Chin-Su assumes a fighting stance. "Free them", he says to Sam. "I got your back.
"Well," Quinn says, kicking up the stick Van-Darr dropped without lowering is guard, "a spear's a spear".
He takes a step back and brandishes the pointy stick, trying to draw Van-Darr's attention. "Alright Barney Trubble, let's see what you got."
He's going to fight defensively, doing his best not to let that tonfa touch his body or his shield. If he absolutely must take a blow on the Spartan arm or leg protectors, he'll do that.
Sam thougt for a moment "Hey guys I have an idea!" he says at last "I think I have a way to save them without us changing history."
He then shouts, "Esuod erif dna ekarb seniv."
Flwissh! The vines binding the Legionnaries break. This would have dropped them into the fire, but it goes out, too.
Van-Darr chops, kicks, spins around while kicking low and feints with an elbow smash; none of it gets through Quinn's shield and rapidly shifting stance, although if the elbow smash had been meant as a serious follow-through, Quinn would have a bruise between his eyes right now.
Then Van-Darr flicks the tonfa off to one side, causing its hide covering to slip loose and form a sort of rawhide whip.
This he swings in counter-rotating arcs, trying to whip the leather thong over, or under, or around, Quinn's shield!
He gets really close. But Quinn's full-defense efforts hold him off, though it's wearing him out fast.
Tellus, the big fish-frog, falls on his massive shoulders and lies there, inert. The White Witch tries to adjust his oxygen-water helmet to restore his airflow, but throws up her long-fingered hands in exasperation.
"Machinery is not my focus!" she exclaims. "To master the mystic arts requires a lifetime of concentrated study ... who knows how to fix the machine?"
Karate Kid stands up in a complicated way, the vines falling free (and unknotted) from his limbs.
After a glance at Tellus, he says, "I don't do machinery either," and places a foot forward in a karate stance.
Van-Darr, hearing his footfall, ducks low and rolls, so that Quinn and Karate Kid are at his 10 and 2 o'clock, respectively.
Karate Kid catches Quinn's eye.
"Want to change it up?" he says. "He's expecting you to defend, and me to attack."
"Tellus is turning blue!" the White Witch cries. "I think that's bad for his species!"
"Actually," Quinn says, breathing hard, "I wouldn't mind a break, if you want to relieve me."
ReplyDeleteBut he has a plan -- if Karate Kid can turn Van-Darr's attention, Quinn is going to ram the baddy with his shield and try to take him down. Then Kid can pile on and Quinn can tie him up with the whip.
Of course he won't say any of this out loud, since Van-Darr appears to understand English. He'll just wait for Kid to join the fray, and then make his move.
"Crap!" Chin-Su looks at Van-Darr to ensure he's fully engages, and makes his way to Tellus as quickly as possible. "We need to turn his aerator back on!" Chin-Su examines the machinery for anything obvious.
ReplyDeleteSam mutters to himself, "Okay, what would Houdini do?" He then snaps his fingers and says, "Xif gnihtearb Ecived!" and he points his hand at Tellus helmet.
ReplyDeleteHe then shouts to Chin-Su, "Hay, Chin! if my spell works properly, bring him over here. I'm not sure what the range on my time teleportation spell is!"
ReplyDelete