The Great Train Robbery

"Nngh!" Mor'du dropped back, away from the heat. No doubt the other soldiers would be doing the same, or they'd risk being burnt to a crisp by the sudden explosion.

"Bloody fuck!" the bear snarled, his good eye gleaming in the light from the fire as he circled around the box car, trying to figure out a way to get the human out and have a nice snack from his guts. meanwhile, Digger leaped off the top of the box car once the side was engulfed in flames from the small explosion. She hissed and sputtered like a house cat, racing alongside the car, trying to find an opening.

With flames licking up the flanks of the boxcar, Naveen felt it safe back in his shelter amongst the toppled crates and boxes. With the rain falling it wouldn't take long for the kerosine to burn itself out. The surrounding ground too wet for anything else to catch. He could still hear solders scampering along the roof and clawing at the walls. His wooden fortress would soon become a prison if he couldn't figure anything out.

Going out and fighting hand to hand would be stupid at best, deadly at worse. He figured the only way out was to hold them off untull Casey started moving the train again. If he could hold the boxcar, and keep from being dragged out there into the fight, then he had a chance.

Bracing himself against a crate, the young prince took a deep breath and steeled himself. What would Tia do in this sort of situation? His mandala lay nearby. With the bridge broken it wasn't much use as a musical instrument. Perhaps it could be put to better use. Grasping it firmly, he brought it to his shoulder like a baseball bat. Before slowly making his way towards the door. If anything got through the fading flames he was poised to strike.

"What the hell am I doing?" He whispered to himself. 

“Fin' lass....it's yers. It's de device located behind me steam dome. Yer better 'av an electrician, damn tin' is busted.”

A twitch.
A pause.
A black lined mouth parting in a stew of shock, annoyance, and finally blind blood curdling rage.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" She shrieked. Her claws dug deeply into Casey's 'face' her own paws bleeding slightly as she did so, washing the train with tiny trickles of crimson liquid. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME AFTER ALL OF THIS WORK, ALL OF THIS NONSENSE, ALL OF THIS PLANNING THAT YOUR GODDAMNED THING IS BROKEN!?" She let out a rage filled roar. She couldn't believe it. It was broken. Her hopes to light her darkened homeland were dashed. All because of that damn dog.

Lady.

Zira shot her face towards Lady who was struggling on the side. She shot a look at the gorilla. "FORGET it," she hissed, "If it's broken we have no way to fix the damn thing! Just forget it!" She let out a violent snarl as she lept from Casey's face, giving him a bit of a nick with her claws as she rushed towards Lady. Shoving past Dixie with her slender body, Zira stuck her paw to Lady's windpipe.

"YOU," she hissed, "You little SCALY FACED BITCH. What I am gonna do to you...IT'S BROKEN! THE THING YOU SENT ME TO. IS. BROKEN!"

Zira choked Lady. Homework callously watched. He had no love for dogs. Dogs chased cats, and Homework was once one of Mr. Moleguaco's many cats. Cats possessed the instinct to hunt and chase prey, and Homework was no special case. And thanks to Yzma, Homework was now big enough to hunt and eat dogs. The American Cocker Spaniel was practically a sitting duck. "RRRR!" Homework's stomach growled. His mouth watered.

It was a long shot, but Homework had to try. 

"Let's just eat her then," Homework piped in. "I mean...Lady's just playing us for saps. She promised us a train and gave us scrap metal! C'mon, boss, are you going to let a Pridelander less than half your size hoodwink us again? She's worth more dead than alive!"

Lady practically had the wind blown out of her body. She had been so focused on trying to snap her bonds she didn't see the raging lioness until Zira was literally on top of her. The cocker's mouth hung open in a horrified “O” and her soft brown eyes reached the size of dinner plates as the large paw was pressed into her throat. There was a sudden jet of pain from the impact, and the horrid burning sensitization as air was denied. The paw was large enough that it covered the tan furred spaniel’s delicate esophagus and part of her upper chest. The force strong enough to actually depress the little canine into the mud. With each push that Zira let out, Lady sank ever deeper into the muck.

“I didn't know!” she wheezed, her whole body squirming about under the Queen's grasp. “How, how could I!”

Her furry chest heaved, already restrained by the cords, her hind legs kicking, ankles bound and toes splayed. There was an intense burn akin to her chest being physically aflame as her lungs struggled for air. She tried to speak further, but all that came from her gasping maw was a harsh hiss.

"Let's just eat her then,"

“No!” It came out almost unidentifiable. More akin to a deflating balloon then the honey sweet tone that was accustomed to the little spaniel. She stared up at the lioness, Zira's jaws and livid stare filling all of her vision. It was imposable to tell if the flames that burned in the Outlander's eyes where from anger, or a reflection of the dying remains of the kerosene fire further down the tracks. The edged of her vision where turning fuzzy. She had to think of something, and quick. Before she was rendered unconscious, only to awake as their next meal. That is if Zira allowed her to awake at all. No, she couldn't leave again.

“Please, no. You can fix it! I know where you can get stuff. Pleeaas...” It was all she could muster from her oxygen deprived mind as her voice vanished completely. The heaving of her chest starting to slow before her head lolled to one side. She could feel unconsciousness starting to claim her. Her eyes lids suddenly becoming very heavy, soft brown eyes dilating and rolling to one side.

Vakasa dropped the hunk of metal at his feet before leaping off the train, charging behind Zira livid as all hell. He stopped alongside Homework, skidding in the mud for a moment and nearly lightly bumping into the big black feline. "Fix it? It's broken, and I'm not risking my ass again," he sneered down at the little dog. Vakasa rarely shows his angry side, but this was as good as he was going to give at the moment.

Casey hissed as her claws where drawn across his smoke-box. He had taken the threat with little weight, thinking that his iron skin would withstand anything a feline's claws could do. But he had underestimated both Zira's potential anger, and the sharpness of her claws. Any smug gratification he received at her stunned look was quickly diminished as she swiped at him. The iron horse was left with several large scratches on the side of his smoke-box. They where deep enough that they glowed red upon her claws, and shard of metal, freshly shaved fell to his pilot beam.

“Yeh cheatin' bitch!” He hissed, steam spitting from his valves.

He had started pull again on his train. Going forward. By now the air had started leaking off the railcar's brakes, so he found could gain a little traction and escape. The fire alongside his train was burning out. The rain making sure it didn't turn wild. Still it gave off plenty of light to glow the surrounding army. This was his chance, Zira and the monkey where off, and aside from a few Outlanders still ransacking his cars he was was more or less free. The track ahead was clear, Lady and Dixie where no longer obscuring his right of way. However his initial momentum was stopped cold when he saw that the lioness had gone for the little bound bundle of fur in the mud.

He could leave Lady to her fate. Lord knows she and her mate had already come close to wrecking him more then once. He had a chance to leave the Outlander's enraged and in failure. However, doing so would no doubt leave the unfortunate spaniel as their scapegoat. There where other lives at stake too. He knew of his passenger, still hiding out in a boxcar. Sticking around any longer would leave Naveen more or less defenseless against an army that was getting more and more peeved by the minute.

“I'm sorry lass.” The locomotive let out a blast on his whistle. The slack between the couplers on his cars suddenly rolling out in a cascade of banging and smashing as he drew forward. His cylinders, one side banged and piping dangling from under his running board. As much air and steam he was leaking he wasn't even sure he would make it back to camp. But he could try. They had his dynamo...perhaps they would leave Lady alone.

Speed would be his only defense. With the loss of his air compressor he could no longer pump up the air on his train. Meaning he would have to stop it with his own brakes and hope he was strong enough to hold the cars from sliding him off the rails when they came to the encampment.

*With that, Casey Jr. is making his escape. Using Zira's rage at Lady as a cover to make a break for it. Those of you still on his cars, well...it's going to be hard to stop him. You may want to take the risk and jump. 

“I didn't know! How, how could I!”

"I saw you working that train! You had to know!"

Zira's mind was curdled with thoughts. On the one hand she could just slaughter Lady here. Let her soldiers eat her and drop the bloody iron collar off at the border of the pridelands. But that just wasn't enough. She lifted her paw from Lady's delicate throat. Her eyes narrowed to dark red slits. She stuck her paws into the ground next to Lady's head, her slender, sharp nose pushing against Lady's soft delicate canine snout.

"I should let them devour you alive," came her silky velvet voice, her breath hot on Lady's nose, "I should let them eat you from the feet up so you can feel yourself adding nourishment to them." She lifted her thick head and turned towards Homework and Vakasa.

"TAKE her back to the-" Her jaws ripped open as she turned towards the train. "NO! IT'S GETTING AWAY!" She let out a violent snarl. This was not going according to plan in the slightest. Oh Lady was going to pay.

"Take her back to the cells," she said, "We'll fgure out her punishment later. Oh if you feel so inclined..." Her eyes narrowed again. "You don't have to do it gently."

"You'll do as you're told, Vakasa!" Homework snapped to the gorilla before returning his attention to Zira's punching bag. 

"No?" Homework scoffed. "Why not? Do you have somewhere to be, dog? I can give you a quick death!" Homework was essentially a punch-clock bad guy. Whatever Lady did to piss off the queen did not concern him. He was an Outlander who followed orders to the T in exchange for food and lessons. 

Homework courteously dipped his head to Zira when she ordered him to take Lady back to her cell. "As you command." The lanky melanistic jaguar trotted to the American Cocker Spaniel's side. "C'mon, dog. Let's get you back to your kennel before I binge. Vakasa, give me a hand." He grabbed Lady by one of her long ears.

Air! Thank goodness, air!

Lady's head shot up as Zira removed her paw. Her maw wide open as she gasped, drawing in oxygen into her starved lungs in deep breaths. She sputtered, coughing and wheezing. Her chest heaving around the cords that bound her. As her vision cleared, she quickly found herself eye to eye with the queen. Lady's chocolate brown eyes where wide and full of fear as Zira trapped her between her feline paws. One to each side of Lady's head. Weather or not she intended too, Zira was standing on each of the spaniel's sopping wet and frazzled ears. Making it so Lady was forced to stare up into the blazing anger that the queen commanded.

"I should let them devour you alive," She had never seen such anger, such hatred. It made the unfortunate canine shiver uncontrollably, her lower lip trembling. Zira's feline nose pressed into her little black snout. Still she kept herself together, and still recovering from her strangling, the cocker narrowed her eyes and gave back a cold stare of her own. "I should let them eat you from the feet up so you can feel yourself adding nourishment to them."

"You, you...bully!" It was all she could yip as the outlander stepped back, releasing her. She was parallelized with a combination of fear and anger. Fear as to what fate now lay in store for her, sorrow at having failed to protect herself or her family, and anger at Zira and her Outlanders for getting her and her family into this mess of a war (and perhaps a bit of anger at Casey for ditching her.). Like a cork being popped from a bottle the fiery spaniel let herself finally go.

"I did everything you asked. I came when you wanted, I endured you and your tortures!"

"C'mon, dog. Let's get you back to your kennel before I binge.

She was still shouting when the panther grabbed her by one of her ears, pulling her upright and out of the muck.

"Careful you brute! That's attached to my head!"

She was still bound so she wasn't going to be standing on her own. The spaniel winced at the rough treatment of her ear, and let out a small delicate snarl. Even as she was being taken away from the lioness and led back towards the Outlands. To be taken back to her cell and imminent punishment.

Oh I'm not done! Zira, you're an evil, repulsive, harlot! Do what you wish to me, but one day you will pay for your crimes! You...you...bitch!"

At the last word, the cocker did something so unladylike, so against her own nature that she even surprised herself! Even though Zira had stood back as Lady was drug from the mud, she globed up a rather large amount of saliva, and with a toss of her mud spattered muzzle and a lewd slurp, hocked a wad of spit at the queen. Aiming for Zira's head or neck.

The gorilla let out a snort at the black colored felines as he leaned forward, roughly grabbing the Cocker's front legs, pulling her towards the cages as per Zira's orders. "Damn train," the silver-back mumbled under his breath as he cast a glance towards the train as it pulled away from them. He turned to Homework. "What do you wanna do to her?" he grumbled.

Clarice stood there, all by herself, watching the scene unfold before her green eyes; Granny Rose tumbled and landed with a thud before Casey Jr. screeched to a halt. By God, did the noise hurt the female's ears, her wincing expression mirrored it perfectly, the was like nails on a blackboard, or some other horrible nose. What an awful noise. The vulture commented to herself, before Granny Rose spoke and caught the female's attention. "That's just what I'd like to know," "I think you owe me an explanation. In fact, I think you both do," Much like any another girl, Clarice did like to hear about drama. Well, other people's drama. It was just entertaining. However, unlike when she first met Athur and Cecil, she didn't bother dare barge in, she didn't want to get herself wrapped in other people's stuff, unless she was using said people for her own personal benefit. "You've certainly managed to make a good impression of a chew-toy out of yourself." "But first thing's first. Zira's got more'n enough willin' paws to get what she wants without us,"

Green eyes looked at what else was happening after Granny Rose grabbed Dixie's ear and started walking away with the golden female. Everything from then on happened way, way, way, too quickly. The door of the boxcar was ripped off and then sent to the side. Just as long as it didn't end up thrown toward's the pudgy female's direction or ended up colliding or injuring herself, Clarice was just fine with the door being like that. Then something else happened, the human inside the boxcar chucked a lamp at the door, it bounced off the frame and landed outside of the car. Then the glass shattered, the contents inside going everywhere, suddenly, a "whoosh" was heard, then a massive fireball lit up the dark, Clarice just stared in interest as fire spread across the ground and the train, forming something that could only be described as something to similar to a blockade.      

"I am SURROUNDED by idiots." "If you can't take the heat stay out of the outlands," "Now COME. I have use for you and your thumbs." Maybe I should ask Zira now? Clarice thought as the pudgy female launched herself into the air, following the Queen and her two minions, just high enough so that she was still a few feet above the ground, but still close enough to just drop down and land safely.  "You! Train! Where is you...steam...thingamajiger...the spaniel said you possessed one! If you give it up I will let you go! If not I can't guarantee what will happen!" As the Queen went to the train, something told the vulture to stop and not get involved in this, so Clarice did stop and land, about three meters away from the trio. “Fin' lass....it's yers. It's de device located behind me steam dome. Yer better 'av an electrician, damn tin' is busted.” “Oi 'ope yah burn yah paws on me boiler gittin it down, fer what yah dune to Miss Lady!”

At what the locomotive said to the Outlanders about their prisoner, the female vulture glanced in the direction of Lady. To be honest, the vulture did feel a small twinge of pity for the cocker spaniel, not for being tied and bound to the tracks, or used to stop Casey Jr. so Zira could grab whatever she wanted from the train, but really, for getting her fur all muddy. Sure it might be superficial, how would the pudgy female get food from unsuspecting males if she was absolutely coated in mud? "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Oh shit. Zira's shriek grated on Clarice's ears, but the Queen's rant was far from over. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME AFTER ALL OF THIS WORK, ALL OF THIS NONSENSE, ALL OF THIS PLANNING THAT YOUR GODDAMNED THING IS BROKEN!?" "FORGET it," "If it's broken we have no way to fix the damn thing! Just forget it!" "YOU," "You little SCALY FACED BITCH. What I am gonna do to you...IT'S BROKEN! THE THING YOU SENT ME TO. IS. BROKEN!" 

Zira was absolutely livid with rage and anger with what happened, walked over and choked the cocker spaniel. Clarice had no problems with this, the tan lioness' rage was completely reasonable, after all, who wouldn't be furious to find out after all this planning and work to get some object that Casey was in possession of was in all in vain? "Let's just eat her then," Green eyes looked over to the solider who just spoke, Homework's mouth was watering. The female's eyes widened in fear, cats liked to hunt down and eat birds, this was no different. "I mean...Lady's just playing us for saps. She promised us a train and gave us scrap metal! C'mon, boss, are you going to let a Pridelander less than half your size hoodwink us again? She's worth more dead than alive!" Homework did have a point, what use was Lady now, she was supposed give the Outlanders a device that should've been working, except it was broken, who knew how Zira was going to punish the spaniel?          

“I didn't know!” “How, how could I!”  “No!”  “Please, no. You can fix it! I know where you can get stuff. Pleeaas...” Clarice rolled her eyes. The cocker spaniel was probably lying about getting the parts to fix the device so she could probably live a longer and not die at the claws of the Outlanders. Probably for the third time in one day, everything moved so quickly. “Yeh cheatin' bitch!” “I'm sorry lass.”  "I saw you working that train! You had to know!" "I should let them devour you alive," "I should let them eat you from the feet up so you can feel yourself adding nourishment to them." "TAKE her back to the-" "NO! IT'S GETTING AWAY!"

Clarice glanced in the direction of Casey Jr. only to find the train escaping the Outlands. She turned her head back to Zira, wondering what the lioness was going to do with the spaniel. "Take her back to the cells," "We'll fgure out her punishment later. Oh if you feel so inclined..." "You don't have to do it gently." "You'll do as you're told, Vakasa!" "No?" "Why not? Do you have somewhere to be, dog? I can give you a quick death!" "As you command."  "C'mon, dog. Let's get you back to your kennel before I binge. Vakasa, give me a hand." "You, you...bully!"  "I did everything you asked. I came when you wanted, I endured you and your tortures!" "Careful you brute! That's attached to my head!" "Oh I'm not done! Zira, you're an evil, repulsive, harlot! Do what you wish to me, but one day you will pay for your crimes! You...you...bitch!" One did not simply just call the Outlander Queen names, specifically a bitch, then spit at her and live. Green eyes widened in shock and in horror. If Lady was trying to endanger herself even more, she was doing a pretty damn good job of it. The vulture looked at Zira, wondering what the hell the Queen was going to do the the cocker spaniel.