Match of the Millennium

Description: Celebrity bearcat Captain Morgan has last been sighted being meerhandled into the treeline by the invading tribe of Botswanian meerkats. Fearing for the binturong's safety and not wanting to face the wrath of his owner, Hawksley drags Henry along to mount a rescue expedition. Hollywood Heat will soon uncover the first glimpses of the hinted heresy in the hidden depths of the jungle... but if they blink, it might be too late.

[HAWKSLEY]
What a weird fecking day it had been and it's not even seven am yet. Hawksley had woken around twenty minutes ago to go for a slash and had heard rustling noises amongst some of the palm trees that surround the beach, where he'd been sleeping. Upon investigating the strange sounds, the Irishman had been met with a horrifying sight. Scampering off in a northerly direction were more meerkats. Christ, the place was crawling with the fecking creatures. This time, they weren't carrying off coins or a frozen snake, instead it was a hell of a lot worse. They'd only gone and taken bloody Morgie.

Captain Morgan, the beloved bearcat and sidekick of Constance 'Coco' Coalbridge, Hawksley's love interest and partner in bickering. His first instinct was to wake her and tell her the tragic news but then common sense kicked in and he realised how upsetting it would likely be for the British babe. No, it would be far better if she only found out about the incident once it had been resolved and Morgie was safely sleeping by her side again.

The man from Eire decided he would embark upon a rescue mission but he's not enough of an eejit to set off alone. The direction the furry fiends had headed off in is so far unexplored jungle and he knows if he were to get injured and nobody knew his whereabouts it could all end horribly. He reckons that Coco wouldn't want to lose both her boyfriend and her binturong on the same day. The perfect person to accompany him on his daring adventure is the other half of Hollywood Heat, Henry! It would be an ideal opportunity for the boys to bond further, as well as providing an extra training session.

This is how the duo come to find themselves wading through the jungle early in the morning. "You might need to use that sword of yours soon." Hawksley remarks, stopping to wipe his brow with the back of his hand. "Some of these branches are getting a bit lively." He's already been whacked in the face a few times and the more they venture into the dense foliage, the more intense its presence is becoming. "Are you doing alright back there?" He asks the blue-haired boy behind him. "I really appreciate you helping with this, fella. I hate to think what the meerkats want with Morgie. Hopefully they aren't planning to have him for breakfast."

The talk of the meal sets Hawksley's stomach rumbling again. "Gawd. What I wouldn't give for a bacon sandwich and a mug of Barry's tea right now."

[HENRY]
When Hawksley comes looking for Henry, it might be a little surprising to find his sleeping spot empty. His backpack and gear is still there, but the teen himself is missing. Fortunately he's not far off. He's decided to go and clib one of the palm trees and now sits nestled among the spray of fronds at the top where he watched the sunrise and is now just staring off over the island. He also chose a tree with a good view of his stuff incase anyone got itchy fingers.

So when Hawksley comes looking for him, he comes shimmying down the tree. It doesn't take much convincing to get him to come along on the trip, even if he hasn't bonded with morgie himself, he wouldn't leave anything to whatever twisted fate awaited them at the hands of those meerkats.

At least until he's sweating his way through a jungle. Good thing he doesn't use cheap hairdye or his whole face would be an interesting shade of blue right now from the sweat dripping down his face. Heat he may be used to, but Carribean heat is a whole other monster.

"I can try, a machete would be better." He mumbles, reaching up to tap his hand against the hilt of his sword, making sure its still there.

"No worries yet. And yeah, those meerkats are kind of scary, we don't need them eating Morgie." More he doesn't want to see Coco that angry. She'd probably kick the island until it broke. He blanches a little at the thought.

There's a whale song call from Henry's stomach in response to the word bacon and he just murmurs sadly. "All I want is biscuits and gravy ever since Chevy mentioned it."

[VERONICA]
The relative quiet of the jungle is almost unnerving. The distant calls of meerkats guide the boys of Hollywood Heat as they venture deeper amongst the trees, beckoning them onward. At least the island's not so big that they could get lost in here, right?

There's a rustle from behind the pair, signalling that they're being followed. A moment later, the pursuer reveals themselves: a PFW camera tech, operating a handheld digital recorder, who's been keeping out of sight and mind up until this point while tracking the two fighters through the flora.

"Sorry - just pretend I'm not here!" the camera guy - probably in his early twenties - insists. "I'm just here for footage. Act natural! Go freestyle!" he recommends helpfully. He starts pushing through a series of vines, using them to add suspense to the shot.

Suddenly, there's another rustling in the trees overhead. The cameraman turns his camera upward, trying to track the movement. "Was that a meerkat?" he asks, freezing for a moment. When there's no further movement, he starts stepping forward, only to stumble as his ankle is snagged on one of the vines. He looks down at his foot through the camera, a bemused expression becoming a horrified one as he realises that the vine is slithering further around his leg - followed by a scream as he's suddenly wrenched off the jungle floor and up toward the canopy, the camera clattering to the ground.

[HAWKSLEY]
"Have you got a machete?" Hawksley asks Henry hopefully, already suspecting the answer will be of the negative variety.

The Irishman runs a hand through his short dark locks, and turns to glance back at the younger boy. "What I don't get is why anyone would wanna eat biscuits dipped in gravy. Here's you moaning about beans on toast, when that idea is just fecking weird." Of course, in his mind he's picturing something like shortbread coated in brown gravy.

"It's a shame we don't have a compass, like a couple of good boy scouts." The lad from Eire laments. "What are you doing back there anyway? You're making a right racket, so you are. You're gonna spook the meerkats."

As he turns to face his teammate, Hawksley meets the eyes of one of Steve the cameraman's underlings. "Oh, hello there, fella. Here's me blaming poor Henry, when you're the noisy fecker. Are you getting some good shots of our arses from back there?"

The request to go freestyle is met with raised eyebrows. "You're wanting me to dance now? It's a bit hot for all that malarkey."

Whilst the tech guy works on becoming the next Tarantino, the two fighters find themselves interrupted again by the noises of the jungle. Hawksley looks upwards, craning his neck to get a better view. "Have they got Morgie up in that tree, Hollywood?" He wonders. "You're the one who likes climbing stuff." The last time the Cork City man had done so was to rescue Coco from the top of the Frost warehouse. That had ended in pain of both the physical and mental variety.

His gazing upwards is disturbed by the sound of the cameraman screaming. "Jesus, fella. What the feck is wrong?" Hawksley asks, sounding concerned. No sooner are the words out of his mouth, than the poor lad is thrust upwards into the trees.

"Someone else who needs saving then." The brown-haired brawler laughs. "Come on then. Let's get up there and see what we're dealing with."

[HENRY]
"You don't dip 'em. You get these nice buttery biscuits and you cover them in sausage gravy, maybe some fried eggs and home fries thrown in for good meaure. Tell you what. I bet one of the cooks on the boat can make them. We get back and you and I can try them, my treat." Henry jokes. Probably the most words in a row he's said and it's about biscuits and gravy, but hey, it's something.

Henry points off in one direction. "Morning, sun's east. Summer closer to the equator it should be pretty much almost dead east, so north should be.." He swings his arm and points in another direction. "That way. Not that I think we'll get really lost."

He blinks a few times at Hawksley, then back at the camera guy, then back at Hawksley. Part of his training is of course learning to ignore cameras, and that what he was doing, at least until the poor guy gets pulled up into the tree. What to do when your cameraman is abducted by tree vines is not usually covered in acting classes.

"We could just chop it down or light it on fire." Henry suggests, though not sounding completely serious. "Last I checked meerkats burrow they don't climb trees." He says then frowns. "Though I don't think they usually abduct larger animals either, so.. maybe these are a special breed of Zack Island meerkats."

He looks at the tree with a sigh, but gets ready to climb.

[VERONICA]
There's a violent thrashing in the jungle eaves as further screaming comes from above. Seconds later, there's a crashing in the branches, and the camera operator's body comes tumbling down, limbs cracking beneath his weight before one more limb cracks horribly upon hitting the jungle floor - the crewman's leg. The youth tries to scream and cry and suck in air all at the same time as his eyes search for the source of his terror before falling on his leg, now bent at an impossible angle and savaged by the natural weapons of some unseen predator.

"Th-the meerkat..." the cameraman blubbers, trying to push himself away and whining as the effort causes him obvious agony.

And then, a moment later, it descends.

A blur of green plummets from the canopy where it was blending in, landing on four legs between Hollywood Heat and the cameraman. Blood drips from a mouth that parts to reveal glistening fangs amidst what looks like an animated pile of leaves - until the leafy pattern fades, shifting to the earthy brown hues of the jungle floor and the roots that cross its surface, flecked with moss green like the trunks of the trees surrounding it.

It's impossible to identify the true nature of the creature, whether it is truly shifting in shape or blending in with the environment like an incredibly capable chameleon. One thing is for sure, though.

It's no mere meerkat.

The hissing growl that it releases, somewhere between serpentine and mammalian, confirms that.

COMBATSYS: Hawksley has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hawksley         0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hawksley         0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[HAWKSLEY]
"So, like a breakfast thing then? Biscuits for breakfast. Well I have had a few digestives with my cuppa before when the cupboards were on the bare side, so I'd be willing to give it a go." Hawksley decides.

The Irishman seems impressed by Henry's navigation skills. "I knew I was right bringing you along." He compliments both the Californian and himself.

The scrapper seems sceptical about setting the tree on fire, although he could help with that pretty easily to be fair. They don't have the tools for playing lumberjacks either and besides, the lad might go flying if they cut it away from under him. Realising that his mentoree was likely just joking anyway, he gives him a grin. "So the meerkats aren't classic climbers then? Perhaps it was a bloody big bird who grabbed him."

The Cork cruiserweight is about to start climbing too when the cameraman crashes down in front of their feet in a horribly violent fashion. "Jesus. How big is this fecking meerkat?" Hawksley wonders, as the injured man seems to confirm that's what they're dealing with.

He doesn't have to wait long to get his answer. The creature is like something from a horror movie with its dripping fangs and ability to shift and switch with the environment around its form. If this is what took poor Morgie, then Hawksley doesn't fancy the little fella's chances.

He doesn't hesitate for a minute in letting their monstrous foe he shouldn't mess with them. Pulling his ever present flask from his dirty denim shorts, the fiery fighter swallows some of the amber liquid, before spitting it towards the sound of the growling and setting it aflame for good measure.

COMBATSYS: Henry has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Hawksley
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

[HENRY]
"It's not like cookies, more like.. think a fluffy buttery scone." Henry explains, trying to find something in the Irishman's culinary world view that would explain a biscuit.

He's peering up into the tree still, frowning. "They're usually like.. skinny gophers." Once again, Henry reaches for the analogy. He laces his fingers together, stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles as he gets ready to climb, only to have the poor cameraman almost land on him.

Henry lets out a rather high pitched and undignified yelp as the poor guy lands on the ground, and he goes skittering back. Hopefully that squeek was not caught on camera or he's never going to live it down.

He manahges to pull his sword free just as the cryptid of Zack Island lands right in front of the pair of fighters, his face blanching. There's no squeak this time. He's trying to say something but his jaw is just going up and down with no sound coming out.

Luckily, the blast of flame shooting by him and at the beast snaps him out of it.

His sword flares with red chi as he backflips away from the creature, slashing at it and leaving an arc of light in the air as his sword cuts a circular vertical path around the loop of his acrobatic retreat.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat parries Hawksley's Hedonism!!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat blocks Henry's Lion Rampant.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

[VERONICA]
The colours of the creature's skin ripple and shift subtly with its movements, compensating for changes in its positioning relative to its surroundings. It's hard to follow its movements, and would be almost invisible if it were still and lurking. It lets out a low guttural growl, then hisses as the gout of fire flares toward it - and almost instantaneously it's shifting forward, ducking under the strike. The slashing sword only barely catches it, scattering a thin spray of clear fluid across the environment.

Within a moment, something long and whip-like flies loose from the shimmering shape - what turns out to be an incredibly long, prehensile tongue, aiming to wrap around one of the Irish brawler's limbs and drag him closer to the chameleonic carnivore!

It seems that the Nightmeerkat has its sights set on Hawksley, for now, leaving Henry alone as he leaps back out of the fray - until the tree behind the high schooler suddenly starts to move, leathery bark parting to emit a growl through rows of sharp teeth.

It appears that these creatures - whatever they are - hunt in pairs. If not packs...

COMBATSYS: Fearkat has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Henry            0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[AYALA]
Ayala had a pretty decent time since the last NFG. Her broken arm had thankfully healed well, and the tribe was fairly well settled in South America. Of course... there were things they could use here and there, certain expansions of the village and other modern conveniences. Conveniences that cost money. And what was a better way to stir up the weird green paper people traded with on Earth than doing stunts for money on camera? At least that's how Ayala initially understood it. Go to island, find Zack coins, trade them for even more stuff to trade with for village? Well, she's definitely done sillier things for money!

It perhaps remains not a surprise that Ayala has zero difficulties in a harsh environment like this--the Expanse was way worse, and since detangling herself from the parachute she came down on she's been deep in the depths of the jungle. The area was a big volcanic jungle, which meant it was very warm and lush, which reminded her more of her second home in South America more than anything--canting her head to the air sniffs at it, tilting her head to hear better. Voices?

"Ayala not knew there were other people--" Ayala came out of some foliage nearby only to be greeted with the huge meercat creature, slavering, huge prehensile tongue whipping about audibly. It's basically that gif of the guy bringing back pizzas to the now fiery apartment, if you've seen it--you can imagine how her face falls from overjoyed to suddenly horrified. And right now she would have preferred the fire.

"It tongue-bear! don't let tongue grab you!" Ayala naturally assumes this is some mutant demonic creature native to the Expanse, which is of course not true, but. Can't fault her with what it looks like.

Running forward, Ayala dodge rolls through the brush against the forest floor and springs out to try and grab the creature where it's tongue and mouth cannot grab her--ending up instead tusseling with it and trying to scratch and punch the thing stupid!

COMBATSYS: Ayala has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Hawksley blocks Nightmeerkat's Tongue Grab EX.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

[HAWKSLEY]
There's two of the feckers? Well that's just grand.

The Cork lad turns to look at his fellow member of Hollywood Heat with a concerned expression. "We'll handle it." He assures him. "We just need to work together, fella."

The blue-haired boy steps up to the mark, wielding his sword to slash at one of their strange foes. This earns him a nod of approval and admiration from his mentor, even if it's not quite as effective as they could have hoped. As for his own fire breathing trick? The cruel creature is having none of it. The brawler blinks as it escapes getting burned, trying to figure out where its new location is.

As he ponders this problem, the voice of a familiar voice is heard, causing the dark-haired man to do a double take. Surely it couldn't be who he thinks it is?

"Ayala? Is that you, cailin?" He checks. "Have you fought these tongue-bears before? What's their weak point?" He wonders.

He's thrilled to see the blonde-haired brawler back and if he wasn't in the middle of a battle, he'd be rushing over to give her a hug. Thoughts of their fight in the first season enter his head but he's jolted out of them by the strange sensation of a supernaturally long tongue seeking to latch on to his leg. "Hell no!" He protests, trying to kick out of the hold. He manages to do so, but not before his bare skin has got a bit of a mauling.

He throws out a hopeful left-handed jab in the direction he believes his assailant is. If he manages to make contact with the creature, he will grab a hold of it and pull it in close, so he can smash his knee into it with formidable force.

[HENRY]
He doesn't know what these things are, but he definitely doesn't want to gt the tonguie on him. He blinks as he feels himself back up into a tree. Was there a tree there? And as he turns around he lets out a shout (this one is definitely not a squeak) and backs away from thing number two. "There's two!" He hollars.

And then something or someone else is joining the fray, someone not immediately familiar to Henry, he looks about ready to try to cut his way out of the 2 on 3 until Hawksley greets the new arrival as an ally.

3 on 2 then. Much better.

HE wastes no time going on the offensive, lunging with his sword, point aimed right for the second of the two jungle beasts. "Hi! Name's Henry!" He greets to the new arrival, sounding quite a bit more cheery now that he knows they outnumber the monsters.

COMBATSYS: Hawksley successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Buzzkill.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat blocks Ayala's Tooth & Nail.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Fearkat with Medium Strike.
Glancing Blow

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

[VERONICA]
Its tongue retracting back into its mouth like that of a frog when it fails to capture its prey, the first tongue-bear (or whatever species of predator these creatures may be) then slams its face directly into Hawksley's fist as it attempts another lunge into close range. The monster lets out a snarl that's cut short by a follow-up knee to what seems to serve as a sightless face for the thing. It reels back, its battered snout pointing at Hawksley, before fading into the foliage. The limbs of the trees start to rustle around the Irish fighter as the creature seems to be leaping from branch to branch, nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, the second tongue-bear is proving slippery. It slithers out of Ayala's grasp before she can land more than a scratch or two - but that's enough to have it leaving a trail of fluid as it moves. Unfortunately, what seems to be their blood is nearly as hard to detect as the creatures themselves, which may account for how they're capable of changing colours so quickly. Henry's sword pierces what seems to be the thing's tail, causing it to squeal - but a moment later, the beast wrenches itself free of the tail, leaving the severed appendage squirming on the end of his blade as the second monster disappears up into the trees as well. The rustling above intensifies, the shuffling of limbs making tracking which of the creatures is where difficult.

Meanwhile, the camera person whimpers as he tries to sink into the base of a tree. "Don't let them eat me!" he gibbers helplessly.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat focuses on its next action.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat focuses on its next action.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0         Hawksley
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

[AYALA]
The cavewoman isn't in quite the best position to answer Hawksley right now, as she's busy trying to pin the huge creature while meanwhile punching and scratching it in the back of the head and back--which doesn't go as well as she'd hoped, she winds up with a mouthful of meerkat hair which she spits out and rolls off the creature, dancing back a few steps to avoid getting her legs raked by clawed nails. Aware there is more than one of them, she backs off closer to Henry and Hawksley, not wanting to get pulled away by any more of it's 'pack'.

"Ayala seen things like this before long ago--they like giant anteater--but eat flesh," she directs her attention to above as the creatures quite literally head up into the trees. This would nominally be a decent time to run, though she figures they are faster than the 3, and will just run them down--camera man included. She needed to get them down, on her terms--so she quite literally grasps the trunk of the nearest tree she saw one of them disappear into and and begins to rock it back and force, her awesome cavewoman strength causing the bough to creak and groan.

[HAWKSLEY]
As his apprentice strikes one of the tongued-terrors, Hawksley lets out a cheer. "You got the fecker!" He enthuses, as did he with the one he's battling with. He felt the contact that his fist and knee made with it but he can't say he actually saw them connect. The lack of visibility is something of an issue. It's even worse than the many occasions in which the Irishman has been drunk, dazed and brawling with what looks like a blur.

Meanwhile, his former opponent from Sunshine City and teammate from Metro City has got stuck straight in. "They eat flesh you say?" He questions her further. "Well, that's just grand."

Hawksley starts to grab at the air, aiming to get a better sense of where his enemy is hiding itself. Not that he's really fussy about which of the feckers he finds in the foliage, since he's intending for them both to go down anyway.

His fingers feel a sticky substance and he wipes it off onto his tank top in disgust. Then soon after, there's something else! He slips forwards, snapping his elbow out to try and disorient the creature. He'll then push further forwards and pivot into a right-handed haymaker, which he's hoping will be enough to stop its constant moving about if nothing else.

"Don't worry, fella. You're not on the menu today." He assures the shaken camera guy. "Although we might eat you ourselves if the food situation gets any worse." He pauses for a brief beat. "I'm just joking of course."

[HENRY]
Henry makes a face as the creature leaves its tail impaled upon his sword in order to flee. "Not sure if that's cool or gross." He mutters, rocking his sword a little to wrench it free of the tree.

"We're not going to let them eat you." Henry states as he peers up into the canopy, squinting his eyes as he tries to make out any odd movements or tricks of the light. "Running is probably out of the question unless one of you can carry him." He says to the other two fighters with a gesture to the injured camerman.

"So... flesh..eaters. Yeah, no, that doesn't sound better."

He reaches behind him and plucks his shield of his back, slowly bringing it around as he stares up into the canopy.

"There!" He shouts suddenly, the edge of his shield flaring red as he brings it up and tosses it superhero style right towards one of the palmtrees.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat blocks Hawksley's Detonator.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Nightmeerkat     1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0         Hawksley
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat parries Ayala's Fling!!

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Nightmeerkat     1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0         Hawksley
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Fearkat with Adder Glissant.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////// ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Nightmeerkat     1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0         Hawksley
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/----===|

[VERONICA]
Hawksley's elbow manages to collide with something, and there's a snarl from the shifting bough, but the haymaker finds nothing but air, the creature having already moved in the short time that it takes for the Irishman to unload. Suddenly, a glob of sizzling fluid comes flying out of the brush, aiming for the Irishman's face! He may find himself momentarily blinded by the burning bio-fluid - but hopefully not permanently so!

Meanwhile, there's a sound of more rustling from the tree that Ayala is shaking. Henry's shield smacks into something, eliciting a sharp noise - but a moment later, something ricochets off of a tree behind Ayala, leaping at her back with claws at the ready as it pounces!

COMBATSYS: Fearkat successfully hits Ayala with Wall Climb Ambush EX.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Nightmeerkat     1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0         Hawksley
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/----===|

[AYALA]
Ayala only succeeds in apparently helping the creature above her shield itself using the fronds of the tree above her--but winces when she hears that animalistic screech wring out.

"Ah--Ayala no leave Hawksley and friends--she swear it, whatever Hawksley-friend did--keep doing it--" she frowns and backs up from the tree as Hawksley is targeted with some kind of acid spit--again, not unusual for the mutant, infernal creatures from back home, really. Ayala has to jump back herself and covers her front with her arms to avoid getting splashed with it--not reacting fast enough as the creature banks itself off a tree behind her and jumps on her back, leaving her looking quite surprised as she's suddenly pounced on by giant mutant meercat!

"Aieee! Ahhh!!" for a cavewoman, she can sound appropriately girly enough when she shrieks like that, though, damn. Whipping herself around, she winds up very close to the Fearkat after it grabs on and rakes her with claws and teeth, coming away a bit bloody. The creature is very much within 'attack of opportunity' range as they say in D&D, if she is not careful, so she does the first thing she knows the creature might not be able to capitalize on--jumping up and bringing her foot down in a dizzingly fast heel first drop kick!

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat successfully hits Hawksley with Acid Spit.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Nightmeerkat     1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0         Hawksley
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/---====|

[HAWKSLEY]
"It's definitely manky, or gross as you say." Is Hawksley's answer to the detached tail question.

Henry's hurtling shield proves to be a real winner, causing the Cork man to let out a loud whoop! "Fecking brilliant, fella. You can come again." He grins.

Hawksley's own attempt at attacking the other creature is less successful and soon he finds himself the victim of sizzling spit! It lands right in the lad's left eye, causing him to cry out in surprise and not a small amount of pain. "Shite. Me bloody eye is stinging like a sunburned scrotum." The question is, how would he know such a thing? He could explain the tale about how his friend, Caolan had been caught out on a trip to Corfu but now is not the time. Now is the time for revenge!

"Right, you sneaky little fecker. Where are you?" Finding the creatures has proved challenging so far and this is not going to be made any easier by the fact that Hawksley can now only see out of one eye. He starts to wave his arms around, catching his tank top on a nearby tree in the process. Tearing it off in frustration, perhaps without thinking that it's the only clothing option he currently has for his upper body, he throws it on the ground and then makes a wild grab in front of him.

Apparently Lucky is living up to his name, because he feels Nightmeerkat's flesh against his fingers. Trying to force it into a side headlock, he will then follow up by trying to punch it repeatedly in whatever parts he can reach.

"Atta girl, Ayala!" He's yelling as his attempted attack takes place. He's pleased that she has no intention of fleeing the scene. The Hollywood Heat boys are gonna need all the help they can get.

[HENRY]
Henry does know shields are for blocking right? Well, regardless he catches his shield out of the air as it bounces off its target and richocets back toward him. "Hope that hit something sensitive." He says with a frown, slipping his shield back into place on his arm.

"This would be a whole lot easier if we could see them."

Then Henry blinks a few times as if an idea had suddenly come to him. He slowly turns, waiting for the creatures to make their move, and when one goes after Ayala he makes his move.

His sword flares red as he flips it in his hand, then in a repeat of how he handled the meerkats, he stabs the blade into the ground under the creature.

Chi pulses through his sword and explodes upwards in a shower of chisparks and more importntly, dirt. Maybe if he can muddy it up it won't be able to hide.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat parries Hawksley's Submission!!

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Nightmeerkat     1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat blocks Ayala's Spinyshell Kick.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Nightmeerkat     1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat dodges Henry's Hound Couchant.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Nightmeerkat     1/---====/=======|======-\-------\0         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/---====|

[VERONICA]
It seems that Hawksley has got a solid grip on the Nightmeerkat - right up until the moment that he'll realise that his fist is pounding a particularly thick coil of tree vine that he mistook for the creature. Then, suddenly, he's face to nightmarish face as it drops upside down from a branch that it's hanging from by its tail, immediately swiping with its claws to try and latch onto him, shove him over and take a vicious, bloody bite out of his shoulder!

The Fearkat shifts as Ayala aims her leaping kick its way, taking the blow to a less vulnerable section of its flank. It leaps away moments before the spray of chi and dirt from Henry's sword can scatter against it, pivoting and skidding to a halt while simultaneously unleashing its tongue, trying to wrap around Ayala's leg and pull her closer while squeezing with surprising strength!

COMBATSYS: Ayala dodges Fearkat's Tongue Grab.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[AYALA]
Ayala is greatful for the help from the sword-wielding Henry, even if the creature manages to wriggle it's hide away from the weapon. It still buys here a few precious second to try to get her footing again since the one on her had cleared much of the distance between her and it, leaving her in claw and tongue range, to be sure.

And speaking of--that tongue slithers out for her again--but she is quick to bring her knee up leg up to avoid the grasp of the tendril-like limb, giving a small hop back to make some distance.

Seeing as she's been given an attack of opportunity herself here, she brings both of her fists together after getting her bearings following her dodge. While it first might look like she's bracing herself for another attack, she clasps her hands together tightly and rears back, intent on bringing both of her fists locked together down on the Fearkat's head in front of her, her long gray sabrecat tail scarf flicking to the side of her as she pulls her own body weight into it!

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat successfully hits Hawksley with Hungering Predator EX.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[HAWKSLEY]
It's a nice idea by Henry but the jungle monsters are too swift and stealthy to be splattered with the mud. As for Hawksley's own efforts, first he's found attacking the wrong thing and then he's having an up close and personal moment with one of the feckers.

It starts knawing away at his bare shoulder as it brings him to the ground, causing the Irishman to let out a grunt of displeasure. "Jesus. So this is the part when the flesh eating starts then."

He tries to shake off his foe, intending to fling it into the nearest tree, so he is free from being its food source.

[HENRY]
Henry lets out an annoyed tsk as the creature avoids his dirt explosion. "Will you sit still?!" He hollars in annoyance, trying to keep his attention locked on the slippery creatures.

Fortunately for him, but perhaps less so for his pride, they seem to be ignoring his presence. Which at the moment he's not tiffed about, but may be so later when grumbling to Hawksley.

Speaking of, the mysterious stranger seems to be handling herself better against her opponent than the Irish brawler is for the moment, so he switches targets. Fortunately they're not that far apart and he's able to pivot and take a few steps to where Hawksley is trying to shake the creature loose and offers his help in the form of bringing up his leg and snapping it out into a powerful kick to try to help dislodge the beast.

COMBATSYS: Hawksley successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Fast Throw.
- Power hit! -

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat dodges Henry's Strong Kick.

[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Fearkat with Hammerblow.
- Power hit! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////////     ]
Fearkat          1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ayala
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[VERONICA]
The creature duelling with Ayala lets out a garbled hiss as her fists find solid flesh and bone, sending it reeling. The monster skitters backward on all fours along the floor, its mouth opening impossibly wide as it seems to be choking on something for a moment - before it lets out a spray of horrific bile, the fluid scattering in the air as it aims to rain down on the hunter!

Meanwhile, the other mutant is flung aside by Hawksley just before Henry can put the boot in, slamming into the trunk of the next tree and writhing around on its back. It rolls over onto its clawed feet, snarling at Hollywood Heat and swaying its tail menacingly. Though it tries to blend in with its surroundings, the blood around its mouth remains visible, giving the impression of a gory Cheshire Cat grin suspended in space. That mouth opens, the tongue swiping sharply like a whip to try and score a slash across Hawksley's chest. Apparently, it's got a taste for Irish blood...

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Fearkat's Acid Rain.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Fearkat          0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Ayala
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[AYALA]
Like a certain Russian grappler had wrestled bears, Ayala is no stranger to a bit of the ol' 'wrasslin' with large creatures like this, though to be fair grizzly bears are probably scarier than even some of the beasts of her homeland--least the less poisonous ones... She would have felt bad, perhaps, if the creature had not been trying to eat people, or attacking her friends, but right now it's the law of the jungle. The explosion from Henry of the ground makes her flinch, which is perhaps fortunate to what comes next.

The acid spray hits her, but she has brought her arms up to cover herself--unfortunately not before the acid has hit the rain poncho she had been wearing over her usual outfit--which partially dissolves, she throws it away, leaving her in just her sabrecat fur bikini beneath. Only a bit of the acidic substance got on her, but it still stings!

Ayala's eyes had filled up with water due to the stinging pain and reaction to the acrid fluid spat on her--rearing back with her right arm and swinging it wildly at the the creature--blonde hair and sabrecat scarf/tail lashing behind her!

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat successfully hits Hawksley with Tongue Lash.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Fearkat          0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Ayala
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/---====|=======\====---\1         Hawksley
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[HAWKSLEY]
"I don't think they're gonna listen, lad." Hawksley tells Henry. "Maybe they can't even hear us. They're a fecking handful though, aren't they? Well, when we can actually get a hold of them."

As Henry decides to help Hawksley out, he gives a quick glance back to Ayala to see if she's still handling herself alright. Other than the fact she's now down to just a fur bikini, she seems to be in pretty good shape, so he gladly accepts the American's aid.

The beast that the brawler has been battling gets thrown against the tree trunk, which it's none too happy about. "Yeah, feck you too, fella." The shirtless scrapper spits back at it.

Despite his bravado and brave nature, Hawksley can't help but be creeped out by that bloody grin. The tongue comes lashing out at the lad's torso and draws blood. The red liquid starts to dribble down to his denim shorts, staining them and sending the Irishman staggering. This combined with the fact he still can't see out of his left eye, has Hawksley kicking out wildly, willing himself to hit whatever he can.

[HENRY]
Henry lets out only an annoyed hiss as his own kick fails to connect, but at least the thing is off of Hawksley. "Hard enough to pin down." He agrees with his mentor.

He jukes a bit to the side as the tongue comes flying in Hawksley's direction, not knowing exactly how that cryptid wierdo can move that thing and not wanting to be in harms way himself, but the strike on the Irish brawler has him wincing in sympathy, even though he himself, other than some sweat and mud, looks perfectly fine. Maybe these creatures don't like blue flavor?

He does a quick check on the other fight, and decides he's still need over here, leaping forward, he sets himself into a spinning kick that at first looks to short to reach the creature, but as his foot comes around a blade of chi extends out the bottom for his booted foot, aiming to slice through the creature.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat dodges Hawksley's Medium Kick.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Fearkat          0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Ayala
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Crane Vigilant.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Fearkat          0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0            Ayala
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Fearkat with Swift Backhand.
- Power hit! -
~~ Alluring Hit! ~~

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////                ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[VERONICA]
The nightmarish maw slips to one side as Hawksley kicks out at it, leaves scattering harmlessly as the Irishman's foot strikes out where it was a moment before. It seems as if it would do the same again as Henry aims a kick toward it - but the creature is caught off-guard by the flash of chi, which cuts into it with a spray of clear fluid and a screech.

Meanwhile, the bikini-clad warrior woman manages to deliver a solid smack to the second creature, sending it reeling on two legs before dropping back down to its natural predatory pose.

With the humans taking the upper hand, there's an exchange of clacking noises between the two creatures. After their brief communication, the two predators skulk backward from their respective prey, the one whose mouth is covered in blood swirling its tongue around to wipe it away - leaving it once again nearly invisible as its mouth closes.

There's a rustling in the air - almost little more than a breeze - that serves as the only warning for what's about to come.

Suddenly, both shapes leap at Hawksley - the most wounded of their prey - in bursts of uncanny speed and power, like a pair of great cats going for the kill! Claws slice through the air as they attempt to maul the so-called Lucky from either side.

[AYALA]
Yes, Ayala did just bitchsmack a huge mutant meerkat standing up on it's hind legs and trying to eat her face--as well as spit acid onto it, which it just did. She is not surprised when the thing scurries back, but her eyes flash wide when it apparently decides to change tactic--and give up...?

"Tongue bears running away!" the two of them seemed to meld back into the jungle--from a fight standpoint, this isn't the most unheard of thing to do--they were hurt, and Ayala knew they might try to cut their losses and slink off. ...If they were anything like the creatures she remembered. The cavewoman then gets a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach however. She tries to chase after them, shouting warnings at her fellows.

"Hawksley-friend--help Ayala--Hawksley is hurt!" She sucked in a breath of air and the knuckles tightened on her right hand as she reared back, the cracking sound audible as she tried to dive after the two struggling meerkat creatures, not being particular about which she targeted--her punches toward it coming down in rapid succession, foliage blonde hair being kicked up by the wind wildly!

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat and Fearkat successfully hit Hawksley with Pack Tactics.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/--=====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/--=====|

[HAWKSLEY]
"Appreciate the help." Hawksley managers to murmur to his fellow NFGers.

He certainly needs it given the way his luck has been going in this rumble in the jungle. His kick goes way wide of the mark, finding only hot humid air. At least Henry connects though, earning him a weary pat on the back from his mentor.

Ayala is doing a grand job too but as impressive as her heroics may be, they can't stop the damage that's about to be incoming to the Irishman.

Whatever these creatures are, they are clever as well as tough, teaming up for some tag action of their own! With perfect timing, the pair pounce on Hawksley, drawing blood on his tanned torso and leaving him with a nasty claw mark down his right forearm, when he tries to defend himself.

"Feck." He coughs out, bending double and tugging at his dark hair in dismay.

The bruised and bloody boxer needs a moment to compose himself but there's no chance of him not carrying on. He lifts up his head and looks for any signs of the sneaky creatures. Seeing a slight movement, he takes a chance, calling out a warning to Ayala to stay safely out of reach.

He slams his sneaker clad foot in to the ground beneath him, setting it alight. The flames start to form into a circle around him and any lurking foes, flickering threateningly. Throwing himself forwards with as much energy as he can muster, he lashes out with a lighting-fast punch to try and send one of the meerkats (?) flying through the ring of fire. It doesn't matter much to Hawksley which one of them it is. He just wants rid of the feckers, so the fighters can work on finding Morgie.

[HENRY]
"I'm trying!" Henry calls out to Ayala's request of help. He really is trying to keep their attention off of Hawksley, but it seems the creatures are intent on picking them off one by one, instead of trying to take the whole group of them down at once. Luckily for Henry, he seems to be the last picked target.

He shifts his weight, crouching slightly as he spreads his stance wide as if riding an invisible horse. He flips his sword around, leveling it into a thrusting positiong with his other hand resting lightly on the flat of the blade as he turns, waiting for the stealthy creatures to once more make themselves known.

And they do, both going after Hawklsey this time, but once he catches sight of their movement he hollars out, "Hey you horror movie rejects! Don't you go ignoring me!"

With the shout his sword flares once more with his swirling red chi, engulfing the entirety of the blade and extending outwards until he's holding what looks like a six foot lance of glowing crimson light.

He kicks off his back foot with another burst of red, launching himself forward in a straight line, aiming to rake the lance along the side of one of the creatures as he flies past.

Then planting his foot into the jungle floor, he spins his momentum completely about, gritting his teeth and straining as he brings the massive chi weapon around in a horizontal slash at the other side of the creature, the chi dissipating after his attack in a swirl of crimson around him.

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat dodges Ayala's Gatling Punch ES.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/--=====|>>>>>--\-------\0         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat dodges Hawksley's Burn Baby Burn.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/--=====|>>>>>--\-------\0         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Unicorn Respectant.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Nightmeerkat     1/-------/=======|>>>>>--\-------\0         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/------=|

[VERONICA]
One of the creatures - it's difficult to discern which at this point, though it seems the be the one with the unbloodied jaws - becomes the focus of the trio as they turn their own team tactics to the aid of the Irishman. The creature seems to flicker from place to place as its tongue flicks in and out, sidestepping punch after punch from Ayala. A ring of fire forms around the fighters as Hawksley invokes his pyroclastic chi, but the punch that would send the beast through the burning wall around this battle royale narrowly misses.

Reacting to the shifting environs, the creatures start to glow - their skin taking on the colour of the walls of flame. Fortunately, it's only an optical illusion - and it's in that moment that Henry manages to capitalize on the efforts of Hawksley and Ayala, scoring a lancing strike across the glowing Nightmeerkat that draws a screech of animal agony.

The creature's attention turns to Henry, its predatory tactics forgotten as survival instincts kick in. The creature leaps up into the branches above, the glow fading from its skin to blend in with the canopy - but the tongue that shoots down toward Henry is still lit like magma, aiming to wrap around the teen's throat and pull him up toward the eaves like a noose!

Meanwhile, the other creature seeks to take advantage of the momentary lapse in attention toward it by lunging for Hawksley's leg, attempting to sink its fangs through his trousers and drag him thrashing to the dirt!

[AYALA]
"Ah, Hawksley--no!" Ayala was clearly wrong when the beasts stealthed--most normal creatures would have cut their losses after a pounding like that--but these were not normal, even for creatures from where Ayala hails. These are seemingly driven or sick creatures, desperate for either food or just gone mad from something--which honestly frightened Ayala even more. An animal that had become rabid was somewhat unpredictable.

She had just put out a great amount of force into those jabs--that did not find their mark, the creature slipping away from her--both of them. And if she didn't hurry, Hawsley was going to get even more hurt. She had to concentrate--she had to--

"Hnnghh..." Ayala gritted her teeth, baring them, clenching her knuckles and planting the heels of both feet on the ground, pushing up some of the soil beneath them as she steeled herself.

Henry's spear flashed and a gout of blood sprang up from around them, the burning wall Hawskley erected around them doing little to distract the cavewoman from her preparation.

COMBATSYS: Ayala focuses on her next action.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Nightmeerkat     0/-------/-------|>>>>>--\-------\0         Hawksley
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Hawksley fails to interrupt Fierce Bite from Fearkat with Numbskull.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Henry            0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

COMBATSYS: Hawksley can no longer fight.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Henry            0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley's fiery punch fails to hit the mark. He can't help but feel deflated, because he's in a bit of a bad way and Coco will be devastated if anything happens to Morgie. He's not down yet though and his fellow fighters are in a much fresher state.

The Irishman lets out an enthusiastic cry of "Yes!" When Henry hits with his weapon. Ayala is looking determined and he knows she isn't the kind to quit, so he has himself a couple of grand allies to be in combat with.

Staggering towards where he thinks the creatures are, Hawksley spins around on the spot, seeking out their presence, so he knows where to aim. The brawler is hurting pretty badly though and he can barely stand straight as he steps forwards into space. As he does he feels teeth bite into the bare flesh of his ankle, breaking the already stinging skin. With a loud guttural groan of pain, he flings himself forwards, intending to smash his forehead into his foe. The impact of it does more damage to himself though and he firstly crashes to his knees before falling face first into the foliage of the jungle.

Despite the heat, it seems like the man from Cork is out cold.

COMBATSYS: Henry fails to counter Lurking Strangler from Nightmeerkat with Stag Guardant.
-+- CALCULATED HIT -+-

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Henry            0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[HENRY]
"Hawksley!" Henry shouts, running over to where his mentor falls, intending to protect him from these things trying to drag off the unconscious Irishman and do whatever nefarious bone drinking or blood slurpring these things must do in the dark dark jungle.

He turns just in time to see the tongue lashing out, and as everyting seems to have been going for the Cork brawler and ignoring him, that where he thinks the lashing tongue is heading.

He lifts his shield, the surface starting to glow, and then he realizes his mistake.

The tongue loops around his neck, and with a gurgle he finds himself being lifted up into the trees, smashing through the branches of the canopy as he just focuses on keeping a hand on his weapons figuring he's going to need them if he has any hope of fighting his way free.

[VERONICA]
Having dragged Henry up through the branches by the neck, one might expect the creature in the canopy to intend to keep its quarry there - but a battle in the branches isn't its intent. Instead, once he's been lifted to a suitable height, the invigorated beast swings Henry pendulously by its tongue, before attempting to hurl him back down to the earth below!

At the same time, the other creature turns its attentions to Ayala with a feral hiss, blood glistening on its jaws as Hawksley is left helpless on the ground. It suddenly springs forward, attempting to tackle Ayala to the dirt - and as it does, the creature's flesh starts to take on what appears to be its own natural coloration. Its skin is red and leathery, its form lizard-like, but strangely eyeless - as if designed to seek prey purely through other senses, such as heat, sound or movement. Perhaps sight is considered unimportant for tracking by these evolutionary masters of camouflage - though the camouflage of this one seems to be particularly weak in this moment.

COMBATSYS: Fearkat successfully hits Ayala with Strong Tackle.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Henry            0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[AYALA]
"Ahh--tongue bear got Hawskley-friend!" Ayala blinks as she looks up from her small bout of meditation. It wasn't that she didn't /care/ what Henry's name was, but she simply didn't know it--and it was her tribe's custom to refer someone you didn't know as x-person's friend. The time was nigh however to begin putting the hurt on these creatures, especially the one trying to strangle Henry, as she gritted her teeth and made fists hard enough to crack audibly. Aw yeah, that's the kind of rush of energy she had not had in perhaps too long.

Just then, Ayala found herself tackled--thrown back hard against a tree--which bends--and then into the side of a rock, landing hard. She's battered against it like a doll, the creature's nimbleness and lithe frame belied it's strength.

"Ow, damn--" Ayala clenched her eyes and furrowed her brows, pulling herself up after a moment, her body beginning to surge with a funky lime green energy--her arms rising up as her legs were wreathed in the swirling green energy--zooming towards the creature, her legs having becoming an explosive vortex. As the energy explodes, she brings the heel of her right foot down to plant it against the ground--or the creature's skull.

COMBATSYS: Henry parries Nightmeerkat's Power Toss!

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Henry            1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[HENRY]
Henry struggles against the rope like tongue around his neck as he swings back and forth. "Let.. me.. go... you.." He gasps, straining his breaths. And then he's being tossed right towards the ground. 'Don't panic.' He can hear his father telling him. 'Control the fall. Gravity will only pull you down, it doesn't stop you from moving.' And so as he passes by a branch on his way to the ground he reaches out and snags it in his hand, spinning around it like a gymnasitcs horizontal bar, and flips at the top of his spin to land on it squarely in a crouch. The branch bobs but he adjusts his weight to keep himself perched on it, shield hand keeping him steady as he holds his sword out towards the tree's trunk as a counter weight.

"Hope the camera caught that." He murmurs softly, his eyes going to where the hapless cameraman fell.

The beast may not want to fight in the canopy, but Henry sure does. He leaps off his branch towards the cryptid, bringing his sword up overhead as he soars through the leafy foliage, a streak of red chi among the green, and brings down his sword in a powerful swing at the creature's head. "Suck on this!"

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Dance Floor EX.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ayala
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Henry            1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat dodges Henry's Hawk Descendant EX.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0            Ayala
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Henry            1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[VERONICA]
The creature that had previously tackled Ayala starts to fade from view once more as the warrior woman leaps up into the trees to the assistance of Henry. The green energy enveloping her legs blasts into the chameleonic creature's cranium as the kick is delivered, causing it to stagger backward along the branch. Henry's sword narrowly swings past the monster as it retracts its neck, severing the branch that the beast is standing on. The massive branch collapses down through the canopy with a clatter as the lizard-like mutant leaps to safety on the trunk of the next tree, melding into the bark as it skitters downward.

Both creatures start to chitter, the sound coming from opposing trees. Then, in tandem, two tongues lash out toward Ayala and Henry from either side of the clearing - aiming to pull them from the canopy and swing them violently into tree trunks, attempting to separate them from each other through the most direct means possible.

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Nightmeerkat's Tongue Slam.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1            Ayala
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Henry            1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[AYALA]
"Huuuhh--there we go," Ayala took a knee and panted for a moment after managing that vault and jump upwards to perform her own version of a chi explosion like that--managing to knock the thing silly--but apparently not silly enough. The cavewoman is caught off-guard when the creature's huge tongue slinks down from above, looking up from her kneel with her eyes going wide--the muscle twisting and trying to wrap around her neck--but it meets Ayala's forearm as she grabs it pre-emptively, leading to her getting swung around and bashed around the bushes and trees, her tail-scarf and blonde curls flailing.

"Woaaah--ahhh! don't worry! we can do it--" Ayala shouts to her remaining conscious compatriot, even if it doesn't look like she was in control of anything like that--getting tossed around like a rag doll. Until her booted feet begin to dig deep gauges in the soft arboreal soil as she manages to plant both feet against the ground, literally digging her heels in. Still grasping the creature's tongue, she pushes off the ground, flying up into the trees as she attempts to drop kick the creature grasping her with it's tongue.

"Hyaaaa--" the fighter's kiai bellows, attempting to land her flying kick combo against the creature hiding above her in the trees--nowhere near giving up, and the situation is getting dire.

COMBATSYS: Henry blocks Fearkat's Tongue Slam.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Henry            1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0     Nightmeerkat

[HENRY]
"We'll have to meet properly after this." Henry says to Ayala, trying to keep up the cheer, at least until a tongue wraps around his waist and sends him flying away. He wraps himself around a passing branch, wrenching himself free of the tongue before he can be slammed into something more painful.

The poor Hollywood scion may have complained about taking gymnastics lessons from an early age, but at the moment, he is more than grateful for his father's insistance on that point.

Lowering his shield-bearing hand, he gives his wrist a quick flick and the shield releases from his arm. He snags the side before if can fall down to the ground. His eyes start scanning in the direction the tongue came at him from. "Where are you....?" He mutters to himself in a soft sing song, until he thinks he spots a flash of movement. He brings up his arm, shield lighting up with chi. Then he tosses it in the direction of what he hopes is one of the creatures. The chi flares out around the shiled in a large disc, spinning like a crimson buzzsaw through the trees, slicing free branches and leaves as it zooms hopefully on course to its target.

COMBATSYS: Ayala successfully hits Nightmeerkat with Triple Kick ES.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Henry            0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1     Nightmeerkat

COMBATSYS: Fearkat dodges Henry's Leviathan Naiant.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >                                ]
Henry            0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1     Nightmeerkat

[VERONICA]
One of the creatures is wrenched from the tree it's clinging to as Ayala pulls back against its tongue - then caught out of the air as it's falling by the cavewoman's flying kick, sending it smacking back against the bark with a solid crunching sound. As it slides down the tree, it starts making gagging sounds, seemingly struggling to breathe, until, a moment later, it lets out a horrible, gushing stream of the acidic contents of its insides toward Ayala before crumpling completely.

What seemed to be the other creature proves to have been a pair of parakeets trying to discreetly flee the carnage. Fortunately, the disc misses them as they flap their way up to above the treeline.

At that same moment, a tongue whips out from behind Ayala, trying to ensnare her by the throat from behind and pull her closer to the remaining member of the ruthless pack!

COMBATSYS: Nightmeerkat can no longer fight.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Fearkat          1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ayala dodges Nightmeerkat's Acid Rain.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Fearkat's Lurking Strangler.

[                    \\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

[AYALA]
One might imagine a short bit of slow-motion as Ayala's flying dropkick connects with the beast in mid-air, it definitely feels like time moves slower when one is this charged with adrenaline, in either case. Debris from the forest fly as Ayala lands after the kick--jumping up and down on it again in another drop kick--before finally bouncing off the top of the beasts body and coming back down with both feet landing on it. Rolling down and off, she winds up with a leaf or two in the blonde curls, bloodied and her appearance muddy, but alive.

She barely has time to turn as the creature manages one final gasp, throwing herself down into a quick dodge roll, a few of said curly blonde hairs shrivel and curl back from the liquid's acidic touch. She has no time to react however to try and get away from the second creature's tongue, whom her mind had just whirled to recall was still there.

It wraps right around her neck like a coiling whip, her teeth clenched and eyes shut tight as her fingers try to dig around the muscle to free her throat from it's brutal grip.

"Rrrrgh--Ayala no give up--" she manages to finally force the tongue off her neck, despite feeling lightheaded to the point of passing out, she brings up her right fist and tries to bring it down on the offending creature's skull, again and again, battering it.

[HENRY]
Henry winces as his shild instead of hitting its target and ricocheting back to him like usual just embeds itself into the side of one of the trees. "Well, that's going to be a pain to get back." He mutters, but his muttering turns into an excited "Whoo!!" As he sees Ayala finally take down one of the beasts.

"Go Lady Tarzan!" He means it in a good way, honest.

He gets to his feet on the branch, balance for a moment in a squat as he looks to where Ayalan is fighting the remaining beastie.

HE runs to the end of the branch which begins to bend down and then launches off of it like a diving board.

"Cannon ball!" He shouts, though it looks like it's going to be more of a bellyflop as he launches himself bodily at the last creature, sword pointed downwards, while his standing ally triues to pummel it with her fists.

COMBATSYS: Fearkat parries Ayala's Quick Smash!!

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat dodges Henry's Crushing Strike.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

[VERONICA]
Now faced with two foes, one would think that the Fearkat might flee the fate of its fallen fellow fiend. Instead, it fights on - releasing its tongue from Ayala as she attempts to drive her fist into what functions as its face. Then, like the smoke from a match in the wind, it practically melts away just as Henry crashes down on where it was a moment ago - only to reappear a moment later, one clawed limb raking through the air to try and slash Ayala's back with a vicious sneak attack!

COMBATSYS: Ayala dodges Fearkat's Slashing Claw EX.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

[AYALA]
Ayala has seen her life flash before her eyes more than once this fight, proverbally--she just came inches away from acidic death before trying to drive her bare knuckled fist down into the thing's 'face' like a jackhammer--coming up short as it melds back into the jungle away from her. She blinked and this time reacted fast enough as the claws flash at her--pulling her arm and upper body just a hair away from the nails raking just inches from her back and sides, the beast is likely rewarded with a small clump of her blonde curly hair.

Ayala in turn, reflexively spun around and attempted to grab the creature by the arm it just swung at her, attempting to swing the creature around and bash it against a nearby tree or rock!

[HENRY]
"Stop moving and let me hit you!" Henry growls in frustration as yet again the creature seems to literally flow away from one of his attacks. Breathing heavily, he wrenches his sword free of where he plowed it into the ground. He doesn't even know where his shield is at the moment.

Ayala isn't the only one who looks like she just wants to pummel this thing into a slimy goo stain on the jungle floor. Henry rushes forwards, there's no fancy acrobaics or flaring chi this time around, he just launches himself into the fray with his sword held high and executes a powerful chop one he closes with the creature.

Fun fact, longswords were never really meant to cut, that's useless against a guy in armor. They were meant to have narrow heavy edges that could crush in plate and helmets, and Henry is using every ounce of weight in that four feet of steel as he brings it down on the beast.

COMBATSYS: Fearkat parries Ayala's Grasp And Pound!!

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat dodges Henry's Random Strike.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

[VERONICA]
The nightmare chameleon slithers backward, its slippery skin escaping Ayala's grasp as it writhes. It manages to expectorate a horrible gob of corrosive fluid in retaliation to her efforts before leaping to one side as the longsword cleaves into the dirt where it was lurking a moment before.

The camera-person, meanwhile, has given up on trying to move, but - as meekly and discreetly as he can - has restored his device to functionality, sinking into the roots of the tree he's up against as he zooms in on the action.

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Fearkat's Acid Spit EX.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-------/=======|

[AYALA]
Ayala was not prepared for how /smooth/ the creature was. Slippery was a lot more like it--but she didn't have the English for it. She was actually a better Spanish-speaker than she was English, besides her own tribe's. Her nails raked only the creatures flesh as it got away from her, and then turned to spew more acid at her. This time, she was ready--lifting a dark brown rotted bough from the forest floor with only a few droplets scattering around it to sear her skin, before quickly heaving it away harmlessly.

Again it seemed to meld into the forest itself, until hshe picked up where the brush was being disturbed by it's passing, tracking it with her eyes."Ayala turn--" the cavewoman bows her legs and twists--launching off the ground in an amazingly fast flying drop-kick at the strange creature, trying to hit it squarely in the center of it's mass, blonde hair flying!

[HENRY]
Henry's eye begins to visibly twitch as he once more meets with nothing but dirt at the end of his swing. Tonight he'll be morose about being useless, but for now his temper is up. He wiggles his sword back and forth and yanks it out of the dirt, and gives it a quick flick.

No. Calm. Breathe.

Henry regards Ayala fighting the creature and takes a deep breath. He lowers his stance, spreading his feet apart as he lowers his center of gravity much as he did before his lancing charge. He even brings up the sword in the same manner, pointed at where the wild woman fights the beast and he levels the point in that direction, splaying the fingers of his other hand across the top of his blade.

Breathe.

If Ayala doesn't finish it off with her attack, he readies himself to leap in once more.

COMBATSYS: Henry focuses on his next action.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Fearkat          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-----==/=======|

COMBATSYS: Fearkat blocks Ayala's Spin Kick.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  /////////                     ]
Fearkat          0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/-----==/=======|

[VERONICA]
Ayala's feet connect with the nightmare chameleon's midsection, sending it tumbling away - though it manages to roll with the blow, arresting its own movement as its claws sink into the ground, tearing trenches through the wet soil until it rights itself. It whips its head toward Henry, then back to Ayala. The camouflage doesn't seem to be working as well by this point, the amount of blood and debris coating the creature giving away its position.

And so, like a cornered dog, it strikes - lunging forward with head twisted sideways, attempting to sink its teeth into Ayala's ankle and drag her to the ground!

COMBATSYS: Ayala blocks Fearkat's Ferocious Bite.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0            Ayala
[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            1/----===/=======|

[AYALA]
"Damnit--" Ayala knows enough English for that, at least--and likely a lot of other choice words. Which she would be using right now, since she put a lot into that--and she got teeth as reward for her trouble.

"Ahh!" she cringed, eyes wide with a bit of real fear as the thing snaps it's teeth at her, getting it's jaws around her ankle--though partly around her shoe, so she managed to give it a kick in return to shake it off. She nearly doubles over in pain and exhaustion, the fight having taken quite a bit out of her.

Pulling herself back up, she renews her efforts--her body swirling with a light aura of chi as she manages to turn--pulling her body into a spin--her legs a lighting fast blur like a top as she attempts to careen into the creature and knock it down!

[HENRY]
"There.." HEnry murmurs to himself as Ayala goes into her spin.

He also alights with chi as he dive in towards the creature from the side, as a 90 degree angle from Ayala's approch. He barely seems to step on the ground as his feet flare with red chi at each step, launching him forwards at faster speeds. When he closes the gap he whirls and slashes out in a horizontal slash. If it connects he goes into a wild series of slashes, almost seeming to dance as his sword licks out for strike after strike raining down in a flurry of slashes and cuts. Chi bursts from his feet again, launching him skyward with an upwards slash.

Twisting in the air, the chi swirld around him until it almost resembles a pair of wings, with him hanging mid air, sword pointed down, then in a flash he rockets back down to the ground, aiming to lance the Fearkat from above.

COMBATSYS: Fearkat dodges Ayala's Tail Spin EX.

[                       \\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Henry successfully hits Fearkat with Phoenix Issuant.

[                                < >  ///////                       ]
Fearkat          0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0            Ayala
[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

[VERONICA]
The desperate monster ducks down as Ayala spins toward it, her leg whipping past its head as its hind legs push up. It seems about to try and retaliate when Henry's sword suddenly slashes across its flank. Slice after slice sends the clear fluid splattering in every direction, causing a pained hiss to reverberate through the trees. Its tongue lashes out wildly, trying to strike out at Ayala, as if it might somehow save itself - or simply out of spite.

Then, the blade plunges down on it from above, this time skewering it to the earth - eliciting a rattling death wail from the beast.

COMBATSYS: Fearkat can no longer fight.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Henry            0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0            Ayala

COMBATSYS: Fearkat successfully hits Ayala with Tongue Lash.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////                         ]
Henry            0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0            Ayala

[AYALA]
The cavewoman herself can scarcely believe it when her spin narrowly misses the creature--she comes to a stop and lands in a kneel--just as Henry's sword flickers out and droplets of blood splash against her shoulder and face. She doesn't realize what's happened at first, the aftermath of the scene playing out seemingly in memory as the sword pulls back and the creature is sent reeling in agony.

Ayala herself is hit with a wet /thud/ from the impact of the muscle against her skin and bone and she winds up toppled over, looking quite a bit worse for wear.

After a moment however she springs up, realizing the creature's acidic saliva is left on her skin, and it's burning!

"Aieee--Ayala need find pool!" she runs off, somewhat frenzied.

COMBATSYS: Ayala has left the fight here.

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Henry            0/-------/-------|

[HENRY]
There it is. Henry stands stop the defeated creature, wobbling a little as he tries to keep his footing but leaves his sword planted through the thing. He'll pull it out later, for now he wants to make sure it doesn't actually go crawling off somewhere. Even if it is dead. He doesn't trust it.

He blinks as Ayala suddenly runs off, screaming about a pool and he just looks down at the mess he made of both himself and the beast. "Yeah.. this is kind of gross." At least his isn't burning.

Hopping off the creature, he stumbles over towards where Hawksley went down, crouching to check on his mentor. The cameraman can wait for now, he was talkking and moving last Henry saw of him.

"Hawksley? You okay?" He says with his arms across his knees, reaching out to maybe give the Irishman a little shake, but thinks better of it.

"Hey camera dude! You got a radio?!" He hollars off into the distance.

Then he remembers. "Oh! Morgie! MORGIE! Come out if you can hear me!"

COMBATSYS: Henry has ended the fight here.


[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley stirs just in time to see the back of Ayala, as the blonde woman rushes to find a source of water. "Leaving already, cailin?" He manages to croak out, which sets off a coughing fit.

Despite his damaged state, the dark-haired lad still has a smile for Henry. "Alright, fella. Did you manage to feck them up?" He lifts his head with a groan, glancing around the area for any signs of the creatures and seeing their corpses. "I'll take that as a yes." He grins gleefully, blinking one bleary eye. The other one he keeps closed, as it's still stinging from the after effects of the acid spit

Clearing his throat, the Irishman joins in his partner's cries to locate Morgie. "Get your fecking arse out here, little fella, before Coco Pops flips her lid."

[VERONICA]
The traumatized cameraman produces one of the short-range radio transceivers that the camera crew came equipped with. His leg is clearly broken from the fall he took from the tree earlier, and he'll need assistance to walk - though Hawksley isn't in much better shape, with the bites and cuts and burns that he's suffered. Fortunately, after a quick dip in a nearby pond, Ayala spots a cluster of herbaceous green plants that can be used to treat the group's injuries.

While there's a deathly silence from the forest for the first few minutes after the clash with the chameleon creatures, some noise returns to the trees before long - most notable amongst which is a familiar chittering. The group follow the noise, eventually breaking through the undergrowth to reveal a strange sight...

A clearing full of meerkats - and their multitude of trinkets, stolen from the Zack Island resort. They've even taken a sun lounger, of all things, upon which lies a half-dozing binturong. Sat on his head is an ostentatious crown that says 'King of Isla Zaca' on it, presumably somehow pilfered by the creatures, and around him is a pile of Zack Coins - tribute for the newly-coronated monarch of the meerkats.

As the meerkats spot the interlopers, they all turn toward them one by one... then scamper off into the jungle, leaving Morgie behind, a quizzical expression on the binturong's face before he turns and starts chuckling at the group.

Log created on 12:50:34 06/19/2024 by Hawksley, and last modified on 07:14:05 07/05/2024.