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-Who watches the Watchdogs?-

Now the League wasn't just made up of Watchdog, Osprey and Buck. Fawks had limited knowledge on the others, but there was a fox named Reaper in another city, a black squirrel and white squirrel duo that Fawks figured were siblings. And so far the only other hero in the League with super powers, Rabbit Foot. In the case of the bunny, he normally only went out when he wasn't busy being somewhat famous in his day to day life. The others typically had their own assignments and didn't often come to the meetings Fawks made it to. The main reason the fox was brought around so much was because Watchdog wanted to see how well the vulpine would work with the team, and "The Hoods" case gave a perfect chance to do that. Since the organization wasn't that much of a threat in numbers Watch, Osprey, and Spirit felt they could handle the raid on their own just fine. They were good at this sort of thing after all! It was a pretty common combination honestly. Well, if you forget that Spirit was new to the group anyway.

Up until this point the trio had been going out on their own to learn what they could between the normal works of the night. Stop a thief here. Send building taggers crying home. It was all pretty typical in a night, though gang bangers would often end up with broken arms or brought down by hitting nerve clusters. Hitting under the arm, or even right near one guy's kidney. That one was a little mean since he'll probably be pissing blood for a while after that, but you simply don't try shooting a vigilante and expect to get away without something to remember it by. That is, unless you're an actual named bad guy. Life often seemed to work the way it did in the comics. Random goons just can't hold their own. Normally anyway.

Their investigation wasn't too intensive because frankly, The Hoods aren't the worst thing on the streets. They even almost seem to do good work at times! A concept that was hard for Fawks to fully understand. See, where he was from things were pretty black and white. You had the good guys, and then you had that bad. That's just how it was. This town was a lot more gray. The heroes would sometimes be questionable, and the bad guys would almost seem to do good. Out of the gangs out there, The Hoods tried to stay out of the spotlight and would often be found giving what they stole to the poor and needy. Having lived on the streets for a year when he was a kid, Fawks could almost respect them for this.

At least until the reports became a lot darker the more Spirit and Buck dug into their history. Anyone that got in their way was dealt with -severely-. When the hero had heard that a young boy was strung up on a building in the name of the "Greater Good" because he apparently disrespected them, Fawks swore that he would put and end to their "selfless" ways! As time went on from the fox's debut night, the gang seemed to become a lot more sloppy. It was rather strange, but perhaps they were just getting cocky. Those bastards! After some discussion and puzzle solving, it seemed -painfully- obvious where the gang was meeting. Like, not even in a funny way it was that obvious. In typical comic book villain fashion, all signs seemed to point to an abandoned toy warehouse that once belonged to a failed company called "Sherwood's Toy Co." Seriously?

From what the League had learned, the gang was led by a fox who called himself Mr Hood. A very mysterious fellow that was very rarely seen around, but the heroes managed to pry out that he was a "fearsome fighter with a sword" and an "expert marksman" from the stories they heard on the streets. Mr Hood was actually becoming quite popular in the poorer parts of town. Like some kind of folk hero or legend. Made sense for a crazy guy trying to model himself after an old hero's story. This drove Fawks crazy though, cause he felt this guy didn't deserve any of this praise. He was twisted and bad as far as the fox was concerned.

Mr Hood's number two man was a red panda that called himself Mr Scarlet. He was a lot more paws on than his leader, so it didn't take much to figure out knife specialties. He was not a man you wanted to mess with, and soooo many learned that the hard way. There had been a lot of victims of knife attacks lately, but most of them have been nasty villains up until recently. They were cleaning up the town, but killing takes it too far! There had to be a better way to do this. There were heroes out there that didn't have to kill! Even the mention of the gang made Fawks's stomach turn by the time the League figured out where to strike. Mr Hood's cause might seem like a noble one, but his methods were not nearly as heroic as he would want you to think. Although the League would have liked to have known more, most of them felt it was time to give these creeps a little visit!

"You don't suppose they'll -toy- with us, do you?" Fawks was in character again. Same heroic grin and paladin-like timber to his voice that you'd see from the cheesy hero cartoons from the 70's.

"...Just stay focused, Spirit. We haven't teamed with you for something like this before. I don't want you screwing up and have to be rescued again." Osprey was trying not to get annoyed, but she still wasn't used to Spirit's casual attitude towards everything.

"Don't worry 'Ocean Spray.' I have a real thirst... for justice! ...see what I did there?" Her name always made him think of a juice drink he liked for some reason. The fox smirked and jumped down to the streets below. His cape-like wings fluttered through the air to slow his fall like one of those propeller seeds you see in autumn.

"Heheh.. I'm sure he'll take things seriously when it matters." The masked mutt patted his second in command on the back, tilting her bow down before she could use it on the fox. It was only a blunt arrow, but still. He tried to give a reassuring smile and not giggle at the same time before he hopped onto a drain pipe and slid down to join the fox below.

There wasn't much near the factory, so they would have to sneak around on the ground for now. It was dark and windy that night, but the sky was clear and it let the full moon bathe the area in a dim light. They covered the ground rather quickly with Fawks doing his best not to make comments to break the silence, as he never liked things too quiet. It just felt so unnatural. There wasn't much need to speak though as they knew the layout of the building already thanks to old blue prints Buck pulled up out of a school's library. You'd have to figure someone would remodel the inside to better fit their needs by now though. There were no guards. Not even a tumble weed to make things more interesting, but the signs of recent activity verified what the vigilantes had hoped for. Hooray for not another wasted night! as expected, the facility was really rundown looking. It might as well had been raining and storming to complete that haunted look, thought the masked vulpine. That would have made it really cool! The three exchanged some glances, deciding to split off to search the place a lot faster.

"You know what to do? We'll take out their eyes and ears, so give us some time to setup. You scout around and see what you can find. Easy enough, right? Heheh" Eddy took on his 'down to business' gruffness again, looking seriously at the fox before scouting around the wall of the building for a good footing to climb up it with the help of a grapple and line.

"And don't go charging in like you like to do, Spirit. Your outfit and personality... well they tend to attract attention to yourself." She nodded to her teammates after giving Fawks a 'Don't fuck up' look. Darting off to the other side of the warehouse seconds later.

-They call me, Mr Ti- I mean, Scarlet-

Spirit dropped his hero's posture for only a moment to stick his tongue out at the wolf as she left, "Pfffft.. I don't need to be looked after like I'm still some lost pup... I'm Spirit Force!" He said this in his loudest whisper with his tail whipping behind him. Though he still tried not to be heard as he didn't want to piss her off -that- much. Now alone, he adjusted his mask out of a nervous habit. The fox might have been a joker, but he knew his job well enough to get away with it he thought. With a confidant stride, the daring hero slipped around until he came upon a window that happened to be nice and open. He slipped inside with little effort and clung to the walls as he moved down the hallway. The air smelled like a day right after it rained, and the wind howled through the broken windows to help mask the fox's already quiet footsteps.

The place was surprisingly big on the inside but after several minutes of trying to hang back, Spirit simply couldn't do nothing anymore. He was feeling antsy and just had to go deeper into the place. He stumbled upon a path that led him right to a stairwell that to the basement floors, which he quickly went down. The outside might have been abandoned and run down, but the inside clearly wasn't. Still no signs of cameras though, and this struck the fox as rather odd. Must not expect others to find them out. How arrogant! The fox shrugged off the thought and did his best to stay focused. He wasn't going to be surprised by this group like the last time! With the grace that would make a cat jealous, he tumbled down another of the nondescript hallways. Ears perking when he finally heard some talking from beyond a double door. He pressed himself against it to listen.

"..and I heard the guests of honor are already here. Heheh"

"Rrrrr... I'm gonna wring that damn fox's neck" From the growl, he sounded like a canine. "I'm still marked up for the last time.. trim your damn claws!"

"Ugggh.. you're still going on about that, Jake? How many times does a guy have to apologize? He swung me into you!" He let out a rather cat-like hiss. It was deep, so it must have been one of the bigger breeds.

Fawks paused. He knew those voices! And what this about guests? Did he come on a good night? No, this was all fitting together too well. The clues. The ease of their entry. Now these goons talking about a 'big bash' that was happening the night the heroes happened to be there? It was a trap! The fox gulped and flipped his belt cover open to hit the alert button to try an signal the others, but after a few moments there was no replay on the line. They had been in the place for about 30 minutes already. They could be in trouble! The fox wasn't going to stand for this. Spirit cracked his knuckles and without any hesitation he smashed the doors wide open. The hard thud knocked the wolf and panther down from their guard posts, laid out at the feet of the proudly standing vulpine. "Sorry to leave you flat, but I have a day to save!"

"Rrff.. it's him! IT'S THAT DAMN F-" Before the wolf could get up, the fox had sprung forward and grabbed his head to smash it against the hard floor. The force of it broke the canine's nose and knocked him out with little issue.

"Jake!" The panther who was laying face down on the ground, shot up onto his arms and swung his clawed feet around to try attacking the masked hero, who just managed to get out of the way. "You got lucky last time, fucker. I'm gonna rip that green fairy outfit right off you!" He was back on his feet and staring angrily down at the smaller fox.

"You can call me absinth... liquor joke!" Spirit knew this guy's style after their first fight, and with no backup this time around he wasn't gonna be much of a threat! With the cat's claws bared and paws open in a stance very fitting for his breed, he lashed out with several powerful strikes. His footing was solid as he tried to grab or gash the elusive fox who danced and circled about like a guy with too much sugar. The room was nice and open, which was just perfect for the hero since he hated fighting in closed or tight spaces. Well, he liked tight spaces! Just, well, that's for another story.

Spirit snatched the big guy's lunging palm and twisted it, chopping the panther across the throat after leading him forward. With a smirk, Spirit wrapped the arm around the cat's own body and grabbed onto his shoulder to fling the stronger guy onto his back. Spirit smacked the panther's head on the carpeted, but solid floor to daze him and snatched out what looked like a wet-nap to push it to the goon's nose.

"Oh, does this smell like chloroform?" The panther hissed and promptly passed out as the fox grinned with his tail wagging. With them both down for now, Spirit quickly zip-tied their wrists together and put them in a less than flattering position with each other "Hehe.. You guys will hate me even more than you already do... or I just played match maker and you'll have to thank me! Now to go save the others before it's-" There was a slow, sarcastic clapping in the background that made the fox spin around and stare at a new adversary that was even larger than the panther. He stood on the grated surface of the second story walkway across the room. "My god... does everybody have to be taller than me? I'm tired of having to look up! Especially when I should be looking down on all of you."

"I reckon you must be Spirit -Fox- eh? Heheh... pretty fancy hand work ya got there, but I wager hand jobs are simple for ya'll" The panda was easily a foot taller than the fox. He jumped down with a dull thud, dusting off his black leather outfit before casually walking closer to the masked hero.

There was a small hint of a grimace after hearing his name said wrong, but he quickly replied back, "And you're Mr. Scarlet, right? Don't you have a plantation to get back to? " He stared down his cowled adversary, not able to count all the little darts and knives that seemed to cover the powerful build of his foe like some kind of plate-mail armor. Seemed Mr. Hood was getting more theatrical with the outfits his cronies were wearing.

"Daawww shucks.. but we're fightn' for the greater good!" He held back a little chuckle as he drew a sleek looking throwing knife, licking the blade "Heh.. I don't much care for that malarkey, but Mr. Hood has always been good to lil' ol me, so I'm happy to oblige him." Every word had a hint of his southern twang, but there was something hidden behind it. Like something eager to just burst out and go crazy with those blades.

"Your organization is going down. Tonight!"

"Oh come on... you hero types ain't that dumb, are ya? We set ya up. As we speak the others are being dealt with.. or have been already."

That thought clawed at the back of the fox's mind, but he had to have faith in the others. They -had- to be alright. "I don't know what you're talking about... I came here alone!" He did his best to maintain his confidant tone.

"Mr. Hood wants ya'll to join us! Well... the other two. You just didn't make the cut, I reckon."

"Didn't make the cut? Oh, I get it. Cause you have all those blades! You're a real cut up~ And wait... I'm just as good as the others! Why am I not invited?"

"Kek! Now how did he put it... He called you a slacker, I think. Ain't that a bitch?"

The fox's brow furrowed, but he tried to hide the annoyance for being called that twice in one night. "A sla- ...really?" If he had a cape flowing in the wind, it would stop suddenly as all the wind got knocked out of his sails. Him? Not good enough? AGAIN?

"Kekeke... You got a real inferiority complex going, don't cha?"

Fawks shook his head as if trying to snap himself out of his stupor. His friends were in danger! "Hah! Like any of us would join you!" He grinned confidently once more.

"I'd sooner slit all yer throats anyway, boy. Far more fun for me. For -my- greater good." The cowled panda gave Spirit a cocky smirk. Like he already knew he was gonna win this fight.

Spirit cracked his knuckles before pointing at Scarlet and grinning heroically back. "Hah! When this is done, they'll be calling you Mr Prison Orange!"

"Kek... that's cute."

******************************************************

-Moments earlier!-

Watchdog scaled the building and left the other two heroes to their own duties. Spirit was a bit reckless, but that just seemed to be his style. He made it this far without getting himself killed, so he must be doing something right! Eddy thought, anyway. The wind blew through his hair, but the night seemed oddly calm. Almost too calm. The mutt shook off the unsure feeling he was getting about this whole situation and pressed on with a determination to finish the mission at hand. He quickly found two air vents on the roof and shimmied his way into the one on the right, slipping into the building that way. He figured if he followed the vents, it would lead him to the utilities room where he could cut off any power the building might still have. It was hot in the small metal crawl ways, and the armor he wore made it hard to maneuver. "Uhhhh... the things I wear for safety..."

If what the mutt remembered was correct, the utilities room was this way! He wagged his tail and scurried down, but suddenly the floor under him gave way. It was a trap door! The masked mutt tumbled down the chute for what felt like 4 stories, banging his head against the walls and making all kinds of loud noises before stabilizing himself and flying out of the end of the vent to land hard against the floor in the middle of what must have been the basement of this place. Watchdog groaned in pain, rubbing his sore body and the back of his head to make sure he was till in one piece. He was gonna be feeling that one tomorrow for sure. Then the room suddenly lit up! The heroic mutt bit his lip as he looked around at a basement filled with people dressed like rouges out of the middle ages. "What? When did get to a renaissance fair?" Ten various breeds stood before Eddy and watched the masked hero get to his feet, completely not surprised by his appearance. Besides them, three others stood across the room from the hero. They looked the most important!

"Umm.. halt there, villains!" He said, keeping his gaze fixed on the three.

Two of them were pit bulls that looked exactly alike. Heavy set and strong all at once! They seemed to be guarding a stout looking kangaroo who had a jug in his hand. Eddy sniffed the air a bit, figuring it was some kind of booze.

"Hahahaha... Mr. Hood was right to be expecting ya... Watchdog? Those bread crumbs worked like a charm." The roo took a drink from his bottle, smiling rather calmly. He stood there in brown robes and wraps around his hands, but to Eddy's surprise he didn't sound all that bad of a guy. Must have been that Australian accent of his. "This -is- who we're supposed ta talk to, right?

"Uhh.. yeah Mr. Tuck."

"The lil git is in trouble now! Heheh"

The kangaroo's two body guards stood like an unmoving wall. Both more menacing looking than their apparent commander, but only the roo wore a hood over his eyes. Eddy cracked his neck as the goons circled around him, knowing full well this was not going to be a friendly encounter. "Heh.. so it was a trap? Well if you come quietly, I may let you off easy!"

"Heheh... Listen mate, you're out numbered here. Now I don't wanna fight with ya. We ain't such bad guys! Mr. Hood just wants to help the poor and the innocent. What's so bad about that?"

"Oh it soooounds fine and dandy.. until you realize that you guys are just glorified assassins! You'd kill those innocents if they got in your way." The mutt bared his teeth, growling lowly at them as his paw carefully fiddled with something on his belt.

"I don't know what you're talking about, mate. If someone gets in our way, then that means they weren't working for the greater good at all. -They- were the bad guys."

"You're new, aren't ya? They're simply gonna use you! The last guy in your position was left to rot! There is still a chance for you. Just give yourself up."

"Psssh.. No... No mate, Mr. Hood saved me! Merry Men, get him!"

The mutt simply shook his head and tossed down a special smoke bomb onto the floor! The bang made everyone jump as the kangaroo shouted at them all to capture the mutt. Thick smoke billowed into the room, allowing Eddy to move quickly in the cover which made even -his- eyes water under his mask. The catnip laced gas made the the felines wobble and collapse like they were on some kind of drug. Which, they kinda were!

With three of them down, Watchdog thought he could slip into the back of the room with everyone still distracted, but he was cut off by the more tenacious thugs. They rushed the hero who barely had enough time to pull out his 'Doggie paddle' and deflect a swing of a bo staff to his head. His other arm carried a small shield on the wrist which he used to block another hit as he fought the merry men off. Eddy might not have been as fast as his two partners in this place, but he could take a hit and dish it out just as hard! He growled and smirked as he launched his shield from a special launcher on his arm, slamming a ferret in the gut with enough force to send the guy flying back at such a close range.

"Oy! Careful of his toys!" The roo kicked on the fans in the basement to clear up the smoke, but the felines were still way too out of it to be any good in a fight. Mr Tuck had come prepared to fight with certain vulpine hero, but he still had some things to help his two guards against the gear-savvy mutt. They stayed in the background to prepare while Watchdog delivered a beating to a poor shiba inu's back. In the midst of the chaos, he ducked behind a pillar to stuff earplugs into his ears. They weren't shooting at him, so they clearly didn't want to kill him. Yet. Watchdog pulled an electronic whistle out and flicked it on as soon as he was tackled by a shepherd. They crashed to the floor, but the dog howled as the quiet shriek of the whistle echoed in the room. The 3 other dogs all squirmed and writhed on the floor while the earplugs just barely kept the same from happening to Eddy. He shuddered and shoved the shep off of him as fast as he could.

"Shut that thing up!"

There was a flash of stars in Eddy's eyes that made the mutt whine. His visions was blocked slightly by the shifted fabric of his mask while he was repeatedly kicked and piled on once again by the croc and boar. They all fought like a swarm, but with so few numbers left it wasn't as affective. Eddy's mind was clouded by the pain, but something in him just would not quit. He managed to flick a switch on his belt and shove his gloved hand against the guys on top of him to deliver a powerful shock that even traveled through himself. The mutt writhed, but he wasn't going to be stopped by the muscle seizing shock his gloves could deliver! He punched hard enough to break someone's nose and squirmed away quickly.

He was panting, bruised and spiting out blood as the felines began to snap back to reality. Watchdog loaded another disk onto his arm, and cracked his neck one more time as he fixed his mask. He quickly jumped onto the nearest guy and shocked him with every punch he gave. The battery on his belt wasn't going to be good for very long at the rate as the scent of burnt fur was quickly dispersed by the nice breeze of the fans. He grabbed a croc by the collar and kicked the back of his knee to force the guy to fall. With lightning reflexes, Watchdog used the croc as a shield against a taser strike and shoved the electrified body on his attacker. He snapped several arms and twisted a guy's leg as he took everyone apart little by little like some kind surgeon. What once stood 10 proud thugs, were now nothing but whimpering cowards as they tried to get away. That is until Eddy flew forward like a rag doll after a powerful strike to his back.

"Heh! How'u like that, govnah!" Lil' wore earmuffs the protected him from the still blowing whistle, but it made him even more obnoxiously loud than he already was.

"Heheh! I... I told ya letting the others wear him down was a good idea, mate. I'm terribly sorry for this, though..." The roo took a deep drink from his jug before tossing it onto the floor. He was staggered looking, barely able to stand on his own feet with how drunk he must be.

John rolled his eyes a bit. Both at his brother's stupid accent and the fact that he really didn't like this new guy. Always felt like he was trying too hard to be the 'smart guy' in the gang. Mitch was much better! With his own earmuffs on, he put on his trusty brass knuckles like his brother.

"Oy! You... you lot clear outta here." It didn't take much for the Roo to make the others follow -this- order. They really didn't want to be there anymore and quickly dragged themselves as best they could towards the exit.

"Rrrrr... wait a minute!" Watchdog spat and wiped the blood off his lip. He held his disk launcher right at the kangaroo's face "This fight isn't over. I'm not done yet!"

Eddy's back was sore. Heck, just about every bit of him was by this point. He was used to having to fight his way out of a tough situation, but he wasn't used to so many actually knowing how to fight back. This was bad. He was running out of weapons to throw at them and he didn't even know for sure how many of them were still left in the building! Watchdog took a deep breath and gathered himself. He gave a cold glare ate the three still ready to fight. He still had a few charges left in his glove, but he had a feeling it was going to take a bit more than that. "Come on boys. Let's dance!"

Despite his staggering, Mr. Tuck clearly knew his stuff. A drunken fist! Eddy just saw a movie with Fawks about a guy who used this fighting style, so it was still fresh in his mind. There was something else though. The roo seemed to know every move Watch tried to make. Like he could see what his weaknesses were, but he wasn't nearly as adept at picking apart flaws as Buck was. Eddy could use this to his advantage if he could just last a bit longer!

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Uhoh! It seems our heroes have gotten themselves into a bit of trouble! Will Spirit and Watch be alright, or will they end up discarded like old toys? And what happened to Osprey? Is she fairing any better than the others? Does Mr. Hood have other plans in store for the brave heroes? Find out! Next time, on Spirit Force!