A Falcon Amongst Giants

[Silverback]

The fans are going wild tonight. This may be a friendly game but there's definitely no love lost between these two teams! Just take a look at the score at the end of the third quarter, it's twenty-eight to twenty-four in favour of the Giants. Here we go, here's the kick-off.

The fourth quarter has proven to be a bitter battle between the rival teams and neither side is willing to give.

The Falcons have the ball on their own thirty-one, after a twenty-two yard return on the kick-off. Bloomquist hands off to Carski, he pounds ahead for eight yards, there are less than forty-five seconds left, and the Falcons call a time out . . . I can hardly hear myself over this crowd.

Now Bloomquist is back on the field, pleading with the crowd for silence so he can call the signals . . . the snap, the drop back . . . the blocking breaks down! Bloomquist gets rid of it in a hurry, in the rough vicinity of Reid, the tight end. Bloomquist brings them right back without a huddle, the snap . . . Sherk just flew around the centre, and Bloomquist cannot dodge him! A sack, a loss of five!

Time out is called by the Falcons with eleven seconds to play. The ball is on the Falcons thirty-four. It is fourth-down and a long, long way to the touchdown the Falcons need. Bloomquist takes the ball and back-peddles into the pocket. There is only a three man rush, all the deep receivers are well covered. Sherk breaks through again! Bloomquist is twisting away, but Sherk is pulling him down by his jersey . . . with a desperate throw Bloomquist throws a wobbly pass to Carski in the flat . . .

Suddenly the stadium is plunged into almost total darkness as the floodlighting fails. The only remaining illumination is the green-glow of the giant scoreboard as it lights up the underside of a white, giant eagle-type creature that swoops into the stadium almost directley above where the Tribal team have been enjoying the game. The fans forget the game and begin screaming in panic as the huge downdraft from the falcons wings buffeted and flattened members of the crowd. Reaching down with it's huge talons the eagle begins to ascend once again with it's prize firmly ensconced in it's grip.

[Tomahawk]

“This is perhaps the most absurd thing I have ever done,” Michael thought, looking out over the football stadium. “Crowd control is a job for the Police, not Tribal. And this game is so stupid- a bunch of idiots slamming into themselves and chasing after some egg- nothing as serious as our lacrosse games. This is a job for the normal security, not for ones with our abilities. Surely there is nothing even remotely interesting that will happen here tonight…”

Suddenly the stadium is plunged into almost total darkness as the floodlighting fails. The only remaining illumination is the green-glow of the giant scoreboard as it lights up the underside of a white, giant eagle-type creature that swoops into the stadium almost opposite to where Tomahawk and the rest of the Tribal team have been watching the game, some enjoying it more than others. The fans forget the game and begin screaming in panic as the huge downdraft from the falcons wings buffeted and flattened members of the crowd. Reaching down with it's huge talons the eagle begins to ascend once again with it's prize firmly ensconced in it's grip.

Shortly after the lights go out in the stadium you hear a mans voice behind you. "Hey! Who's goofing with the lights, the scoreboards still on!"

"Is this some kinda stunt?" Someone else exclaimed.

“What the he-??” Tomahawk exclaims, jumping to his feet. He watches as the eagle-like creature begins to take flight, suddenly wishing that he possessed the ability to fly. He couldn’t, but someone else on the team could…

“Bengaline!” He called over to his team-mate, “Can you turn into a bird and get after that thing? Try and get it to land so the rest of us can help- but be careful- it has a victim in its hands! Meanwhile I’ll…” He took a moment to think about what HE could do, from here on the ground. Then he noticed that the floodlights were off, but the scoreboard was still active. He quickly deduces that it’s not a power failure, but someone must have turned off the lights, and forgot about the scoreboard.

“I’ll go and see about getting the lights turned back on so that we can see what we are doing- Silverback, are you with me?” He stated, turning to his friend

[Bengaline]

Bengaline was just sitting there, Tomahawk left, Silverback to her right. She just wasn´t a big football fan at all but something about that game of chasing a ball around appealed to her animal nature somewhere inside. So, an outsider would have thought her to be an excited fan when she was following the ball around making her to move around on her chair quite a bit, jumping up and down..and all that with her big bag of popcorn in her hands and her big ice tea in the other.

Suddenly it´s getting darker, suddenly Tomahawk screams in her ear. "Okay, okay...let me try..." Bengaline says with a little annoyance in her voice. "Do we always absolutely have to go after every bad guy?" She was just enjoying the bouncy ball too much.. .

Bengaline turns into an eagle and flies up after the other eagle...thinking "I wonder what that bird could have taken....".

[Silverback]

Khalifa stood, mouth agape, at the spectacle unfolding before him. He could hardly believe what he was seeing! An eagle larger than any he'd ever seen before! The green light from the scoreboard gave the creatures wings a ghostly green tinge as it lazily flapped into the air with it's prize.

"HEY! Silver, are you coming?" Shouted Michael, snapping the young african from his reverie.

From the corner of his eye he saw Bengalines form 'shiver' as she took the shape of another eagle. 'Surely this means something!? A portent perhaps?' Silverback wished that his mentor were here to advise him on such spiritual matters. Another tug on his arm and the two young men were off, Silverback sorely lagging behind his faster companion.

Racing down the stairs, dodging fans and condiment tables. Security guards run down from the steps above few acknowledging the presence of the Tribal members. Coming to a halt Tomahawk clearly heard a startled but firm voice from behind an access door, clearly labelled "KEEP OUT".

"Okay you 'Julius Caesar' rejects, step away from those circuit breakers and put your hands up!"

[Silverback]

If there were any keen birdwatchers amongst the thronging crowd they would have been surprised to see an Indian Black Eagle launch itself skyward from the auditorium in pursuit of its quarry.

With her animal heightened senses Sari could see the form of a man dangling from the talons of the giant raptor before her. He didn't appear to be injured in anyway but the eagles large claw blocked most of the view.

Wings pumping rapidly Bengaline pursued the fleeing creature as it began to rise upward in a purposeful direction as the gap between pursuer and pursued began to widen. It seemed an impossible task to keep pace with the bird.

[Tomahawk]

Michael cast a glance upwards towards his transformed companion, noticing that her flight was significantly slower than that of her quarry.

“Ben-“, he started to shout, suddenly realizing that there was no way she would ever be able to hear him over the noise and confusion surrounding them. He decided to simply press on with Khalifa to try and shed some light on the subject.

"HEY! Silver, are you coming?" he shouted, snapping the young african from his reverie.

Together they raced down the stairs, dodging fans, hot dog & beer vendors and condiment tables. Security guards ran down from the steps above, but few acknowledged the presence of the Tribal members.

“It figures,” Michael mused to himself. “Even after the press earlier this week, and even running around in uniform these jokers don’t even notice. Only in New York…”

Coming to a halt outside the room, Tomahawk clearly heard a startled but firm voice from behind an access door, clearly labelled "KEEP OUT" saying "Okay you 'Julius Caesar' rejects, step away from those circuit breakers and put your hands up!"

Turning to Khalifa, Michael noticed for the first time that his companion was seriously lagging behind.

“Silver, get a move on!” he said, in a loud whisper. “It looks like the guards have someone- or more than one- cornered in here. We will have to move fast- a lot faster than you’re moving now. We’ll move to disarm and take out whoever this ‘Julius Caesar’ person is who turned off the lights. On three, ready? One… two… three!”

[Silverback]

Khalifa grumbled under his breath at Tomahawks suggestion he was moving too slow. Finally catching up with his colleague, and only a little out of breath, he acknowledged with a quick nod that something was amiss behind the door.

On Michaels count of '. . . three.' Silverback burst through the door, his billowing cloak temporarily blocked out the evening sky. The spartan 'utility' room was a mix of bare concrete, electrical conduits and control cabinets. A lone security guard stood to one side of the room, sweat staining the underarms of his blue shirt, with his pistol trained on five men dressed in bronze antiquicated armour consisting of breastplates, helmets, greaves and gauntlets.

Each ancient warrior carried a strange looking pistol that resembled nothng less than a guard from a fencing foil attached to a pistol grip. "What on earth?" Gasped Silverback.

[Bengaline]

Bengaline, in the shape of an eagle, tried hard to keep up with the gigantic white eagle in front of her, but it's speed seemed almost supernatural making it impossible for her to gain on it. Flapping her wings as hard as possible she still couldn't match the speed of her quarry.

She could see parts of the caught man, apparently struggling in the grip of the creature.

"I will have to find some other way..." She thought to herself, trying to focus.

In her frustration, she let out a mighty cry, "Kiiiiiiiyyyyyaaaaa!!!" echoed and reverberated throughout the stadium.

Suddenly, the giant creature seemed to notice it was being followed when it briefly turned towards Bengaline and the source of the eagle-cry.

Bengaline used this moment to close the gap, her wings pumping as fast and hard as they could. As she approached the giant eagle it let out a cry of its own.

"Go back to your gladiatorial games! The only harm which will come to the doctor is if you attack me or force me to drop him." Some distance away 'floated' what appeared to be the eagles destination, some kind of aircraft of non-standard construction.

As she looked down over the city, she wondered about her companions and thought how she could really use their help right about now....

[Tomahawk]

"What on earth?" Gasped Silverback.

“I agree, my friend- but we have little time,” Tomahawk said to his companion. In a louder voice, he addressed to oddly-attired Julius Ceasars, saying,

“You there! Surrender now and turn yourselves over to the authorities, or suffer the consequences! So says… Tomahawk!”

“Who are these strange ones,” Michael thought to himself. “And more to the point, why have they turned off the lights at this foolish game? Their attire, with the armor… it reminds me of what Grandfather once told me, from to time of his grandfather- or was it his grandfather’s grandfather? No matter- all the same. What did he say they were, coming out of the south… Conquistadors… we drove them off our land, away from our homes, long before the Bluecoats came, long before I was born…”

Half-turning to his companion, he said in a low voice, “Cover the doorway to make certain they cannot escape. I doubt the likes of these are willing to come along quietly. I believe things are about to get… interesting.”

With a FWAASSSHHH!! Tomahawk summoned forth two Psy’Hawks (MindBlast), one in either hand, and readied himself to leap into the fray.

[Silverback]

Just at that moment all hell broke loose. Whether an itchy trigger finger or a hair trigger, the security guard fired off a shot with a loud 'crack' that reverberated around the room followed quickly by several 'pings' as it ricocheted off it's intended target before burying itself in the wall.

The ancient, bronze warriors responded immediately bringing their pistols to bear and firing off a line of irregular spherical distortions that appeared as a series of shimmering glass globes. Before either Tomahawk or Silverback could respond two of the soldiers targeted and lightly wounded the two Tribal members. Both men experiencing a wave of distortion as their bodies felt like they were being 'pulled apart'.

Letting fly with his two Psy-Hawks Tomahawks two adversaries crumpled to the ground as their eyes rolled back into their heads as the energy coursed through their nervous system, shocking it into submission.

Of the remaining three opponents, two were concentrating their attacks on the young African, the other on the security guard. And, as Silverback hefted his spear and launched the shaft at his enemy, he was engulfed in yet another wave of glowing circles and he grimaced in pain even as the sharpened blade took the soldier in the thigh and pinned him against the wall. Blood pumped and spurted from the wound as the man lost consciousness.

The unfortunate security guard could do little to resist the blast aimed in his direction as his body shut down from the massive shock that disrupted his vital organs. A low, rasping wheeze could be heard rattling between his bruised lips.

Health Loss: Silverback: 20. Tomahawk: 10

[Tomahawk]

“Arrrgh!“ Tomahawk let out a low sound, almost a growl through clenched teeth.

“I… actually felt that!” he thought to himself, somewhat amazed and enraged all at the same time. “It has indeed been awhile since anything has been able to get past my defenses…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the fallen security guard, and briefly weighed the option of going to his assistance.

“If I go to his aid now,” he thought to himself, “there would be nothing to prevent them shooting me in the back… First things first- the enemy must be subdued, and then we can attend to our wounded.”

He let out a loud war-whoop, and with a FWAAASSSHH!![/color] summoned forth another pair of Psy’Hawks. Then, he turned to engage the remaining Julius Caesar Conquistadors.

“Shunkmànitu, Òmakiya yo! Mathò, ohitika-wakhan le ma’ku wo!” he cried, as he rushed forward.


(translations of the phrases can be found Here!)

[Silverback]

Khalifa cursed out loud. He hadn't meant to throw his spear that hard! His only hope was that the wound looked worse than it was. His first priority, now that he was without a weapon, was to save the life of the stricken security guard. As he leapt toward the fallen man he heard the telltale sound of Tomahawk striking at the remaining two soldiers.

Both of their shots were fired wildly and missed both heroes by a wide margin. One of Michaels Psy-Hawks struck home leaving the leader of the group unharmed and peering round at his fallen comrades.

Shielding the guards body with his own Silverback quickly realised the man needed immediate attention and, closing his eyes, he called upon the ancient gods and spirits of his people. "Guide my mind, spirit and soul to allow this man to travel safely back to his body"

As he pressed his hand to the mans chest a golden-green glow began to surround both men. With a violent, racking cough the fallen mans eyes flickered open as he gasped for breath.

Silverback power stunted: Spirit Healing (Biophysical Control - Healing) off Life Spirit Awareness

[Tomahawk]

"So," Tomahawk said turning towards the remaining Julius Caesar Conquistador, "As I see things, you have two choices: Either you hand over your weapon and surrender now, or you can join your companions on the floor. Either way-"

And with a FWAAASSSHHH[/i] he summoned up another pair of Psy'Hawks, and drew closer menacingly-

"- suits me just fine." Through clenched teeth, he added, "Your choice- you can walk out of here under your own strength, or be carried out feet first."

From behind him, Tomahawk could hear Silverback speaking softly over the fallen guard's still body. The sudden, sputtering cough from the guard let him know that his friend had siezed the oppurtunity to aid the fallen while he'd busied himself with eliminating the rest of the threat.

"And that," he thought to himself, "Is what I call 'Teamwork'."

Tensing himself and ready to lunge, Tomahawk again addressed the remaining foe.

"So, what is it going to be? The easy way, or the fun way?"

[Silverback]

Just at that moment half a dozen security guards flooded the doorway, quickly arming themselves in response to the sight before them.

Spotting his name badge, Khalifa pulled the prone guard to his feet. "I think you're going to be fine Mister Rogers but you should go to hospital just in case."

Nodding in acknowledgement the half-dazed man spoke faintly. "If youse guys ever need any help, my brother, Scot, works in the Mayors office in City Planning. Them two are golfing buddies so he could swing yer a favour one day."

"Hey Carl, what in hells name is goin' down here?" The lead guard prompted. With a shrug he responded silently.

The warrior leader let his 'pistol' clatter to the floor as he realised the futility of fighting on. Taking the opportunity to address both Tribal team members.



Cuffing the warriors, the guards began to lead the men out of the room and into custody, calling a paramedic to attend the severely injured man.

"We're gonna get the juice back on for the game so you boys'd best be heading back to your seats. It sounds like the crowds gettin' a little restless."