thebastion | [185 and 186] The miles are getting longer, it seems, the closer I get to you [OPEN]

[Anya lets out a small cry that is probably lost in the sound of things crashing into other things. Her table! Her merchandise! They better not have broken anything important.

Smacking into the ceiling doesn't stun the vampire for very long, and it's lucky that Rin takes quick advantage of the opening, even if she botches it a little. The actual blade of the sword leaves only a relatively shallow cut across the vampire's chest, but the flames catch its shirt on fire. That's the only thing preventing it from immediately going after Rin, as even if it is back on its feet quickly enough, it has to devote its attention to patting out the flames before they can turn it to dust.

It's at this point that Anya comes limping down the stairs and angrily swings her sword as hard as she can at the vampire's neck.

Unfortunately she has normal human strength and not Slayer strength, so the sword just sort of lodges partway through and now they have a vampire with a sword sticking out of its neck.

We're all doing really great here.]

[Well, that could have gone better. Unfortunately, Anya's still too close for Colin to fire a shot or close into melee without risk of hitting her. Still, it's something. And Colin knows that sometimes things translate perfectly without words. So, in order to keep the vampire's attention off of Anya, and off of Rin, he backs up, and starts to laugh uproariously at the vampire. He points at the vampire's neck, letting out a loud guffaw, and speaks all the while, his tone jovial in what he HOPES the vampire will interpret as being made fun of.]

Help Rin up, I'll keep Fangs' attention on me!

[With that, he starts patting at his shirt in an exaggerated manner, mocking the vampire's own efforts to put out the flames, and he keeps laughing.]

Look at you! You're like a marshmallow that's been pulled off a campfire!

[Maybe the vampire's plight is a little funny.]

Edited 2014-05-27 17:11 (UTC)

[It could have. But it could have gone worse too. Really, for the cramped spaces that Rin isn't used to fighting in, all the merchandise that Anya is so afraid of breaking (even though most of it probably won't have much use back in the Bastion anyway), and the simple fact that Anya doesn't have the strength to be fighting against this thing...

Well. They're still alive.

That's one point in their favor.

For the moment, though, Rin was going to focus on trying to get out of the boxes while flailing around like a turtle stuck on it's back.]

Hnnng-- this sucks!

[What do you mean they don't need petrified hamsters.

For once Anya doesn't argue with Colin's suggestion, but ducks along the edge of the room to where Rin is flailing. She grabs for the girl's free arm to haul her back to her feet.

Meanwhile the vampire growls--or tries to; it comes out a little wheezy--as it yanks the sword out of its neck and tosses it aside, apparently not interested in fighting with the weapon. Instead it lunges again for Colin with its claws.]

[Claw me once, shame on you. Claw me twice, and I've clearly never sparred with a Mrrshan before.]

It's so cute!

[Colin leaps aside, coming against a shelf. For a moment he seems trapped, but no.. he MEANT to do that. He puts his arm into the stock on the shelf, and hurls it forward into the Vampire's face.]

Come on! COME ON!

[There's less humor now, his irritation coming out again.]

I don't think you're gonna be gettin' as much stuff outta here as you wanted. Sorry.

[Rin gratefully takes Anya's hand, and with a bit of awkward butt wiggling and leg flailing she's finally able to get a foot on the floor and propel herself back up to her feet.

Right. Back in to the fray--

Or not yet.]

I'm gonna need a better openin' than that!

[A shelf to the face is a good distraction but she's liable to get smacked if she tries going for him right now.]

Just aim for the gaping wound in its neck and finish the job.

[Anya speaks hurriedly, turning away from Rin as soon as the girl is back on her feet because she's pretty sure the jars of eyeballs she hears smashing into the vampire's face are not going to slow it down. If it stays focused on Colin, he might be in trouble ~~and decide to break more of her stock~~.

Indeed the vampire barely flinches and tries to backhand Colin across the face in retaliation.

Anya grabs the nearest piece of her broken table and hurls it at the back of its head, more to get its attention than to do any damage.]

Hey, ugly! Out of all the necks in the room, mine is clearly the most bitable. Come on!

[And with that she is going to limp-run back towards the stairs, because heck if she can contribute to being anything more than a distraction right now. But vampires really like prey that's injured and running away. Oh god why is she doing this, they could just go upstairs and save the cash register.]

[Colin takes the backhand... and he doesn't even flinch. In fact, he just smiles. This isn't a friendly smile. This isn't a playful smile. This one is predatory, a look to rival any vampire on the hunt.]

No. That is not okay.

[He's used to people trying to strike him across the face. It's happened a fair amount even. Human. Elerian. Mrrshan. Psilon. BULRATHI. He knows what kind of effect he has on people. He's usually tolerant of it. ONCE. The vampire already landed a blow on him earlier. It's already shown an expressed desire to kill them, feed on them. And given the kind of day he's been having, he is through being tolerant.]

[So, braced against the shelf as he was, Colin has a firm launch point. Even if the vampire chooses to turn after Anya, Colin won't let that be the end of it. With one foot braced against the shelf, Colin steps forward with the other and throws a haymaker straight at the Vampire's jaw. He doesn't bother to hold back his strength, and with Newton's laws working with him, none of the force behind the punch will be wasted.]

LET'S SEE YOU EAT WITHOUT TEETH!

[Rin really, really hopes this plan works and that punch does what it's supposed to, because she really needs one good opening to do what she's about to do.

Sword back in her hands, she doesn't go for anything fancy this time. She waits for the vampire to get distracted by Anya, then for Colin's wild punch to land before charging forward with the blade out.

And should her hit land, it'll be a perfect through and through right at the chest, flaming blade and all.]

[The vampire doesn't go after Anya, but there's a moment where it is clearly tempted, and that is the moment that Colin's fist connects with its jaw, sending it stumbling backwards and even succeeding in knocking out a few sharp teeth. And that's when Rin's sword finds it.

If it were a normal sword, Anya would be facepalming about now, but because it is on fire, stabbing the vampire through the chest with it actually works out. This time, the fire goes too deep for the vampire to have any chance of putting it out. It only takes a few moments to burn through its heart, and at that point the rest of its body turns to ash and falls, blackening the floor.

Not quite halfway up the stairs, Anya lets out a sigh of relief.]

Oh, good.

[To say that Colin was unfazed by the hit he'd taken would be inaccurate. His face was reddening and swelling slightly at the impact point, but it was still not as bad as it could have been.]

Yeah, every time I run into one of you leeches, I'm reminded why dad hates you...

[He rubs his fist then, scowling at the ash on the floor. He looks up then, his expression friendlier now.]

So. One vamp down. We expecting any more?

[Rin slumped and let her sword arm fall to her side, still flaming and out but otherwise unneeded. She let out a relieved sigh with it.]

I don't smell anythin' else. Just a lotta ash now.

[Sniff.]

[Anya brightens immediately.]

That means we can start the real work now.

[She takes a step back down, is quickly reminded that she has claw-wounds in her leg, and starts back up again.]

Let me just find the first aid kit first.

Gonna need a long soak in the hot spring when we get back.

[It was a mutter, Colin's in a poor mood. He eyes Anya's wound, and he sighs.]

Lemme take care of that injury for you. I've got a medkit on me.

[He gives Rin a glance.]

Nice work with the lick, Rin-Rin.

Yeah, well, I ain't totally useless.

[Rin put her sword away at her hip, dousing the flames on her and the blade.]

So I take it we're gonna try to haul as much as we can back?

Oh- Well, all right then.

[She plops down where she is on the steps instead of going up or down anymore. Come, tend to her wound.]

I think you both proved very useful. [Apparently she took that remark seriously.] I hope you can carry a lot, too.

[She surveys the damage to the basement from where she's sitting. It's a little dim without Rin's flames, but she can sort of make things out.]

It's too bad about the eyeballs, but I think the boxes you knocked over were mostly our surplus of chicken feet. There should be some good poisons a few shelves up.

[Colin walks over to the steps and pulls out his medkit. He crouches, and gets to work cleaning the wound before he sets to closing it with the regenerator.]

We should probably get your medkit and any fire extinguishers you may have had. Mundane utility is important. Poisons will be useful in the event that we need to journey into dangerous territory, but they probably won't have any other uses, so we should be sparing when we grab those.

I can carry plenty, but the laws of physics will dictate just how much we can bring back...

Between the two of us I think we can get a lot back, though. Colin and I are a lot stronger than we look.

[Of course that would require them getting something to carry and or lift and or haul.]

[Regenerator. Now that thing looks handy; it's like having the healing powers of her demon self back, sort of.]

They aren't all deadly poisons. Some of them just inflict the sensation of being eviscerated. We may need those if the thief who ransacked Nathaniel's room ever strikes again.

But we can take the first aid kit and the fire extinguisher if you insist. And the cash register. I should have a dolly around here somewhere.

[Colin chuckles quietly.]

I actually think some of the poisons will be a good idea. We just need to sort it into "needs" and "wants". But that's easy enough, we can probably tear out half of this store to bring back, give or take a quarter ton.

[Rin would rather not think about that again, but luckily it's just a passing comment she doesn't have to worry too much about.]

I'll let you two figure that out. Just load me up whenever we're ready.

[Anya claps her hands and gets back to her feet.]

Okay! Let's get started.

[185 and 186] The miles are getting longer, it seems, the closer I get to you [OPEN]

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