concerns was fighting to regain his breath, eventually gasping out. "Roodaka... broke a piece out of the Toa Seal that's holding the Makuta... she wants to goad the Toa Metru into breaking it in an attempt to trap her..."
"That's crazynuts if she thinkfigures it will work." Iruini grumbled, shaking his head as he gently pressed his charged Rhotuka against Mihkoro's frame. "How mad is she to expect a dangerploy like that to unfold properly?"
"It's actually a clever move to make." Bomonga put in, frowning mildly in consideration. "The Toa Metru will be so focused on getting rid of her that they won't realize what she's up to until it's too late to stop."
Gaaki was blatantly frowning as she thought it through. "Should one of us find a way to warn them? There has to be something we can do to stop her."
"Like what?" Pouks asked, huffing and crossing his arms in dislike for the situation. "Throwing the Makuta's crystal down on top of her?"
"Tempting, but no." Mihkoro put in, already sounding and looking healthier thanks to Iruini's efforts. "I already have a plan, though it's a risky gamble and I want the lot of you out of here before it happens."
Kualus frowned at him. "What in Mata Nui's name are you intending to-no. No Mihkoro, that is suicide."
Norik had a good guess at just what the dark Toa had in mind. If Mihkoro was there and waiting when the seal broke, he could easily take the window of opportunity to kill the Makuta while he shook off the stasis effects that his prison may have left behind. The problem was that there was no knowing how ready or unready for it either participant in the action would actually be. It was a gamble between fast recovery and – hopefully – faster weapon drawing. And the worst part?
Mihkoro would never take 'no' for the answer. All anyone could do was hope he would be fast enough on the draw, and that the Makuta wouldn't be faster...
