Live from Sunnydale, it's Saturday night!
WHO: Faith, Becky, Emil, Zack, a creepy old guy, and some sorority girls
WHEN: Saturday night
WHERE: UC Sunnydale Campus, then Sid's
WHAT: Stalking, cock-blocking, and popularity
Faith was out looking for trouble. She hadn't had nearly enough of it lately, and Hunter was adamant that she return to patroling. So far, things seemed quiet in Sunnydale, but she knew that could change quickly.
[It's a reasonably quiet evening -- some kids are heading out of the Bronze, gossipping as they go, without a care in the world. An older gentleman is following them, at a careful distance]
Faith tried to get a look at creepy older guy, to gauge whether he seemed more like a protector or a predator.
[The 'old' guy seems to be in his mid-thirties, wearing a black trenchcoat over what looks like a business suit. He's got nice shoes, an expensive watch, and he's making a point of keeping quite a bit back from them.]
Faith tried to stalk casually.
Becky was trailing the gossipers, trying to look like she fit in with the group, when she really didn't. She wasn't saying anything, but she tried to laugh along with the jokes.
Faith hadn't recognized Becky at first, but did a slight doubletake when she did. At least she'd have a little backup if things get weird.
"So then I told him that if he wanted a good time, he'd have to at least provide dinner first," one of them babbled to another.
"I know. College boys are so inconsiderate. They're all like, 'I have the beer, you must get naked now'. I mean, ew? Standards much?" another replied.
Tall, dark, and stalkery shook his head, and stuck a hand in his pocket to check something.
"Yeah, I know!" Becky said, even though she didn't know.
Faith kept her distance. With any luck, the bimbettes would go someplace well-lit and stalker guy would find something else to do.
The girl power squad was wandering in the general direction of campus, and stalkerboy was following steadily. When they crossed into one of the (many) areas of campus that weren't decently lit, he went into his pocket again.
Emil was walking across campus on his way home from studying at the library. He paused slightly noticing the large group of approaching girls.
"So anyhow, I'll call you ladies later," one of them promised, and separated from the herd.
"Okay, Tiffani -- don't stay up until dawn!" one of the girls said cheerfully. To Becky, she confided, "I'm seriously not in the mood to turn in now, are you?"
Faith noticed Emil and rolled her eyes. One more person she recognized and this could be a party.
Stalkerboy considered -- three women, versus one -- and started wandering after 'Tiffani'.
Faith didn't hesitate. She tailed the stalker.
"Totally not." Becky said "It's still early"
Emil noticed one of the gaggle of girls looked familiar- she was in one of his classes. "Miss Blackmoon- isn't it a bit late to be wandering around town?"
High school classes, that was - not college.
Emil gave her his best disapproving teacher look.
"No, it's early" Becky said. "I... oh, um. It's the weekend."
The college girls eyed Emil much the way goths might eye a British person.
Emil folded his arms. "Does your father know you're wandering around the college campus at this hour?"
Faith's judgment here was probably wise, as the person took out something that looked like a small firearm and took careful aim at the girl as she made her way towards one of the dorms.
Oh, shit, Faith thought, and tackled him.
The guy went down hard, obviously surprised, and lost the gun. He promptly swung a fist at Faith's head -- he was faster, and a little tougher, than he looked.
"No." Becky said "I'm supposed to be over...um.. somewhere"
"Who -is- this guy?" one of the collegiates asked Becky. "Should we call the cops on him or something?"
"My name is Emil Gregory," he said, introducing himself to the girls. "And Becky is one of my students. In high school."
Faith didn't quite deflect the blow, but she was able to counter with a punch to the man's face. "What the hell? Since when do you leeches pull guns?" She swung again.
"Wow. We've, uh, totally got to go," one of the college girls said, looking like someone had just asked her to star in a German scheiss video.
"Yeah, you two ... uh, whatever," another confirmed, and the three of them started heading off, leaving Becky alone with Emil.
"This isn't fair! I-" Becky pouted, and crossed her arms
Meanwhile, the gunman fellow took the hit. He looked irate, but apparently was willing to concede that he was off his game here. So he abruptly turned into a cloud of mist. Let the concrete worry about the next punch.
The misty cloud lingered for a moment before flowing upwards and offwards. What - the - fuck.
The girl, meanwhile, was now peering back in Faith's direction, and apparently trying to figure out what the heck she just saw. "Um... is everything okay over there?"
"Oh ... oh, fuck me, what the hell was that?" Faith got to her feet, annoyed, snagged the gun, shoved it into her belt behind her back. "Yeah, yeah, everything's cool. Just bumped into someone ... "
If Faith was familiar with handguns, she'd also note that it was an odd gun. What in specific, she'd have to look again later to tell for certain.
"Do you need to call somebody?" the girl asked. "Like the cops or something?"
"Do you need a ride?" Emil asked Becky. "Or are you going to call your father to come get you?"
"No, I'm good. Just be careful ... lots of creepy people in this town after dark." She turned and headed back the way she had come.
"I can walk" Becky said "I'm just going to go over Ethan's"
"You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night," Emil said.
The girl ducked on into the dorm again.
"Well, I wasn't, but um... nevermind." Becky frowned. This wasn't fair.
"Hey," Faith said. "Weren't you with like a gazillion girls just a minute ago? Hi, Emil," she added.
"He scared them away." Becky pouted "I was popular..."
"Hello Faith," Emil said, nodding. "Is Becky with you? I don't think she should be walking alone at night... or hanging with college girls."
"Ethan is in college!" Becky protested
"Scared 'em away?" Faith asked. "Yeah, I can get her home. I think I saved one of the girls you were with ... Tiffani ... damn, do you think she spells that with an 'i'?"
"Saved her from what?" Emil asked.
"She does" Becky said "I want to go over to see Ethan. I'm not mad at him anymore."
"Someone was stalking the group, this guy ... he pulled some kind of gun, and I tackled him. Okay, I'll take you to see Ethan," Faith said.
"What kind of gun?" Emil asked, frowning.
"Uh ... " Faith took a look around. "I have it, I don't really want to pull it right out in the open like this."
Emil nodded. "Probably wise."
"You have an office close by? I kind of want to get a look at it, myself. Oh, and the guy turned into mist and flew away." Faith shrugged. She'd seen weirder shit.
"A gun?" asked Becky "...Really?"
"Yeah, it was weird," Faith agreed.
"I'm trying to be irresponsible." Becky frowned "I'm a teenager, it's normal. I saw it on lifetime"
"Irresponsibility leads to death in Sunnydale," Emil said.
"Well, anywhere, but here more often," Faith said.
"I know, I know," Becky grumbled "And Ethan doesn't want to move."
"Can I see the gun?" asked BEcky
"Is there somewhere not here we could go look at it?" Emil asked.
"Uh ... Ethan's place is that way, Sid's is that way, about equal distance. Where should we go?" Faith asked.
"Let's go to Sid's," Emil suggested. He didn't know Ethan that well- but he knew it wasn't polite to bring firearms to someone's house.
Faith nodded and started walking thataway.
Emil followed along.
"She followed, her life as a teenage rebel over." Becky said, quietly, as she followed "Her dreams were rapidly flying out of the window"
Emil chuckled slightly. Xavier would be proud of him- ruining teenage rebellion.
Xavier was a cockblock even when he wasn't anywhere nearby.
Faith headed into the fluorescent-lighted diner and got a look around. The place was all but deserted. Zack was leaning against the pass-through window, reading a book. Faith headed for the back corner booth ... no nearby windows.
Emil headed on inside, following them to the booth.
Becky followed, still sullen- but she wanted to see the gun.
Zack reluctantly set his book aside and headed over to the table. "Hey, there. What'll it be?"
"A time machine?" asked Becky
"Just a coke for me, please," Emil said.
"Coffee," Faith said. "Chicken fried steak and eggs, over hard. White toast. Orange juice."
"A time machine? I don't think we have those. But I could play Buddy Holly on the juke box and give you a piece of toast from last week," Zack said to Bex.
"Ok, fine. Cheese fries, a coke, a burger and fries, scrambled eggs, jello, and chili..." Becky frowned "And no Buddy Holly, because now I'm thinking about La Bamba."
"Okay. Back with drinks in a few." Zack headed off to gather stuff.
Faith waited until he walked away, then took out the gun and got a look at it.
Becky peered at it too.
[The gun seems to be a pistol, but on close examination, you note that it takes small, plastic darts instead of bullets for ammunition. The gun itself seems to be made of composite plastics, and a compressed-air charge in the clip operates the firing mechanism. Great if you wanted to get by a metal detector.]
"Oh cool... it takes darts, and it's plastic...
"Can I see?" Beckys eyes lit up
"Stealthy," Faith said. "Quiet. Tranquilizers?"
She slid the gun handle-first to Becky.
"Disturbing," Emil said, looking at it as they did. "What happened to the person wielding it?"
[You could always shoot someone and find out -- hopefully it's tranquilizers and not some sort of poison or mutagen or something else.]
"He's the one who turned into mist and flew away," Faith said matter-of-factly.
Emil blinked.
Becky picked up the gun and examined it, to get a feel for it. "This is so cool. I want one of these... if I wasn't, you know, popular and stuff."
"Yeah," Faith said. "I didn't know vamps could really do that."
"...I'm probably going to have to stop slacking." Becky frowned
"I thought that was just a legend," Emil said. "The whole mist thing..."
"It is." Becky frowned "Well, that's what..." Becky pouted. This really wasn't fair.
"It's all in folklore, nothing backed up with hard facts," Faith said with a nod. "But vamps don't usually run around pointing dart guns at people, either, so who knows? Maybe we got a new group in town."
"We should find out what's in the dart gun." Becky said
"Yeah ... the long and complicated way, not the simple and potentially nasty way," Faith said.
"Well, I wasn't going to volunteer for that." Becky said
"Don't look at me," Emil said.
Faith smirked. "We'll get this to OSI, have them take a look."
WHEN: Saturday night
WHERE: UC Sunnydale Campus, then Sid's
WHAT: Stalking, cock-blocking, and popularity
Faith was out looking for trouble. She hadn't had nearly enough of it lately, and Hunter was adamant that she return to patroling. So far, things seemed quiet in Sunnydale, but she knew that could change quickly.
[It's a reasonably quiet evening -- some kids are heading out of the Bronze, gossipping as they go, without a care in the world. An older gentleman is following them, at a careful distance]
Faith tried to get a look at creepy older guy, to gauge whether he seemed more like a protector or a predator.
[The 'old' guy seems to be in his mid-thirties, wearing a black trenchcoat over what looks like a business suit. He's got nice shoes, an expensive watch, and he's making a point of keeping quite a bit back from them.]
Faith tried to stalk casually.
Becky was trailing the gossipers, trying to look like she fit in with the group, when she really didn't. She wasn't saying anything, but she tried to laugh along with the jokes.
Faith hadn't recognized Becky at first, but did a slight doubletake when she did. At least she'd have a little backup if things get weird.
"So then I told him that if he wanted a good time, he'd have to at least provide dinner first," one of them babbled to another.
"I know. College boys are so inconsiderate. They're all like, 'I have the beer, you must get naked now'. I mean, ew? Standards much?" another replied.
Tall, dark, and stalkery shook his head, and stuck a hand in his pocket to check something.
"Yeah, I know!" Becky said, even though she didn't know.
Faith kept her distance. With any luck, the bimbettes would go someplace well-lit and stalker guy would find something else to do.
The girl power squad was wandering in the general direction of campus, and stalkerboy was following steadily. When they crossed into one of the (many) areas of campus that weren't decently lit, he went into his pocket again.
Emil was walking across campus on his way home from studying at the library. He paused slightly noticing the large group of approaching girls.
"So anyhow, I'll call you ladies later," one of them promised, and separated from the herd.
"Okay, Tiffani -- don't stay up until dawn!" one of the girls said cheerfully. To Becky, she confided, "I'm seriously not in the mood to turn in now, are you?"
Faith noticed Emil and rolled her eyes. One more person she recognized and this could be a party.
Stalkerboy considered -- three women, versus one -- and started wandering after 'Tiffani'.
Faith didn't hesitate. She tailed the stalker.
"Totally not." Becky said "It's still early"
Emil noticed one of the gaggle of girls looked familiar- she was in one of his classes. "Miss Blackmoon- isn't it a bit late to be wandering around town?"
High school classes, that was - not college.
Emil gave her his best disapproving teacher look.
"No, it's early" Becky said. "I... oh, um. It's the weekend."
The college girls eyed Emil much the way goths might eye a British person.
Emil folded his arms. "Does your father know you're wandering around the college campus at this hour?"
Faith's judgment here was probably wise, as the person took out something that looked like a small firearm and took careful aim at the girl as she made her way towards one of the dorms.
Oh, shit, Faith thought, and tackled him.
The guy went down hard, obviously surprised, and lost the gun. He promptly swung a fist at Faith's head -- he was faster, and a little tougher, than he looked.
"No." Becky said "I'm supposed to be over...um.. somewhere"
"Who -is- this guy?" one of the collegiates asked Becky. "Should we call the cops on him or something?"
"My name is Emil Gregory," he said, introducing himself to the girls. "And Becky is one of my students. In high school."
Faith didn't quite deflect the blow, but she was able to counter with a punch to the man's face. "What the hell? Since when do you leeches pull guns?" She swung again.
"Wow. We've, uh, totally got to go," one of the college girls said, looking like someone had just asked her to star in a German scheiss video.
"Yeah, you two ... uh, whatever," another confirmed, and the three of them started heading off, leaving Becky alone with Emil.
"This isn't fair! I-" Becky pouted, and crossed her arms
Meanwhile, the gunman fellow took the hit. He looked irate, but apparently was willing to concede that he was off his game here. So he abruptly turned into a cloud of mist. Let the concrete worry about the next punch.
The misty cloud lingered for a moment before flowing upwards and offwards. What - the - fuck.
The girl, meanwhile, was now peering back in Faith's direction, and apparently trying to figure out what the heck she just saw. "Um... is everything okay over there?"
"Oh ... oh, fuck me, what the hell was that?" Faith got to her feet, annoyed, snagged the gun, shoved it into her belt behind her back. "Yeah, yeah, everything's cool. Just bumped into someone ... "
If Faith was familiar with handguns, she'd also note that it was an odd gun. What in specific, she'd have to look again later to tell for certain.
"Do you need to call somebody?" the girl asked. "Like the cops or something?"
"Do you need a ride?" Emil asked Becky. "Or are you going to call your father to come get you?"
"No, I'm good. Just be careful ... lots of creepy people in this town after dark." She turned and headed back the way she had come.
"I can walk" Becky said "I'm just going to go over Ethan's"
"You shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night," Emil said.
The girl ducked on into the dorm again.
"Well, I wasn't, but um... nevermind." Becky frowned. This wasn't fair.
"Hey," Faith said. "Weren't you with like a gazillion girls just a minute ago? Hi, Emil," she added.
"He scared them away." Becky pouted "I was popular..."
"Hello Faith," Emil said, nodding. "Is Becky with you? I don't think she should be walking alone at night... or hanging with college girls."
"Ethan is in college!" Becky protested
"Scared 'em away?" Faith asked. "Yeah, I can get her home. I think I saved one of the girls you were with ... Tiffani ... damn, do you think she spells that with an 'i'?"
"Saved her from what?" Emil asked.
"She does" Becky said "I want to go over to see Ethan. I'm not mad at him anymore."
"Someone was stalking the group, this guy ... he pulled some kind of gun, and I tackled him. Okay, I'll take you to see Ethan," Faith said.
"What kind of gun?" Emil asked, frowning.
"Uh ... " Faith took a look around. "I have it, I don't really want to pull it right out in the open like this."
Emil nodded. "Probably wise."
"You have an office close by? I kind of want to get a look at it, myself. Oh, and the guy turned into mist and flew away." Faith shrugged. She'd seen weirder shit.
"A gun?" asked Becky "...Really?"
"Yeah, it was weird," Faith agreed.
"I'm trying to be irresponsible." Becky frowned "I'm a teenager, it's normal. I saw it on lifetime"
"Irresponsibility leads to death in Sunnydale," Emil said.
"Well, anywhere, but here more often," Faith said.
"I know, I know," Becky grumbled "And Ethan doesn't want to move."
"Can I see the gun?" asked BEcky
"Is there somewhere not here we could go look at it?" Emil asked.
"Uh ... Ethan's place is that way, Sid's is that way, about equal distance. Where should we go?" Faith asked.
"Let's go to Sid's," Emil suggested. He didn't know Ethan that well- but he knew it wasn't polite to bring firearms to someone's house.
Faith nodded and started walking thataway.
Emil followed along.
"She followed, her life as a teenage rebel over." Becky said, quietly, as she followed "Her dreams were rapidly flying out of the window"
Emil chuckled slightly. Xavier would be proud of him- ruining teenage rebellion.
Xavier was a cockblock even when he wasn't anywhere nearby.
Faith headed into the fluorescent-lighted diner and got a look around. The place was all but deserted. Zack was leaning against the pass-through window, reading a book. Faith headed for the back corner booth ... no nearby windows.
Emil headed on inside, following them to the booth.
Becky followed, still sullen- but she wanted to see the gun.
Zack reluctantly set his book aside and headed over to the table. "Hey, there. What'll it be?"
"A time machine?" asked Becky
"Just a coke for me, please," Emil said.
"Coffee," Faith said. "Chicken fried steak and eggs, over hard. White toast. Orange juice."
"A time machine? I don't think we have those. But I could play Buddy Holly on the juke box and give you a piece of toast from last week," Zack said to Bex.
"Ok, fine. Cheese fries, a coke, a burger and fries, scrambled eggs, jello, and chili..." Becky frowned "And no Buddy Holly, because now I'm thinking about La Bamba."
"Okay. Back with drinks in a few." Zack headed off to gather stuff.
Faith waited until he walked away, then took out the gun and got a look at it.
Becky peered at it too.
[The gun seems to be a pistol, but on close examination, you note that it takes small, plastic darts instead of bullets for ammunition. The gun itself seems to be made of composite plastics, and a compressed-air charge in the clip operates the firing mechanism. Great if you wanted to get by a metal detector.]
"Oh cool... it takes darts, and it's plastic...
"Can I see?" Beckys eyes lit up
"Stealthy," Faith said. "Quiet. Tranquilizers?"
She slid the gun handle-first to Becky.
"Disturbing," Emil said, looking at it as they did. "What happened to the person wielding it?"
[You could always shoot someone and find out -- hopefully it's tranquilizers and not some sort of poison or mutagen or something else.]
"He's the one who turned into mist and flew away," Faith said matter-of-factly.
Emil blinked.
Becky picked up the gun and examined it, to get a feel for it. "This is so cool. I want one of these... if I wasn't, you know, popular and stuff."
"Yeah," Faith said. "I didn't know vamps could really do that."
"...I'm probably going to have to stop slacking." Becky frowned
"I thought that was just a legend," Emil said. "The whole mist thing..."
"It is." Becky frowned "Well, that's what..." Becky pouted. This really wasn't fair.
"It's all in folklore, nothing backed up with hard facts," Faith said with a nod. "But vamps don't usually run around pointing dart guns at people, either, so who knows? Maybe we got a new group in town."
"We should find out what's in the dart gun." Becky said
"Yeah ... the long and complicated way, not the simple and potentially nasty way," Faith said.
"Well, I wasn't going to volunteer for that." Becky said
"Don't look at me," Emil said.
Faith smirked. "We'll get this to OSI, have them take a look."