Mortal Kombat Thief Quest #20: Final Episode

>B
>C

Get their thoughts. But my own view is that we need to help secure the cove. The forces aren't in trouble, but they seem to be getting bogged down. We need to tip the scales so we can get that group to the city.

"Perhaps I should go to the Kove and help them," he ponders. He turns back to Ashrah and Skarlet. "What do you think?"

"I think we should return to the city," Ashrah suggests. "If the situation in the Kove is more dire, Kotal Kahn could send us there with the Portal Stone."

Skarlet does not agree. "The Kove should be where we go. If the fighting is there, we should be there as well. We may create a valuable distraction for Onaga's forces."

Breeti speaks. "To clarify, my sending transports you to individuals, not places. You need only think of whom you wish to travel to and I can send you to them, if they are in Outworld."

Cao thinks about that for a moment. Kotal Kahn is likely still at the palace, coordinating the city's defense. Kaito is at the Kove. His thoughts stray to Cassie and Jacqui; he hopes they are alright and that nothing bad has happened to them. There are some others as well...

>A) Transport to Kotal
>B) Transport to Kaito
>C) Transport to Cassie or Jacqui
>D) Transport to (Write-in)
>E) Other

oh man...... choices and pressure. Someone else pop in!

>B
I say we head for the Kove. Things become dire enough we can see about using those thief skills to break away. And as Ashrah points out, Kotal can send or recover people with the portal stone.

Mostly me thinking aloud and to give people a chance to join in.

>E

>B
Although it might do to send someone to Kotal

hooray! Another voice. Now I don't need to worry about being the figurative weight of the world on my shoulders.

Nah, I got your back user.
Ideally, we should take Ashrah with us and send Skarlet to Kotal to act as an intermediary in case things go south, she'll know where we are to inform Kotal.

Let's decide that now.

>A) Send Ashrah to Kotal, keep Skarlet
>B) Keep Ashrah with you, send Skarlet to Kotal
>C) Send both of them into the city
>D) Keep both of them with you
>E) Other

ooo, I hadn't considered that. See! This is why a second voice is good

>B

>D) Keep both of them with you

>B
Fuck the undead
Although keeping both is certainly an option. And I would like to prevent awful things from happening to both, but Skarlet is dangerously competent compared to 99% of the non-boss roster. So there is that.
And if we're fighting undead hordes then Ashrah's kris is super cheaty.

Christ, how long is it going to take quests to GO TO THEIR NEW BOARD already? It's for them!

"Alright, I've made my choice. Let's go to the Kove." He turns to Breeti. "Can you send me to Kaito?"

"I can and shall," she says, taking her golden staff and moving into position. Jagara moves off to one side of the chamber as Cao looks at Skarlet.

"Skarlet, I'd like you to go to Kotal Kahn."

"What? Why?"

"Just in case he might need you. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"He doesn't have much trust in me," she points out.

"Well, that's something we'll need to work on. But Ashrah and I will go to the Kove."

After a moment, the blood construct nods and steps back. He and Ashrah stand alongside Breeti, who prepares the sending ritual. A great flash of light envelopes both of them, and in a mere moment they are standing along the coast, the smell of the sea thick in the air and the sounds of battle raging around them.

Onaga has sent a host of undead to capture the Kove. The mummified soldiers battle against the allied forces, moving in tight formations and attacking with spears. Kaito blasts a group of them with a fireball before turning around, drawn by the sound and light of the transpotation. He relaxes when he sees it is Cao and Ashrah.

"Glad you could join us!" he says, turning back to strike out at an undead who attacks him with a sword. Ashrah withdraws her Kriss and Cao takes out his dadao. "These bastards are stubborn. They're trying to push us back to the sea!"

"What's going on at Z'unkahrah?" Cao asks, standing alongside him as Kaito destroys another undead soldier.

"Winged demons are flying over the walls, but not in a full-on attack. They're dropping balls of fiery pitch and harassing the city." Kaito holds out his hand and an electric-charged staff appears in it that he uses to blast some of the undead with a series of lightning bolts.

>A) Stay near Kaito
>B) Work with Ashrah to slay the undead
>C) Find Takeda and his team
>D) Fall back to the port and survey the situation some more
>E) Other

me here, guess I'll change to keeping both of them.

>B
possibly
>D
As usual, my timing is the best.

>B

Takeda and his team should be able to manage themselves. And while fighting alongside Kaito would be fun....I dunno if I'd trust slowly awakening Shao Khan close to him in Kombat.

We all know that feeling user.

Ashrah, Kriss in hand and glowing with holy white light, charges at the nearest formation of undead. They meet her with spears pointed at her, but with a single slice she lops off several spearheads and charges in to meet them personally. She skewers one with her sword and the corpse practically bursts into flames.

"PURGE THE UNCLEAN!" she shouts, withdrawing the blade to hack another's head off. Cao runs in behind her and buries his sword in its chest before kicking him off and hacking at another.

Ashrah raises her non-dominant hand and blasts an orb of white light at one of the undead, the energy consuming it and causing its skeleton to crumble and fall to the ground. Ashrah shouts in zealous and righteous fury as she battles the undead, slashing away with great and mighty swings of her curved blade.

Cao doubts he'll be able to keep score with her at this rate!

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 7 (1d100)

Damn, Go Ashrah!

Move around Ashrah. Basically watch her back (Not literally, this is Kombat time) for any tricks hiding among the undead. ie: That bastard Quan Chi

Hooray Dice?

or not. Fuck you dice!

Rolled 86 (1d100)

Slice and dice these shamblers

Rolled 92 (1d100)

Fireball any that start gettin too close, decapitations for any particular targets in range for that.
Mostly we just gotta take advantage of the holes she creates and watch her back.

Hooray! People who can roll better than me

Cao moves in to support Ashrah, but is suddenly attacked from the side! An undead charges onto the battlefield upon a skeletal steed, knocking Cao to the ground. The horseman rears his mount upwards and points his spear at Cao, intending to impale him with it.

Ashrah, however, sees this happen. Like a missle of light, she dives headfirst towards the horseman, spinning as she does so with light encircling her body. She smashes cleanly through the horse and the rider's legs, blasting them both to pieces. The bones scatter around as she lands and moves to help Cao to stand.

"Do not despair. These vile undead shall gain no quarter!"

She charges at another group as Cao sees some approaching him.

Determined to not be taken by surprise again, he runs forward and attacks them, hacking and slashing, slicing and dicing. He blocks their swords and even cuts through one of their blades as he does so.

He cuts one in half and turns towards another, conjuring forth a mighty fireball and blasting cleanly through the shambling soldier. He cuts down three more before he returns to Ashrah's side.

"We are sending them back!" she says, noting that they are now more cautious to approach her and her sword. "The day shall be ours!"

Her triumphant cry fills Cao with motivation as he and she both charge to attack!

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 19 (1d100)

Be silently happy that she is on our side and then see if we can't force some more undead to group up for a combination of our fireball blast and whatever light show it is Ashrah is tossing about.

Big Money No Whammy?

I think I need to stop making references to the dice I'm rolling. But if I do that now....will they know and still mess with me?

Beer Logic folks!

Rolled 4 (1d100)

Poor Roller Again, just so there can be more than one action/roll. So ignore me if others did
Look for any Flammable and relatively small objects to see if we can't channel the undead into set paths of approach.

yeah. I really hope others get posting. Cause if it's on me. We seem to be screwed....

Rolled 33 (1d100)

Pick a weapon off the ground and toss it. Let them know just hanging back a bit won't help.

Rolled 38 (1d100)

Fuck them up

Ashrah continues to attack the undead, but Cao loses his footing on a patch of soft earth. As he picks himself back up, he looks beyond the undead and sees a blast of green magic surging across the battlefield. Ashrah, distracted by the undead she is battling, doesn't see it coming. "Ashrah, look out!" he calls, but it is too late.

The blast hits Ashrah and she finds herself paralyzed as green energy swirls around her. Cao gets up and manages to knock away an undead's sword as she falls; he catches her and drags her backwards.

He looks as the undead part and their lieutenant, another priest of the Dragon King much like the one he saw in Sun Do, only this one is female, advances. She carries a long spear in one hand and wields a skull in the other that she uses as an implement to cast spells with.

Ashrah, still stunned, is unable to move for the moment. The priestess raises her spear high. "Bring the Dragon King their corpses! Let them know the glory of service in death!"

The undead charge at them while she remains behind to lead them.

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 8 (1d100)

Energy javelin that bitch, defend Ashrah. We aren't losing anymore friends.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

I feel a full circle moment has arrived.
Stand over Ashrah. Grab the Kriss and defend her.

Rolled 51 (1d100)

Christ. Dice have their fangs out today.

All the same. Gotta go with that defending Ashrah route.

Rolled 2 (1d100)

Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge, while throwing fireballs at everyone!

Cao finds himself pressed on all sides by the growing tide of undead. He drags Ashrah backwards while fending off spears and swords with his weapon, desperate to defend her until she can recover from the paralysis spell.

One of the undead swings a chain and wraps it around the dadao, pulling it from his hands. Cao quickly grabs the Kriss and holds it aloft, slicing away at the soldiers.

The Kove is becoming overrun. Despite their best efforts, they are unable to hold it. The shokan forces are separated from Kaito, Takeda's team and the crew of the Dragon Wing.

Forced into retreat, they make it back to the dock and board the ship. Cao is one of the last to make it onto the wooden pier leading to the ship.

"Come on!" Kaito shouts, laying down a torrent of flames to cover Cao's exit. "To the ship!"

Cao makes it onboard and helps Ashrah onto the ship, when an arrow flies out and pierces his shoulder. The thief shouts in pain as the black arrow embeds itself within him, and Kaito pulls him on board.

The Dragon Wing pulls away from the docks; the Kove is lost.

The shokan army is still on land and begins to move north. They are safe, but the sheer numbers of undead make holding the Kove impossible. The other nethership is left behind as the Dragon Wing heads out onto open water, and soon the undead reclaim it.

Kaito kneels down and pulls the arrow out of Cao's wound. He places a hand over it and begins to wash it with magical healing water, cleansing the wound. The arrow was poison-tipped and makes Cao woozy.

Nearby, Ashrah begins to recover, the effects of the spell wearing off. She moves to help Kaito move Cao to a sitting position.

"Damn," Mileena says as she walks up. "With the Kove gone, we don't have any way to evacuate the people."

>A) You're fine; get up and walk around
>B) Let Ashrah continue healing you
>C) Talk to Kaito
>D) Search the ship
>E) Other

>all these rolls

>B)
Keep that evil khan at bay

No kidding. Dice are vicious today.

>B
>C

Partially looking to Kaito for thoughts on tactics. Cao is probably starting to realize just how over his head he is in war as opposed to the mostly skirmishes he's been in before.

Also if I'm reading right and they are with us. Make sure everyone on Takeda's team is ok.

"Let's just take it one thing at a time," Kaito suggests. He looks over at Takeda. "Get Kotal on the line, get him an update. We need a way back into the city."

Ashrah replaces Kaito's hand, healing Cao with soothing light. He sighs. "Damn. I thought we had them back there."

"Our powers are great, but one can only fight for so long against so many. The Dragon King's undead army is numerous, and more flock to his cause."

Takeda walks over. His team is alright, for the most part, but Forest Fox has sustained wounds from fighting the mummified soldiers. Kung Ling stands behind him. "I've gotten word to Ruby," he reports, holding up the radio. "Someone is attacking the city from the west, trying to get through the gate."

Kaito scratches his chin. "The west... Reiko and his army?"

"No, someone else," Takeda replies. "Apparently they're almost through the gate."

"Can she open a portal to get us through?" Mileena asks.

"She has the Portal Stone, yes."

Mileena turns to Kaito. "We should head back into the city. The Dragon Wing will stay out here; Jon of Haven will captain it."

Kaito nods. "Alright. Cao, how are you doing?"

>A) You're fine; head into the city
>B) Stay on the ship for now
>C) Head back to land and sneak into the city
>D) Recommend that the team split up
>E) Other

>A)
Overtime today.

>A
Once more unto the breach, dear friends

No captcha. Sushi is not Salad

>A
Woozy but good I guess all things considered
>C
Sneaking we can do, right?

"I'm fine," he insists, standing up with Ashrah. "Just a little woozy, is all. I'm good."

"Maybe he should stay back with the ship," Ling suggests, not very confident in Cao's abilities.

Cao is about to sternly reply when Takeda interrupts them. "Let's just get back into the city, shall we?"

Kaito agrees. Takeda radios in their request to Ruby, and soon a glowing yellow portal opens upon the deck of the ship. The New Defenders enter it; Kaito, Mileena, Jin, Vapor, Takeda, Ling, Fox and then Cao, followed by Ashrah.

They end up in the throne room. Ruby is here, along with several other members of Kotal's court. Notably, the Emperor is not present.

"Where is Kotal Kahn?" Kaito asks the First Minister.

"He has personally gone to the western gate to lead the defenses there, along with your allies," Ruby reports.

"Let's not waste any time, then," he says to the others as he makes for the exit.

Cao follows but stops as he feels pain coming from his shoulder. The poison is still in his system and is causing his muscles to stiffen. Ashrah asks him if he is alright.

>A) Head to the gate
>B) Stay here in the palace
>C) Relax for a moment; let Ashrah heal you some more
>D) Ask Ruby for a potion that could rid you of the poison
>E) Other

>C
Then
>A

>C)
I have a bad feeling here about Ruby.

>>D) Ask Ruby for a potion that could rid you of the poison
RUBY I DONT FEEL SO GOOD

>C)
>E) Ask Ruby for a general status report and if Skarlet is with Kotal

Supporting >C then >A
with a side of
>E be wary of assassins/thieves in the palace. Also ask after our sisters.

>implying Ruby's first action won't be to betray us to Onaga
Never trust number 2s they're usually shitty people.

Especially since she became #2 by helping someone else off the previous #2. Kind of a red flag that.

Cao rubs his shoulder and tells them to go on; he needs a moment. Kaito nods and leads the others out of the palace while Kaito sits with Ashrah. He looks over at Ruby and asks, "Is Skarlet with Kotal Kahn?"

"And the others, yes," she nods. "The Emperor has left me to manage the palace in his place."

As Ashrah continues keeping a healing hand upon him, Cao gives a wary look at the hinparian, suddenly suspicious of her motives. She is ambitious, that goes without question, given her desire to gain her position through D'Vorah's death and his encounter with her when she revealed her desire to become Empress if he were to fall in line for the throne. While she has faithfully served Kotal Kahn, if the fighting were to turn to Onaga's favor, he wonders what side she would stand with...

"What of these new attackers? Do we know who they are?"

"They marched from the southwest, from the Walled City of Lei Chen in the mountains. We do not know who they are, but it is clear they have taken the city for themselves."

"And what of my sister? Any news from Earthrealm?"

"No," she replies, before one of Kotal's advisors gets her attention and speaks with her about something.

After a few moments, he feels the remainder of the poison leave his system thanks to Ashrah's magic. He thanks her and they both stand.

>A) Head straight to the gate
>B) Stop by the armory and grab a new sword
>C) Stay here to keep an eye on Ruby
>D) Take the fast route across the rooftops; Ashrah will run on foot
>E) Other

Blast it people, you are making me paranoid.
Make a show of
>B
Then be sneaky and
>C
while hiding, at least for a bit.

On the one hand, gate
On the other hand...in Kotal's stead while Kotal fights at the gate...
Hell with it,
> A, maybe we can keep sundad alive a while longer yet.

Ditto

While I won't argue against your choice to help sundad. I do encourage you to think about adding in grabbing a new weapon.

Without one we might be tempted to use our Khan powers in a rather more obvious way.

Alright, me here, guess add in grabbin a sword.

Cao proceeds down to the armory where he secures a new weapon, a straight sword. There are not many left; most have been put into the hands of the soldiers.

Cao confides in Ashrah his worry about Ruby. "She's very ambitious," he tells her. "If Kotal dies, I think she might try for another power play. She has a lot of influence with the hinparians and they make up a good deal of the guard."

"What should we do?" Ashrah asks. "Should I stay here to keep watch on her?"

"No, I'd rather have you nearby. I think our best bet is to get to Kotal and help him stay alive. As much as I hate to admit it, he helps hold this city together."

They leave the palace and make speed towards the western gate. Most of the streets are clear of people, who are hiding in their homes. He looks up and sees winged demons circling the city like vultures circling a corpse; a large shadow stretches across the skies as a dragon flies over the city. He wonders if it is undead, like the one he and Takeda fought in the Ashlands.

Cao stops when he sees the western gate. Kahn guards and other soldiers are manning the walls, using bows and spears, attacking some enemy beyond. A massive smashing noise can be heard as some kind of battering ram attacks the gate from the other side.

Cao runs up to Cassie, who stands with Jacqui. The other New Defenders are spread throughout the area, waiting for what happens next.

"Cass!" he calls out her name. She turns, smiling when she sees him.

"There you are! Took you long enough," she teases him. "How are you doing?"

"Still in mostly one piece," he smiles. His smile fades when the battering ram hits the gate again, knocking splinters and metal bolts off on their side. "What's out there?"

Jacqui walks up and gives Cao a quick and surprising hug. "Glad to see you," she says. "Kotal Kahn says that it's the soldiers of Orderrealm. They've pledged themselves to Onaga's army."

"Orderrealm?" Cao says, squinting a bit. "What the hell is Orderrealm?"

"Not sure myself," Cassie says. "Never been. But they're here, and they're about to get through that gate."

Up on the wall, one of the guards falls back, a steel bolt sticking out of his chest. It seems they are armed with crossbows.

Kotal Kahn and Kaito are not far away, discussing something amongst themselves. Takeda and his team are positioned on the opposite side of the street, and on the rooftops Cao spies Tundra and Frost, ready to rain hail down on the enemy.

>A) Stick near Cassie and Jacqui
>B) Go to Kaito and Kotal
>C) Join up with Takeda
>D) Head up onto the rooftops with Tundra and Frost
>E) Stay on your own with Ashrah
>F) Other

>D)
Let's see what were up against.

Gonna go with
>D
It'll give us a chance to see what is coming. And hopefully let us move quickly to back up others as needed.

Gotta admit to being really curious as to what Onaga offered the Orderrealm to get their backing.

>D
>Inb4 Kaito starts blarring rock music at high volume at the gates throwing the orderrealm forces in disarray.
What sort of man can stand before being ambushed by Black Sabbath?

That's one option. I'd put forward Rush. But if those order realmers ever saw a video of The Peart, they might become fans.

If we want to scare them then we need like Skrillex or something but that might freak out our own troops as well.

Cao and Ashrah both climb to the top of the nearby building with a staircase, joining Tundra and Frost.

"How was Kuatan?" she asks when she sees them approaching.

"I've had better trips," Cao replies as he gets up on the roof. He looks over at Tundra, who nods at him before all of them look back to the gate.

Cao can see through the holes in the gate left by the dragon-headed battering ram. The soldiers outside wear plate armor that dazzles with a green gleam and carry sharp-looking polearms and crossbows. Their armor looks much stronger than the undead or Kotal’s own guard and the power of their battering ram is clearly very effective. Each time it slams, more of the gate breaks down.

“Here we go,” Tundra says as the ram smashes more of the gate, creating a hole large enough for men to fit through. The siedan soldiers waste no time in filing in and attacking.

From outside the walls, their leader calls out in a loud and commanding voice, “Attention citizens! We, the Seidan Guard, are here to restore order! Resistance will be met with the full extent of the law and lethal force has been authorized!”

“Sounds like that guy has a real stick up his ass,” Frost says, putting her hands together and gathering cryo energy. “Let’s pull it out and beat him with it!”

The rest of the gate comes crashing down and the seidan guard rush inside to meet the defense! Kotal leads his troops, his tattoos glowing red with fury, as he rushes to face his foes!

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 29 (1d100)

Keep the high ground for now. Conjure our throwing knives if we need to hit ranged targets.

Also.... just realized something, but see if we can't spot Skarlet......

Forget the soldiers for now. Look for a way to take down that battering ram before it finishes off the gate.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

Dice man...

Rolled 8 (1d100)

Don't get caught up in a mass of enemies

Rolled 11 (1d100)

Gonna second this one. See if Frost or Tundra can freeze that thing enough to shatter from a decent range. Either way, cover their backs (and try not to get distracted by Frosts ass)

Rolled 28 (1d100)

Order Realm huh? Then I guess confusion's in order.
Cut a dude's head of bash a guy's head in with that, javelin a guy's pole hook through one of their own guys. The usual. Use their corpses to build the door back if need be.

Rolled 86 (1d100)

ok, no action here just rolling. Want to test something. Because so far we have all of two rolls that have gone over 54

ok. Fuck you dice......Fuck you sideways with a broken bottle.

Action for that to spot Skarlet?

As Tundra and Frost rain down ice upon the intruders, Cao conjures forth a series of green glowing daggers and hurls them at the armored foes, finding that they are ineffective against their strong armor, bouncing off the plate.

Cao curses a bit as he looks on at the gate, seeing the battering ram being removed to make way for more soldiers.

He wonders...

Cao leaps from the rooftop down into the fray, landing with a powerful smash with his oni-granted strength that came from absorbing the soul of Moloch. He pushes past two soldiers and grabs one end of the battering ram, pulling with all his might and keeping it in place.

Cao digs his feet into the ground and shouts as he summons strength like he's never done before and pulls on the ram, his fingers causing indents on the metal. He shouts as the soldiers pulling it back are unable to beat him and he pulls it back to the gate, where he summons the Wrath Hammer of Shao Kahn. He smashes the ram and creates a pile of debris in the way of the remaining soldiers outside before banishing it away.

As he turns around, Skarlet appears in front of him. She stabs a guard in the neck with her blades, one who was about to rush at Cao and attack him with his polearm. She nods at him before teleporting away to attack another guard elsewhere.

Remember the ten-minute time limit.

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 45 (1d100)

Kick and punch any seido trooper that gets close

Just out of curiosity, since we have his soul can we summon Moloch's ball and chain? Or did we only get the strength?

Okay we just pulled some God of War shit I guess just grab sword and mop up the remaining bitches. Also hope Kotal didn't see that or he'll want to know how we pulled it off.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

oh thank Damashi my horrible roll was outside that time limit. I got distracted by warm food.

Time for some sneaky backstabbing times! Or neck stabby times, since Skarlet just showed us it's possible.

I thought about it but decided just the strength, since we have the Wrath Hammer.

Rolled 28 (1d100)

Again dice?

Rolled 59 (1d100)

Start scaling the wall to escape being surrounded

so far 4 our of 21 rolls have broken 60.....

The hell is going on?

Cao battles the soldiers, taking them on in close quarter combat. Fueled by oni strength, he punches one in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He kicks another in the helmet, denting it a bit and knocking him down.

Cao turns and draws his sword, approaching one of the seidans from behind. He stabs the man in the neck, through the exposed section of his armor, taking him down. Nearby, Cassie shoots one in the head while Jacqui uses her gauntlets to pummel one into the dirt.

Vapor drifts across the battlefield, choking one of the soldiers while Takeda wraps his whips around the man's legs, tripping him. This allows Kung Ling to stab with her magical spear down into the man's back, killing him.

Kotal Kahn roars a mighty battlecry as he uses his sword to combat the invaders. "This is my city! And you are not welcome!" He brings his weapon, a wooden sword lined with obsidian shards, down upon a seidan's head, cutting it in half.

As Cao swings his sword, parrying and thrusting against the nearest seidan's attacks, the remainder of the battering ram is suddenly destroyed in an explosion. A man with white hair and two flags upon his back strides inside. "I am Hotaru, captain of the Seidan Guard! You will surrender or be destroyed!"

Cao escapes from his enemy and quickly runs up the nearby wall to avoid the swarm of soldiers that follows their leader, grabbing onto a ledge and pulling himself up. He looks down as Kotal Kahn and Hotaru stride towards each other.

"You will not take my city!" Kotal Kahn claims, brandishing his weapon. "Leave this realm and return to where you belong, seidan!"

"Outworld will know Order!" Hotaru shouts, taking out his polearm and charging.

>1d100 and an action!

Rolled 92 (1d100)

Throw Hotaru off his game with a fireball to the face

I'll be back in a bit. Just got to go do something.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

impalement seems like a plan
impale Hotaru on our new sword. Armor's weak near joints. under the arms. If this hits I'd say move to decapitate really.

Rolled 14 (1d100)

Agreeing with Distractions for Hotaru and his minions.

"Look it's the Chaos Realm.... people"

If it fails and someone sees us. Shrug and say it worked on Demons before.

Alright, I'm back. Had to go get a haircut.

Writing now.

From his vantage point above, as Hotaru and Kotal face each other in the streets, Cao sees his opening. His hand burns with Kobra's fire as he holds it out and blasts it towards Hotaru, hitting him in the face!

This gives Kotal an opening to strike, kicking the man in the chest. Hotaru is put on his back as the osh-tekk moves up to grapple him.

Cao shouts and leaps off the building, running through the battle to join Kotal and fight by his side. As the seidan guard clashes with the Emperor, Cao uses his new sword to stab the joint of his armor just under the arm. Hotaru shouts in pain as Cao does this, and the thief withdraws his blade. He brings up the sword and prepares to decapitate Hotaru, but the man blocks the strike. He does not, however, block Kotal's, who buries his weapon in Hotaru's side.

The seidan's feet glow orange and he slides back as though on a rail of fire, leaving a trail behind him. His quick escape enables two guardsmen to take his place, but Kotal and Cao make quick work of them. More guardsman run at the two of them but they make a good team, Kotal with his strength and Cao with his speed, and the soldiers fall before them. But still more press on.

Kotal steps back and Cao continues fighting. The Emperor's tattoos begin to glow yellow. He opens his mouth to speak.

"Up the stair path..." Cao spares a look back at him as he hears the osh-tekk begin to chant. "To the fire's edge..."

A guard goes to stab Kotal from behind, but Cao throws a fireball at him, knocking him away. Kotal continues charging his power, and above the clouds begin to part.

"I pray the sky..." He looks down upon the seidan guard, his eyes burning with the fury of Outworld, and finishes his cry, shouting, "TO SCORCH THE LAND!"

The clouds above swirl as a beam of light shoots from the heavens, the power of the sun made into a weapon. The beam melts armor and weapons, scorching flesh and burning wood.

They are pushed back to the gate, forced back outside, where Kaito leaps upon the earth, using his elemental powers to create a new wall of stone. The gate is now blocked, with the guardsmen forced out of the city. Kotal falls down onto a knee; using so much of his power has exhausted him.

Cao has to admit, he is impressed with the Emperor's power. He's never seen it unleashed in such a way before. Some guard are still on this side of the wall and the New Defenders work to round them up or kill them.

>A) Help him up
>B) Go help reinforce the wall
>C) Mop up any remaining guard
>D) Rejoin Ashrah, Cassie and Jacqui
>E) Other

>A
then
>E
"Wasn't Skarlet supposed to be with you?"