new orleans ♔ need a fix cuz i'm going down | down to the abyss

[romanticidal]

♬ Season of the Witch - Dr. John

WHO || Rafael, Buffy, Spike, Des, The Mind Master, Olean Gilbert, anyone guarding Olean in the car... (including Gar) [closed]
WHAT || The Knights go to investigate Chad Becksworth's mysterious 'advisor' in her bayou home
WHERE || The Lousiana Bayou, outside New Orleans
WHEN || Thurs, Oct 18th, evening
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order! Keep it a rollin'.

Crammed inside a big white van, Olean rides up front, directing the driver outside the city of New Orleans, and in the direction of the stretches of swampland for which Louisiana is famous. He has them turn down a side dirt road, which leads them far off any highway or main street, and seems to go on without passing anything remotely similar to civilization for at least sixteen minutes of the drive.

The closer they get, the more he begins to sweat profusely, wiping his face repeatedly with a handkerchief, until he can't find a spot on it that isn't drenched. Finally, he tells them to pull over, waving his hand at the side of the road, and the vehicle pulls to a stop.

"T-this was about where we w-went in," he says. "But I can't tell you anymore, because it was only the once, and there wasn't a real path and ... and... I wasn't exactly paying attention to how to get back there anytime soon. Or ever."

Rafael cranes his neck to look out the back window, but then just pops the back doors of the van open and hops out.

"We'll find it," he says, a determined look in his eye. He nods a bit up the road, at what looks like a dilapidated shack that could be straight out of Cabin in the Woods. In front of it stands a sign that's fallen over, with "FREE TOURS" in white paint that dried dripping half down the wood. There's a light on inside, glowing through one of the windows. "And it looks like someone knows of a path."

Comments

[bigbad]

Well, some of us want more than the usual touristy crap. [This tour, at least, qualifies as off the beaten trail. Spike is still wary, though. Among other things, this tour guide seems to have a strangely expensive idea of the word "free."]

[slay]

[ karma. this is karma. she got the fun, sexy italian intrigue part of the mission, and in some form of cosmic punishment, she's now being forced to muck through the swamp. she missteps and manages to catch her heel in a deeper part of the swamp and get mud all over her boot, leaving her grimacing and distracted from the whole tour business and blonde-girl's smalltalk attempts.

when she focuses back in on them, her gaze just narrows and her patience shrinks so she grouchily points out; ] Just get us there.

[nothingsodivine]

Minus the alligators, if you would. [Des falls into step beside Buffy like he's going to keep her delicate princess sensibilities from falling behind because her shoes are getting swampy.]

I don't want everyone seeing that my alligator wrestling skills are rusty as hell.

[IS IT A JOKE OR IS IT NOT. You will never know.]

[romanticidal]

[

The trek takes awhile, and she seems to be guiding them directly into the middle of nowhere. There's nothing but the sounds of bugs and things splashing about out there, as it grows darker. As far as tour guides go, she's not exactly top of the line either, because she doesn't have a lot of factoids to offer up about the place. Rafael doesn't seem bothered by the fact, pushing on ahead, head turning at every slight sound, hand inching towards his concealed holster.

Eventually, a large concrete wall rises out of the low lit swampland to meet them. It's about twice their height, and more or less smooth, so scaling it isn't a very viable option. There's a small numeric pad set into it here, and the guide presses in a few numbers, which seems to have no effect. She resumes walking, this time following the wall.

Spot checks! ]

[slay]

[ The silence, broken only by the sounds of the swamp, puts Buffy on the alert, and she looks something like a tiny, blonde mirror of Rafael as she looks around at every sudden sound. She scrutinizes the number pad and glances farther down the wall as their sorry excuse for a tour guide leads them along (nat 20 spot). ]

[bigbad]

[Spike may have the keen senses of a vampire, but he's not paying as keen attention as he could. Probably because he still doesn't trust Raphael, even if Buffy's made it clear nothing's going on (spot 15).]

[nothingsodivine]

[CRIT FAIL.

You tried, Des.

You tried.]

[romanticidal]

[ des gets so caught up in the scenery that he rams into the back of the group as they watch (as in spike). spike, make a balance check or you're getting a face full of swamp.

meanwhile, as the guide leads them around the wall, buffy notices movement along the top of it... and gets a glance of something as it ducks onto the other side of concrete: something slimy and distinctly demon-looking. but it's far out of reach now... ]

[slay]

[ was that - ? her eyes widen, her expression slackens, and she stills for a minute, falling behind the group a little, trying to get a better look at the demon that's already long gone. ]

[bigbad]

[Balance check 15! He stumbles a little, but doesn't fall (...right?) and turns to glare at Des.]

Watch it. [Then he catches sight of Buffy and frowns, following her gaze, but there's nothing there by now.]

Everything all right, love?

[nothingsodivine]

[Des stumbles back a bit.] You... watch it. [Yeah, that's all he's got. He's trying to cover up his massive fail before he focuses up on Buffy.]

Hope you're not seeing invisible monsters again, Blondie.

[slay]

[ she looks at des, offended initially, then back over at spike. ]

You didn't see that? [ a beat. she looks up at the wall one last time, lips tightened, and then just moves to keep going. she shakes her head. ] Forget it. Let's go. Where's this entrance, exactly?

[romanticidal]

[ rafael watches buffy with evident concern, a question in his eyes, but merely brushes a hand across her lower back and keeps moving without asking out loud.

the guide shrugs a bit. "Around the wall," she says helpfully. They keep moving for awhile before she comes to a halt, in front of a numerical keypad positioned here, as earlier.

a spot check of 17 or higher will notice that... these trees look familiar.

it's the same keypad as before. congrats on your giant walk in a circle. she presses in the number two, and there's a metallic unlocking noise, as a door swings open from where there was previously none visible.

"After you."

two steps beyond the door lies the beginning of a large moat, so now would be a terrible time to crit fail your spot check, btw. unless you wanna dive right in. there's also no evident way to cross said moat. ]

[bigbad]

We'll get it next time.

[Spike gets a nat 20 spot check this time, and he frowns.] Took us the long way around, did you? [Even more than before, he senses a trap, but he steps through anyway.

Des stand behind someone else please.]

[slay]

[ the hand on her back sends a warmth through her, and she swallows thickly to try and gulp it back, glancing up at rafael, and then quickly away. focus, summers. mission at hand, hello? she squares her shoulders and concentrates more as they make their way around the wall.

when they stop at the number pad, she scrutinizes it and the area around them (spot 26), then glances slowly over at the guide. she was messing with them - there was no reason other than that to demand payment for a free tour, or to take them in a circle around the wall just to wind up in the same place.

messing with their heads. ]

You must live close by, to do these tours all the time and know the swamp like you do. [ except no one lives out here - no one but the mind master. ] I don't think we actually caught your name. [ she doesn't step through, just narrowing her gaze on the blonde because she's got a theory and spoiler: it isn't bunnies. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des got 17. Thank God, he was paying attention to something and he's getting the same general icky vibe that Buffy's getting from this chick.]

That's because she didn't give it. [He tilts his head at the blonde, all of the suspicious.] You kinda struck me as a Linda, but I'm probably off a little, right?

[romanticidal]

[

She seems to find something funny about their questioning, a tiny smile on her face as they both wheel on her. But when she answers, she merely tilts her chin to indicate behind Buffy, and says:

"Crocodile."

Either her parents hated her quite a bit, or there's something dark green and nasty crawling up right behind the Slayer out of the moat...



might as well for init in the plurk we're all in right now. ]

[slay]

[ luckily buffy's smart enough to realize it's probably the second one this time today, so she's going to go ahead and whip her head around to look behind her and -- ]

Well, she did warn us. [ there's a reluctant resignation to the way she says it. she only spots the one coming up behind her now (spot 13). because why shouldn't there be crocodiles? ]

[romanticidal]

[ rafael reacts like lightning, quick drawing two guns and unleashing a pair of bullets from either, all four of which rip into the beast's tough hide (dmg 8 + 7 + 5 + 5). it roars angrily, blood oozing out and splashing into the dark murky water below. it's still alive, however... ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des gets out his revolver, staggering back a bit towards the door.] Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?

[It's hard to tell if he's more shocked at Rafael's sudden badass or if he's pissed he wasn't that awesome.]

[slay]

[ buffy acts quickly, and because it's close enough to her, she can just step forward and drop her heel in a powerful kick to its head, right between its eyes (atk nat 20, dmg 24). ]

[romanticidal]

[ her foot goes THROUGH THE FUCKER'S SKULL and crocodile brain asplodes all over everyone standing close enough. it's beautiful.

spike gets a moment to feel entirely demasculated before he and buffy would be the first to notice further movement in the moat.

and not of the crocodile variety. right underneath the surface of the water, there's a squirming mass of slimy looking creatures with pallid skin and spikes and nasty teeth, roiling around like so many giant grubs.

the whole moat seems full of them.

oh, and then everyone else might notice the two other crocodiles who were climbing out behind the first one. c:

the guide had a secret initiative at this point in time too, and she presses another button on the pad, which extends a sudden metallic bridge across to the other side of the moat. ]

[bigbad]

[Ugh, way too manly. Spike spares a moment to seethe in hatred and jealousy because goddammit Rafael it is NOT FAIR to be that attractive and that good with guns and then he just swoons over Buffy putting her foot through a crocodile skull because that is seriously sexy. Really. DON'T JUDGE HIS KINKS.

He notices the things in the moat and grimaces, then turns to Buffy.]

Go. I'll hold them off. [Translation: LOOK I HAVE A PENIS TOO. He rushes towards the closer of the two crocodiles and slams his fist down on its face (atk 16 dmg 9). It is definitely manly and attractive and way more badass and manly than fighting them from far away with guns. Poncy Italian wanker.]

[romanticidal]

[ the croc he kicks in the face proceeds to clamp its teeth right down on his leg, which just goes to show one of the big pros of guns. (atk 25, dmg 15) and as a crocodile, he doesn't evoke an attack of opportunity to attempt to drag spike under the water. luckily, his touch attack fails just barely and his teeth slide off spike's leg painfully. the second crocodile swings its tail towards him since he's the asshole who ran forward, but it slams into the ground beside him (atk 15). meanwhile those demonic creatures are still churning below the surface of the water for the time being.

rafael can only shoot once with each gun as he runs past the scene, and while his first bullet and penetrates through the thing's hide entirely (16 dmg with one bullet oh my god penetration damage), the second bullet

accidentally

hits

spike.

yeah, that just happened. as if he needs more reasons to hate him.

( 7 dmg... ) ]

Mi dispiace. [ frustrated with himself, he moves across to the other side of the moat and fastens himself there with his guns held up, waving buffy over. and des too, sure. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[WOW THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH MANLY SHIT IN THIS SWAMP. Des cares less about impressing Buffy and more about getting away from this swampy death trap.]

Nice shooting, Romeo. [He heads across the bridge, himself, and fires a shot at the nearest crocodile. (attack 19 for 11 dmg)]