We start off with a lil Dash and Catrina, then we add a few others! The latest round of Aleena and Dash's battle with the Paladin started during the during the Finale of the last mission. They've tangled with the Paladin before, dating back to the debut of a handful of space elf player characters. But anyway- the battle continues here!

 
Warning: Catrina-level sexual innuendo. . . . later on

Scene: The Finale part II from Rats, Bats and other types of Vermin

Aleena looked up, dazed. A looming figure stood ominously over her.

She, Catrina Whiteclaw and Sebastian Dash had headed to the Knob Goblin in hopes of finding the Black Paladin and extracting the information they needed from him. They ended up being confronted by the Paladin deep in the heart of the Knob, the stronghold of the fallen Knob Goblin Kingdom.

The trio had pursued the Black Paladin outside of the Knob. While Dash fought the guards pouring out of the Knob, Catrina and Aleena battled the Paladin and actually had him in trouble.

That's when, inexplicably, an alien bugbear had shown up in the distance. Able to focus her chi into inhuman speed, Catrina pounced the bugbear and the two vanished as Aleena moved forward. However, the Paladin caught Aleena and threw her back while Catrina and the bugbear vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

Which lead us back to the scene earlier, with Paladin standing over a still dazed Aleena.

"It's time to end this absurdity," Aleena said. She forced herself to her feet, consciously trying to mask the fact she was still hurting. The smoke dress swirled around her and clung to her body. It reformed into the image of her cysuit. The power piping along her suit flashed with energy surges in time to her anger. She shot the Paladin a withering look, full of confidence she wasn't really feeling; it was enough to cause the Paladin to stumble back, shocked. Taking on the full force of her cysuit wasn't something he'd planned for.

Aleena laughed and levelled her cysuit weapon on the Paladin. "It'd be best for you to surrender and tell me what I want to know. I will tear the information from your mind if I must."

"I wouldn't test her if I were you," Sebastian Dash called out ahead of stumbling to Aleena's side. "I really don't think she's in the mood. And I'm ready for a fight."

Dash could almost swear he heard the Paladin chuckle. Almost in the blink of an eye, the Paladin's armored war steed appeared in the distance. Paladin quickly rushed towards the steed, which reared up dramatically before rushing off into the distance. As he did, Dash submitted to the pain of his injuries, holding his ribs.

"You .. got your cysuit back.." Dash noted, trying to keep his balance.

"Trick of the smoke gown," Aleena whispered back.

Dash began to lose his battle to stay upright and suddenly found Cattaras behind him, holding him up. Jen moved from his side (looking no worse the wear from her trip with the tiger) to her Queen's, showing concern.

"How is she?" the tiger growled even as he checked his friend over.

"Jen! I am grateful to see you. Listen. Revoke all my crypto and then I need you to do a full re-image on me. Authorize 'ceredwen'."

Jen gave Aleena a curious look, then took her hand. She bowed her head. "Yes, my Queen."

Catt managed a chuckle. "I take it that's bad, then."

"It will only take a moment," Aleena said. The rules of the smoke dress were puzzling. She had to dismiss it to use her cysuit, but without her cysuit being in proper order it left her naked.

"Not to give everyone a show or anything, but undoing what the bugbears did is vitally important."

"Oh, we understand completely. Take all the time you need." The tiger purred, letting his baser instincts hide his worry for a friend. Two friends, as he had to pull his gaze away from Aleena to check on Dash. Difficult, indeed!

Aleena and Jen shared a laugh. Without warning, they had shared a brief moment of a special intimacy and pleasure between the two elves with Cattaras. Aleena's cysuit reformed around her, flowing like a liquid until it enveloped her in her customary style.

"This will do, until I can get a more thorough work-over. Thank you, Jen."

Dash forced a smile. "Looks good either way, Aleena."

"Just be glad Todd's off somewhere with that pantheress monk." Catt chuckled as he worked on bandaging up Dash.

"I also have work to perform on Dash," Jen said. "Your cybernetics need maintenance before you can turn them back on."

Dash smiled thinly. "Is that gonna cost a lot?"

"By the way, did you happen to lose something on the way here?" Catt's voice was no longer joking.

Dash sighed. "Damn. Aleena?"

"Catrina and a bugbear she was fighting vanished in a flash of light. I know not where," Aleena said.

"This will only take a moment." Jen smiled at Dash before laying her hands on his head.

The big tiger's face registered concern. "Are you saying that she's been abducted by aliens?"

Dash nodded, doing his best to hold still in spite of the pain. "From another dimension on top of that."

Cattaras could not help the smirk that crossed his face as he sat back and watched his love treat his friend in ways he could not. "Wonder who will tire of the anal probings first?"

"Not I," said Aleena and Jen in unison.

Catt smiled fully, leaning in to kiss Jen. "I know. It's so much fun trying to sate the insatiable…"

Aleena giggled while Jen and Catt shared a passionate kiss, knowing the tiger was always more than willing to make it more. But he finally broke and sat back, looking from one friend to another.

"So, where to?" asked Cattaras. "Following the bugbear's as doable as following me when I get in high gear." He gazed off into the distance. "Paladin's long gone…"

Dash shrugged and smiled. "Seaside Town. When in doubt, always head back to the HUB city. Learned that in Honorburg."

There it is! A great bit of action with some humor and romance mixed in.

Although the voter commented a few times on this storyline feeling "like a side story," this piece won each character a point for runner-up: Best Co-Write.

The story with Aleena's cysuit being disabled has been going on awhile; it started way back in Darkest hour when Aleena's systems were viciously hacked. So it's good to see some sudden resolution to that. Of course, it's always fun getting a bit of sci-fi in AIL as well.

Now that we've gotten Aleena and company, let's go back to Wildfall and Mary Kate for a bit - then it'll be time for a return to AIL!