The draco-saurian listens impassively, tilting her head to watch each speaker in turn.  Her eyes are as dark as indigo swirled in ink.  

Her horns glow purple again and she flicks her tail at Buck, knocking him loose from her enchantment and off of his feet.  She looms over him, close enough that he is unable to rise from his sprawl.

"Now then, spacer, you may speak your piece from a position of proper deference."

Buck stays prone and speaks, "I accept full responsibility for leading my companions to your home, and I apologize.  Our goal is a humble one...to participate in the Big Brawl.  It was my intention that if we could offer aid to you in the situation concerning the boys father...then all the better.  It appears you need no ones aid in this regard...madame handles herself in an effective manner.  No offense was intended, and no deceit was planned.  Please accept my apologies, and please hold no grudge towards my companions, as it was I who spoke with your son."

Creature grabs Buck by his collar and plucks him off the floor.  "Darry's..Mom..no..hurt..Buck...Buck..nice....Buck..help..Creature..squish..mean..ogress"

Buck dangling from the Creatures grasp, turns and smiles lightly, speaking softly "Thanks pal..."

Quote from: wulfgar;248370Creature grabs Buck by his collar and plucks him off the floor.  "Darry's..Mom..no..hurt..Buck...Buck..nice....Buck..help..Creature..squish..mean..ogress"

"That's true," Zarko adds. "I saw the whole thing."

Quote from: Coffee;248281"We was just lookin' for an in at the Brawl. An in, and an edge. And from what we heard, you was the one to make both of 'em happen."

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!;248333Quazarn steps forward with confidence -- but deference.  "Madam Regina, my Planetary Ape friend speaks naught but truth.  We are a team of adventurers seeking glory -- each in our own way.  Creature, here, is a being of great might, and we bring him here to test his mettle in your Brawl.  We come for this," he concludes, "and no more."

Quote from: Rondo;248369Buck stays prone and speaks, "I accept full responsibility for leading my companions to your home, and I apologize.  Our goal is a humble one...to participate in the Big Brawl....No offense was intended, and no deceit was planned.  Please accept my apologies, and please hold no grudge towards my companions, as it was I who spoke with your son."

Madam Regina rears up to her full height and stares at the group.  There seems, just possibly, to be a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes.  After a long few seconds she turns away, sighing deeply.

"The Brawl, yes, all the young toughs and rowdies want to fight in the Brawl.  And I do indeed have sway with Bigby, among others.  I can get your Creature into the fray.  He should do well.  Perhaps even last to the second day.  I will even pay the entry fee.  But there is another cost."  

She settles back on her haunches, coiling her tail loosely around her neck like a shawl, and sighs again,  "Darryl also wishes to fight in the Brawl.  He thinks of nothing but victory and glory; he is like his father."  A gob of acid streaks across the room, landing with a plink and a sizzle in a distant spittoon.  Madam Regina dabs at her mouth with her tail.  "Like his father, my son is a fool....But he shall have his wish.  Darryl too will fight in the Brawl, and you four will fight at his side.   You four will guarantee his safety.  Not his success, merely his safety.  Should he return bowed and bloody, so much the better, but you will see that he returns unbroken."

"This task then is the cost of your entry to the Brawl.  You need pay no coin, and I am generous to those who please me.  You will find the cost of refusal much steeper."

"Madam", says Buck with a light bow, "Speaking for myself, It will be a pleasure to assist the boy.  He already has the knowledge and makings of a great fighter.  He,  shall indeed fight, and whomever of us remains alive will most certainly return your son unbroken, if not a tad worse for wear.  I will watch over the boy as if I were his own fa....", Buck's eyes dart to the pierced armor laying crumpled on the floor, "...the boy's uncle!".  He smiles at Madam Regina.

Quote from: Rondo;248598"Madam", says Buck with a light bow, "Speaking for myself, It will be a pleasure to assist the boy.  He already has the knowledge and makings of a great fighter...."

The dracosaur flares her nostrils, and the spines along her back bristle.  "He will never be a fighter so long as I live.  He will become a doctor as I planned.  In the vernacular, I send him to the fight only to have some sense beaten into him.  Do not forget this."

"When...brawl?"

"The next Brawl is in three day's time."

[Don't worry, we'll narrate right past the ensuing time unless there's anything you'd like to do in the interim.  Post your totally kick-ass training montage for bonus XP!]

QuotePost your totally kick-ass training montage for bonus XP!

Cue music in 5..4..3..2..1

http://www.discoverynet.com/~ajsnead/allsongs_1/rocky.html

Creature wearing a grey hooded sweatsuit steps out of Regina's front door, takes the steps down to the street two at a time, and heads down the road at a brisk jog.  Darryl, wearing a lime green hooded sweatsuit is jogging along a few paces behind.

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Creature in a warehouse doing barbell curls.  He's got a miniature barbell, held in his cranial feelers which are curling as well.  Buck and Zarko shout motivational cliches "No Pain-No Gain!"  "PUSH IT! PUSH IT!"  Camera pans to Quazran instructing Darryl in the secret art of clouding men's minds.  

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Creature and Darryl jogging down the street.  Darry's grinning ear to ear.

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extreme close up: Creature and Darryl's doing pushups in Darryl's basement, sweat pouring off their bodies.  Buck pays the pizza guy, and he, Zarko, and Quazran eat while playing Darth Viraxis' Punchout XXVI on the Playstation Z.

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warehouse, Creature doing a military press..Zarko in one hand, Buck in the other.  "You've got to WANT it!" "PUUUUUSH IT!!!!!!".  Camera pans to Quazran and Darryl.  Darryl closes his eyes, assumes his stance, and then promptly walks into the wall.

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Creature and Darrly bounding up the steps to the God City Municipal Art Museum.  Creature reaches the top and lets out a bestial roar of triumph, both fists high in the air.  Darryl comes huffing and puffing behind, crawling over the last step.  Creature grabs the boy and lifts him high over his head!  Darryl's frown is turned upside down and he raises his own hand high in the air!!!!!  The music crescendos!  It's a true "Sloth love Chunk" tear jerker of a moment, only if Chunk were a lizard boy and Sloth was a Frankenstein.

(Okeedokee, GM...I'll post Bucks training regiment here shortly!  Should we each work with the boy?  Buck has some academy Jiu-Jitsu and judo training that might come in handy.)

(HA!!!! Never mind...excellent! HAAAR!)

(Buck does his one arm pushup routine, while wearing his 1930 Space Academy training suit (white tank, knee length shorts and "PF Flyers").  He's takes to the swing-bag everyday for some punching...don't forget the classic Charles Atlas pull-springs for "tensile strength"!  A lot of dodging, jumping and classic Depression era workout).

At the announcement that he must fight, Quazarn cringes!  "I am a lover -- NOT a fighter!" he declares.  

Then, his eyes widen in sudden, unanticipated realization.

"I am really," he mutters conspiratorially, "really doinking clever."

The next three days see Quazarn honing his true strength -- his mighty mind!  He plunges into the depths of his spellbook -- a small bottle which contains the secrets of the universe in the form of an aromatic transdermal osmotic solution; he meditates deeply upon the endless void and the powers mysteriously woven therein, strings for him to pluck and weave at will; he scribbles furiously on a parchment, stopping momentarily to put his stylus thoughtfully to his chin as his eyes narrow in deepest contemplation, whereupon he nods.  

Yes.

He is damn clever.  And he will succeed in this charge by sheer force of intellect.

Just to be safe, however, he goes to his donkey (now expanded to normal size) and retrieves his weapon of choice...and sharpens its blade to match his wit.