<br /><br />The Jaded Temple: Part 2 – Dead Weight

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Wednesday, March 3

The Jaded Temple: Part 2 – Dead Weight

The ancient thing that led the White Shadows took another step forward. Archive held up the Elder Sign before it. "By the power of the Elder Gods, I repel you!'

The mummified White Shadow shifted into a combat stance…and then turned and fled.

Everything happened at once. The other White Shadows struck, shuriken hissing through the air. Jim-Bean held up one hand and they bounced a few inches from his face.

"Remember!" shouted Hammer, taking aim with his hand crossbow. "No guns!'

Then the White Shadows were upon them. Caprice ducked a sword swipe, unslung his rifle, and clubbed one of the Shadows across the head with it. The attack knocked Caprice off balance long enough for another strike from a different Shadow. Caprice barely blocked the blow in time with his rifle butt.

Guppy patted himself down. He hadn't planned on engaging anyone in combat and was pretty sure he shouldn't be in a "high tension environment" according to his Majestic-appointed psychologist.

"Easy," he thought to himself. "This is just like a videogame. You're just fighting ninjas on an elevator. It's just a game…"

Then he found his taser.

A sword swipe just missed Guppy's chest. Guppy lunged in retaliation, shoving the taser in the guts of his foe and pressing the button.

The White Shadow jerked and twitched, stumbling backwards. He fell flat on his back.

"No guns means NO SPARKS!" snarled Hammer. He fired his crossbow and one of the Shadows went down, a bolt protruding from his head.

Caprice blocked another blow from a blade. He caught a flash of greenish fluid on the blade in the dim light. "They're using poison!"

"You do NOT want to be poisoned!" shouted Archive. "I lost a pinky that way!"

"How?" asked Caprice.

Archive dodged a sword swipe. "I ate it." more