[With Wildfall and Fumblies]

When last we'd seen our daring heroes, the dashing fox Todd Blackpaws and the daring, irrepressible Jarlsboris Wildfall, they were exploring the grand Ninja Village, having run into a set of twin ninja hotties! That was after Sir Fumblies had left them to their own strange devices to explore the village for slavers.

"Sooo... How do you find the ugly when everyone hides their face?" Todd quipped as he roamed the streets.

Wildfall shrugged. "Maybe they're really stupid and also smell funny?"

"I'm trying to avoid scent searches. You do know how often they bathe?" Todd growled.

Wildfall shrugged. "You know, as odd as this seems, I hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about their bathing habits."

Todd chuckled. "Take it from the nose. And be happy you don't have one as sensitive as mine. These guys reek!"

Wildfall nodded as he ducked around the corner, followed by Todd. "They do kind of have that long unwashed mask smell."

Todd sighed and closed his eyes then, after a short battle with his common sense, sniffed the air.

He then wrinkled up his entire face and made as if he could lose his lunch, pointing. "That way- and either they're close or they've really been exercising."

"Who?!" Wildfall asked. "Those cute rhyming ninja chicks?"

Todd coughed and wrinkled his nose again as if trying to get the last bit of slaver smell out of it. "If it were the girls you think I'd be acting like this?"

"I don't know," Wildfall reacted. "You're weird. So who is it?"

"I ain't this weird, buddy. It's our great unwashed. The slavers."

Wildfall pulled out his wooden shillelagh. "So let's go give 'em a blood bath." Wildfall suddenly stopped. "Ohh, I gotta write that one down!"

Todd snorted. "Let's not and say we didn't. Get serious, man before they-"

Wildfall started searching Todd. "You got a writing tool on you?"

Todd started pushing Wild away. "Hey! I only told you I did it once before, never said I LIKED it!"

Wildfall backed away. "So you don't like to write, doesn't mean you have to freak out about it. Eep!" Wildfall backed away. "I think I just saw one of those slavers."

Todd found himself squeezing into the alley- and Wildfall- in a way that proved uncomfortable given his earlier outburst.

"What the blazes are you doin?" Wildfall asked, keeping his distance.

"Shh-" Todd started to quiet him but at that moment the Slaver turned the corner. "-it."

"Eep!" Wildfall ducked as the slaver swung a rather large titanic weapon - a curved sword- at Wildfall. "Hey, new powerset!"

Todd glanced up at his friend. "Guy threatening to kill you and all you can do is like his sword?"

"Hey," Wildfall complained, parrying another blow. "I don't usually see a common thug wielding something so big.. does he look dead to you?"

"Nah.. just looks like he'd compensating for his other sword." Todd dived out of the alley- trying to take the thug's legs out from under him.

"Ahh!" the slaver cried out in pain. "Stop talking, moving, and fighting back so much! I'll kill you!"

"What, you weren't going to before?" Todd smirked unslinging his axe- but not to play it.

"Surrender," he said. "And we'll make it easy on you." He stepped back out of range, picked up a garbage can, and threw it at them. Obviously, they ducked out of the way.

Wildfall quipped, "Seriously? Trash cans?"

"Makes sense, really." Todd grinned, then stepped up. "What else would garbage play with?" He took a swing, looking to hit the big Slaver solidly in the gut with his guitar which Wildfall followed up with, smacking him between the eyes with the shillelagh. The guy fell back, eyes crossed and yelled, "Get me some backup!"

Like clockwork, four more slavers who looked even deader than the first guy, showed up, crossbows in hand.

Wildfall frowned. "Aww, man." Todd set down his guitar and raised his paws looking unhappy. Wildfall didn't look happy but started to take his lead.

"Hey!" one of the stiff looking backup slavers screamed. "Them's the bum's that killed us in the first place! Ruined us from retakin' the slaves!"

"Yeah!" a bigger thuggier 'dead' slaver echoed. "Let's finish them off while they're helpless!"

"Crap, we've been made!" Todd growled looking to where he'd laid his guitar down and knowing it was miles away by crossbow time.

"They outsmarted us!" Wildfall said. He paused. "Er.. by waiting a few seconds until we did something absolutely moronic. That counts right?"

Todd ignored the question- looking like he was ready to take them on bare handed. "Crap, wish we had a tiger with us.. or better yet a panthress. Yeah, If I'm gonna die I want the last thing I see to be a good set of boobies!"

Wildfall sighed. "Never thought it'd end like this."

"Then let's end this," called a mysterious voice. The slavers looked behind them, and were quickly ambushed from the side by the unconventionally dressed female ninjas from earlier. Although clever and quick with the attack, they were clearly not meant for a prolonged fight, but it was long enough for Wildfall and Todd to retrieve their temporarily discarded weapons.

Todd grabbed his guitar, but instead of swinging it again- he began to swing with it instead. With the bard playing, Wildfall flew into action, a flurry of unrelenting Ireacan offense, quickly driving the slavers running for safety.

Wildfall snarled and glared at the direction they took off, looking like he might take off after them. Todd grabbed his arm before he could. "Dude- think a second about just where those guys are gonna be runnin?"

Wildfall shook his head to clear it. "Oh, sorry. Ireacan temper. What now?"

Before Todd could answer, the two ninja girls took them by the arms and lead them down the street, where they saw Sir Fumblies heading their way. Behind him there were several of the Knobs and a pair of the Brutes with him looking a bit worse for wear having been in battle themselves.

Wildfall jogged forward to meet with the half-orc. "There you are, Fumblies." Todd was more relaxed about it- some would say smarter as he stayed with the girls.

"Yeah had to deal with a few ghosts." Fumblies commented as he looked off towards the fleeing slavers.

"What kinda ghost problems?" wondered Wildfall.

Fumblies sighed. "The ghost of someone important I killed."

"Oh of.." Wildfall turned to Todd, not sure how to go about answering that one. "Oh, look, we met a couple ninjas."

"I noticed that." Fumblies muttered and looked away at the mention of the ninjas because of the other ghost issue he had been dealing with.

Todd grinned. "Yeah dude, you better look away. Wouldn't want you to get hot and bothered without your woman nearby."

Wildfall chuckled. "Oh and by the way, are we any closer to finishing the job than when we got here?"

Fumblies shook his head. "Not sure, had to dispatch some undead and the rest of the unit are busy fighting the slavers on the other side of the village."

"We should head there then," Wildfall 'cheerfully' suggested, fully aware of how dangerous it could be.

"Oh yay. Into the belly of the beast. Yippee." Todd smirked.

"Or at least the inner ear," Wildfall said. "Give 'em an irritating infection."

"It could be worse, Todd," Fumblies commented as he started off after the slavers cutting off any reply that may have been forthcoming. Todd and Wildfall rushed to keep up, not wanting to miss any of the action.

"Barmaids and brothels. That's the life I had. But NOOOO! I had to have adventure! Sheesh!" Todd grumbled as he hurried to keep up.

Speaking of which, next up is the single part Finale for the Ninja Village mission!