As you'll see in the notes, I helped with this one as a NPC or two but it's basically a Fumblies solo.

It picks up after his very small part in the Finale. Read up!

 
Opening by Dash/ Wildfall

Sir Fumblies stood in the tower, having joined the battle against Kadlin's newly summoned demon, a creature which seemed to take no distinctive form. Fahari glowed with holy magic. Maybe they could use that to their own benefit.

Fumblies went to help Fahari to her feet but right as he did he lost his footing and stumbled back. It allowed him to narrowly avoid the dragon's tail. Fahari darted to her feet, glowing more brightly. However, as Fumblies got to his feet, he noticed a portal opening up behind her. Fumblies started to shout a warning but it was too late. Tentacles of darkness reached from the portal and snatched her. No one else seemed to notice. All their attention was on the more obvious threat.

Fumblies prepared an attack spell and dove through the portal without a second thought. Whatever had taken Fahari would have to deal with him as well.

No one else noticed.. Except Bandit, who realized the portal was about to close. Stifling down a few choice curse words, she dove into the portal moments before it could close, nearly taking her tail off!

*****-----

As Fumblies moved through portal time seemed to slow down to a crawl. His crystal sword and the suit of armor (which he had been using since it had become the home of the ninja kid the demon Dios had slain) began to glow with spiritual energy. As the glow grew stronger Fumblies saw the ghost of the ninja kid clearly, reflected in the dark walls of the corridor. He could feel his own innate powers strengthening in a way he couldn't quite explain. The glow faded slowly as the ninja spirit merged once more with the gear that had become his home.

"Sir, remember that this sword holds the power to inflict damage to the evil that has befallen us. Only you can unlock it in time."

The child like voice in Sir Fumblie's mind reminded him of the power he held. Now if only he could figure out how to use it. Or for that matter if he could even figure out what the power was. The only thing he knew for sure was that is was a holy force of some kind. His training with the shaman in the ninja village had shown him that much before he had to go back to the business of saving the world.

Fumblies suddenly turned at the sound of a crashing noise behind him. "Ouch! Goddess Dammit! Who leaves a stupid mop bucket in the portal?!"

"The Portal Janitor?" Fumblies retorted as he looked to see who had come in behind him.

Bandit stumbled into view, using her trademark baseball bat to keep herself steady. "Funny. Hi, there, I'm Bandit, I'll be serving as your backup for this mission. What are we up to?"

"No clue, we are in the portal still, but I am assuming it is going to be spectacularly bad for the world if we fail to stop it." Fumblies answered while shifting his stance slightly to a more defensive posture. "If you didn't know I am Sir Fumblies, Co-founder of the Blood Clan."

"Oh, Konall's group." Bandit slipped her bat behind her head. "He has those Knob Goblin beasts, right?"

"You must be talking about Tus and his brothers." Fumblies smiled slightly while glancing around to see how far the end of the portal was from them. It was taking an interestingly long time to get through to the other side.

"Sure, I guess." Bandit shrugged. "I think they had something back in my dimension like that, but I didn't really pay attention."

"So where do you think we are going? And what caused those tentacles?"

"I dunno." Bandit shrugged. "Maybe they've been reading Runic's diary. Haha."

Fumblies just shook his head before turning to notice that the tunnel was moving faster around them. Bandit rushed to keep up then stopped in front of Fumblies.

Her ears perked up. "Weird... I think I hear a baby whining somewhere.."

This caused Fumblies to look around highly alert for trouble as he to started to hear it. Meanwhile the portal's end loomed closer ahead as its approach sped up greatly. The whole time the whining grew louder.

*****-----

[The Philler Scene]

Fahari's eyes momentarily opened before she again lost consciousness. Her limbs were still glowing with unearthly power, but they were held firmly in place by the slimiest and grimiest tentacles she'd ever seen - which, considering her upbringing in Catalina was saying something. She caught a whiff of something resembling tofo and spoiled milk and quickly lost consciousness.

A strange skeletal like figure looked at her from the other side.

*****-----

[other side of the Portal for the heroes]

After a long passage through the strange portal and several random battles, Sir Fumblies finally emerged on the other side, worn down by the soul draining trip. He looked around as he heard the sounds of a baby crying loudly. With a look at Bandit he tried to figure out where sound was coming from.

"That's really annoying..." Bandit complained.

"Agreed." Fumblies replied. "Though not as annoying a group of signing off key rats."

"Sounds like a good lunch to me," Bandit answered, walking forward and cutting in front of Fumblies as they proceeded down the hallway. Fumblies let her take the lead as his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. And sure enough, the sound of crying got louder and more disturbing as they walked down the hallway. Bandit sighed and stated, "I gotta bad feeling about this...."

Fumblies nodded in agreement as they come to a closed wooden door in front of them. The crying seemed to be coming from the other side of the door.

"What the hell?!" Bandit reached for it, then pulled her hand back. "Bet there's a trap.."

"Isn't there always?" Fumblies asked in a bit of an ironic tone.

Bandit pulled out wooden lock pick and proceeded to use it on the lock. After several minutes, she pulled her hand back. "OWWW! I got shocked?! How do you get shocked with a wooden pick?! Son of a...."

"Monkey's uncle?" Fumblies butted in as he contemplated the question. "Though in this realm who knows what works and what doesn't."

"More like a monkey's a.." Bandit mumbled, the rest being lost to a murmur under her breath as the door slowly slid open with a loud and annoying creak.

Fumblies raised an eyebrow as he reflected to himself that the sound was similar to that of an opening coffin. As the door opened, Fumblies prepared himself for the worst, knowing some of the forces that were working against them.

No one should expect what they saw next. A very small room taken up by an impossibly big infant.. Something? Gnoll? It took up most of the room and was crying even though it was obviously sleeping.

"Ummm.." Bandit asked in a too-loud voice. "Did we take a wrong turn?"

Fumblies pulled Bandit back out the door and places a finger to his lips. He shook head slightly since there had been no turns along their path.

"So what.." Bandit started to ask loudly before being cut off with a glare. So she whispered. "Sorry. What now?"

"Can you see any way past?" Fumbiles whispered back.

Bandit shrugged. "If we attack it, it'll just roll on us and crush you. Sneak past?"

"That is my thought. Though do you see a door or anything along any of the other walls?" Fumblies was thinking in advance of their entering the room. "After all, it would go better for us if we had a path to follow instead of blindly searching for one. "

Bandit carefully scrutinized the walls from a distance then pointed to one mere inches from the baby's foot. "Those look like hand holds. Probably that's the puzzle we need to solve to get through..."

"How do we get to that and not get kicked or stepped on by Junior?" Fumblies asked as he looked over the handholds as best he could from the doorway.

Bandit looked lost in thought. "Hmm.. maybe if you go in a few times and get kicked and stepped on, I could figure out a way to sneak past later on..."

"Not happening Bandit," he retorted while trying to mentally work out the pattern the handholds made.

"Probably has something to do with the baby," Bandit said. "What's something you do with babies? Ohh.. try spelling out 'eat!'"

"Is that the best you can come up with Bandit?" Fumblies asked as he slowly looked around for something the could use as an opening.

"Nope!" Bandit rested her baseball bat in front of her, leaning on it. "The best I could come up with woulda been not to come in this portal... but it's a little late for that.."

As Fumblies looked around he spotted a key hole like opening in the floor. "Well that may help," he commented while pointing to the keyhole.

Bandit was confused. "Might help what?"

"Tell me that doesn't look like a keyhole?"

"No, it looks like a key.. Ohhhh... Nevermind."

Fumblies just shook his head as he quietly looked for a key.

Bandit shrugged. "Try under the doormat.. Haha."

"Where is the doormat?" Sir Fumblies asked with a bit of exasperation before turning to look at the baby to see if was still asleep.

Bandit facepawed. "I think that baby is lying on it..."

"Then how do we get the key?" As Fumblies asked the question his sword started to glow in a pulsing heartbeat fashion.

"Hm... got a giant binkie?" Bandit asked.

"I can be the key." Fumblies heard in the back of his mind as the crystal sword in his stopped pulsing and becomes a steady glow.

Bandit's eyes got a little larger. "What in the name of Mountaincenter Village...."

On a whim Fumblies placed the tip of his sword against the lock. After he did so the glow seemed to transfer for a minute into the lock before a distinctive click was heard.

Bandit ducked behind Fumblies, looking tepid at the idea of advancing. "A-after you, sir."

Fumblies chuckled while he moved into the now open door.

(Bandit & Fahari played by Dash/ Wildfall.)

Wasn't that fun? We'll come back for part two, but we've got a bunch of pieces before that- including the first three "Task Force Virtue" parts... and a new player character debuting!

I hope you enjoyed my Bandit, by the way!