12677/Who's Who: The Summoning

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Who's Who: The Summoning
Date of Scene: 23 January 2021
Location: Church of du Lac, Sunnydale, Haven, Bludhaven
Synopsis: The Scoobies track down the Red Order, defeating another summoned demon. But not without consequences.
Cast of Characters: Buffy Summers, Angel, Zombie-Girl, Thomas Raith, Spike, Spawn
Tinyplot: Who's Who


Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers had done her research, and had bided her time in locating the ones who were apparently hunting for Tiffany, the witch-turned-vampire who had swapped bodies with her - the so called Red Order.

Now, it was time to put an end to their wicked schemes. In their meeting the other day, Buffy had briefed everyone on the situation but it didn't help to refresh their memories.

So, as she leads them back to the old abandoned church where this all started, Buffy goes over the basics.

"So, apparently this is where they like to gather to do their rituals. I. sure you remember the last time they summoned a demon here? Apparently they sacrifice victims to them in exchange for power. Looks like after Tiffany betrayed them, she was to become their next victim..Hopefully we can stop all this nonsense and I can go back to my normal body and normal life. Any questions?"

Angel has posed:
Angel doesn't have any questions at this time. he knew he was primarily muscle and protection as opposed to being the brains of the operation. He knew he wasn't that.

Wrapping his hand around the sword under his long overcoat, Angel says, "I'm good Buffy. Ready to go. Following your lead."

Nodding to each of the team one at a time, Angel tenses and readies himself for the coming situation.

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl is fastening her wrestling headgear on and tightening the chin strap. "All I need to know is who to hit and how hard. I don't know jack or squat about rituals outside of the fact that its hard for people to chant Enochian with a broken jaw. She hikes down her jeans and pulls off her sweatshirt, leaving her dressed in a black singlet. She shoves her clothes into a duffle bag that she flings off to the side. She performs a series of stretching exercises, like she were preparing for a sporting event rather than a brawl.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith gives Buffy a slight grin, that same wicked devil may care smile he always wears and says simply, "Just promise me, when we are all done with this, can we at least get one nice weekend just the two of us somewhere with no snow or werewolves, or anything crazy? How about chicago. Nothing interesting happens in chicago since Harry left..

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks at Thomas, "Yeah, how many times have we said that, then something went wrong? One of these days.."she is testing her tonfa against her hand, before placing them on the straps at the thighs. They're fitted with steel blades this time, since she's not sure what they're up against but it's probably vicious and in need of a good slicing.

Of course it's night time as she leads them towards the church, and they can already see some activity going on..There's a large fire pit lighting up the place, and the sound of lie chanting. There are also the sounds of screams.

Buffy frowns, and freezes. "Everyone keep a low profile. Sounds like they have prisoners. Probably planning another sacrifice. Remember rescuing innocents are our priority, soon as we get a clear picture of where everyone is."

Angel has posed:
Angel gives ZG a thumbs up, and almost smiles. Looking over at Thomas, Angel shakes his head, but doesn't say anything at that thought. He was thinking ahead, at ways this could go wrong. Not that he was feeling things about Buffy, but he was still feeling things.

When Buffy comments on the prisoners, Angel simply nods, and seems to suddenly blend into the shadows, the advantage to being garbed head to toe in black. A subtle..."shing" sound can be heard as Angel unsheaths his sword.

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl squats down to one knee, taking a literal low profile when Buffy indicates to do so. She places the fingers of both hands on the ground, looking like a hair-trigger away fom sprinting when given the word to do so.

"So what's the play Buff?" she asks. "Are we doing this stealth or guns blazing?"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith in his trademark white, not the steathiest color but it works for him, just gives the Slayer a slight grin and nods. "well, yeah that's true... but have to shoot for something right?" he says amused. "Right, save the innocents, beat up the bad guys, get you back in your proper body, Shawarma for everyone. Sounds like a plan to me.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns a bit as she nears the area. Thankfully there are a lot of trees and tombstones to duck under. "We should scatter, have the place surrounded. They will probably out number us so once we locate the prisoners, we get them out as quickly as possible, minimal damage if you can. I don't want the, getting hurt."

And she ducks behind a tombstone, nodding to Angel as he melts into the shadows. In the graveyard there is a large clearing which is marked by a circle within which is a pentagram marred by various runic markings. The pentagram glows with an eerie red light. Surrounding the pentagram is a circle of maybe six figures in red hooded robes like before, chanting lowly.

In the centre of the circle is a large tree and next to it is a cage with three teens, crying and struggling and begging to be let go. They all have glowing magic rings around their neck, and as the witches chant, a large ugly ghoul stands guard in front of the cage, ready to walk them out at the right moment.

yes, and there are also three more ghouls walking the perimeter. Looks like they have their own scouts.

Angel has posed:
"Got it." Angel's disembodied voices calls out from the shadows. Then, he moves, at almost full speed, keeping it under control to keep himself hidden. Moving around the clearing to bring up the rear, this will effectively catch anyone in a pincer move.

Looks like ghouls as the thugs. Pretty straight forward then. Angel maneuvers to take out one of the scouts that could be eliminated without betraying their presence. Quickly and quietly.

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl glances to Thomas. "Yeah, I wouldn't say no to shawarma, though I usually go to Taco Fuego after a successful mission." At Buffy's instruction she nods, "Okay. Yeah. Game face time. Got it." That being said she circles around away from the others and ducks down behind a large tombstone where she waits for some else to make the first move. Her ninja-mode kind of sucks, so she doesn't do anything yet as not to jeopardize the mission.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith nods slightly giving Buffy a reassuring smile and steps behind her to move into his own position, drawing his kukri knives and slipping behind another of the ghouls, slicing through it's windpipe and lowering it to the ground silently, not fleck of blood on his $500 white t-shirt...

Spike has posed:
Though pretty talented in stealth himself, sometimes Spike really has to play to his strengths. That strength, of course, is being an obnoxious ass with a flair for drama and a strategic talent matched by very few. Lots of people, group gathering to stop the people, and not exactly a part of either group as a general rule. What could possibly go wrong?

From the direction opposite where the rest of the heroes have placed themselves he walks into the area of bad things. Cigarette in one hand, cell phone to his ear, and seeming to not be paying attention to his surroundings,"It's only for a few days. You'll love the little bit. She reminds me of what a young you might have been like." He pauses in his coversation and looks up as if only just seeing them,"Got to go now love. I'll call back later."

The phone gets slipped into the coat pocket and he takes a long slow drag from his cigarette, exhaling,"Right then. There any chance you will just piss off and not be a problem." He shakes his head and looks at the biggest nasty thing there and flicks his cigarette at his face,"Not really. Well, as the man said: here we are now...entertain us."

Buffy Summers has posed:
The ghouls are pretty tough but they're up against tough people too. Still they are caught off guard as Angel leaps into action to take out the first ghoul, too quickly fir it to make a move. The second ghoul is also quickly taken care of as Thomas slices effortlessly into it.

The third ghoul is still unaware of the sting operation..That is, until Spike makes a loud entrance, which triggers off a lot of things:

Firstly, ghoul #3 snarls and leaps towards Spike. He is bigger and tougher than his friends and he attempts to tackle him to the ground and slash at his face with deadly sharp claws.

At the same time, ghoul #4 has unlocked the cage door and is leading the prisoners to the tree, when Spike just strides in. He growls, turning to face the remaining intruders, aiming specifically to lunge at Zombie girl who is nearest, claws unsheathed and ready to cut her up.

And while this is going on, the prisoners try to bolt, only to find the magical neck rings tightening painfully on their throats. Their eyes widen, about to pass out as one of the red cloaks steps towards them, turning to face the heroes. "That's enough! one more move and the prisoners die!" her eyes narrow upon Buffy and she smirks.

"Well isn't this nice? You brought us our little traitor, she would be a perfect trade off for the prisoners' lives. How about it?"

Angel has posed:
After taking out his ghoul efficiently, Angel sets himself to get to the next one. Seeing Thomas take care of one can't help but elicit a begrudging nod of respect for the "man".

Turning to move to the next, that is when Spike arrives. Leave it to Spike to sow chaos in the whole operation.

"Dammit Spike! Why do you have to be so loud!"

Spotting the prisoners, Angel tenses to leap into action, but is suddenly brought up short by the words of the "bad guy of the week".

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl is caught so offguard by Spike's flagrant disregard of stealth protocol that her attention is drawn away from the ghouls. She mouths "What the f---" toward Spike just as a clawed hand rakes down her back. Channels are carved in her flesh down to the ribs, and a viscous and luminous yellow fluid oozes out, followed by spectral flames licking from each wound.

"HELLDAMNCRAP! Get offa me!" she says and wheels around to deliver a spinning elbow right into the cheek of the ghoul. "Oh, you just earned yourself some personal attention pal," she tells him with a mean smirk. Her hand flashes out and she grabs the ghoul by the crotch and with inhuman strength lifts him up over her head.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs a little bit as the whole "Let's stealth this shit" goes sideways and shakes his head a bit, "Look so there is this whole thing where Tiffany did a body swap thing, and there was some shenanigans involved, and we are trying to correct this body swapping incident... Don't suppose you'd want to help with that would you? Because I'll be honest, totally willing to let you have the real Tiffany when we get her back in this body, but not just yet.."

Spike has posed:
Well, it had his desired effect anyway. He's annoyed the bad guys and pretty much the same for the good guys. Points for him. The one that tackles him get his attention now and he hits the ground with a hard crunch and likely cracking some ribs. Locking his legs above the hips of the ghoul in a classic ground guard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,"Bollux you reek." The ghoul's head is caught into a guillotine choke as he hits the ground.

Spike smirks,"Nice. You're tough. Not too bright though." Ghouls are tough, but nothing evens the field like what happens next. His puts his feet against the ghoul's hip bones and kicks out in a monkey flip, but never lets go of the neck. The ghoul's body goes heels up and then straight back, landing with all its weight against the captured neck with a sickening crunch.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs and shakes her head at Spike's noisy entrance. "Spike, you idiot...!" well so much for the element of surprise. Eyes dart about anxiously between the prisoners and Thomas' bid, wondering if they will buy it..But they are evil after all.

The speaker arches a surprised brow at Thomas' explanation, then peers intently at Buffy, her eyes turning eerie black for a few moments. Buffy shivers visibly, as if the woman were getting into her head.

"Well. Isn't this a nice surprise? Tiffany swapped her body with..The Slayer? What a veritable gold mine..And an even better sacrifice for Queen Mnemosa. Bring her and we will release the prisoners, or else...!"

The rings around the prisoners' necks tighten further and that's more than Buffy can take. "Enough! I'll come with you, but first you have to release them.."

The two ghouls are having a field day getting their butts kicked, although they seem quite strong, Zee-s ghoul snarls and flails as she licks it up, attempting to kick at her, while Spike's ghoul stumbles to the ground, then after a sickening crack, continues to lunge towards Spike, head tilted at a funny angle but nonetheless functioning. sending out a powerful swing of its meaty fists at his face.

Angel has posed:
Not bothering to see how Thomas and ZG are doing, and after a quick glare at Spike for screwing things up, again, Angel remains in place, watching everything going on around them. There were lives at stake, and unfortunately, he was stuck with a soul.

"That was a piece of intelligence, we didn't need to share, Thomas." Angel holds the sword in his right hand in a tight grip, ready to strike if he had a moment's opening. He hated the smart ones though, as that looked unlikely.

"Buffy...that is a bad idea..." Angel growls. However, it did not look like they had a real choice in this matter.

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl keeps her grip on the crotch of her ghoul but tips him forward enough to wrap her other hand around his neck. She glances to the tombstone that she is standing beside. "Sorry Martha Fowler. I hope you don't consider this grave desecration. Please don't haunt me." That being said she slams the skull of the ghoul into the hard tombstone over and over again untl she makes a chunky skull salsa. After he reaches the proper amount of dead she turns and hurls the lifeless body in the direction of the witches.

"You're gonna want to walk away. If you stick around I can promise you that you're going to experience all kinds of new applications of violence," she slams her fist into her open palm to accentuate this point.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith shrugs slightly to Angel. "They wanna kill Tiffany. I don't have any perticular desire for them not to kill Tiffany. Figured it was worth a shot, it's not like they can take Buffy anyway...wait what?" He turns his head fast enough to give himself whiplash as Buffy says she will give herself over to the cultists. "Uhh, no. Not gonna happen." He says simply, eyes going silver...

Spike has posed:
The ghoul hits the ground and an instant later Spike is on his feet. His knees raise to his upper body a little and then his shoulder launch him back to his feet. It's a thing, he does it sometimes. If they can't appreciate a distraction, well what is that to him really? He turns towards the punching meet fists, dodging here and there. He returns a few punches and catches one in the mouth for his troubles. Stumbling back a few steps he shakes his head,"What can I tell you forehead. Some of us are born to be brooding, shadow hugging, self loathing, poofters. The rest of us have to be anything but." It's not a fight without an Angel dig after all.

Reaching into his coat he removes a small hand axe. It's not much larger than a hatchet really, but that couldn't have been comfortable for either of them on the ground earlier. He cracks his neck and leaves his head to the side for a moment like the ghoul,"You look like a reject from the Thriller video. Michael's dead and so is the dance. Get over it." Yeah that was a bit disrespectful, but who is surprised?

As the thing lunges again, Spike dodges once more and sweeps out the ghoul's legs. It hits the ground in a pile and this time Spike takes advantage with three fast, hard swings of the axe and the ghoul's head goes rolling away. He rolls his wrist with the axe in his hand and smirks,"Next."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Both Zee and Spike make quick work of the remaining ghouls, which fall to the ground in a broken heap. This display of power doesn't go unnoticed. And even as the other Red Order members continue to chant,their eyes widen fearfully at the Scoobies, looking to their leader for assurance.

She simply laughs, a deep gravelly sound. "Impressive, but we still have the prisoners. If you are the heroes you claim to be, I know you won't risk innocent blood being shed.."

Buffy swallows and licks her lips, nodding, eyes never leaving the leader. "Sorry Thomas, but this is something I have to do. I had that vision remember? I know what will happen to those kids if I don't so..Trust me for once. Get those innocents to safety, only then do we strike.."

She's already walking towards the Red leader, who smiles wickedly. "Excellent." She takes Buffy's weapons then proceeds to tie her to the tree. Only then does she lead the prisoners to the Scoobies, making sure they are well out of range before removing the magic rings around their necks. They cough and sputter and seem to be in bad shape, all cut and bruised up, starved and maybe a bit delirious.."

And once they step out of the magic circle, the chanting continues more loudly now, accompanied by a blinding white beam of energy surrounding the circle as something huge and powerful starts to break through..

Thomas Raith has posed:
~Do you trust me?~ It was something that the two of them had both asked each other countless times since their relationship started. Oh they said things like ~I love you,~ often enough, and other terms and phrases of endearment... but when you looked to the very heart of their relationship, it boiled to that one question, ~Do you trust me? So as much as Thomas would claim he isn't a hero, but in fact a monster... As much as he doesn't care a whit about the sacrifices if it means Buffy is hurt... She asks him to trust her. So he does. As soon as the magic rings are removed he lifts them both up, and carries them quickly away from the scene. "You better know what you are doing." He says under his breath.

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl stays quiet during the exchange, though the look of absolute malice that she gives to the Order speaks volumes of what she would and will do if she gets within arm's reach. For now she just stands there, clenching and unclenching her fists. Though the respite is probably a good thing for her. The claw gashes on her back have started the process of closing back up, though they still leak hellfire and ichor.

Spike has posed:
Spike, for his part, doesn't really like what is going on and it shows. That said, nobody really asked him so he places the axe on the ground long enough to get a cigarette from his pocket. The faithful Zippo clicks open and strikes the flame. He draws the fire in and after a few short puffs clicks the silver box closed and puts it away.

Taking up the axe again, his eyes narrow and he shakes his head. A slow drag and exhale and then he turns to go the way he came from. Self sacrifice is all well and good, but something about this smells wrong and he quickly becomes little more than a shadow in the distance with a blast of bleach blonde hair on top.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers groans. "Seriously, couldn't you think of something more original than 'sacrifice the Princess to the monster' routine? I mean I'm hardly the damsel type, plus I'd rather just beat up the big bad already, without waiting through any boring rituals, you know?" she smirks at the Red Leader, trying to make light of the situation, even though Buffy knows what happened in her nightmarish vision..

The woman snarls and slaps her face hard. Too bad she's only human and Buffy is, well a vampire, a young vampire but still tougher than that. "Silence, Slayer, your life now belongs to queen Mnemosa! Behold her greatness!"

As the woman spreads out her arms, that blinding light clears to reveal..A beautiful woman standing in the middle of the circle, her skin a glowing silver, long shimmery white hair falling around her to the ground, and for several hundred feet behind that. She is dressed in a flowing white dress clasped at the waist with a silver silken corset held together with silver ribbons and pearls and other glittery jewels that match the pearly jewels in her silver crown. As she opens her blood red eyes and looks around, she seems to emit an aura of fond memories, of the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, which seems to stand at opposition with those evil eyes. A red star glows intensely in the middle of her forehead, pulsing with energy.

The witches, including the leader, all fall to their knees, "Please accept our sacrifice, the soul of the Slayer!" She smiles sweetly, moving, gliding gracefully over the ground towards Buffy who is too busy trying to break free of her bonds to notice. "Okay Buffy, maybe this wasn't the best idea you've had.." she mutters to herself, although Thomas is given a grateful smile once it's clear he got the prisoners to safety.

And maybe that's all that matters, keeping people safe. She's done her job. Too bad this is gonna hurt.

Eyes widen as tendrils of white hair shoot out and wrap around her neck tightly, glowing intensely bright white..

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl doesn't react super well to seeing her friend Buff get punched. "Screw this," she says. "Yo Queen Mimosa!" she yells and rushes toward the ritual. She knows from experience that such columbs of light can sometimes be a barrier protecting a ritual. She decides to test this by sprinting straight at it. Her arm is cocked back, ready to punch the summoned woman in the face if she can get close enough!

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith gets the would be sacrifices a good distance away, each step telling him he is one step further away from being able to help Buffy. Finally he sets the pair down by the vehicles and turns around to sprint back to the car... promising himself that if Buffy dies, Tiffany will live... for a very...very long time...

Spike has posed:
There's something funny about the way he walks away. Strange that one who spits in the face of most things just leaves. A few moments after his fading away there is a sound. It isn't a Harley by any means, but a few moments later an off road motorcycle comes to life. Anyone want to guess who the mad man on the back is?

"It's perfectly right." he mutters to himself,"No Selina I don't think I'll be seeing her ever again." Nobody can hear that over the sound of the bike as he comes back into the thick of things at a high speed. He's not an expert on magic, but knows enough to know this could go wrong in every way if there is a barrier. The best part of course will be what happens the first time he hits a human instead of a monster.

Buffy Summers has posed:
It seems the magic barrier has already come down by the time Zombie girl charges towards the magic circle and Mnemosa, who barely flinches, reaching out to attempt wrap a few strands of hair around her waist and hurl her hard into a nearby tombstone before she can reach her face. "Leave us.." she murmurs, mildly irritated.

Spike is only a bit more successful, slamming into her, sending her reeling back a few paces but not off her feet. The red star on her forehead flares brightly again, seeming to heal whatever wounds the bike gave her. "Useless.." she mutters, turning back to Buffy who managed to get one hand free and reaches for the knife tucked in her sleeve, stabbing it at the woman with a yell..

But again, she calmly grabs the knife, star glowing again to a sure the wound and wraps her hair more tightly around her neck. Buffy doesn't need to breathe but as a vampire she doesn't have large energy reserves. She's already growing weaker by the moment as the woman continues to drain her..

Zombie-Girl has posed:
Zombie-Girl makes a brief sound of surprise and fustration when the hair wraps around her waist and slams her against the tombstone. There is a crunch of bone from the impact. She flops to the ground, but springs back up like one of those inflatable clown toys with the weighted bottom.

"I hope for your sake you have a better trick than a bad hair day," she says and resets the bone in er left arm. That arm dangles limply at her side. She again rushes the woman, this time down low in a football tackle.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith, his burdens now safe, rushes back as quickly as he can. His eyes now completely silver white and his skin giving off a luminesant glow. His eyes on the would be goddess as he unleashes his Hunger... still he's far back enough that he sees the other attacks...sees the star glow on the creatures forehead... And so he pulls out his shotgun, aims and fires..

Spike has posed:
He's nothing if not unhinged. Spike lays the bike down and rolls away as it runs into the crazy leader type. He doesn't actually hit her, the bike does. Technicalities. Rolling away from it and actually letting the momentum slow with a body roll...or five or six. He's out of the fight for this round, but he did make an impression. Maybe he bought someone else time and opportunity,

Spawn has posed:
    From above, a figure stands and emerges, before dropping from the roof of the church. Red leathery cape stretched out like skeletal fingers, chains rattling and snaking out menacingly. The near seven foot Hellspawn hit the ground with a sickening impact but didn't seem to even react to the pain or the shock. Instead, some of those chains shot out to try and wrap around the possessed woman's neck, and her left arm. The coiled tight to try and hold her steady so that the former soldier could freely aim the M16 in his grasp. Full auto, center mass. Bullet after bullet was loosed in a deafening, blinding burst of gunfire right into the woman's center mass. Maybe it wouldn't put her down, but it would definitely stagger her, and prepare her for the killing blow.

Buffy Summers has posed:
The combined attacks this time are enough to destroy the demon, exploding in a burst of fire as it crumbles to the ground screeching in agony.

Buffy falls to the ground, unmoving.

Buffy Summers has posed:
The Red order gasp and flee, scattering during the mayhem..

Spike has posed:
Getting up again, Spike sighs. Not a fancy kick up from his back like last time. Instead he just sits up and then stands. Gunfire. Interesting. His eyes look over the gathering,"Bloody Hell..." he comments with his eyes widening for a second. Sometimes it's better not to ask. Instead, since it seems to be on the would be good guy's side he opts to not ask questions.

Instead, he takes out another cigarette since two have died an early death he tries once more. A quick, practiced motion with the Zippo and he draws in the flame once more. No theatrics this time. He takes a look around the area and sees the bad sorts on the run. Figuring Buffy is knocked out, hey it happens, he checks on Thomas with a nod and then turns towards the motorcycle. Upright and started again telling Thomas,"Tell Buffy Dawn will be in Gotham for as long as she needs. Just call when she wants her to come back." With that he kicks the bike to life again and heads out into the night.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith reaches down slowly scooping his fallen lover up into his arms, nodding simply to Spike. He hates the other man, but he trusts him completely. "Take care of her, I'll take care of Buffy." He says calmly.