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Evil Angelus 95

Evil Angelus 95

Total Dork
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
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31
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East Coast, USA
Sineya
:Her eyes closed, Tara mumbled slightly in her sleep as she lay with her head against Willow's shoulder. It had been a long day, and even saying that was an understatement. The Hellmouth, and all of Sunnydale along with it, had collapsed, leaving nothing but a smouldering crater in its place.:

:It felt slightly strange, to think that the town they had lived in, breathed in, laughed and cried in, and fought in, was now gone forever. Ahead of them, the future seemed cloudy, and there wasn't a single person in the bus that could even try and predict what was going to happen.:

:When the bus shook, the sound of something crashing into its side filling every corner of the vehicle with its sound, Tara awoke almost instantly, her blue eyes still lined with sleep.:

Tara: "W-What? What's going on?"
 
Dawn

(OOC) Was asked to post AnthonyCordova's post here since he's out right now.
***
::the sound of a large crash against the bus immediately shook Dawn out of her crestfallen doubts about her future in the aftermath of the destruction of Sunnydale. Immediately setting all of her doubts to one side, she quickly surveyed the left side of the bus where the sound seemed to come from, but a thick cloud of dust made it impossible to see what was happening. Thereupon a second and even larger crash against the side of the bus happened, and this time the bus seemed to jerk to the right from the force while driving. Behind her, Dawn could hear Giles fall from the driver's seat with a groan, and next to her Kennedy struggled to maintain her balance but failed, stumbling into Dawn and causing her to fall to the floor also.::

::In a panic, Dawn looked around for Buffy::

"Buffy?!? What's going on?!?"

:: Dawn called out to her sister in distress, but there was no answer. Dawn forced herself to sit up and looked outside the left of the bus from a seated position once more. Still there was nothing to be seen but a thick cloud of dust. She braced herself for another possible crash......::
 
(OOC) I am moving [MENTION=12614]thetopher[/MENTION] post to this thread, where the game will be played the rest of the way.

[MENTION=12614]thetopher[/MENTION] said:

: Faith was dozing, lying side on with her head back against the window, trying to ignore the rattling vibrations of the bus as it made its way to... anywhere but here. Although she was tired, Faith still felt wired, thoughts whirling around in her head. Sunnydale was just a big empty crater, so now what? One thing was for sure, no way she was going back to the big house, rumour had it that the next movie night was gonna be Sister Act 2.
Screw that.

: The large crash came out of nowhere and shook her fully awake. Faith jumped up in an instant and stood as the bus shuddered under the impact, almost rocking from side to side.

:"What the f..?Talk to me people, we got a boggie on our asses or what?"

: Peering through the windows Faith saw billowing clouds of dust, but no vehicles. She managed to make out silouette of an arm as it crashed through the window on the right hand side, taloned claw reaching in as the bus lurched alarmingly.
 
:: Dawn's mind raced as she struggled to her feet. For a moment she hesitated: she knew that someone quickly needed to assist Giles and take the wheel of the bus, but she could also see clearly now the green Vahrall Demons clawing at various people within the vehicle through several completely shattered side windows.::

:: Dawn reached for the nearest girl being attacked::

"Here, take my hand!"

::The young potential used Dawn's arm to regain her center of balance and thanked her before reaching for a weapon that had slid across the floor of the bus. Dawn spun around to see if anyone had helped Giles to take control of the steering wheel. Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn could see the quick and blurry motion of Faith moving swiftly into action toward the windows. Meanwhile the bus felt dangerously unstable and seemed about to crash at any moment. Determined, Dawn rushed forward to the front of the bus to take control of the wheel. Giles lay doubled over on the ground and bleeding. Dawn could see a set of claws grasping from the broken window next to the driver's seat. She picked up a sword from an open seat, took a deep breathe, and swung as hard as she could.......::
 
:Struggling to her feet just as the window beside her exploded in a shower of broken shards, Tara searched and finally found Willow's hand, pulling her love back onto her feet. Her balance thrown off by the way the bus was shaking, she closed her eyes and uttered a small incantation, trying to do anything to prevent herself or Willow from falling victim to the demons attacking the bus.:

"Dawn?!" She cried out, searching through the chaos on the bus for the younger Summers child. "Buffy?!"
 
:: Dawn missed the target with her swing of the sword, but as luck would have it she struck an arm instead. With a howl of pain, the demon lost its grip and fell from the bus. Behind her, she could hear Tara cry out for Buffy and the din of fighting on the bus. Dawn moved into the driver's seat and put her hands on the wheel. She couldn't operate a vehicle (especially a bus) well yet but she thought she had the idea. She jerked the wheel to the left and right, hoping to shake demons from off the side of the bus. In the side mirror, she saw she was successful in this regard. Unfortunately, in the process of swinging the bus and looking to see if demons had been shaken off, Dawn failed to see that her last swing to the right had brought the bus into contact with a deep ditch. It was impossible now to regain control of the bus. The bus hit the ditch with a shudder and begun to tip and roll over to the right side. Dawn braced herself for impact and shouted for all of her companions to do the same..."
 
: Faith ducked quickly under the seat and grabbed a weapon. Selecting one of her knives for going toe-to-toe in such close quarters, too cramp and crowded for anything larger.
Readying her blade she went on the offensive, reaching through a busted window to punch solid flesh with her fist. Then, grabbing a handful of cloathing, tattered cloak? She thrust with her dagger forward, feeling it slide in deep and feeling the creature roar in pain as it lurched away from the side of the bus.

: Faith snapped a look to the head of the bus, past a bunch of milling slayers, to see Dawn fighting for control of the bus.

: Her first thought was 'Crap, with a Summers at the wheel this ain't gonna end well!'

: Then there was a creaking shudder as the bus lurched to the right, Faith heard a howl of outrage as one of the nearest creatures was tossed off the outside of the bus and into the desert.

: With not much option Faith crouched and braced herself against the seats, her free hand seizing one of the seat support struts as the bus made like a tilt-a-whirl.

: She shouted to the girls nearby. "Everybody grab somethin' solid. Now!"
 
:Hearing Faith's shout, Tara grabbed hold of the seat, feeling Willow's arms wrap around her as tight as she could manage. The moment that the bus slammed into the desert floor, she felt all the wind knocked out of her lungs, and as she gasped, she could hear and feel the chaos erupting around her.:

:When she opened her eyes, she coughed, the dust kicked up by the bus' impact filling her lungs for the moment. Looking around as she struggled to get air back into her lungs, she could hear only silence, as if the world outside had ended in their absence.:

"H-Hello?" :She spoke, with a cough.:
 
:: Dawn had only been out for a few brief seconds. When she came to, she found herself in a heap on top of Giles, who she could still hear groaning beneath her. She looked up and realized that the bus was on its side. Above her was the driver's seat and the shattered side window. Delicately but quickly, Dawn rolled over and sat up. The sound of general confusion was all around her, and in the distance she could still hear what seemed to be the howling of demons.::

"Buffy? Can you hear me?"

:: There was no answer. Dawn turned around and saw that the back emergency door was wide open. Some of her companions (like Buffy and Xander) did not appear to be on the bus any longer. Seeing Faith, Tara and Willow, Dawn called out to them. ::

"Are you guys okay? Giles is hurt really bad. Can we pull him out, or do we have time?"

::The pressure made clear thinking difficult for Dawn: should she try to drag Giles out to safety, was Giles more safe on the bus, should she just make a move for the back emergency door? She considered all of the options and decided to try to at least position Giles upright. She struggled, but managed to at least get him in a somewhat seated position. Figuring he was safe for now, she stood up and moved towards Faith, Tara and Willow, climbing over the top of the sides of the seats and picking up a short sword along the way... ::
 
::After the shuddering and grating of tortured metal had stopped Faith unclenched her teeth and opened her eyes. The bus had come to rest on its side, a few torn out seats, broken glass and weapons littered the ground. Groggily Faith hauled her legs out from under some wreckage and pulled herself into a crouch.

::Any landing you could walk away from...

::A few of the girls, battered but conscious, were moving around. Faith could see confusion that would quickly turned to panic unless somebody took charge. Faith did a quick head count and quickly noticed how many were absent. Buffy, Xander, Kennedy, Robin...

::She didn't see Robin going anywhere under his own steam, not with his injuries. What the hell?

:: She shook off her confusion. Right now the best thing to do was keep moving, whatever had attacked their bus was probably closing fast.

"Everybody that can move, find somebody that can't and grab 'em. Head out the back of the bus and stick together. Move!"

::She spotted Dawn heading her way carrying a sword she's swiped from somewhere, she seemed to be keeping it together, which was good. An injured Giles sat propped up near the head of the bus.

"Listen, we gotta move now, I'll grab Giles and you get out and make sure none of these girls go wanderin' off, okay?"

:: Dawn blinked like she was trying to clear her head, then nodded. "Have you seen Buffy?"

:: Faith shook her head."Maybe she's already outside. Go and see." She gestured over her shoulder, "Check if Willow and Tara are okay too, got a feeling we're gonna need plenty o' mojo some time soon."

:: With that Faith scrambled past her and made her way over to Giles. She hoped he was okay. 'Cause they were in desperate need of a brain who might be able to figure out what the hell was going on.
 
:Hearing voices outside, both Tara and Willow sluggishly managed to get to their feet, noticing that the bus itself was on its side. Taking a step forward, Tara heard the sound of broken glass underneath her shoes, and looking down, she saw that the shards covered almost every inch of where she was standing.:

"You ok, baby?" :Willow asked, her full attention focused on Tara. She had only had Tara back for a day or two, but already, the feelings she had felt towards her love had returned in full force. If anything, she felt more protective of Tara than ever. She had lost her once, and she didn't want to ever feel the same feeling of loss and grief ever again:

"I'm fine, sweetie." :Giving a quick nod, Tara looked back at Willow, smiling slightly. Returning the nod, Willow followed the other woman as they made their way out of the bus.:
 
:: Dawn shouted out to Willow and Tara as she passed them by::

"Are you two okay? Where is Buffy and everyone else?"

:: Dawn climbed out the back of the bus and looked around. Buffy and some of the others were nowhere to be seen, but in the distance more Vahrall Demons were in pursuit and closing fast.::

"Everyone," Dawn shouted behind her, "they're coming!!"

:: Dawn once more looked back at Willow and Tara.::

"Is there anything you can do Tara? Faith's still in the back of the bus and we need to slow them down or something."

:: Dawn turned her head and saw a thick grove of trees to the Northeast. It looked like it could provide some cover (and there was an oddly comforting feeling happening to Dawn as she looked at it). It didn't look like it was far off either. But they needed to buy some time first and deal with these demons one way or the other. Dawn looked at Tara, then back to the trees, then back to Tara. Dawn held her look, waiting for Tara to respond. ::
 
::Faith crouched down in front of the battered form of Giles and looked him over. Battered and bruised and a pretty nasty headwound. He looked up groggily.

"You okay there, G? Can you stand or am I gonna hafta haul you outta here all heroic like?"

::Giles shifted and groaned in pain. "Like that bloody Winnebago all over again." He muttered.

"What's that, some kinda demon?" Faith wondered if his head wound was worse than it looked.

"We have to get away...there was somebody...somebody on the road out in front of us...he cast..." Giles didn't say anything else as his head lolled to the side in unconsciousness. Faith quickly pressed her fingers against his neck, she felt a pulse but she didn't know how strong it was.

"Carrying you out like a lil' girl it is then." Then Faith, as gently as she could, pulled Giles forward and draped him over her shoulder before standing up with her legs bent. And turning, towards the back of the bus she heard sounds of combat coming from outside, shouting and hitting and magic FX stuff that she couldn't really see clearly. Looked like a lot of fun but getting Giles to safety was a priority. If something happened to him on her watch...well, she'd probably end up back in the Scoobies bad graces.

::Reaching down to pick up a discarded ax that littered the floor, Faith awkwardly hacked at the shattered remains of the windscreen, soon creating a hole big enough to maneuver herself and Giles through, stepping out onto the dusty road.

:: One quick look to her left and she saw a stream of people headed for a nearby patch of trees. Pretty much the only cover going spare. As good a place as any to regroup and find out what the hell was going on. Maybe Giles had a bit more intel to share when he woke up, the guy was wicked smart after all.

:: Tensing her legs, Faith loped as quickly as she could towards the back of the trailing group, hoping that whoever was keeping the demons busy could hold on a little while longer.
 
:One hand still wrapped around Willow, Tara looked towards the rapidly approaching Vahrall Demons, and closed her eyes. Channeling whatever small amount of Magick she had left after the spell she and Willow had cast atop the Hellmouth, she entwined her fingers with Willow, knowing the spell would have a better chance to succeed if they worked together.:

:Softly chanting underneath her breath, Tara opened her eyes at the exact moment the spell erected a large shield around both the two of them, and the bus itself, along with the remainder of the Scoobies.:

"D-Did that help?" :Tara asked, clutching a hand to her forehead for a moment. She and Willow had both channeled a lot of Magick in the past day or so, and it was beginning to take a toll on them.:
 
:: Dawn stopped at the soft faint sound of Tara's spell casting just moments after she began to flee towards the beckoning grove of trees off in the distance. She turned and looked over her shoulder, pausing to make eye contact with Faith as she carried Giles before looking back at Tara and Willow finishing their spell. As the spell was finishing she made the briefest eye contact with Faith again before noticing the glow of what appeared to be a magical shield and aura surround her. Dawn noticed the occasional weapon hurling in the air glance harmlessly off the invisible shields that surrounded the bus and the other people that were present. ::

:: Dawn shouted to Tara: "Tara, will this magic last long enough for us to get to that bunch of trees out there?" Dawn pointed with her unarmed hand towards the North-East. "I don't know why, but there is something appealing and attracting about that place. Can you guys feel it? Is that magic or something else?"

:: Dawn was learning more and more to trust her instincts and cultivate her intuition with increasing rewards over the last several months. But as this realization began to occur to Dawn she noticed that Tara looked very weak in the legs. She ran back to Tara and caught hold of her just before she momentarily lost her balance. "Willow, grab her from the other side!" Dawn suggested. With Willow offering Tara balance from her right side and Dawn on the left, they began marching as quickly as possible towards the large grove of trees again. ::

:: Dawn looked around for Buffy once more as they limped away from the bus. She saw nothing. Xander and Robin and the other new slayers were also nowhere to be seen. Dawn took a deep breath and tried to smother a rising panic at the thought of being without her sister. Faith and the others were still here, and they had Giles too. More than enough to solve the problem of the current situation, Dawn assured herself (in so many words). She blinked and trudged on, focusing on one step at a time. ::
 
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:: Faith quickened her pace as much as she could as the growling of demons echoed out across the plains. She seen the witches make with the FX display, which would buy all of them some time, but if demons needed killing then she needed to be front and centre.

:: She heard a slightly pained voice over her right shoulder. "Ah, Faith, if you could please not jostled me so much and put me down I think I'd feel less humiliated...and nauseous." Even when all hell was breaking loose Giles wanted to keep hold of his dignity.

"You got it." Faith grunted as she bent and set him down in front of her. She snapped a look up ahead to where Dawn was leading the way to the safety of the woods and then back to where the two witches were backing away from there glowing handywork.
The demons on the other side had reached it in force, throwing themselves against it in a mad effort to batter their way through and tear into those on the other side.

"Okay, you stay here and think of a bettrer plan than 'Not dyin'', and I'll go back and bring up the rear." She shot a last look at Giles, "Keep an eye on Dawn okay?"

:: With that she ran back towards the stragglers, hoping that Giles was feeling well enough to take care of himself. They were getting kind of thin on the ground, good guy wise.

:: The shimmering barrier flared as demons flailed against it.
 
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