We're in for a special treat here. Mary reunites with Koumori in this entertaining, exciting and explosive episode!

 
## That's the sound of two men, beating on the force . . . field ## ## That's the sound of two men, beating on the force . . . field ##

## And they say, "Ohh! Ahh! This force field is so haaaard!" ## ## That's the sound of two men, beating on the force . . . field ##

## Two minutes long, they worked so hard. The sun ohhhhh oh! The sun isn't going down ##

As Mary and Gem approached the force field, they could hear the rhythmic sounds of Wildfall and Bristle pounding on the force field with their weapons. The guys made up a little song to go with the rhythm and Mary started chuckling as she said, "The song is cute but it is the funniest thing to see a man with a wooden stick beating on a force field."

"I don't know why it's making noise now," Wildfall complained. "It just started a few minutes ago. It's almost like it was setting up a really bad joke. Also; I'm suddenly thirsty."

Mary chuckled and joined in on the song, "'My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my work is so hard. Give me water, I'm thirsty.'" Then she looked from Wildfall to Gem and asked Wildfall, "Did you hear that noise before or after Gem and I came back to the force field?" Mary was afraid to hear the answer.

"Depends," Wildfall answered absentmindedly, still trying to shove his shillelagh into the barrier's crack.

"Depends on what?" Mary asked.

"Did you get back before or after the noise started?" Wildfall asked.

Gem just facepalmed sympathetically.

Mary looked at Wildfall and felt her temper raising and tried hard to control herself as she told him, "Since I did not hear the noise, I am trying to figure out if you are blaming me for the noise since I seem to be the blame for that blasted crack."

Wildfall pushed with all his weight, but his solid oak weapon just slipped and he nearly fell flat on his face. He stood up and turned to Mary Kate, taking in her words. "How could it be your fault if it started before you got here?"

Mary sighed a very frustrated sigh. "I had just asked you if you heard the noise before or after I came back and you give me some sort of smart-assed remark. 'Did you get back before or after the noise started?' you asked. That did not answer my question. I was afraid I caused that noise too."

Wildfall tilted his head. "Well, if it started when you got back, you woulda heard it, right?"

"Not necessarily with all the noise around here," replied Mary.

Bristle started yelling, "Guys! The hole's starting to close! I could use a little help here, if you can stop fighting that is!"

"Stop fighting and start fighting the force field, right," Wildfall answered, rushing over to try to pry his shillelagh into the gap. "Hey Mary! Come put your hand on this, sweetie."

Mary went over to stand by Wildfall and put her hand on the force field as she complained, "I really do not like doing this - I am not a mage nor do I have magic powers. I don't want another shock like the last one."

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Wildfall said between grunts, working helplessly to widen the gap. "Maybe you'll be so not-magical that the barrier will dissolve when you touch it. That's possible, right?"

Bristle laughed off the comment from Wildfall but saw Mary was still visibly upset and asked, "Mary, could you help use figure out what that tapping noise was and where it came from, please?"

Mary held her hand on the barrier and listened intently. "I can hear it now and it is not coming from the barrier but sounds like overhead." She looked up, smiled and her eyes lit up with recognition.

Somewhere on the lower rooftops a shadow flickered. Beady black eyes peered down at the at the assembled people banging on the force field. Ears perked forward, the figure jumped down and on silent wings glided to another perch. Large ears flattened at the argument and yelling, entranced by the sights in front of him.

Those ears swiveled and twitched, taking in the arguments and the goings on. Claws tapped against a nearby wall, clicking loudly enough to draw attention.

The black form that crouched on the rooftops jumped off, gliding down in front of Mary. Wary, but as non threateningly as possible he moved, watching closely for any sort of response. A chittering rapid paced language slipped out of his muzzle and his head tilted curiously.

The bat creature looked to Mary as if expecting a response to his noises.

Mary smiled and walked over to her friend saying, "I am happy to see you again. I hope you have been well. I have felt your presence around me often since we first met."

The creature tilted his head and bowed deeply. More chittering followed and his hands moved towards the force field, as if he was trying to show Mary something. He frowned, obviously frustrated at his inability to communicate with the person who helped him.

Mary watched her friend and saw his paw moving to the force field and said, "Guys, my friend here is trying to tell us something about the force field. I think he might be able to help us."

The bat turned and advanced to the field. His fingers weaving in intricate patterns. He pressed a paw against the barrier, slowly moving forward. The field bulged and wavered where his paws met it, but didn’t seem to give. The bat frowned and waved to Mary, again gesturing with his fingers. Slowly this time though. He exhaled a deep breath, his eyes lidding, his body relaxing as he pushed his paws forward again.

Mary nodded an unspoken understanding of what the bat was asking her to do. "Everyone stand back and let me help my friend," she said while laying a hand beside the bat's fingers.

A fanged smile lit up the bat’s face as he gently guided Mary’s hands to the correct position. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath, knowing that she should be able to feel the chi gathering in the peaks of the fingertips while in that position. He took a deep exaggerated breath and pressed his hands forward.

Mary let the bat guide her hands and as she did, a feeling of a power seemed to enter her body. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might on the the field, allowing the feeling to overtake her.

The bat smiled, taking Mary’s hands in hers, adding his chi to the gesture. His eyes closed and he exhaled deeply, letting the power flow out of them and towards the force wall.

As the power flowed from Mary and the bat, she could feel the barrier moving as the crack started to open wider and suddenly Mary realized the force field was sealing the hole.

Behind her!

Mary started to scream, "Wildfall, help us!"

Bristle saw the crack open and tried to grab Mary but was too late and Mary fell thru as the barrier started to close in around her.

With a jump and a flutter, the bat dove towards the crack. Fearlessly, he dove through the breach, heedless of the danger to himself.

Once on the other side of the field, the bat turned to Wildfall and bowed deeply, hand over his heart.

He then turned and bowed to his companion again, his ears flicking softly as he jerked his head toward the middle of the field.

Wildfall pounded uselessly on the force field, trying to break through. He could barely make out the figure of the bat. It looked like it was taunting Wildfall now. In a state of utter panic, Wildfall screamed, barely hearing Bristle behind him. Just a vague, distorted image of the bat. He could barely see Mary behind it.

"That thing stole her!" Wildfall yelled, pounding harder in spite of the pain. "It pulled Mary, my Mary, inside of that thing!"

"Wildfall!" Bristle yelled, trying to get his attention. "Calm down!"

Gem turned to both Bristle and Wildfall and yelled, "Will you both shut up and calm down? The bat is there with her and I have the feeling he will protect her. You have to get ahold of yourselves and try to figure a way to open this barrier."

"I know that!" Wildfall blurted back, pulling his weapon into an attack position! "That thing has her! Did you see it pull her in?"

"I don't think that's what happened," Bristle said. "The barrier closed around her. The bat rushed in, that's true. But I don't think he caused it."

Wildfall turned, glared, and frowned. "Then we still need to get in. What are we gonna do now?!"

Instead, an unfamiliar voice answered from the nearby crowd. "I might be one who can lend ye a little help on that, youngsters."

** -- **

Mary looked around and saw buildings and the mansion inside the barrier. She also saw a penguin and a woman beating on the barrier trying to get thru. They looked as frightened as Mary felt but somehow seeing that the bat was with her, she felt safe. She could barely make out Wildfall and the others on the other side so she tried to yell to him. "Wildfall, I am okay and my friend is with me so he will take care of me. Just get us out of here!"

From somewhere under the loose outfit he wore, the bat drew a small blade. He kneeled down in the dirt, driving it into the ground in front of him, looking up to Mary with a “now what?” expression on his muzzle. He seemed relaxed and loose, but ready for anything.

Mary watched what the bat was doing and realized he was trying to ask what to do next. "I don't think a knife will get us out of here but I am happy to have a weapon in case anyone tries to hurt you. Thank you for being here with me, somehow I feel safe with you," she said to him. Bending down to the base of the barrier, Mary checked to see if there might be a way of digging under it.

Waiting seemed to be something that the bat was very good at. He sat, legs folded, sword nearby. His ears swivelled and his nose twitched, the only movement that showed he was still alive. Although he did adjust himself to face inward, towards the city.

After finding no way to dig out, Mary took a better look around and noticed rats and bats milling around the mansion. "This must be where all the bats and rats have been hiding," she thought to herself and looked to the bat for comfort.

The bat stood and looked toward the mansion. Taking up the sword, he inclined his head in that direction, his eyebrow arched in what might be a comical manner, if the situation weren't serious. He waved the sword a bit, showing that he could use it.

Mary picked up the knife that the bat laid on the ground and motioned for the bat to follow her as she headed toward the nearest building. With only her hands and the knife for weapons, Mary cautiously walked toward the first building. She figured she might as well do what the mission had dictated: "Clear out the surrounding buildings and the rats and bats causing the problem." Suddenly she saw a couple large shadowy figures in the distance and she motioned for the bat to head into the building next to them as she herself ducked in. "We will hide in here until we see what those two are up to and maybe they are behind this barrier thing," Mary whispered to the bat.

The bat shook his head in response and pointed to a nearby building. He flapped his wings gently and put a finger to his lip before taking off with a flapping but strangely silent stride. Crouching in the shadows he readied something from his pack. A series of blades were clipped onto the leading edges of his wings with a motion that had to be practiced. The edges shimmered in the light but he was careful to keep them from giving him away. It seemed that the bat was ready to go deeply offensive if need be as he also still carried the blade from before.

Mary heard a faint noise in the room and knew that it was too loud to be her friend so she cautiously moved toward the sound and strained to see in the darkness. As she neared a corner, she saw the penguin and woman that she had seen when first getting trapped on this side of the barrier. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" whispered Mary.

The woman spoke up and said, "My name is Dottie and this is my boss Mr. Penno. We got trapped in here when we were getting my daughter and the barrier started to close. She got away but we were not fast enough. Now we can't get out and I am so worried about my little girl. Please help us get out of here."

Mary told Dottie, "Don't worry, ma'am, I'm sure some complete stranger found your little girl and took her to see poisonous snakes or something fun…"

Dottie turned white as a sheet and began to cry. "Oh please don't say that, her playing with snakes is what got us here to start with. She loves snakes and was playing with some when we found her. We were headed home when some thugs tried to rob us and Mr Penno told Pete to run and get help. That is when the barrier closed. We can hear people out there trying to get thru but until you showed up, no one got in."

Mary chuckled and told Dottie, "I used to play with snakes when I was younger too and my remark about the snakes was a sick sort of humor my partner would say if he was here. Wildfall spends most of his time joking but unfortunately it sounds like he is serious. Anyway, I didn't mean to upset you. I was trying to lighten the mood but that didn't work so well."

Mary motioned toward the bat and told Dottie and Mr. Penno. "This is my friend and protector and he will protect you too." Mary noticed that the penguin stayed off to the side, very wary of the whole situation. After Mary told them that the bat was her friend, Mr. Penno seemed to relax and moved closer. "Do you have any idea how we are getting out of here, young lady?" asked Mr. Penno.

While they were talking, the bat left his perch and joined Mary again. The penguin, however, seemed to put him on edge and made him nervous.

Mary looked at him and said, "No sir, but my friend and I are going to do our best to get us all out safely. You two stay put and out of sight. Mr. Penno, for some reason my friend seems to think you are a threat so I am asking you to not make any sudden moves. He is not used to being around humans, other than myself, and I don't want your movements to be seen as any kind of threat to him."

Mr. Penno eyed the bat and shook his head allowing himself to relax and snickered, "First I see a little girl playing with snakes and now you talking to and being friendly with a bat. Now I think I have seen everything." He turned to face the bat and bowed to the bat saying, "Sir, if the young lady trusts you then so do we and you will have no trouble from us."

The bat in turn simply stared at both of his new allies. Looking from them to Mary, he frowned, not entirely happy with what he saw and heard, but pointedly he slid his blade into its sheath and bowed deeply from the waist, formally acknowledging that he was peaceful.

Mary had forgotten that the bat had razors on his wings and figured that was why Mr. Penno was so worried. "The razors are his weapons and I have a feeling we are going to need to fight our way out of here so you both stay here till we tell you it is safe to come out."

Mr. Penno responded by saying, "I have a better idea than us staying here in this building. We have been trapped here long enough that we have a 'safe house' set up and I would feel better if we were there. We still have food and water left there so we will be okay. You may need to join us if events go . . south for you."

"Ok, as long as you will be safe there," said Mary.

Without a word, Mr. Penno lead the others out the backdoor to the nearest unsafe alley.

The bat frowned, not entirely sure who he could trust. But he followed Mary this far and she turned out to be someone that would help him without hesitation, and that was something to cherish. He would need as many allies as he could get. But this entire deal of not being alone was new to him.

Besides, they would need all the help he could get in the near future.

His gaze flicked to the distance as he briefly picked out something looming far off in the distance, just past the mansion. Then, with a hazy, ominous sparkle of green light, the figure seemed to shrink into the cover of the mansion.

We cover a lot of ground in here emotionally and in terms of story, from Wildfall's opening parody song to him and Mary fussing. Plus Koumori and the twist with the force field; both were quite nice, and Mary's reaction to potentially being magic is both unique and memorable. Koumori's viewpoint is certainly a highlight. The voter stated "every little bit of Koumori was amazing" when he awarded this piece with Best Co-write. Ichiro's also compliments Mary on her continued growth, via the "is she magic?" storyline and admires the opening song from Wildfall, calling him "great" in this one.

We also see more of Gem, who won Best use of a NPC for Wildfall and Mary for this mission.This piece also wins Mary the Spooky scene award for the moment she gets sucked through the barrier. The voter called it a "legitimate moment of peril (which) captured the feel perfectly."

So all in all, we did pretty good here, although I would like to add that Ichiro called the concept of a character who can't speak "such a great concept," adding that "Koumori is just the right writer to handle this."

Next up: IRIS!