Rpol Hideouts & Hoodlums Campaign - pt. 16

The Daoist transformed himself from a snake into a snarling warthog and charged forward to meet the new roosters head on.

Captain Liberty turned to face the new roosters, his blue cape flowing in the wind, behind him. He glowed with the power of the very essence of the liberty of the United States of America and decided to charge one of the next two foul fowls that were capriciously coming for a catastrophic counterattack.

And the Mountain Man charged too. The three of them –Captain Liberty, the Mountain Man, and the Daoist in warthog form -- charged the two new roosters that were in turn advancing on them. But before the two sides could join in combat, one of the roosters paused, arching its head back, and let out a terribly loud crowing.

The Mountain Man answered that call with a slash of his hatchet burying it in the rooster's neck. Captain Liberty crashed into the other rooster with terrific force, literally crushing it flat on the ground. By the time the Daiost reached the scene, he found both roosters were out of the fight already.

Suddenly, the searchlight from the western tower blazed to life and its beam swept across the gardens. The beam crossed the Mountain Man's path, illuminating for a moment the top of his head.

Alpha-Woman tried to avoid the beam, sticking to the shadows as she ran closer to the fortress-like temple and forgot the big ugly roosters that pissed her off.

The Mountain Man ducked reflexively, using the hatchet in his right hand to hook one rooster corpse and grabbing the second out from under Captain Liberty. Dragging both, The Mountain Man dove under a hedge and out of sight from the searchlight. He hoped others would match his foresight.

Silver Scorpion, still under threat by a living rooster, decided her best option was to take it down as fast as possible. She unleashed another kick at the beast's neck. The dance continued between her and the super rooster in the middle of the gardens. It lunged at her and she dodged, but then it ducked from another of her roundhouse kicks. They continued to attack and dodge back and forth, moving around each other, looking for an opening. Silver was embarrassed to think this big rooster had got to be the toughest opponent she'd ever fought!

Under the east tower, Gandor the Great continued throwing pebbles at the underside of the platform above him, distracting the guards above who could not figure out what that noise was. "Wait, where are you going?" he whispered to Sewer Rat, but it was too late as the fur-clad Hero waded into the pond.

Sewer Rat soon climbed out of the moat. Back in the sewers, falling into the water often meant severe injury or illness, but in clean water he could manage well enough. And who says rats drown, he thought to himself. He was glad his team managed to distract the guard, who was now sweeping his searchlight inside instead of out. Quietly, Sewer Rat shimmied up the leg of the tower, prepared to climb inside and give the guard a quick shove back into the moat.

Though he did not know it, the Daoist had the same idea as Sewer Rat. He charged over to the guard tower, transformed himself into an orangutan and scaled his way up to where he could incapacitate the guards.

Dice Morgan had not decided what to do yet. It looked like Silver Scorpion needed help, but it looked like hiding from that searchlight was a good idea too. Captain Liberty, more prone to action, ran back to lend a hand, but got a wing in the face instead of landing a punch.

The searchlight continued to sweep the gardens, this time catching the upper half of Captain Liberty in its beam and freezing there, nearly blinding him. But it did give him some very dramatic lighting, especially with his cape billowing behind him.

Alpha-Woman stopped running, intent now on not moving out of her dark, shadowy area. She hated those roosters and could not believe she could not kill one even one. She just crossed her arms in the dark corner, hoping those blinding lights would just go away. Then she noticed Captain Liberty getting shined on and thought, Oh crap, now the S@#% just hit the fan!

Dice Morgan walked over and stood with the Captain in the spotlight. He waved up at the guy in the tower. "Hey! Da boys from ‘da hotel sent us on down. Didn't that chick radio ya? What's wit' ‘da rooster kill squad?" He actually hoped to keep the guy distracted until the Daoist could reach him or Gandor could work some magic.

"Are you crazy, why did you yell??" Alpha-Woman yelled at Dice from the nearby shadows, unaware of his reasoning. She tightened up her brass knuckles and hoped nobody heard him – or her -- yelling.

The Mountain Man stayed under cover but readied himself to charge out and attack any guards that appeared from the building. That or if he had to kill more roosters.

The Daoist continued climbing the tower, hoping to either ambush them, or distract them enough that Sewer Rat can take them by surprise.

Captain Liberty picked up a half-dead rooster and took aim, preparing to use it as an improvised missile weapon against the distant spotlight.

Apparently unnoticed by everyone, Silver Scorpion was still in a death duel with the super rooster. The rooster threw everything it had into one last lunge, but instead of overpowering her, it left itself open for her to plunge her knife into it. The super rooster slumped unconscious against her, but Silver jumped back away from both it and the spotlight that was still too close for comfort.