Big Po - Hungry Hungry Sumotori
Michelangelo - Friendly Capoeirista
Roberto King - Murderous Dagger Fighter
Dan da Ying - Helpful Eagle-Stylist
Hangman's Mesa
After much discussion, the party abandoned a plan to sabotage the gondola, and decided to just cut a hole in the paper walls of the pagoda and sneak in. Po boosted Mike so he could look through a high window on the pagoda's ground floor at the back of the building. It looked down from a landing halfway to the second floor to an atrium with a high ceiling and two adjoining rooms, one of which orange-robed kung fu mooks were moving sacks of squash and rice into. Figuring that would be a storage room, they waited for the mooks to finish their work, then snuck around to that side of the pagoda and Roberto cut a hole wide enough for Po.
They slid open the store room door and entered into the main atrium, empty except for four large pillars supporting the pagoda, then headed upstairs to the second floor. A single guard walked between the pillars, away from a zen garden he had clearly just been raking, and the party (except for Po) snuck up behind him to take him out without raising an alarm. Mike made an All-Out kick to the skull for a grand total of 0 injury, his foot bouncing harmlessly off the goon's head, followed by another blow to the head from Dan, who missed. Fortunately, before the thug was able to shout anything, Roberto just slit his throat, killing him instantly.
Po dragged the body over to a convenient body-sized crate and shoved it in; the party hoped nobody noticed the super-obvious pool of blood against the hardwood floors. They continued up to the third floor, which had four sliding doors off of the main hall, which ended at a spiral staircase up. The party could hear two people talking behind at least one of them, but their eavesdropping was interrupted by somebody on the ground floor shouting "Hey, somebody cut a hole in the wall down here! Raise the alarm!".
The conversation inside stopped, and the party ran past as they heard footsteps coming towards the hallway. A deep voice called out for the intruders to stop, but they just kept on running up the staircase, to a large open chamber, on the far side of which a white man in orange Shaolin robes sat on a throne; the Outlaw King. Martial arts training equipment filled much of the rest of the room, such as training dummies and a "bamboo forest", as well as a rack of weapons.
The Outlaw King asked who they were, and Dan immediately responded that he was here to avenge the death of Mr. Wilson and to recover the lemonade recipe. The Outlaw King replied that surely, they'd already taken revenge on the Black Dragons, as they had dropped off the face of the earth for near to a week. Roberto butted in to demand to have his daughter returned to him ("She's Irish, looks like me." "Well, that narrows it down a bit. What's her name?" "UHHHHHHHHHHHHHH") and was told that they would be reunited shortly.
Mike said that he was here for justice, and the Outlaw King replied that he, too, had once believed in justice. After the Civil War, however, the treasonous Confederacy had been spared, and the plans to bring about true equality for the freed slaves were shelved, in the name of "pragmatism". He claimed that justice wasn't possible in this world, but digressed, as surely, the party could sort this out with his lieutenants, who would be arriving any second now.
Sure enough, four people made their way up the spiral staircase, and Mike moved to block them, but relented when Roberto told him to step aside so he could finally reunite with his daughter. Dan recognized a fellow Eagle Stylist, Xi Chan, who mysteriously disappeared years ago, presumed dead at the hands of the Black Dragons. Mike realized that the man across from him, wearing orange robes with the purple icon of the Foot Clan, was in fact Leonardo, one of his fellow students who had been nearly a brother.
The third lieutenant, with a pair of knives held ready, was a small girl, wearing a hood and scarf that obscured her face. She contrasted with the fourth, a giant of a man who Po identified as Ryuji the Great, a former sumo champion turned cannibal when his obsession with finding the ultimate meal took a dark turn. Po announced that Ryuji had insulted his sumo honour, and challenged him to a proper sumo contest. Dan asked Xi why he'd disappeared, and was told that he just left to see the world on his own.
Mike asked why Leonardo was helping the man who'd killed their sensei, and was shocked when Leonardo revealed that he'd killed the old man himself! Po and Ryuji headed downstairs to the second floor to have their sumo duel, while Roberto asked the girl in the hood if she was his daughter to no response. Xi explained to Dan that the Outlaw King was the greatest Kung Fu master he had ever encountered, and was training under him. Dan pressed him on the Outlaw King's (alleged) responsibility for Mr. Wilson's death, but Xi had no idea what he was talking about.
Dan announced that if he could defeat both Xi and the Outlaw King, then he would be a greater master, and Xi would have to train under him. That seemed reasonable to Xi, and both assumed a fighting stance. Mike denounced Leonardo as a traitor and a shame to their master, while Roberto asked Knife Girl to remove her hood. Instead, she charged at Roberto with a Committed Attack to the groin, which he parried after rerolling a crit fail with Luck.
Mirror Match
Dan and Xi both held back with an All-Out Defense for the first round. Dan decided to launch the first attack, and tried a Defensive Kick at Xi, but was parried. Xi tried to get Dan into an Arm Lock, but he managed to parry, and put Xi in an Arm Lock of his own. Xi landed an Exotic Hand Strike on one of Dan's arms, but failed to cripple it, and in return, Dan snapped the arm held in his lock.
Mike Evaluated, while Leonardo ran over and jumped on top of the bamboo forest, balancing carefully atop the narrow wooden poles. Mike All-Out Dodged over to the bamboo forest and met Leonardo at the top, and Leonardo failed to knock him off with a Sweeping Kick. Mike and Leonardo both spent their next turn Feinting each other.
Roberto responded aggressively, with a Feint followed by a knife to the torso for 8 injury. Knife Girl tried to grab at Roberto's arm, but he Retreated out of the way, then Roberto stabbed and crippled her right hand. Knife Girl started to flip her remaining knife to Reversed Grip, but crit failed a consciousness check and passed out, the knife plonking into the wooden floor. Roberto failed his Bloodlust roll and landed a killing blow on Kinfe Girl's unconscious body.
Downstairs, Po Evaluated, and so did Ryuji. Po made a Rapid Strike, the first as a Feint, but failed to grab with the second, while Ryuji likewise failed to get a hold of him. Po tried to grab again back, but missed, and Ryuji tried to Shove Po out of the ring, but Immovable Stance stopped his knockback.
Dan missed a Defensive Attack to the face, and Xi likewise missed a grapple to the neck. Dan then put Xi's other Arm in a Lock easily, and, after a failed kick, snapped it. He tried to Judo Throw him to the ground, but Xi managed to crit. In spite of this, Xi failed to break free, and Dan threw him prone on the next turn. Near defenseless and without working arms, Xi surrendered.
Mike launched a kick with a Mighty Blow, but Leonardo Acrobatically Dodged, and responded with a pair of kicks of his own which Mike barely managed to Dodge with Luck. Mike then jumped down from the bamboo forest and tried to Challenge Leonardo by locking eyes, but failed the roll, leaving him free to attack someone else if he wanted.
Roberto bent over to pull back the hood and scarf from the dead girl, then recoiled in horror when he realized that he had just killed his own daughter! After only a moment to mourn, he turned to the Outlaw King and shouted that this was his fault ("You turned her against me!" "I mean, you're still the one who killed her."), then tried to Challenge him, but failed.
Po and Ryuji continued to try to grapple each other, and Ryuji was the first to establish a hold after a triple Rapid Strike, which he followed with a kick for 1 injury after DR. Po made a desperate All-Out grab, but Ryuji's Feverish Defense was enough to avoid it, and he used this opportunity to Take Po Down. He tried to break free, but Ryuji held him in an iron grip, and Pinned him. Po struggled on the ground, but Ryuji told him it was useless, and that now he would eat him.
Leonardo made a Committed Jump Kick at Mike, which he Dodged, and Mike retaliated with a kick to the chest for 4 injury. Leonardo then made a Committed Spinning Attack, and managed to land a kick to the neck thanks to winning the contest by enough to give Mike -9 to dodge, but a bad damage roll ("Crap, I forgot Mighty Blows!") and Roll with Blows to reduced the injury to 2. Mike landed his own kick on Leonardo ("Crap, I meant to Mighty Blows too!"), but he, too, Rolled with Blows to reduce injury to 1.
Roberto slowly stepped towards the Outlaw King, Evaluating, while the Outlaw King leisurely readied his staff and stood up from his throne. Dan followed behind Roberto, ready to take down the Outlaw King with the power of Teamwork. Downstairs, Ryuji began slowly eating Po ("You lost fair and square, stop squirming!"), but was barely capable of inflicting damage, so it would take a while.
Notes:
Roberto's player never came up with a name for his daughter, which I interpreted as him just being a complete deadbeat dad and forgetting. He ended up settling for Roberta ("Oh, yeah, this was why I was your estranged father").
Michelangelo was indeed loosely based off of the ninja turtle the whole time.
For the sumo duel, we agreed that either being getting shoved out of the ring or getting pinned would be a lose. I forgot about Immovable Stance, which would make Shoves impossible, so it was going to be either a Pin or a Judo Throw from Po. Hilariously, on the first Shove attempt by Ryuji, even using my altered "Super Shove" rules, he only rolled 24, which is 0m of knockback against Po's 28HP.
Po didn't realize that an All-Out Attack would leave him defenseless against Takedown, as it's a Quick Contest and "not a defense".
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