nyc ♔ the devil has my ear today

[dragonsclaw]

♬ Broken Glass - The Blank Theory

WHO || Failboat and more... [closed]
WHAT || The Knights move on a warehouse in NYC to try and save Jeanne Gar & Rafael Giovanni
WHERE || New York City, New York
WHEN || Summer 2016
HOW || Actionspam or prose

The plan has been set, and the Knights are on their way to New York City once again - this time with the desperate hope fueling them that they can save two of their own, instead of simply endangering them further.  Jack and Buffy have greater stakes in this than anyone - as it is Jack's fiancee, Gar and the love of Buffy's life, Rafael, who are currently in the grip of the vile villains that have plagued them for the last four years.  Knowing fully well the risks that are inherent in potentially facing down the dangerous Mind Master, who shattered Myri's life in an instant by breaking Finnick Odair's psyche, their plan is to divide and search the warehouse as quickly as possible - knowing that every second counts, when an alerted team of bad guys could take the lives of their captured friends.  

It's an unparalleled gamble, but may be their only opportunity before Rafael and/or Gar are moved from the facility.  To that end, they converge at a nearby hotel...

Comments

[chessing]

[ with a nat 20 fort save, the thing looks extra enraged by the copious amounts of damage being done to it, rather than about to pass out from it. rage fills its alien looking eyes, and it constricts around her with the tentacle (dmg 12), lowering its maw towards her to take a devastatingly large bite out of her (atk 34, dmg 27), as hideous talons sink into her skin (atk 31, dmg 15 and atk 35, dmg 19). its free tentacle whips through the air towards her with a stinging blow (atk nat 20, dmg 18). ]

[slay]

[ With a fort save of 25, Buffy stays conscious despite the serious sap on her physical reserves. She's dropping to critical status pretty fast, covered in blood and assessing the status of the bones she suspected broke with the creature's constriction.

It would not be an easy exploration of the facility from here out, but hell if she was going to let this thing stop her.

Buffy cracked her head against the creature's teeth and reached forward with her fist to pound them into powder as best she could with a series of repeated blows (atk 49 (crit), 45 (nat 20 crit), 38 (crit), 17; dmg 31, 47, 58, 23). I'm sure the last one doesn't hit, but allow that damage roll to represent my hope. ]

[chessing]

[ her fist repeatedly slams straight through the creature's skin and bones, until she's basically elbow deep into it with each blow. suffice to say, it quickly shudders around her, the tentacle finally losing its grip as the creature collapses around her. ]

[slay]

Jack?!

[ Buffy climbs back up on the boxes between aisles to try and search for him on the other side. ]

[chessing]

[ she's just in time to watch as jack, who is held tightly in one coiled tentacle, the other punched through a box, as the monster struggles to pull it free, swings his sword down and manages to cut the binding appendage clean through. so much dark blood floods out that the creature gives one last howl, before shuddering in its death throes, and jack slips loose into the puddle of blood and guts as it expires. ]

[slay]

[ Buffy's expression contorts with minor disgust, despite the blood running all the way up her arms from punching into the monsters, as Jack slip-and-slides into its guts. ]

Yuck. [ But more to the point, she drops on the ground beside him. ] You ok?

[dragonsclaw]

[ he grips the edge of a box to pull himself up, looking her over with equal concern ] Quite. And you?

[slay]

Honestly? Been better. [ She's holy. As in full of holes. But she's standing, regardless of the sway in her step. ] Mostly worried that means they were expecting us, or some alarm's been sounded. We need to move faster.

[chessing]

[ it's at that point that their comms ring out with felicity's "If anyone has eyes on Rafael, it's not him. Repeat: it's not Rafael. We have eyes on Gar." jack's eyes widen a bit, relief and some fear there for a moment, but then he looks over to buffy, tempering his expression as the meaning of the other statement sinks in. ]

[slay]

They know.

[ They must, to have set up a decoy. But why now? How? She doesn't stop to wonder and instead starts striding down the aisle further into the facility, forgetting the not-demon corpses. ]

[dragonsclaw]

[ after only a moment, she can hear his pace increase to catch up behind as they head towards the doors ] Sir Summers...

[slay]

I'm gonna find him, Jack. [ She's not stopping. ] I won't leave here until I do.

1/2

[dragonsclaw]

Buffy. [ the use of her first name is pointed, although his tone is quiet enough, clearly not pleased to be delivering this bit of insight. ] It's possible... that he isn't here after all. [ the words hang heavy in the air, along with all the potential implications. ]

[rationalizes]

[ it's at that moment that steve, felicity, kat, and gar emerge around the corner into the same hallway that buffy and jack have hit, and gar's voice rings out from down the length of it, relief riding high in her tone ] Jack!

[allmydreams]

[As Felicity rounds the corner with her, her gun still up, she's still on her guard, tense at the sound of someone else there, but when she recognizes Buffy and Jack she relaxes some, bringing her gun down just enough to not be at a risk of shooting them on sight.]

We gotta get out of here, Steve's in pretty bad shape. Have you heard from the others?

[recruited]

[ The longer they walk the more Steve feels it. Whatever Keijen did to him. He definitely wants to drop, but he won't let himself. He keeps moving. When Felicity says they should get out of here cause Steve's in bad shape he shakes his head. ]

Hey. No. I can rally if staying means finding him.

[slay]

[ Seeing Gar, she freezes. It's unfair. That's her first thought, and later she'll hate herself for it, but she can't help feeling it in the moment. It's unfair that she comes running for Jack and Rafael—

She's ready to insist. Ready to round the corner and charge ahead and refuse to leave until something can be done, but as she starts down the hallway that Felicity emerged from, she stops dead and sees Steve in the condition she's in. The thick layer of her own blood and demon slime that cakes her wasn't going to stop her, but seeing Steve roughed up as he is, volunteering to keep at it, to turn back and refuse to relent in pursuit of her insane pursuit stays her.

If she insists, she can't guarantee it will help Rafael. But she can guarantee it will get her friends hurt, or worse, and that agony paralyzes her. She stills. ]

... No. [ She says, and the words tremor with hopelessness that she has to school from her voice. She swallows thickly and resolves herself. It's out now. She can't take them back. ] Felicity's right. You should leave.

1/2

[shootfirst]

[ kat slows and looks between jack and buffy - neither of whom are in fantastic shape, honestly, and purses her lips together slightly. despite her concern, she weighs buffy's expression and slips near enough to her to say with half a shrug ] If you want to keep looking, I'll come. [ still, there's something in her tone that implies she knows that's probably the stupid call, and worst case, the hopeless one ]

[rationalizes]

[ gar makes her way towards jack swiftly, her arms thrown around his neck as she draws him into a tight embrace for the moment, but she's not so distracted that she misses kat's words. she pulls away enough to look over at them, hesitating a second before saying: ] They took him. Somewhere to secure him for ... I'm not quite certain I understood what. But it sounded as though they were seeking something... a bit long term. [ it's a dull hope that she can offer her, but it's clear she's trying desperately to offer a bright side ]

[allmydreams]

[Felicity watches them for a moment, because she would probably volunteer to look for him too, if it weren't down to trusting Gar and one other thing:]

Also Blade is here. He was the one we ran into when we tracked down Gar.

[The fact that he was the one who did this to Steve goes unsaid, because she feels it's obvious at this point - and she doesn't want that to happen to Buffy on a fool's errand. But she can frame it like she's trying to give her a heads up and not that she's trying to make her rethink her play.]

[slay]

[ Buffy stills when Kat makes her offer. She turns her head to stare into her expression, unflinching even as Gar and Felicity speak up too, because it's what Kat says that really digs down into her. Kat, who had been so relieved to watch Rafael sacrifice himself, willing to do the same now. She lowered her gaze, accepting what felt like an apology with a humility that came from the pervading question of whether or not she had perhaps misjudged Kat's reaction from the start, then turned to Gar. ]

Are you positive?

[rationalizes]

The three of them had a tendency to squabble amongst themselves. I think they're more divided than we have even believed. I suppose Dumage did try to warn us of that. Crombe prioritizes Rafael in a way the other two clearly don't. Blade kept making offhand remarks about killing him, and Crombe would have none of it.

[bigbad]

[Spike comes down the stairs looking generally stormy, but his expression brightens slightly when he sees Gar. He gives her a tired smile.]

Glad to see tonight wasn't entirely a bust. How's it going, love?

[shootfirst]

[ before gar can even answer, kat speaks up ] She'll live. Is it wishful thinking to hope that Dumage broke a nail and wound up straggling behind with a monster chasing you guys down? [ hope springs eternal ]

[bigbad]

[Spike sighs.] No, she went with the bloody bad guys. Again. Didn't seem like her heart was really in it, but maybe that's my wistful thinking.

[Someday, she'll have to make a choice. Spike can only hope she'll do what's right when that time comes, instead of just what's most likely to keep her alive. But right now he can't even really be mad. Just sad.]