5: action

[steadfastest]

[Xander can be found inside the Battle Dome today. Observers might look in and see a dark, murky graveyard inside the simulator. Bare trees, tombs, crypts and stones provide a jagged landscape for the lone young man inside, who looks---afraid. He's got an axe on his back, a stake in each hand, and a big lump in his throat

Comments

[consultmybooks]

[Oh, dear God...

Vamp Cordy will suddenly find herself getting hit with quite a lot of holy water to the face. Giles is not pleased by this turn of events.

If that doesn't work, then out comes the stake.] Leave him alone.

[steadfastest]

[The suffering would-be slayer gets a face-full of water as well.]

Giles!

[consultmybooks]

[Yeah, sorry about that, Xander. His main goal was to get Cordyvamp's attention. With any luck, that makes her take her fangs out of Xander. He moves in to haul her away.]

[steadfastest]

Cordelia is not happy about this at ALL. She lets go of Xander, throwing him a good distance away. He slams into the side of a crypt and slumps to the ground. That done, she turns on Giles, her face singed and smoking.]

I don't exactly love rocking the BURNED look, Mister Giles.

[consultmybooks]

[It's been a few years since he last saw Cordelia, but that doesn't make this any nicer.]

Why, Cordelia, it seems there's something wrong with your hair.

Xander, what on Earth led you to set up a scenario like this? [All right, Cordy, come and get him]

[steadfastest]

Dunno, Giles...it...wasn't...supposed to be her...like that.

[Vamp Cordelia, meanwhile, is grinning in a not-very-nice way at Giles just before she goes for his throat, and the kill.]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles sidesteps, before swinging a punch aimed for the back of Cordelia's head. He keeps a tight grip on the stake with the other.]

These things aren't even supposed to be solid.

[steadfastest]

They're plenty solid...[Xander is standing unsteadily, one hand covering his bleeding neck.] Shouldn't have...disabled...safety.

[consultmybooks]

You disabled the...

[All right. He grabs Cordelia by the back of her shirt and tries to stake her in the heart]

[steadfastest]

[All those years of experience have paid off for you, Giles; the blow lands true and Cordelia turns to dust before your eyes.]

....Yeah. It was a stupid thing to do. [Why are you discussing this NOW, Xander? There are at least twenty other vampires coming toward you and Giles!]

[consultmybooks]

[It's just a hologram. He knows this isn't real. He also knows that the safety is off and that he could just as easily wind up in the same state as Xander what with the other vampires approaching. There are way too many.]

We're leaving.

[He raises his free hand and starts chanting quietly in Latin]

[steadfastest]

[Xander, meanwhile, has actually succeeded in staking one of the approaching monsters. Three more crowd in to take its place.]

Uh...CHANT FASTER, GILES. MORE WITH THE FAST CHANTING PLEASE. [The program SHOULD shut off before a fatal blow is dealt.........right?]

[consultmybooks]

[Success. One vampire lunges and bounces painfully off a barrier. Giles gets his back against a mausoleum and manages to make short work of two that were trying to pincer him in]

All right. Come and have a go. [Attracting the attention of twenty vampires isn't the smartest thing he's ever done, but he's not the one bleeding] Xander, get to the door!

[steadfastest]

Uh--RIGHT! [Xander starts off running! Sort of on a slantwise path! He's TRYING to run straight for the door, but the combination of bloodloss and body slam are making it difficult to do that. Thus he looks like the losing runner at the dizzybat national championships.]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles mostly tries to keep the vamps busy. And he does, to some degree - twelve are clumped around him, trying to get at him, but the barrier and the stake let Giles keep a hold of the situation.

Unfortunately, this makes it all but impossible for him to get to Xander should the vamps get bored of trying to kill him]

[steadfastest]

[Xander is now attempting to right himself, after tripping over a gravestone and going down hard. Once he gets to the door, he is faced with the task of figuring out how the hell to open it.]

Almost got it!