The rocky bits, Saturday night

[can_be_more]

[Continued from here, takes place at the same time as this.]





Aeryn takes under a minute to address the people on her team before heading out. Her instructions consist entirely of "Stick together, shoot them, not each other," and then she's got a pulse pistol already in hand, leading the others into the rocky area, away from the school.

She hasn't bothered much with setting up formation otherwise, knowing from experience that they'll end up doing their own thing as soon as they have a reason.



"Question. Those of us who don't have guns, can we hit them instead of shooting? I mean, sure, I won't shoot any of the people here, but I can't shoot any monsters either," Peter said.



"If you can get close enough without getting an arm ripped off," Aeryn says, keeping her voice low.



"How about a leg?" Peter asked, lowering his own voice a bit.



Aeryn keeps walking as she puts a finger over her lips as a sign to be quiet.



Behind her, Buffy was sulking and kicking at stray rocks. Stupid mummies. Why did they have to just as she had a date planned with puddin' Sam? There was no justice in the world. She kicked a stone really, really hard causing it to fly into the distance.



"Stop that," Callisto said without a trace of emotion in her voice. "Unless you want them to know we're coming?"



"They're probably waiting to ambush us anyway," Buffy replied gloomily. "Stupid mummies."



"Still no reason to invite one," Callisto pointed out.



"No, just one would be okay," Buffy disagreed. She brightened. "I could beat it over the head with a rock until it was sorry!"



"Or you could try beating it in the head until it's died," Sam said quietly, coming up beside Buffy. "I don't think mummies are the apologizing type."



Buffy shrugged, smiling to Sam. She was happy her violent side didn't seem to be bothering him any. "That works too, but it's just not quite as satisfying somehow."



"I, on the other hand, find killing to be far more satisfying. When it's something bad," he added quickly, glancing around. "I'm not crazy or anything and yeah, I should just stop talking now."



"No, keep talking, you've already given our posistion away, wouldn't want them to lose us," Callisto said. "Good match you two make."



"We're lulling them into a false sense of security," Buffy explained, giving Cal a solemn look before giggling at Sam and bumping into his side affectionately. "Good to know you're not a psycho killer. Always a good thing in a boyfriend. ...Maybe boyfriend! Possible boyfriend! Um."

There was flailing and blushing.



If Peter hadn't been enough... Aeryn turns around briefly, making sure she has the talkers' attention before tapping her pulse pistol and raising her eyebrows in a clear I will shoot you if I have to gesture. Then she turns around again, back to business.



Sam's eyes widened a little, and he immediately got quiet, nodding to Aeryn. But that didn't stop him from shooting a grin at Buffy once Aeryn had turned back around.



Buffy grinned back, then started looking around for zombies or other evil things to bap on the head.



Skittering sounds are heard around the group. In the darkness small shapes move in and out of the jagged landscape.



Buffy narrowed her eyes, catching just the shadows of something moving. She held her hand up, fist closed, hoping like hell that a) it meant 'stop' and b) that her freakishly tall companions saw it.



"Unless the mummy is invisible, you missed."



Dean slowed at Buffy's signal, kinda bemused at how she went from nice but kinda ditzy cheerleader to hunter in a blink of an eye. He scanned the shadows around him, hands tightening on the grip of his borrowed pulse pistol when he caught movement.

"Invisible mummies or not, there's something out there," he said,raising his gun and pointed it in that direction, bracing for whatever it was to attack and took a step or two towards the skittering shadows.



Sam followed Dean's direction and moved to back him up, tightening his grip on his crossbow as he listened to the sounds of what was moving.



A chittering sound rises up over the landscape and a swarm of scarabs swiftly races toward the group.



Buffy had her stake ready, but seemed more puzzled than alarmed. "Beetles? What the hell?"



Alec was a little disturbed by the sheer number of them, but was reluctant to waste bullets trying to shoot a swarm of bugs. "Fire. Fire would be nice," he pointed out, looking at the rest of the group. "Something with a wider range than a gun anyway."



Callisto sighed and pulled out her lighter. "Anyone got a spray can of some kind?"



"Yeah, I've got a few." He tucked the pistol into his jeans and pulled out two cans of bug spray, tossing one to Callisto, then grabbed his own lighter. "Y'know, I didn't think I'd actually be using this bug spary on actual bugs," he said with a grin, stepping forward and using his lighter to light the can's contents as he pressed the spray button, turning it into an impromptu flame thrower that he aimed at the scarabs.



Callisto lit up her can and pointed the flames at the scarabs. "Irony's a bitch isn't it?"



Anakin reached into the Force, herding the scarabs closer to the flames.

He wanted to say "This isn't so hard," but he'd been in Fandom long enough not to tempt fate.

"Better?" he asked instead.



Callisto nodded, not taking her eyes off the beetles. "Much."



A low menacing moan and some rustling is heard from somewhere to the left and behind the group.



Spinning around at the noise, Buffy held her stake ready and scanned the area, looking for evil things. She really, really wanted to beat something, damnit.



Sam whirled around as well, taking a few steps towards where the moan had come from. "That didn't sound like more bugs."



Anakin restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Probably not," he said, pulling his lightsaber from his belt but not lighting it quite yet. "Unless they've gotten a lot taller in the last few seconds."



*rustle rustle*



"Anything's possible at Fandom," he said. Alec wasn't going to shoot without seeing what it was first, but he held the pulse rifle on the source of the rustling, cautiously alert.



Holding the crossbow up, Sam watched for any sign of movement, holding onto a small bit of foolish hope that the noise was coming from something harmless.



Dean didn't turn around towards the rustling noises, trusting Sammy and the others to watch his back as he played bug exterminator.

"Here, beetle beetle," he muttered under his breath. "Come to the barbecue..."

He aimed his flame at the leading edge, grinning at the sizzle, crackling and strange beeltly screams that filled the air as the scarabs caught on fire.



Throwing Dean and Cal a quick look, Buffy pouted. Why did they get all the fun?

She turned back to focusing on rustle-y noises, idly contemplating tossing a rock in that direction to see if that would help.



Aeryn just aims her pulse pistol in the general direction of the rustling, ready to fire as soon as she sees something.



From a crevice beneath one of the rocky bits, mummfied arms shoot out and make a grab for Aeryn's legs and attempt to pull her to the ground.



It manages to catch her ankle, and Aeryn pulls back with the rest of her weight so she won't be pulled down, automatically shooting at the arms and trying to get a couple shots into the crevice.



The pulse gun severed the arms of the mummy, which continued to cling on to Aeryn and work their way up her legs.

A screech rang out from the crevice and a partially decimated mummy jumped out into open.

Other mummies rose from the landscape and began to rush toward the group.



All right, that's the most disturbing thing Aeryn's seen in a while. She reaches down with one arm to pull a hand off of her leg, shooting it point blank and throwing it away before going for the other. Then it's time to concentrate on the armless mummy.



Buffy jumped gleefully into the fray, stabbing at mummies with her stake. There were holes and icky squishy sounds but otherwise it didn't look like it was doing much good.

"Dammit!" She kicked a hand away while tucking her stake away and pulling out an Xacto knife instead. "Come fall to pieces, boys! And possibly girls, it's very hard to tell."



One of the mummies screeches and lashes out at Buffy with mummified claw like hand.



Buffy danced out of the way, before hacking at the mummy with the knife.



One of the hidden downsides to dating a girl who was willing to help in a fight was worrying about her safety and trying to shoot at the same time. Sam had to turn and concentrate before getting a clear shot with the crossbow.



The knife slashed away at the rotting mummy flesh and the bolt from the crossbow lodged itself in the mummy's empty eye socket.

The mummy lashed out at Buffy howling in pain.



She dived down, saving her blouse from the mummy, and incidentally cutting at the mummy's ankles. After a few jabs, she rolled out of the way and leaped onto her feet again.



Now that Buffy was safely out of the way, Sam took the opportunity to shoot the mummy in the chest, hoping that would slow it down.



The bullets hit the mummy square in the chest, and would probably have hit some vital organs if those hadn't been put into jars thousands of years ago. It stopped for a moment or two in surprise, then kept lumbering forward.



Sam swore, and moved to put himself between the mummy and Buffy, firing another bolt from the crossbow towards the mummy's head.



Which was when Buffy stormed past him, jumped up and landed on the mummy's chest (what was left of it), hoping her momentum would tip the mummy over so she could go to work with the Xacto knife. "Hey, watch where you're shooting that thing!"



"Buffy!" Sam yelled. "I wouldn't have to watch it if you'd just stay behind me!"



Buffy pretty much didn't hear any of that. She waved to him, smiling. "You'll be safe if you just stay right there! ...Well. Hopefully!"



The mummy was knocked to its back, but kicked and swung its arms, trying to dislodge Buffy.



"Hey, quit it!" Buffy protested, frowning the mummy. "Lie still so I can cut your head off," she demanded and began hacking away at the neck, while trying to keep the mummy still. From the looks of things, headlessness didn't deter the mummies much, but at least it seemed to confuse them.



The mummy sat up, tossing Buffy aside like she was weightless. It lurched to its feet and shambled towards Sam. Surprisingly fast-moving, it grabbed Sam around the throat with one hand and started to squeeze.



Sam dropped the crossbow as he instinctively reached for the mummy's arm with both hands, gasping and trying to loosen his grip.



When moving away with Anakin looking for another target, Dean caught sight of his brother being strangled.

"Sammy!" He drew his pulse pistol and fired at the mummy as he ran toward it, firing a second shot point blank into the mummy's arm when he reached Sam's side.



"Now I'm really pissed," Buffy informed the world as she closed in on the mummy again. Her blouse had a little tear by the armpit and she had a scratch on her face. She concentrated, grabbed the mummy around the waist and started pulling while muttering, "Oh, grossl"



The mummy's arm pulled free suddenly with a wet plop as it screamed and clawed out with the other hand.



Sam groaned and finally pulled the mummy's arm away from his neck, coughing as he started to breathe again. Swearing loudly, he scrambled to grab his crossbow.



Dean bent down and picked up the crossbow when Sam was still fumbling around. "You okay?" he asked as he handed it to his brother.



Sam nodded, taking the crossbow and sitting up. "Yeah, thank you," he said, getting serious again when he saw Buffy with the mummy.



Buffy was clinging to the mummy's back and attempting once more to hack it's head off. She was keeping up a constant mutter, but all the Winchester boys could hear would probably be; "--Teach you to try and strangle my date, you--"



Despite the seriousness of the situation, Dean just had to pause and take in the sight in front of them.

"If I were you, Sammy, I'd be careful not to ever make her mad." He smirked at his brother.



"I'll be sure to keep that in mind if she doesn't get herself killed," Sam muttered, getting another arrow ready. "Do you have more bug spray?"



Dean held up the can he'd been using. "And I still have a spare," he said, nodding toward the duffel over his shoulder.



"Hopefully, this will be enough." Sam took the spray and doused the end of the arrow, then grabbed his lighter and ignited it.

"Buffy, get down!" he yelled, and when she finally listened and jumped off of the mummy, he took his shot.



The mummy, dazed from Buffy's attack, didn't get out of the way fast enough. Its bandages lit up quickly and it became a giant moving torch.

Unfortunately, it moved right towards Sam and Dean, shrieking.



"Oh crap," Dean said, backpedalling away from the Undead Human Torch. He pulled his pulse pistol again and fired shot after shot into it.



The mummy kept shrieking and lurching, dropping little bits of flaming rags in its wake.

Then it reached for them with a flaming claw.



"You have got to be kidding me," Sam said, backing up enough to get another shot, and grabbing his knife just in case.



Dean continued backing up and firing. "This thing is worse than zombies," he complained, starting to look a little wild around the eyes. "They at least know to fall down when you set them on fire!"



For a moment, the mummy looked absurdly pleased, then grabbed out for them, but more slowly. The shrieking had increased in volume and intensity, but its movements forward were much jerkier.



Sam was starting to run out of ideas. Tossing the crossbow aside, he grabbed his duffel bag and pulled out the shotgun Dean had given him. He remembered just in time what they'd been told about only using quiet weapons, so instead of shooting, he ran forward and swung the butt of the gun at the mummy's head.



The mummy's head flew off its neck as the gun butt made contact. Its body fell, but it continued to twitch.



"About freaking time!" Dean complained, finally lowering his gun, a little shaky with the overabundance of adenaline that came along with having a flaming mummy trying to grab you. He walked over to the smoldering remains and gave it a swift kick. Or three.

He turned back to his brother. "Nice swing there, Sammy," he complimented. "Four bagger for sure."



Sam couldn't resist the urge to get a kick or two in himself after all of that. "Thanks," he said. "Just don't tell Dad I used the gun like that. I don't know if he'd be too pleased."

He grinned at Buffy. "Of course, all the stabbing in the neck probably helped a lot."



Buffy stopped scowling at the burny bits of mummy and looked up to beam back at Sam.



"Are you okay?" he asked her.



"I'm fine!" Buffy nodded, then discovered the tear in her blouse and sighed deeply. "Oh maaaan." She kicked the smoking mummy-bits. "Stupid mummy. Are you okay?" Buffy gave Sam a concerned look. "It didn't hurt you, did it?"



Sam shook his head, and tried not to rub too much at the mark the mummy had left on his neck. "No, I'm all right," he said automatically. "I'm just glad you didn't get hurt either."



"I'm real tough," Buffy smiled, and apparently expected him to believe that li'l tiny blonde cheerleader girl could totally handle herself in a mummy-fight. A scarab skittered by. Buffy quickly bent down, picked up a rock and nailed it so it went squish. She raised her fist in the air. "Boo-yah!"



Sam didn't entirely believe it, but he'd certainly figured out that Buffy was tougher than most girls. "Come on," he said, motioning to her and Dean. "We'd better go see if anyone else needs help."



"Much better than bugs," Anakin said, nodding. He clicked the communication equipment on. "Um, LC? This is Firecracker. We've met up with a few of the mummies. No problems so far."

He ignited his lightsaber and swung it towards a nearby mummy limb, wondering what the effect would be.



The lightsaber sliced through the mummy's arm. It fell to the ground and scampered towards the young padawan, as the rest of the mummy it was attached to launched itself at Anakin in an attempt to tackle him.



Dean caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and, beetles burning cheerfully now, he turned and saw the arm wriggling towards Anakin.

"I hate it when the parts keep moving," he complained, swinging his improvised flame thrower around to set the arm on fire.



"Thanks," Anakin said, before turning his attention to the mummy who was attacking him.

Whacking pieces off just made more mummies...he grabbed for a piece of tattered bandage and yanked.



The mummy spun like a top, unwinding until it was muscle tissue and bone were exposed. It staggered a few steps in the wrong direction, then turned back towards Anakin.



Dean had taken advantage of its momentary distraction to move in closer and when it turned back, he shot fire right into its face.



The mummy backed away from the fire. It stumbled on its loose wrapping and lurched forward towards Dean, arms flailing wildly.



Dean tried to dodge the wild flailing limbs but zigged when he should've zagged and the next thing he knew he was making upclose and personal acquaintance with a large boulder a number of feet away.



Anakin grimaced as Dean went shooting past, then turned his full attention to the mummy. "That was uncalled for," he said, taking his lightsaber to the mummy's neck.

And torso.

And legs.

Rather a lot.

He preferred to think of it as "thorough" rather than "a little on the gross side."



The mummy's arms and legs dragged themselves towards Anakin as its head rolled to the side, forgotten.



"These are like snow sharks," Anakin grumbled, chopping the mummy bits into tinier mummy bits.

And then even tinier mummy bits.

"I'm beginning to miss droids."



The mummy parts stopped moving, but the scarab beetles began to swarm towards Anakin, with some splitting off to head towards Dean.



Dean really hated getting tossed around like that. Seemed to keep happening though. He shook his head, trying to get his ears to stop buzzing and it took him a distressingly long number of seconds to realise that the sound was actually the clicking of the beetles swarming towards him.

Adrenaline was enough to dispel the last of the mental cobwebs, and Dean sat up and aimed his makeshift flamethrower at them when they were less than a foot away from his boots.



Anakin had reached into the Force to herd his scarabs into an easily squishable pile.

Then dropped a rock on them.

He looked a little gleeful about it.

"You okay?" he called to Dean.



"Yeah," Dean replied, climbing back to his feet. "The rock broke my fall."



"I've been there," Anakin said, smiling. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, holding up his entire left hand.



"Five. That's good, didn't lose any to bandage dude over there." He looked around. "Wanna find another to slash and burn?"



Anakin grinned. "Of course," he said. "Let's go."

[OOC: Preplayed, no interaction possible, OOC comments welcome. Post 1 of 2.
Much much thanks to peter__parker for coding help omg.]