Big Po - Hungry Hungry Sumotori
Michelangelo - Friendly Capoeirista
Roberto King - Murderous Dagger Fighter
Dan da Ying - Helpful Eagle-Stylist
Waiting for the Train
The morning of the inaugural train journey had come, and the city of Three Trees was bustling in excitement as people crowded around the train station and a band got ready to play. Mike went looking for someone in town who was selling sinchu roots, but found only "Dr. White's Cure-All for Tooth-Aches, Wandering Uterus, and Restless Leg", aka medical-grade cocaine. Before the train showed up, the party rode south to the overlook they had scouted, and prepared to jump aboard the train in order to stop the Black Dragons from stealing the "Jade Dragon", whatever that was.
Several hours later, the steam engine whistled in the distance, and they got into position. The train passed underneath, and they jumped down onto the second car, following Roberto's hunch that it would be hauling all the valuables. Roberto stabbed his knives into the wooden train car to secure himself, while Dan and Mike gracefully landed on top. Big Po, however, plummeted straight through the car's ceiling, and landed on a metal safe below; someone inside shouted "What in tarnation?"
Once Po recovered from his fall, he noticed that there were two cowboy hat wearing guards, tough-looking but not Trained by a Master. He tried to Intimidate them into silence, but the guards insisted that he wasn't allowed to do that, and had to get off the train. Po apologized, but the guards told him to "git out" and gestured to the door at the back of the car; Po followed their direction, and, followed by one of the guards, opened the door and crossed the gap to the next car.
The third car was full of high society types drinking, smoking, and having a grand old time, including a mustachioed older man with a stovepipe hat and a sash that proclaimed him Governor. Mike and Roberto Stealthily followed Po from the top of the train, while Dan stayed on top of the express car to stop the Black Dragons when they showed up. A white man dressed from head to toe in black suddenly appeared in front of Po, and asked the guard what was going on.
The guard remarked that Po had fallen from the sky, and wasn't sure what to do. The man in black asked Po, in Japanese, who he was. Po introduced himself, and explained that he was here to stop somebody else who was going to do "train crimes", but the man in black was unswayed after Po was unable to provide any specifics or evidence. The man in black introduced himself as Mr. Smith, and explained that Po would have to be detained for the duration of the journey.
Another man in all black appeared, and Mr. Smith asked "Mr. Black" to lock Po up at the back of the caboose, where he would not be a threat. Mr. Black led Po all the way down the train, through the drinking car and the five smoking cars, each smokier than the last, while Mike and Roberto shadowed them. Po was handcuffed to the metal railing at the rear of the train, and Mr. Black disappeared when Po started eating the bananas he'd brought aboard (somehow). Roberto headed back up the train, to reinforce Dan in case anything happened.
The Heist
Meanwhile, on top of the express car, three Black Dragons that Dan hadn't seen ambushed him with a flurry of Dragon Fists. Dan held his ground, striking back at one Black Dragon, but he Rolled With Blow to reduce the damage, then followed up with an All-Out Attack to Dan's face, while his comrades used Committed Attack. Luckily, Dan defended against everything, but Roberto was still 3 trains away.
Back at the caboose, Mike heard glass shatter in the car underneath him; Po didn't notice because he was still loudly eating his bananas. Mike flipped down from the roof and through a window into the train car, where he found three more Black Dragons, one of whom was Trained by a Master, having just entered from windows on the other side. Po noticed the commotion as well, and started Springing Attack to free himself. Mr. Black reappeared, noted that apparently Po had been right about the attack on the train, and drew the handcuff key from his robes.
At the front of the train, Dan Eagle Clawed one of the mooks in the skull, stunning him, and the other one crit failed a Jump Kick and went flying off the train. Their leader landed a Dragon Fist on Dan for max damage, though, sending him to 0. Suffering from Shock, Dan tried a Defensive Attack but was easily parried. Roberto finally caught up, and stabbed the stunned and prone mook, while the surviving thug missed an Uppercut against Dan.
Dan retaliated with a Rapid Strike, the first as a feint, and landed a light blow, while Roberto finished off the prone guy. The thug tried to tackle Dan into the hole in the roof Po had made, but he held his ground, and Roberto moved in and stabbed the thug in the neck. He wavered a bit before passing out and falling off the train into a boulder. Dan almost passed out, but caught himself and sat down to rest and eat a sinchu root, while the guard inside the express car yelled something about more people being on the roof.
Roberto jumped down into the car, and shouted that the train was under attack while brandishing his (bloody) knives. The guard surrendered and told Roberto that he could take anything he wanted. Roberto tried to explain that he wasn't the one attacking the train, but the guard just replied "Are you sure?", so Roberto ordered him into a corner, then started heading down the train. Dan climbed down and asked the guard if he knew the combo to the safe, but he claimed not to.
In the next car, he shouted again that the train was under attack, startling the Governor and his entourage, and Mr. Smith appeared out of nowhere and made a Pressure Points attack to the Face; Roberto took the punch, but resisted everything and tried to explain, again, that he was not the one attacking the train. Thanks to a natural 18 on the reaction roll, Smith agreed to help, and they started running to the caboose to get Big Po. Dan saw them start running, and followed.
While that was going on, the leader of the Black Dragons made a heavily Deceptive Jump Kick against Mike, but he flipped out the window and back on top of the traincar, swung down through the other side, and kicked the leader in the back, but missed. Po broke free from his handcuffs, and Mr. Black shrugged, then opened the door to the caboose. The leader Kiai'd Dan, stunning him, and as Po and Mr. Black walked into the car, the two mooks that had been Waiting attacked him, but he dodged everything.
The leader landed an All-Out Attack Uppercut to Mike's Skull, but Po Shoved one of the mooks into the leader, knocking both off-balance. Mr. Black drew a straight sword and parried. The leader Kiai'd again, this time targeting Po, but he resisted. Even so, both of the mooks attacked him, though only one hit, and not for much damage. In return, Po grabbed the guy that had hit him, while Mr. Black and the other mook struck back and forth at each other.
Po failed to resist a second Kiai from the leader, and the guy he was grabbing got free and attacked him, again for minimal damage. Mr. Black slashed the mook, but he stayed up, and the leader Flying Jump Kicked at Po, but Po used Second Wind to negate the injury and make the leader feel bad. Mike and Po both recovered from their stun, but Po was immediately Kiai'd again. Mike regained his feet with an Acrobatic Stand, and Po recovered from stun again.
The leader tried to Feint Po, but failed, and then landed a Deceptive Pressure Points attack on Po, but he resisted exactly. Mike stepped up behind the leader and Evaluated, but Po made an All-Out Attack (Double), critically grappled the leader, then threw him to the ground, letting go of his grip on the way. Mr. Black finished off one mook, but the other knocked him out, and the leader used Acrobatic Stand to regain his feet instantly.
The surviving mook warned the leader that Mike was behind him, but it didn't help, and Mike landed a Mighty Blows Axe Kick to the back of the leader's skull, taking him out. Po grabbed the mook that had exposed his back, then crushed him unconscious, ending the fight. Big Po woke up Mr. Black and gave him a sinchu root, then congratulated him on his "good policework". The rest of the party and Mr. Smith showed up, and saw that things were under control. Smith and Black got to work handcuffing the Black Dragons, and Black muttered something about the detainees hopefully not breaking free this time.
Wrapping Up
The party struck a victory pose, and then went to ask the engineer how long it would be to Sweetwater. He said it'd be six hours, then asked them to leave as passengers weren't allowed in the locomotive. Po explained that it was okay then, because they weren't passengers. Roberto went down the train looking for his daughter, causing a scene and inspecting every passenger as he did. While the knife-wielding maniac was gone, the governor came up and congratulated the party on preventing the evil-doer's plan, which was surely to kidnap and ransom him.
Mike explained that the Black Dragons had not been after him, so the governor put his reward money away, and offered them cigars and whiskey instead, but they refused (Po: "Cigars aren't edible, are they?"). Dan went and gave the leader of the Black Dragons a sinchu root to wake him up, and then yelled "WHERE IS THE RECIPE" at him. The leader replied that it was at Hangman's Mesa, safe in the court of the Outlaw King. With that intel, Dan slapped him back unconscious.
Six hours later, the party disembarked in Sweetwater, and came face to face with another group of Black Dragons, and a hunched old lady wearing a shawl. The old lady looked left and right down the platform, then removed her shawl and let go. It must have been weighted, because it plummeted instantly, a plume of dust shooting up into the air when it landed. The dust cleared, and revealed the dragon tattoo on her face as she took up a fighting stance.
Notes:
Everybody had -1 to attacks from being on a train. I should probably have made it -2 for people on the roof.
Kiai is a pretty hard counter to this party, because everybody has Will 10.
The party has now unlocked the Teamwork advantage, as a result of every character cooperating with every other character. We'll see how much use it gets.
No comments:
Post a Comment