The Graveyard: Friday Evening
It's your typical Friday night for Mel. While most of her friends are off with their family type units, Mel tried to push aside her own family issues by going on patrol and staking any vampires she can find.
But at least she isn't alone...
"Sure this is the place you want to be on a Friday night?" Mel asked as she surveyed the graveyard.
Rikku grimaced. "I'm tired of it. Saying I'm fine, and I'm kinda not, and I miss him, and people are here, and everyone's all happy and I just feel all -- ugh. I think I totally need to beat the crap out of something."
Mel nodded looking serious. "These lurks that have been popping up these last few weeks have been keeping me busy. As soon as we know what's causing them? I think another road trip is in order."
"Killing lurks is totally good on the destructive front," Rikku said with a nod. "But another road trip would be sweet. Or rocketship or whatever it is you usually say. So, uh, should I be rooting for this lurk stuff to be coming from somewhere that might be fun to visit?"
A smile crept over Mel's face. "Well I haven't thought about whether the source is from out of town. Though if the source of vampiredom is hanging out in the keys again I wouldn't complain."
"We might need to head there, just to make sure," Rikku giggled. "Check the keys, find some small island with white sand and check it out, too, you know. I hear evil's got a thing for tourist traps."
"Yes. That's right ladies and gentlemen," Mel laughed. "The face of evil and wrongdoing? Having a cheeseburger and a margarita in a diner right by the beach. Possibly wearing one of those Hawaiian shirts."
"Hey, if you're evil, why stay somewhere crummy?" Rikku laughed. "You're important, you're powerful, you're taking over the world. That just says four-star hotel to me."
"Somehow I'm sensing that our next trip is going to be upscaled," Mel joked.
"Well, you know," Rikku grinned. "This world seems kinda big. Might take a while to look everywhere for evil. But someone's gotta do it."
Before Mel could respond there was a loud chuckle from somewhere in the graveyard.
"You won't have to look too long."
The nice thing about a Godhand was that it was conveniently strapped to your wrist, ready to go whenever you were.
"Not if evil's dumb enough to come find us," Rikku said, crouching into position. Man, the lurks were getting brave.
Mel had straightened up and froze almost in fear.
She knew that voice. All too well.
"Rikku? Run!"
"Mel?!" Rikku stopped cold, taking her eyes off the lurk. Why was Mel --
"I know what I'm doing! Come on, we can take this guy!"
"Oh no. You really can't," the "Lurk" said coming forward so he could be seen.
"Hi, Sis. Miss me?"
Oh, shit. This was ... the brother, that ... from when ...
This was gonna be bad.
Rikku wasn't sure who to watch, Mel or the not-a-Lurk brother guy. Him. Probably him. But she stole a glance over at Mel anyway.
Mel continued to stared in shock at her "brother".
"You're... You were supposed to be dead."
"Not quite," he replied. -"Oh Mel. I've missed you so."
And in a blur he was leaping through the air at his sister.
Mel fell to the ground slamming her elbow into Harth's face.
"RIKKU! GET THE FRAK OUT OF HERE!"
Get out of here?! No way, not if it meant leaving Mel here to be thrown around like a ...
Rikku burst forward and slashed her Godhand out in a spiral. "Get off of her!"
Harth got one good shot to Mel's before he ducked down, getting grazed by Rikku's weapon. Blood began to flow from his back but if it phased him at all you wouldn't know it.
"Mel! I didn't know your friends were so kinky," he called out as he did a leg sweep towards the oncoming Rikku. "If I had known your last visit would have been a lot more fun."
The legsweep caught her just below the knees, and Rikku went flying. She landed sprawled a few feet away, trying to catch her breath.
This was so bad. And he wasn't getting off Mel. Get up, Rikku, get up, Rikku, get up ...
She hopped to her feet, willing herself not to wobble. "Looks like you inherited all the loser genes," she spat. Hoping her voice wasn't shaking. Look up, you stupid jerk, get off Mel ...
Mel struggled to get up only to get a kick to the head to send her back down again.
"Why don't you lay down for a bit, Mel?" Harth suggested as he started heading toward Rikku. "I want to see what the inside of your friend looks like."
Rikku stopped. He was crazy, he was evil, he meant that. She'd seen enough psychos before. This was so bad ...
No thinking about that. She squared her shoulders and crouched down, letting him approach her. Looking for an opening.
"Not if I stake you first," she said.
"You say the sweetest things," Harth said with a sneer and launched himself at Rikku.
Rikku was not going to panic. He was off Mel and that was good and they could take him down. Right?
She braced herself protect the neck, protect the neck, he's a vampire and lashed out with her Godhand again, aiming for his midsection.
Harth caught the godhand in midswing, the blades digging into his arms and hands.
"Nice little toy," Harth noted. "I wonder what would happen if I did this..."
Harth made a very violent twisting motion with Rikku's arm looking to see if he could twist it off.
It didn't twist off, exactly. But it did make a rather sickening crack.
Rikku screamed.
"There we go," Harth said attempting to shove Rikku to the ground. "Nothing like a little noise to get the blood flowing."
"You're sick," Rikku spat, trying to wrench her arm back as she slumped to the ground. Focus, focus, focus ...
Harth held a firm grip on Rikku's weapon and lovingly reached out for Rikku's face. "Oh. You have no idea."
And then he attempted to bash her head into the ground.
He had her arm and wouldn't let go, she -- OW! Dammit -- she needed to focus and -- and not think about the blood pouring out of her nose gross --
Lulu would not be deterred by this. Lulu could cast with an avalanche of rabid dogs. Focus, Rikku.
Rikku squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to cast Fire at the hand that was holding her Godhand. Please.
Harth jerked back at the flame as his sleeve caught fire. Slapping the flame out he flipped forward so he was still standing above Rikku who was on the ground.
"Tricky little bitch, aren't you?" he sneered. "This may be more fun than I thought."
And then he went to bring his foot down on her skull.
"I'm just ... getting started," Rikku said weakly, sweeping her Godhand up to try and block his foot. She had it back again. No panicking, Rikku.
Ow ow ow her arm didn't move like it was supposed to. This was bad.
Harth grabbed the Godhand and gave Rikku an evil grin.
"Actually sweetheart? You're finished."
And with that he slammed the godhand down at Rikku.
The bad thing about a Godhand was that those spikes could, on occasion, be used against you. Like when she had almost landed on it out in the woods, while fighting that Jason guy ...
... or when Mel's creepy brother shoved it right into her head.
Everything went white for a moment, and the last thing Rikku thought was Oh, fuck. And then she slumped to the ground.
Mel finally recovered enough to see the god hand come down on Rikku.
"You rutting bastard!" she screamed as she went to tackle Harth to the ground.
Harth fell to the ground with a scary sounding chuckle. "Is this how you want to do this, Mel? Because I can think of better ways to spend our family time together."
Mel responded with a punch to Harth's face.
Which Harth quickly caught in his own hand and began to crush. "What? No hug?"
Mel growled and yanked her arm away following it with a kicked aimed at her brother's head. "It's been you all along hasn't it. The one sending the vampires here".
"Took you this long to figure it out?" Harth said ducking the kick and doing a leg sweep that send Mel falling to the ground. He quickly pounced on top of her bringing his face dangerously close to hers. "I've been here for a long time, Mel. Ever since your pet monkey sent me to hell, I spent a good couple hundred years trying to find a way to find you. For months this little island has been my home. I learned all about your life here. Your watchers. Your friends. Your boyfriend I had a much grander plan in mind for destroying everything you cared for but unfortunately my little friends were getting hungry and kept coming out for a snack."
Mel shoved her brother off and rolled into a crouching position "What a rutting shame. Too bad you won't live long enough to say goodbye to them."
"Too bad your friend won't live long enough for you to kill me," Harth chided with a head gesture over to where Rikku's bodied laid on the ground.
Mel looked over to Rikku seeing and hearing her breathing growing more ragged and cursed quietly under her breath.
"What's it going to be, Mel?" Harth chided. "Revenge on me or yet another death to have on your conscience? Or are you going to try one last time to save someone who isn't yourself?"
Mel glared at Harth and ran over to Rikku, pulling her over her shoulder. When she turned around Harth was gone.
Well... Almost gone.
"I'll be waiting for you Mel. In the one place you should have always looked."
Mel took one last look around to make sure that Harth wasn't going to try and blindside her and then raced over to the clinic to get Rikku to safety.
[ooc: Preplayed with the_merriest and NFI. OOC comments are always appreciated]
But at least she isn't alone...
"Sure this is the place you want to be on a Friday night?" Mel asked as she surveyed the graveyard.
Rikku grimaced. "I'm tired of it. Saying I'm fine, and I'm kinda not, and I miss him, and people are here, and everyone's all happy and I just feel all -- ugh. I think I totally need to beat the crap out of something."
Mel nodded looking serious. "These lurks that have been popping up these last few weeks have been keeping me busy. As soon as we know what's causing them? I think another road trip is in order."
"Killing lurks is totally good on the destructive front," Rikku said with a nod. "But another road trip would be sweet. Or rocketship or whatever it is you usually say. So, uh, should I be rooting for this lurk stuff to be coming from somewhere that might be fun to visit?"
A smile crept over Mel's face. "Well I haven't thought about whether the source is from out of town. Though if the source of vampiredom is hanging out in the keys again I wouldn't complain."
"We might need to head there, just to make sure," Rikku giggled. "Check the keys, find some small island with white sand and check it out, too, you know. I hear evil's got a thing for tourist traps."
"Yes. That's right ladies and gentlemen," Mel laughed. "The face of evil and wrongdoing? Having a cheeseburger and a margarita in a diner right by the beach. Possibly wearing one of those Hawaiian shirts."
"Hey, if you're evil, why stay somewhere crummy?" Rikku laughed. "You're important, you're powerful, you're taking over the world. That just says four-star hotel to me."
"Somehow I'm sensing that our next trip is going to be upscaled," Mel joked.
"Well, you know," Rikku grinned. "This world seems kinda big. Might take a while to look everywhere for evil. But someone's gotta do it."
Before Mel could respond there was a loud chuckle from somewhere in the graveyard.
"You won't have to look too long."
The nice thing about a Godhand was that it was conveniently strapped to your wrist, ready to go whenever you were.
"Not if evil's dumb enough to come find us," Rikku said, crouching into position. Man, the lurks were getting brave.
Mel had straightened up and froze almost in fear.
She knew that voice. All too well.
"Rikku? Run!"
"Mel?!" Rikku stopped cold, taking her eyes off the lurk. Why was Mel --
"I know what I'm doing! Come on, we can take this guy!"
"Oh no. You really can't," the "Lurk" said coming forward so he could be seen.
"Hi, Sis. Miss me?"
Oh, shit. This was ... the brother, that ... from when ...
This was gonna be bad.
Rikku wasn't sure who to watch, Mel or the not-a-Lurk brother guy. Him. Probably him. But she stole a glance over at Mel anyway.
Mel continued to stared in shock at her "brother".
"You're... You were supposed to be dead."
"Not quite," he replied. -"Oh Mel. I've missed you so."
And in a blur he was leaping through the air at his sister.
Mel fell to the ground slamming her elbow into Harth's face.
"RIKKU! GET THE FRAK OUT OF HERE!"
Get out of here?! No way, not if it meant leaving Mel here to be thrown around like a ...
Rikku burst forward and slashed her Godhand out in a spiral. "Get off of her!"
Harth got one good shot to Mel's before he ducked down, getting grazed by Rikku's weapon. Blood began to flow from his back but if it phased him at all you wouldn't know it.
"Mel! I didn't know your friends were so kinky," he called out as he did a leg sweep towards the oncoming Rikku. "If I had known your last visit would have been a lot more fun."
The legsweep caught her just below the knees, and Rikku went flying. She landed sprawled a few feet away, trying to catch her breath.
This was so bad. And he wasn't getting off Mel. Get up, Rikku, get up, Rikku, get up ...
She hopped to her feet, willing herself not to wobble. "Looks like you inherited all the loser genes," she spat. Hoping her voice wasn't shaking. Look up, you stupid jerk, get off Mel ...
Mel struggled to get up only to get a kick to the head to send her back down again.
"Why don't you lay down for a bit, Mel?" Harth suggested as he started heading toward Rikku. "I want to see what the inside of your friend looks like."
Rikku stopped. He was crazy, he was evil, he meant that. She'd seen enough psychos before. This was so bad ...
No thinking about that. She squared her shoulders and crouched down, letting him approach her. Looking for an opening.
"Not if I stake you first," she said.
"You say the sweetest things," Harth said with a sneer and launched himself at Rikku.
Rikku was not going to panic. He was off Mel and that was good and they could take him down. Right?
She braced herself protect the neck, protect the neck, he's a vampire and lashed out with her Godhand again, aiming for his midsection.
Harth caught the godhand in midswing, the blades digging into his arms and hands.
"Nice little toy," Harth noted. "I wonder what would happen if I did this..."
Harth made a very violent twisting motion with Rikku's arm looking to see if he could twist it off.
It didn't twist off, exactly. But it did make a rather sickening crack.
Rikku screamed.
"There we go," Harth said attempting to shove Rikku to the ground. "Nothing like a little noise to get the blood flowing."
"You're sick," Rikku spat, trying to wrench her arm back as she slumped to the ground. Focus, focus, focus ...
Harth held a firm grip on Rikku's weapon and lovingly reached out for Rikku's face. "Oh. You have no idea."
And then he attempted to bash her head into the ground.
He had her arm and wouldn't let go, she -- OW! Dammit -- she needed to focus and -- and not think about the blood pouring out of her nose gross --
Lulu would not be deterred by this. Lulu could cast with an avalanche of rabid dogs. Focus, Rikku.
Rikku squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to cast Fire at the hand that was holding her Godhand. Please.
Harth jerked back at the flame as his sleeve caught fire. Slapping the flame out he flipped forward so he was still standing above Rikku who was on the ground.
"Tricky little bitch, aren't you?" he sneered. "This may be more fun than I thought."
And then he went to bring his foot down on her skull.
"I'm just ... getting started," Rikku said weakly, sweeping her Godhand up to try and block his foot. She had it back again. No panicking, Rikku.
Ow ow ow her arm didn't move like it was supposed to. This was bad.
Harth grabbed the Godhand and gave Rikku an evil grin.
"Actually sweetheart? You're finished."
And with that he slammed the godhand down at Rikku.
The bad thing about a Godhand was that those spikes could, on occasion, be used against you. Like when she had almost landed on it out in the woods, while fighting that Jason guy ...
... or when Mel's creepy brother shoved it right into her head.
Everything went white for a moment, and the last thing Rikku thought was Oh, fuck. And then she slumped to the ground.
Mel finally recovered enough to see the god hand come down on Rikku.
"You rutting bastard!" she screamed as she went to tackle Harth to the ground.
Harth fell to the ground with a scary sounding chuckle. "Is this how you want to do this, Mel? Because I can think of better ways to spend our family time together."
Mel responded with a punch to Harth's face.
Which Harth quickly caught in his own hand and began to crush. "What? No hug?"
Mel growled and yanked her arm away following it with a kicked aimed at her brother's head. "It's been you all along hasn't it. The one sending the vampires here".
"Took you this long to figure it out?" Harth said ducking the kick and doing a leg sweep that send Mel falling to the ground. He quickly pounced on top of her bringing his face dangerously close to hers. "I've been here for a long time, Mel. Ever since your pet monkey sent me to hell, I spent a good couple hundred years trying to find a way to find you. For months this little island has been my home. I learned all about your life here. Your watchers. Your friends. Your boyfriend I had a much grander plan in mind for destroying everything you cared for but unfortunately my little friends were getting hungry and kept coming out for a snack."
Mel shoved her brother off and rolled into a crouching position "What a rutting shame. Too bad you won't live long enough to say goodbye to them."
"Too bad your friend won't live long enough for you to kill me," Harth chided with a head gesture over to where Rikku's bodied laid on the ground.
Mel looked over to Rikku seeing and hearing her breathing growing more ragged and cursed quietly under her breath.
"What's it going to be, Mel?" Harth chided. "Revenge on me or yet another death to have on your conscience? Or are you going to try one last time to save someone who isn't yourself?"
Mel glared at Harth and ran over to Rikku, pulling her over her shoulder. When she turned around Harth was gone.
Well... Almost gone.
"I'll be waiting for you Mel. In the one place you should have always looked."
Mel took one last look around to make sure that Harth wasn't going to try and blindside her and then raced over to the clinic to get Rikku to safety.
[ooc: Preplayed with the_merriest and NFI. OOC comments are always appreciated]