There's some very fun lines and a lot of fun ahead as Becky's joined on her quest by Todd Blackpaws!

Keep in mind that by this point, they're on separate factions. Becky's a member of the Feline Empire while Todd's still with KOKOL. Despite that, the two are obviously on rather good terms.

Although Becky does show a bit of distrust towards the bard.

 
Becky Joy and her Knob Goblins happily skipped off the boat, over the plank and started down the pier, with Becky and Goblina singing happy songs! Suddenly, Becky stopped, and spun around on her heels, doing a 180 turn.

"?!?"

Becky shot that same confused look as earlier, but this time it was aggressively shot at Todd Blackpaws. Becky tilted her head slightly as she eyed the sneaky bard.

Todd just smiled, leaning up against a nearby building- this city had alot of buildings just meant to be leaned on while a guy watched the girls go by. "Hey, cutie. What's up?" His tail swished happily.

"I said, '?!?' and it means.. how come you're followin' us, Todd?!" Becky said, eying him up, suspiciously. "You're actin a lil silly.. no.. wait.. maybe mischievous.. What ya up to, cutie fox?!"

Although the way she said 'cutie fox,' she was obviously grilling him, if lightly. Not flirting.

Todd kept smiling, padding over to the group. "You know me, doll. Just checking out the local action! Hey, did you know I saw this one babe.. man she was big and muscular and green for Pete's sake! Had a chest I could curl up and sleep in!"

"Welll, that sounds fun," Becky admitted. "But we aren't looking for her and do you wanna know who we are lookin' for?!"

"Sure babe, Lay it on me."

"That.. that.." Becky made ghostly motions with her fingers. "Meanie Jester King muttered he knew where Queen Catrina was and he said he was gonna hog all the fun and get there before me!" Becky pouted. "I don't needa have more fun, I just wanna help my Queen. And you probably won't wanna let me cause you're with Dash, but you better know I'm goin anyway and besides, Dash and his cute elf buddy are with them anyway! So you gotta come with, even if you're busy!"

She rushed up to hug him, then looked at him seriously. "Do you want me to have Dawkin repeat that or did you get all of it?!"

"Darwin!" her eldest Knob Goblin corrected, annoyed. "I mean Darson!"

Becky's eyes went wide.. wider. "Well, wanna join?"

Todd smirked. "Sure babe. You know I'll always follow a cute chick."

"Kay, you follow Goblina!" Becky said, giving Todd a gentle nudge towards Goblina with a big smile.

"Awww, you!" Goblina blushed, accentuating her light green skin.

Todd smiled as he fell in. Actually the goblin girl had a nice ass....

 
@}-,-`-*--BECKY-!`!*~~ROSE--`--,*

 
"?!?"

Becky looked, wide eyed, as the streets split into three, and further down, split into even more paths. She turned to Todd. "Uhho."

Goblina grimaced. "What do you mean, 'Uhho,' Becky?"

"I mean," Becky said. "UHHO!"

Todd smirked. "You mean 'Uh Oh?"

Becky looked worried. "That too!"

"What's wrong?" Darson asked with an exasperated sigh. "Suddenly realize that you didn't bring enough cookies?"

"Well, now that you mention it," Becky said contemplatively. "Naw, this ain't about that. I just got to thinkin' this doesn't look like it's gonna lead us out of town.. What if we went the wrong way? What if Jester Meanie tricked me somehow?!"

Todd growled. "If that does happen..." He paused. "Well.. I'll play around while you guys show him what for, I guess." He looked a bit sheepish.

Becky crackled her knuckles. "I don't s'pose you got any songs to play to get us unlost huh? Like a navigation melody huh?!"

Red and Green facepalmed, but Todd hmm'd, then brightened. "Not exactly, but let's see if this old trick still works."

He padded to the nearest street corner and slipped out of his backpack, placing it on the ground and opening it. He then unslung his instrument and began to play. Soon enough, people were gathering, listening and throwing strange coin at him. He grinned and thanked them then smiled at a particularly lovely local lass. "Hey sexy. How do you get to the docks from here?"

"But but we wanna go out of the city instead!" Becky interrupted, worried about going the wrong way.. again. "Like.. somewhere there'd be a big fight right now!"

Todd nodded and smiled at the local. "Got anything like that around here, doll?"

The woman snorted. "In THIS city? Pick any street corner or dark alley, hon!"

Todd's face darkened then brightened. "Any involving cats?"

"Cats? um.. you mean cats like yourself, right?"

"Well, I'm a fox actually, but... roughly, yeah."

The local then told them about the a few fights, but it was pretty obvious only one was the big fight they were looking for, and Todd thanked her. Not in the way he would have liked- what with Becky waiting, but what can you say?

"With me around, what can you say, Todd?" Becky asked, leaning against a random wall.

"Everything except for 'let's go find someplace cozy' doll." Todd replied with a smirk, picking up his backpack and getting ready to go.

Becky smiled broadly at the answer, and looked at her parchment, which had the instructions she wrote down. "Hmm.. do we got time to stop for eating stuff? Like.. food.. or.. candy?!"

"I doubt it," Darson said, ignoring Red who then boo'ed and hiss'ed at him.

"You could go to a drive-through!" a random passby'er told Becky. "Or if you don't got a car, a walk through."

"Sounds too slow," Becky admitted after considering and dismissing the idea. "How bout a jog through?!"

"Only if you want' health food. And believe me, you don't want health food!" Said one rather large passerby. Matt, is that you?! (Just kidding.)

The four continued down with Becky watching all the traffic. "Why?"

"Huh?!" asked Goblina.

"Why so srs? No.." Becky corrected herself. "Why come the city's got sooooo much traffic, Todd Cutiepie?!"

Todd smirked at being called 'cutiepie'. "Well.. seems to me that this burg's always moving. I mean I hear them, talking about business deals and politics and trying to beat the other guy to a deal. In some ways they're a lot more advanced than we are. But in the ways that counts... makes me miss home."

Becky set her jaw, determined. "Yeah! We're gonna get our Queen and our Dashie and they're gonna take us home huh?!"

As if it would be that simple...

Red, however, couldn't help but notice a pizza parlor that made him sing, and a hot dog vendor that, sadly, didn't take meat for meat. As they passed yet fine diner down the street, Red reflected back on what Todd had said moments earlier. "But'a Todd, how could you not wanna live in such a delicious looking town?!"

Todd snorted. "Because they're TOO busy, man! Too busy for the stuff that really counts. Like the smell of wildflowers or the scent of a good woman."

He slipped his arm around Goblina, his paw going, quite naturally, to that ass he'd been watching. "The don't have time to touch, to feel.. to love."

Goblina giggled, and slipped away from his paws, teasingly. "Yeah.. you're right, Todd. I guess we do have something in common with them, after all."

Todd looked disappointed. "Never say that, doll. There's always time for fooling around. Especially with someone as lovely as you."

Goblina blushed again, but slowed her pace to let Todd catch up to her.

Right after they crossed the block, Todd's ears perked up. Becky looked at him with that expression of hers. That "?!?" expression.

"There's a fight nearby. A BIG one...over that way about a block or two." He pointed toward the fight, although he was still turning his head and ears, trying to pinpoint more information.

Becky's eyes lit up. "We're pretty close! Can you use your ears to tell Catrina to wait up and we'll be there soon?!"

Todd shook his head. "This isn't the fight we're looking for."

Becky's eyes glazed over. "This is not the fight we're looking for."

Todd smirked. "Knock it off, this is no den of scum and villainy."

A passerby laughed. "Yeah- for that you want two blocks over. Lou's Place"

Todd thanked the man and made a mental note never to visit 'Lou's Place.'

"So what's up with the big fight?!" Becky asked. "Is it some kinda.. something?!"

"That'd be pretty bad!" Green said, cowering behind Goblina and Todd.

"Curse the moon and the stars, damn it!" a random passing ninja said. "If there's a fight.. I bet it's related to threat horrible Fifth Council's war with the Geppetto Faction! They're one of the leading mobs. They virtually control the underground market on magically enchanted wooden dummies. Also, if you combine a tequila, two limes and a tiny plastic sword, you'll get a 'Bodyslam.'"

"Before or after you drink it?" Todd smirked.

"Exactly!" then the random ninja randomly threw down a smoke bomb and vanished. When it cleared, Becky, Todd, the Goblins, and most of the people around them randomly found themselves on the fringes of a huge fight. This earned a full one and a half "!?!" from Becky.

Todd growled as the random confused citizens around them fled for their lives. "We're either gonna have to change direction or enter this kerfuffle. And I'm hearin gunshots."

"What's a gun?!" Green asked, terrified. "Can it eat me?!"

Red looked past them, and saw a placed called Spaghetti Heaven." "Okay, it's settled. If the only way to get there, is to fight our way through this gang war, then that's'a what we gotta do!"

"Hey, Green, it says something about free tattoos today too!" Goblina said.

"And there's an ice cream shoppe next to it, with a really cute girl running it!" She turned towards Todd, grabbing his arms. "I think she's got a tail!"

Todd smirked. "So, are we looking for a fight or are we looking to check out some tail?"

Becky's eyes got really wide. "We gotta fight our way through and be heroes! Then we will get ice cream.. oh oh! Maybe they'll toss in a free scoop!"

Becky's eyes got even wider. Then they went back to normal to prevent eye strain.

Todd smirked looking at the fight. One thing about this burg, you could tell who the good guys were!

He jumped on a nearby car hood, pulling out his instrument and strumming it once- loud- to get their attention.

"Great googlie boogity, look at that fox, who wants to be the center of attention!" yelled a news reporter. He had the "News" card stuck in his fedora.

"Todd, iz now really the right time for tryin' to get tips?! Really? Really? Really? Really?" Goblina thumped her on the back. "Thanks, I was stuck in a 'really' loop."

"Ain't tips hon- I've been watching how they play this game- Watch and learn." He spoke louder.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let me introduce to you the group that is going to Rock your Roll, Yin your Yang and Definitely Harsh your Mellow. First of all, let me introduce, on the frozen yeti, the Ice Cutie herself Becky Rose!"

"And with her tonight- Goblina and the Goblins- here to kick ass and take names- and they ain't really bothering with the names part!"

"You're nothing but numbers to us!" Goblina yelled as she did air guitar. Badly.

"And me? I'm the fox on the box, the hound on the mound! I'm gonna make you move to the groove and rock your socks off. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you BLACKPAW! Take 'em down guys!"

With that he started playing a tune to lift the hearts of the good and scare the crap out of the rest.

"We ain't going with the Becky Band?! Awww," Becky pouted a little.

Todd smirked. "Hey I gave you your own billing, cutie! Think how Red and Green feel!"

"At the moment, they feel like running for their lives," pointed out Darson, preparing for battle. "At least, Green does."

Green cowered behind Red.

Becky saw some enemies and pulled out her toy yeti. "Guess what this is?!"

"Er.." the enemies looked at each other confused. "A foreign toy?"

"Yup!! How'd you know?!" Becky tilted her head and made an "!?!" expression- then blasted them with a low level snow storm, as Red and Green got chased off the scene by a ghost.

Darson battled one of the thugs, holding quite well for his elderly self. "Who are you guys, anyway?"

"Your worst nightmare, punk!" One of the guys in suits growled. He held a dangerous looking focus item; a wooden antique figure with a long wooden nose.

Another suit looked shocked. "What?! But our business cards say 'The Geppetto Faction!'"

The first one growled at the other. "Do you mind? I'm trying to sound cool here!"

Todd smirked. "Doesn't matter man. You can't be MY worst nightmare. My worst night mare is her Daddy catching us!" He then sent out a musical sting- literally, the music slapped the spit out of their mouths. Suddenly, several animated wooden figurines started crawling on Todd, bringing him down with superhuman strength. Several more enemies flanked Todd.

Todd glanced around, the smirk gone. "Um.. .hey girls? A little help here?"

"Lil louder, Todd!" Becky was busy blasting them as they came up, one by one, and barely keeping up. "It's like they're comin' outta nowhere.. or.. somewhere, I can't even see you!"

"S'cuse me, mind if I borrow this?" a deep, baritone voice called from behind Todd. The voice was borderline humorous without sounding like the man behind it really understood humor. Todd looked up and immediately caught sight of the square jawed giant, big enough and muscled enough to put Daisuke and Konall together to shame. He hoisted one.. no.. three of the enemies over his head and threw them across the street, almost effortlessly. "Hahah, that joke never gets tired."

Even Becky didn't laugh. The hero- and what else could you call him but a hero? - started punching away at the thugs, drawing all of their attention to him. "S'cuse me, wanna go for a flight?" he said, throwing another two thugs across the street. They crashed into the first three.

Toddd soon was able to get back up and retrieve his instrument but his look had changed. Gone was the happy go lucky bard, replaced with one pissed off foxy rocker. He bared fang as he set his guitar around his neck. Becky and her Goblins walked up to Todd, with the other heroes posing dramatically behind them.

"Time to rock this joint down..." Todd growled, and begin to play- waves of Death Metal music began to pulse into their foes as the others dove into action.

 
@}-,-`-*--BECKY-!`!*~~ROSE--`--,*

 
Jester King floated aimlessly through the city, shoulders sagging.

"All I do is rush off blindly with no idea of where I'm going at full speed, cutting space through buildings and random passerby'ers, hopefully causing several accidents." Jester King paused and seemed to look directly at the reader. "And somehow I end up lost and separated from the Black Paladin. HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY HAPPEN?!"

Jester King suddenly perked up and glared down the street. "Well, it's like granny and mom always said. If something even slightly goes wrong, robbing a bank always helps cheer you up!"

With that, Jester King floated towards a bank, not having any idea how much trouble he was about to get into.

 
@}-,-`-*--BECKY-!`!*~~ROSE--`--,*

 
With the help of the Adventurers, it wasn't long before the heroes started to turn the tide on the Fifth and the Geppetto Faction.

Todd let out a long string of foul language as he finished off the last Fifth Council guy by kicking him in the face as he rushed the 'stage.' "After this I need a fifth!"

"I could use a strong drink myself, man!" A hippie ninja with the Canadian flag embalm on her B cup chest said. "But could you like, watch the language, man?!"

"Yeah," said one of two mixed twin police officers who were shooting weird looking guns and throwing all kinds of home made gadgets around. "This town's rated T for teen! Don't throw the F-Bomb around so much!"

Todd looked at the hippie and smiled. She wasn't like the hippies back home, really. His sensitive nose could stand her for one thing. "Okay babe, for you I'd do anything."

"Fight on my friends, til dawn or victory!" called out an overenthusiastic young hero, a tank type in a tank top and bright red jeans. Town sure does love bright colors, Todd thought to himself. Once the tide was turned in favor of the heroes and adventurers, the rest of the fight followed in short order. Todd had never seen anything like the assortment of powers from the half dozen or so heroes. Even with sonic powers recently debuting in the city, the heroes had never been buffed by anything quite like Todd's abilities as a bard.

After buffing the heroes, it was onto the buffet. Not just the victory buffet, but the Spaghetti Heaven buffet! Paid for by their heroic deeds. Next it was onto the ice cream shop, unaware of a particular duo tracing down our heroes. Todd was most looking forward to the ice cream shop.. and a chance to flirt with Mz. cutietail!

But more on that later!

Ahh, that was fun! I like being able to use Becky to break up the very serious story going on with Dash, Aleena and the Whiteclaw siblings. Which we're getting back to next. Oh, and the lil Star Wars homage might be my favorite part of the mission.