CHAPTER 2 - Earthquake!

*RUMBLE RUMBLE*

That was how it began: Just a simple rumble. A strange noise coming from deep within the earth... Then the ground began to shake violently! An earthquake had begun. The tremor shook the land for miles. From the towering skyscrapers in every Metru to the unclaimed boulders in the Wahis, all rattled in seemingly opposite directions, if indeed so many directions existed. 

Everywhere, people were effected. Matoran and Agori fled from large structures to avoid being buried. Rahi reared and howled. Even deep within the hidden region of his lair, Makute Doom's ominous figure wavered and had to grip the side of his throne to maintain balance. Around him, his underlings were thrown about like marbles. His glowing red eyes narrowed. This was no mere shift of the earth, such a tremendous quake could only mean that somewhere a drastic change was occurring in the land...

************

The following morning, there was a lot of cleaning up and rebuilding to do. Matoran, ever known for their industriousness, set about their tasks right away. Despite being considered higher class citizens due to their height and strength, Agori also aided in the clean up. Though Agori were better at fixing things than making them, so while Matoran workers set about reconstructing toppled buildings, Agori workers went about making repairs to any damaged structure they could find.

"That was some quake last night, eh?" One Ta-Agori worker asked another as they worked to repair a damaged roof.

"I'll say! Look at this mess. We'll be working for weeks to repair everything." The other exclaimed, hammering away. The two Agori were named Dobin and Zeck. They were well respected businessmen in the upper ring of their native Ta-Metru, and both specialized in entertainment. Dobin owned a very popular theater and acting troupe, while Zeck was a share-holder in the coliseum. He got his money from hiring Glatorian to compete there. Typically, the likes of these two would never be seen in the lower ring, but none were too good for work when it came to the aftermath of such a disaster.

"It's not all bad." Came an cheerful voice from behind them. The two Agori looked over their shoulders at the street below. There stood a Matoran, one with a sparkly gold mask and a white body. It was assumed that she was a Ko-Matoran, but all anyone knew for sure was that she was a weirdo.

"What do you mean?" Zeck asked skeptically, "And why aren't you helping clean up or repair something?"

"I hear the quake came from The Mountain Of Whispers, and the whispers have changed. I think something really big happened up there. I'm trying to assemble a team to go with me to look. Want to come?" The little weirdo asked.

"To The Mountain of Whispers? Are you crazy!?" Zeck gasped.

"No way!" Echoed Dobin.

"But there could be treasure!" The weirdo insisted.

"I'm not going. Not for all the treasure in the world!" Zeck said.

"Me neither." Dobin agreed, shaking his head. "If you know what's good for you, you won't set foot in those mountains. Not even a Ko-Matoran can withstand that cold."

Defeated, the weirdo hung her head and wandered off. The two Agori returned to their work. The matter it seemed, at present, was forgotten.

...But The Mountain was still calling, and elsewhere, another heard...

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