Emah threw off the blankets covering her, reaching for her boots and sword, but Maly didn’t linger to help her friend. Instead, she dashed out of the bedroom, running past a startled Kami, with Destiny loping at her heels.
Inside the house, the panther intoned the warning in her mind. But they don’t smell like rats. In fact… hm.
As suddenly as the screams had risen, they now fell silent. Maly held the railing of the stairs and vaulted down several at a time, landing lightly. There, on the first floor of Sami Suttar’s shop, two figures stood over the City Watch members still accompanying them, the front door still open wide. Maly hadn’t really gotten to know either of the Watchmen assigned to them. In their favor, they were both Stone Islanders like herself, and around her age. Unfortunately, when she’d met them she had been exhausted from her time in the ratfolk warrens and unwilling to make small talk. Also, both had subtly leered at her when she said she’d needed a bath, which was gross and made her instantly avoid them. Now both were dead, laying in pools of blood. Maly had never even learned their names.
One of the murderers was a handsome Kaizukan man in baggy pants with hair pulled back in a long, black braid. He was shirtless, with a bandolier of some kind crisscrossing his chest, and red ribbons of cloth tied around each bicep. He wielded a long knife in each hand, each stained scarlet with City Watch blood.
His companion made Maly pause and gasp. He also wore loose-fitting pants, yet only to his knees. There the similarities between the two intruders ended. The second man wore a sleeveless shirt with a stylized symbol on it and carried no weapons or obvious gear. His head was like Destiny’s, that of a large black cat, and his arms and legs appeared human but covered in fine black fur. A long cat’s tail whipped side to side as he looked up at Maly, and he settled into a fighting stance, fists raised.
Maly wasn’t sure what was more shocking: The impossible cat-man standing nearby or the symbol on the cat-man’s chest, a symbol she had come to both recognize and loathe. These two men were members of…
“The East Bay Dragons!” Maly sputtered.
Fight time! For a reminder on who these two are, check out Issue 4c. For our initiative order, we have:
- Kura Misaki, Anos Wosu, and Maly all at Alertness 15. I’m going to allow the bad guys to go first because of Kura’s “Tactician” super skill. All three are in the Center of the battle, on the first floor of the house.
- Kami and Emah at 13. Both are on the Perimeter of the battle upstairs. Emah will have to spend the first turn getting her gear.
- Destiny at 12. He is also in the Center.
Kura will let Anos fly into action while he assesses these new foes. With his Martial Arts Anos’ Prowess becomes 20, but with Acrobatics Maly’s Alertness is also 20. So it’s a straight 50-50 roll, and Maly rolls 41. Dodge!
Kura moves in to flank Maly while she’s distracted. With his knives he also has a 20 Prowess, which gives Maly another 50% chance to avoid the attack. She rolls a 70 and elects not to use her sole Hero Point this Issue. That’s 20 damage, and she’s suddenly one hit away from dying at 10 Vitality. Hm… maybe should have used that Hero Point?
Maly grabs her own dagger and tries to return the strike. Her Prowess is only 13 compared to Kura’s 20, giving her only a 15% chance to hit. She rolls 74.
I’ll stick with the Center scene and let Destiny see if he can strike back at Kura, scaring the would-be box thief. His Psyche is 14 vs. Kura’s 11, giving him a 65% chance of success. He rolls 60, and Kura takes 14 damage, down to 31 Vitality.
Kami, meanwhile, will rush down the stairs to join the fray. Emah will curse and pull on her boots and grab her sword.
There was something unsettling about the eyes of both Dragons, a pulsing light of dull green. Maly saw it briefly, and then it was gone.
The knife-wielding assailant moved in a wide circle around her while the cat-man coiled and leapt, leg outstretched to kick her. She dodged to one side, but then pain lanced through her in a burning line of fire. She stumbled, grasping at her ribs where one of the Kaizukan man’s knives had cut her. He flicked blood off the blade and advanced, even as Maly fumbled to grab a dagger from her belt. She would be too late, she realized in a rush. There was another flash of green in the man’s eyes as he raised a knife for the killing blow.
From the bottom of the staircase, Destiny roared. The cat-man’s head whipped around to face the black panther, but it was the knife-wielding Dragon who winced and shut his eyes in pain. It gave Maly the opening she needed, and she danced away from the man before he could finish her. Fury replaced shock as she moved. She would not be killed by the East Bay Dragons, damn them all to the Nine Hells!
Footsteps pounded down the stairs as Kami descended. She gasped.
“Kura?” she said, her voice was heavier with emotion than Maly had ever heard it. “What are you doing here, brother?”
Brother?! Maly and Destiny thought at the same time.
Round 2! It’s cat-on-cat crime as Anos moves to protect his mentor and kick Destiny. A 20 vs. 12 score means that our panther only has a 10% chance of dodging. He rolls a 73 and takes a kick to the head. 20 damage later, and Destiny is also at 10 Vitality.
Kura shakes off the panther’s roar and moves in to finish Maly. She again has a 50% chance to dodge and rolls a 44! Critical success. I’ll say she not only dodges but feints, gaining a +20% to her strike back. That gives her a 35% chance to hit, and she rolls 45. Dang.
Destiny now roars at Anos with a 70% chance of success. He rolls an impressive 01, which isn’t a crit but feels like it should be. Still, 14 damage and Anos drops to 22 Vitality.
Kami doesn’t want to kill her brother, or even fight him. She also knows that she has no chance to hit him in melee, even if she wanted to grapple. The same is true for Anos, unfortunately (Kami really needs some points in Prowess!). For now, she’ll try and snap her brother out of his control, doing a Psychic Attack (a stretch of the rules, but I like it, and it keeps Kami from being useless this fight). Her Psyche is 13 vs. Tatter’s 16, giving her a 35% chance of success. She rolls 76, but that’s a good strategy for next time.
Poor Emah finally is ready for combat and now can make her way into the battle. Will she be too late to save Maly or Destiny?
The cat-man used the momentary hesitation to knee Destiny in the head. The panther yowled in surprise and pain, jaws clacking shut. Its yellow eyes focused on the acrobatic Dragon and growled. Despite his light feet and easy fighting grace, the cat-man stepped back, wary of the panther.
Maly wanted to help Destiny, but the knives of Kami’s brother prevented her from doing anything but staying alive. She feinted to one side, then stabbed out with her dagger. Neither opponent could make contact, however, and she and the Kaizukan man circled one another. Now that Maly considered him, he did bear a striking resemblance to Kami. Could it truly be her brother?
“Kura, please!” Kami pleaded. “Stop! Why are you here?”
Another momentary green flash filled the man’s eyes, and he shook his head, like a bee was pestering him. “Give us… the… box!” he mumbled, the words seeming forced.
Realization struck Maly. “He’s being controlled!” she yelped, dodging another long knife. “By the ratfolk priest!”
Round 3. Anos will try another strike against Destiny to down the panther. Once again, Destiny has only a 10% chance to dodge the cat-man’s martial arts strike. He rolls a 42 and fails. Our first PC down! Destiny is now in a “critical state” and will remain out of the action for the entire scene, and possibly beyond. Also worth noting that if he had taken 3 more damage, he would have gone to negative Vitality greater than his Physique score and would have been dead. Yikes!
Kura, still controlled, will try and do the same to Maly. Another 50-50 roll, and she gets a 06 so dodges easily. Can she return the strike? With only a 15% chance she rolls 89. Nope.
Perhaps, however, Kami can snap her brother out of his mind control. She still has a 35% chance and rolls 66, a critical failure. Oof. Not only is her brother still mind-controlled, but it will now take two successes (or one critical success) to free him.
Emah, thankfully, has joined the battle. It’s Weapon Master vs. Weapon Master as she moves to help Maly. Her 20 Prowess against Kura’s 20 means Emah has a 50% to hit. She rolls 05! That’s 20 damage with her sword, dropping Kami’s brother to 11 Vitality.
Maly hoped that Kami had heard her words, but just then the cat-man yelled a battle cry, spinning another kick to the side of Destiny’s head. This time the panther went down, sliding several steps across the wooden floor. The great cat moved weakly to stand, and his assailant kicked him again. Destiny went limp.
“No!” Maly cried, then ducked below the wide arc from a knife. She wildly stabbed at Kami’s brother, but it was meant to move him back more than do damage. It worked, and Maly leapt protectively towards Destiny’s fallen body.
With a roar, Emah took Maly’s place. Her friend stomped down the stairs, boots unlaced and still in Sami Suttar’s overlarge night shift. Emah had her ancestral sword in one hand, however, and that was more than enough to tilt the battle. Murder in her eyes, her blade flashed. Kura, the brother, had been unprepared for Emah’s skill. He blocked one strike, but the second thrust caught his thigh. The man grunted in pain, blood blossoming from the wound.
“Emah! It’s my brother! Don’t kill him! Kura, listen to me!” Kami implored, but her words were lost, it seemed in the din of battle.
Round 4, and it’s still two-on-two, with Kami only able to plead with her brother. Anos will try and do to Destiny’s companion what he did to the panther and will strike out. Maly, however, is more acrobatic than Destiny, which gives her a 50% to dodge. She rolls an 06 and does so.
But lo! Anos has Probability Warp, and will flip-flop the roll into a 60. Doing so incurs a d10 of “Karma,” and I roll 6. Now any roll 06 or below will negate this power for the rest of the combat. Maly, who will go down if struck, burns her solitary Hero Point in the first battle of the Issue and flip-flops it back to 06 (this doesn’t trigger the Karma since it’s a flip-flop). Complicated stuff, but the upshot is that Maly is still in the fight.
Maly will try and strike back. She has the same measly 15% chance and rolls… a 16. What a bummer.
Kura, meanwhile, will face off against this new opponent Emah. In fact, he’ll try a Disarm attempt, which Emah has a 50% to parry. She rolls 19. Clang!
Before Emah tries to kill Kami’s brother, Kami will attempt again to snap him out of his mind control. She rolls 58 and fails. That means it’s Emah’s turn, and she rolls 25. Kura is down, but not dead (6 away from death).
The cat-man was a whirlwind of feet and hands. His black-furred limbs spun and struck from all angles, and it took every bit of concentration Maly possessed to avoid the blows. She couldn’t focus on the inert body of Destiny at her feet, Kami’s desperate shouts, or the clashing steel of Emah’s sword and Kura’s long knives. Instead, she ducked and dodged and bent as a series of precise strikes whistled past her. The man’s fighting was beautiful, in a way, using a dancer’s grace and skill.
That grace stopped abruptly. The cat-man’s yellow eyes went wide, looking past Maly. Eyes flashed green for a moment as he yelled, “Kura, no!”
Maly jumped back, which gave her to room to peer at the others. Emah’s sword was half-buried in Kura’s stomach. His knives clattered to the floor from limp hands. Kami was shrieking, her voice more frayed and high-pitched than Maly had ever heard it.
“Emah, no! He’s my brother!! Stop!”
Round 5. There is no question that Anos will abandon Maly and focus on Emah. She has a 50% to parry an attack from the martial artist and rolls 82. That takes her to 19 Vitality, one blow from going down.
Maly will strike at the cat-man’s back, 26. No dice.
Emah will lash out with her sword, rolling 26. That would be a strike, but Anos flip-flops the roll to make it miss. He rolls 8 more Karma, bringing the threshold up to 14.
Kami isn’t certain what to do, so will scoop up her brother’s body and move to the Perimeter of the battle.
Kami’s arms elongated, reaching out like grasping vines. Before Kura had fully fallen, she had scooped him up, arms coiling round and round for support. In that moment Maly could only watch, fascinated. Tears streaked down the unmasked side of her face as she effortlessly lifted the man into the air. It was such an odd thing to see her arms wrapped so impossibly around a man larger than her, his feet dangling over the floor. Kami ran into the next room with her brother’s body, leaving the cat-man and Emah to clash.
Maly’s attention focused on this new battle. The acrobatic Dragon attacked more carefully against a sword-wielder, but no less efficiently. One furious punch slipped past, slamming Emah in one shoulder and knocking her sideways. Emah showed little care. She growled, her sword spinning in her fist, and she pressed her opponent backwards with brutal slashes, bloodlust contorting her face.
Maly pulled her second dagger from its sheath and, with a curse, leapt to help her friend before someone else got killed.
Round 6 and the battle marches on. Anos lashes out, giving Emah a 50% chance again to parry. She rolls exactly 50, which is not something Anos can flip-flop. He takes 20 damage, dropping him to 2 Vitality.
Can Maly finish it? A 76 says no. Kami’s taken herself out of the fight, so that leaves it to Emah. She has a 50-50 shot again and rolls… 36. Anos once again flip-flops it, though, add 4 to her Karma (total is now 18). What an annoying but cool power!
Might as well keep going on Round 7. Anos attacks back, and Emah gets a 12, another Parry that Anos can’t flip-flop. Maly wishes that had been her roll, but instead gets a 35.
Emah can end it, and rolls an 06, which not only can Anos not flip-flop, is officially below her Karma score. Emah succeeds, and Anos’ Probability Warp is short-circuited. More importantly, Anos’ Vitality falls to -18, greater than his Physique, so he’s dead-dead. That… likely won’t help in any goodwill negotiations with Kura!
Two daggers helped Maly not at all, unfortunately. The cat-man from the East Bay Dragons was impossible to hit, at least for Maly. She felt like a small child in the midst of two adults, with the Dragon and Emah trading blows and matching each other’s attacks with parries and deft footwork while she stabbed ineffectually. Maly could hardly fathom how an unarmed combatant could match skill with Emah, but the cat-man was doing it. She’d never seen someone so skilled, and at least twice Maly was sure that one of Emah’s blows would strike only to be deflected away at the last instant.
Eventually, Emah’s mastery of the blade won out. She kicked the cat-man unexpectedly, catching him in the chest and sending him stumbling. He looked up, yellow eyes wide, and Emah swept her blade horizontally. The cat’s head and furred body parted in a fountain of blood across the entryway.
Maly didn’t hesitate. She scurried over to Destiny’s still form, eyes searching for how to help. His side, she realized with relief, was slowly rising and falling. He wasn’t dead, then, despite the pummeling he’d taken. She lay her head across his flank and smoothed a hand over his head gently, stroking. Though she’d complained constantly about the panther’s growled voice in her head, its absence now felt like an empty hole. She still had so many questions about Destiny’s presence, why he had chosen her… and she had almost lost any hope of answers.
Unlaced boots stepped close.
“Will he be okay?” Emah’s voice asked from above.
Maly shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t know, and I don’t know what to do for him,” she answered helplessly.
Emah grunted. “Stay with him. I’m going to go check on Kami and… the other one.”
Maly continued to stroke the great cat’s black fur. “Come back to me,” she whispered quietly.
The panther did not answer.
Next: Brother and Sister!
My Hero Brain 
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