Fellowship of the Dice

Zed's strike struck the large Mink, making him groan out in pain and try to retaliate against Zed but before he could land the attack, Pepper throws her own Electro infused attack on Goremon, striking him in the side of the torso. Goremon's body conducted electricity before the large Mink collapsed onto his back, body twitching.

Bluebeard took notice of Barnacles incoming flail and quickly dove away, watching the flail smash a crate nearby him. The blue haired pirate held up his large axe and swung at Barnacle, striking his sides, before letting out a cackle.

The large Mink, twitching on the ground, seemed to stop his shaking... quickly swooping up a fist and striking the monkey mink with his large fist, letting out a battle groan.

Borscht sprinted to cover to the side of a building and began to reload his gun

Pepper sees Goremon's punch a fraction too late. She barely makes a sound as it smacks her dead in the stomach, lifting her up in the air about three feet. She grimaces on the way down, landing on her head and side. She starts to curl up before going limp and unconscious.

(Pepper is Down)

Seeing Pepper go down, Barnacle turns back to Goreman in a rage! He twists something on his Flail, and suddenly white gas billows out of the length of hardened steel, heavily falling to the ground and pooling there before dissipating. The air temperature noticeably drops, and thick frost forms along its length. With a shouted curse, the cyborg swings back and then slams down the Flail on Goremon.

Goremon, before being able to do anything else, had a flail smashed onto his head, making his tongue jet from his mouth and his body stiffen... the large Mink collapsed onto the ground. Borscht jumped out to shoot at Zed before one of the people assisting unleashing a shot from a rifle, striking Borscht's side, making him fall to the ground, clutching his wound.

Zed meanwhile, went to strike at Bluebeard, swinging his blade, but the scraggly pirate quickly avoided the attack with a leg in the air and arms held up... Bluebeard then lets out a scream and swinging the Axe down. Anyone watching would just see a large splurt of blood from the axe... and the Mink fell onto the grass.

Barnacle rips his flail out of the head of Goremon, frozen blood and skin stuck to its supercold metal. He looks around in shock as his friend Zed goes down ... and isn't getting back up from that. He screams in anger, tunnel vision only showing the form of Bluebeard with his friend's blood spurting onto him. The giant cyborg rages and rushes the pirate with killing intent.

Bluebeard, after his strike, was panting hard. For being the kind of pirate he was, seemed like he probably did not do alot of the killing himself... but who cares? A flail, weld by a Cyborg, was raised, blocking the sun from Bluebeards view. The flail swung down, smashing the pirate into the ground, causing a small crater.

The blue haired pirate laid in the crator, his face lifeless looking as the flail is lifted away from him. The citizens who assisted, soon joined by those hiding, let out a cheer as their enemy had finally been taken down!

Barnacle roars in anger and swings his flail around and into the mangled corpse of Bluebeard, his rage unassuaged. After a few moments he realizes that the enemy is down, and his mind returns to reality. He rushes over to Zed, desperately looking for signs of life and the possibility of being restored to health. Sadly, such hope is for naught.

Pepper awakens to Barnacle's roaring as it peters out. She winces from an unbelievable pain in her shoulder, and clutches her stomach. She sucks in air through her teeth and massages a big, tender bruise, laboring for a moment to regain her breath. She looks up and notices the bodies of Goremon and Bluebeard laying around her, and Zed slumped in front of the pirate captain, bloody and unresponsive. Afraid for what might have happened to the villagers while she was out, she sits up and catches sight of them celebrating, and Borscht propped against the side of a building. She wonders if he's just catching his breath.

"Hey!" She yells to the villagers as she fights to stand up, the pain hampering the volume of her shout. "Zed's down, can someone call for a healer?"

The big cyborg drops his flail and gently lifts up the corpse of his friend, no hope left that there might be signs of life left in him. Tears stream down his cheeks, his eyes wide and sad. He cradles Zed's slain body in his arms like a precious child, unashamed at openly showing his love for his dead friend. Barnacle slowly walks back to the crowd of cheering villages, leaving his bloody weapon on the ground behind him.

It takes Pepper several seconds longer to understand what's happening. At first, it looks like Barnacle's carrying his friend to find a doctor, but not in any hurry about it, and not calling out for help. Just... mourning. Then it clicks, and she realizes that Zed is dead.

"Um...nevermind, everyone."

She joins the volunteers and thanks them personally. "And... Thank you too, Barnacle. I'm sorry about your friend. If you hadn't shown up, we probably wouldn't have even tried to take them on." She purses her lips uncomfortably. Zed was the one who low-key threatened Andre, so she can't exactly commiserate with his surviving partner.