[Issue] We Fought A Zoo

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh shit!" Robin shouts and turns back into a regular suit and scrambles away from the raging hellbeast best as she can. "Sorry 'bout this, Tosh!" she warns the half-awake shark-boy before the suit opens up in the front and spits him out, unceremoniously dumping him on the floor before she collapses into a puddle on the ground herself, still right in Hellhound's path. But just for a moment before the whole puddle turns into a giant fist that tries to uppercut Hellhound mid-charge.

[Tereza Rozanov]

Tereza lets out a howl as the claws tear a vicious gash across her ribcage, staining her white fur red. She balls up that pain and grabs the bear's paw, pushing herself closer and driving her fist at the bear's head repeatedly.

[Will Stanton]

The trapped Locust drones suddenly vanish with a pop and the others in the arena grow larger and more humanoid. Then Stormy, now on her feet, throws more lightning Will's way, despite her trapped ally.

"Well that's...not ideal," Will said, swinging his muzzle-hand forward to try to block some of the lightning.

The end result was that both Will and the rat-thing would get hit by the electricity, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

[Samantha McManus]

The red mongoose goes tumbling, and the other two go running towards it.

Being hip to these sorts of things, the buggy multiplier might realize he's about to have a bad day if they reach each other.

[Narrator]

Ainsley did as he was told.

At first he was frightened at being alone, but the quick realization that all the talon-clicks on tile he heard behind him were with him, he realized he had all the back up he need.

And so he continued to barrel in the direction Jack instructed as fast as he could

Ainsley and the animals end up in a room with a large, shuttered gate. Now for Jack to do his part.

"Oh shit!" Robin shouts and turns back into a regular suit and scrambles away from the raging hellbeast best as she can. "Sorry 'bout this, Tosh!" she warns the half-awake shark-boy before the suit opens up in the front and spits him out, unceremoniously dumping him on the floor before she collapses into a puddle on the ground herself, still right in Hellhound's path. But just for a moment before the whole puddle turns into a giant fist that tries to uppercut Hellhound mid-charge.

The leaping Hellhound is caught by the fist and send flipping through the air, flames extinguishing before he hits the ground. He doesn't get up.

Tereza lets out a howl as the claws tear a vicious gash across her ribcage, staining her white fur red. She balls up that pain and grabs the bear's paw, pushing herself closer and driving her fist at the bear's head repeatedly.

On the third punch, the bear catches Tereza's fist in her mouth and bites down hard.

"Well that's...not ideal," Will said, swinging his muzzle-hand forward to try to block some of the lightning.

The end result was that both Will and the rat-thing would get hit by the electricity, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

Stormy stalks towards Will. "Not so tough are ya you barmy putty-man?" she asks with a proud gleam in her eyes.

The red mongoose goes tumbling, and the other two go running towards it.

Being hip to these sorts of things, the buggy multiplier might realize he's about to have a bad day if they reach each other.

Locust curses and races for the mongoose. Karkinos regains his senses and follows his ally's cue by sending his whips to intercept the running mongooses.


Ainsley's gate opens and the tigerilla is first out, followed closely by the wolf-deer and the crow-dogs. Taurus turns in time to see the tigerilla pounce on one of the Locust copies and begin tearing it apart. It vanishes like the others and they don't even get the chance to finish readjusting before the other Locust guarding Flayer is set upon by the wolf-deer. The Locust chasing Sam is left as a human with antennae and compound eyes.

"Jackdaw you bastard," Taurus growls and runs back to help Flayer before she gets eaten.

[Will Stanton]

Stormy stalks towards Will. "Not so tough are ya you barmy putty-man?" she asks with a proud gleam in her eyes.

Will twitched on the ground, his body shimmering and squelching as the electricity began to die down.

He lay there, biding his time. If he was right, he'd have one chance at this...

[Robin Stanton]

Stormy stalks towards Will. "Not so tough are ya you barmy putty-man?" she asks with a proud gleam in her eyes.

"Who're you calling Putty, ya manky bird?" Robin leans hard into her mostly-affectation-based accent and animates a chunk of floor to start rolling towards Stormy like a wobbly chunk of concrete, hoping to distract the woman at the right time.

[Tereza Rozanov]

On the third punch, the bear catches Tereza's fist in her mouth and bites down hard.

That gets another howl of pain and there's a brief bit of struggling before Tereza gets briefly still and the bear's mouth gets very cold as ice builds up around the mangled hand, protecting it and starting to force the bear's jaws apart. This does, however, require a bit of concentration on Tereza's part.

[Ainsley Green]

With a self satisfied smirk that a few might be familiar with from the Fae Realm incident, Ainsley seems more than a little pleased with the havoc he has helped sew into this situation.

Luckily for the others, there was nothing to set on fire so far as he could tell.

Somehow during his long trek through hallways he has obtained one of those strange emergency sleds used for sliding an unconscious person down stairs, and used it now for the completely unintended purpose of riding it smoothly into the chaos like some strange hybrid of a skateboard and a chariot.

"Destroy every one who harmed you. Leave my allies be." He repeated in three different dialects.

[Samantha McManus]

The mongooses scatter, unable to recombine, uttering muttered curses.

Then, Sam reaches out for Ainsley's mind. Suddenly, he can see the arena like Sam does. The ebb and flow of the battle. Hard points that won't break. Soft spots that just need a nudge to get through.

[Narrator]

Will twitched on the ground, his body shimmering and squelching as the electricity began to die down.

He lay there, biding his time. If he was right, he'd have one chance at this...

"Who're you calling Putty, ya manky bird?" Robin leans hard into her mostly-affectation-based accent and animates a chunk of floor to start rolling towards Stormy like a wobbly chunk of concrete, hoping to distract the woman at the right time.

Stormy flaps up into the limited airspace of the chamber. "Ya forget I'm a bird, ya bint?" she laughs, charging a bolt.

That gets another howl of pain and there's a brief bit of struggling before Tereza gets briefly still and the bear's mouth gets very cold as ice builds up around the mangled hand, protecting it and starting to force the bear's jaws apart. This does, however, require a bit of concentration on Tereza's part.

The bear's eyes go wide and the bite becomes a desperate attempt to break free from the ice that threatens to tear Tereza's arm off.

With a self satisfied smirk that a few might be familiar with from the Fae Realm incident, Ainsley seems more than a little pleased with the havoc he has helped sew into this situation.

Luckily for the others, there was nothing to set on fire so far as he could tell.

Somehow during his long trek through hallways he has obtained one of those strange emergency sleds used for sliding an unconscious person down stairs, and used it now for the completely unintended purpose of riding it smoothly into the chaos like some strange hybrid of a skateboard and a chariot.

"Destroy every one who harmed you. Leave my allies be." He repeated in three different dialects.

The mongooses scatter, unable to recombine, uttering muttered curses.

Then, Sam reaches out for Ainsley's mind. Suddenly, he can see the arena like Sam does. The ebb and flow of the battle. Hard points that won't break. Soft spots that just need a nudge to get through.

Ainsley can see the tigerilla and wolf-deer both charging Taurus, the running Taurus batting wolf-deer aside like it was nothing, and then the tigerilla leaping into the minotaur, tearing at his hide as they struggle for domination.

He can see the innate tactics of the crow-dogs not guarding him they fan out. He can see the three surrounding Flayer and, being less wild than the other creatures, being satisfied with one of their number pinning her to the floor under its talons while the others take turns growling at her, and the rest weighing their options.

He can see Karkinos furiously continuing to catch the agile mongooses with his whips, scoring the ground with half-metled gouges with each miss. He can likewise see the large blindspot Karkinos has for anything behind him as one crow-dog tests his range. He can see Locust unable to act as he begins to divide. And he can see that the tide has turned in their favor.

[Ainsley Green]

With Sam's influence, Ainsley is given a better understanding of everything going on around him.

"We need to take 'Stormy' alive or these allies will turn on us in a minute." Ainsley informed Sam who was probably already aware of it, but he felt like making it obvious was for the better.

"Stop him." Ainsley commands of the crow-dogs closest to Locust before he can divide too much more and attempt to over-take the group.

He then came to close up Karkinos' blind spot with his new 'guards'.

[Will Stanton]

Stormy flaps up into the limited airspace of the chamber. "Ya forget I'm a bird, ya bint?" she laughs, charging a bolt.

"Robin! Holy Roller to the Post on three! One...two..." Will called.

[Robin Stanton]

"Three!" Robin shouts as she slides into a crouch next to her Dad, arms bulging out as she grabs him and, with momentum from the slide spins him around and chucks him. Not at Stormy though but rather at the rock that has rolled past the now air-borne bird, allowing Will to ricochet off and hopefully hit Stormy in the back.

[Tereza Rozanov]

The bear's eyes go wide and the bite becomes a desperate attempt to break free from the ice that threatens to tear Tereza's arm off.

There's a sickening noise as Tereza's arm gives a bit to the strain of the bear. She snarls as the ice grows up to protect the injury as she uses more leverage to yank her arm and the ice free, despite the additional pain. With a feral snarl, she slams the bear in the head with the chunk of ice, putting her opponent down. She stands there, panting and in a great deal of pain, as her body starts trying to reverse the damage. Sam can tell she's doing good just to hold the hellbeast in check at the moment.

[Will Stanton]

"Three!" Robin shouts as she slides into a crouch next to her Dad, arms bulging out as she grabs him and, with momentum from the slide spins him around and chucks him. Not at Stormy though but rather at the rock that has rolled past the now air-borne bird, allowing Will to ricochet off and hopefully hit Stormy in the back.

As he bounced off the rock, Will's form shifted -- longer, thinner, more pointy. A javelin, soaring through the air.

Losing the mass in midair made Will travel even faster than Robin threw him, so hopefully, Stormy would taken entirely off guard.

[Narrator]

A gunshot is heard from the observation room.

With Sam's influence, Ainsley is given a better understanding of everything going on around him.

"We need to take 'Stormy' alive or these allies will turn on us in a minute." Ainsley informed Sam who was probably already aware of it, but he felt like making it obvious was for the better.

"Stop him." Ainsley commands of the crow-dogs closest to Locust before he can divide too much more and attempt to over-take the group.

He then came to close up Karkinos' blind spot with his new 'guards'.

Locust starts to shout curses as the crow-dogs tear apart his clones as fast as he can throw them at the beasts. Then the shouts turn to screams as one crow-dog bites the actual Locust.

Karkinos begins to turn toward the clicking of talons behind him.

There's a sickening noise as Tereza's arm gives a bit to the strain of the bear. She snarls as the ice grows up to protect the injury as she uses more leverage to yank her arm and the ice free, despite the additional pain. With a feral snarl, she slams the bear in the head with the chunk of ice, putting her opponent down. She stands there, panting and in a great deal of pain, as her body starts trying to reverse the damage. Sam can tell she's doing good just to hold the hellbeast in check at the moment.

Taurus uses his superior strength to repeatedly pull the tigerilla down into a knee blow to the chin until the beast begins to lose consciousness. With a spin and a mighty heave, he sends the creature flying on a collision course with the werewolf.

"Robin! Holy Roller to the Post on three! One...two..." Will called.

"Three!" Robin shouts as she slides into a crouch next to her Dad, arms bulging out as she grabs him and, with momentum from the slide spins him around and chucks him. Not at Stormy though but rather at the rock that has rolled past the now air-borne bird, allowing Will to ricochet off and hopefully hit Stormy in the back.

As he bounced off the rock, Will's form shifted -- longer, thinner, more pointy. A javelin, soaring through the air.

Losing the mass in midair made Will travel even faster than Robin threw him, so hopefully, Stormy would taken entirely off guard.

The combo attack is effective! The Will-javelin pierces the bird-woman through the shoulder and she plummets to the ground with an avian cry of pain.

[Will Stanton]

"Pissing off one Stanton is bad enough," Will said, popping out the other side and reforming. "Mess with two, and you've just conceded the fight."

He turned around to try to see which targets were still up.

[Samantha McManus]

As Ainsley gets the creature's attention, the three mongooses barge together into one, leaping for its back.

[Tereza Rozanov]

Taurus uses his superior strength to repeatedly pull the tigerilla down into a knee blow to the chin until the beast begins to lose consciousness. With a spin and a mighty heave, he sends the creature flying on a collision course with the werewolf.

Tereza takes the tigerilla broadside, tumbling to the ground under the weight of the creature. She tries to shove the creature off, but only one good arm is making it a struggle.

[Narrator]

"Pissing off one Stanton is bad enough," Will said, popping out the other side and reforming. "Mess with two, and you've just conceded the fight."

He turned around to try to see which targets were still up.

Team Stanton finds two targets remaining: Taurus, who is doing something at the central column, and Karkinos, currently fighting Sam and the crow-dogs.

As Ainsley gets the creature's attention, the three mongooses barge together into one, leaping for its back.

Sam has to scrabble for purchase on the thick carapace shielding Karkinos' back, but her mongoose claws allow her to gain a hold between plates.

"Get off me ya damn tube rat!" the hybrid bellows, dismissing one whip to reach back and snap a pincer at her while fending off the snapping crow-dogs with the remaining whip.

Tereza takes the tigerilla broadside, tumbling to the ground under the weight of the creature. She tries to shove the creature off, but only one good arm is making it a struggle.

With the werewolf preoccupied with getting the unconscious tigerilla off of her, Taurus presses a hand against the central column and opens a hidden panel to reveal a safe. He inputs a code into the keypad and withdraws an auto-injector.

[Robin Stanton]

"I got you." Robin says, helping to get the tigerilla off of Tereza. "Do you need help?" she asks with a glance at Tereza's arm.

[Samantha McManus]

Sam scrabbles to stay on the creature's back, ducking the claw as she tries to steer him into other combatants.

[Tereza Rozanov]

It's hard to assess the arm with it encased in ice, but now the ice is up to her shoulder. She struggles to focus on Robin as she gets to her feet, shaking her head to clear the pain haze. Then she looks past Robin, "Shit, bull!"

[Narrator]

As Karkinos flails in the general direction of his boss, the minotaur turns to face the heroes.

"Aren't you curious what the doctor's serum does to those already able to become as beasts?" Taurus almost monologues, "Strange as it sounds, the doctor doesn't believe it worth testing. His ideals blind him to his proclaimed scientific principles. I fear the time spent in that wretched asylum did his mind no favors."

"Let's correct that oversight," he says, pressing the injector to his neck. Nothing seems to happen for a long moment, then he began to grow. He tears off his armored vest to show the bare, furry torso underneath. Scattered plates of natural armor sprout from his body and he lets out a roar as he reaches a good eleven feet tall.

He grins at the heroes and lets out a snort, "You're going to regret getting in my way." Stamping a hoof, he charges at Tereza and Robin.

[Will Stanton]

"Oh Jesus; we've got a zealot over here," Will called out as Taurus grew to monstrous sizes.

Will took a few steps towards the minotaur, gathering speed, and then leapt into the air, hoping to latch on to Taurus' neck area and upset his balance.

[Tereza Rozanov]

As Will goes high, Tereza tries to fight through the pain and lunges low, trying to get down around Taurus' legs where she can try to hamper his movement. With only one good arm, she's a bit off-balance.

[Robin Stanton]

"No no, it's bull-shit. Other way ar--oh shit, bull!" Robin manages before the eleven foot monstrosity stomps her into the ground.

[Samantha McManus]

Leaping from Karkinos, Sam tries to reach out to the minds of those present and drag out every memory of abuse from the minotaur, aiming to stoke it into hatred.

[Narrator]

"Oh Jesus; we've got a zealot over here," Will called out as Taurus grew to monstrous sizes.

Will took a few steps towards the minotaur, gathering speed, and then leapt into the air, hoping to latch on to Taurus' neck area and upset his balance.

Trying to leap onto Taurus is like jumping onto the front of a speeding train: hard to land accurately even for a being without worry lethal impact. Yet part of Will does manage to stick. However, Taurus' proves difficult to unbalance.

As Will goes high, Tereza tries to fight through the pain and lunges low, trying to get down around Taurus' legs where she can try to hamper his movement. With only one good arm, she's a bit off-balance.

Lunging into the path of a rampaging super-minotaur turns out to be a bad idea when Taurus lowers his horns to meet her.

Leaping from Karkinos, Sam tries to reach out to the minds of those present and drag out every memory of abuse from the minotaur, aiming to stoke it into hatred.

Memories of the painful process of becoming a hybrid and various acts of brutal coercion flood the remaining hybrids, whether they volunteered or not. Flayer faints, done in by that added to her fear of the crow-dogs. Stormy weakly rises, staring daggers at Taurus.

Karkinos rounds on the minotaur. They had promised him greater strength. Becoming a hideous, mismatched freak wasn't the deal. Too angry for words, he roars in challenge and moves to intercept.


The intercom buzzes and Jack, after a pained groan, says, "Taurus is a distraction... the doctor... you have to... stop him... he's... going to release a virus..."

[Tereza Rozanov]

Tereza jumps, catch head instead of horn, knocking her to the side in a tumble. She scrambles back to a three-point stance and charges at the bull from the side, trying to keep him occupied and give Will and the others room to work.

[Will Stanton]

Trying to leap onto Taurus is like jumping onto the front of a speeding train: hard to land accurately even for a being without worry lethal impact. Yet part of Will does manage to stick. However, Taurus' proves difficult to unbalance.

It helps, of course, that Will can be sticky when need be. Grabbing one of Taurus horns as he whizzes by, Will tried to use the momentum to swing around Taurus. And around. And around. Wrapping the minotaur's head in a cocoon of clay, blinding him and potentially even cutting off his oxygen.

At the very least, it should provide a distraction for as long as it takes Taurus to clear his vision. Good thing he can't shoot lasers from his eyes.

[Samantha McManus]

"Damn it, we don't have time for this."

"Ainsley, do you know where that's being sent from?"

[Ainsley Green]

"Coal! Come on!" He says to his favoured friend, then asks of Sam-

"Where's the doctor?"

[Narrator]

Tereza jumps, catch head instead of horn, knocking her to the side in a tumble. She scrambles back to a three-point stance and charges at the bull from the side, trying to keep him occupied and give Will and the others room to work.

It helps, of course, that Will can be sticky when need be. Grabbing one of Taurus horns as he whizzes by, Will tried to use the momentum to swing around Taurus. And around. And around. Wrapping the minotaur's head in a cocoon of clay, blinding him and potentially even cutting off his oxygen.

At the very least, it should provide a distraction for as long as it takes Taurus to clear his vision. Good thing he can't shoot lasers from his eyes.

Taurus swings a massive arm at Tereza, allowing Will the opportunity to finish wrapping around his head. His hooves crack the floor as he stumbles and blindly swerves off course. Busy tearing at the clay cocooning his head, he doesn't have any way to avoid Karkinos' whip as it strikes him in the side. A tremendous shock goes through him, and by extension Will, and the great bull goes tumbling.

The bad news is he's going right for the unconscious Tosh.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this."

"Ainsley, do you know where that's being sent from?"

"Coal! Come on!" He says to his favoured friend, then asks of Sam-

"Where's the doctor?"

The door next to the observation window emits a buzz and the light above it changes to green. That must be where the Jack is. Sam can also sense another mind moving quickly further in that direction.

[Robin Stanton]

Robin, still flattened and with a giant hoof-print in her pulls herself off the floor, wobbling back and forth a bit before she notices Taurus stumbling his way towards Tosh. Who she somewhat carelessly discarded.

Swirling her arm in a circle like a cartoon character gearing up to throw a punch she aims for one of Taurus' legs and whips out her arm to try and snag it around his ankle and yank him back enough his footfall will hopefully miss Tosh.

[Samantha McManus]

"This way, Ainsley!" Sam shouts, dashing out of the arena for the retreating presence.

[Tereza Rozanov]

Tereza takes the blow and skids across the floor, scrambling back to her feet and trying to get to where she can dive on Tosh to protect him, but her injuries are slowing her and even as she leaps, she's not sure she'll make it.

[Ainsley Green]

Scurrying to keep with Sam, Ainsley is off like a shot, leaving the crow dogs to do their business. Except for Coal, whom he ran in tandem with after Sam.

[Will Stanton]

Taurus swings a massive arm at Tereza, allowing Will the opportunity to finish wrapping around his head. His hooves crack the floor as he stumbles and blindly swerves off course. Busy tearing at the clay cocooning his head, he doesn't have any way to avoid Karkinos' whip as it strikes him in the side. A tremendous shock goes through him, and by extension Will, and the great bull goes tumbling.

Will's initial plan had been to jump off Taurus before he fell to the ground, but Karkinos' whip scuppered that plan. Instead, it was all Will could do to hold his basic shape and stick to Taurus' massive face; likely being slammed into the floor as the minotaur fell.