[Last week on Buffy The Vampire Slayer...]

Thunderbolt, a sleepy parish of Savannah, GA

The Duprees summoned Gracie Lynn to an unexpected family gathering.  Darius Simmons tailed her to a lone cabin in the marshes of Thunderbolt.  The popular cheerleader found herself face-to-face with a family she often avoided.  Darius found himself confronted with unexpected truths about his potential girlfriend...

Gracie Lynn's grandfather took her face between his weathered hands.  "Baby girl, you're here because we know you ran into some vampires very recently.  We know your boyfriend met 'em, too."

Gracie Lynn just stares at Grandfather with a blank (or shocked) look "You all know about them?" she asks weakly.  What else had they not told her about.

The old man nodded grimly.  "Yes, Gracie.  Our family's known about 'em for generations.  My grandfather taught me about the vampires...that's the way it's been done, parent teaching the child.  All the way back to the 'Old Country'."

Papaw sighed.  "We wanted to wait 'til you were older, finished with school, hopefully in college.  Unfortunately, that she-devil y'all ran afoul of pushed the plan up earlier."  He nodded to Gracie's big sister.

"Lorinda had a vision of your encounter."  Lorinda smiled knowingly.  "How do you think I always know when you've used my lipstick?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:07, Fri 04 Dec 2015.

Gracie just looks at her older sister "Oh please, I only used what I knew didn't look good on you"

Then she looks back to her grandfather "Don't you think you should at least warn people that things like that are out there? I mean, I could have been killed by it." she says almsot begging. What else have they not told her?

"Who would believe us, Gracie?  To the world at large, we're just a bunch of white trash circus freaks!  Besides, people live with enough fear in today's world:  the economy, AIDS, terrorism.  What makes you think they're ready to learn that the bogeyman really sleeps under their beds?"

Papaw shook his head.  "Mundane folk insulate themselves from the terrors that lurk in the night.  It's why we hide the more...extraordinary members of our clan in the sideshows.  The circus lets us move without too much suspicion."

Lorinda spoke up.  "That's why we travel a lot, Gracie.  The circus has always been a good cover for our other work:  huntin' the evil demons--and the vampires."

Gracie looks at Papaw and knew he was right. She lived in the normal world.People would not belive in vampires. "Ya, I guess your right. it jsuts seems to wierd. Um, what do you mean by extraordinary members of our clan?" but them most of the other cheerleaders would just not be able to deal with it.

She looks at her sister "OK, so that where you went. But what do you mean by hunting thing?"

The old man gave her a cockeyed look.  "Sugar Plum, did you really think Earlene has quills because of a birth defect?"  He couldn't quite resist a teasing cackle.

Lorinda answered her sister with a patient, understanding demeanor.  "We're demon hunters, baby sister.  We go after the monsters who prey on humans.  There are a few demons who are sympathetic to our cause.

Most of the 'freaks' in fact.  They help us out, and we give them shelter and income.  It's worked out so far.

And there ain't a DAMN thing in my makeup counter that doesn't look good on me."

Darius continues sitting dumbfounded. It wasn't disbilief that registered in his face, nor fear, just the agonizingly slow process of trying to justify everything in line with the rigid indoctinations of his own youth. His mouth works slowly, and silently, as questions go un-asked... because the answers seemed rather self-evident. Demons. Vampires. Demons Hunting Vampires. Quills. Cyclopses. Visions.

Visions. That word rings the loudest in his mind, paranoia amplifing all the worst conotations.

While Darius processed the preternatural shocker, his smartphone rang.  Darius heard the song he'd especially chosen for his family.  The phone rang insistently.

Nor did his discombobulation go unnoticed by the Duprees.  The quills on Earlene's head bobbed as she stared askew at him.  "Gracie Lynn, is your boyfriend gonna be alright?  Do you want some sweet tea, honey?"  Despite her scary appearance, she actually had a charming Southern drawl!

Darius' mouth snaps shut, his eyes clearing the moment he's put on the ropes. It was that time to think that had hung him up... Darius is a man of action, and it was the element of reaction in which he felt most comfortable. "Sorry, yes, I would love some sweet tea... Dry mouth is one of those few drawbacks to a good days ride..." He says, nodding vacantly towards where he'd parked his motorcycle while thumbing the silent button on his phone as he pulls it from his pocket to check the caller ID.

Earlene poured a tall glass full of sweet tea!  This wasn't the watered down variety served up North, oh no.  This was the kind of tea that had so much sugar in it the spoon probably stood up straight!  "Here you go, hon.

What about you, Gracie?  You always liked my sweet tea when you were a young'un!"

As Darius checked the caller ID, he saw his mother's number.  He'd received a text message.  The envelope icon indicated a new, unread message.

Gracie just shook her head "I guess I really didn't about why Earlene had quills. I guess I did think it was some kind of birth defect. What else would I think if no one told me. So am I to get some crash course on demons and vampires now? Are they going to come after me?" she said almost in a worried voice? Here whole world was crashing down around her and she at least had seen a little of her relatives but she was sure Darius would be in shock. "Oh, he will be fine" she hoped.

She looked Earlene "Sure, tea is good. What about some whiskey?"

"Thank you." Darius politely accepts his tea, closing his eyes as he takes a deep gulp... he relishes the feeling as it oozes down his throat. Ever the dutiful son, he checks the text message.

Gracie takes Darius's hand and holds it. She wants to comfort him and herself.

When Darius read the text message, he found the following from his mother:

Darius, is Chan with you?  She went out for pizza two hours ago.  She was supposed to be home by 10.  I haven't heard from her and I'm getting worried.

Please call me."

Not wanting to out his sister, Darius doesn't answer his mothers text immediately. For all she knew, he WAS out on the motorcycle... texting and driving was bad juju. Instead he takes a moment to toss a text to Chan instead...

Chan's cellphone jangled musically as Darius' text came through.  The phone signaled a message she simply couldn't receive.  She slumped against a damp, cold wall as Gabrielle fingered the phone.  Cold manacles bound her wrists, the chains holding her to an old wall.

She didn't know exactly where the vampire gang had taken her.  Gabrielle's minions had dragged the girl to a large storm drain.  A thick she-vamp with muscular arms ripped the drain-cover free.  They'd dropped eight feet to an old hole that led deep into a centuries-old sewer system.  The vampires dragged their captive quickly through a winding, confusing underground labyrinth.

Now, Chan was locked in what looked like an old cell.  Gabrielle flashed a toothy grin.  "Aww, 'Mom' is very worried about you!  Should I call her and tell her we're having a slumber party?"  Gabrielle sidled beside Chan, and squatted down.

Her eyes crinkled in delight as she said in jovial tones, "You know, so she won't worry!"  Three vamps watching cackled with malicious glee.  Gabrielle crushed Chan's phone between her fingers.

Despite the recent craziness, Chan had never known much fear in her life. Generally the worst thing she had to deal with was somewhat overprotective family. In no way had it prepared her for something like this. Even her most frightening nightmares had never even come close to the terror that she was drowning in. She had no idea where she was, and knew without a doubt that she was at the mercy of a group of blood sucking predators of the night.

The rational part of her mind even went so far as to tell her that rescue wasn't coming. Her friends weren't some sort of anime vampire hunter, and her brother wasn't any sort of superhero. Even if they found out where she was and could somehow get to her, they'd probably share her fate. So the best she could hope for was that they didn't come anywhere near her. Despair and terror warred within her, before deciding that they could each share the spotlight. Oddly enough she wondered if this was what her food felt like before it was killed, and made the resolution to stop eating meat if she somehow survived.

The small rational part of her mind, reduced to a whisper in her ear, wondered why she was even still alive. They could have killed her a while ago, and not bothered dragging her through the sewer, or chaining her to the wall. Of course they could just want to play with their food for a while before they ate her, sort of like a cat.

"It's past my curfew, and she worries." She said deciding that it was best to play along for now. If they had at one point been the stereotypical mean girls, then playing along with them and letting them enjoy themselves might keep her alive for a while longer. She did her best to keep her voice as normal as she could, but she was pretty sure that it had wavered a little. More than anything she wished that she had her sketchbook, and something a little less sewer stained to wear. If she was going to die she really didn't want to die in a stained outfit.

The vampires' laughter echoed in the underground chamber, as Chan pondered her slim chances of survival...

Above ground, pain brought Buffy Summers back to awareness.  Though dim, even the street lamps seemed harsh at first.  The sounds of Savannah clashed in a harsh cacophony in the Slayer's ears.  To make things worse, the dampness in Buffy's clothes brought her attention to the fact that she'd fallen into a dirty puddle.

The Slayer had survived Gabrielle's ambush and she was well and truly pissed!

Buffy woke up sputtering. She rolled over onto her back and out of the puddle, gasping for breath.

"Nice job, Summers, all tens...'cept for the Russian judge. Face first into a puddle-"

Buffy's head was pounding like a thousand drums. Her mind spun itself back. How had she ended up there? A baseball bat. Repeatedly. Courtesy of that vampire bitch. Buffy had been having a real ground breaking conversation with Chan-

Chan. Where was she?

"Chan?"

Buffy looked around. She remembered Gabrielle's cronies grabbing Chan, and then she woke up in the puddle. Buffy felt cold fear creeping up her spine, and panic. Helplessness because for all her "power" as the "Slayer", she couldn't even stop her one friend in this place from being abducted.

"Chan?!"

Buffy clenched her hands into fists, absolutely furious. The irony of the situation was not at all lost on her. Especially considering the conversation she was just having. Fear quickly gave way to hot, swooping anger.

"Aghhhhhhhh!"

Buffy let a hard kick crack into a mailbox, splintering the metal box from its wooden frame. Buffy grabbed a few of the large, more pointed pieces. The time for playing was done. Buffy had just one problem. Where the hell had these vampires taken Chan? And how was Buffy going to find them in time. Buffy tucked the impromptu stakes away and took a breath. She pulled out her phone and called Darius. At the very least, she needed to be more mobile than she was currently...
This message was last edited by the player at 22:52, Wed 29 Aug 2012.

"So Darius, did you get anything?" she says concerned.

She looks at her Papaw, "So, what do you knwo of the vampires in this area? Any idea where they might be lurking?" She was not trilled about going to look for them but she wanted to know.

Approaching Buffy, slowly, was the dude in white, Luthien himself.

And looking at her, he can tell he was late. No need to lampshade it. She was angry, and he'd rather her anger be turned on those who deserved it.

"What happened?"

She was obviously attacked, but he hadn't deduced by what yet. Too many options in this town.

Darius looks up, distracted by the lack of answer from Chan. "Just my Mother, seems Chan is late... and not answering her phone." Darius begins typing a fllow up, but is cut off by Buffy' call. Relief floods him, assuming the pair are together. He excuses himself, and steps hastily aside to accept the call.

Papaw watched Darius out of the corner of his eye.  He seemed almost preoccupied; he didn't answer Gracie Lynn until her boyfriend had stepped aside.  "I know their power, and more importantly, how to kill 'em.

Blood-suckers like the places where they can hunt unnoticed.  Sometimes that's a dark, lonely street.  Others, they crave the thrill of hunting among unaware humans.

You might find 'em at a bar, a busy market.  More than a few of the undead thought they could get away with using our circus as their hunting ground.

Heh."

Buffy sat there waiting for Darius to answer, the phone connecting slowly. She heard Luthien's voice call out and she immediately brandished a stake in his direction. She looked at him dangerously.

"We've been through this. I don't know you, I don't like you, I don't trust you. Go. Away."

She heard the phone click as Darius answered.

"Darius, they took her."

Buffy was gritting her teeth delivering that statement.

"They attacked me with a bat. Those freaky chicks from the other night. I woke up and she was gone."

Luthien wasn't going anywhere. Instead, he simply waited for her to finish her phonecall. Whatever problems she had with him were going to have to be resolved, here and now, if anything useful was to get done in the future.

So, he leaned a wall. He could be patient.

"Not going anywhere. If you want to settle your differences with me, do it. But you'll be wasting time."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Thu 30 Aug 2012.

Darius is moving towards and out the door with out a care for propriety, or how rude he might appear in his panic; His dark complexion noticeably paler and his voice shakey. "What? Where are you?"  Darius wedges the phone between shoulder and ear as he kneels to unfasten his helmet from the seat.

Buffy adjusted the phone so she could look at the street signs.

"I, uhhhh, Broughton and Whitaker. Look, I have to go. I'll wait for you here. Get here soon...please."

Buffy hung up the phone and turned back to Luthien.

"I don't have time for games, Mister 'I always show up in bad places at the wrong time'. You won't tell me anything about you, and yet...once again...here you are right after something really bad happens."

Buffy pointed the stake at him again.

"I still have absolutely zero reason to tell you anything. For all I know, you could be working for Ms.'I like to pretend Buffy's head is a baseball'..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:08, Fri 31 Aug 2012.

"If I were, would I have neutralized that pyrokinetic you missed? It was Kieran, by the way. I'm teaching him how to control his power so he doesn't start any more accidents. Gotta hope the discipline he learns controlling his fire will pass into his personal life."

As for himself...

"All I can say about myself is, I'm under oath not to tell you, or anyone else. I can't break my word. All I can really tell you about is what I've done since I got here."

Really, at this point, he'd LIKE to say what's going on, but...yeah, promises.

"All you can do is judge me by what I do."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Fri 31 Aug 2012.

Buffy sighed, glowering. This was not exactly fortuitous. Again, no answers. She looked at Luthien dead on.

"Well, then, I guess we are at kind of a standstill, because I haven't seen you do anything except show up in a burning locker room. You say you stopped Kieran, but I have no proof of that. And, my only real friend in those whoooole place just got kidnapped by a psycho with fangs and a baseball bat. This is after a whole mess of other very strange things. I hope you can understand why I'm having trust issues recently."

Buffy shook her head.

"And...what is it with you people and secrets?"

Buffy was now clearly lumping Luthien in with Watchers and others who'd tried to force her to become the Slayer earlier on in her life.

"With your mighty secrets and oaths. You'd figure with everything going on, you might be able to shed a little light. You know, since you want me to be the 'Slayer' and all. But no, instead I've gotten more stonewalls than I really care to count. At least I know what the psycho vamp wants!"

Buffy paused.

"Great, you got me monologue-ing...again."

Buffy threw her hands up in the air.

"You and I, this...it's gonna have to wait. Chan is more important right now."

"It's...not my call. It'd clearly make things easier on you if I told you what was going on with me. If it were up to me, I'd tell you. But I am not in a position to indulge you, and it is not up to me."

Hmmm.

"I agree. You can yell at me for something I really have no say in later. For now...we should track your friend down. Unless you were planning on taking on a nest by yourself?"

Gracie follows Darius as she puts her hand on his arm "What is wrong? Tell me? " she said with a worried sound in her voice.

Darius shoves the phone into his leather jackets pocket, and slams the helmet onto his head. He looks dtartled at Gracies touch. He'd been so scared he hadn't heard her follow him out. "Chan. Those...That bitch came back. They clocked Buffy, took Chan. I gotta go. I'm sorry. Tell your folks, please. I'm sorry." Darius climbs onto the bike, and the engine revs to life. He tries to force a parting smile as he throttles off, the back tire kicking left on the gravel as he fights it under control and accelerates off towards the appointed intersection at speeds exceeding the legal limit.

Gracie can be left in nothing short of shock. Story aside... Darius, had dropped a curse word. In anger. Two very out of character things. He was clearly worried about his sister.

Buffy looked at him. She actually had planned on that.

"For Chan, I thin I would. But, I have somebody coming...I dunno if we'll have room for a third though."

Buffy sighed but clenched her fists as she heard a bike quickly approaching down the empty streets. It was time to get started.

Luthien...nods.

"Do you know where you're going? If you do, I'll leave now and meet you there. I'm not as fast as a vehicle, but I'll get there."

That's all to say there.

Gracie screams at Darius "Wait! Take me with you! COME BACK HERE!" she screams. How could he just ride off with out her?  She wanted to go and help but had no idea where he was going.

What had she heard if anything on the phone? She runs back to her family. "I need to find out where he is going and need a car. I think he is going after some vamps"

Papaw frowned.  "I hope he's not planning on hunting them alone.  He might be a helluva quarterback, but that doesn't mean he's ready to single-handedly hunt vampires!"

"He won't fight alone."  Lorinda spoke in a breathy sigh.  "I see...powerful allies helping him.  A powerful force watches over that one..."

"Be that as it may, Lorinda, you only see what should happen.  Not always what absolutely will."  Papaw placed his hands on Gracie's shoulders.  He looked her squarely in the eyes.  "Do you want to learn how to hunt, girl?"

Gracie looks at her grandfather "Yes, I want to learn to hunt them and see them for who they are" She was still shocked Darius had just rode off with out her.

Let's get the gear we used for your old act.  Make sure you get extra parrafin wax--and you might wanna wear that aramid top."  Papaw smiled warmly at his favorite granddaughter.  "Always thought you looked pretty in that.  Just like your mother and grandma."

Meanwhile...

Darius tested the limits--speed and otherwise--on his motorcycle.  He didn't care about tickets.  All that he knew was that Buffy told him that they'd taken Chan.  If Darius went a little faster, he'd reach their meeting place in the next four minutes!


Melba & Garrett

The "Melba-Mobile" carried its two most frequent passengers back to the funky downtown Edwardian mansion that Melba called "home".


A private, untraceable cellphone elsewhere

The slate gray cellphone hummed with a new message.  In a dark room, the owner quickly pulled it out.  The message said:  Vampire Activity in the Northwestern quadrant.  Cameras caught everything.  It's the vampire gang you engaged seven weeks ago.  They captured one of the kids you were trailing.  They have the Simmons girl.  Orders are to retrieve her immediately.  Be discreet.

Melba grinned to Garret as they drove downtown.  She checked right and left at every intersection because, let's face it, she'd feel so stupid if she faced down a vamp and then died from a sideswipe.

"Right", she said,  "I've got a little project going on.  Yeah I know, when haven't I?  I couldn't get hold of any fissionables, so the nuke's out but I've got the parts for a water-cannon.  Now all I need is a friendly Priest to make Holy Water and then it's vampire Armageddon."

Garrett knows Melba well enough by now to know when she's joking.  This is not one of those occasions.  "That's where you come in.  I could talk to the Rebbe at Synagogue but I've never heard of a Rabbi making Holy Water."

She still wasn't joking when she added, "Failing that, I suppose I've still got some napalm left from that LARP adventure."

Trident was not happy. It had been a very nice dream that control had interrupted, of days before working for Control. Control was an unmitigated control freak who required paperwork on every little move. Rumors of the supernatural boogie man.. the 'Slayer' and Trident is doing babysitter on the teens that had been in on the rumble outside the restaurant and their 'known associates'.

Pulling a smartphone out of one of the many pockets on the uniform, Trident waited for it to power up and synch with the helmet bluetooth. Another second to synch up the HUD and then to power up and track the few tagged vehicles on the 'track' list.

"Central, 'Trident' on station, where was Simmons taken and did you get the map overlays pulled like I asked. If I'm doing the 'dark knight' thing I should at least get the perks." GOD, I wish I was back with Team 13 hunting mermen off the coast of Cali.. Trident thought glumly, a S.E.A.L. didn't do solo work happily. Team first, Team last, Team always... this solo gunman crap was stupid and foolish. All because Control didn't like anyone but her pretty soldier boys.


"Central, uploading the maps. Intel highlighted the old tunnels most likely to have a nest. Control mandates you go incog and play your identity. No tac support or gear beyond base assets. Lose the helmet and the suit, you're not Captain Charleston tonight squid."


"Fine.. tell Walsh that she's got a review from Admiral Hydecker next week and I hope she likes explaining why her Team 13 liaison is playing babysitter alone instead of having team back up like SOP mandates..then is sent into the field weaponless. Ought to make for an interesting talk before her next budget review by the SecNav. Trident out." Trident growled, disconnecting before Central could respond.

Time to go find Simmons and help out.

Gracie wants to follow Darius but knows she needs to be prepared. She goes and gets her stuff, slipping on the shirt.

When Melba brought up the holy water, Garrett rolled his eyes.  "Like I wanna darken the door of St. John's!  After the night we've had, what if I go up in flames?"  Garrett went into thoughtful repose as he pondered that potential quandary.

"Do you think vamp corruption is contagious?  Hmm."


His long legs dangled lazily from his perch as another thoughtful pause came and went.  "Do you think Hunter will ever talk to us again after our hard into Crazyville?"

Melba kept her eyes on the road but she did answer.  "Dude, as I understand it, all you're in danger of is excommunication.  If you're worried about St John's, maybe we should check out one of the other churches.  I wonder if members of the Universal Life Church can bless Holy Water.  If so, maybe we could get Hunter to get himself ordained."

And of course, THAT led on to, "Of COURSE Hunter will talk to us again, not only are we the coolest in the school, but you are also the prettiest so of course, little Hunter will lead around big Hunter.  That's the way men are."

But we should not forget the elephant in the room.  "I know next to nothing about vamps, so how about we go to the library some time and do some research?  Shame none of the teachers seem to know anything.  This is one occasion when a teacher might actually perform a useful function and point me to what I need to know."

"Mr. Whitlock seemed approachable.  I think he'd at least hear us out without snitching to Van Tiel or Jepson."  Garrett shrugged, making his bangs flop in that way which drove some girls mad.

"I'm also going by that shop tomorrow."  Garrett brightened noticeably.  "I ran into one of the owners tonight, who just so happens to be a fabulous artist-about-town!  She said I could come by and fill out an application!"

"Oh cool", enthused Melba, "I'll talk to Mr Whitlock when I see him and as for the shop, I'll have to come down and have a look, see if they have any useful books on vamps".

Soon, Darius caught up with Buffy for a grim meeting near the intersection of Drayton and West Congress.  Although Gabrielle had jumped Buffy and Chan in an alley, they were still near the heart of busy downtown Savannah.  Which, not so busy when compared with Los Angeles or New York City, but still busy enough.  This fact spoke to the subterfuge and speed of the vampires involved.

Luthien wasn't with them yet, but from what Buffy had seen, he apparently intuited where he was needed.  Not needed by her, perhaps, but nonetheless allegedly needed by the same innocents that Buffy was "Chosen" to protect.  Would he come alone?
Were there others out there like him?

Meanwhile, Papaw and Lemuel drove Gracie Lynn in the same pickup which brought her.  They drove along Victory Drive, blending in easily with the traffic.  The movement of flashier and faster cars covered the truck.  "Turn right on Truman Parkway.  Go all the way to where it meets up with Island Expressway.  We should check out the homeless camps near the overpass."

He turned to his granddaughter.  "Vamps find readily available meals among a city's homeless."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:44, Thu 13 Sept 2012.

Luthien did not head straight for the battlesite.

No indeed.

He needed to have another chat with the Watcher. For the team would not be true until Watcher and Slayer were properly one.

Luthien departed to Clive's current location.

BJ sighed as she looked around the edge of the building, map in hand.  A glance up the stairway was t reassure herself of the fact she was going in the right direction.

" Would you be willing to check the historical tunnels to see if their safe coach? Mrs Riordan gets all manner of rashes if there is mold coach." she said mimicking the den of the schools request. She knew new kid on the block scut work when she saw it, and this was only one of a dozen things she had to do this week. Survey potential historical landmarks, and it seemed old smuggler tunnels counted.

Clive had moved on from hard liquor to tea.  In a decidedly Londoner fashion he's simply keep a stiff upper lip about the whole affair.  Figuring he'd already have to have a word with the young miss Summers on school grounds about the whole slayer thing anything.  Despite the initial shock, the letter wasn't exactly groundbreaking.  Having used the time to research anything that started a fire larger than a matchbox he could.

But Luthien wasn't far away.

Before too much longer, there's a knock on Clive's door.

Clive's ears perked up, mildly surprised by the late night visitor.  Picking himself up off his workspace the watcher would make his way over to the door.  Calmly dusting himself off slightly, Clive would begin to grip the handle his expression completely aghast at the sight of Luthien.  "Oh, you have to be kidding me."  And with that it seemed a long night just got longer.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Thu 13 Sept 2012.

G
Gacie rode along with Papaw, amking sure she had all of her flame stuff ready. She had not done it it ina while but never forgot how. "so, I guess they are pretty fast?"

"Would that I were. Your Slayer's about to take on a nest of vampires. Grab your weapons, and come with me...and feel free to drive. She's going to the nest by motorcycle."

If Luthien shows up, it's cause there's good reason for it.

Darius looks back to Buffy over his shoulder as they pull up to a red light. "<"Which way?", his visor had been left up since the moment he'd picked The Slayer up, to facilitate her navigation. His spare helmet had seen time recently on both Chan and Gracie, so while the fit was snug it was proven and sound.

"Oh lovely let's just arm up and take a bloody road trip.  Lord, when she goes gun ho about this sordid affair she goes gun ho.  My car's in the shop, I suppose we can borrow a neighbor's." Cringing at the thought of inviting Luthien inside, he would need the extra arm power.  "Well come along, I should have a trunk full of the proper implements.  Seeing how you manhandled those fangs earlier I figure you could do some heavy lifting whilst I wire us an automobile."  Exasperated he would turn back around leading the way into his door preparing for what type of letter he should be expecting over this.

"Done."

Luthien doesn't seem to need an invitation, and he immediately goes to the aforementioned weapons trunk. He notably seems to be able to lift it easily, even with all the cutlery inside, nor is he showing any visible strain lifting it.

He sets it down by the door, and waits for Clive's wired car to arrive.

Buffy pulled up her own visor, and nodded to Darius. She looked around for a long second, trying to tap into some kind of...sense?

Did she even have Spidey-sense? Buffy shook her head of the thought and focused, trying to pick up something, anything that would give her a lead, or perhaps even the trail of the murderous little gang that had taken Chan.


"Give me a sec..."

Clive takes the opportunity to scour around to one of the unoccupied cars in the area.  Looking for one beat up  enough to not have its alarm system turned. "I'm sure it's just like riding a bicycle."  Sighing as he prepared to polish off a worst neighbor of the year award he would simply pick up a rock as he made his way over to the nearest automobile prepared to hope for the best as he pulled his arm back launching the little piece of nature.

And Luthien steps out just then, and actually attempts to stop Clive from throwing it or smashing the window in whatever way he had in mind.!

(This is probably an Initiative check.)

"I did not give you permission to steal or vandalize, Watcher. If you cannot call a cab, or otherwise acquire transportation legally, we will run."

Clive furrowedd his brows further exasperated as he was interrupted.  Not being in the best of moods due to the direction the night had gone in hadn't helped either.  "First off are you daft?  Secondly, I don't remember needing your permission to requisition a vehicle.  And really a cab when you don not exactly know the final destination.  There's being prudent and there's just having no foresight.  Prioritizing legality in such matters falls into the latter category.  The mundanes will be fine.  Oh and while we're having a civics discussion, in case you didn't realize carrying around a trunk full of weaponry not so legal.  Alright let us run then, because nothing wrong could come about from a stroll with you."  Closing his rebuttal with obvious hints towards the earlier vampire attack, he couldn't believe that Mr. monochrome actually thought it wise to pick and choose their laws.  Let alone that tone.

(If it's an initiative check I'll end up having to edit as such)

"YOU don't know the exact destination. I do. Call the cab. I can give him an address. As for those...we will keep the container shut."

The weapons are necessary, but this Watcher seems to not realize that vandalizing would put him in direct conflict with the police, and he can't afford that. Also, it's a theft, and unethical for that alone. Transporting one's own possessions is perfectly fine, to him anyway.

OOC:

Make an Initiative check.

Just for giggles.

In reply to Big Bad (msg # 63):

Heh. Let's see him beat a 16.

(Kk, throws a drama point on it, I kid but he did say let's see him beat it XP. 12's better than I would've expected though)

Rolling his eyes Clive would reach into his pockets to pull out a cell phone.  Not quite believing as to what he was about to do, he'd comb through his contacts list before B.J's name stood out.  While he couldn't guarantee a no questions asked lift from her, it was still of more comfort than the idea of a cab.  Quietly dialing out he'd simply wait.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:21, Tue 18 Sept 2012.

"Cordova, go." BJ said briskly in the phone as it buzzed. She sounded in a tight space and didn't recognize the number. "Who is this?" She added a second later as she moved to find one of the exit tunnels.

OOC: Sorry about the delay.

"Oh lovely so you're still up, It's Clive here.  I'm glad to have caught you Bonita.  I know it is a bit late and would hate to be a bother, but do you think you can give me a lift from my place?  Seems I have a bit of an errand to run."  Parsing his lips contemplatively he couldn't help but think attempting to introduce Luthien would be all sorts of awkwardness.  The guy didn't exactly scream inconspicuous.

"I could do that, it will take about 10 minutes to get there from where I'm at." BJ said as she headed back the way she had come. "IS there anything I need to know about this..errand? Does it involve.. fiery teenagers?"

She jogged along the tunnels with a bit more speed as she considered the implantation of the 'errands' that he might have.

"As sure that I am that plenty of our students have a fiery passion for the arts.  This matter is nothing of the sort.  A simple late night excursion." Leaving off the fact that the end point wasn't so simple.  Fiery sounded real good about now though.

"Fine, I'm on my way.. however, I expect more than clever and witty verbal dancing to get me to ferry you about the city." BJ said as she got into her car and started it. The vintage muscle car started with a throaty growl as she pulled out and slid the phone into it's speaker rocker.

"Where am I picking you up at?"

After a while, the location of the pickup was made known, and the pickup occurred. He's not sure if the coach would be surprised to see HIM or not...possibly not, considering...but his presence certainly lends some...gravity to the probable mission.

"Pleasure to see you again."

"Yeah, I'm sure..now care to tell me what is going on?" BJ said as she waited for the two men to get in the car and tell her what was going on.

"A similar situation to Kieran. Only with less burning, and more direct violence. They hold Chan Simmons prisoner. We will proceed to do something about it. Can you open the trunk?"

In what condition, well, Luthien hasn't sensed it yet one way or the other.

As for the trunk, Luthien's got Clive's big chest of stuff to lift into the car. A VERY big chest of stuff. It looks very heavy.

Clive looked back and forth between Luthien and and BJ none to pleased with the exchange of pleasantries.  It didn't help that the man's first reaction was to flat out tell her that a student had been kidnapped.  Information that Luthien apparently didn't feel Clive was privy too earlier.  That rock was looking awfully appealing for other reasons to the watcher at this point.

Unaware of exactly what the Kieran connection was Clive would stumble to form the words needed for a coherent thought, "Obviously, he's kidding about this whole kidnapping business.  The students are putting on a production, and I'm just volunteering as the adviser for this little play...wait how do you two even know one another?"

"Care to tell me what is in the trunk first?" BJ said carefully as she looked at the trunk skeptically.

Luthien clearly needs to smooth a couple things over.

"BJ here was the target of Kieran, the Pyrokinetic you were investigating earlier. I met her when I convinced him to stop burning things and accept training in how to control his fire. And the kidnapping is no joke. Weapons are in the trunk, but I meant open the trunk of the vehicle so we can transport them to the victim's location. They will be needed."

At the Watcher's apparent consternation...

"There seems little reason for secrecy when she was already almost roasted by one of her own students."

"Yeah, definitely something of note I'm sure." She said carefully as she opened the trunk to show a pair of duffle bags that she moved out of the way to let them put the trunk in.

Luthien got the trunk in, and shut it behind them.

"Let's go, then. We're headed the old warehouse..."

He gives BJ directions on how to get there, and away they go!

"So which one of you two is Skully?" BJ asked as she headed in the direction where she was told to go. The warehouse was definitely on the 'wrong side' of the tracks she thought as she pulled up.

"Anything else you two guys want to tell me? Last time I saw a place this seedy it was in a step down from Barrio Logan in San Diego."

"I'm afraid there's no Scullys here, though he's likely the more relucant of the two of us."

Hmmm.

"Don't go in after us, and once we go in, drive a significant distance away. What we're going to be fighting are cold blooded killers, and cowardly enough to go after non combatants."

"Riiiiiggghhhhttt." BJ says with a sarcastic air. "So is it vamps, zombies or weres?"

"Vampires."

Which would explain both cold blooded killer and cowardly.

"Oh so it's like being back in East LA." BJ said carefully.

"Something like that. You have experience fighting them, yet? It isn't something to do lightly."

People who got overconfident often got overdead.

Clive could not wrap his head around how the conversation turned.  The illusion of normalcy fading as BJ casually conversed with Luthien over the dangers of the undead.  A possibility he hadn't expected in the slightest, people don't just run into vampires and live to tell about it.  Well at least those not meant to be in the know.  At least she survived an apparently close encounter with being barbecued.  "Excuse me whilst I fight off an aneurysm.  Seeing as the cat's out of the bag, I will have to say he's right in that caution is of the utmost importance."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:51, Tue 09 Oct 2012.

"Indeed. When we go in, I'll take point. Stay behind me, and cover eachother as much as possible. No matter how strong you think you are, vampires are faster and stronger. Those who fight them have to be heavily trained in combat to deal with being essentially outgunned."

Once the car pulls up to the location, he'll arm himself and go from there.

BJ shrugged as she got out of the car and reached under her seat to pull out a well polished teak box and opened it. In the satin lining lay a pair of holstered stakes and a HUGE knife with a shoulder rig she pulled on before pulling the blade to check it for any marring. The silvery Gurkha looked well cared for as she put it away. She slipped one stake up her sleeve and the other vanished ingo the rig under her coat as she looked to the two men with a cold look

"Okay, I'm not a super hero but there is no reason to be a pretensious dick to me. I know the hunter's first rule: play as a team or get dead. So, I follow your lead and you keep me alive, I keep you two alive. Tell me what to do is fine, treat me like an idiot we'll have words later after everyone is safe.

"I meant no offense. I just don't know how much experience you have doing this. I will update instructions once you tell me."

Though somebody carrying stakes can't be a complete amatuer.

"Sorry, that is need to know." BJ said with a grin to break the mood. "Lets see, garlic is a joke. Bullets, aside from VERY big bullets or explosive are out, though I met a guy who used a sawed off with wood flechettes. Best method is stake the heart, decapitation or fire and sunlight. Go for sweeps or diverts, don't try to grapple or match every a little vamp in strength. Crosses work but you're danger stupid close when you use them. The basics. Heard stories about some who can do a whammy, never seen on in the six or so I saw up close. Mostly, we tried to burn or pull down their nests around them during the day. Bulldozers work good."

"I can respect that. I'm not exactly allowed to tell exactly where my experience comes from either."

Hmmmm.

"That's the basics. And bulldozering down their havens is infinitely easier then what we're doing. This is gonna be a hostage rescue. Vampires only rarely take hostages, so it doesn't come up often."

Meanwhile...

Darius sped through downtown Savannah with Buffy holding tight.  The roar of his bike reverberated in a piercing growl through the tight streets as if in an echo chamber.  To the casual observer, they may have looked like a young couple enjoying a thrill ride.

However, the reason for their motorcycle sojourn involved anything but thrills.  Darius wanted to find his sister, Chan.  Buffy felt responsible for her new friend's dilemma.  They needed to find a lead, and fast.

Buffy trusted to "Slayer Senses" that she'd barely discovered.  She hoped that she would "sense" a vampire.  No "tingle" or "Vampire Vision" alerted her.

Although she thought that the furtive guy with the mullet and parachute pants might have been the proverbial "dead giveaway"...


OOC:

Gonna give the scene over to Darius & Buffy for a bit!

Buffy looked around, there was nothing going off in her head as to a general direction that they should follow to get Chan back. Buffy sighed frustratedly to herself, and then she spotted him. He was kind of a dead give away, a 90's look that had long since faded into ridiculed pop culture lore. Buffy leaned in close to Darius and flicked up her visor.

Without pointing, she spoke to Darius.

"See that cross between MC Hammer and Billy Ray Cyrus? He's our best bet at finding your sister..."

Darius isn't in the mindset to patiently wait and tail the guy. Not with his sister's life on the line. His fist tightens its grip, and he twists hard on the throttle... aiming to literally run the freak down.

Darius pivoted the motorcycle in the fashion-challenged vampire's direction.  The wheels screeched as they spun against asphalt!  Darius brutally attempted to run the vampire down.  Buffy only stayed on the bike due to superior Slayer strength and balance.

Unfortunately, the keen hearing of the undead alerted the vampire.  His eyes widened as the teen jock gunned his bike.  He sprinted down the alley with surprising speed.  However, not even a vampire's speed could out-perform Darius' motorcycle with such a poor lead!

The bike struck the vampire!  He bounced to the side and skidded through a puddle.  Buffy and Darius had the vampire at their disposal!

Darisu twists, to keep balance and grips down on the brakes skidding the bike to a stop so that he and Buffy can have some alone time with the Vamp. As he rips his helmet free, and swings a leg free of the bike he all but yells: "What did you do with my sister jackass?" The curse word slides out in the heat of anger, but certainly doesn't slide off with an experienced air.

"What are you talking about?!  I don't even know you!"  Up close, the guy's face looked considerably less bumpy than it had from a distance.  He held up his hands in haplessness.  His brown eyes appealed to Buffy for help.

Buffy glared at the vampire and pulled out a stake, whirling it about in her right hand as she stepped menacingly towards the vampire. Buffy knelt down next to the sputtering vamp.

"There is a female vampire that runs around with a pack of other female vampires. They're very distinctive. We want to know where they lair. Play dumb, and we dust you."

OOC:  Roll for an Intimidation check!  Use your Willpower + Influence; I wouldn't recommend bothering w/a Drama Point since he's just a mook.  Either of you may make the check.  I'll also allow an additional "Notice" check to spot a bluff or feel out lies.

ooc pm

Billy Ray Vampus smirked at Buffy.  "I don't know them, I don't anything ABOUT them, and I didn't tell you if I did!"  Maybe he didn't know that the Slayer was in town?

Then, Darius forcefully entered his space.  The jock stood a few inches taller than the poorly dressed vampire.  The vampire's knees didn't quiver, but no flippant remarks issued quickly from his cold lips, either.  "I mean...vamps roll through Savannah all the time.  Some bachelorette party gets turned and they're hittin' up the karaoke bars for 90's songs and Bloodtinis!"

"Your not being the kind of helpful I'm looking for." Darius smack a hand audibly against the brick wall beside the vampires head. "I gotta say, that's not doing wonders for my sense of leaniency. Patience, not really my strong suit. You better cough up something useful." Darius says, menace alight in his eyes. He wasn't overly experienced at this sort of thing... but he knew trash talk, and this was his sister. The conviction in his eyes was more than sufficient a threat despite the lack of verbal threat.

Buffy stood back and let Darius work. She knew when someone else had a tactic that worked. What Buffy did do was slip her stake into Darius' hand so that he could perhaps terrify the vamp even further if need be.

The vampire's eyes followed Buffy's movement.  They were positively riveted on the stake.  A pointy, wooden end sufficiently freaked out the vamp enough to make him slip into his "game face".  "Hey!  Hey-hey-hey-HEY!  There's no need for that, now...we're all cool here, right?!"

His words came out in nervous sputters, hands held up imploringly.  The vamp tried friendly re-assurance with a ridged forehead, feral eyes, and fangs.  It probably wasn't a convincing look.  "Let's not get all stake-happy here, alright?!"

Gracie called Darius, praying he would pick up.

Darius can't help it. The whole 'Game Face' thing wasn't something he'd ever seen before. Luckily, he'd heard enough about vampires today that, while surprised it wasn't fear that crossed his eyes so much as realization. "Stake Happy? There aint no happy right now, and that's not likely to change unless quit stalling and start cooperating. Where. Is. My. Sister?" Darius asks, emphasizing each and every word with an eye-flick between the stake and the prisoner. "I ask again, and it'll be emphasized with that thing."

Darius hands off his cell phone to Buffy, uncaring of who was calling or why so long as the vamp in his grip was under his power (or so he firmly believes)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Wed 21 Nov 2012.

"You don't understand, man!  She's a man-eater...got a century-long mad-on against men!  She'll chew me up and spit me out if I narc on her!"  Perhaps uncharacteristically, the vampire seemed to shrink beneath Darius' withering glare. The vamp hastily scanned the alley for signs of an escape route.

Buffy deftly took Darius' phone as he handed it off to her. Time to continue playing bad cop, worse cop. She looked at the vampire with her best look of disgust. She then looked to Darius.

"Darius, we're losing time. This guy definitely doesn't know anything. Stake his fangy butt so we can keep looking."

Buffy then turned her attention to Darius' phone, sliding the screen to 'unlock' the phone and answer the incoming call.

"Darius' phone, the Slayer speaking."

Her eyes flicked back to the vampire against the wall as she waited to hear the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hi, this is Darius's girlfriend, where is he? I am here with my family who I just found out are vampire slayers from the old country." She doesn't reconize the voice and hopes its not a vampire. if he is dead or turned, there will be hell to pay.

Lacking a stake, or understanding of precicely how effective it would be if he did have one, Darius falls back on his comfort zone instead. Pain was a universal thing to his mind, and this thing was his only lead. Balled fists are thus brought to bear, along with pointed reminders of what he wants to know.

Gyah... missed that, sorry.

Unwilling to risk killing the creature just yet, Darius presses the stake firmly into the soft spot under and behind the chin of the Vampire. He exerts sufficient force to break the skin, and ensures the creature can recognize that he's mighty tempted to do worse. "Say something useful. If you don't know, then who does? That phone conversation ends before you give me something useful, and I see if you can heal a stake to the brain. We'll move on to another vital organ if you manage.." Darius yanks the stake free, and roughly drags its blooded tip along the vampires neck, diagonal across his chest, and stops poised above the heart region. "I figure I've seen enough movies to get this part right..."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Sat 24 Nov 2012.

Buffy blinked. This kind of news was not at all what she had been expecting. From the sound of it, Darius’ girlfriend had the cavalry that they would need to get Chan back. Buffy took a breath.

“He’s right here, Chan. He’s about to put a stake through a vampire’s heart unless the bloodsucker here tells us what we want to know. He’s fine.”

Buffy took a look around.

“We were near Broughton and Whitaker, now we’re a few blocks down. I don’t know where though. Don’t know this area at all...”

Buffy looked over to Darius before shaking her head. She didn’t want to distract him while he was dealing with a vampire.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sun 25 Nov 2012.

Gracie tells Pawpaw where Darius is and hopes he knows where that is.

"OK, who ever you are, we are on our way. If you get better directions, let me know. I will stay on the line"

Papaw quickly relayed the directions to Lemuel.  "Take Whitaker off Bryan Street.  Go south til you see Gracie Lynn's boyfriend."  Lemuel pressed the pedal to the metal; his cousin knew they'd make the connection in seven minutes or less.

The vampire at Darius' mercy visibly wilted at the casual talk of staking.  "PLEASE!  Don't dust me, kid!  I'm not one of the major players, I'm just one of the bottom-feeders!"

He turned yellow eyes to the Slayer for help.  "Look, I don't know much, but I'll tell you what I know.  You don't have to dust me, I never kill people."  His shoulders shrugged as he smiled weakly in utter self-effacement.  "I was the runt of my sire's nest.  I swear, y'all, I just take a sip here and there.  Mostly off drunks and the death-chasers, just enough to get by.

I'll tell what y'all wanna know, just let me go..."

Darius doesn't move, he just keeps staring darkly into the vampires eyes. "Then do so, before I rethink that arrangement."

"Her name is Gabrielle...I think...she runs 'The Lost Girls' gang.  They only recruit girls--mostly black or Mexican--and eat everyone else.  They run Downtown and East side; South-side, West-side, and Island vamps don't mess with 'em.  How did you kids get mixed up with THEM?!"

"Like I sad, they have my sister. Where do I find them?"

"I...I don't know.  Honest!"  The vampire saw the mean glint in Darius' eyes.  He sputtered as he fished for useful information.  "Wait!  Their aren't many safe places to nest downtown.  Too much foot traffic and police presence.

The city's supposed to have tunnels underneath Savannah.  Older than the sewers..."

"And we access these tunnels how?" Darius continues, as though guiding a slow person through common sense.

Gracie talks to who has the phone "Who has my boyfriends phone and what is happening with him?" she demands "If he is hurt, I will beat the crap out of who ever hurt him!"

OOC:  I need "Intelligence + Knowledge" rolls from Darius & Gracie Lynne.  Buffy, you can roll, too, but at a -1 penalty.

Meanwhile...

Gabrielle paced slowly around a captive Chan.  She watched the girl with an intensive, unwavering gaze that unnerved her hostage.  Not unlike how a snake might eye a bird's nest or a great cat might stare at a gazelle.

A hungry minion came too close to Chan.  She got a vicious backhand from Gabrielle for her troubles!  The smack rebounded off the old walls.  "I told you, she's not FOOD!"  Gabrielle smiled cruelly at Chan.

"At least not yet."  Then, she squatted down beside the girl.  "What are you thinking, little girl?  That the Slayer and your delicious brother will find you in time?  That they'll come racing through that entrance to save you at the last second?"

(ooc- Gracie Lynn DuPree rolled 10 using the Unisystem system (1d10+5). GM ROLL)

"I'm new in town," the vampire said in panicked sputters.  "I still don't know my way around the city!"  He eyed the stake in dread anticipation of what likely came next.

Then, Darius suddenly remembered an old legend about the city.  The oldest restaurant in Savannah, the Pirate's House, once an old sailor's tavern established in 1754.  When Darius was still a kid, Chan had begged their parents to take them to The Pirate's House.  A tour guide dressed as a pirate told them the history of the old landmark.

According to legend, patrons of the tavern often passed out in the bar, and later awoke on a pirate's ship as slaves!  It was said that the pirates used tunnels underneath the city to sneak their newly-bought slaves to the waterfront.  Events that happened there were said to inspire the novel Treasure Island.

As Darius reminisced, Gracie Lynn realized that she recognized the person holding Darius' phone--Buffy!

OOC:

What do you all do next?

"I trust you know your way well enough to find your way back out of the city? Find it, follow it... Pray to God every day for redemption, and get yourself on a righteous path." Darius rakes the stake downwards, hard and fast... fast enough to tear through clothing still more. "Go, before I start thinking better of this arrangement."

Buffy blinked at Gracie's threat. She definitely was not going to mess Gracie when it came to Darius.

Ever.

Buffy put the phone back up to her ear.

"Gracie, it's Buffy. Annnd, hang on, Darius just got some results...or something..."

Buffy lowered the phone and looked quizzically over to Darius. She was curious to see what was up.

Although he had been told time and time again, just like all the other children who grew up in Savannah, to never venture out alone at night, Hunter wasn't the type of guy to blindly follow instructions. Or follow instructions at all, for that matter. And so, outfitted in a dark viridian wool sweater to stave off the cold, he found himself wandering the streets of Savannah, half-hoping to come across something exciting.

His wishes were swiftly realized, as he absently glanced down a side-alley, only to double take when he noticed two of his colleagues from school intimidating what he now recognized as a vampire, the bestial facial ridges were only matched in hideousness by the time-warp wardrobe. Torn between the sensible option of walking on, and the Hunter Rossum option of barreling headfirst into the unknown, he hesitantly turned into the alley, calling out as he went.

"Hey Buffy, and Darius, is it? Are you both out for a spot of late night intimidation? Gotta say, from what I heard, it's usually the other way round with the whole vampire/victim in a dark alley thing."

Meanwhile, Luthien led Clive and B.J. to the outskirts of downtown Savannah toward Island Expressway.  Where Bay Street curved downhill past the Savannah Mariott Riverfront became a marshland bisected by the Island Expressway road.  The road would eventually lead to the beach, but tonight, it brought the trio to a service tunnel that connected with the sewers.

If they looked west, they would see the old fort that joined the Trustee's Garden and the Pirate's House.  The last of the patrons left the oldest restaurant in Savannah.  Cars zipped every now and then past them on the Expressway.  Nobody paid them much mind.  That wouldn't be the case if the police happened by on their route...

Luthien, for starters, did not hesitate. It wasn't his way, and he knew where to go.

"Follow me, and quickly. The less explanations we must give to passerby, the quicker this will go."

Luthien will take point in the tunnels...and he'll head straight in. Counting on his various senses to warn him if something's going to happen. Of course, they were expecting the Slayer. They weren't expecting him. He'd be able to use that.

BJ rolled her eyes as she stepped after him. She was not too thrilled about doing this, but it was one of HER students. She wasn't going to leave one of her kids in the hands of a vampire. She figured they had a 1 in 3 chance of getting to the kid before the vamps put the fang in.

After that.. she'd have to finish the kid and find a way to live with another failure.

"Buffy, where are you? I am coming to help. I have found out about vampires and my family fights them. They are circus types and we are coming" she could not wait to get to Darius.

Clive had to be the least pleased person in the trio as he followed along to Luthien's command.  It wasn't as if he hated the guy, honestly at this point he'd be worth sharing a pint with.  But a watcher's upbringing was still a watcher's upbringing and fear of the unknown was often coupled with distrust.  To make matters worse they were dragging B.J. along into a dangerous situation shattering the normal escape that was his academic life even further.  Although she was far more enthusiastic and knowledgeable about such matters, of course that was possibly a far harder pill to swallow than the former.  Still as they trotted forward into the tunnels he would push those issues to the back of his mind realizing that he had to keep a relatively controlled demeanor for when he had a proper conversation with the slayer especially with a student's life at risk.

Old brick closed in on the trio as Luthien led them into the city's sewers.  The steady rush of water echoed off centuries-old walls.  A high-pitched squeak tittered, stopped, then started again.  Perhaps stories of wharf rats the size of house cats came to mind?

They walked what they estimated might be two city blocks.  Then, the tunnel bisected into two paths.  Water rushed out of both tunnels, heading away from the city.  The squeaks grew louder from the left.  Which way would the group go?

Luthien gave his allies fair warning.

"I no longer have perfect knowledge of where to go. However, my guess is, we should probably head towards the rats. Vampires drink blood, but they then have to dispose of the bloodless bodies somewhere. My guess is, they feed them to the rats down here."

Luthien pauses, momentarily, then adds...

"There is some danger to this idea, however. If they've been feeding rats dead human bodies, they'll have a taste for human flesh, and will therefore attack us in a swarm. It would be difficult to fight off such a thing. If someone has a better idea, I'd hear it."

Both of them, adults of this city, may know where to go better then he does, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:36, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

"I had a map app downloaded to my phone for checking the smuggling tunnels of the city. For the school tour, the school wanted us to check out a few of the more well known tourist locations, but it might cover areas outside the tourist areas." She offered as she held up the phone. "Don't know how good the GPS reception will be down here, off the beaten tourist path."

"Feel free. And let us hope your map says I am wrong. I very much wish to be."

He came here to save a life, not to fight mindless animals without the proper tools for doing so.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:46, Sat 08 Dec 2012.

Darius watches the (ASSUMED) retreat of the threatened vamp, and is about to accept the phone from Buffy when the calling of his name attracts his immediate focus. His eyes narrow, this guy knew their names AND about this whole... vampires are real bit. That was not a good thing. He stares intently, and asides a whispered question to Buffy:

"Is that one too?"

"Taste for flesh or not.  I'm rather doubtful of rats going on the offensive to eat us whole.  Against the very basis of nature, instinct and all that sort of mess.  As long as one isn't carrying a lunch box or decides to play crocodile hunter and corner the rats that would be the least of our concerns.  The real issue is how my loafers are now ruined, don't get me started on the trials and tribulations that will be finding a proper dry cleaner for my slacks.  It seems I'm on a tangent, not to kill a good plan before it goes bad, I would be remiss if I did not point out that GPS maps are rarely sewer designed."

Buffy heard Gracie start to speak and put the phone back to her ear. She listened, then nodded her head...not that Gracie could see her doing so.

"That sounds great, Gracie. Tell your family to hurry, we can't wait around for long."

With that, Buffy hung up the phone.





Buffy stared incredulously at Hunter. He definitely was familiar, but the past few days had been an absolute blur. Buffy then looked over to Darius as he whispered to her. She blinked and shook her head.

"I have no idea...I'm new, remember?"

Buffy looked back to Hunter.

"Listen...uh, look. I don't have tons of time to explain, but now is really not a good time. You should go home."

Buffy placed Darius' phone in his hand and looked at the quarterback.

"Gracie and the calvary are on their way, we should get back on your bike and be ready to go. I saw that look on your face as the vamp was talking. I get the feeling you know where we're headed."

Darius nods, all but dismissing Hunter's presence as inconsequential. "Got an idea, yes. " Darius says pocketing his phone and moving to climb onto his bike. It takes all of two seconds to slam his helmet home, then offer a helping hand to Buffy once she's got hers on too.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:44, Mon 10 Dec 2012.

Gracie tells Pawpaw how to get where Buffy is. She can't wait to get there.

"Let her try. If you are correct, then we must go with my initial plan, I suppose. If she find a better way, let her save us the guesswork. Information is always better."

If somebody can do something better, hey, let 'em.

Whitaker Street

Darius signaled Buffy to straddle his bike.  Gracie Lynn still needed directions to join them, although her cousin quickly navigated the streets with admirable ease!  If the Slayer and Quarterback could stay put, the Future Cheer-leading Captain would soon join them!  Would Hunter accompany them or go his own way?


The hapless vampire that they'd questioned scrambled through the alley in haste.  He wouldn't stick around to see if the bad-ass kids would change their minds!  Whatever happened next, they would likely get wet doing it.  Gentle sprinkles spattered softly on the streets.  An evening shower loomed in the southern sky...


Underground

Despite Clive's protests, B.J.'s GPS proved shockingly effective!  The hand-held device mapped out a complicated series of catacombs.  The fork ahead would diverge into twin tunnels that would lead further underground.  As the trio debated their choices, the rats' squeaks grew more agitated.

Seconds later, the rats burst from the left tunnel!  They didn't nip at heels, but Clive nearly tripped over the fleeing rodents.  They ran out in what seemed like an endless tide.  What had scared the rats so?

"We might wish to take the other path. This reminds me of a sinking ship. Does the other path lead to the center, BJ?"

If it does, it's probably a good idea to go that way. While vampires wouldn't scare rats  like that, WATER would, and traditionally, it's what does.

Buffy secured the helmet to her head, making sure that her long, blonde hair was back so that it didn't get pressed down into her face. She took the helping hand Darius offered and got on the bike behind the star quarterback. She listened as he revved the engine. He knew where he was going and that was enough for her.

She leaned in.

"Gracie said she'd be here soon. If we wait just a little bit, we can have some reinforcements to go in with."

"They are fleeing a superior predator. So I guess that means they are fleeing the vamps. So... we got thataway right?" BJ said calmly as she took in the rush of vermin.

"I thought they were fleeing water, personally, but if you think it's a predator...well, let's go!"

Luthien, in or out, was anxious to get moving.

"Does my sister have that kind of time?" Darius asks Buffy, clearly looking as though her expertise would be sufficient reasoning in either direction for him. Faith, well founded or not was being placed in Buffy's direction.

"One or two might.. not all of them." BJ pointed out.

In reply to B.J. Cordova (msg # 147):

"That's my point. One or two might flee a vampire. Water would wash all of them away as long as it's deep enough to drown them. It's the rats on a sinking ship idea."

Debating, however, didn't seem like the best idea.

"But it doesn't matter. Which is the shortest route to the biggest room in the complex."

"Well it is settled Bonita, I am switching to your carrier.  Speaking of a wash that sounds like the ideal plan if we survive all this." Vampire or not the direction away from all the rodents just had a certain appeal to it.  Even if it led to sets of bloodsuckers.

"Is it a requirement for all 'professional' hunters to come off as pretensions gits?" BJ asked as she waited for the two men to get it out of their system.

"I'm trying to help out..why do you automatically assume I don't know something?" She said as she shifted to put her phone in a 'runner's holster' on her forearm.

"We should probably not be arguing at this point. What's the shortest route to where we're going? Once we have the route, we follow it...as quickly as possible."

Egos were slowing the mission down...and he understands he's not helping as much as he could be, but still...on with it!

Gracie can't wait to get there with Darius.

Actually if she had to know, Clive wanted to respond with a resounding yes to that query.  There was an entire academy devoted to pounding the pretentiousness into one.  That said he wasn't sure if he liked the fact that he was fitting the image to a t.  "Despite being off put on being lectured on a matter I would have never expected you to lecture me on, I assumed we were well past the she doesn't know anything phase of the matter.  Not doubting you, for the most part just erring on the side of caution."

"We'll if we can, I'd would say we look for some open space and/rooms along this tunnel set since that seems to be where the rats are running from." BJ pointed out on her small phone screen.

"Pick the biggest one, we'll start there, and lead on."

He really has no better advice here.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?"  Papaw asked Gracie as they turned the corner off Bay Street.  They'd see Darius astride his bike, with Buffy holding.  Gracie might have recognized the boy from Gym class, too.  Hunter stood quietly by, apparently contemplating whether or not to stick with the group, or go his own way...


Under the streets...

The tunnel narrowed and ran a considerable length. Luthien led B.J. and Clive over slime-coated old brick.  The last of the rats scurried around their feet in frenzied squeaks!  Soon, they were alone in the tunnel with whatever had scared them off...


Gabrielle's lair

The leader of the vamp gang tugged on Chan's manacles, dragging the girl helplessly with the same ease one would tow a small bag of groceries.  "Since you're determined to impress me with your silent bravado, perhaps I should test the limits of your courage!"

Gracie looks at Pawpaw "quick, take me over there to Darius"

hen he drives over to him "Darius, we are here to help. They know about vamps. Do you know where they are?" she wasn't sure what to say, she had so much going though her brain.

"We've got incoming, 100 feet away. Prepare yourselves."

He moved toward the front again, now that there was a specific target to, well, target.

If Luthien wanted to take point Clive wasn't going to raise any protests.  His amount of trust for the man wasn't exactly the stuff of legends, although entering a life threatening situation willingly with him did speak volumes.  "Lovely."

In reply to Big Bad (msg # 156):

Chan swallowed slowly and felt what little calm she'd managed to find shatter into to pieces. Mediation was all well and good, but she wasn't some sort of monk either. Sue she could be zen when the pressure off, but otherwise it was hard not to completely freak out. At least no one else had joined her here yet, she wasn't sure she could handle her brother being here with her. At least this way only she was in trouble.

She bit back a scream when she was hauled off of her feet, and focused on her breathing in an attempt to steady herself. When she finally spoke her voice wavered a little but was otherwise strong.

"Why does it matter, you're just going to kill me anyways..." It was almost surreal that thing that was bothering her the most about her impending death, was that she dressed in dirty rags. You really don't expect to think about something like that when you're only a fingers breadth away from your own mortality.

It was a shame that the vampire wasn't acting like a typical mean girl. Otherwise she might have just gotten bored. Of course it wasn't like Chan could exactly hide her fear from the predator either, so maybe that was the problem. All she was managing was to be stubborn, and at least pretend she was hero out of some graphic novel. Of course they died sometimes too.

"I don't suppose you'd let me change into something nicer before you kill me?" She could hardly believe that she had actually said it out loud, until after it had escaped from her. At least she was too terrified to be embarrassed.

"Got a lead. Keep up!" Darius responds, Gracie's arrival making his inquery irrelevent. He throttles down hard, and the bike takes off towards his one hope of finding his sister.

"Pawpaw, follow him" she yells as she looks to see where Darius is going.

Buffy's eyes went wide in surprise as Darius revved the bike and took off like a shot. That was not what she was expecting at all. She was quick to wrap her arms around his midsection to keep herself from falling off the bike.

A Slayer she was, roadkill proof, she was not.

Buffy watched the streets of Savannah whip by her as Darius drove them in the direction they needed to go.

"Fine..let's be about it." BJ growls as she slides a stake out in her off hand and that silvery curved blade in her lead hand. Clearly skilled at handling both, it was clear that she would use the blade as a distraction as she held the stake in an experienced knife fighter hold. Of additional note was her remaining stake was the one in her wrist sheath for quick access if needed.

Luthien advances on what appears to be the enemy. He'll draw it out, once he sees clearly what it is.

Darius sped off on his motorcycle toward one of the places in Savannah which he knew could access the older underground tunnels. Although his take-off initially jolted Buffy, Slayer reflexes kept her safely on the bike!  Her hair whipped as Darius took them toward what he hoped was a reunion with Chan.

"Boy's impulsive in the stupid kinda way," Papaw Dupree muttered.  "I think I like him," the old man added with a grin.  Lemuel kept up in the truck, enabling the concerned Gracie Lynn to keep vigilant watch on her boyfriend.

Meanwhile, the trio led by Luthien prepared for their own subterranean battle.  Luthien took point in the tunnel, hoping to draw out whatever lurked in the deep shadows ahead.  He heard a heavy "CLACK" on the slime-coated bricks long worn down by the centuries.  Weapons in hand, B.J. bravely held the flank, while Clive brought up the rear.

It moved toward them, lumbering too much for the usually agile vampire.  They heard a dragging sound, as if their unseen menace carried several hundred pounds of weight.  Luthien stood his ground, B.J. held up her knife and stake, then a low growl that sounded even more feral than any vampire!  The noise seemed more appropriate for the swamps than the sewers...although urban legends of New York came to mind for Bonita and Clive as their group came face to face with an eight foot tall horror:  a muscular, humanoid form covered in scales on massively muscled arms that ended in hooked claws, born on heavy legs ending in the same, dragging a long tail, and snapping at them with the long muzzle of an alligator!

As the demon-hunting trio faced that bestial menace, Gabrielle actually stopped when she heard Chan's request.  The vampire stared quizzically at her captive.  "Of all the things you could have asked me...I cannot believe that you asked me that!"  She almost pouted.  "You're not even going to beg for your life?"

Above ground, Hunter calmly texted Garrett & Melba:  Just ran into Buffy & her football player friend.  Think they were interrogating a vampire.  What R U guys up to?

"So...would it be bothersome to ask if now is too late to confirm if we are headed in the right direction?"  Clive had a sneaking suspicion that pulling out a stake wouldn't do him much good at this moment as they looked upon the towering monstrosity.  Clearly vampires were keeping exotic pets nowadays.  It was safe to say that the alligator man was probably not a vegetarian.

"I feel like we just slipped into a batman comic." BJ said, direly wishing she had something more than a silvered blade and two 9 inch stakes of yew.

She looks at Pawpaw "Of course he is, he dates me and he is a football player, just keep up with him."

"Well the comparison to Killer Croc is feasible you have to remember that in the Crocodilia familia alligators have a u shaped head whereas crocs have a v.  As well as the tee-and I am completely missing the point here."  Edging forward in a defensive position Clive had to wonder why they didn't pull anything large out of the weapons trunk before sewer surfing.  Hindsight 20/20 and all that.  "Well, let's try and keep all our body parts in order."

"Actually I'm wondering if I should drop the stake and pull the two shot derringer .45 acp I have tucked in my pocket." B.J. said bluntly and loud enough for the crock to hear. "At the range we're at, it would leave a hole the size of a nickel going in and a grapefruit leaving the back."

"First off, I don't know where to be attracted or terrified of you.  But if it looks like going Rambo isn't working don't stay dedicated to the task." Her being strapped even more was the least surprising thing in the sewer still.  Big military family and all.  Seeing that they weren't in the open streets he doubted the police would be knocking on BJ's door any time soon so there was nothing to complain about with her qualm.  Other than the surprising number of things that missed the memo on how much guns were supposed to hurt.

"Go ahead and fire it. If you can wound it, I'll have a better chance at wrestling it down long enough for you two to get by. I'll have to match it power for power."

Which could be difficult. It was bigger then he was...but he wasn't relying on size and bulk, was he?

In reply to Big Bad (msg # 166):

Chan shrugged as much as she could and tried now to show all of the terror that she felt. It was hard to stay terrified for an extended period of time, eventually you just got so tired that things just didn't seem quite so insane. Intellectually she'd already decided that she was pretty much dead, and she knew that begging would make zero difference, and just entertain the bloodsucker. She was a typical mean girl made into a vampire, and she didn't feel like providing entertainment with her last moments of life. She knew how to deal with mean girls.

"We both know that you're already going to kill me anyways, so there really isn't a point in begging for something like that. All you'd do is laugh at me and maybe lead me on a little, so I'd just rather cut to the chase." She was almost positive that she had Gabriella's number down hard, and while it wouldn't make her any more likely to get out of this alive, it might at least make things a little less unpleasant for her.

"Given the way you and your minions dress, I figured that you might actually listen to a request like the one I just made. I'm a fashion student believe it or not, and honestly I really don't want to die covered in God only knows what sort grime, muck, and I can only assume crap. Maybe it's petty and vain, but I really don't have a problem with that." She'd spoken a little more than she intended to, and it was a little hard for her stop blathering on, but she did manage it eventually.

If Chan expected an offended retort or insult, she didn't get one.  Just like the altercation between Melba and the vampires at Vinny's, Chan noticed the "girl gang-leader" demeanor yield to something more...'Old World'.  Gabrielle stood taller, almost regally.

"Would that a lady were always afforded the grace of facing her final moment with dignity."  Her words held a trace of an accent familiar to a girl whose mother came from Cuba.  Something from islands further south.  The vampire released Chan.

"Change." She gestured at Chan's bag.

The gator-like beast lumbered toward the intrepid adventurers!  Luthien stood between the monster and his companions.  The beast struck with surprising speed and sent the mysterious hero hurtling back against the sewer wall!  Luthien was unhurt, but winded; he'd need a few seconds to recover.

Yellow eyes then turned toward B.J. and Clive!


OOC:

Sorry, Luthien, that was a Drama Point for the beastie!  :p

Clive & B.J., declare your attacks and go!

Meanwhile, Darius & Buffy led the Dupree clan on a hopeful lead.  As he sped across downtown, Darius remembered the day he'd first met Buffy.  He remembered finding Scott Brown's body in the school basement.  That day, they'd noticed scuff marks on the concrete floor.

Marks left by the several hundred pound tool shelf being shoved like a door being opened.  With that memory came the realization that the girl vamps were probably responsible for Scott's death.  A realization that they may have a lead to the fiends' lair!

BJ thumbed the hammer back on the pistol as she pulled out the pistol and looked down the barrel. She showed the creature the gun.

"A friend of mine makes these.. he's a crazy gunsmith who knows about all sorts of shit. Werewolves exist according to him and he collects vampire fangs." She pointed at the beast, taking a shooter's stance at it. "They are hollowed out ironwood rounds with a core of silver nitrate. They tend.. to explode. So, they make a hole the size of a nickel entering the body.. and turn the insides to salsa.. chunky style. I've never shot whateverthehellyouares before but.. I imagine if I put one of these into your throat.."

She sighted down the barrel at the creatures upper torso/throat.


".. there should be just enough of your head to mount on the wall. So back off or get turned into luggage. I'm offering not because I care.. but because shooting you will alert our true prey." The moment that it hit the mysterious hunter, the offer went out the window and she put the first of her two shots into it.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:01, Wed 13 Feb 2013.

"Luggage?  I can understand shoes possibly.  But I don not think he'd make rather fitting carry on luggage.  The material just looks so offhand, it would definitely cost some sweatshop kids their jobs if they mad a bag out of him.  Just what sort of friend makes salsafying bullets?"  Clive called out his eyes widening as Luthien was sent flying.

He didn't exactly leap forward into action.  Seeing as getting shot was a real risk while B.J. was hammering away he'd instead attempt to distract it.  Edging forward ever so slightly as he faked a lunging motion to hopefully drop its guard and open it up for some sort of response by feinting an attack.  That was of course working under the assumption Bonita's rounds didn't outright drop it, which was sadly at the foremost on his list of possibilities.

Melba texted Hunter back with "Mkng Ammunition".

Gracie could not wait till they got where they were going. She wanted to get to Chan to rescue her and get back with Darius. She kept her eyes on the bike ahead of them.

Chan swallowed slowly and nodded her head. She hadn't actually thought that she might reach the vampire on some sort of personal level. Perhaps she had misjudged her a little, and that was frightening in of it's self. She'd thought that she understood what Gabrielle was all about, but the change in demeanor caught her by surprise. It was so much easier to think of her as just a monster, but it was becoming apparent that their was something human left inside of her. She couldn't decide if that was more or less frightening.

She swallowed again and turned slowly around to face her bag. The entire time was waiting for something to happen, and to suddenly be denied any sort of dignity. She took another slow, deep breath and tried to focus on slowing her racing heart. If she was going to die she'd at least try and find some form of peace. "I wouldn't have guessed that you were from somewhere in The Caribbean. I would have thought somewhere more local." Maybe if she kept the vamp talking it would force Gabrielle to see her as something other than prey. She remembered reading somewhere that people had a harder time killing someone that they'd connected with, someone they saw as human. Maybe that even applied to monsters.

She stripped out of her soiled clothes carefully, trying not to touch them anymore than absolutely necessary. Once she was in her underwear she rummaged around her bag for the wet wipes she normally she used to remove makeup. They'd serve okay in scrubbing some of the grime off of her body, even if it was a huge waste. She took her time and tried to make it into a ritual, purifying, cleansing, and calming. At least it made her feel a little better.

All she had in her bag were her gym clothes, not anything spectacular. Shorts and a  t-shirt weren't great, but it was better than being covered in sewer. As she was changing she took a final look at her sketchbook flipping through as she pulled on her shorts, and then the t-shirt. "Okay, thank you..." She took another deep breath and turned to face the vampire with bravado that she certainly did not feel. At least she'd managed to gain a certain calmness.

B.J. aimed and fired the pistol with the keenest marksmanship, demonstrating the sort of skill no ordinary coach should possess!  The bullet took out the towering beast's left eye.  Its face was now a splattered mess, but even that didn't kill it.  Instead, the fiend croaked in rage!  A clawed hand reflexively covered the ruined face.

Clive's feints further distracted the beast, who now bellowed in confused pain.  Half-blind, the monster couldn't properly keep up with two moving targets.  Clive darted about and waved his arms, and B.J. leveled the gun for another shot.  Luthien quickly scrambled to his feet, ready for the fight again!

In Gabrielle's lair, the vampire nodded coolly at Chan.  "I left the island when your country was little more than a pitiful collection of colonies."  She waited for Chan to finish changing.  If the vampire had any feelings about Chan's gratitude, she didn't have time to give voice to them.  Her head cocked when a gunshot echoed like a cannon in the tunnels.

"Guests."  Gabrielle snatched Chan's arm.  "Come."  Once more, she dragged her captive through the tunnel.  "We must prepare you for our company..."

BJ frowned as she stepped back and put the second round in the beast, swearing in a mix of languages that spoke of long travels or a very diverse culture. She had only two 'reapers', the iron wood/silver rounds would have left nothing of a normal man's head with a shot into the eye. A thumb switch and twist had the barrels moved around from empty chamber to full chamber.

She shifted to keep from getting caught by the creature and sighted down the pistol to the other eye.

"Ooo that looks like that might hurt." She said, the civility and boisterous nature she showed her students dropped off her face and the look of a practiced shooter took it's place.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:09, Thu 14 Feb 2013.

After the gun's been fired a second time...

Luthien's back on the creature in a flash, and of all things...actually punching it?

"I brought stakes, but I didn't think to bring a sword."

Somewhat rueful about that to. Nonetheless, Luthien can hit like a mack truck, and if those punches land...

Well, he'll take advantage of the creature's half blindness by firing his punches at its blindside. And his defense is iron tight...he suspects it's stronger, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:04, Thu 14 Feb 2013.

"At least I'm not the only one lambasting our lack of preparation."  Clive suspected he wasn't going to be able to do much in the way of putting on the hurt compared to Luthien.  Not that he was going to let that stop him.  Watchers in the field were trained for a reason after all.  Looking for an opening he'd move in to try and assist the creature clad in white with a bit of finesse rather than raw power.  Crouching down he'd charge straight in and attempt to duck in and pivot his leg so as to try and sweep the creature off its feat.  "Then again a stake to the heart leaves a hurting on a lot more than one would imagine."

Being terrified was something that Chan was getting oddly used to. It seemed that your body could only tell you that should be running away for so long before it stopped mattering so much. The gunshot provided at least a small glimmer of hope that she might actually survive her misfortune. Of course the logical part of her mind dismissed that as mere fancy. By the time anyone got to her she'd already be dead, and more than likely Gabrielle would be long gone. It seemed that she was a much older vampire than anyone had realized, and obviously far more dangerous. If anything even a little hope was a cruel dream at this point... Even still that didn't stop her from hoping that she did have some sort of way out of this.

"Not like I can stop you." She muttered to herself, and was rather thankful that she was being pulled by her arm and not her hair, or something even more cruel. Of course that would defeat the purpose of letting her cleanup. It seemed even monsters had some sort of sense of honor. She stumbled along after the vampire doing her best to keep up, and pondered exactly what those ominous words had meant.

The white-clad urban defender leaped toward the beast with fluid grace!  A heavy paw struck at his head, but the mysterious warrior easily parried it!  The gator-man snapped fearsome jaws at Luthien's head, but he easily pivoted away from the toothsome threat.

Then, Luthien struck back at the monster's blind eye.  His fist struck the bloody wound, eliciting further pained howls!  Simultaneously, Clive timed a foot-sweep with world-class precision.  His leg caught the beast as it clumsily charged, and the beast's own momentum helped Clive trip him.  Judo principles executed beautifully, forcing the gator-man on his elbows and knees.

Taking advantage of the beast's stumble, B.J. fired again when she found her opening.  Another bullet hit true!  This time, though, it didn't stop with the eye.  Instead, the bullet penetrated the creature's skull.  It grunted stupidly, as if it didn't have the good sense to know when to stop.

Then, the creature fell dead at Luthien's feet!

Meanwhile...

Buffy remembered something she and Darius had spotted the morning they found Scott's body.  Darius steered the cycle toward the Jepson Academy.  Parking at a discreet distance, the band soon stalked the shadowed grounds. The security guard was reasonably competent. However, there was only one of him and five of Buffy's group.  The seasoned Papaw helped the kids evade the lone guard.

Gracie Lynn's cousin showed why he was one of the most promising escape artists in the family circus by jimmying the basement window loose.  They slipped in and quickly found the spot that the Slayer and quarterback had recalled: a heavy tool-shelf that Buffy surmised covered a point of entry for the vampire(s?) who'd murdered Scott...

"Well done. This team works well, I'm proud to be a part of it. Let's hurry on!"

Luthien's strength and skill proved adequate to the task of dealing with the gator creature...he was able to take point and keep it occupied while Clive downed it and BJ delivered a coup de gras.

"Not yet," BJ said as she cracked her pistol open, pocketed her empty rounds and slid in two new bullets into the small pistol, shut it and pulled the Gurkha at her back and smoothly leaned over the creature and decapitated it in one smooth motion and kicked its head away from its body before slipping the silvery blade away in its holster after wiping it off on the body, the ornated eagle and trident on its hilt flashing in the light.

"Not everything stays dead from a ballistic lobotomy I've heard but I'm betting it might take a while to find or regrow it's head." she said grimly, definitely showing her grimmer hunter side over her cheery gym teacher side.

Luthien nodded in response.

"I hadn't thought of that. I certainly wouldn't want it waking up to plague the world again."

But he's still worried about the girl they entered here to rescue.

Gracie looks at the enterence and starts walking in. She has a ligher in one hand and a bottle in the other. She is getting ready to do some real magic.

Buffy got an eerie feeling as she re-entered the spot where Scott had been found. Immediately, she began searching the bookshelf and wall for some kind of tell. There had been something off here the last time she had been down, and she felt like now was the time to find out exactly how off it was.

She looked to the others.

"At the risk of sounding cliche, everyone look for some kind of crack in the wall, or lever or something..."

Buffy scanned the walls and bookshelf for everything. Secret lever books, a hidden door handle...anything! She could feel frustration boiling up in her and she took a deep breath, hanging her head a bit so she could stare at the ground. Just calm down a bit. They were going to save Chan.

The ground.

Buffy's eyes went wide as she saw definitive scratches on the ground, left by moving a heavy object like...

Buffy's eyes went up

...a bookcase. Buffy went against the bookcase and pressed, trying to move it aside.

Although Darius and Gracie Lynn knew that Buffy was "different", they still weren't prepared to see the petite blonde casually shoving aside a steel tool-shelf weighing a few hundred pounds!  If they were unprepared, then Paw-Paw was downright flabbergasted!  "Gaw damn!  That lil' girl just shoved that aside like it weren't more'n' a folding card table!  Didn't even have to put her shoulder into it!"

Once the heavy obstacle was out of the way, Buffy and Darius saw that the wall had a recent makeover.  Brand-new bricks stood out in relief against a wall that had at LEAST seen the Harding administration!  Three feet up from the floor, just wide enough for full-grown adults to crawl through.  Keener eyes might notice something else around the walls with a closer glance.

Darius remembered spotting a sledgehammer on the way down.  The custodians kept their tools along a wall that was SUPPOSED to be off limits to the student body.  If Buffy were strong enough to shove around 300-500 pounds, she could possibly make short work of the bricks with the sledgehammer!

OOC:  Feel free to give me a "Notice" check if the additional detail about the wall interests you!  Not mandatory, but it's an option!

IC2:

B.J. dispensed with the "Double Tap" and simply cut off the gator-man's head instead!  A bellow of rage resounded behind them as a similar set of eyes glowered at them.  However, instead of attacking, the other fiend turned tail and fled deeper into the sewers!  The trio heard the clackety-clack of talons against the grimy brick.

Luthien felt a profound hunch urging him on ahead...

Meanwhile, Melba double-checked her improvised cannon.  A stream of water spewed forcefully from the barrel.  Success!

She found the blessings a little trickier.  Garrett had actually negotiated three bottles from the Cathedral of Saint John The Baptist!  One of the younger priests remembered him from a school fundraiser and, although skeptical, had complied with the request.

Now came the question of turning 3 bottles of holy water into enough ammunition for the cannon!  Melba remembered Jewish prayers that might help.  Was the force behind "holy water" an ecumenical one?  Could she overcome habitual agnosticism enough to make it happen?

Furthermore, what WERE those small books that Garrett always carried around?

Melba sighed.  "Okay, three bottles is good, I wonder if Holy Water sanctifies other water it comes in touch with?  Need to do some research I think.  Let's go talk to the magic people."

"I think that bookstore stays open past midnight.  Maybe Miss Bell could point us in the direction of a helpful book of blessings?"  With a toss of floppy hair, Garret leaned toward Melba.  "Of course, the pressing question comes down to choice of flavors: Judeo-Christian, Asian, or Wiccan blessings?

Whattaya think, Mel?"

Melba shrugged, "I'm a little bit Jewish and a little bit Kurt Cobain, so I guess perhaps something ecumenical like Gurdjeff or Ouspensky maybe?"

"Bless you!"  Garrett grinned sheepishly.  "I know, that was lame!"  The ersatz adventurer awaited Melba's command to the "Melba Mobile".

Luthien 'senses a disturbance in the Force', and...

"This way. She isn't far..."

Without bothering to explain to either of the two following him how he might even guess at such a thing, he runs forward, ignoring the other demon. Saving lives came before ending thenm, after all...

Melba grinned and did indeed say, "To the Batmobile, Robin."

"Now with the running.  I dare say it is not as if our last excursion into charging prolong towards commotion did not end without any trouble." Sighing, Clive would take off to follow after Luthien as best he could.  Not that he could match its pace.  Luckily they weren't attempting to compete for the Olympic trials.  No, much to chagrin they were instead prodding through sewer water that now had the looming smell of a corpse to add to its appeal.  Real prime real estate these vampires had chosen.

"Less talking, more running Clive." BJ said as she pushed past him, pistol in one hand and silvery blade in the other. The coach was becoming more grim and determined as she moved after the vanishing Luthien. Like she was a different person or uncovering a facet she normally kept hidden.

Clive kept up with his co-worker and the mystery man leading them further into Savannah's catacombs.  The slime coating the bricks caused an occasional slip, but adrenaline kept all alert and on their feet.  Luthien twisted and turned in a seemingly erratic pattern.  B.J. managed to track their path in her own fashion, the better to find their way back OUT when their mission ended.

As they ran, they heard the rain rushing through the sewers.  The prime objective was "Save Chan", however, a secondary objective quickly ascended their priority list:  evacuate the tunnels before they were flooded.

Luthien turned one final corner and they came into a subterranean chamber that surrounded a small, ancient reservoir.  The surrounding walls rose about 14 feet high in the chamber.  Pipes long abandoned for newer infrastructure criss-crossed overhead.  A chain encircled the biggest pipe...dangling helplessly from manacles over the rising flood waters was Chan, who stared in panicked surprise at the newcomers!

Gracie stands back and looks at the wall as the men and Buffy get ready to attack it.

Occ-Gracie Lynn DuPree rolled 6 using the Unisystem system (1d10+4). notice.

Buffy felt the heavy shelf easily give way, only to discover the layer of bricks behind it. The Slayer let out a frustrated breath of air. How could they be this close and not be saving Chan already? Buffy looked around to the others, and took a step back. She was going to try and ram through the damn wall as hard as she could!

Luthien doesn't even hesitate.

Whispering something in Latin...

"Adiudico libertas abeo catenatus, Dominus!"

And then proceeds to actually rip the chain holding Chan apart, so she can flee!



(OOC:23:29, Today: Luthien rolled 27 using the Unisystem system (1d10+26). DP Strength.)

Whereas Clive was content to let his eyes scan the room.  Making note of their increasing stakes as he noted the increasing amount of water.  Vampires weren't known for drowning their victims.  But the fact that they didn't have to worry about suffocation did give it credibility as a trap as opposed to some sort of sadistic new way to kill the teen.

Buffy reared back the sledgehammer and SWUNG!  Three bricks flew inward with the first blow!  The petite Slayer took out her anger on the newly-sealed hole.  The hammer bashed in bricks, much to the astonishment of those present.  In less than a minute, Buffy undid the hasty cover-up on the wall.

Her group had an access to the secret passage likely used by Gabrielle!

Underground

Luthien dazzled Clive and Bonita by leaping overhead to the pipes!  The mono-chromatic man of mystery tore the chain free!  One hand holding onto the pipe, Luthien used his free hand to swing Chan toward his allies.

No sooner was the girl freed, though, did Luthien hear a gunshot!  He felt a sharp sting in his side as a bullet zinged his ribs!  Clive scanned the room and saw two she-vamps across the chamber.  They were a small set of steps, using the walls as cover to pen down the heroes with gunfire!

B.J. heard Gabrielle's mocking laughter!  "I thought I'd take a page from your people's book!  It wouldn't do for us to come unarmed to a gunfight, now would it?"  One of her minions shouted, "I handled guns long before Gabrielle sired me!"

Luthien set Chan down behind the other two.

"You 3 take cover. Bullets will do little to them, even if you do hit. You'd need phosphorous rounds to do any good."

Why phosphorous rounds? Well, they do /fire/ damage.

Meanwhile, he turns to the she vamps.

"Not exactly a fair fight, is it? Bullets can't kill vampires...but they can't kill me either. You'll have to play fair, I'm afraid."

And then he charges, preparing to dodge bullets as he closes. He has to keep them firing at him, since he can take bullets. Aiming for the minion first, who's likely to be far less skilled then her mistress. To disarm that one, and reduce the risk to his all too mortal allies.

All the same, he was positively matrix dodging if they tried to fire on him.

(Two defenses vs. bullets, Disarm vs. minion vamp, punch vs. minion vamp)




00:33, Today: Luthien rolled 21 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Defense Sequence. (Defense 1 at 21, Defense 2 at 19)
00:33, Today: Luthien rolled 16 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Attack Sequence. (Disarm at 16, punch at 12)

Darius coughs on the dust particulates caused by the hammer-strikes, but is mute with severity as he waits for the hole to be large enough to fit through. As soon as it is, he brushes past/through anyone in his way... Again rushing forwards without thought or care. His little sister was the ONLY thing that mattered at that moment.

Gracie follows Darius though, trying to stay as close as she can. She is sure he has no idea what they are up against. She turns on a flashlight so he can see as they move down the hall.

Buffy watches as Darius and Gracie go rushing in.  The Slayer shoots a look to the others behind her, then holds onto the sledgehammer as she goes racing after her two companions. It was definitely important to Buffy to save one of the few friends she'd made her so far. She could barely imagine how Darius felt! Buffy ignored her aching head, and continued on.

Fear, anger, even awe all were good stages on the emotion spectrum to land on.  Clive, however, settled for calmness.  Or at the very least the appearance of it.  He was still an educator, even if the young Chan Simmons would now have a very valid series of complaints to levy towards two members of the staff.  None of which mattered as long as they could make sure she survived long enough to levy said complaints.

"Miss Simmons, I am sure you have quite a few questions.  Many of which I am positive that I should not answer.  But right now the most important thing is that you keep your head down  low, stay against cover, and be brave."  Luthien had things covered and Clive was deathly allergic to bullets.  A common side effect of the human condition

He could easily do what watchers do best and hang back watching.  It was the smart choice.  The proper choice, he didn't even like the guy.  And yet while attempting to avoid the hail of gunfire Clive found himself calling out to his co-worker.  "I don't suppose you have a spare firearm Bonita?"  Luthien was right in that the bullets wouldn't exactly finish the job.  However, pain was still pain.  A little suppressive fire could aid the monochromatic man in finishing the task at hand at a faster rate.

14:59, Today: Clive Whitlock rolled 17 using the Unisystem system (1d10+10). Full Defense Sequence.

Chan had been fairly certain that she had just plain been screwed, actually surviving the encounter wasn't something that she'd even remotely expected. The screaming pain in her arms was enough to bring her back to reality however. Their wasn't any exercise that could possibly prepare you for being hung from a chain by your arms. It was all very Batman if she stopped to think about it, which was probably bad thing, thinking about any of this really. The sound of gunshots had her seeking cover like any rational person. She supposed that she should probably be scurrying with terror somewhere, but perhaps she'd reached the limit to how much mind numbing fear she could handle in one night. The detached calm she found herself in was peculiar more than anything else, almost like she felt like an overcast day. It was probably just shock, that was completely rational...

"I have one guy, two stakes and my blade. That's it. I have six reloads of the reaper rounds and then the only thing I have is my harsh right hook." BJ said as she pulled her gun and blade and looked for an opening while staying behind cover. The first time she got a chance, she'd put one of her wooden bullets in the vampire in hopes of staking him.

The she-vamps rained bullets on them, effectively creating an echo chamber of cannon fire!  Clive scrambled to help Chan find cover.  The Watcher protectively threw his arms around the harried girl and rushed her back into the tunnel they'd just left.  B.J. did the same, but drew the gun with the special ammo.  She wouldn't sit out the next round of firefight!

While that happened, Luthien selflessly drew fire from their enemies.  The white-clad protector raced toward the gun-slinging vamp gangsters!  Luthien pivoted smoothly and twisted in cinematic displays of agility as he avoided the gunfire!  Chan & Clive couldn't help but think of Keanu Reeves' Neo in the Matrix, except with a reversed color palette!

Soon, the vamp firing most aggressively ran out of ammo.  "Damn!"  Before she could reload, Luthien was upon her! The vamp was skinny, smaller in build than even Chan or Buffy.  It looked as though a strong coastal breeze would have borne her away in life!

He chided the vamps as he knocked the gun from her hands.  "Who the F...?!"  It was all she could manage before Luthien punched her!  The vampire shook her head, but wasn't out of the fight yet!

The cacaphony seemingly signaled Buffy's team like a homing beacon! Surprisingly, the dogfight sounded closer than they had anticipated!  Darius led the way, his ears soon ringing from the harsh booms of guns firing in underground tunnels.  Gracie ran after Darius, with a concerned Buffy bringing the extra vampire hunters in tow.  They turned this corner and that, the sounds of the fight drawing them closer--until they ran headlong into four vampires on the lam!

Luthien suddenly felt inspired in an amazing way. Taking it as a sign that this was the time to do deeds of greatness, he pulled out a stake, and went to finish off the one he'd just knocked down, before turning to Gabrielle herself.

He'd launch a vicious punch before attempting to finish her with a stake.

Meanwhile, he seemed to be protected by some amazing force...


21:51, Today: Luthien rolled 25 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Defense Sequence. (defense)

21:51, Today: Luthien rolled 21 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Attack Sequence.
(Stake vamp#1, punch Gab, stake Gab)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:01, Mon 01 July 2013.

Buffy turned the corner, sledgehammer still in hand, after Darius and Gracie. She registered the four vamps and a cacophony of battle in the background. Buffy felt several familiar things. Adrenaline pumping through her system. Her body tensing as it readied for yet another fight.

But, there was something different as well.

Things seemed to be slowing down a bit. Buffy could hear her own breathing, and although her heart hammered in her chest, her breathing was steady. Solid. Like a professional athlete. Buffy knew one thing, there were four vamps standing in the way of their group getting to Chan.

Buffy swung the sledgehammer out at a vampire, hoping to make quick work of one of them.

15:14, Today: Buffy Summers rolled 16 using the Unisystem system (1d10+8). Sledgehammer attack!
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Tue 02 July 2013.

"I see.  Well then.  Give 'em hell with what you have."

The only thing he could do right now was focus on keeping them alive.  Which required a whole bit of faith in Luthien.  Hopefully, Luthien would have the bullet situation covered soon enough.  Of course now would have been a great moment to have a blonde powerhouse lying around.

01:48, Today: Clive Whitlock rolled 18 using the Unisystem system (1d10+10). Full Defense Sequence.

Hiding behind something was always a good idea when guns were involved. Otherwise making a small target was probably best. She somehow doubted that she'd be the first target of anything, all of this had been a ruse to get the slayer here. That's probably it anyways, hopefully... She found herself someplace a little safer and tried not to think about how getting shot would feel.

Graicie sees Buffy attacking a girl and fires up her fire and breaths fire at one, blowing it at the girls face.

(ooc-  Gracie Lynn DuPree rolled 11 using the Unisystem system (1d10+9). firebreathing.)

"Oh, what if you got some of that liquid nitrogen stuff and then we had like pocket pistols we could shoot at vamps to freeze their faces off? Or a ninja star that detonates when it hits a vampire?" He looked wide-eyed at Melba before asking, "Can you bless liquid nitrogen?"

Garrett carefully set the three books he'd been carrying with him under his seat of the Melbamobile, paying special attention to place them spine facing out. Facing out because if anything got on them, then it wasn't on the pages themselves which could make them unreadable, but he wasn't neurotic about these books or anything. He checked them once or twice blindly with his fingers while he spoke to Melba.

OOC: On to the book store!

Melba glanced down at the books whose spines Garrett had shown.  She read what she could but made no further comment on them.  "Liquid Nitrogen in a pistol. While it sounds like a fascinating idea, I've a feeling its one experiment that could get me killed.  You'd need a canister to store the nitrogen or a refrigeration language.  Either way too big for a pistol.  As for whether you can bless it, the recipe I found on the Internet involved blessing salt and then dissolving that in the water while you bless it.  Liquid nitrogen's not that good a solvent... then again, I'd be surprised if even vamps were immune to it."

As she spoke, she drove and as she finished, she pulled up in the nearest parking space to the bookstore and parked the van, making sure it was locked and as fully protected as she could make it.

Garrett walked with Mel to the entrance of the bookstore Bell & Booke. From the outside he couldn't tell if it was open or not, he could see some softly lit rooms and the window was absent of a neon "OPEN" sign, so he turned to Mel.

"What do you think Mel?" he said, half looking through the window, half catching his reflection and fixing his hair.

Once they did some research for the blessing of large bodies of water, then they could test Melba's design, and roll in as the cavalry wherever the scoobies needed the big guns. He hoped the need arose later rather than sooner.

Melba shrugged and knocked on the door.  "If they don't answer, we go and sit in the melbamobile.  It's my lair and vampires don't get to come in without invitation and they haven't got one.  At least I HOPE that's true."

Garrett shrugged too, hoping they would be met by the face of Caitlyn, but it was so late they still needed to test the Melbamobile's firepower...waterpower; and maybe the three bottles of holy water he'd scooped would be enough. He didn't usually offer up this kind of suggestion, but the quandary before them called for desperate measures.

He said half-jokingly, "If they don't answer we'll just have to break in."

Melba sighed.  "Garrett, if this stuff works, they'll be protected by magic, if it doesn't, we'd be wasting our time and I'll go back to good ol' fashioned napalm."

Luthien nearly flew through the undead opposition!  For the few seconds Chan could see him, a term that her geek friends frequently used in "Rumbles" debates came to mind:  Bullet-Timer.  The vamps shot, but missed their nimble target.  The mystery man closed on a burly she-vamp, surprising her with a swift stake to the heart!  She didn't have time to finish uttering her cuss word of choice before exploding into dust!

He struck at Gabrielle, but she pulled out a saber and blocked the stake!  "Uh-uh, lover!  I haven't made it for three hundred years by letting any stud stake me THAT easily!"  She winked flirtatiously as she thrust the sword toward his gut!

Up ahead, Buffy met the first vampire with hard hammer to the skull!  The Slayer hit hard and true, but didn't kill her target.  Still, the vamp was left stunned and reeling from the savage attack!

The rage over Chan's abduction poured out of Darius in an incoherent yell.  The quarterback snarled as he tackled the next vampire!  He hit a vampire of average height and build, slamming her into the sewer walls.  However, though small, she quickly proved herself just as strong as the athlete!  She would quickly be out of his grasp with enough leverage...

Gracie Lynn spewed fire at the remaining vamps!  She didn't hit any, but they quickly scrambled to avoid the gout of flame!

18:52, Today: Luthien rolled 18 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Defense Sequence.
18:52, Today: Luthien rolled 20 using the Unisystem system (1d10+12). Attack Sequence.

Looks like this one was too strong to simply stake immediately. He'd have to beat her a little before finishing her off. Still, he attempted to dodge the sword blow, and delivered two vicious punches in retaliation.

"And I thought a lady like you wasn't into studs. So much the worse for you."

Luthien would keep on her, though. She seemed to be the biggest threat of those present, and his allies were well capable of handling the rest.

(OOC:I didn't see Gaby's roll anywhere, so I can't tell whether to post her hitting or missing.)

Gabrielle's sword slashed Luthien across the face!  She smirked as a thin drop of blood trickled down his cheek.  However, the "White Warrior" answered her with two swift punches that caught her chin and cheek!  The vampire reeled back with a feral growl, swinging her sword defensively to discourage any follow-ups...

Meanwhile, the shop door opened.  Instead of a stylish blonde or a creepy middle-aged shopkeeper, though, a pretty college-aged woman with raven hair opened the door.  She wore a white dress with lilac floral pattern and sandals.  "Hey," she said with the faintest trace of a Southern accent.  "Sorry, but we're closed!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:19, Fri 04 Dec 2015.

Gracie pressed her attack on the vamp. "Oh come on, I am just trying to warm things up a bit" She says as she breaths more fire at the vamps as they retreat.

(ooc- Gracie Lynn DuPree rolled 16 using the Unisystem system (1d10+9). fire breathing .

Melba took a step or two backward toward the Melbamobile.  "No problem", she said.  "What time do you open?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Mon 09 Sept 2013.

"But we just need some advice from somebody who know's a couple things about...well, things. Occult book-y things. The sort of stuff you can't get in your public library, y'know?" Garrett smirked and raised an eyebrow at the woman.

Melba kept moving backward toward the car.  "You had an interview there", she asked, "Do you know this lady?"

The woman's eyebrows rose as realization hit.  "Oh!  You're that kid Caitlyn mentioned!  She told me about the interview."  She opened the door and beckoned them both inside with a casual wave.

"I'm Lauren.  Caitlyn's my cousin.  I'm kinda shop-sitting for her & Gabe until they get back!"

Melba nodded, still backing.  "Ah right.  So when do you expect them back?  Or failing that, will you be opening in the morning and do you know if you have any books that might tell us how to make Holy Water?"

Buffy felt her sledgehammer strike the vampire, but she didn't hear the satisfying cracking squish that comes with bashing an undead skull. Buffy narrowed her eyes, her muscles flaring as she let the momentum from the initial swung carry the sledgehammer back up and she brought it down hard again, aiming for the vampire's head again.

"Yeah, that's me!" He shot a look back to Mel. "Hey, this might sound kinda crazy but," he said looking from the woman to the ground, "we need a way to bless a Costco stock amount of water. Like blessing in bulk. I mean I don't need it, but I've got this friend who's really religious and he goes through holy water like smokers go through cartons. So, is there any way you might know how to help us?"

Lauren shut and locked the shop door behind them.  "Store robberies on the west side lately."  Her full lips drew up in a wry smile.  "I'm locking it for their safety.  You really don't wanna know what happened to the LAST guys who tried jacking Gabriel Booke!"

She padded easily toward the book shelves that Garrett clearly wanted.  In reply to his and Melba's questions, she shrugged.  "That depends.  Do y'all wanna go all 'High Church' with the Latin verse?  Would a Wiccan blessing be good enough for your friend?  Or do you guys need something more esoteric?"

Almost as an afterthought, Lauren frowned and asked, "What are your names again?"

Melba grinned.  "I'm the friend, and I tried the High Church version using a recipe I found on the Internet, didn't work, maybe because, like I said to m'man Billy here, I'm part Jewish and part Kurt Cobain, so something a bit eclectic would be best.  I'm Peaches.  Mr Booke and Ms Bell, are they out of town or out of plane?"  She smiled.  "Got a little of the high church version (obviously from a church) and I have some on my person but I also injected some.  How much d'you reckon I'd need to make my blood like acid to vampires?"

BJ pulled out her pistol and peeks out from behind cover, taking in the situation and trying to figure where to put her knives and/or pistol  for best effect.

Only after Melba gave them false names, and he recognized the woman had locked the door up tight behind them did Garrett start to sweat. His hands got clammy, his temples beaded up, and fear was probably pretty plain in his voice. "Yeah," he said, "and I just had a holy water bath so I feel really clean, y'know? Inside and out." He toyed with his hair adjusting it one way, then the other.

"Maybe there's some faucet blessing, or a well blessing? Those old monks and wiccans had to get tired of blessing twelve ounces at a time, right?"

Melba grinned.  "Maybe a Moslem blessing... or a Mayan one... they had these big tanks of water in the desert, yeah, and it's gotta be Holy if it'll clean your hands outside of a mosque?  Look I wouldn't ask but after the last time, I've been told I'll be tried as an adult if I use napalm again, so I'm going with something harmless to humans."

She winced at Garret's comments but shrugged her shoulders slightly.  "You okay Billy?" she asked.

Clive continued positioning himself to be the bullet shield that he was currently.  Peeking out slightly he would begin to listen if the sound of gunfire had finally come to a complete close.  Aside from any presents BJ had to give their fanged hosts.

Buffy swung the sledgehammer again, striking the vampire with another sickening "KRNCH!"  The vampire's head caved in and she immediately crumbled into a heap of ashy dust.  The Slayer was mad as hell and she wasn't taking it anymore!

Following Buffy's cue, the captain of Jepson Academy's junior cheer-leading squad raised her prop.  She spewed a tongue of fire that struck a tall vampire and sent her screaming into the tunnels to a fiery end!  Inside the chamber, the vampire's finally ran out of ammo.  They realized that taking time to reload would leave them vulnerable to the band of ersatz vampire hunters!

Two vamps made eye contact, watched Luthien hold off their mistress with ease.  They mutually shrugged and fled down a nearby tunnel!  Gabrielle screamed inarticulate rage at her cowardly minions!

B.J. and Clive finally had an opening to act if they wanted!  Gracie's relatives hung back quietly, ready to help if needed.  For the time being, Papaw kept a silent watch on his granddaughter.  Luthien and Gabrielle continued their deadly dance...

14:46, Today: Luthien rolled 31 using the Unisystem system (1d10+22). Heroic Feat Disarm.

Luthien suddenly felt inspired to just take that sword away from her. His eyes watched the way she moved, the way she held onto the blade...and with speed so great even a master vampiress like her would have trouble keeping up with it, he grabbed the sword...right out of her hand!

"Nice sword. I don't think it should be used to kill people anymore."

With Gabby's own sword in one hand, and his stake in the other...Luthien cut quite a formidable figure.

Lauren nodded languidly at the aliases.  "Peaches & Billy The Kid.  Gotcha," she said while scooping jars of herbs and white candles into her arms.  She raised a questioning eyebrow at the different religions rattled off by Melba.  "Look, do you two want a blessing or a Unitarian church service?"

She wrung her left hand as she lowered the items onto a small, circular table adorned with a green and gold silk cover.  "Let's just keep it simple.  I know a Wiccan blessing that should work."  After gathering more supplies, Lauren pointed at two spots.  "Peaches, you stand over there.  You stand here with me, Billy."

Lauren lit a bundle of Sage incense.  "By the power of Air and Fire, I purify thee," she said as she smudged the kids with the incense.  "By the power of Air and Fire, I cleanse and consecrate this circle!  By the Powers that govern North, South, East and West, let this sacred space now be blessed!"

The sage was passed to Melba.  "Hold the Sage and wave the smoke toward us. Just like this," she said with a quick demonstration.  To Garrett, she said, "Strike the bell each time I say a chant."  She thrust a small brass rode and a small bell with Celtic designs into Garrett's hands.

Four gallons of the water had been poured into four large mixing bowls.  Lauren held her hands over the water.  ""I cleanse thee, oh creature of water, of all negativity both seen and unseen, and bless thee in the name of the divine goddess."  She nodded expectantly at Garrett.

Then, Lauren poured a small amount of sea salt into her hand.  "I cleanse thee, oh creature of salt, of all negativity both seen and unseen, and bless thee in the name of the divine goddess."  The Wiccan then poured salt into each bowl.  She stirred each bowl with her fingers clockwise three times.

Finally, Lauren held her hands over the bowls.  Confidently, she chanted, "I cleanse and concentrate this water in the name of the divine goddess, may this liquid enhance and purify all that it touches, so mote it be!"  When she finished, Lauren "opened" the circle and smiled at her visitors.  "Your water is now blessed!  I don't know if we got it all, but this spell only had enough mojo for 4 gallons!"


OOC:

With a little help from Garrett, Lauren rolled a 15!  Successful ritual for 4 gallons of Pagan Holy Water!

Melba smiles,  "That will do nicely.  Certainly enough for a proof of concept."

Garrett felt the tug of the ether in the room as Lauren chanted and he chimed along. He'd never practiced with another witch before and the feeling bordered on euphoric. He wanted to stay and ask questions he hadn't been able to ask anyone since he'd started practicing, but he knew that he and Mel needed to get the Melbamobile fully tested.

"Wow, thanks a lot. You didn't have to help us out like you did back there." Garrett said to Lauren, slightly shy from sharing the strange experience with both Lauren and Melba.

Melba nodded, "And please forgive my earlier suspicion.  I'm Melissa, folks call me Melba or Peaches or any other epithet they can on account of my sweet addiction."

Buffy felt her sledgehammer connect again, and her opponent crumbled away, turned into so much dust. The Slayer plowed forward, not even waiting for the ash to finish hitting the ground. A rage filled shriek that echoed down the long corridors steered Buffy towards where she needed to go! The Slayer ran forward towards the noise, eventually coming across Gabrielle facing the mysterious figure that Buffy had kept running into! He had a sword in one hand, a stake in the other, and seemed to have Gabrielle well in hand.

Buffy and Luthien both apparently cornered Gabrielle.  The vampire faced the Slayer and her mysterious ally with a defiant gleam in her eye.  "I see.  You've slain some of my gang and taken my weapon.  You think you'll reduce me to so much ash and dust, huh?"

Her eyes cut to Buffy's right.  "Can you slay me and save the girl's brother?"  She grinned as she nodded toward Darius, who'd found the tables turned quickly!  The jock still fought, punching the vamp whose hands now encircled his throat.  She laughed and began squeezing.

"Can you slay me before my girl snaps his neck?"

Peering over Clive would stand up to watch the ongoing standoff.  The practical thing to do would be to indeed sacrifice Darius.  Especially as choosing to save the boy wouldn't guarantee Darius' survival.  But practicality didn't exactly go in line with morality.  The Watcher uttered not a word as he neared stake clenched ever so tightly in hand.  Clive wanted to see her character first hand, after all an unfair life of hard choices was ahead.  Modern firearms and pragmatism, dangerous enough to warrant research if the vamp gets away.  I get the feeling she didn't just recently start dreaming big.

Buffy stood there, her fists clenched in anger around her sledgehammer. Her knuckles were white from how hard she was squeezing onto that handle. Buffy felt nothing but rage for Gabrielle. It had transcended the typical hazy vision red anger that flared up in a person. This was hot, searing, blinding hatred. Buffy gritted her teeth hard. It took her less than a second to decide what exactly she was going to do once Gabrielle finished with her threat.

She was going to save Darius. "I swear to you, I am going to end you. And I'm going to enjoy every second of it." The Slayer practically spat the words at Gabrielle before turning around and racing towards the vampire that was attempting to strangle Darius. Buffy would be damned before she let someone die tonight. Not tonight. Not when they were so close to getting Chan back. Buffy screamed out in rage as she swung her sledgehammer at the vampire assaulting Darius.

Melba smiled, "If you'll excuse us.  We need this Holy Water as a proof of concept.  I plan to load it into my water cannon.  I'm hoping it works for our purposes, after all, they said they'd try me as an adult if I used napalm again."

"Seems you have a problem, Gabrielle. The Slayer is more then capable of handling one minion of yours without me. So...issue. You would need CONSIDERABLY more then that to threaten her alone."

But Luthien wasn't making further attacks. He just wanted to keep Gaby cornered till Buffy could live up to her promise.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:06, Sat 05 Oct 2013.

Melba moved toward the Melbamobile with Garret in toe.  As she entered, she turned around and asked.  "Fancy coming along to see if we can find any vamps and try it out?"

Gabrielle kept a fair distance from Luthien.  Her disguise melted away, revealing her true, feral face.  She growled at the white-clad stranger.  "Mind your own damn business, fool!"

As she avoided her threat, the Slayer dashed toward another.  Darius struggled to just barely keep the vamp from closing slavering fangs around her throat.  Buffy saw a camo jacket with cutoff sleevest that presented a nice target for a stake.  The vamp licked by Gracie Lynn's fire spitting had already dusted.  She saw the remaining vamp cut off to the left up a narrow staircase...


OOC:

B.J., Clive, and Chan have a respite from the gunfire now.

Luthien points out, mildly, "But I have your sword. Doesn't that make me your business?"

Her showing her true face only amused him, if anything. "You did remember to brush your fangs tonight, right? The Slayer will be here shortly, since your minion has no real hope at all."

All Luthien was doing here is keeping Gabrielle from running for it, keeping her contained. He wanted the Slayer to finish this. Unless of course, she ruined that idea by attacking him, in which case self defense becomes an issue.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Tue 22 Oct 2013.

BJ peaks up and moves to intercept the nearest vampire as she pulls her Gurkha and stake in a smooth motion that seems well practice and near instinctive. She strode determinedly towards the nearest vampire without pause.

Buffy saw the opening, and immediately threw aside the sledgehammer, her right hand dropping back to her back pocket, grabbing one of the impromptu stakes she'd made right after Gabrielle had done her best Mark McGuire impression with Buffy's head. The blonde whirled the stake in her hand so that the pointy end was aiming right for that camo jacket. Buffy let out a shout, and thrust forward, aiming to free Darius in one fell swoop.

B.J. saw one last vampire that had gone unnoticed in the fray between the White Hats and Gabrielle.  She was a small, thin vamp who hung back in the shadowed corners, creeping toward an escape down the tunnels.  The "Coach" and Clive had a clear line toward her if they hurried...

At the same time, Buffy drove her stake downward in a powerful stroke.  The point struck true, the vamp dusted, and Darius could breathe much easier again!  Meanwhile, the vampire that Gracie Lynn spotted ran deeper into the narrow passage.  The sounds of rain grew heavier, and could be heard, even so deep in the tunnel...

Luthien, still a standoff with Gabrielle, heard the dusting of the minion. Vampires always made a distinct sound when they were dusted.

"Oh dear. Looks like you're out of time. Say, Buffy, would you prefer to use a stake or her own sword on her?"

Luthien phrases it such that it sounded like Gabby's end was surely nigh, and she was fairly being toyed with by the dude in white. It might be reminiscent of the way vampires normally toyed with their prey. After all, Luthien's delaying her demise only so the Slayer can properly finish her off.

Buffy felt a bit of panic wash away as her strike fell true. The vampire opened its mouth for a scream, but instead crumbled away as so much ash. Buffy gave Darius a nod.

The Slayer gritted her teeth and turned her attention to cause of all of this. To the "lead" vampire. To Gabrielle. She stalked forward, whirling the stake in her hand again, in the same casual manner that one might click a pen. She heard Luthien taunt Gabrielle and she declined the sword with a polite wave of her hand. Buffy would have said something, but at the moment, with her heart pounding in her chest, and adrenaline coursing through her, the blonde Slayer was afraid it would just come out as some sort of shout or scream. Something about this vampire just got under Buffy's skin.

Buffy paused a few feet short of Gabrielle, locking eyes with the vampire. She felt tension in the air. There was a long pause. Buffy moved her fingers against her palm in a nervous motion, then, charged forward, aiming as hard a punch as she could muster at Gabrielle!

Luthien shrugged, and held onto the sword himself then. He circles the fight, making ever sure to make sure he's between Gabrielle and freedom, but never interfering. It was Buffy's fight, and she'd do it her own way. All he was doing is making sure she couldn't run away.

Buffy's punch rocked Gabrielle's head backward.  The vampire gang-leader stumbled a few steps backward.  Reeling from the attack, Gabrielle tripped and fell.  Buffy and Luthien loomed over the fallen vampire.  Their stance was a triumphant one, with Darius stepping into the chamber behind them.

From behind, the old man who came with Gracie said, "What about that fang-banger who ran off?"

Gabrielle chuckled when she heard those words.  Instead of fear, Luthien saw an assured glint in her eye.  "It's you who've run out of time!"

Suddenly, everyone heard a tortured groan of old metal!  It sounded as if a gate which hadn't been used in at least a decade were being forced open.  Then, the rush of water as the chamber flooded!

Gabrielle threw her head back in exultant laughter.  "Destroy me or save your friends, Slayer!  Unlike them, I don't worry about drowning!"  Water rushed in a rapid flood, and Gabrielle let it sweep her away!

Buffy, Luthien, and the others only had seconds to act before they, too, were swept away!

It was fairly clear that Chan was having the worst day in her entire life. Between the abduction and what had appeared like certain death, it was by far the most terrifying. It wasn't like she was anyone special, to go around dealing with death and come through it just fine. Taking cover from gunshots hadn't exactly been fun either, but it was a sight better than certain death.

The metallic groaning of rusted gates being opened struck like a cold knife in her back, and she could feel a new wave of elemental fear course through her. It seemed very likely to her that she was just plan screwed. She really wished that she had just stayed in bed today, that would have been nice. She frantically looked for something to grab onto, or climb to safety. She knew for a fact that Darius should be okay here, and that what she really needed was to look after herself.

After they were all swept away by the foulest, worst smelling water imaginable (hey, it was sewer water, what'd you expect?), Luthien did his best to make sure nobody's head went underwater too long, and he always seemed to somehow be there when somebody needed help and nobody else could get there.

Still, there was one problem he just couldn't fixed. He smelled like Crap. LITERALLY, smelled crap. Of course, so did everyone else, so he couldn't feel guilty about it just then, but...yeeeeah, this outfit was done for. No amount of washing in the universe was gonna fix it.

Shopping, definitely his next priority. "Is everyone alright? Besides the fact we're going to have a clothing bonfire soon?"

Melba drove around, slowly.  The damned car seemed to move like a waddling duck in a desert.  She had no idea where they'd find vampires so she reached into her glove compartment and handed him her Nitescope.  "Don't worry", she said, "It's light intensification, not infra red, the leeches'll show."

She put Blue Oyster Cult on the inside speakers, deciding the time for the external ones was not yet, and she tried driving in a search pattern, giving Garret the chance to look into every nook and cranny to see what evil was hiding there.

"Fancy-schmancy Melbo-tech. When are you going to launch your evil corporation and take over the world?"

Garrett scoped into every corner and alley crossing his fingers, toes, legs and arms that nothing would be there, thankful to be encased in a steel box far away from Gabrielle the gross and her miniony fangs.

"Hey!" protested Melba.  "I'm not evil. I'm just misunderstood.  That is the burden we gifted kids have to bear, just as you beautiful kids have to bear the burden of appreciative stares."

Garrett flicked his beautiful burden of hair back.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He raised the Nitescope to his eyes for another pass as they turned a corner. "'Gee, Mel, what do you want to do tonight?''The same thing we do every night Garrett--try to take over Savannah!'"

He lowered the scope and pointed to the cannon. "Is this thing primed to bail us out if we find some toothy trouble?"

Melba grinned.  "Experimental isn't it... keep watching.  If we see toothy trouble, I'll try out the water cannon, photograph it and then drive like it's GTA."

Garrett swooned. "Woman after my own heart. What would we do if one of us was the gung ho type? I'd probably be the one cowering in the corner making gurgling sounds. No, I'd definitely be that one."

Before they took off, Melba clicked on a small, hand-held device that looked suspiciously like a cell-phone jammer.  Not to be considered lacking ambition, Melba had long ago customized the illegal device to also pick up desired cell-phones.  Thanks to Gracie-Lynn generously sharing her phone number multiple times on Facebook, Melba had a number to work with!

The device beeped louder as the "Melba-Mobile" drove closer to their friends.  Just as they reached the downhill slope of President street, Garrett noticed a manhole cover flying up in an alley!  Slender African-Americans emerged from the hole...fangy, feral-looking African-American girls...

Melba immediately recognized the vamps who'd taunted her at Vinny's and wheeled her car into the alley with skill that would make Danica Patrick chartreuse with envy!

Melba flicked the music stream to play cheesy seventies kitsch anthem "It's raining men" to the whole world if necessary.  She grinned a feral grin and flicked the switch on the water cannon.  "Time for a wet T-shirt contest". She said as a fairly short burst of Holy Water splashed the first of the girls.

She was ready to reverse out of there as fast as she could.  But not before she'd seen the effect of her water cannon - after all, that's what she'd come for.

Garrett let out a high pitched squeal as Melba pulled the trigger. He covered his mouth with one hand as he watched the splash in conjunction with "It's Raining Men," Melba was a genius, in more than one hilarious way. All the stunned and nervous co-pilot could do was grip his chair and pray they weren't just giving the fatal femme free baths.

The first vamp cocked her head when she heard the classic disco tune.  Her lips drew back in a fearsome, toothy grin when she recognized the driver.  "Hey, y'all, check it!  It's Roly-Poly behind the wheel!"

Perhaps the vampires mistook Garrett's delighted squeal for fear.  If so, they would have failed their "Intelligence Check" if this had been a Dungeons & Dragons game!  With menacing chuckles, the girls strode toward Melba's souped-up car...

...just in time for a cannon to emerge from the grill and HOSE down the two vampires!  Melba and Garrett heard pained shrieks from the girl gang-banging monsters.  They saw smooth brown skin bubble as if they'd been splashed with acid!

"And that's proof of concept", said Melba.  It had been quite a short burst but that was enough for now.  She put the car into reverse and slowly began to pull back, not in any disarray, but holding the now sullied gazes of the once pretty vampires with her own half-smiling grin.  She spoke into the mic and asked, "Want more, ladies?" before letting the music return.

"That was fan-freaking-tastic, give it to them again and teach those fangy bitches what they get when they mess with us!" He could still see the vampire's face hanging above him; him completely at her mercy and helplessly pinned to the ground, before that shot rang out and spattered him in her blood.

He raised the Nitescope and watched their faces writhe in pain.

"Do it again Mel." He said, flatly.

Buffy heard the sound of the roaring water. She glared as Gabrielle skittered away, crowing about making a choice. Again, to Buffy, it wasn't really a choice. She'd be saving her friends. Buffy didn't even think, her body was already in motion, heading towards Chan. Of all the people down here, that was who the Slayer was most worried about. Buffy was reaching out for her when the water rushed through, carrying them all away. Buffy took a deep breath before the torrent of water carried her away. She used the momentum to grab onto Chan, Buffy grabbed onto a loose grate, climbing up it. She saw Luthien helping everyone else and relaxed a bit.

Buffy made sure Chan was safely up before climbing up herself, collapsing next to her friend, sputtering, chest heaving. She was soaked, and it was nothing like the action movies. It was disgusting and foul. Buffy supposed that was the result of sewer water. But she was alive...and so was everyone else. The blonde slayer simply lay on her back next to Chan, exhausted, the adrenaline and fear that had gripped her and driven her dissipated, and it left her feeling empty and tired. And slightly happier, despite being disgusting. In response to Luthien's inquiry, Buffy made the "ok" symbol with her hand.

Melba still watched the pretty vampires as Garrett asked her to do it again.  "Wait", she said, "Firstly I want to see if that was enough to kill. Secondly, if it's not, I want vampires in this city scared of water.  It'll give us a tactical advantage."

"How about it ladies?" she asked.  "Wanna live to tell the tale?"

The vampire sprayed head on looked acid-burned, her skin ravaged with hideous furrows.  Her two sister vamps carried what looked like second-degree burns on their faces and necks.  They squealed in pain and skittered backward.  "Fat bitch," one screamed!

By all appearances, the fight was clearly gone.  They ran for their un-lives!  Melba knew she could overtake them, though, if she put pedal to proverbial metal!

Melba moved to keep the vamps in sight, wanting to see where they went and also, just to give the most badly wounded of the vamps another dose, trying to calibrate how much it takes to kill.  The less badly wounded ones though, provided they kept running, she'd leave alone.  She was not going too far though, avoiding an ambush was more important than killing.

"Keep watch", she told Garrett,  "I'm relying on your instinct for self-preservation, because I of course may well be a fat bitch with a death wish."  She grinned and said.  "If they're coming up, perhaps our friends will be following".

Garrett didn't see the others personally, but received a text message:  Your friends just crawled out of a sewer.  They're okay, though.  :)  He hadn't saved the number in his phonebook yet, but Garrett thought the text might have come from Hunter.

The vampires thought better of confronting Melba and skurried deeper into the alley.  They were hurt and Melba had shown an unexpected, and impressive, show of force with the holy water cannon!  The two friends noticed that Gabrielle wasn't among them, the remaining vamps were on the run--things definitely looked up for our stalwart young heroes!

Luthien got the okay sign from Buffy, and could tell everyone else was still breathing. That would have to be enough. Granted, the smell was such that they might be envying those that don't have to breathe, but still they were all breathing, and that'd have to do for now.

He noted the others seemed tired or unresponsive, at least. Then again, they didn't have Slayer stamina, so of course they were wiped out, and even he was relatively tired. "After we get cleaned up, we'll have to meet somewhere...anywhere in particular you have in mind?"

Garrett glanced at his phone.



"Looks like you're right. Not about being a bitch though; you're just so sweet and subdued." He made a kissy face at Melba.

Then, Garrett donned the Nitescope. "I don't see the great Drac-Gabrielle with them. Wonder if that means Buffy got her..."

If only he could be so lucky as to have the chief proprietor of his nightmares vanquished forever from Savannah. But even if she was actually gone, her claws may sink in deeper in his dreams. It would be just like her to not know when to give up and die.

Melba turned the vehicle around and headed home.  "Well if she has, it's almost a shame.  I kinda respected her, you know?.  Either way it's home time.  Andiamo!"

When Buffy and Chan clambered out of the sewers, a hand reached out to help.  "Hey, let me help," Hunter offered helpfully.  "Are the others with you?!  Are you two okay?!"

Some days keep getting worse, and this one seemed to have kept surprising her. Getting washed out of a sewer was about the only thing that could have topped her already terror filled evening. For a while she'd been pretty certain that she was going to drowned in the fetid water, until a strong arm had appeared in the murk and dragged her to blessed safety. She lay on the ground soaked in sewage with her sides heaving for air, and utterly exhausted.

"I can't think of anything that could ever actually explain something like this. I'm going to be grounded for the next month..." She muttered without really trying to move.

"Not to be a smartass, but is sewer-diving a vampire-hunting activity?"  When Hunter saw the joke fall flat, he swallowed with a sheepish smile.  "Sorry.  Do you want me to call an ambulance?  It's raining out here, we could say...


...I really don't know what we'd say, just as long as it's not the truth..."

The next day, Melba sent a round of texts, voicemails, and obscure Facebook posts to the group.  She sounded the call to assemble at the food court in Oglethorpe Mall with the promise of news about their "friend", Gabrielle...

Melba frowned at her timeline and scowled.  She didn't have a hangover nor any of the signs of a comedown from crystal meth (she'd read about them, not experienced them).  She checked her phones, laptops, tablets and even her ancient desktop and she really had sent those messages.  She knew that wasn't bright and, before setting out, she cleaned her timeline so that only people awake in the daytime would know.

She picked up Garrett and they drove first to Bell and Booke to thank the proprietors for Lauren's help and to ask about the possibilities of huge quantities of Holy Water.  Of course, she also asked whether moats had ever been sanctified.  (After all, a gilr has to learn).

After that, she drove them to the Oglethorpe Mall and, pausing only to peruse the wares of Radio Shack, made her way to the food court.

Earlier

When the kids dropped by, Lauren greeted them with a laid-back friendliness.  "Hey, guys.  Have a seat over here."  She indicated a table near the cashier's stand.  Bell & Book appeared relatively abandoned for the day.  Only a lone woman of mature years lingered near a display of local song books beside the door.

"How did it go?  Did the spell work?"  When Melba confirmed their success, Lauren nodded with a lop-sided smile.  "Family trade ritual.  Keeps those intruders who a little long in the tooth at bay!"  She moved back toward the counter in a soft swish of silken wrap and skirts.

When Lauren came back, she handed Garrett a neatly folded sheet of fancy stationery.  The paper was soft to the touch, and Garrett saw something written in elegant penmanship when he opened it.  "This might help if you two really plan on hunting vampires.  Don't use it until you've studied it carefully, though.  You might hurt your friends if you don't know what you're doing..._{or destroy property}..."


OOC:

Carry on with the Mall talk!

"But Meeeeeeeeel, we always go in Radio Shack. Why can't we go in Hot Topic? Just for like a minute. I have this feeling chain wallets and plaid lumber jack shirts are coming back this year." Garrett said, eyeing the Wetzel's stand. "Say, why don't we get a pretzel and some questionable nacho cheese sauce while we wait eh?"

Melba grinned.  "Pretzels and toxic waste sounds a fine idea.  Let's do it."

The food court teemed with busy shoppers, mall employees on their breaks, and teenagers with an excess of time.  It occurred to Buffy's friends that those kids were awfully lucky!  Unburdened with the grim truth of monsters and the supernatural under-current which ran deep through Savannah.  Perhaps Buffy, Chan, Melba, and Garrett wished that their greatest worries were mid-terms, dating, or getting the latest smartphone or game?

Unfortunately, denial was no longer an option for them.  The kids met in the food court to discuss last night's near-miss with Gabrielle.  Pleasant aromas of cinnamon buns, pizza, and Chinese food wafted over them.  A small train choo- chooed with cars full of delighted children around the court.  There was too much background noise for the chattering mall-goers to overhear talk of vampires...

"One question", asked Melba, dropping the bubbly facade for a moment, "Are we at war?"

OOC:  Director edit, since we've already jumped  forward...

Last night

BJ kept quite quiet as she followed the others out of the sewer tunnels, keeping as low a profile as she could. The students wouldn't notice her if she could help it. The gun was back in her wrist sheath and the stake and blade were tucked away under her jacket. There were many things she didn't want 'her kids' asking her. Tales of her life before the school was a subject that she didn't want to discuss.

She looked at Luthien  and Clive but waited for them to approach her, she didn't want to discuss things around the students if she could help it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:26, Tue 26 Nov 2013.

Things had been more than a little odd for Chan ever since the 'event' of the night before. She had contemplated many different things to call it, but each seemed to give the terror of the sewers a little more power. She hadn't really dealt with her brush with mortality as of yet, and was trying very hard not to. With any luck she could get through this without freaking out and turning into a puddley mess.

As was often the case Chan had simply had too much, she'd retreated to the comfort of baggy comfortable clothes, and a stuffed bear hidden in her backpack. About all that could be said for hygiene was that she was clean, but the dark circles under her eyes spoke of a mostly sleepless night. "I wouldn't so much call it a war so much as a feud. Gabrielle is not at all what she appears to be, and we'd be wise to remember it. She's really old and might have some sort of otherly juice."

Melba nodded.  "She is very old.  Her accent is Caribbean, maybe Jamaican, I dunno, but her manners are pure gens du couleur libre.  Either way, she's almost certainly old enough to have been a slave.  I respect her.  In other circumstances I could even like her.  I don't think she forgives easily, Buffy as slayer, came into what she thinks of has her domain, we've all interfered with her plans, some of you have killed her minions, and I've injured some.  She's not going to be happy and there's going to be a two hundred year hate headed in our direction.  I think we may be at war, and I for one plan to start mainlining holy water."

Buffy sat quietly as the others spoke. She had purchased an Icee, but made the mistake of getting cherry. The red did nothing for Buffy's mood, so she simply pushed it around the cup with the oversized red straws that always came with. The blonde looked sharply over at Melba. "Like her? Respect her? She tried to kill us. She won't hesitate to 'finish the job' the second she gets a chance."

Buffy didn't view this as a war. She viewed it as another horrifying incident in a fairly traumatic string of them that littered her past. It was more like an infection. A disease of some kind. Buffy lapsed into silence for a bit, trying to put her thoughts together. She swirled the slush drink around the cup for a minute or so before speaking. "This isn't a war. It's more like a gang dispute. People are interfering with her plans, her 'domain'. You saw how they were last night. They're a pack, not a unit. You're not wrong about the hate though. We gave her all sorts of reasons to hate every single one of us last night." Buffy sighed. She'd fought vampires before, but this was different. It felt different. And, for the first time, she had had help. But, for the first time, someone else's life had been in direct danger.

Plus, there was this whole "Watcher" lurking in the background thing. Training. Buffy chaffed at the mere thought.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:10, Mon 02 Dec 2013.

When Luthien appears, he catches the end of the conversation that just started.

"Do not be deceived. There isn't a soul in there to like or respect. While not all of our opponents are clean of humanity, they truly don't have enough to be worth respecting, except in terms of battle prowess. Never underestimate an opponent."

He couched his words in vague terms, in case they were overheard. It's a fairly public arena. He smiled at Buffy, though. "How'd the clothes burning go?"

Melba oozed her charmingest smile and drawled. "Hey, doesn't mean I wouldn't kill her given half a chance....  So.  Does anybody know how much holy water you'd have to mainline to kill any vamp that tried to bite ya?  Surely somebody's tried it in the centuries of their existence?"

Garrett listened to Buffy give her piece. They were all looking to Buffy, in an odd misfit sort of way. She was the one with the mojo; she was the one the vamps seemed to have it in for. The others, us others, seemed to be icing on the proverbial cake. Who could guess if the cake was going to turn out to be a lie? Their friendships had formed out of necessity, and Garrett for one necessarily needed the Buffy buffering factor from the forces of evil.

"So what happened to you all last night? I get that she escaped, but, I mean, did you all at least find her lair or something?"

Garrett gingerly tore off a piece of his pretzel and dunked it in the questionable cheese sauce before him. By some sort of magic the youth had not a drop of cheese anywhere near his lips, or anywhere else for that matter.

Luthien nodded. "We did. Most of her people...ashes to ashes, dust to dust. To dust they have returned. Many brave outfits died that night. Mostly because her escape strategy...stunk, shall we say."

By brave outfits dying, he's referring to being drenched in sewer water, which was admittedly a clever trick, but...well, it was a scent only a skunk could love.

"I believe that you're still underestimating her. I know that she's per-revolutionary war vampire, and that's she's originally from some Caribbean island. My first guess would be Cuba, but I don't have any actual proof." She raised one finger to show that she wasn't finished and took a sip of her smoothie. "Also your just plain dumb if you think she didn't have everything planned out ahead of time. While she might have been hoping to just win outright she obviously had a backup plan from the beginning, and one would suspect that she still does." She shrugged and turned away to look into the food court.

"She might have been the 'mean girl' but I think we'll find that was just her being lazy. What we've done is give her something of a challenge, and she will rise to the occasion." She stressed the word will as she spoke, still looking away from the group.

Buffy had her mouth open to speak when Chan spoke up. Buffy listened to her friend and found herself gritting her teeth instead of speaking. The "Slayer" had, in some ways, gotten so used to this cycle of trauma. Of fear and terror and things that hide underneath the bed. Chan's words spoke volumes. And the fact that she didn't look at the group as she verbalized her thoughts spoke even louder as to how she was feeling.

They'd given Gabrielle a reason to hate them, and they'd given her a motivation to be deadly about it.

Awesome.

Buffy looked around at the assembled group. "Listen, I've..." Buffy sighed, she barely knew the people around her, and she wasn't about to go spilling her guts. On the flipside, they'd all been through the past few days, same as her. "I've seen some of the things that go bump in the night before. I've fought some of them. This was new. This was different." Buffy looked around, struggling to find appropriate wording. She settled for metaphors. "We shot Mongo. We made Mongo mad. And unfortunately, Mongo has the ability lay some serious hurt on all of us. Well, except for maybe tall, dark, and uber secretive over there." She glanced at Luthien, then to the rest of the group. "We need to be more careful now. As lame as it sounds, we should be in touch, we shouldn't go out by ourselves if we can help it. And everyone should start carrying a stake."

Luthien chuckled a little at Buffy's description of him. "Tall and secretive, I'll buy that. But where you do get dark?" Luthien gestured ironically at his trademark white outfit...white slacks, white shirt, white coat, even white shoes. Then he was blonde haired, blue eyed. Dark? Him? Not so much.

More to the point, "Fortunately, I've got Mongo's favorite sharp toy. I should be able to use that to draw her attention away, unless...Buffy, do you want the sharp toy? You'll probably draw her to yourself if you've got it."

By sharp toy, he means he's got Gabby's sword, and should theoretically be her prime target because of it.

Melba sighed and when she started she DID look at the group, making eye contact, taking each and everyone in.  "A stake? I'm an overweight, none to fit teenaged girl.  If I have to take on a vamp armed only with a stake, I'm blood pudding.  A supersquirter full of Holy Water maybe, a crossbow perhaps, maybe even a cross tattooed on my face if it weren't for the fact I'm Jewish, but I honestly don't think carrying a stake is gonna help me much.  Hence the questions, what else works, fire? UV light? garlic? Religious icons? Napalm? I know holy water works, which is REAL scary because it messes with my mundane paradigm, but what else works for somebody like me?  You may not know, Buffy, but somebody does and it feels like it's been a secret for centuries, and I resent that AND take it personally, because this secrecy could have gotten me killed."

She blushed and came to a halt.  "Sorry", she said, "Rant over."

Elsewhere.

Coach Cordova ran the stone over the edge of the blade again, moving in a smooth practiced motion as she silently counted the number of runs she had done on the blade as she set it aside to lay by it's sister on the table in front of her. The table was covered by a massive oiled cloth covered in pockets and weapons. There were at least six stakes on the cloth, as well as a pair of spring loaded sheaths. Two pistols like the one she used lay beside the blades, each having been cleaned and reloaded by her. Next to them was a revolver with two speed loaders with silver bullets and a more modern looking semiautomatic pistol with a trio of clips marked by different colored tapes as well as a trio of grenades. As she moved to pick up the next blade, she reached past an open rifle case containing a high powered rifle with a scope and laser sight.

When the phone rang, she got up and walked over to her den and sat down on her couch. In front of her was a lap with a web cam tied to her big screen tv. It was a different laptop from her school issued macbook. A ruggedized notebook with a eagle and trident symbol on it. She picked up the phone and listened to the words that were clearly mechanically generated.

"Hotel Echo Lima Lima Oscar Starlight Twilight Oliver Trident"

"Walter Trident Vampire Vampire Elias Seven. Code me in: Lieutenant Commander Bonita Jean Cordova. SEAL Team 13. Connect me on secure server. A new voice comes over her headset.

"Stand by for Walsh."

BJ sighed as she sat back and cued up her laptop's powerpoint presenation. The TV screen cued up several photos, of particular note were Buffy Summers, Luthien and Cliver's photos. She stood up as she picked up her remote and nodded towards the TV as the webcam came online.

"Doctor Walsh, first off let me apologize to you for detailing me to this remote sight. I thought this was a boondogoggle but Initiative Intel was right. There is a HST cluster in the city. We ran into several vampires and some untyped varieties." She clicked the remote and several of the vampires they had encountered showed up on the screen. "However in the course of investigating the HSTs I encountered a new issue. Intel's call on 'The Slayer' was wrong. There is indeed a Slayer. Several of the stories appear to be true." She clicked the remote and Buffy's face appeared on the screen.

"This is one of my students. Buffy Anne Summers. She was born and raised in California..." She started to discuss the encounter with the Slayer and what she had seen.

"We have other issues as well." She clicked the remote and Clive's picture came up. "this is Clive Whitlock, he claims to have connections to an extraterritorial unit called 'The Watchers' who claim custody of The Slayer. There is more than a bit of tension between Summers and him. I'd say that her impulse to rebellious teenage outbursts could be utilized here. My take in this? I dislike a bunch of tweed wearing upper class British gentlemen in their elite club telling an American citizen what to do because of some supposed supernatural status. But that could be the SEAL in me." She clicked up another photo.

"All I have on him right now is a name. Luthien." She said as Luthien's image from her phone came up. "Attached are my field notes on the three of them as well as the students who were involved. The few bodies left behind were tagged by my gun, so Recovery can collect them for Analytics to look them over. I'm recommending that we maintain my cover and hold off on collection for the moment. I want more intel on The Watchers. I think I can work up an angle on recruiting The Slayer as well. Coach Cordova is a skilled fighter and has some chops from her 'life' in LA. I've enclosed the particulars on my past. Feel free to have Research backstop the legend for possible Watcher investigation. I AM requesting more assets and hardware though. I will need some specialists to assist me in setting up better intel gathering assets. We've got at least one very savvy techinical mind involved in this already, anything less than the best will have Miss Ellenberger's substantial talents looking for us. I'd suggest that if we can..come graduation that we cultivate a scholarship or two for her. I think she'd do very well in area of designing gear for your people. I have enclosed the school records of all the students involved as well as data that I've collected in my association with them."

"Everyone involved has the drive, focus and ability to work at our level, with training. Not all of them would be suited for Initiative 'standard' action groups though. I filed a report on past 'action group' compositions dating back to my grandfather's time with the Initiative during the Second World War. Civilian action groups would also free up manpower for the more.. vigorous actions we need to do elsewhere. It would also put some of the gentlemen on Capital Hill at ease knowing we're reducing our military actions within the country. I have encrypted my report and uploaded it to the servers. If there is nothing else, I'm due to get the gym up for tomorrow's activities." BJ said as she received a nod from the shadowy figures on the screen who disconnected without a word.

Sighing, BJ collected most of her weapons and returned to the hidden closet behind the TV and set them in place before walking back to close the well concealed closet. She stopped at the door where her dress whites and 'bragging wall' photos showed a young BJ with a quartet of bigger men standing over what was clearly a very dead werewolf on a hillside somewhere. Most telling was a flag bearing the SEAL Trident and tagged with the title and legend: 'Team 13, killing the boogie man and reclaiming the dark'.