Bandit King Takes No Arrows To The Knee

Bandit King Takes No Arrows To The Knee
Date of Scene:	08 February 2013
Location:	The Land of Dragons
Synopsis:	Love, Bandits, and Soup! ..oh and a dragon (really)
Cast of Characters:	Tifa Lockhart, Nagetta, Avira, Deelel, CHIEF, TRON, Emi Dennou, Ping
Tinyplot:	Manhattan Restoration

---

CHIEF has posed:

On our last episode....

The capital city was having trouble with an animal invasion of the anthromorphic type. When the heroes responded to the cries of the people for these bandit thieves stealing their food, they found the place had been over-ran by monkey men.

As the heroes worked together, along with a great hunter, they were able to clean the town up of its monkey men issue and send a strong message to the very ruler of this clan of bandits. That the people had enough! Yet a mystery was found at the site of the monkey-men's leader, the Bandit King's second in command-- was a human!

It was the bigger mystery as to how this could happen and the cause of it that was left unanswered you see and the only way to solve this riddle was to go find the camp the Bandits themselves fled too. Thankfully they left a very nice noodle trail to follow; along with some other variates of food.

The heroes who decided to follow this mystery up, along with those who found this strange transformation of interest (maybe also following some other pleads to clean up the bandit gang completely before revenge came), would be brought into the forest itself.

Soon this trail lead them to a massive clearing of tents, a central campfire, and one heck of a cauldron cooking soup over the massive fire. Several of the bandits were moving around the area, some were drinking their rice-wine and cutting up like bandits do. Others were sleeping on the job.

The bandits here ranged from monkey men, snake men, horse men, tiger men, almost every animal from the Chinese zodiac really. Yet sitting on a throne made of carved lumber was a man that stuck out like a soar thumb.

He was a panda bear, with a his hair tied back in several knots, with a fu manchu mustache hanging down past his bear like chin. He wore a breast plate of armor, a pair of beige pants, and his eyes were hazel in color. He actually looked rather bored where he sat and was messing with an apple on the tips of his panda bear clawed hand.

Soon he sighed as several of the monkey men came over to him. "Sir, when should we move out to avenge our brothers?"

The bear glanced at them before he started to peel the apple slowly with his claw. His voice deep and very calm. "Soon. Soon we will strike back at them. Perhaps-- even give them a.. peace offering, hehe."

"Peace offering?" One of them asks.

"Of coarse." The bear then stands up before he walks over to his Cauldron of soup. "We can have them.. seeing things from our /point/ of view." he then drops the apple into the soup, before he takes a ladle and starts to stir it with simple ease. "After all, when they get a taste of /this/ soup, I am sure their minds will change to see. To see there is /only/ one way!"

He then turns to face the two monkeys, his eyes almost glowing with intensity. "The way of the Wily Bear Claw clan! Mwhahahahahh!!" He starts to laugh into the air, but pauses when the two monkeys don't laugh with him. He then tosses two spoons at them upside the head. "Laugh with me you fools!"

"Y-yes sir!" they both reply before joining their bandit king in his laughing.

And if this production had enough money, there may be a song number here. Though possible the agents may have been rethinking of using this song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm8NgB5XGIA - however they just couldn't get the writers to rethink of how to rewrite it. So yes. Production cost issues.

Avira has posed:
Though Avira hadn't participated in the first thief extermination, she'd certainly heard the news about it! Coming from Ivalice (sort of), the fact of a human working with a bunch of anthropomorphic animals actually doesn't strike her as too unusual. Viera and humans and moogles and so on often worked together. It's...kind of the same?

The VALKYRI leader cheerfully follows along the noodle trail, which has probably gone "cold" by now and is thus not very edible! This is long past five second territory though seeing so much discarded food makes Avira kind of angry. And hungry.

Once in the forest, Avira seems oddly "in her element." Each footstep and each movement is silent...not that these skills help tremendously with the rest of the people here, but it had been a practiced habit that she refused to kick out of honor of her teacher. She does slow as they near, not breaking into the camp quite yet and slipping behind a tree in order to spy.

"...hmm, think we ought to try an amush? We seem to be outnumbered, though."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel once again is in the land of dragons, and once again she finds her clothing changed. It fits in a whee bit better than walking about in something that might be more suited to the grid or some borderlands. A kung fu dress that has circuit line borderng and the approate foot wear she's also got a cloak as well which is suprisingly plain but that doesn't botehr her too much. She knows the leader of all the trouble makers had still been about but she'd not found any sign of them for the moment. So here the young basic is with anyone else who might have an interest in this seekling to find the source of all the mayhem that has been plaguing this part odf the land of dragons.

"True Avira, but we should not look over the value of suprise."

Ping has posed:
The Imperial Chinese Army, as they are wont to do, dispatched scouts to investigate a potential warren of theiving critters in the region. Just one of those many scouts, and certainly not the greatest, is Ping. From a bushy thicket, he watches intently and with sharp ears overhears the strange plan the panda-man has. Carefully so as not to make a noise, he draws his bow from his quiver at his back and draws a bead on the leader. Not intending to shoot, he keeps a weapon drawn just in case he should be spotted.
Doing its own recon work, a small cricket has bounded up onto a nearby branch. Folding its antenna over its eyes to block out any glare, it peers into the camp, too. Seeing the stew, its little eyes widen with awe and a little red tongue hangs out the corner of its little mouth.
Neither the consript, nor the cricket, seems to have noticed the other group of spies.

TRON has posed:
TRON had heard of the troubles with bandits in the Land of Dragons, but was unable to come here before now. Fortunately, their trail is quite easy to follow.

He kneels a fair distance away from the encampment, keeping his body hidden behind trees and brush while blue eyes keenly watch the beastmen's activity. His black unisuit is mostly covered by a mix of leather armor with metal sewn in--gauntlets, chestplate with shoulder-protectors, leather pants, knee-high boots, and a Roman-like helm (without the ridiculous 'mowhawk', mind). He carries a simple wooden staff in his gauntleted hand, and his silver Disc is still mounted in place between his shoulder-blades, though hidden by a battered cloak-like cape connected to his armor at the shoulders.

"I agree. An ambush may be our best bet," he whispers to the others. "I'll circle around to the other side. Splitting their attention may give us a better advantage." If nothing else, it would draw attention away from the main group should he be noticed--which he intends to avoid the best he can.

He slips away, ducking back deeper into the forest before he begins circling around the camp. He is currently unaware of Ping's presence or location.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta left of the city after it was clear that she wasn't welcomed there. Thankfully the trail lead away from there and into the forest. It was safer for her there at least. She wanted to try and stop this before anyone else got killed. The lamia is quiet as she looked at the others, to see who else had decided to join her.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has never been in the land of dragons. In fact she's wondering if there are any dragons here..

Since, you know, there are some in her world. Would be ironic if the land of dragons had no dragons in it, considering.

But it gave her a nice chinese dress when she went through. That's pretty nice. She looks at her cheongsam, with a slit in the sides, still giving her enough movement to be able to fight if need is.

But she didn't get to appreciate the new look for very long apparently. She slips over to hide herself from sight whens he spots the small army of bandits.

And then movements around her alert her that she's not alone doing the same either. There's some familiar faces too, like TRON and Deelel... At least they aren't trying to ambush her.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi is busy today, working for 'Mistah Scrooge', but she did request of Umi and Shida to lend a hand--Ami...Ami would be horrible at fighting anthropomorphic animals. She doesn't want to worry about that. But Umi and Shida seem to be following Avira's lead today, with Umi actually trailing behind a bit relative to Shida, who is closer.

"An ambush could even the odds if we are outnumbered though, Shida of the Network supposes that we may wish to add to our advantage in another way as well, however."

Umi, who has been trailing behind, spots Nagetta and makes her way towards her with nary a word.

CHIEF has posed:

There was some Tiger bandits roaming around the camp. Their ears moving from one way to another. They had no shirts on, but they did have spears in their hands and some rather nice pants. However there was an odd 'crack' in the forest that caused their ears to perk in that direction.

One of them gently jabbed the other, before moving his head in that direction. The other sniffed the air. They stared over in that direction, before they started to move on. Though at an almost sight of another, one of them pulled away while the other continued to walk.

The Tiger bandit that pulled away walked up to the Panda, before whispering in his ear. The Bandit King rose an eye brow before he gave a soft nod. He pulled out the ladle, giving it a good sniff of the aroma before taking a sip from it. "Hmm. I think it needs something."

The Bandit King then picks up a little bit of ground pepper before he sprinkles it in. He then rose up his voice. "Though it would be /so/ rude to enjoy this soup without our proper guests!" He then rose the ladle into the air, before he looked around, before snapping his fingers a few times.

The bandits heard the snapping suddenly pulled away from their patrol, They actually muttered to one another, before placing down their weapons, then took a very calm stance. This was indeed a large number of them, yet they seem to be lining up to make a path way it would seem. Not armed, or anything.

Please, please come join us! No reason to continue to hide! We, or at least, /I/ don't bite.." he pauses giving a mild chuckle. "..much." He then looks at his claws. "Though trust me, humans of any kind are indeed not on my menu."

Avira has posed:
Somebody made a noise-a pretty loud noise and Avira's pretty sure it wasn't her. At that point, she freezes, eyes peering out into the camp as she watches the movements of the bandits within. Clearly, they heard it too! Maybe if they were quiet enough...

One of the tiger-types heads over to the panda on his throne and whispers something. Avira's eyes narrow moments before he addresses their hiding numbers. The scarred woman grits her teeth in irritation.

"I suppose an ambush is off the table...unless some of us remain hidden." she pauses and looks back, all the way back to Umi and nods to her. With her sniping skills, they'd have a trump card if she remained hidden!

Avira steps out from behind the tree she was hiding behind, walking into the camp with an air of practiced confidence. "I know a thing or two about pandas, mister. Such as them being mostly vegetarians." Her eyes shift to one of the tiger bandits, narrowed. "What about /their/ menu?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart was being all stealthy and good at it! Sliding behind a bush, she moevs closer to the camp gradually...

Then a cricket jumped on top of her head.

...

......... @_@;;;

A little surprised shriek, and she stumbles out of the bush, batting the thing away. She's not usually scared of bugs and stuff, but she got surprised, and wasn't expecting it to get in her hair either >_<;;;;

But that's what made them alerted to her presence... but it doesn't sound like the others have been noticed... Except Avira that decides to play it cool and come in the open.

The barmaid slides u pto her feet, brushing the dirt and leaves off her cheongsam, and stepping in after Avira. She's sure she can handle herself, but someone to watch your back is never a bad thing "They aren't on my menu either." She crosses her arms, taking a long look at everyone present, if only to evaluate their forces.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel nods to the security program. "That sounds like a plan, your more experianced with this than I am." She notes with a bit of a grin, but for hte moment he does keep her cloak on. It makes her at lest a bit less noticable compared to the dress her clothing had become. She looks over once more to Avira and then back to TRON as he moves out. Deelel gets ready to carry out her part only pausing to give Tifa a sign that she knows she's here. The parts ot the network here will likely. She keeps an eye on the bandits but it seems that they ahve all be spotted a this point ot someone have been.

She'll keep to hiding for now if all of them come out it's no good but if some of the people here come out they could set the theives off their guard still. Tifa and Avira shouldn't worry too hard they have people like Deelel watching their backs for them.

TRON has posed:
TRON pauses when the activity in the camp increases, sinking down into the brush. An eyebrow rises at the Bandit King's words as the panda speaks loud enough for anyone to hear. /Humans, hm? What of Programs, I wonder?/

Not that the 'panda' would know what a Program is, come to think of it.

As Avira and Tifa walk into the camp, he uses the distraction to cover his continued movement around the camp, reaching the far side of the clearing as quickly and discreetly as possible. Once there, he crouches down and waits, staff at the ready while he listens and eyes the closest tents. If a signal is given or if he believes there is danger, he will act.

Ping has posed:
Unbenownst to Ping, his lucky cricket has been lured away by a beautiful woman in a lovely chengosam. He never had a chance. The cricket bounds from branch to branch and through the grass, plucking up a small piece of clover on his way. Alighting on Tifa's brow, he stoops over and hangs upside-down, gazing into exotic eyes and offering her his four-leafed love token.
Tifa's gasp and stumble, however, send the cricket hurtling into the bush, again, love squashed before it even had a chance to bloom. Watching Tifa walk away, the little bug bounces back onto his feet and slumps, his antenna hanging low and sadly.
Ping is rarely even aware of what his little good luck charm is doing, usually just assuming it is in its cage on his belt, or swimming in his tea. He has no idea that it was the catalyst for Tifa's discovery. He is shocked, though, and worried at the fate of the two individuals move out into the open. His eyes widen and he starts to creep forward, getting into position to lend his assistance. It's now a rescue mission! (If only his sidekick was a chipmunk.)

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta smiles and nods upon seeing Umi, before turning her attention back towards the camp. She did eat human meat once in a while when she was younger, but she doesn't anymore. "Do we really need to attack them?" She asks the others quietly, they didn't seem to be causing any trouble at the moment. Starting a fight could also lead to more trouble down the road.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Sneaking up on animals are hard, they have ENHANCED SENSES. Or maybe Tifa is just SUPER ZETTA LOUD. Either way, 'ambush' doesn't seem to really be on the menu. Umi holds up a pair of index fingers to Nagetta and slides behind a nearby tree, intending to--yes--stay hidden there. "Depends on what happens prolly." She whispers to her. "I'll be backup just in case. you wanna stay with or go with 'em?"

Shida sticks with Avira, however, smiling broadly as she looks towards the tiger bandits, and then over to the panda. Maybe he knows kung fu! That cricket again, though, does that mean that mysterious manly warrior is nearby? She looks around a bit but doesn't immediately spot him.

"Someone else is here..." She murmurs to Avira. "Will try to find him, Shida of the Network volunteers." She looks up and smiles. "Hi there." She waves.

CHIEF has posed:

The Panda chuckles softly as he crosses his arms over his chest. "On the contrary, I am an individual with a taste for meats as well." He then shifts his weight a bit, glancing over as Tifa also makes the scene; in a rather interesting manner of mild amusement. Yes, the King was amused by this. "Oh my, two lovely ladies. I think this night is /only/ getting better!" He blinks his eyes. "Oh my-- three." He squints his eyes. "Though a bit young for my likeing." A few bandits laugh but quickly shut up as the King ahems.

"Though do not worry, we all enjoy our soup." He lowers his hands motioning to it. It really does have a very wonderful smell to it. "Just sometimes finding the right things to keep it flavored, is--" He glances up before placing his pawed hands together. "--Tricky."

A few of the bandits chuckle a bit, before they stop as they are given the look by their king. The Bandit king then lowers his hands before he gives a 'warm' smile. "Now, I am going to nice ask and I do not want any lies from you two beautiful lilies.. and flower." He then steps up toward them. His blue eyes examining them all three closely. "Are you three alone?" He then starts to walk around them. "Because you see, a few of my man were chased out of town recently after some.. events. I do not take kindly to-- authority, beyond my own. I was told a few them were outsiders, and you two do seem just a bit-- out of place." He then slowly walks away from the three of them, before he turns to face them.

He then raises up his hand and makes a waving motion. "So.. are you three the only ones here and why were you /sneaking/ around /my/ camp?" There was an almost snarl that formed on the Panda's lips.

Many of the men walk away, gathering up their things once more, yet they start to head toward the back of the camp. A few even grab a few satchels. Some others wake up those snoozing. It would seem the bandits themselves were leaving their king to handle the two and going.. somewhere.

"Also pay them no mind, they are just going to say hello to a few peasants. This little discussion is between /us/."

At least the camp was being cleared out right? That is a good thing isn't it?

Also Ping, along with the others continue to go unnoticed.

"You see, we have nothing to fear. So if your plan was to ambush us, or perhaps kill me for that bounty reward, well.." The Panda then turns to look at the three ladies before him. "..You are just out of luck, because no one walks away from the Bandit King /alive/ without becoming part of this clan." He then gave a dark smile. "Buuut," He then rubs his chin gently. "..because you are both beautiful blossoms with your little sidekick, I am willing to accept your ability to leave here, again, for the simple truth.. do not give me the truth.. and, you wont leave. Simple, yes?"

Yes, he was on the Monologue villains. Most be the 'Wily' part of his clans name. Also, yes, he thinks Shida is a kid.

TRON has posed:
TRON watches as a few bandits begin to gather around the tents near him, picking up supplies and gathering their numbers. It seems they are about to leave the camp, perhaps to target another town?

No, that's not going to happen.

He slowly reaches onto his back, disconnecting his silver Disc and lowering it to his side. He waits until the bandits seem to fully assemble, then he snaps his arm out to throw the deactivated Disc. If all goes well, it should ping-pong amongst the group like a pinball in a pin trap before boomeranging back to him.

If all goes very well, he won't stir up /too/ much trouble.

Nagetta has posed:
"I think I'll stay back, I don't want to fight other snake people. Even if they are really humans." Nagetta was heistant about doing so. She gets behind another tree close to Umi, and coils up. She's ready to jump if needed be though. Still she was try to hold back when fighting.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel also waits and watch as some of them are getting ready to move they'd find Deelel's cloak moving to be thrown at one as a distraction ebfore she leaps into the thick of them grinning at the bandits.

"Hello, so how much game di you got?" That's when the disk comes out however the edge it not powered she doens't intent to kill, clobber the heck out of them, yes. Kill no.

Avira has posed:
Though inwardly cringing, Avira keeps a smirk upon her face. A womanizing panda, eh? She could work with this. "Oh really? Then I guess I'll just be relieved that you aren't the type that eats, shoots, and leaves." She lifts a hand and makes a little gun motion with her fingers to accenuate her joke, not realizing that this particular part of the world doesn't HAVE guns yet. Whoops.

Three, three lovely ladies. Avira casually rests her hands on her hips, putting one precariously close to the pelvis-bone shaped handle of the Spine. How fast could she draw? Well, they'd find out eventually. "Do we look like we're alone? I will admit, we're not from around here." There's no way Avira can pass as Chinese. Her skin is a little too dark. "But I'm not going to lie. We're following up on that bit of trouble your men were causing earlier! Quite a /curiosity/ at that, you and your, ahem, men."

She allows herself to be a little distracted by the movement of the other bandits as they apparently all vacate the premises. If they left, then that would certainly even the odds in their favor. "Sounds simple enough. But we did come here to deal with you so I don't think we're going to just accept 'walking away', are we, Tifa and Shida?"

Now her hand's openly upon the Spine. The others certainly have picked an excellent time to jump in! They were quite distracting, after all.

Ping has posed:
A small cricket mopes through the forest around the camp before hopping up on Ping's knee and then into the little cage he wears hanging from his sash. With a soft sigh of disappointment, he closes the door to his cage and daydreams about beautiful, kung-fu bartenders.
Ping has better things than romance on his mind, however. He has no idea what this nefarious Panda-man has in mind for these three women. Could it be a fate worse than death? Fleas!?
Stalking ever closer, one more step will bring him into the light, and into the clearing. That's when some sort of disc flashes out from nowhere and dives like a meteor into the group.

"This isn't Tin Pin Slammer!" he gasps!

Emi Dennou has posed:
Shida frowns as the panda just keeps...going like 'TWO PRETTY LADIES ... and pretty girl' as a total afterthought. It's enough to give a young lady a complex!! "This one is sixteen, though of course actually a lot younger, but we are fast grown." She holds up an index finger. "So it is okay to treat us as young adults due to informational...um..."

She crosses her arms. "Shida of the Network is offended." She looks towards Avira. "No, but if we are being turned into animals, then Shida of the Network insists on being a turtle. Or perhaps a mouseperson? Ami likes those. But Shida of The Network will of course violently resist being turned into a mouse person."

MEANHWILE

Umi loads up a cartridge into the assault rifle, slinging it over a shoulder. "We'll avoid the snake people then." Umi tells Nagetta, since she is a total sweetie and she doesn't want to make her uncomfortable even if she is about to totally start shooting them. "Were you created this nice, or raised this way? The Network wonders about the surprisingly sweet snake lady."

She waits as a pair of tigers passes by. She holds up her index finger to keep her quiet before slinking around and grabbing both tigers by the head and slamming them together to knock the two of 'em out, nice and quick. A true action hero only kills when neccessary. Or when it's exciting. This time, she's happy just konking 'em out. Once this is done, she retrieves her gun again. "Are you alright?" She asks of Nagetta. "That bear seems pretty ruthless."

MEANWHILE

Shida's head jerks--that gasp! Her eyes flash towards Ping.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't need to draw out weapons, which makes it even easier to sneak one by at least. She lets Avira do the fore talking for now, watching the men leaving... She doesn't mind that there's less of them, the otehrs will probably catch them up as well. "We're not good enough for you? You'd like it if there was more of us maybe?" Well that will be granted soon enough. She cracks her knuckles a bit as she looks at the 'bandit king'. Well, pandas. She's seen worse, and certainly left some in worse shape too.

"So how is this going to go, peacefully surrender or we need to mellow you down a bit at first?"

CHIEF has posed:


The bandits heading out didn't see it coming. Discs go flying, kicks come out. They were quickly knocks out and taken down. The sound echos a bit through the forest on the winds.

Something the Bandit King picks up on, but chooses to ignore. He only chuckles at Avira. "I like you." He says calmly with a smile. "Perhaps I will spare you and make you my queen." He glances at Tifa and Shida. "And they could be your loyal--" He tried to think of the right word. "--Servants?"

He then grins. "Or-- perhaps something else, hmm?" Yes, this panda was a womanizer. He also didn't seem very concerned about the fact he could be surrounded.

His eyes then glance over to Shida, before he raises a brow. "We don't exactly, choose what we become, though I am sure you would make an excellent teen cub."

He was about to reply to Tifa with a growl, when suddenly a Ping showed up in the light. The Panda man stands up straight before he chuckles softly. "Well, I guess I now understand why /I/ have to make a choice!"

He then places his hands on his hips. "Now what ever shall I do? Hmm... I am possible out numbered and things could be bad for me. Hmm. Hmm."

He then starts to walk away. He actually /looks/ concerned before he just chuckles softly. "Well. I think I know what I will do." He then turns to look at the four. "Yes indeed. Answer made up." He looks then to Tifa, "I think I will.."

He then suddenly charges at the group. "KILL YOU ALL!" he roars out, before getting down surprising low and spinning out with a kick. If the kick didn't get them, the wave of air may! It does indeed seem the Bandit King knows some rather mystic like kung fu moves. He then lets out a minor muffle, "..and she had such a beautiful face." Though which she he was referring too may be a mystery that will forever remain.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
A kung-fu panda?! Well she certainly have seen it all (well noet quite, but this is new). Well, fist for fist, she's not going to lose to a leaf-eating fatso anyway!

She wasn't expecting the first kick, but she manages to keep her balance still, taking her fighting stance. "So you know martial arts, let's see how you measure up to Zangan's style then!" Not really kung fu, but she can show what she can do. Her movements are not that gaceful, the zangan style is mostly a hard hitting style after all, but the whole point is taking opponents not, not being pretty at it. Although, with that dress...

A set of punches, working on distabilizing the panda's limbs, followed by a few strong kicks, first the left leg and then the right one, managing to switch her gravity center expertly as she delivers the beat down.

TRON has posed:
TRON barely has enough time to catch his Disc when the Bandit King decides to go on the offensive. Welp, at least the majority of bandits are dealt with! He charges out of the brush, ducking through the tents and finding himself behind the panda.

Good.

Instead of announcing his presence, he instead lets his Disc fly with a sharp snap of his wrist arcing it skywards. He follows up with a lash outwards with his wooden staff, then his silver Disc arcs back for a return--and the panda may be on its return path.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta turns a bit red at Umi's comment. Was she being flirted with? She didn't fully understand human behavior sometimes. "My father rescued me when I was young..." She cringes not really wanting to remember what happened to her mother. She stares at the other animal-people rushing in, trying to stop as many in their tracks as she can.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is done with the bandits in short older and she looks about to see whom else might be there. She narrows her eyes for a moment at the king of bandits this panda has certainly made quite the grizzly situation that really the basics can no longer bear. She's just want to end the trouble making he's causing. Still he's acting like he's got some sort of trump card.

The's no time to waste here she issues several commands upon herself and is ready to really step her game up.

"I'm sure the Imperial guard would love to have some words with you."

Ping has posed:
"A shockwave!?" Ping lets out with a hoarse breath as wall of wind crashes against him. At his hip, a cricket holds onto the bars of his cage frantically, lest he be blown away. Tifa's sudden rush into the fray inspires another gasp but spurs him to action, too. Drawing his sword, he quickly dashes toward the nefarious bear. The odds are against the creature, it must have some trick up its sleeve. Ping stays weary.
He drives in and stand strong at Tifa's side. He nods his head toward her confidently, communicating his commitment to this fight. His family's blade dances in his hands, moving as if it were weightless leaf whirling in the wind. He lashes out several time, a flurry of dazzling strikes.

Avira has posed:
Fingers start to curl around the hilt of the Spine as Avira suppresses a shiver of the real deal located in her back. "Queen, huh. Tempting." Avira sounds pretty un-tempted. Barely concealed disgust maybe! Signal. SIGNAL TIME. Avira starts waving her hands a little when the bear looks away from her.

"Sounds like he might need to be mellowed, Tifa." Avira says cheerfully, apparently all too happy to fight this guy now. Ping shows up and Avira pauses, looking curiously at the unfamiliar face. An imperial soldier? So the army here was doing something about this guy. She had to wonder if there were more soldiers here, though, that were also surrounding the camp.

The Spine slides out. Avira dashes forward at the exact same time that the panda lunges forward. "Go ti-oooof." The massively larger bandit king collides squarely with Avira and she's nailed solidly in the stomach by the incoming kick. She tumbles backwards, landing on her back, and lays there dazed for a few seconds.

Rolling over, she pulls herself up into a crouch and wisely does not charge in close to the kung fu panda a second time. Her strikes remain at a distance, first a very weak ice spell aimed at the ground beneath the bandit king. Two slashes, not unlike the burst of air that followed after his kick, follow.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"Oh, well--maybe." Shida says. Though she's really mostly just being silly, she'd rather be human than turn into an animal. Even if Ami is sending DO WHATEVER signals over the mental link. She is distracted by Ping, and as such is an easy target for that wave of wind. She tumbles back-- hitting the ground amateurishly. She's not really the fighter than Umi and Omi are. Really, she's not really sure what her talents are.

She stumbles up dizzily and adds, "We meet again, though it wasn't this one that met you last time?" She waves over to Ping and jogs towards him, perhaps hoping to use him as a strapping young lad to protect her or somesuch. If nothing else, she'd rather fight from a distance than in the range of bear claws.

Umi might be flirting. Or she might just be trying to be friendly. ENcourage Nagetta to speak up more, more assertive--lord knows what's going on in Umi's mind. She might not even know herself.

She helps Nagetta out in cutting down on reinforcements, sending lightning bolts at em as they pass by, trying to stun em or knock em out with quick jolts.

"Aww, it's nice to have a father. We do not have parents, persay." Umi says cheerfully. "What was he like?, The Network inquires."

CHIEF has posed:

The Bandit King manged to avoid Shida's attack with a quick side step. Glad to know she was knocked back.

However as Tifa comes in, he was not expecting this, or he was distracted by that dress. Very possible! So her fists slams him right in the jaw, then right in the gut with an 'ouf', before her kick spins him right into the air. That looked like it hurt. He then lands down in a roll, before getting back up in his feet.

The Bandit King only has enough time to avoid the disc once, he uses his arm to block the blow of the staff, but gets smacked by the disc on the return, which actually goes down low and almost trips him up. That was not something he saw every day. What a unique weapon. The king wants!

Nagetta comes into the fight, this causes him to blink for a moment. She was not one of /his/. This moment of confusion was enough for Ping to take advantage of this situation. The Panda is caught by the swift sword blows. Smashing against his chest plate armor rather deep, and then cutting across his arm. He snarls in pain, before staring directly at the warrior.

Then came in the ice attacks, which slams him across the ground, before the wind slams him back. His claws dig into the earth, before his eyes narrow. He gives a snarl in annoyance before letting out a feral roar that almost had a slight human war-cry ring to it.

Sadly Deelel's comment goes ignore, but her presence does not. For all that she says, she just gets a look. It seems the Panda's 'playness' has been taken out of him.

Then comes in lighting? This would not do. The Bandit King, quickly back flips, and then slams his foot paw on a shield that was probably stolen, letting the metal shield take the impact for him. How impressive though. Someone who could master the elements.

The Bandit King then swings around and catches the shield before he gets into a defensive stance. "Now my turn." He says with his eyes narrowed.

He then leaps into the air, before sending the sheild sailing down, letting it collide with his multitude of opponents, before he springs around to slam into the ground, creating another shockwave from the impact, before moving between them all and striking out with rapid pressure point moves.

For a Panda-man, he sure did know how to move and move around he did!

Avira has posed:
It seemed very unfair that something so large could be so darn agile. "Whew! That didn't go quite as planned! But at least the rest of his guys took off! Now let's show this panda who is boss!"

The shield is thrown downward and Avira leaps backwards at an angle, barely evading the flung projectile. Shortly afterwards, she jumps at precisely the right time that puts her into the air high enough to evade the shockwave.

When she lands, the panda is suddenly up in her face, striking at her with meaty paws, aiming at weak points she didn't know she had. The Bandit King isn't allowed to touch any of them as Avira ducks and dives around the paws before slapping him across the knuckles with the Spine in retaliation.

"Hey! Hands off!!" She yelps, hopping backwards out of range.

Nagetta has posed:
"There was some arguments between us, but he was understanding...I don't know how many humans would take in a lamia." She's a bit distracted as the Bandit King attacked them. He certainly could move, and she's impressed by the way he jumps. It looks like Nagetta's going to have to help fight, her friends were in trouble.

"I have to stop you..." She sounds heistant but springs at the panda with her spear extended. She does her best to hinder his mobility as the they surround him.

TRON has posed:
TRON catches his Disc and falls back to a defensive stance, only to see the Bandit King throw his shield much as the Program throws his Disc. Instinctively he shifts to block, but the edge catches his unarmored side--leaving a deep gash that glows with almost bluish light around the edges, a few glass-like blocks flying in its wake. His armor protects him from the pressure-point strikes and he backs out of range before more damage could be done.

Avira was right. This armor /is/ nice.

He drives his staff into the ground just deep enough for it to stand on its own, then he removes his white Disc from his back. He's not entirely sure if this will work... but there's nothing left to lose, really.

TRON spins on his heel, throwing his white ring-like Disc in a long arc towards Tifa, Avira, and Ping. Once it reaches the apex of its arc, it emits a pulse of light--not enough to blind, but it seems to provide a boost of power that they may be able to use.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"That's strange, lamias seem cool." Umi tells Nagetta. "Of course you are the only lamia we know!"

Umi jumps in shortly after Nagetta, staying close to her for whatever reason (FLIRTING?? OR IS IT THE HAT? SUCH MYSTERIES). "Seems it's always a hubbub when we meet, though last time it was Imi not this one, but The Network is happy to work alongside you." She pulls Shida a bit by the arm to pull her away from the panda. She gestures with a hand, ionizing the air around the panda bandit (pandit?) before unleashing a large electrical eruption from her hands, aiming for the center of the panda's body!

Shida makes @_@ faces.

Ping has posed:
Ping is a little confused by Shida's greeting but nods his head regardless. He waves at her with his free hand, gesturing for her to get behind him. He takes a resolute stance between her and the mad bear, dancing with his sword as if it were ball instead of a battle. There is beauty in his light, effortless movements, but deadly force as well as strikes rain down on the bear's armored body.
As his belt, a cricket has clung to his cage's bars to keep from being dislodged, but that is the least of his cares. His antenna stand on end, straight as pins, and he gazes up at the furious and beautiful form of Tifa beside him. If that little bug weren't in love before, he is now, watching the woman work her business. And business is good. The cricket rubs its legs together, playing an up-tempo battle motif to accompany Tifa's attacks.
Ping proves his training with expert strikes, attempting to use the dance of his blade to corral and corner the dancing bear.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart must admit that this panda is fighting good. He has skills. While she manages to get a few good hits in, he clearly doesn't flinch too much from it either. And the strike back is fast and furious. She manages to deflect most of the damage from the crash, but still gets a efw good bruises from it.

"I don't know how you can train a panda for martial arts like this, but I am impressed." She has to admit to it at least. But doesn't mean she's not going to give him a good taste of what she can do. She rushes in, first slamming into it shoulder first, hoping to knock the wind out of it a bit, enough for her to slip around, arms wrapping around the black and white bear... and in a less impressive display of force than lifting a hydra, she brings the panda crashing down backward, head first into the ground.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is ignored yet not ignored, her words are but her presence is not. The asic seems actually amused still as she's attacked she'll leap uop anf shifts away, she never even manage to land a finger on her. She keeps tabs on the others whom are fighting and everyone seems to be on their feet still or tail in Nagetta's case. Tron is also showing signs upf either new skills or upgreades that he's aquired. She's not sur which but she can't doubt it's not working. Ping is doing a fiarly good job at trying to control the bear and Deelel will make use of it she leaps in lands on her hands kicks for the beats' far and flips away.

"You don't need to be so ursine about this!"

CHIEF has posed:

The Panda met his match. Avira was indeed a woman he really could have come to like. She slaps his hands away and he shakes his hand before he grins. "Feisty." Now back to work!

As he spins himself around he finds the snake woman striking out with her spear, he attempts to move around it, but it slashes him across the backside, slashing one of the leather pieces apart that held the breast-plate armor on. Then she seems to almost trip him up, as he tries to flip away, but almost fails at that thanks to her quick serpentine movements.

"You may try." He says calmly to Nagetta.

Though the electro-static causes some minor issues for the Bandit King, the electric blasts come in once more. He gives another snort, catches his shield and uses it once more as a deflection tool. He was very tempted to just throw it at that one. Just to maybe end this electrical play. Though his shield was starting to get a nice scorch mark. Made one wonder how long he could keep using it for that.

This time the Panda man was ready for Ping. He quickly used the shield to block the incoming sword blows with a quick step of his own. His feet moving with quick fluidly, before spinning around with the final connect. However this left him open for Tifa, who slammed into him rather hard, the blows pushed him back to almost knocking him head over heals. He spits some blood over to the side before gazing at her. "My dear, I am not a panda and my training is a long one! Perhaps if you were not attacking and joined me, you may have received that.. special.. treatment as well."

Always the flirt.

However here came in Deelel, striking him in the face with a good kick and knocking him clearly back. He rolls a bit before he slides back up to his feet. His claws digging into the ground in order to halt his slide back. He chuckles softly. "Oh, I bet you think your a funny one back where you come from."

He then twirls the shield into the air, before he catches it and then kicks up some dust into the air, reaching out and catching it. "Now let me teach you a trick I learned. Try to keep up." he then huffed out the dust from his hands, before reaching into his pouch opening up several vials before tossing them out. Then with what seemed like a dance moves, he breaks each of the vials sending the powder outward toward the group in an almost fog.

There was then nothing before using the cloud of 'war', he suddenly strikes out for each of them in different methods. Some with kicks, some with the shield, others with punches, and a few being sent right for the tents. When it was all over he twirled around and landed in center of the ground, the impact clearing out the fog completely for the time.

TRON has posed:
TRON catches his white Disc and recombines it with this silver Disc, rather surprised that his Disc trick actually worked.

The Bandit King doesn't give him time to muse on /how/ it worked, though. The strange fog obscures his view, leaving him open for attack, and the panda capitalizes. TRON gets bashed just off of his feet as the shield slams into him, then a kick straight to the chestplate sends him flying backwards into a (thankfully empty) tent, which collapses over him.

He is not down long, though. The silver Disc flies from the fallen canvas, edge humming ominously as it arcs to uppercut the Bandit King. TRON follows quickly behind, grabbing his staff as he passes, and he throws his white Disc to follow the silver one. He then snaps his arms out to the sides, drawing his Discs back to himself--and hopefully get another strike in on the Bandit King.

Nagetta has posed:
"How many of you are there?" Nagetta sounds a bit confused, she's seen several of them around. Her attention's mainly on the Bandit King but she manages to get that out there. She springs upwards once again, she's a better fighter in the air after all. Her spear is pointed downwards at the opening in the armor, as she tries to drain the lifeforce away from him as she falls.

Avira has posed:
"You have no idea." Avira sneers back, hopping backwards a second time and allowing other people to take advantage of his distraction to pile on the whuppins. Such as Tifa's pretty impressive martial arts. Though Avira's been in several fights alongside the barmaid, those moves never ceased to amaze her. Given the fact that Tifa was currenly pulling them off in that dress at the moment, Avira was doubly impressed.

Ow. Bear puns. OW.

The powder is released and Avira's visibility drops to 'very little'. She can barely see a few inches in front of her and, recognizing this, tries to fall back to relying on sound and touch to feel her way through-

She gets no time to try the Jedi thing, the panda man coming at her fast and furious through the fog, slamming into her repeatedly at all different angles with big, meaty punches. The final blow sends her reeling and teetering through the fog and into a tent. A few seconds are spent flailing in the material, which winds up with her knocking it over completely. Eventually, she fights her way out of the fabric.

As she throws the last bit of canvas off of her, the air around her seems to pulse. Very faintly, a strange silvery aura can be seen clinging to the outline of her form. With a burst of speed, she charges for him, diving in low as she approaches, somehow trying to get underneath him and rolling him back over her shoulders, dumping him to the ground. As he falls, her right leg slams out behind her in a vicious back kick.

Whirling on him immediately, Avira chases him down, unloading a rapid flurry of blows with the Spine that become very hard to read. Striking at such a fast pace, she might actually manage to 'juggle' him into the air before abruptly letting him fall.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Umi is clobbered once by the bear. It's a punch so it just knocks the wind out of her, but when she sees a clawing swipe going for Nagetta, she actually dives in the way, getting caught upside the head, thin red lines ripping across her face as she spins around and then collapses to the ground. That...that looked like it hurt like the dickens.

"cGhkk..." Umi says, "You okay...Nagetta?" She presses her hands to the ground, struggling to stand. "Compared to Cronus... Compared to him this ain't nothin'! A true action hero doesn't let their comrades get hurt!" She manages to stand herself up, wobbling faintly as blood drips around her nose and lips. "Shidaaa..." She says. "Lets use our secret technique.... ganging up unfairly!"

"Right!" Shida says. "...But Shida of the Network inquires if you are really okay?"

"Of course..." Umi wobbles, flailing an arm to keep herself from tumbling over. "I got this. We got this."

Taking in a deep breath, they fan their hands forward and unleash two streams of electrical power, trying to catch him betwene two streams--like ghostbusters!

"That Ping really is powerful...and swift. Perhaps like...a coursing river? Shida of the Network tries a metaphor, unbidden."

Ping has posed:
Ping cries out, "No!" as he sees Emi buffetted by the panda's seemingly inexhaustable attacks. For a brief moment, a look of hoplessness crosses his face, as if Emi's injury were the first domino to fall in a cascading series of calamities. He shakes his head, "No!" That is what the Heartless feed on and he won't let his heart fall to them.

After the bolt of lightning, he dashes between Emi and the furious bear, putting himself between it and Emi to intercept any attacks. He holds his sword defiantly in front of him but an expression of serenity illuminates his face. He closes his eyes and whispers:

"Ancestors... Protect Me."

There is a sudden flash and a shower of sparks from beneath the stew pot. Colorful swirls of sparkling embers cartwheel through the air and billowing plumes of smoke flood out across the ground.

"Did -Someone- ask for a GUARDIAN!? I do think someone asked for a guardian. I heard someone ask for a guardian!" The fire casts a sillouette on the smoke and a giant curling serpent reaches up, thrusting its sinewy arms above its head. "Oh, are they in luck, because I am the meanest, fire-breatingest Guardian there is! Nobody's got this Guardian thing down like..." A tiny red serpent pokes its head out of the smoke, revealing it to be one-tenth the size of its shadow. "Oh!"

One of the embers kicked up by Mushu's display tumbles through the air and lands in a chink in Ping's armor. His cricket bounds out to try to blow it out, but it's too late.

"Noooooo!" Ping cries out, but it's not in defiance, it's in pain! He races around in a circle around the fighting bear, waving his sword wildly, frantically. A trail of smoke coarses behind him as his armor seems to have caught on fire!

Deelel has posed:
Deelel pauses as a small creature appears yes there's at least one dragon in the land of dragons not that she really gets the concept of dragon. Well for now she's likely going to ask at this point but Ping and their companions sure are doing quite a bit but catching fire? No user on fire, that is bad. She'll have to do something about that when she gets a chance if Ping doesn't put out the flames by then.

Tron is also hard at worka gains the bandit king and his dic attacks are prehaps giving her an opening to get in really close on the king. Deelel makes a break for it with her disk she'll use it up close with a number of strik she's clearly not trying to kill the king but clearly she's going to try to hit him in what vunrable points she knows users have. Joints and the like, she'll stop ith the disk and just try to give him a boot to teh head to finish up the assault.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head at the flirting bear. She's never been one to be picked up easily anyway "No can do, you're not my type." She answers flatly "Beside, I'm strong enough as I am, I don't need your enhancements." She glares at him, taking a step back when attacked again. Its wearing her down, but the panda is also not in a great shape anymore at this point, so she keeps on the offense... and she got just the thing to knock some into it, and then some.

She opens up with a flurry of punches, nothing too fancy, so she can open up his guard. But that's where she was hdiing the real surprise. The last punch comes in to strike true, supercharged with her ki, releasing it on impact into a small explosion of energy. She uses the push back of the explosion to jumpbackward, putting herself in better defensive position.

CHIEF has posed:

After the fog was cleared, the Panda Bandit King was not expecting to hear the strange hum from the weapon. Now was he expecting to suddenly see the discs fly out with such aggression. They strike out in a fury, tearing into him and knocking him straight into the air with the massive juggling force that TRON was laying into him.

While the Bandit king is in the air, the Serpent lady takes advantages of this it seems and her spear not only slices into him, but slams him right back into the very ground below, as she follows him down draining energy right out of him, before he is able to roll himself away.

He actually looked a little off balance for a moment, before he gave a shake of his head. Actually because of this dizziness he wasn't sure what he was seeing was right. Was that a little fire-breathing lizard? Did it just light that male soldier on fire? Just what was going on here?! "...huuuuh..." He shook his head a few times. "...I don't even.." It was really confusing, all he could do for a moment was watch Ping run around on fire. It was-- very confusing. Yet thanks to such an odd display, it kept them out of his wake. Perhaps that was some new Chinese training the Imperials started?

However in this state of 'hurp durp'. He suddenly found himself being caught by the fiery Ping who /rushed/ right at him. The Panda was quickly caught up in the fiery fury of blows! The sword slashing the armor right in half and then cutting into his arm with a nice slash, before he just got toppled over!

He laid there for a moment, thinking about getting back up, until here came Ping again. He stared with one eye wider then the other. His other eye twitched and he just got /ran/ right back over again. Which he laid there for a just a moment.

He slowly picked himself up, grunting and shaking his head to help get his sense back before staring around, once he rose back up. It was about then he noticed something odd in the corner of his eye, a strange glow. The woman who-- perhaps was stealing his heart? Maybe. He was very impressed by her. Avira's form glowing is what got his attention out of his stopper. He adjusted his shield once more that he was keeping on hand, before he noticed the figure was racing right for him. "Hm."

As Avira swung in he quickly kicked up a pole from the ground and used to block one of the blows, then the next and the next. There was loud clacking in the air which each blow. Her strikes slowly starting to dive deeper and deeper into the bark. It was actually a very beautiful combat dance between the two. He on the offensive, she on the defensive.

Then as she attempted to swing in the air, he moved to block the blow, which started the shaft and all he could was continue to flip up in the air, before landing up on a tent stake pole that still remained with one foot landing where he balanced up there. He was actually breathing a bit heavily before he grinned. There was a bit of blood on his white fur of his face. He was being beaten up pretty good by this ground and he just started to chuckle. "I have not had this hard of a fight in some time! This is wonderful!"

However time is boast was /quickly/ over, as suddenly the lighting streams came in from both directions. He tried to back flip off, tossing his shield once more in the way. However the Legion had learned, and this the Panda Bandit King was caught in the 'streams'. It surged his body up in the air with electrical force that seem to freeze him in place with his teeth gritting tightly.

This is when Tifa comes in. Her strikes come in just as he was about released for the electrical shock. They strike him several times in the air. The blows were impossible to block, he was not able to recover quick enough to even try. Each fist striking into his body, each impact causing him to freeze up and finding it impossible to even try to break away. The next impact slams him with the Ki force and sends him sailing right into his cauldron, which almost knocks it over, and then right over and right into his throne. Which he impacts with such force it splinters it apart.

Deelel then moves in trying to make use of the chance while he is down. She was quick and nearly on top of him just as he was trying to rise up, however with some how finding whatever strength he had left, he used what was left of his throne as a blocking point between himself at the program, trying to catch his breath.

As she moved into melee range, he quickly deflected the attacks, before almost tripped right over and crashing down to the ground. Struggling to get up as he coughed again, spitting up a bit of blood for Tifa's earlier assault.

The King was surely almost done for. He didn't really look in that good of shape. His eyes glanced up to see the Cauldron cracked and a bit of the soup starting to spill out form the crack. His eyes going wide. "..no..." He started to crawl toward it. "No no.. my endless soup.." He watched as the crack grew larger, before all of the soup then crashed out almost in a wave, splashing him right in the face and rolling him across the ground.

Soon the cauldron now empty crashed to the ground, before rolling a bit across the ground. There was something in the cauldron that sparked with a moment light. Something hidden in the metal that didn't belong.

As for the Bandit King he laid there, watching the soup dry up into the ground, before he tried to scoop up what was left, but that too faded into his hands. "..no.."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel finds the leader is a bit faster than he thought and he's able to block her strikes against him but that matters little in the long run of things however. Her allies lay into the Bandit King and just end up bring him down and she watches the cauldron be destroyed. She looks happy with that and moves up to loom over the Bandit King to make sure he doesn't think about trying to escape.

Deelel rerturns he disk to the back it might be mistaken for a charckam from the looks of it. "You have a date with the Imperial authrorites." She'll leave someone else to check the cauldron.

Nagetta has posed:
"Are you alright Umi?" It was Nagetta's turn to ask. It looks like the bear had managed to hit her hard. Her attention turns towards Deelel. "Is it a good idea to turn him over like this?" There's no telling what they might do to the Bandit King. They had tried to drive her off, and the lamia didn't even do anything. Plus, they had beat him pretty badly already, it's not like he's going to be able to do much else.

Ping has posed:
Ping continues to run about, smoke pouring off his armor. His focus seems to have wavered from the Bandit King, however, his speeding course sending him winding through the camp, knocking this and that over. A small, bright red lizard is chasing after him, carrying a bucket of water.
"Ping, come on, that's no warcry! You're going to embarass yourself in front of the other soldiers, man!" the lizard calls after Ping.

TRON has posed:
TRON catches his Discs as they return to him, recombining them into one and locking it back to its docking bay between his shoulder-blades. He grimaces just for a moment as the gash in his side fragments a little more, but he ignores his injuries for now. At least the armor held up quite well!

He takes a moment to watch Ping, his head tilting faintly in confusion, then his gaze regards the small red... dragon? Looks more like a lizard to him, but who is he to judge? "Hold on--stand still." He trots over to catch up, picks up a pail of water Mushu is carrying, and dumps its contents--and possibly Mushu himself--over the poor Chinese warrior to (hopefully) put out the fire before it gets any worse.

Perhaps not the best solution, but he didn't spot any other options to put it out quickly.

He does not seem amused at poor Ping's expense, only concerned for his welfare. "Are you alright?"

Avira has posed:
The strange shimmer was something Avira herself has never really noticed on herself and continues to not to. What she does notice is the large amount of exertion she expends coming at the bandit king. As they trade blows, sweat breaks out all over her skin. Droplets fly through the air as steel meets the pole repeatedly, gradually chewing through the wood.

He finally breaks away from her and she stares up at him, breathing heavily. Gasping for breath, "F..fast...he's so big but so /fast/." Near as she could tell, Avira didn't actually hit him.

Thankfully, Emi puts an end to all that, followed by Tifa who simply lays waste to him with superb technique. Witnessing all this merely reminded Avira that she still had quite a ways to go herself.

That Imperial soldier that had joined the battle with them...careens into camp. Avira observes this and what seems to be some kind of tiny talking lizard chasing after him. "W..what...I don't even.."

Shaking her head, something glinting from the cauldron catches her eye and she starts to edge away, keeping an eye on the Bandit King just in case he manages to get back up. Avira seems pretty wary about going near him!

Curiously, she peeks into the cracked cauldron.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"Yeah, I'm fine." Umi says before flopping onto her back.

Shida notices the cauldron's shinies but seeing Avira sneaking over, determines they don't really need to check it out personally. They trust Avira with whatever's there. They do, however, move a bit close in case they need to throw her away from a bomb or something. There've been a lot of bombs lately.

Staring up at the sky. She lets out a long 'woooooooooooo'.

She turns her head towards Nagetta. "Hey hey..."

She pauses.

"Was I cool? The Network inquires (actually just me)"

Ping has posed:
Ping races past Tron. When he gets splashed with the water, he tumbles forward and lands on his rear with an "Ooof!' He wrinkles his nose and gives the little lizard a stern look before realizing who's saved him. And what a dashing hero he is. Ping looks up at Tron with wide, sparkling eyes and an expression of astonishment. Mushu scampers up and puts a hand under his chin to close Ping's mouth before dashing off into the forest to disappear.

Ping blushes brightly and averts his gaze for a moment, "Yeah, thank you. I'm fine. I'm sure it didn't even leave a mark." He rubs his rear end lightly, even as he looks up at Tron from the ground. "Thanks for helping me... My name's Mu..." Her eyes flash open wide, "Moosely Ping, I mean mostly Ping. My name's mostly Ping. I mean, the whole thing, that would include my family name, but you can call me Ping. It's much... shorter... than the whole thing..." He's rambling.

CHIEF has posed:

The Bandit King continues to lay there, coughing again. His body starts to shift and change, so do all the rest of the bandits out in the forest. They all start to become human again. It was with a glow of mystic energy that seem to maybe have done this to them.

The Bandit King looked to be in his late twenties, maybe even early thirties. Though perhaps mid thirties if pushing it. Not what you were expecting to find from someone who was the leader and he was actually a very good looking guy. Well in shape, swimmer like body. He just laid there, before he stared up at the group. Falling silent before lowering his head once more.

The cauldron itself was rather black, but their was a shard within the very metal. A very odd shard that was matching the favorite color of the observer. Who ever was looking at the shard, it matched their favorite color.

Was this-- a world shard?

Nagetta has posed:
"You don't look cold, but we can go some place warmer after we finish here." That's the only meaning of the word cool Nagetta knows. She watches as the Bandit King reverts to normal. "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about him being treated fairly now." The lamia doesn't have any objections to bring him in.

Her attention then turns towards the broken cauldron and the dark (at least in her eyes) shard. "Was this what caused them to transform?"

Avira has posed:
Being a tiny person, Avira can practically crawl inside that giant cauldron in order to reach the shiny thing. "Hey everyone, there's a green gem in here-" she says, reaching to touch the piece embedded in the metal.

For a brief few seconds, that silvery aura returns around Avira as her fingertips brush over the stone.

Abruptly, she pulls back, "Uhhh...wow, we need to take this with us." Backing out, she stands and turns around, surprised to see that the panda man was no more. "...maybe?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks as she sees the light from the cauldron, approacing it "... a world shard? Is that what turned all of these people into animals you think?" She wonders about that... She doesn't really need to carry it, she knows its going to be put to good use by the people here at least, especially if Avira takes it. "This is just odd.

TRON has posed:
TRON chuckles softly, letting Mushu scamper into the woods without a second glance. Surely those kinds of lizards are common in this world? He assumes the blushing is in embarassment of the situation, absolutely clueless to the admiration (and, perhaps, the beginnings of a crush).

"You're welcome, Ping, and thank you for helping us subdue the bandits." He offers a hand to Ping to help him up, at least to get him off of the ground if nothing else. "My name is Alan. A pleasure to meet you." He finds it's far safer to give his alias when in an unfamiliar world. Safer for everyone, and less explaining to do.

Don't mind that strange gash in his side, it's perfectly normal for an injury to look like that. Really!

His attention turns back to the subdued Bandit King, already turned human again, also catching sight of what seems to be an aquamarine glint within the cauldron. He's too far away to clearly hear any conversations, though. "Avira? What did you find?"

Emi Dennou has posed:
Umi blinks at Nagetta. And then she laughs, makes her sides hurt. She rolls up into a crouch, looking over to 'Alan' and Ping, then back to Nagetta. "I more meant... aww nevermind."

Shida says "Woah, that's pretty co--" She glances to Nagetta, back to Avira. "Interesting! I hope it doesn't turn you into an animal." Avira has had enough metamorphices in her life, after all. She spins on her heel and bobs her head at Ping. "Nice to-"

Is that a blush?? She must be imagining it if the manliest of all men--no wait, maybe it's because he IS the manliest of all men, that he can blush with no fear!

"We have to catch you alone sometime," She tells him. "And have a proper talk."

Ping has posed:
With TRON's help, Ping gets back to his feet and sheathes his sword at his hip. He's still blushing and still avoiding eye contact and is completely relieved that his attention is turned to the glittering gem in the couldron.

He uses the moment to turn his back on TRON and regain his focus. He gives himself a little pep-talk, "You're a soldier, a pretty good one, act the part. No more gushing and rambling..."

This is a private moment, clearly, and so the little cricket at Ping's hip bounces down out of its cage to go sit at the side of Tifa's foot and inspect the shard with her. Seeing that she hasn't reacted violently, the cricket shuffles a little closer. If not lucky in love, the lucky cricket is tenacious.

When Ping's attention finaly comes back to present events, he's greeted by Shida. His eyes widen and he instantly agrees to her request, though his mind hasn't processed it, yet. He nods his head, "Oh yeah, sure." He coughs and drops his voice into a lower register, "Sure, anytime." His flit to the couldron and his brows narrow slightly with curiousity. To him, it appears as green jade.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks as she gets the lucky cricket on her shoulder this time.

c.c;; "Back for more are you?" She blinks as she looks down and sees that the lucky 4-leaf clover that the cricket had tried to offer her earlier got stuck to the cheongsam, on her chest. She plucks it out... and brings it to the cricket "... yours?" c.c;

Ping has posed:
The little cricket rubs its legs together, immitating the sound of a violin. If the cricket could sing, the words would be: When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.

Nagetta has posed:
"What's so funny?" Nagetta looks completely confused as Umi laughs. "I wonder what it effect it would have on me?" She's already half snake to begin with, would it fully transform her? Maybe one of the others should grab it. She's not sure what exactly it does anyways, besides seemingly turn people into animals.

Avira has posed:
"I don't think it will...but..." Avira kicks the cauldron, then rolls it a little, "I get the feeling it's actually a world shard, TRON." She pauses, "I'm not sure to which world, though. It's just a feeling." she says to Shida.

With a grunt, she rolls the cauldron, "Can anyone break this apart so it's easier to take the shard back?" She looks expectantly at Tifa for this one. Maybe she can suplex the cauldron into pieces?

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks to Avira, nodding "I can do that." She reels a mighty punch in, strike right at the cauldron, like a karateka would break a pile of bricks. This isn't too hard for her, if its made otu of clay at least. Its if metal... well it should break too, but might hurt her hand a bit more.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel does not notice TRON has a fan at ths point, nope she doesn't she does however see the world shard and her eyes go wide. "Wait ist hst what I think it is?" She looks now back to Png and since she never got to introduce herself. She's going to keep an eye on the bandit but she does moves to secure tue bandiot namely finding something to tie him up.

"I'm Deelel and I assume your going to want to take him back with you Ping?"

It's good the shard's well in hand now and the bandits have been stopped all and all a good day.

CHIEF has posed:

That Cauldron shatters under Tifa's mighty blow. The Shard clinking to the ground gently, now free from its holding. At least that was easy and rather painless! Well, at least getting the shard out, the fight on the other hand may have been a completely different story for some.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"Aw well if you insisted." Umi stands herself up. "This one was using a colloquial version of the word 'cool', so as to mean like 'awesome' or 'incredible' except perhaps with slightly less power behind it, one level below incredible, The Network sort of explains." She dusts herself off, she doesn't seem bothered by the big claw wound in her face--must look worse than it is, or she's running off adrenaline.

TRON has posed:
TRON walks over to the rest of the group, using his staff as a walking stick while using his free arm to cover the gash in his side. "Is it now?" He recognizes the shard from a display Merlin had shown in his hut... what was it now? A month ago? But is it for Manhattan or another world entirely?

Perhaps they will find out eventually.

Nagetta has posed:
"Oh yes, I would say that was cool if that's what you mean." Nagetta nods in agreement. "So this crystal leads somewhere else? How do you use it?" That was a good question. Her stomach growls a bit at that. "Well, maybe we can figure it out while we go get something to eat?" All this fighting and travelling has made the lamia hungry. She hasn't had a decent meal since she arrived here.

Emi Dennou has posed:
!!!

"Really??" Umi says, pumping a fist. "We're definitely buying you lunch." Sorry Emi, Nagetta charmed Umi and now she's going to feed her. "...What do you like to eat?" Yeah that's a thing, maybe. Oh sure, world shard, but Shida is overseeing that. If by overseeing one means letting Avira and Tifa do like all the work.

Nagetta has posed:
"I like most foods, when you've lived in a cave full of monsters you learn not to be picky." Nagetta smiles at that. "What do you like, Umi?" She asks the other girl the same question. The others seem to be handling things fine on their own anyways.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"WEll don't tell Will, but..." Umi looks around. "...This one doesn't actually like eating shoes that much." She's proud she managed it, but gosh eating shoes--it actually kind of blows! That Umi seems to think this is something of a secret probably is a testament to her nature. She does, in fact, appear to be missing a shoe at the moment...

"The Network likes to eat." She continues, realizes that's not really an answer, and then adds, instead, "All sorts of stuff. We've tried that sea salt ice cream recently, that was surprisingly good. Burgers, pizza--oh, those aren't that healthy, for healthy food I try to get a lot of corn and peas, some broccoli is nice too--and an apple a day keeps the doctor away, don'tcha know?"

Nagetta has posed:
"I don't think I've eaten burgers or pizza before. All those foods sound good though, except for shoes. That would be like eating my tail." Nagetta doesn't wear shoes of course and she's not sure why someone would eat them. She figures there must be a good reason and doesn't question it.

Emi Dennou has posed:
"I..it is?" Umi doesn't seem so certain that eating footwear is quite the same as eating your own lower body. But she doesn't know much about lamias? Maybe that's just really awesome pajamas?? "Then we should head to Traverse, they've got burgers there. I'm toooold that Manhattan pizza is superior so we have to get Manhattan back so you can eat Manhattan Pizza."

She nods sincerely.

Nagetta has posed:
"Well, shoes are usually leathery, and my tail is leathery. So I figure that would likely taste alike. Of course I'm not going to eat my tail, and I wouldn't try shoes unless if there was nothing else to eat." Nagetta thinks that makes sense at least. "That sounds good, people don't seemed so afraid of me in Traverse. See you later everyone." She waves to the others as she makes her way to Traverse with Umi.