Ricci continues to sprint through the streets of Brooklyn, lined with stoops and abandoned brownstones. But he stops abruptly when he reaches a street sign that reads Williamsburg.
"I've never been this far from the cathedral," he thought to himself. He then pulls his hood over his head and wraps his cloak around his torso.
"To ensure the success of my mission, I must pass through the boroughs unseen," he says. "Even a slight encounter could become deadly."
He walks vigilantly through this new neighborhood as the rain starts to pour down again. Suddenly, Ricci stops in his tracks. He hears someone approaching.
Two tomcats were coming from around the corner up ahead. They were clad in what appeared to be chainmail and navy blue cloaks. Trash can lids shaped into shields were carried on their backs.
Ricci steps back up against the brick wall and crouches down beside a nearby trash can, he instantly disappears into its shadow.
The cats walk by without noticing him. Ricci pulls back his hood and lets out a sign of relief. "That was close," he thought.
With the tomcats now out of sight, Ricci gets up silently and continues on his way. He passes by an alleyway, when suddenly a voice from inside cries out "HELP!"
Ricci freezes in his place. He turns his head and looks into the alley. He sees a kitten being cornered by three cobras. They had white scales with violet markings along their back. Their fangs dripped with venom as they hissed at the small feline with gaping maws.
"Help me! Someone, please help me!" the kitten continues to cry.
"Hey! Get away from that little girl!" shouts Ricci.
The cobras whip their heads around and say, "What loudmouth punk just said that?"
Ricci draws his stiletto from its scabbard. In the paws of a critter like himself, it appears as a medieval longsword. He charges at the serpents with his weapon pointing forward from his waist as he shouts, "Eat steel, you witless worms!"
The three cobras rapidly slither away from the kitten and towards their new enemy. Ricci then crouches and raises the hilt to his left ear, changing his stance to the ox guard position, and anticipates his enemies' attack.
All three cobras spring at him at once. Then Ricci lunges forward and swings his sword in a figure eight motion. Decapitating all three of them in succession with a single movement.
The kitten watches on in amazement, astonished at Ricci's martial prowess. Their severed heads hit the floor behind him one after the other; flop.. flop.. flop!
She jumps with joy then runs up to Ricci and says, "Wow! You saved me, mister rodent!" Suddenly, the bodies of the cobra then erupted into magenta colored goop, startling both Ricci and the kitten.
Then the two cats from before come running into the alleyway.
"Is everything alright?" says the first cat, "We heard a terrible cry."
Then the second cat looks at Ricci with his sword in hand and says, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Leave that kitten alone!"
"What is that thing?" asks the first cat.
"Get off our turf, freak!" says the second cat as the two come marching towards Ricci.
Ricci sheathes his sword back into his scabbard and raises his hands as he says, "I mean the child no harm."
But the tomcats were not convinced. They pull out the wooden hilts that hung from their leather belts. Steel blades pop out from them, they were switchblade knives, but in the paws of a cat, they were like one-handed shortswords.
The kitten scurries away, frightened by the impending battle.
The first cat attacks Ricci with a thrust but he quickly twists his torso, evading the blade. Then Ricci uses his free hands to grab the cat's sword arm and throws him to the ground, while simultaneously taking the switchblade from his hand. The impact on the concrete instantly knocks the wind right out of him. Then Ricci uses the switchblade to parry the incoming slash from the second cat. He quickly circles it in the bind and the sword goes flying out of the cat's hand.
The metal blade ricochets off the ally's brick wall, making a loud CLANG!
The noise startles the first cat lying on the ground and he finally comes to. He rolls onto his hands and knees and pulls out a swiss army knife from his belt, then stabs Ricci in the thigh.
Ricci immediately drops to one knee in pain, then the disarmed cat punches him across the face, knocking him out cold.
Everything goes black.