Giselle felt guilty for not volunteering to stay behind, after all, she was the bard of the team, yet knew in her heart she would do poorly attempting to imitate Nancy among this all male fan club. She was used to singing and playing various instruments to rowdy drunken tavern patrons, not the huge number of well dressed theater patrons that Nancy drew. Thankful they had someone qualified to temporarily replace Nancy, Giselle had every confidence in both that stayed behind as all spent some brief minutes with hugs and well wishes promising to meet again as soon as possible before quietly following the real Nancy out the side, alley door of the Gearwork Goose. All of Crystania seemed strangely quiet.. possibly due to the excessive number of guards. There was no hope of avoiding them all, yet Nancy didn't even look like Nancy now and her team kept their eyes down appearing as if running a business errand. Quickly glancing at Raw she whispered quietly...

"I know, you are ready but try to look bored not excited."

Giselle sighs deeply and crosses her fingers for luck saying a quick, silent prayer as she straightens her shoulders preparing for anything on their arrival. Raw manages not to attract the attention of any of the numerous guards they pass yet most of the time their trip lead them through back alleys and past kitchens preparing meals for the wealthy. Kyo and Anasazi snatches a quick snack from a couple of the tables being prepared but Raw, like Giselle was too tense to even think of food. Finally the tunnel Nancy spoke of, a dark and dreary place with a dampness to the old stone walls and moisture on the ground that they carefully navigated as they made their way turning here and there so many times that Giselle was very thankful they didn't have to follow a drawing. Holding hands so not to get lost, they made a silent chain as they all anticipated the end of the tunnel. The team along with Nancy kept to their own thoughts, awaiting what was to come.

The fight begins

But what is this? Traitors were in their midst! Rats, guards, a Technomancer and a sibling of OneTwo?? Giselle hoped that Haneway and Clara remained safe at the tavern, because this might be the end for the rest of them. She pulls out her flute and begins to play a strange tune, haunting and quiet. Raw, in her excitement squees, "I finally get to stab things!" and attacks the technomancer, her movement so fast he has problems responding. He manages to pull out a strange U shaped device, which hums, and just as Raw's knife was about to penetrate his chest, it gets sucked away with a CLANG. "What is this?!" she screams. "You stop me from stabbing??" As fast as lightning, her foot spins up and around, hitting the technomancer square in the jaw. He reels for a second then crumples to the ground. She grabs the knife with the magnet still attached, and plunges it into his hand, twisting. "See what sorcery you can do with your hand now, magician!"

Nancy surprisingly shows preparedness, pulling out a small dagger hidden in her hand, and just as a guard reaches out, he then jumps back in surprise, wounded enough to run away...the fight suddenly gone from him. She laughs that such a large man was defeated by a little cut. "And they say women are the weaker sex! C'mon boys" she taunts the other guards. Meanwhile, Kyo uses her ranger stealth skills to sneak around in back of the other two. A quick kick to the back of the knees brings down the first, and while the second is distracted by the crying "owie, owie, owie, who kicked me??" Nancy runs up and holds her knife to his throat. "You don't really feel like fighting any more, do you?" The guard shakes his head No. "And you'd really like to go home now, right?" The guard nods. "Then do so." and he runs off, and Kyo ties up the one on the ground.

Meanwhile, Giselle's music has taken effect. The rats abruptly halt their advance and turn around to dart back where they came from, all at the rhythm of the flute, it's notes pure and clear. Once they're gone, Anasazi lays down a smelly powder in a big circle around them. "That should keep those vermin away. And, if the guards decide to come back, it's surprisingly flammable, hehehe."

No longer distracted by their own fights, the companions notice metal bits flying in the air around both cats, who are fighting tooth and metal claw. "We need to help him!" says Kyo. "But I can't hurt a cat -- how do we do this?"

Kyo watches the two cats fighting with growing despair. She knows she should despise Six but as a ranger she is bound to love all animals, even mechanical ones. Kyo checks her bag for anything that could stop the battling. She was just about the give up when she finds Tupsy's favourite toy, a bright red ball of yarn. Not having time to wonder whether this would work she threw the ball in the air towards the pair. OneTwo fortunately had his back to Kyo so he didn't see the yarn arching towards him but Six certainly did. His kitty impulses overcoming his senses, he ignored his opponent as he reached for the yarn. While Six was distracted OneTwo managed to strike the final blow, knocking Six to the floor in a senseless slump. With a swift glance at each other and a nod of understanding, the group moves in to pull OneTwo to safety as the other cat lays wounded in the darkening tunnel. Running as fast as they can, they arrive at the pirates more bedraggled and out of breath then wished yet all alive for the moment.

“Way to go OneToo” Kayara says after his spitting.

OneToo looks up at them, his face angry, if they hadn’t known about his past with Six, then at least they would have been able to guess OneToo hates him, now with them knowing about the past, all they could do was understand his feelings towards Six.

With Six talking to OneToo and the guards apparently listening to Six, no one really seems to watch Kayara, Kenny, Ilaera and Nancy at the moment.

“Those guards sure do their work well” Ilaera whispers to Kenny with a grin on her face, getting only a small smile back in return. Out of the corner of her eyes Ilaera sees Kayara is doing some of her magic. She’s not exactly sure what Kayara is doing, but to make sure Kayara can do just whatever it is she wants to do, Ilaera stops looking at her, to avoid any suspicion of her friend.

Kayara, being unnoticed by the guards is searching some of the pockets from the guards standing closest to her. She lets her hand slip in to try and see if there’s anything she could maybe use. She had already searched through at least five pockets when in the sixth she finds a little book, by the looks of the book it seems to contain letters. Kayara grabs the book and slips it in one of her own pockets.

In the meantime Kenny discusses with Ilaera what they can possibly do now. “One thing is certain” Ilaera says softly. “We can’t get out of this easily”. “We could maybe try and bribe a couple of the guards” Kenny whispers back to her.

Kenny goes around in his pockets, reaching out for some of the coins he has had in there for a while, then turns over towards one of the guards to try and bribe him with the coins. Before he can finish his sentence, the guard spits on the ground. “You think I’m a fool?” the guard asks angrily. Kenny turns around to Ilaera again, putting the coins back in his pocket. “Well, that didn’t go so well.

While making her way back to her friends, Kayara walks past one of the other guards, he doesn’t seem the brightest of them and then suddenly a plan starts to form itself in her mind. She grabs the book out of her own pocket and let it slip into the pocket of one of the other guards, making sure it’s a guard that’s standing close to the one she stole the book from. Then she walks over to Ilaera and Kenny.

“What did you do” Ilaera asks softly

“Maybe a way for us to escape all of this” Kayara whispers back. “Can you make them doubt each other maybe” she continues whispering.

“Doubt each other” Kenny asks her as quietly as he can.

“Yes, you know what I mean” Kayara says, a little bit too loud, making sure all the guards and Six look at her. Kenny and Ilaera are not sure if she was planning on talking so loud and they’re not sure if they should be happy about it too, by now they had the attention of every single guard in the tunnel.

Ilaera looked at Six and saw a frown (at least that’s what she thought it was) on his head. She knew that meant trouble for them.

“No, I really don’t know what you mean” Six replies to that, still with the frown on his head.

“You know” Ilaera said out loud. “I admire you for being such a close group, working so well together and apparently working well for the same cause. Normally you see that with a group this large there’s always at least one traitor in the group. But here you all are, working together and even us bribing you with our money doesn’t work”

The members of cosmic moon hear whispering sounds around them, coming from the guards.

“There actually might be someone in this group too and you just didn’t notice it yet, but then again, how would I know, it’s not like I met you before” Ilaera says with a grin.

Out of the corner of her eyes she sees how some of the guards are actually reaching for their pockets. She also sees how Six is coming towards her, she knows she has to act quickly to make them even more suspicious about each other.

With Ilaera distracting the guards and Six, Kenny reaches yet again for his pockets. During his travels he has collected several packets of fine powders. Although most of them are ingredients for potions that require time, which they don’t have, there are also some powders in there that are very useable. Saltpeter is one of the powders he has brought with him, which is known for being able to mess up any possible spells that might be casted, even able to cause critical errors once in a while which then results in a spell backfire. Kenny grabs a hold of the potion and throws it into the air, without even being noticed, cause of the confusion Ilaera was creating.

“Hasn’t there been anyone so far that missed something, might be something small, that you just thought you had maybe misplaced somewhere, but from which you were sure you actually didn't” Ilaera says, pausing her speech to the guards right at this point.

The whispering from the guards grows stronger and some of them aren't whispering at all anymore. One of the guards seems to be confused at the moment, stuttering that he in fact had been missing some things during the last couple of days.

“What did you just say” Ilaera said out loud. “You actually did miss some of your belongings?” making sure every single guard surrounding them hears it, making them all grab their belongings from their pockets to check if they still have everything they should.

“Wait!” One of the guards yells right at that point. “I’m missing my book”.

One of the other guards was holding up a book at that exact moment, quite insecure, not knowing how it even got there.

“You, you’re a traitor!” the first guards exclaims, making a run for the second guard to get his book back.

“Oh no, that can’t be” Kayara screams. “You were such a great group together, we couldn’t even bribe you!” with teary eyes, as if she was really shocked by the fact the guards had a thief among them.

Nancy, who was standing next to her also had tears in her eyes. “I would have never imagined there to be a thief among your own allies” she says.

“How can you ever trust each other again!” Ilaera yells.

The women’s cries over the group being torn apart and the group feeling that has shattered, create even more suspicion, hatred and confusion among the guards.

Trying to use this again, Kayara reaches for something in her pocket. A very long time ago she had been given a bracelet with a gem attached to it by a powerful mage she had encountered and saved, the gem could cause confusion to possible opponents she may meet along her travels. All she needed to do was grab the bracelet, speak out the word ‘hypno’ and all of the people surrounding her would forget what they were doing. Right at the moment she begins forming the word, she suddenly sees Kenny in front of her. She then remembers that the spell of the bracelet will work on everyone surrounding her, which includes her friend. With a sigh she puts away her bracelet again. She then walks a bit closer to Kenny and whispers his name. Kenny, who had been watching the fight between the two guards, looks up.

“You don’t happen to have more potions and things, that might help us, with you right” Kayara asks softly

“You know you’re talking to me right” Kenny responds. “I always have my things with me, what can an alchemist do without his special belongings”

“Any chance you could maybe use one to get us out of here?” Ilaera asks him.

“No need to even use one of the potions, would maybe take too long too” Kenny responds to her. “But I did keep the smoke ball you have given me” he continues with a wink.

Ilaera’s memories take her back to when she had ‘given’ him the smoke ball. It had been her plan for it to go off, as a little prank to show him she in fact can look out for herself, but that never happened since the smoke ball was discovered by Kenny long before it could even go off and Kenny had said he would keep it just in case, since you might never know. Apparently he had kept a hold onto it for a couple of months, since he recovered it from one of his pockets right at that moment.

“Grab each other’s hands” he said softly. ”As soon as this goes off, make sure to stick together and run for it as hard as we can in the direction of the exit” he whispers then.

“Wait!” OneToo says. “Aren’t we going to do anything about Six and the technomancer?”

Kayara looks across the room, where the technomancer seems to talk to himself.

“We might have a problem” Kayara tells her friends. “It seems that he is casting one of his spells” “No problem” Kenny grins. “But we sure need to make our way out of here fast”.

“Not at this moment OneToo” Ilaera says in response to the unanswered question from OneToo “but don’t you worry about that, there’s always tomorrow” she continues with a small wink to him.

Kenny then throws the ball as close to Six he can possibly can and within moments the smoke ball goes off and creates a large cloud of smoke inside the tunnels. The three friends, Nancy and OneToo run as hard as they can, pushing over some of the army rats in the process.

While trying to make their way out of the tunnels, they hear the technomancer indeed casting a spell. Because of the saltpeter Kenny had thrown around earlier, the spell doesn’t form itself correctly and only results in a large bang and a painful scream. The spell must have backfired, hitting either the technomancer itself, Six or one of his guards.

The smoke of the smoke ball makes it impossible for Six and his guards to follow them instantly, given them just enough time to reach the end of the tunnel. “What will happen when we reach the end of the tunnel” Kayara screams to her friends while running.

“No need to think about that now” Ilaera yells back. “Just run!” While running herself, she tries to look behind them and sees that Six is trying to follow them into the tunnel, being hindered by the smoke. “ Looks like the spell that was cast, hasn’t hit Six, since he seems to be alright” she yells to the others.

A minute of five later they seem to have reached the end of this tunnel with a small staircase at the end of it.

“What about Six and the technomancer?” OneToo asks them.

“We’ll just leave them for the time being” Kenny responds to him. “But don’t you worry, we’ll get to him again eventually”

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Eba Rose reach into her bag, Violet knows what is coming and turns just in time to avoid the flash.

Eba Rose exclaims, "Oh, dear!" and seems to fumble helplessly in her satchel. The Wildcards know this signal, and before she drops what seems an innocent ball of yarn, the group turns from her, shielding their eyes. The felines instinctively perk at the sign of the yarn, and Eba yells, "OneTwo!" and throws her cloak over them both, protecting them from the blinding flash when the ball of yarn hits the ground.

A few seconds later, Eba lifts the cloak and asks, "OneToo, you ok? I guess I should have warn you."

OneToo looks over at Eba and says, "Now that is some nice little trick there with the yarn. Most cats can't resist such a tempting toy. Thanks for protecting me from it. I guess I will now know in the future to be wary of your balls of yarn." Eba gives a cackle. "You never know about us old grandmas.... Sometimes it's for a scarf, sometimes, it's for a distraction."

Violet runs over to Eba Rose and helps her move OneToo out of any harms way. "I think he will be safe over here. Maybe stay here with him in case if he comes too before we are all done with these rats and that really gross technomancer." Eba nods in agreement and steps aside with OneTwo, staying clear of the fight.

Violet looks for Nancy and sees her hiding herself in a crevice. She runs towards her and points her to where Eba Rose and OneToo are. Nancy gets the silent message and makes her way over to them. There now Violet doesn't have to worry about her.

Violet runs back into the chaos and sees Jianni doing his magic with the rats.

"Rats...it had to be rats, didn't it?" the half-Elven Troubadour mutters to himself, instinctively hitching up his leather breeches and tucking them into the high, soft boots he favored for performances; elegant but completely impractical, but who knew a State Ball would lead to a tunnel crawl?

"Oh, Sweet Lady of Night, just Gypsy up and handle it, Jianni Yes, there are a lot of hungry-looking rats, but rats are just the bigger cousins of squirrels, are you afraid of your Misha? Of course you're not!" he scolds himself mentally, instinctively closing with his companions in a protective crescent around Nancy, his hand straying, not to the steel hilt of his wavy-bladed short sword sheathed at his hip, but to the hand carved cedar flute hanging from a leather thong. His fingers caressed the wood,smooth as a stone from a river and its song as sweet as summer.

He closes his mismatched green and blue eyes to block out beady black eyes and the thought of sharp, yellowing teeth and took a long cleansing breath before playing. He remembered an ancient carnival worker who held vipers motionless while he played, the swaying of his body mesmerizing his deadly audiance. Ideally he would have liked to rehearse this on something that wouldn't swarm up his legs and eat his eyes, but whatever.

His head weaved side to side, feeling the notes of the story of the first Gypsy King's adventures in Shadowglen's Haunted Forest. He wasn't nearly as brave as Kohlchek the Wanderer, but he wouldn't desert his friends.

"Keep playing," Nancy whispers "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. Is that a spell?"

He shook his head, not wanting to break his concentration as Kohlchek faught the Lord of Wind and Woe for his daughters hand, dimly aware that the rats' chittering had subsided. Had it worked.

Violet sees that some of the guards are still up and about and still trying to wipe their eyes from the bright flash that Eba Rose created. Violet quickly comes up with a quick freezing spell and chants it towards the few guards that are nearby.

"Winter is cold

Your body is colder

You begin to freeze limb by limb

Ice is freezing you where you stand

Move no more"

All of the guards nearby begin to freeze on the spot. Violet doesn't know how long the spell will hold, but she knows it should hold long enough for everyone to escape. The few guards that are still around look towards Violet and see that their comrades are frozen in place. They begin to descend onto Violet, but are stopped short when they see Shaela hiding in the corner. Since Shaela hates violence and avoids any typle of confrontation. Violet races over and intercepts them. She yells back to Shaela, "Go over to Eba Rose and OneToo, you will be save over there."

Shaela groans at the onslaught. Always with the violence! I should seriously reconsider this whole adventurer gig she thought to herself. She curled her lip at the technomancer. What kind of place had magic that worked on machinery? Ugh, it was all so unnatural. Shaela shook her head at the cold metal and clockwork parts. They befuddled her sense of connection to the earth and the animals and - ACK!

A cog-driven cat wizzed by her head, interrupting her thoughts, and she dove to the ground, temporarily stunned and shaking.

Violet yelled at her to join Eba Rose and OneTwo in the corner. It was tempting, but when Shaela saw Violet attempting jokes as a distraction she knew she had to step up. She abhorred mechanical things and had no skill with that...but the rats! The rats she could connect with!

There were still several rats skittering about, trying to look menacing, but Shaela could feel their lack of conviction. Chittering, she knelt down and pulled some tidbits from her satchel.

"Really??" RedCalypso groaned as she strode towards the technomancer.

Shaela let the rats have the treats and they happily scrambled onto her shoulders.

"It doesn't always have to be about the blade you know," she retorted.

"True," piped Eba from the corner. "Sometimes all it takes is the pommel!"

Violet distracts the guards with some silly joke from her childhood, "Hey guys, I have something to ask ya." The few guards still left turn their heads toward Violet. Good Violet thinks, hopefully I can distract them enough with this joke for Shaela to get over to Eba Rose.

"So you guys know what a cow is right?? Well what do you get from a pampered cow?"

The guards look at her then at each other and shrug their shoulders like as if this is of any concern to them.

"Spoiled Milk." Responds Violet, well chuckling softly. The guards look at her again, then at each other, and they too let out a small chuckle. While they all seem amused, Violet quickly rechants the freezing spell, and boom. They are all frozen in place.

Violet looks around, all proud as can be. She turns towards Red just in time to see her drop her sword. Violet is about to run to see if Red needs any help when she hears Red screaming at the technomancer and calling him scum. Violet knows that Red has it all handled.

Meanwhile, Shaela is with Eba Rose, who has Nancy and OneTwo under her watchful eye. Although confident in the abilities of her companions, Eba finds herself holding her breath. This could get ugly.

Red Calypso did a quick scan of the battle. Most of her teammates were already facing off with various foes, but no one seemed to be dealing with the technomancer so she made her way towards him, drawing her sword. "It looks like it's you and me, scum," she taunted.

He sneered at her in response. "A sword? How pitiful. You are no challenge at all." He gestured and she staggered as her sword seemed to triple in weight. "All metal is mine to command, fool."

Red glared at him, her temper flaring at the abuse to her favorite weapon. She set it down gently and snarled at her opponent. "You think you can beat me with a few parlor tricks, scum?" She darted at him, hopeful that she was quick enough and agile enough to evade him and use her daggers against him before he could affect them.

He grabbed at her as she approached, but she dropped and rolled, ending up behind him. Quick as a thought, her daggers were out and she slashed at the back of his knees, hamstringing him. He bellowed in rage and pain as he fell.

A sense of triumph swept through her and she let out a victory cry as she lunged in for the kill. It proved to be totally premature on her part as he rolled onto his back and seized her arms. "You will die slowly for daring to harm me!" he hissed. Cold began to flow down her arms from where he held her and the daggers fell from her numbing hands.

The technomancer laughed cruelly at her plight. "Once you are totally paralyzed, I promise you you will beg for death before I grant it to you."

"I'll never beg you for anything, bastard. And you talk too damn much!" Leaning down she used the only weapon left to her at the moment, her teeth. The next few moments were exceedingly gory as she began ripping at his face. Screaming, he released her hands to try and push her away. She took advantage of the opportunity and seized one dagger in her still numb hands. Using her whole weight she drove the dagger into his black heart.

Rolling off his twitching body, she spat blood out of her mouth. That was utterly foul, she thought in distaste, but whatever gets the job done.

After many grunts and groans, the Wildcards and Nancy look around and see that only they are left standing, well besides the frozen guards that is. "Well that was fun." Says Violet. The Wildcards all look at her and shake their heads.

Silently each member of the team moved into a better position, choosing targets and assessing potential weaknesses. Juana moved around slowly, gaining a clear path to take out a couple if not all three guards, taunting them as only she could.

On instinct, Juana jumped in front of her companions. While she was not originally excited about dressing as a man, she was extremely grateful for the horrid orange pants as she drew her knives from the seemingly infinite laces crisscrossing up the sides.

A few dumb muscles in the enemy entourage smirked as they stepped forward rolling their necks and cracking their knuckles. "Come on now, little girl, don't hurt yourself with those," one patronized.

"We don' wanna hurt any of yous pretty lil things," another chimed in.

"Why don't we all go have a tea party?" the last added.

"Men." the warrior thought.

Juana didn't mind the focus being on her for a minute, she could hear her comrades plotting behind her and she used the spotlight to her advantage. She softened her stance and fluttered her eyelashes a bit. "I'm so glad you see through our disguises," she flattered. "I was so frightened pretending to be a brave, strong man!" She caught bits and pieces of the plan being devised, "Just a bit closer...." she thought. "I know you don't really want to have a tea party, but we don't have to fight!" she lied. "We might have some useful information, do you think we could go quietly with you big handsome galluts?"

Thank goodness the bouncers back at Nancy's show never patted them down for weapons, her companions would have killed her (if the guards didn't) for getting caught with weapons in her pants. "Always trust your gut," she thought, "Every now and then the risk pays off." That thought was the only one she had time for as the room erupted in action.

A flying river of water rushed up from the floor and squeezed out of the walls toward the skinny, shady man with the flute. At the threat to their master, the rats screeched and skittered stampeding toward the group, scratching and biting wherever they found flesh. Amdir and Nancy flanked Anna, fighting off the rats to protect her. Jilly was nowhere to be found, which was an excellent sign. All of this to the soundtrack of the angry hissing and spitting of fighting cats along with the awkward and terrifying addition metallic scratching and crashing as the cats fought out their rivalry.

OneToo glared at Six. "I can't believe you'd betray the lady like this!"

Six flicked his tail from side to side, "You bore me with your patriotism. DeWinter holds a great power that I desire. I intend to help him gain the ultimate victory and you will not stand in my way!"

"Oh really? We'll see about that!" OneToo had been crouching low to the ground and he suddenly sprung his back legs out and launched himself towards the other feline. Six was ready though and he quickly rolled to the side, turned around and watched OneToo fly harmlessly past him.

"Ha! You are not a battle cat like I am! I'm much superior to you! I would tell you to run back to your stupid human friends and lick your wounds, but unfortunately for you, I plan to take care of them too!"

OneToo hesitated for a moment. He knew that Six was correct, but he wasn't about to give up and let his friends die. He let out a long, low rumble of anger. Perhaps being a diplomat wasn't too far from being a battle cat. Sometimes you have to be aggressive and put the pressure on your opponent to get the desired results. Sometimes you have to be patient and watch what the other would do before making a decision. Using that knowledge, he decided to wait for Six to make a move.

Sure enough, Six pounced at him and knocked him to the ground and stood on top of him. OneToo quickly realized that Six had his paws wrapped around his neck and was trying to bite at the wires on his neck. Six extended his claws on all four paws and began to dig at OneToo's metallic exterior. OneToo recoiled his back legs into his belly and directed them so that with one swift move, both feet kicked out and struck Six in the stomach. This launched Six back in a tumble and OneToo was able to recover his upright position.

Six snarled at him, "Lucky move, but you won't get another chance like that again." And without warning, Six launched himself at OneToo again, but this time he was ready. He stood up on his hind legs and opened his front legs wide to receive Six' attack full on. They tumbled once more but OneToo managed to end up on top this time. Metallic claws and teeth flashed as they snarled, screeched and scratched.

Six kept struggling to be the one on top, but OneToo figured out how to keep himself balanced. In desperation, Six tried to roll himself to his feet while he was under OneToo, but that was his last mistake. OneToo knew where the 'life switch' was and Six had just exposed it. Right at the base of the neck was a tiny panel. OneToo managed to get his claws under it and pulled it out to expose the button inside.

"You know Six, you may be a battle cat, but I'm smarter than you. I know how you were built, just as I was. Say goodnight!" With that he stuck his claw in and hit the button. Six caterwauled and then became eerily still.

It took the three brutes a few milliseconds to realize what was happening, but it was just the window Juana needed. She sprang up, jumping high over their heads and landing behind them to pull them away from her element-wielding teammate. Before they could turn their massive bodies round, she sliced at their calf muscles and giggled at their groans of agony as they stumbled the rest of the way around.

"Aw come on fellas, I know you're tougher than that!" And they were. They weren't exactly impressive, but three on one is never preferable odds. In fact, they were nothing compared to the rock troll Juana had faced back in the forest fights, but it felt so GOOD to finally be flexing some muscle and proving to her teammates that she was worth her salt. The big guards were fast enough, but Juana was faster and she danced around them smashing faces and slicing muscles, probably enjoying the fight entirely too much.

Anna closed her eyes briefly to connect with the elements around her in case her talent might be needed. When she opened them again she focused in on the man with the pipe, trusting Jilly to back her up.

After that things moved from a pretty even fight to completely insane when a sound none of them would ever wish to hear again grew closer. Hundreds of lightly scraping claws passed over stone drawing nearer. When the first of the rats was spotted Nancy let out a gasp. The rats came from everywhere at once.

Amdir grabbed Nancy's arm and pulled her back closer to the wall before turning to Jilly and Anna. "You guys need to get that pipe!"

Jilly nodded and turned to her comrade, "Anna, if you can distract that man somehow, I can move in and get the flute. I can totally be sneaky."

Anna looked around the group. "Okay, I'll give it a try." Closing her eyes once more, the mage/technomancer took several calming, cleansing breaths. Cleansing…that’s what was needed here. “Time to clean out the vermin,” Anna murmured, her senses reaching out to the trickle of water in the drainage canal. Slowly, Anna stretched out her hands in the air and the water began to shiver, little ripples running through it. Stray droplets hurried to join with the main thread and the trickle grew bigger and bigger until it became a puddle.

The other technomancer with the pipe widened his eyes at the sight and began to play faster. The rats swarmed toward the Misfits with an increased crazed look in the eyes of the leaders. Teeth were bared and Nancy screamed and kicked out with a booted foot, catching the rodent closest to her and sending it airborne.

The rat wasn't the only thing flying however. Anna, her eyes now open, suddenly thrust her arms forward. A wave of water hit the pipe player with the force of a hard punch. The water pressure knocked him backward and he staggered under the impact. The pipe was jarred from his grasp and Jilly, who had been watching closely, darted in and seized the flute.

“Hit him again, Anna!” Jilly cried as she dashed back toward her companions.

Anna threw another, slightly less powerful, wall of water at the man. “I can’t keep this up much longer!” she declared.

“You’re doing great. Just a little more,” Amdir encouraged, taking the flute from Jilly.

The rats, without the music prompting their attack, now looked a bit dazed and confused. A few even ran back into the shadows at the noise coming from the fighting.

Jilly turned to Admir, "Can you play? Maybe we can make them tame or something.”

Amdir nodded. “They were in a trance. If I can find the right notes…man I wish Jenna was here!” Calling on all she could recall about music and different instruments that she’d picked up from traveling with Jenna on the previous adventure, Admir began to play a soft melody.

Jilly watched in amazement as the rats began to look around, bumping into each other. Then they began to turn. As the music grew a bit louder, a few squeaks could be heard and then, as one, the rats started back the way they came. “It’s working! It’s working! Keep playing, Amdir!” Jilly called excitedly.

And play the vagabond did. Faster and more raucous the tune became and the rodent’s eyes began to glitter. Their pace increased in time with the music and they were heading directly for the now drenched and sodden technomancer.

“No!” the man shrieked as his former minions converged on him, biting and clawing. Screams from Juana’s trio of ‘dance partners’ could be heard as the rats, drawn by the scent of blood, seemed to go mad. The attackers had become the attacked.

With Amdir still playing, the rats chased the evil villains back down the tunnel. The vagabond motioned for the others to go.

“Juana!” Jilly called.

In the middle of her revelry, Juana heard her cohorts calling her and noticed an odd sound.... silence! The cat fight had ended with Six in a steaming heap, the rats had exterminated the enemies for them, and the group was making their escape!

After a moment more of the music to allow them as much time as possible for escape, Amdir turned and hurried after Nancy and her companions.

As the Fallen Angels followed Nancy through the tunnels, none of them could shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Sure enough, they soon found themselves surrounded by enemies, both living, and machine.

"Oh crap," Calie murmured, glancing at the technomancer and the pipe, then doing a quick count of the rats. "How are we gonna get out of this one?"

"Rats, why did it have to be rats?" Webby asked in dismay, quickly backing up to stand behind Sashi.

"What do we do?" Talli murmured, moving to stand beside Calie, knowing they would have to work together to defeat this menace.

Jeice brandished her cane and sneered at one of the guards, then glanced over at Sashi. "Got any ideas?"

"Sure do," Sashi smirked, then she pulled the goggles from the Ranger's head, then added her own. She quickly undid the straps and attached the two pairs of heavy goggles together, forming a weapon she could swing and deal a rather painful blow with. "Perfect. Now for the other hand." She turned and grabbed Webby's goggles, and before she could even reach out, Calie and Talli had tossed over their own as well. She quickly made another weapon to wield in her other hand, then she tossed the remaining pair to Jeice. "Better than nothing," she shrugged.

Jeice nodded, and without further ado, the ranger and warrior sprang forward, intending to take out first the technomancer, then the guards.

Nancy looked on for a few moments, then decided to spring into action herself, surprising everyone by charging the technomancer. With a high kick, she knocked the pipe from his hands, then used her dancers grace and speed to keep him busy long enough for her new friends to form a plan.

Calie and Talli both glanced at each other, the technomancer, the rats, then finally at Webby, who had now scurried further back since Sashi and Jeice had moved. They grabbed her and dragged her forward as the rats paused in their advance now that the technomancer had been distracted.

"What?" Webby asked, eyes wide, trying to dig in her heels.

"Where's that screwdriver of yours?" Talli demanded, pointing to the rats. "I've got an idea."

"Oh yeah!" Webby grinned and pulled it out, then gasped as she fumbled and nearly dropped it. "Here we go, now what?"

Talli grabbed a discarded pipe from the floor and used it to pry open what looked like some kind of panel on the wall. "See if you can get some power flowing back into this thing, we need to slow them down." She glanced over at Calie. "We'll need water for this plan, too."

As Webby pointed the sonic screwdriver and attempted to draw some power back into the panel, Calie raced to the other side of the tunnel and touched the pipes, smiling as she realized one was indeed an old water pipe. "Got it!" She found a weak spot in the pipe, and thanks to wearing much sturdier shoes with the last costume change, broke it open soon a thin layer of water was fanning out across the tunnel floor.

"Now, back over here!" Talli pointed to the panel, which was now glowing faintly thanks to Webby and her screwdriver.

Meanwhile Jeice and Sashi had charged the guards, Sashi smacking the first one with the goggles, nearly knocking him out, while Jeice struck the other in the sternum with the end of her cane. As he went down, the ranger delivered the final blow, sending him to the floor unconscious. Sashi meanwhile had finished off the other one with a nasty smack to the face with the other set of goggles, and had grabbed the third in a chokehold. Jeice lunged forward and hit him in the stomach, and the guard crumpled. As he did, Sashi delivered a sound blow to the back of his head, rendering him unconscious as well.

Nancy had managed to keep the technomancer busy for a few moments, but one well placed kick from him sent her crashing into the wall. With a wince of pain, she clutched at her shoulder, realizing something was not quite where it was supposed to be anymore. She turned and tried to make her way back to the relative safety of Webby, Calie and Talli's position, only to find her way blocked by one angry metallic battle cat. As she backed away, the technomancer snatched up the pipe and started blowing into it again. Before Six could attack, OneToo leapt at his sibling and engaged it in battle, the two of them lunging and swiping at each other.

As the rats charged, Talli ordered Calie, and Webby to get up off the ground. They all leapt up and grabbed lengths of pipe, old wires, anything to get a handhold and get their feet away from the water. OneToo and Six, still dealing with each other, had already taken their battle up off the floor of the tunnel. "Angels, Nancy, up!" she shouted at Nancy, Jeice and Sashi, who were now standing in water an inch or two deep. With quick, nimble leaps the warrior and ranger grabbed onto Nancy and the three of them also managed to get off the ground.

Once their friends were in the clear, Calie used her technomancer skills to divert power from the panel, sending bolts of electricity down into the water, frying all the rats that had stayed on the ground. The Angels started to cough as the smell of burnt fur filled the tunnel, and after a few more moments, Webby pointed the screwdriver at the panel, shutting down the power. As they all dropped back down to the ground, several rats that had opted to run along ledges on the walls came charging in, but Talli and Calie made quick work of them with a couple of discarded lengths of pipe.

They all jumped as the other technomancer shouted in anger, and turned to see him brandishing the steam pipe. Unfortunately it seemed he, too, had managed to get clear of the water in time. He brandished his pipe with an angry snarl, then began pushing buttons and flicking switches. With a few deft twists of his hands, he turned the pipe into something that resembled a sawed off shotgun.

"Um...okay, what's he gonna do with that?" Webby asked, looking worried.

"I don't really want to find out," Talli replied, then they all shouted and dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding a fiery blast from the pipe.

Nancy once again tried to get in on the action, but Sashi grabbed her elbow. "We got this," she grinned, as she glanced over at Jeice. "Go back to the others." Nancy nodded and quickly moved away.

"Speaking of whom, let's buy them a little time," Jeice said, as she and Sashi glared over at the technomancer, then nodded to each other. They both ran toward him, and Sashi was the first to attack, neatly knocking him on his butt with one solid punch to the jaw.

Calie scowled as she looked at the man's steam pipe. "We need a weapon of our own." She looked back at the panel, then glanced around, trying to wrack her brain for anything they could use.

"Well, why not keep to the electricity theme?" Talli grinned, holding up a length of pipe, then one of the watches she was wearing. "Lightning gun, anyone?"

"Ooh, I like the way you think," Calie chuckled, then gestured for Webby to hand over her watch as well. "Come on, we don't have much time. Webby, we'll need that power back on again, and a length of cable to power the gun."

"You got it!" The vagabond jumped up and fairly giggled as she powered up the panel once more, than searched around for the appropriate wiring, while Calie and Talli set about turning the simple length of pipe into a weapon.

Jeice and Sashi meanwhile were feeling the heat, trying to keep the technomancer distracted. He managed to fire off another blast, and both of them were feeling a little singed thanks to a rather close call. Sashi charged in for another direct attack, while Jeice ran to the side, scaled the wall and leapt over his head, landing behind him. She took the goggles Sashi had thrown at her earlier and dragged the lenses over the muddy floor, coating them completely. She then jumped up and stuck them on the man's head, pulling them over his eyes and tightening the strap to the point they were nearly impossible to remove. Once he was blinded, Sashi delivered a roundhouse kick, knocking the pipe from his hand. "There, not so tough now, are ya?" She sneered.

Much to their surprise, the technomancer merely snarled back and jerked his arm, and the gun seemed to come flying right back into his hand! With a growl he then reached up and managed to tear the mud-covered goggles from his face. "Oh shoot, boy's got some skills," Sashi said, eyes widening as she and Jeice quickly backed up, and the man started to take aim again. Suddenly a loud whistle pierced the air, and Jeice and Sashi both smirked and dove to opposite sides.

"Okay, you showed me yours, now time to show you mine!" Calie grinned. She brandished the length of pipe, now wrapped in casing from some of the old wiring on the walls to protect her hands. A thick cable ran from one end of the pipe to the panel, which Webby was still helping to keep powered up. Talli stood to her other side, just hoping everything would hold together, as they probably wouldn't get many shots out of this gun. Calie raised the pipe, and the inside glowed brightly as lightning seemed to fill the length of it.

The technomancer's eyes widened, but before he could dodge a huge bolt of lightning shot out of the makeshift gun, striking him in the chest and sending him flying through the air. He struck the wall with a grunt and a loud thud, then collapsed to the ground, unmoving, while the still-smoking pipe landed several feet away.

Sashi ran foward and kicked the pipe down a wide grate that covered another smaller tunnel which led almost straight down. "Guess that takes care of him!" She moved back over and gave the technomancer a kick as well, just...well, just because she could.

Jeice snickered and shook her head, then glanced over at her teammates. "Wow, you three outdid yourselves with that one, nice idea with the gun!"

Calie and Talli grinned and high-fived, then Webby jumped in for a three way hug after shutting off the power again. "That was awesome!" She grinned, then glanced over to see still one last scuffle taking place.

OneToo and his sibling were still battling, but OneToo seemed to be getting the worst of it. Concerned, Webby moved closer and pulled out her sonic screwdriver one last time. The rest of the team moved closer, and everyone nodded in unison, before Talli gestured to Jeice. When OneToo was knocked backward, the nimble-footed ranger darted in and grabbed him, getting him out of harm's way as Webby pointed the screwdriver and forced Six to shut down.

Once all their enemies had finally been incapacitated, the Fallen Angels quickly turned their attention to Nancy and OneToo, making sure their friends were alright.

"Lovecraft called it," Fresh says. "She mentioned something like this could happen, but what were the odds."

"Hope they are getting into trouble themselves," Flamingo huffs.

"I have an IDEA!" Tea_Roll announces and digs into her bag and pulls out a huge block of Camembert cheese.

"Where did you get that?" Flamingo asks.

"Better yet," TerrenaAnimula continues, "How did we not smell that?" And she holds her nose, as is Fresh.

"Do YOU really want me to go into one of my stories now?" Tea_Roll smiles at them. "You see back at the Squirrel..."

"NO!" Fresh yells. "Just do your idea. Let's see what it is."

With that, Tea_Roll throws her block of cheese down the tunnel. The rats lift their noses into the air and suddenly turn back and run toward the cheese. "See that will hold them off for a bit. I'm out of ideas. You guys deal with the others." Tea goes back into the bag and pulls out a piece of cake and sits down eating it.

"Seriously, cake at a time like this?" Fresh says exasperated.

With cake dripping out of her mouth, Tea_Roll stands back up from the ground. "I didn't want to do this," she says and starts stretching.

"What are you doing?" Fresh asks her.

"Well, Lovecraft beats me up enough I should be able to take on the three stupid guards easily," Tea_Roll replies. "I will channel my inner warrior training." With that, Tea takes off towards the three stupid guards who are staring at her confused cus she is yelling "COWABUNGA!!!" as she runs towards them.

She gets up close to them sticks out her tongue at them. "Nanny Nanny PoohPooh! Can't catch me!"

She starts running away from them. Not sure what to do, they start following her. She runs around in circles and you can notice as the guards seem to be getting dizzy. Then she runs towards a wall and right as she gets to it, she zigs away, but the guards are a bit slow and woozy from the running in circles and run right into it and fall backwards passed out.

"Tah Dah!" she says as she lands back in front of Fresh and TerrenaAnimula.

"That is your inner warrior?" Fresh questions.

"Well, I should have said my HOW to get away from a warrior moves," Tea_Roll says and sits back down.

"That she has plenty of practice with," TerrenaAnimula says.

"Now for OneSix and the Technomancer," Fresh says. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"Oh wait," Flamingo says digging into her pockets and pulling out some candy. "Not that!" She tosses the candy pieces into her mouth. "Here it is." She pulls out a Sonic Screwdriver.

TerrenaAnimula grabs it from her fast and looks it over. Flamingo sits down next to Tea_Roll.

"What is it?" Fresh asks.

"I saw a Doctor Who use this thing a few times," TerrenaAnimula says. "It can have control over robotic things."

"Do you know how to use it?" Fresh looks at TerrenaAnimula then Flamingo, who simply shrugs.

Terrena sits and fiddles with it for a few moments and smiles. "Think I got it!" She points the Sonic Screwdriver at OneSix and suddenly he slumps down. "Now lets see if I can figure out how to get him to do what I want." Terrena plays with the screwdriver a little more and OneSix sits back up and stares blankly at her.

"Is it working?" Fresh asks.

"Yup," TerrenaAnimula says. "Think so."

"Well get OneSix to deal with our final problem." Fresh says.

"With pleasure!" TerrenaAnimula responds and gives orders to OneSix.

OneSix turns towards the Technomancer who seems to be trying to regain control of the robot cat, but failing. The cat moves towards him and the Technomancer gives up and starts running away with OneSix following after.

"The Technomancer tried to regain OneSix, but failed. Why?" Flamingo questions.

"Sonic Screwdriver trumps everything in the universe basically," TerrenaAnimula says. "At least that is what the Doctor says.

"Works for me," Fresh says. "Lets get going before something else happens."