"Draco." Knuckles introduced. "She's an Osprey, aka Fish Hawk, pandion haliaetus, 22" length, and a wingspan of over 66". My baby." she said proudly, watching the bird circle.
Perfect Tommy looked at her in disbielf. "Have you ever heard of a cat?!"
The girl shrugged. "Draco ate him." she said offhandedly, before turning and jogging off into the trees.
Jersey and Tommy ducked as Socrates and Euthy buzzed their heads as they flew after her.
"Ate... him?" New Jersey cast another weary glance up at the bird who seemed, at least to him, to be licking her chops and eyeing him in a rather uncomfortable way.
The personel carrier's guns twisted one way then the other as its handlers watched nervously for whatever might be coming thier way. Its companions had already moved down the lane, chasing the helicopter along with most of the men. That left one one carrier guardingthe main house, a good twenty invaders on foot in the house, most of them in the cafateria, and another fifteen or so guarding the interns at the residences hall. They had gone to great lengths to make thier prisoners think that there were more invaders than there really were. Their Lord and Lady knew that, in a toe to toe battle, they would have a hard time winning. Best to convience the enemy that they didn't have a chance.
The three men manning the guns on top of the carrier didn't feel very conviencing.
A bird landed on the barrel of the gun and screeched at the invader at the butt of the weapon.
Startled, the man leaned back. "What is this?"
One of his companions chuckled. "A wee little chick frightens ya?" He swatted at the bird.
Socrates leaped into the air, and charged the man, his talons taring at his face.
The invader rose up sharply, opening his mouth to scream, but an arrow thrust through his throatm silencing him forever.
The other two invader stood in shock, staring down at their dead companion. Before they cam to thier senses, both fell in like manners.
Knuckles and Perfect Tommy lowered thier crossbows. Glancing in either direction, being sure that thier attack, thus far, had gone unnoticed, they ran across the yard and ducked down behind the personel carrier.
Tommy looked at Knuckles for further instruction. The girl grinned at him and mouthed "Now, this is fun!"
Perfect Tommy groaned. He just knew this was going to get him whacked in the head again.
Jessie James put a whistle to her lips and blew a silent song. The high pitched notes were too high for human earsm but the pair of hawks heard it at once and responded by leaping into the air and flying off to hunt more invaders.
Then Knuckles waved for Perfect Tommy to follow her.
There were two invaders guarding the front door. Both fell silently to the small arrows of the pistol crossbows.
And then they were inside.
"And what do you think you're doing?" the cyborg laughed, grabbing Peggy by the back of the neck and lifting her into the air.
She had almost freed rawhide before the thing had noticed Rawhide shook his hands and pulled, the bonds alomst loose enough to escape.
The Perfect Tommy replica snarled down at the Cavalier. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be with you in a minute." Then it carried Peggy to the center of a slight clearing among the tables.
But a low growl sounded from behind a table.
Glancing down, the cyborg saw a crouched dog, his ears laid back and teeth bared. The replica frowned.
"Oddity!" Peggy screamed.
With a snarl, the dog lunged, sinking his teeth into the arm that held Peggy Banzai.
With a yell of start and rage, the cyborg dropped Peggy and tried to shake the dog loose.
"Peggy!" Buckaroo called. "Cut us loose!"
Oddity reached up with his front paws to get better leverage, twisting his head and digging his teeth in for untimate damage.
The invaders quickly moved foreward to help thier cyborg commander, but it yelled at them "Kill the girl! Kill them all!"
Rawhide's hands broke free. Leaving his feet bond, he pushed away from the wall and grabbed the ankles of an invader as he headed for Peggy.
Peggy cried out as the invader's hands fell only a breath from her. Kicking at him, she hurried passed to where her husband was tied to a chair.
With a yipe, Oddity was smashed down onto a table. Stunned, the dog laid helpless, wining.
The cyborg was about to finish him off when gunfire erupted just outside the door leading to the hall. "So you people mind?" it roared. "I'm trying to do some killing here!" It spun about to face the door.
"Oddity! Help!" Peggy called, kicking at another invader as she pulled on Buckaroo's bonds.
Shaking himself back, the dog whimpered, then rolled off the table. he raced across the room, tripping one invader who made a grab for him, then leaping onto the back of the man who was trying to pull Peggy away from her husband.
Rawhide held onto his invader's ankles, dragging him back to where he could reach him. But another invader came up behind him and raised his foot to kick at the Cavalier. Reno and Pecos, both still with hands and feet tied, began to kick at him, knocking him away from Rawhide.
"What the hell is your problem?" the Perfect Tommy replica continued to roar. "You're going to die one way or another!" It started back for the prisoners, but the double doors leading from the hall burst open, admitting two more irritaions.
Perfect Tommy hesitated unpon seeing himself, but Knuckles smacked him with her free hand before drawing her Starr Army revolver.
With gun in one hand, reloading pistol crossbow in the other, Jessie James, like her names sake, came into the room with guns blazing.
Tommy, smacked into action, followed suit.
The invaders charged toward them, but were met with a shower of bullets and arrows. More than half of them fell before they figured out that charging these two might be a bad idea.
