Things are about to get tough and rough for Mary Kate and Wildfall!

 
It was rough going at first but under Wildfall's guidance, the small mismatched group had started to become quite effective against the array of bats, who were quickly losing confidence now that they'd run into an organized force working against them.

When last seen, Mary was teasing Wildfall and trying to get help for the wounded. This left Wildfall faced with a decision - keep trying to forge his way ahead with his group? Or stay closer to the tent and fight defensively?

"I should see what Mary thinks," Wildfall said out loud, still leading the charge against the bats. Of course, Mary had her own problems, so Wildfall didn't want to interrupt her, either. Dilemmas, dilemmas.

"The bats are starting to run!" yelled someone near Wildfall. "I mean, to fly away!"

"Don't hold back!" Wildfall yelled. "If they sense we let up, they'll reorganize and we'll be in even bigger trouble than before. Show no mercy!"

With that, the group rushed forward, with an eager young seal clubber, twice Wildfall's size and three times as fast, leading the charge. Clearly the kid was young, and when this whole bat debacle had started, he looked ready to go hide in a corner, but thanks to Wildfall's leadership and the bravery shown by the others, he'd unleashed his inner warrior, quickly showing fighting skills that matched even the best of the group, even though he was limited to swinging a bar chair around and using a small wooden table for a shield, guarding both himself and several warriors behind him.

He took down nearly a half dozen bats as they poured around the corner. However, when the kid turned the corner ahead towards the main street, he was suddenly struck dead where he stood.

Wildfall froze, being the only one to initially recognize what had just happened; the rest were too busy dealing with the bats to immediately notice. But Wildfall saw it- the tip of a pickaxe sticking through the young warrior's back, probably going clear through from his chest.

"F.. f.." Wildfall started to mumble. But the rest of them were still following - or would try to follow- the corpse of the kid. "Fall back!! Around me! NOW!!" Wildfall yelled.

Something very dangerous was upon them, indeed.

A few of them rushed forward, but then stopped, seeing the kid. His oversized body still blocked the view of the assassin. Others froze in fear. Then the body seemed to move backwards - obviously being shoved by a smaller figure.

Wildfall grabbed the arm of the nearest two figures in front of him (one of each gender). Despite wanting to keep his mouth shut and hide, Wildfall yelled, "Get yer arses moving, dammit!"

"We're not afraid of some midget!" yelled another taller warrior. He tried to rush past the young fallen warrior, only to have the body of the large youngster flung at him effortlessly, trapping him under the fresh corpse.

In front of the group stood a red-faced dwarven figure from the mountains, standing about six and a half feet tall. He had a simple black flannel shirt, no red to be seen, and a war kilt. The look on his face screamed axe murderer, as did the way he swung a pickaxe overhead.

It didn't help the case much when he started yelling, "Who said midget?! I'll slice you to ribbons!"

A nearby sauceror blasted him with several salsaballs, which the dwarf easily avoided, deflected, or simply ignored when they hit. He rushed at the sauceror and swung the pickaxe, slicing through the sauceror's body like butter, sending a ketchup-red stream of blood from the poor mystic's chest.

"Ahhh, the idiot trapped under my first victim. Name isn't Midget." He walked over, raising the pickaxe over his head like it weighed nothing. "Name's Shorty. Last name you're gonna hear in this lifetime, got it?"

A couple seal clubbers rushed up in a full bull-charge, hoping to overwhelm the dwarf, but he simply turned and slammed the broadside of his pickaxe into the two of them, dropping them in a heap of agony.

"Don't interrupt now," Shorty said while Wildfall and the others stood there, confused and terrified.

*-------

Mary, hearing a commotion nearby, looked around to locate the source of the noise. She saw Diana close to tears trying to communicate with an elderly woman who spoke very little English. Walking over to the two, Mary quickly assessed the situation and noticed the lady pointing to her armpit. Mary drew Diana's attention to where the lady was pointing and saying, "Hurt!! Hurt!!"

Mary looked and told Diana, "She is trying to tell you that she has something under her arm that hurts. Let's take a look and see what is going on."

Diana nodded and said, "I think she just doesn't like me."

When Mary looked under the lady's arm she found a large carbuncle and pointed it out to Diana. "That is the cause of her pain. I'll show you how lance it, clean it properly and dress it. That will help her feel much better."

Shocked to see such a sight, Diana put her hand to her mouth and muttered, "Oh WOW, I've never seen that before and just thought she hated me." Then with tears in her eyes, she hugged the old lady and said, "I'm sooo sorry I couldn't understand you." The old lady seemed to understand the tears and reached up to wipe them from Diana's face.

With that problem dealt with, Mary went back to checking on the wounded and searching for a glimpse of Wildfall to make sure he was not injured.

Feeling a sense of doom, and not seeing Wildfall, Mary started off in the direction the commotion.

However, at the site of the battle, an eerie calm had fallen over the battlefield, with the bats having flown off to recover and regroup for further mischief. Shorty, as he'd just called himself, was delighting in the sinister moment, with the others simply staring wide-eyed at him, afraid to draw his attention to themselves.

"Oh goodie," Shorty whispered in a voice somehow loud enough to be heard. "Every good execution needs an audience, don't you think? Let's see what you vermin think about this."

As Shorty raised the pickaxe higher, dramatically, a voice inside Wildfall's head whispered, "Do something." Wildfall ignored it.

When Shorty's hands came to a second's stop above his head, Wildfall's mental voice yelled the same thing but much louder. With a mental sigh, Wildfall called out, "So Shorty huh? Let me guess, 'Overbearing Obnoxious Drunk with bad Gothic fashion sense' was too long, huh? Oh, I know, the name doesn't refer to your height, huh?"

Todd would approve of that one if he were here, Wildfall figured. Then Wildfall's mind went blank as Shorty turned to him.

"You say somethin, boy?"

A couple half thought out insults died on Wildfall's tongue, but he powered through, stepping forward. The others wisely stepped back. Just what Wildfall was hoping, but honestly, it didn't do much for his odds of survival. "Oh, sorry Shorty, are you too short to hear it? Maybe I outta kneel down, kiddo. Say it in language a lil fella like you can understand."

"Looks like a change of plans," Shorty said coolly. Coldly. Like ice. Or death. "Gonna kill you first, how's that sound?"

Despite himself, Wildfall smirked. "Sounds like you might need to ask a grown-up about that."

"AHHHHRRRGGGGHHHH!!" Shorty broke into a dead rush against the smaller Wildfall, giving the Ireacan lad little time to think. He rolled forward, letting his momentum take him under the pickaxe and moving him away from the others, who were smartly starting to fall back already. Wildfall quickly got to his hands and knees, doing the one thing he knew would work. Wildfall swung both legs at one of Shorty's, hoping to knock the taller dwarf on his backside. The missed attack had left Shorty off balance and yet, even the force of both of Wildfall's legs wasn't enough to take Shorty off of his feet. Wildfall started to scamper off the ground when Shorty reached down, grabbing one of Wildfall's legs and using it to lift Wildfall off the ground before haphazardly dumping Wildfall on his head. Wildfall went down in a dazed heap.

Mary seeing that Wildfall was in danger, rushed in behind the dwarf and started pounding on his back only to have the dwarf suddenly turn and grab Mary's hand, squeezing it tightly as he threw her to the ground like a rag doll.

See? Told ya!

Our heroes are in a lot of trouble now! But you can find out what happens next just by clicking the "next" link below! Good for you.