After a week of preparations, the Watchdog thought that he and Hawkeye were ready to storm Midas's stronghold. He had done his own research on the gang lord as well as gathered what he could from Hawkeye's own personal stories on him. The man was not a fighter, so he surrounded himself with guards who were loyal to a fault. He was able to find these men through prisons and mental wards with a gift he had picked up from his grandfather, a heavy understanding of the mind. Midas was able to almost hypnotize his men into believing his cause, allowing them to wish to follow him until death and beyond.
The heroes had scouted the perimeters of Midas's base of operations, a four-story run down hotel he bought for pennies on the dollar in no doubt a very shady deal. For days the duo watched the guards and their habits, memorized Midas's own schedule, and studied the blueprints of the large building. Their plan began to build and strengthen, Hawkeye's calm methodical mind sometimes clashing yet beginning to mold together with Watchdog's own simple and direct plans.
They had picked a wonderful day for the break-in. Heavy winds blew like screams in their ears as sheets of rain fogged their vision of the gang fortress. Normally one would see this as a horrible time to set a plan into motion, but both Hawkeye and Watchdog knew that they had the element of surprise on their side. It's much easier to see an enemy that you're expecting, so hiding in the rain would be to the heroes' advantage. The hotel was on it's own city block with plenty of parking, making alleyway hiding impossible, so the duo was almost forced in a full frontal assault. Almost.
Watch had never driven a stolen van before, but as wrong as it felt Hawkeye assured him that the vehicle belonged to one of Midas's men anyways. It was used in kidnappings and pick-ups, explaining the cage separating the front and back and the child locks. The masked mutt drove slowly through the parking lot, watching the front doors that lead into the old run-down building. There were a few cars parked in front, all of them belonging to Midas and his men, no one else daring to come even close to the building. As he passed the few cars parked in the lot, he heard the back of the van slide open and back closed. He saw the shadow of Hawkeye slip behind the cars, protected only by the shadow of night and a thin black pancho, and then he left her to park the van on the side of the building. He set the van on park and turned off the engine, waiting patiently.
Watchdog stared at a camera on the corner of the building as it panned left and right slow and steadily. Finally the camera sparked and shattered, a well-aimed arrow piercing it's lens. The hero then slipped out of the van and walked between the van and the hotel until he could peek around the corner. Standing under a bright security light were two guards attempting to light their cigarets within the hoods of their raincoats. The mutt waited, rain pouring over his pancho and dripping from his nose as he flexed his hand, readying himself for his next move.
As soon as Hawkeye's second arrow took out the security lights, both guards looked straight up in confusion. This gave Watchdog only a few seconds to act, and he sprinted from his hiding spot, hidden in the instant darkness. The first guard would be the easiest, blindsided by a full weighted fist would take him out cold, the lit cigaret in his mouth burning the hero's fingers as his fist pushed into his face. Without hesitation the hero spun to attack the second guard who had begun to back away. Watchdog was able to grab the radio at the guard's chest and pulled it off easily, but his eyes glanced down as the guard's hand went for his gun. Watchdog rushed forward and grabbed the gun, holding it down in it's holster as his free hand reached around the man's back, grabbing the hood of his thick raincoat. In a blink of an eye, Watchdog flung himself back, pulling the guard far off balance. With a twist, Watchdog pulled the guard to the ground, hitting the back of his head to the concrete, knocking him out of the game.
Panting hard, Watchdog pulled some zip-ties from his utility belt and tied the guard's hands. He heard Hawkeye running to back him up before he could see her, and they both dragged the sleeping bodies to the back of the van. With the outer guards taken care of, it was time to enter the building. Without a word, Watchdog set himself onto the side of the building, linking his fingers in front of him. The windows of the first and second floors had been boarded up, but on the third floor was a balcony entrance. Hawkeye wouldn't be able to run up a straight wall to catch onto such a high ledge, but with a strong first step she should be able to make it. In a flash of lightning Watchdog could see his partner sprinting towards him, and he quickly tensed his shoulders, tossing his arms up as soon as the girl's weight was in his hands. He threw Hawkeye up the wall, and with a few steps against the smooth brick she was able to grab the edge of the balcony. Watchdog saw her pull herself up and the window open and close behind her. Now that she was inside, it was time for him to get inside himself.
As Hawkeye made her way to the roof of the building, Watchdog made his way towards the back. The rear entrance of the building lead straight into the kitchen. With more boarded windows blocking his view, Watchdog had to trust that the kitchen would be empty due to the amount of take-out that was delivered every day. A red light next to the door showed that the alarms were still active, so Watchdog crouched in the rain and waited.
Watchdog was not used to waiting for others, and began to get nervous and paranoid. He trusted his partner, but as his fingers began to itch, he double checked his own weapons to make sure again that he was ready to enter the building. Though unarmed his disk launcher was cocked and ready to fire, his belt was full of his favorite toys, his taser and radio were both wired and plugged in with full batteries, his doggy-paddle was in it's sheath... everything was ready, why was he feeling so unsure of something?
The red light by the door blinked, and then turned off. Watchdog had his signal, and knew he'd have seconds until someone found out the security was down, about a minute until they found out what was wrong, and only about five more minutes until they got it up and running again, cameras sensors and all. Without a moment to lose the hero charged at the boarded up window and jumped, kicking through the wood and glass before rolling on the hard tile floor. His boots squeaked wetly as he rolled into a stand, but he froze where he stood, gulping loudly as he spotted three men in worn out suits standing in front of boiling pots and half chopped vegetables. Maybe this coming doom was why he had been feeling so uneasy...
"Gentlemen. Evening..."
The closest man made a grab for Watchdog's shoulders, attempting to push the mutt to the wall and hold him down. As the thug's fingers gripped into the dripping pancho, Watchdog pushed forward and slugged him in the diaphragm, stunning him long enough to slip out of his pancho and quickly tie the plastic coat around his face. He shoved the man to the ground to struggle in the plastic wrapping before grabbing behind him into his coat for a weapon. Watchdog saw one of the remaining thugs running towards a block of knives in front of the boiling pot, so grabbed one of his flying disks, throwing it at the pot. The boiling soup spilled over the knives and forced the thug to stop in his tracks or get burned by the liquid, but his partner had picked up a hot iron skillet and was charging the hero. Watchdog grabbed a second disk with his left hand from behind him and deflected the hot pan, letting it slam into the marble counter, badly cracking the surface as the thug grabbed Watchdog around the neck and pinned him to the counter. The hero struggled for a moment, but noticed a jar of chili powder nearby and grabbed it, crushing it in his hands and throwing it into the man's face before he could swing the pot again.
Watchdog kicked the man away, coughing from the choke. As the man grabbed at his face in pain, the mutt pulled his doggy-paddle from its scabbard, swinging at the thug's face hard, and then again with a backhand! The thug fell with a groan, but as Watchdog looked around the kitchen, he didn't see the third man anymore. He looked for a moment, but heard the gift wrapped bad-guy beginning to rise to his knees.
"Almost forgot about you, bud." Watchdog grabbed the iron skillet he had almost been walloped with and just as the man rose up he struck it across his head, sending him to sleep along with his buddy on the ground. "There you go. Sweet dreams... Now for the Gck!" A plug cord wrapped around Watchdog's throat, tightening quickly as the third man stood from underneath the counter!
"Gotcha mutt! See how you like it when I bring the heat!"
Watchdog dropped his weapon and grabbed at the chord around his neck, trying to pull it away from his neck! The thug pushed Watchdog against the stove and began pushing him down while keeping the chord around his throat tight, lowering the struggling hero's face towards a very hot cooktop. Watchdog tried to kick back, but couldn't reach the thug's legs, and the man was big, slowly wearing the Watchdog down as he began to lower towards the flames. In a moment of panic, Watchdog let go of the chord around his throat, feeling it cut off his air completely as he grabbed the thug's hand. His other hand reached quickly to his belt, pressing his taser. The thug screamed loudly as an electric current passed quickly through his hand, and he jumped back away from the shock.
Watchdog grabbed at his own neck, coughing in a fit as he took in a deep breath. He turned, ready to fight, but the thug was gripping his sore hand and made a run for the door to warn the others. Watchdog dropped to his knee and picked up his flying disk, quickly arming it to his arm. With barely a second to spare, Watchdog fired the disk at the thug's head, hitting him just as he reached the door! The disk hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out before he body-slammed into the heavy metal door.
Watchdog panted, hearing only groans from the fallen men. He had wasted too much time, and picked up only one of his disks before running out into the hall to find the stairs that would take him down to the basement. He peeked behind every door before dashign to the shadows, careful not to alert anyone else to his presence. The hero feared for the safety of his partner due to his delay, and quickly found the stairs that would take him down.
Once in the basement, Watchdog barred the door with a crowbar he found on a worktable. The large dark room was empty, tools and old boxes of junk stacked along the walls. It only took Watchdog a minute to find what he was looking for, the large gas-powered generator hugging the back corner of the room. Spare gas canisters were in the opposite corner of the generator, and Watchdog grabbed two of them before making his way to the big machine. If the power were to go out in the storm, this machine would kick in and begin to pulse energy to the whole hotel, keeping the security systems and lights online. That means it has to go.
Watchdog pulled out a 4-in-1 screwdriver from his belt along with some heavy duty pliers and what looked like a mini calking gun, quickly getting to work. He opened up the generator and looked inside for just a moment to figure out exactly how he would sabotage it. He found the motor belt and reached in with his pliers to snap it in half. Of course these goons would probably have a replacement, but replacing it won’t help after a few more additions. The hero took the calking gun and reached deep into the machine, spraying a rapidly expanding and drying foam which stuck between a net of gears, sticking in between them and drying into a very sticky hard glue. As a final touch, Watchdog doused the inside of the machine with a splash or two of the gasoline before closing the generator back up. He put the gas away and then made his way back to the stairs.
Watchdog peeked out of the stairwell and saw a pair of guards walking slowly towards the kitchen. He bit his lip, knowing they would see their comrades and surely call for backup. Time to put his plan into action and hope that Hawkeye knew what she was doing. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number he had written onto his wrist. The phone only rang once before the lights went out and the phone went dead. Watchdog turned off his phone and grinned, wondering where Allen had gotten anything like the mini c4 phone he had placed on the power lines that fed into the hotel.
As soon as the lights were off, the guards stopped and looked around. They weren’t worried at first, assuming that the storm had knocked out the power, but after a few moments they realized that the generators weren’t kicking on. They pulled out flashlights and made their way to the basement, pulling out their radios.
“Ey ey, this is Rob an’ Charles. We’re close to the basement, anyone know what’s up with the power?”
The staticy voice on the other end of the radio had a thick accent and was very soft speaking. Midas. “Just go to the basement and make sure the genorator started. If it’s not on, turn it on, if it won’t turn on, fix it. And someone call the power company while they’re doing that. I don’t pay them off to let my power go down because of a little rain.”
The guards pocketed their radios and made their way tot he basement, their flashlights shining over Watchdog’s hiding spot, but never seeing the mutt crouched behind a small side-table covered with his black coat. The goons went to the stairs and straight down, and Eddy could hear one of them panic into a soft shout as he saw the fire that started when the generator tried to start up.
“That’ll buy us some time... With the power down, I hope no one will pick up our radio signals.” Watchdog kept low to the ground s he turned on his radio and tapped his ear-piece. “Hawkeye, come in.” He waited a few moments before turning down a new hallway, moving towards the dining hall of the hotel. “Hawkeye...”
“Hawkeye in. What took you so long?”
“Found a reception in the kitchen. The take-out apparently wasn’t enough for Mr Fats and he was having dinner cooked.”
“Is the enemy alert to our presence?”
“No, I took them down before they could make a call. Generator should take them all night to fix, we’ve got until the power company can replace the box on their lines. The house is ours.”
“Understood, making my way towards the dining hall.”
“Wait, did you have any trouble?”
“Only a little. They had a guard watching over the security expert, had to take them both down before I could hack their system. Both are stuffed in a small closet, they’ll be found in about twenty minutes at the shift change.”
“Then we’d better hurry. Watchdog out.”
The masked mutt made his way down the halls towards the dining hall, but before he got their he saw another group of guards. He quickly turned into an open closet and closed the door, but he feared he might have been spotted. The hero quickly armed his disk launcher and pulled a tightly bound cloth ball from his utility belt, watching the bottom of the door carefully. He began to see shadows moving outside the door and gulped, biting his lip. If he had been seen, they’d know that he was in the closet, and they’d be opening it very soon...
This actually gave the Watchdog an idea. Since he hadn’t heard any of the group speak yet, it’s unlikely that they called in seeing an intruder. They probably think it’s just some guy, not someone here to necessarily attack them. He had the element of surprise still on his side, and he grinned as he saw the handle begin to turn. If he could take them out fast enough, he’d still be safe to proceed with the rest of the mission.
The moment the door handle had turned and barely began to open, Watchdog kicked the door with his full weight, swinging it open fast enough to catch the one opening it in the face! The thug fell back hard, and right behind him was his partner, a heavy-set bulldog. Normally those thick jaws of his would be a great weapon, but Watchdog never liked letting the other dogs bite, so he threw the cloth ball hard at his muzzle. The bulldog had begun to gasp at the surprise attack, and the ball stuck into his mouth, wedged deep in the thug’s jaw. With only a moment, Watchdog charged out of the closet and hammer-fisted the large man in the temple, knocking him hard onto the floor.
Watchdog began to turn towards the first thug to make sure he was hit hard enough to be counted out of the game, but the crack of a large gun along with the heavy punch to his back took all of the hero’s attention. He hadn’t been expecting a third target, but raised his flying disk before the armed man took a second shot. The man had a large gun that shook the walls as he shot, and the shield Watchdog used was barely thick enough to deflect the bullet away from him. As soon as the second shot flew past, Watchdog shot his disk at the thug, hitting him under the arm and forcing him to drop the firearm. Once he was down to his fists, the thug was easily taken down with a heavily placed knee in his groin and then two heavy fists falling across his downturned head.
Watchdog panted, feeling a hard pain in his back from the heavy hit. He thanked his lucky stars that he had changed his outfit to include the armored vest, knowing he would have been more than a little dead if he had been in only his shirt. Watchdog hated guns because they made his job so much harder, and that’s why as he leaned down to zip-tie the man’s hands behind his back, the click of a gun’s hammer being pulled back made him groan.
Watchdog very slowly turned around, the first thug he had hit with the door up on his feet with a large revolver in his hand pointing at Watchdog’s face. The thug’s face was bleeding badly from the door, and his hand shook from the adrenaline no doubt pumping through him, but his face was hard and steady and able to fire the gun in his hand.
Watchdog gulped and forced himself to grin and lift his hands slowly. “Hey... I lose. Okay? You got me...I give up.”
The words at least stopped the man from shooting right away, but it wouldn’t hold for very long. Watchdog’s mind raced as he tried to think of what to do, but before he could come up with anything, his problems were solved for him. An arrow flew from seemingly nowhere and struck the gun out of the thug’s hand before sinking into the floor of the hallway. The unarmed man glanced up and then turned to run, but Watchdog drew his lasso-leash and caught the man’s ankle, pulling him off of his feet to fall face-first into the floor! Hawkeye ran past where Eddy held the lasso, punting the downed man’s face before he had the chance to try and get back up. His body twitched, but he remained on the floor.
“Anyone ever tell you that you have amazing timing, Hawkeye?”
“Anyone ever tell you you have trouble keeping on schedule, Watchdog?”
“Touchy.”
“Touche’...”
“Bless you. Now shall we get rid of the bodies before they’re found?”
Hawkeye rolled her eyes as her partner quickly lifted the bodies and tossed them into the closet he had been hiding in before. He quickly squirted his calking gun into each of the gun barrels with a grin, hoping that Hawkeye would ask what he was doing, but she didn’t seem interested. With a little pout, Watchdog closed the door of the closet and began to make his way back down the hall, Hawkeye on his heels.
As they neared the dining hall, the ceiling rose into the second story to make way for a few indoor balconies that no doubt led to room and then to the balcony of the dining hall. Watchdog kneeled quickly and linked his fingers behind his back, knowing that Hawkeye would get the plan instantly. He felt her foot catch on his hands and then his shoulder as she ran up his back and jumped up to the second story. They both went their separate ways once more.
Watchdog grinned and tapped his ear. “If you ever think you’re better off without me, just remember what an awesome step-stool I make for you.”
“You do make a great step stool.”
“You bet I do.” Watchdog wanted to laugh, but he was crouched now behind the dining hall entry. He peeked through the window, counting no less than a dozen armed guards walking around dim flashlight-lit tables. “Hawkeye, what’s your position?”
Her voice was in a hushed whisper, “Balcony in dining hall. Counting 13 armed thugs, Midas is not among them. This is his personal army, his muscle around the city. If we can take them out...”
“I’d say no, that it’s too dangerous, but I think Midas’s office is in the offices up the elevator on the other side of that room. If we try to take him without getting rid of these guys first, they’d blind-side us.” Watchdog reached to his belt and removed a handfull of smoke bombs and his electric dog whistle. “Request a full assault, smoke and shriek screens, fight until the enemy is fully incapacitated.”
“Request or not you’re still doing it.”
“Indeed I am.”
“Just say when.”
Watchdog grinned and set all of his smoke bombs to short fuses and set the dog whistle for a five second delay. “Ear plugs in, sheik begins in five seconds after radio silence, smoke bombs follow imediately.”
“Radio silence, over.”
The click in Watchdog’s ear was the radio turning off, and he pressed the dog whistle, sliding it on the ground towards the center of the room as he quickly pulled out his earplugs and stuffed them into his ears. The jolt from the group of thugs was an obvious sign that the shriek had started, so the hero rushed inside and tossed his smoke bombs, seeing Hawkeye out of this corner of his eye shooting a multitude of smoke arrows into the crowd. With the enemy caught off guard, blinded, and deaf, the battle begun.
Watchdog felt himself finding a new center for himself as his heart rushed in his chest and his fists flew without a sound around him but a feint ringing from the whistle. Every attack he made was one solid flow of movements. He grabbed one man’s gun and twisted it out of his hand. As he dropped the firearm he grabbed the man’s hair and pushed his head down into the table. Before the man’s head struck the surface, Watchdog was already using the force from the attack to push himself up and over the table, kicking out at another man’s head. His movements flowed from one enemy to the next, disarming and striking each one in succession before they thought to strike back.
Through the mist of the smoke screen Watchdog could from time-to-time make out Hawkeye grappling and taking out her own enemies, even somehow striking and firing her bow in the midst of the fight. He was impressed, but didn’t have time to oogle her style as he had his own work cut out for him. The two fought hard and fast, and it wasn’t very long before each of the thugs was on the ground and without a working weapon.
Watchdog picked up his whistle and turned it off, pulling the earplugs out of his ears and tossing them to the ground. “Got ‘em... Good job, Hawkeye.” The heroine didn’t answer, picking up another arrow from her quiver and arming her bow, nodding towards the large door at the end of the room. This would have to be where Midas was holding himself up. They didn’t have any surprise left in them, so Watchdog took the front and made his way to the door. “Okay, Hawkeye, we need to try to get Midas out with enough energy for a confession. We’ll search his office for some incrimidating evidence that we can give to the police, and then...” Watchdog was cut off as the door in front of him splintered apart, a wall of bullets flying through the wood! “Augh!”
Watchdog stepped in front of Hawkeye and held his flying disk once again like a shield as he crouched to try and avoid some of the bullets. He felt his arm rip as a stray bullet passed through his coat and through his shoulder, but he held his position until the attack stopped. He stayed down as Hawkeye jumped over him and slid on the ground to kick the door open. Standing with his back against his overly large desk was the fat cat himself, Midas, holding a large assault rifle he was in the middle of re-loading.
Watchdog got to his knees as he gripped his arm in pain, but watched as Hawkeye drew her own guns, emptying the clips of less-lethal rubber bullets straight at Midas. The crime lord dropped his weapon and grabbed at his chest as it was pounded by the rubber ammo, and he fell back over his desk, falling to the other side as Hawkeye finished off her rounds. The heroine quickly stood and jumped over the desk to the fallen feline, and Watchdog let his coat drop as he quickly began some minor first-aid to his wound.
Watchdog pulled an alcohol soaked pad from his first-aid pouch and pressed it hard to his wound, hissing in pain. He left the pad on his wound as he reached for his belt to find some bandages to help stop the bleeding, but a sharp gasp caught his attention. Hawkeye was thrown from the large office Midas had been using as his own, and Watchdog quickly stood to catch the young archer! Hawkeye quickly pushed Eddy away and got to her feet, looking towards the office with slightly widened eyes, her hand touching at her neck.
Watchdog looked at where she put her hand. "Hawkeye, you're bleeding."
Thin lines stretched around Hawkeye's neck, bleeding lightly. The heroine pulled up her hood to hide her cuts. "You're bleeding worse. Something grabbed me and pulled me away..."
"What was it?"
"Felt like a wire, but I don't see... Get back!" The archer drew her bow and aimed as something fell from the ceiling, crumbling to the floor. Her wounded partner pulled out his doggy-paddle, but as the heroes both stood watching what looked like a dead body laying motionless on the floor, they began to wonder if it was even a threat. Hawkeye wasn't one to take chances, and fired a single arrow at the thing's leg to see if it reacted.
It was very hard to explain what happened next. The arrow flew fast and true towards the body's leg, but it simply stopped a foot or two short of hitting it's target and floated a few inches from the ground. After a few moments the arrow fell, but something pulled on the body's arm, lifting it up at the shoulder and up to it's feet like a puppet being pulled by only one string. Now that it was standing, the body was in full view of the heroes. It was a female wearing a short skirt and blouse that was stitched together like a rag-doll's clothes. What made the Watchdog cringe was her exposed arms and face, though, because they were as patched and stitched as her clothes.
"What is she?" Watchdog glanced down at Hawkeye, but the girl looked unsure herself and didn't answer. "And who's that?"
Hawkeye looked curiously back at Watchdog, who nodded in front of them. She looked back towards the office and her eyes narrowed on a wide-grinning fox who had seemed to walk in from nowhere. His teeth were a shining white and his blue eyes were wide and looked like glass as he stared down at the squirming body of Midas. As the heroes watched, the fox pulled open the desk and pulled out a very large pistol, pointing it down at Midas as he began to laugh.
"Watchdog, he's going to kill him!" Hawkeye dashed forward, as quickly as she could, but the dollish girl in front of them began to spin from where she hung, her legs kicking out with the force. Hawkeye lifted her arms to block an incoming kick, but as one leg struck her block, the other slipped through her guard and struck her chest, pushing the archer back. "Ng! Watchdog, we need to get past!"
"Do not disturb Fox." The voice made both Hawkeye and Watchdog's neck prickle, a scratchy whisper coming from the doll. Her eyes opened, a dead milky white staring across the room as them, not twitching as the first shot rang out through the dining hall. The fox behind her had taken his first shot at Midas, and was laughing historically as he shot again, and again. "Fox is disposing of his toy. If you disturb him, he will use those bullets on you."
Watchdog had been near stunned, but Hawkeye made another run at the doll, drawing her bow. "I'm not giving up! Midas is mine!" As she neared the strange girl, Hawkeye launched an arrow. It stopped just in front of the doll as it did before, but the doll also didn't attack as Hawkeye slipped under her and ran into the office, just as the fox emptied the gun into Midas, blood splattered lightly over his face. The fox turned and fired the empty gun at Hawkeye just before the heroine struck the man in the neck! before the fox stood back up, the doll turned her hand, and the doors closed.
Watchdog shook his head and raised his fists, feeling his arm's wound stretch painfully. "What are you doing? Who are you?"
The doll's cheek rose in an awkward smile, and she dropped slowly to the ground. Se remained on her toes, though her arms drooped lifeless to her sides as she began to speak. "The Marionette has been watching the heroes, and she has noticed the Watchdog. The Watchdog has potential, but he struggled to fight by himself."
"What are you saying? Why are you attacking us!?" Watchdog was becoming worried about Hawkeye and growingly impatient.
"Marionette did not attack the heroes, she tried to protect them. Fox is not one to fight, he will win, and he will kill you."
"I don't have time for this, get out of my way!" Watchdog ran at the doll girl, ready to tackle past her to get to Hawkeye and that deranged fox, but as he began to run, the doll charged at him as well. The girl seemed to fly through the air as she lifted off of the ground, a scissor blade slipping past her wrists. Watchdog stopped and tok his aim, swinging his arm to hit the doll out of the air, but his arm stopped as it drew back, and he couldn't push his fist forward as the girl tackled him, her blade sinking past the alcohol pad and into his wounded shoulder. "Gah!!"
The doll girl laid on top of Watchdog, resting her lips on his cheek as her blade very slowly turned inside of him. "The Watchdog doesn't stand a chance against Fox as he is. The Marionette will save you."
"I don't want to be saved! I need to help Hawkeye! Ack!" The blade pushed deeper, the hero's arms still stuck behind him as he pushed hard to try and push the girl off of him. His eyes drifted to his arm, seeing small long cuts down his arm in a tight circle.
"The Watchdog cannot help again Fox, especially if you cannot defeat the Marionette."
"Oh, I get it now... That's your name. Well, Mrs. Nette, if you think i'm going to give up and let Hawkeye take on such a dangerous enemy by herself..." Watchdog struggled to reach for his utility belt, his gloved hand touching the cuts on his arm. "Then you don't know the Watchdog!" Watchdog pressed the taser once more, a heavy and painful shock shooting through his arms as his fingers crossed with electricity. He also saw the charge travel up an almost invisible cable that held him tightly and wove around the room and right to the Marionette! The girl shrieked and jumped back, turning and twisting on her own cables before Watchdog let go of his taser, allowing himself up. "Hah...hah...ow!! please don't make me do that again!"
Marionette scowled and lifted her arms into the air, and Watchdog tried to see the wires he knew she was manipulating around the room, trying to see where the attack would come from next. He squinted through the darkness looking for movement, but the clicking behind him told him that he had failed. The Watchdog turned very slowly to look, and started down the barrels of three guns seemingly floating in mid-air. The hero gulped, knowing he was caught.
Before Watchdog could think to make another move, a large crash made both him and Marionette turn towards the office, one of the doors broken in half and Hawkeye crawling away, bleeding from her lip. In the distraction, Watchdog spun around and kicked out his leg, striking at the 'floating' guns and knocking them all away just as his partner stood and pressed her back to his.
Hawkeye panted and wiped her lip, but Watchdog simply turned his head and whispered, "So, how you doing on your end?"
The second door of the office was kicked open before she could answer, and the fox stood topless and still dotted with blood as he laughed, cracking his neck from side to side. Hawkeye gulped hard. "Not too well... the guy takes hits really well, and dishes them even better."
"Hard hitter with a hard shell. Well, we don't want things too easy for us do we?"
"What about you?"
"Can't even see her attacks coming. She's been using..."
"The cables? Yeah, i saw them when she fell, can barely see them in the dark."
"But you can see them?"
"A little."
"Huh..."
Both the heroes glanced at each other, catching their eyes as they spoke in unison. "Trade?"
Watchdog spun with Hawkeye and made a dash for the fox! Marionette moved to intercept, but an arrow flew fast towards her and she quickly weaved a net of strings to catch the arrow mid flight, leaving Watchdog to run right past her and into a heavy tackle to the fox!
Watchdog grabbed the fox with his good hand and lifted up through the tackle, pushing him back into the office and slamming him down onto the desk! The fox lost his breath for a moment, but as soon as he gasped in another, he was giggling.
"Heh...hehehe...Oh, a new toy!" The fox grabbed Watchdog's face, pressing his thumbs into the eyes of the mask! Watchdog struggled to back away, but the fox leaned forward and bit his ear, clamping down tightly! Watchdog yiped and struggled, but the little devil was holding on with all of his strength! The hero finally reached down and used his taser once more, making the fox jumped back and roll to the floor. "Oo! Hahaha! Good! Fight me back, that's good!" The fox picked up the office chair and threw it, but Watchdog was able to dodge out of the way.
"Jeeze man! What is your problem! Can't even fight fair..."
"Fighting isn't for fair, it's for fun!" The fox jumped up onto the desk and pounced at the hero, punching hard and fast again and again at the mutt's face and chest and wounded shoulder! "Come on! Haha! Fight back! Fight... BACK!" The fox jumped and kicked with both of his legs, pushing the bruising Watchdog against a wall. He grinned and laughed silently as he backed away, bouncing on his toes like a boxer.
Watchdog spat blood onto the ground before standing up straight again. He suppressed his groan of pain, unclipping his armored vest. The vest fell to the ground, one side soaked with his own blood, and he raised his fists. "Okay... You want to fight? Time for a little offense, baby." Watchdog dashed forward and gave the fox a few of his own hits, knocking the crazy creature back only to have him dash forward with more hits of his own!
The brutal beatings continued on for a long fight, each one punching and scratching and grabbing at the other, neither one bothering to put up much of a defense. Watchdog finally took a surprise move and turned with one of the fox's punches, using the enemy's momentum to pin him to a wall, the mutt's muscled forearm pressed firmly to the fox's neck.
"Ha! Finally got you! Laugh now!"
The fox grinned, gasping for air against the strong arm on his neck, but still was laughing through his struggled. "H..hehaha! I...Gck... I can't believe you got me! But what now, Ng!" the fox pushed against Watchdog's arm, giving him a chance to breathe. "You gonna snap my neck? Cut my throat with your claws? You gonna let me die, like i did with Midas? Come on, it'll stop me from hurting anyone, won't it?"
"Shut up, I'm taking you in."
"Hahaha Gck!" The fox gagged on Watchdog's returned arm pressure, but the hero quickly looked towards the window as blur and red lights began to shine.
"Oh... popsicle sticks... Hawkeye! Police are here!"
Hawkeye was panting from the other room, but quickly shouted out, "We have to get out! Drop your quarry and meet back at escape route A!"
Watchdog glared at the fox, and grinned. "I guess this is it, until next time." The hero reached back to find a zip-tie he could bind the fox with, but the fox caught him by surprise when he leaned forward with new found strength and kissed the mutt dead on the lips!
Watchdog gasped and sputtered, backing away as he wiped his lips in confusion, the fox making a dash for the door! "You were fun, mutt, but i've got to run! Hahaha!!"
The hero dashed at the fox, shoulder-slamming him hard against a large fridge! "You're not getting away!" The struggled more, and as they fell to the ground, the fox grabbed for the fridge handle and pulled the large icebox down right on top of his legs.
"Ah! Shit!"
Watchdog backed away and looked, seeing the heavy fridge pinning the fox's leg tightly. "Well.. again! Goodbye!" The hero ran, hearing the police about to storm the building. He heard the fox yell at him and laugh, but he was done listening. the hero jumped out of the window, making his way through the rain towards the escape route.
