CHAPTER FINALE ♔ cause it's always raining in my head

[narcosynthesis]

♬ oceano - josh groban

WHO || Keijen Blade, Nadia Reichenov, Rafael Giovanni, Buffy Summers, Alainn O'Rourke, Myrilandel Odair, Finnick Odair, Desmond Descant, Elena Gilbert, Rose Hathaway, Fredrick Jr., Jack Chessing, Kat Samcelot, Jeanne Gar, Spike, Sterling Archer, Violet Reedhym, Burt Becksworth, Isabella Alessandro
WHAT || Failboat does the Grammy's, tries to stop Keijen Blade's performance from reaching the masses, and aspires to save Nadia
WHERE || Staples Center, Los Angeles
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

The day has finally arrived: the 2015 Grammy's gather together musical talent at the top of the food chain, which means that NOVA Records will be well represented at this year's ceremony. Unfortunately, this includes performances from Keijen Blade's band, Heatless Passion, and Nadia Reichenov's, Derere, both of whom are working for "Chad Becksworth", aka Draken Crombe, head of the Shadowkind-hating cult, the Church of the Lord's Humanity.  Equipped with some sort of ability to hypnotize large crowds with subliminal messages, Wynn fears what lies beneath Keijen's intended performance, and is sending his Knights to shut down the broadcast, to prevent that message from being spread to millions of viewers worldwide.

Meanwhile, the gang finally has a chance to see Rafael Giovanni again - but what he's been up to in the months since they last saw him, and how his reunion with Buffy will go, remains to be seen.

Several of the Knights have decided that this is their last chance as well to try and break Nadia free from Keijen's influence, now that they've learned the truth about him - that Keijen is in fact Kel'in'hrae, sadistic son of the Nightmare God Malaak'a, likely working to free his father from the prison Sehanine had created for him.  The prison sealed by the relic that the team has been chasing for years, believing it to be an immortality-granting talisman of great power.

The truth, it seems, was worse than they could have imagined.  

One step at a time, however, and stopping the signal is first priority on Failboat's to do list for now.  With an actual plan under their belts this time, maybe this is the turning point they've been waiting for...    

Comments

[slay]

Distracted by Rafael's dressing room from search check.
Argued for two straight minutes with Spike about Rafael's dressing room.
Found Head of Security.
Lied to Head of Security about staying put while he went to deal with Beyoncé's robbed dressing room.
Followed Head of Security silently and efficiently to Beyoncé's dressing room.
Knocked him out with a surprise hit and massive damage (40 dmg!).
Failed to tie him up with a blender cord.
Had an awkward sexual moment with Spike when he knew how to tie the Head of Security up really well …
Locked him in the room, stole his shit, and sent Elena off.
Went to patrol the backstage hallway.
Put in earplugs as the performance began.
Realized that she didn't warn Rafael about the brainwashing, sent him an e-mail to prompt him to plug his ears.
Dipped off with Spike outside after something Spike saw.
Split up in the gardens outside.

Someone comes up and grabs Buffy from behind. Whipping around, she tries to deck them and spots—
Alexander Anderson. Grinning down at her and monologuing. Realizing she still can't hear, she turns off her earbuds to hear him start monologuing about it being better to die.
"So does [that monologue] mean you're gonna die? Because I'd be okay with that."
"Did you think you could avoid me forever?"
"Honestly? … Yeah."

Spike hears them talking and approaches quietly, hiding.

"Why don't you ask your friend to come out?"
"Spike?"
Spike walks out. Anderson pulls out one of his holy blades and throws it right at Spike. Spike pulls the blade out of his chest and runs at Anderson. They begin to battle, and Anderson seems myopically focused on murdering Buffy. Spike attempts to grapple him and fails, resulting in Anderson shouting, "Ye think ye can get yer hands on me?!"
Buffy punches straight into his abdomen, and both notice that Anderson seems to be regenerating most of the damage they do to him.

"What are you doing here?!" Buffy asks.
"I have unfinished business," Anderson declares curtly.

After Spike fails to grapple again, Buffy demands he, "Get back! Call for help!"
Spike runs past Des and Isa and shouts, "Go help Buffy!"

As Anderson gets double penetration on Buffy, she snaps, "You could at least take me to dinner first." He knocks her to 0 HP after damage reduction, and her fast healing immediately takes her back to 5 hp. Des runs up and shoots. Isabella shows up beside her with a war fan, and Buffy immediately announces, "He's here for Rafael!"

Spike, heading back towards the doors, texts everyone and calls Jack to say, "Get your asses out here: Anderson's in the gardens. He's going to kill Buffy!"

Buffy unleashes hell on Anderson, two nat 20's later does 95 damage in a single turn. She takes him down and as Isa and Buffy jump out of the way, Anderson plummets to the ground—dead. With one of Anderson's swords broken off in her abdomen still, Buffy slumps to the ground a moment later. Spike cancels the call for help.

Rafael runs past the group when they tell him Anderson is here. He moves immediately to Buffy's side, ignoring Isabella. Vi moves to Buffy's side and uses transfer wounds to take some of her damage. Rafael asks Vi if it's safe to take the blade out. Interrupting, Buffy demands he just pull it out. "Rip off the bandaid." With a 19 strength check, Rafael pulls the blade free. Buffy bleeds some more.

Jack looks down at the body and asks, "Are we sure it's going to be enough?"
Buffy looks up at him: "Are you kidding me?" A sigh later, she says, "Dismember it, canopic jars, bury it in different parts of the world, kill it with fire. I don't care: just get it away from me."

"Cut off the head," Alainn and Jack say at once. "Des," Alainn suggests, "should do it for irony."
Des beheads Anderson with his own bayonets.

Alainn offers to keep Anderson in her secret vault so they can get him out of the Grammy's. Spike strength checks Anderson into the vault.

Burt walks out: "The FUCK is going on here?"
"We took care of Anderson. He was here for Rafael," Buffy explains.
Burt demands Rafael get over there. "He's gotta get on stage—he's next."
Buffy gets to her feet, shoving at Rafael and telling him to go.
Isabella says, "Otherwise, they'll come looking. We'll take care of her." without looking at Buffy.
Buffy and Rafael have a Moment of eye contact, and Rafael promises he won't be gone long. Izzy goes to get Buffy a new dress, then lets her know that she is going to watch Rafael. Buffy catches up with the others, gets healed by Myri (who also casts Bull's Strength Mass—+2 str mod—for the next 13 mins), and goes to watch Rafael from the wings on the opposite side of the stage from Izzy.


Buffy and Vi decide a human should keep their earplugs out, so they make a deal with Archer for alcohol to give his earplugs to Rafael during Nadia's performance. When it's over, they take their earplugs out, and everyone seems to be fine. When they ask Archer, Archer pretends to zombie walk and say he craves brains. They blow him off.

Jack texts Spike and Buffy to meet Myri and Elena back at Rafael's dressing room. Buffy shows Vi, tells Vi to keep an eye on Archer being a sleeper agent and sends them back to Finnick. They follow Rafael to his dressing room. Reconvening with Spike, Buffy shares a meaningful look with him like WELL HERE WE ARE AFTER ALL. Myri hushes her voice and tells Buffy that a voice told her to come her in her mind, but she couldn't tell if it was a male or female voice.

Buffy asks Rafael if he brought his guns, but he didn't, so Myri and Spike hand their guns over to him. They all push the door open together and find the dressing room empty. Everyone but Rose heads inside. Nadia comes in with Rose a moment later with her head down. Rose closes the door behind her. Nadia puts her hand out and opens it: the necklace is there. She tries to talk in their minds, telling them to take the necklace.

[slay]

Spot checks inside the room. Everyone sees Rafael push forward, staring at Nadia, livid. Buffy reaches out to grab his arm (diplomacy 32) because she recognizes the anger akin to when he attacked Des with her.

"You cannot trust her," Rafael says.
Buffy: (concerned) "What's going on? What do you know that we don't?"
Rafael: I cannot tell you here.
Buffy: Where can you tell me?

Nadia (in heads): Please. You must trust me.

Spike grabs something to buffer the necklace and takes it from them. Nadia looks up and stares at Rafael for a moment.

Nadia: I know. Believe me.
Spike: You guys better not have had a thing.
Buffy: Hey. Timing. Maybe wait 'til later.
Nadia: If you will listen to me … There is a warehouse. (Address.) I don't dare stay here much longer. They will be trying to find me after that. I have to go.
B & S: We can protect you.
Nadia: I will see you there. It's better if I go alone.
Spike: Do you want one of us to go with you?
Buffy: Spike. Stop.
Spike: (diplomacy 15) It doesn't have to be me.
Nadia: If they saw us leave together, it would be bad.
Myri: (sense motive 21).
Elena: I could go with you as whoever.
B: Not a bad idea. You wouldn't be going with us.
Myri: It's okay. We'll meet you there.

Nadia bails. Rose comes back in.

Buffy turns to Rafael, "What's going on?" And he just shuts down: "Let's go." Buffy and Izzy share a "this fucking guy" look. Buffy beelines after him. Myri stops with Izzy like ?? ? Have you seen them interact ever? ? They drop the fey wine in the dressing room with the Head of Security and dip out the back.

Myri announces, "More voices. Not Nadia. It sounds like a lady."
B: "What are they saying?"
M: "A warning that this isn't over, and what happened to 'him'—probably Finnick, I imagine—so I don't know if it's the Mind Master or what. But it's only the start. Far from over, and we should not mess with their affairs."
B: Maybe it's best if Finnick doesn't come to the warehouse with us… What happened to Finnick?
E: I opened up a bathroom door, and when I turned around, he was not okay. That's pretty much what happened.
M: Worse than how I saw him after the last concert.
B: He wasn't moving?
M: We were able to talk, though. And he— He barely wants to touch me. It's like he doesn't even know me.
Buffy reassuringly rubs her shoulder.
M: It's all connected. If we can get Nadia away from them, maybe that's part of figuring all of this out.
They put Nadia's necklace in Alainn's vault. Alainn takes this opportunity to show Kat and Fred the body.
A: You could bowl with this head.
B: Believe me. If you'd known the guy, you'd only be happier about it.