Here we are; we've finally arrived at the Mission Finale. As reflected by the name, it's mostly just parts of the story that set up the meat of the Finale for later.

There's action, humor and drama in this one. Here it is, the payoff to the Rollover and 21 roleplays.

 
Earlier.. not long after the Council Matters Rollover

"Hey Dewey?"

"What, Cheetam?"

"Where's Howe?"

"Who's Howe again?"

"He's the clown who suggested tuxedos for the whole council at the last meeting."

Dewey rolled his eyes. "Just because we got penguins on the board, I'm sure. He's such a sycophant. That's the only thing I like about him, though. Anyway, I think that feather-kisser went to deal with the rats gathering somewhere near Wrong Side. Something to do with the bugbears?"

"No, I think it has to do with the .. bats? The ones that stole the plans to make ... I wanna say, make people's hair grow? Or make Knob Goblins have whiter teeth or something?"

"Oh, you mean the plans for the seeds?"

Cheetam snapped his greasy fingers.. or tried to. Too much pizza grease. "Yeah.. wait, maybe he went to cover that firearms charge in Market Place? Or is that your job?"

"I don't know. I'm starting to get confused. We really gotta start keeping better notes with this stuff."

"Wouldn't that imply we keep notes at all?"

"Well, it might help our image in the community. If they see we are actually keeping record of what is said in the Council meetings, they might not be so scared and be more willing to approach us when problems come up. Like the security breach recently. We need to come up with a way to keep the public informed that will not scare them to death."

"So maybe lie more?"

"I was thinking of something more.. subtle. Haha." Dewey paused. "Oh you mean something like sending spies out in the communities to report their movement so we can broadcast them all over?"

Cheetam rolled his eyes. "I dunno. We should find someone a little smarter to talk this over with. Dewey.. I think we need to track down a penguin."

By Dash and Binajane

**---------------**

Not far away, that night

Carlos sat across the desk from his assistant, Dottie, and complained, "Dottie, this task of keeping track of all that has been happening in Seaside Town and the surrounding area is getting to be too much. I think we need to ask for some help and the first place I want to go is to the Council. What do you think of that idea?"

Dottie responded, "Well, I agree that is has gotten a bit too much for one person to handle and you do have some cronies on the Council that you should be able to get some help from or at least ideas on what to do."

"Well, Dottie, I just met with the council and they are just as confused as we are, including the smarter ones. I am going to meet with more of them later and see what ideas they might have."

"Sir, I have to take Pete to her friend's house where she will be spending a couple days and then I will be able to go with you to any meeting you get lined up."

Carlos appeared to be deep in thought and merely answered with a nod.

By Binajane

**---------------**

Back to the present

Although the power structure around the Knob, stronghold of the Knob Goblins, had changed, much about the place had been consistent since before the Kingdom became a thing.

The stronghold had always been dangerous and unpleasant. The recent lack of leadership had only made it more so.

Knowing all of this, Sebastian Dash knew what to look for, and what to watch out for. "We'll be able to get a better view of things if we get somewhere a little higher. I didn't expect nearly this many patrols tonight."

Aleena nodded. She trusted Dash's judgement. She had to now, with her technology disabled. She looked to the stars. "A higher point might be advantageous."

"Maybe not that high," Dash said with a smile, giving her hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, once we get this matter with Catrina's kit settled, we'll deal with . . . whatever the bugbears did to you."

Dash still wasn't sure what it was, only that the bugbears had.. magically corrupted the nanites in Aleena's body as well as in Dash's.

She squeezed his hand in return. "Thanks, Dash. Though hopefully sooner rather than later."

Catrina growled with the mention of the bugbears. Her view toward Aleena had shifted greatly in the past few days- to the point where Dash had to avoid considering it if he wanted to keep his mind on the matter of the rescue. Just leave it that she now had new reasons to hate them.

Dash rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to focus. At least his vision did seem to be improving. "How'd the scouting trip go? Did you find anything on where our mysterious evil knight might be?"

The Black Paladin. Rumor - and a talkative Muri-dan- had it that the Paladin might know more about Catrina's offspring. Problem was, Paladin was known for his silence. Dash had suggested they take an indirect approach and try to find clues, rather than trying to get it out of the Paladin.

Aleena had responded by suggesting a direct approach, where they tear the information out of Paladin's mind, which got a chuckle out of Catrina, who had said she was in - "If you mean 'break every bone in his scrawny little body until he talks'."

Fast forward back to the present.

"Dash! Quit fantasizing three ways! We've got to move!" Catrina growled and hissed low as she pointed toward a patrol she'd spotted- even though she knew he still couldn't quite see properly.

"Behave, Cat!" Dash let out an exasperated sigh. "What are we up against? Why are they out here?"

"I always behave. It's just sometimes I behave badly," the lioness replied with a rare laugh for these times.

"How close are they?" Dash asked, hand on his sword.

"Hey!" a nearby voice called out. "Yu! Whadda yu doin here, ya scrawny oomans?"

"Oh," Dash answered, bringing his sword into attack position, seeing them come into view, even with his still blurry vision. It left Dash thankful he'd been trained to fight without relying on his vision.

Aleena rolled her eyes and nocked an arrow. In response, a couple of the biggest, toughest looking Knob Goblin troopers brought their shields to guard them and rushed full speed at the Morlencir Queen.

"You'd think eventually guys would figure out that it's a death sentence to attack us, right Dash?" the elf quipped. The vigorous motion of running, even with their shields, left them momentarily vulnerable. Rushing her was a fatal mistake as she used the openings to to launch arrows through, impaling the soft, fleshy targets behind.

"Non lethal force!" Dash yelled as he slammed the hilt of his sword into the nearest Goblin, dropping it unconscious, but probably saving it from Aleena's assault. "We're in Goblin territory; let's not risk starting another incident, Aleena."

"Great idea, Dash!" Aleena yelled, jumping over the dead Goblins to attack more still-living Goblins. "You're really getting a hand of this leadership thing!"

Catrina flicked her tail. "I'm not sure she's listening, Dash."

Dash facepalmed. "Just help me keep her in line, okay?"

Catrina's laugh was almost a roar. "Glad to see you've still got your sense of humor. Look before you lead."

With that, the catgirl furry jumped forward, leaving Dash to trail behind.

By Dash, Aleena and Catrina

**---------------**

Earlier that day

Captain Horatio and his friend, Mr. Sew Right, sat on the bench outside the door of Mr. Sew Right's home where the Captain stayed when he was in the area.

"What brings you back so soon, Horatio? How long will you be staying this trip?" asked Mr. Sew Right.

"Well, I was supposed to leave to deliver some supplies but found a problem with the ship and so we have to make repairs. It's going to take about a month to get them done. I'll be hanging around here til the ship is ready to go again. Just happy I found the crack in the hull before we got out on the open seas," replied Captain Horatio.

"Wonderful having you stay with my family and I, you know you're always welcome here. I have to see about some work I'm doing and will be back shortly. Sit here and enjoy the lovely weather," said Mr. Sew Right as he headed for his shop.

Mary and Wildfall walked up to the house where they found the captain sitting outside. Their travel companions, the Blackeagles, were off following up on the clues the professor gave them about the theft of his research project. Mary rushed up and greeted him with a big hug.

Captain Horatio greeted the pair. "Mary, lass, what're you doing back so soon? Hello again, Wildfall."

"Hello Captain, good to see you again too," said Wildfall, deep in thought about the thefts that had taken place.

"Captain, we need to talk to you about a problem and see if you can give us any ideas for a solution," stated Mary as she told the captain about the the bats attacking in swarms and explained that their companions, the Blackeagles, are convinced that some mysterious force is controlling the bats.

The Captain paused to weigh his options. "Well that definitely is a problem and there are a few things I can think of right off that you can try. First, you can kill them all off; secondly, you can try to trap them and release them elsewhere, or find a spellcaster that can take the spell off the bats and then you can track down the person who is controlling the bats and deal with them," the captain replied as tho thinking out loud.

"I really don't want to have to kill the bats off because they do a needed service by keeping the insects and other bugs down," said Mary as she turned and asked, "What do you think Wildfall?"

"I know that bats normally have a purpose in the environment, Mary, but these guys aren't doing anything but causing mayhem, attacking anything and everything around. Look at what they did to me and how they attacked the Blackeagles. I'm all for wiping them all out, but I wanna know if there's a connection between the bats and the thefts. Like, are the bats are being controlled by someone?"

"Well, the Boss Bat usually controls the bats and their actions but this is much bigger than the problems he's been known to cause," replied the captain with a thoughtful chin scratch. "I think your friends might be on the right track and something is controlling the way the bats are behaving."

Wildfall chuckled and asked the captain, "What if there's someone bossing the Boss Bat around?"

"Well, I guess we better go find Todd and Fahari and see if they can help on the rats. I think we might have stumbled on a real mystery here," said Mary. "Thank you, Captain, for your help and we'll stop back and let everyone know how this all turns out."

Mary gave the captain a hug and waved goodbye to Mr. Sew Right's family as she and Wildfall turned to go off in search of Todd and Fahari.

By Binajane

**---------------**

Elsewhere

After a few Council meetings and some hastily assembled plans, the Council had managed to find exactly the right people for the job.. well, okay, they'd managed to find certain people to fill an easily filled role. Barely.

They'd spread all over the kingdom, seeking the latest news and rumors, as the first one to reach his destination, Chandler 'Expo' Sition, would like to point out to you as he sits on a tree stump just outside of the Degrassi Knoll.

"We've arrived at South Degrassi." Chandler sighed heavily, slumping forward.

He hadn't gone alone. Alisha DiPrepp stood by his side, confused. "Wait.. you're not narrating already, right? Because I'm totally not ready to write this down and we don't know anything, anyway."

"I'm just making small talk," Chandler responded, slumping backwards. "It's a habit of mine, one which I've had since I was a child, growing up in.."

She cut him off, sitting on the stump in front of him. "I know where you grew up? Like.. dimwad!"

"Right," Chandler answered. "Because we're cousins. I call you 'TC' like most people do because of your habit of telling people 'Take care.' My father was your mother's brother. Sister? No wait.. brother. Meaning that your mother was my father's sister, of course. They both died in.."

"Okay, stop," she said, holding her head. "That's like.. tots annoying? I know that. I also know we grew up as close as siblings, you dimwad! Why don't we focus on why we're here? We're here to do a story on the extremely recent attacks here. The ones so recent that we were lucky to be close when we heard it happen."

"Shut up, you twitwit! I know that." He sneered, looking up at her. "I also know that the rumors are that it's only a handful of adventurers behind the incidents. Probably not all humans!"

"Of course not all humans!" He stood up, balling his fists. "Since one had fur."

She stood up, balling hers. "Yeah, and one had pointy ears! You're such a dimwad!"

"Twitwit!"

"Dimwad!"

"Twitwit!" He glared, balling his fists. "You're lucky you're not a guy!"

She glared right back, fists balled, too. "You're lucky you're not a gal!"

"So how should we settle this? Same way as always?"

"With a hug?" She sighed. "Fine, but make it quick, so we can get back to our job. With me scribing and you reporting."

"Yes!" he answered. "With me interviewing the locals to get a no-doubt completely accurate statements from local witnesses, unlikely to contradict each other and likely to be error free."

"Sounds totally easy!" She answered. "And completely unlikely to be complicated by harsh reality! Come here and hug me!"

By Dash

**---------------**

Just north a bit, in Degrassi

Mary and Wildfall wandered around DeGrassi looking for Todd and Fahari. Mary looked at Wildfall and asked, "Where do you suggest we look for those two? Maybe we should start with the Deli instead of walking aimlessly thru the town."

"Yea that might not be a bad idea, hun, we could walk around town and totally miss them. At least this would give us a starting point and we can get something to eat too," replied Wildfall as they headed to the Daily Deli.

Mary chuckled and playfully punched Wildfall on the arm. "You are always thinking of you stomach, but I am a little hungry too. Maybe Todd will be there checking out that new girl you guys saw there the last time you both went there."

"Oh, Mary, don't get any idea in that pretty head of yours. We only went in there to check out the food and try to get some information about what was happening in town. You seemed to like the food we brought you at the time," answered Wildfall, rubbing his arm and grinning.

Mary and Wildfall entered the Daily Deli and at the counter were Todd and Fahari, ordering their food.

"Hi, you two," Mary said to Todd and Fahari, as she and Wildfall approached the counter. "We have been looking for you both to talk to you about a problem we have concerning rats."

Mary went on to tell them the information the Professor had passed on regarding the the theft of his research and clues he had found, that the evidence was pointing to rats being guilty. She also told them that the Blackeagle team were wondering about the possibility that the rats were being controlled by someone.

"Is there anything we can do to get rid of the rats or is it possible that someone is actually controlling the rats or possibly controlling King Rat?" asked Mary. "We'd appreciate any help you can give us."

Todd and Fahari looked at each other as if they were deep in thought. Todd eventually chuckled. "Don't look at me, My ancestors were more into mice."

Fahari paused, for a moment wondering whether the vulpin was serious- but then, seeing his smirk, smiled lightly. "Nevertheless, we will do all we can to aid you, of course."

"Do you think there could be something to the question of someone controlling the rats? If so, any ideas who it might be or why?" Mary asked looking at both Todd and Fahari.

Wildfall had just returned from purchasing the food for him and Mary and greeted Todd and Fahari with a big smile.

"Mmmmmmmh, Hi mmmmm you two," said Wildfall with a mouthful of food, handing Mary her food.

Mary looked at Todd and Fahari and said, "Thank you both for listening to the dilemma and for the offer of help. We will keep that in mind and keep looking for answers."

Then she turned to Wildfall, chuckling she said, "Come on we are burning daylight, let's get going and try to find answers." She turned, waved bye to Todd and Fahari and walked out the door wondering where they go next, with Wildfall running to catch up.

By Binajane and Mitch

As you can see, Bina again had a big help in writing this one, so thank you Bina (Mary Kate's handler)!

After I get this mission posted, I'll probably get back to the histories of the player characters next. Well, that and roleplaying for the next mission.

The bit with the reporters actually has a purpose past just filling space but I'll get to that at the end of part III. I'm not linking part III here because I want you to read part II first, honestly.

Two more parts to go in the Finale!