18018/A Bloody Meeting of the Minds

A Bloody Meeting of the Minds
Date of Scene:	21 May 2024
Location:	The Narrows - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	A ragtag group of allies gets ambushed in the Narrows by Mary Seward. They got their asses kicked, but don't tell Batman.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Essix, Kid Devil, Caleb Dykstra, Talia al Ghul, Mary Seward
Tinyplot:	Red Reign

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Damian Wayne has posed:
The word has been spreading around Gotham about vampire attacks. Damian might not normally put any faith in such reports but multiple credible members of the Bat Family have told the same stories. So he decided to call some associates of his who are a bit more off-the-radar than, say, Batman might be. Sometimes working from literal and figurative shadows lends great weight to a plan of attack.

The Redbird is parked next to the curb in the Narrows. This is...the rough part of a city that's already rough. But one too many thugs around here have tried to make their bones by puffing up to Robin. They typically end up with a permanent limp, so ain't nobody coming over here to interrupt anything. Robin is leaning against a lamp post /trying/ to strike a brooding pose but he keeps fidgeting. "If you keep moving around in there I can't get my badass posture down," he says to...somebody. "Then somebody will think it's a good night to come try to get a piece of me."

Essix has posed:
Essix loved the tactical pouches of the Bats, they were large enough to spread out a little, but small enough that she could go unnoticed until the exact moment she was thrown into combat... sometimes literally.

"You need not worry about someone coming to take a piece of you," came a feminine voice from his belt. "I will protect you." Shoving the last of the lint out of the pouch she held still... for now.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Off-the-radar. That's Eddie. Kid Devil, wearing a hooded coat for at least some vague effort at subtlety, comes strolling in on foot. He's sipping from something that resembles one of those ubiquitous coffee cups with the cardboard sleeves, except it's made of metal. Reusable and enviro-conscious! In his other hand he carries a data stick, rolling it lazily across his fingers as he walks. The area must be unfamiliar to him given the way he stops here and there to look at an address on a building, or locate some landmark. If anyone tries to start anything with him, the glare of those glowing yellow eyes should be enough to discourage them.
    Finally, there's no better sign than the distinctive motorcycle that he's found the right spot.
    He makes his way to the meetup and greets Robin with a broad grin. Cheery, despite his flagrantly demonic appearance. "Hi!"
    He doesn't ask who Robin might be talking to. People have earpieces and such, so everyone looks a little crazy anymore.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Was Caleb the last one to get here? Or was he the first to arrive?

Out of a dark spot, a hooded figure in a cape appears, the cape dropping over its shoulders, making it look taller than it already is. Whenever light touches that figure, it's not reflected. The only visible feature is a oval mask of sorts, that serves as a mirror to its surroundings.

And it was Caleb's last year's Halloween costume.

"Greetings", it says.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin has /definitely/ never seen this caped figure before. But he only invited three people and two of them are accounted for. One does not have to be a disciple of the World's Greatest Detective to figure this out. He blinks a few times and /almost/ laughs. Almost. Damian doesn't laugh. Or smile. Or express happiness of any sort. But damn he was close.

"Caleb? Is that you? The fuck you wearing?" he asks incredulously. "You're gonna get yourself beat up in this neighborhood dressing like that. Or killed."

With a sigh, Robin looks around just to make sure somebody isn't on their way over to size up this new costumed dude. "Okay, so Eddie, Caleb, Essix," he says in way of introductions. He gestures to the teen devil when he says 'Eddie', to the mysterious cloaked figure when he says 'Caleb', and he opens up a pouch on his utility belt that contains...slime of some sort when he says 'Essix.'

He nods in the cloaked figure's direction. "So you said you have something to report about these alleged vampires running around?"

Essix has posed:
When the pouch opens, the aqua colored gelatinous ooze inside expands out like someone pouring water, only there's no splash. Hitting the ground the ooze immediately starts to expand and grow, taking on the form of a female human with black hair. She wears a dark blue catsuit, with utility belt, and even has on a domino mask.

"Greetings Eddie, a pleasure to meet you," she spouts out cheerfully. "Good to see you again Caleb, I hope you are well."

She takes a protective position near Robin, not that she really needs to, but the idea of her friend being hurt was unacceptable.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Eddie lifts a hand up-- red, tipped with short but menacing black claws-- and wiggles fingers at Caleb and... the pouch? He leans in to peer curiously inside. "Oooh! A liquid-based lifeform? Or one of those new wetware AIs--"
    Reflexively he tilts backward when Essix disembarks the pouch and takes a whole other shape. "How fun! Nice to meet you!" He grins, salutes with his cup, then takes a gulp of its contents. The satisfied 'ahh' he makes after taking in that burst of caffeine comes out with a burst of steam he blows to one side to keep from accidentally scalding anyone.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Given how I could get beat up or killed for showing my face in Gotham, I prefer laughter", Caleb says. "Besides... they wouldn't laugh for long."

"Essix, nice to see you again." To Eddie, "We have a demon fighting these fangers? Excellent."

He raises a finger, "But, before we continue..." He pulls off his mask, keeping his hood and from an inside pocket, he produces a device that he places on the ground. "Everybody, smile..." And the device emits a light in the UV range, irradiating everyone in the vicinity.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I don't think Eddie's really a devil..." Robin points a finger in Eddie's direction. "Is that right? You're not really a devil? Or demon? Or other, you know, demon-y sort of thing? Like Hellboy, for example?" The costumed vigilante shrugs once. "Not that I would really care if you were. I don't actually believe in Christian mythology but it would make sense that much of it is rooted in truths that people couldn't understand a few thousand years ago."

"Believe me, Caleb, you're safe right now. Even if somebody around here /could/ get past Eddie and Essix -- and I doubt that -- I would feed them their own legs." Then Robin winces and shields his eyes with one hand. "What the fu... Caleb, what are you doing?"

Essix has posed:
Now that the introductions were over, Essix's attention was completely on Eddie. She studied him rather intently, then extended her hand to shake, if he choose to.

When the conversation changed to something called 'fangers', her thinking shifted back to the task on hand. "What is a fanger?" she asks far too cheerfully, head canted slightly. "Fangs are teeth on animals such as canines and felines, but I do not believe that is what you are referring to."

Aqua eyes look to each man there, finally coming to rest on Caleb since he is the one talking about fangers. "You have nothing to worry about Caleb," she assures him with a smile. "I will not let the dregs of Gotham harm you."

Kid Devil has posed:
    "Wait, did you say *vampires*?" Kid Devil says, snapping back to the conversation.
    He looks around to each of the others curiously. When Caleb whips out a gadget Eddie looks at it with interest, but he smiles as requested. The light bounces off his eyes and briefly amplifies the yellow glow before receding to its usual fiery mellow crackle.
    "Oh, um, no, not *actually* a demon," he confirms, nodding to Robin. "I thought so at first, but then it turned out to be this whole thing... You know what, I can tell you later." There's work to do first. Focus, Eddie!
    He considers the offered hand from Essix carefully. When he reaches over it's after a moment's concentration, and though his hand is quite abnormally warm it isn't (for that moment at least) dangerously hot. He looks pleased to have managed it but, still, relieved to have his hand back when it's done.
    "I've never run into vampires before, as far as I know. I've heard they can be pretty flammable though." He hrms on this as he takes another sip of coffee, this time letting the blistering-hot steam puff harmlessly out his nose.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"UV light", Caleb replies, as the device turns off. "If you were a leech right now, you'd be sizzling." He shrugs, "Best to be prepared, since I've seen, /first hand/, what you're up against."

"Vampires are real", he looks at Eddie, full serious mode. "Very real, just as mutants, and aliens, and Atlanteans, and Amazons are, along with any other supernatural creatures." He almost forgets to blink, and he resumes his argument. "Regardless of belief, what truly is needs no believers", he tells Damian.

"And there's a likely chance that some of Gotham's vigilantes may've been caught already." He explains his reasoning, "How many crims happen overnight, how many could be engendered by these bloodsuckers as bait to get to you?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin frowns a lot. That's just...that's just...that's just science. But now he Frowns with a capital F. A shadow passes over his eyes. "Some of the Bat Family have reported the same thing. And if there are vampires in this city, I personally don't apply Batman's no killing rule to them. They need to be rooted out and /ended/."

The costumed crimefighter nods towards Caleb's device. "That's good, that thing. You make that yourself? Have you tested it? Are you sure it will work?"

Then to the others. "Does anyone have any practical experience with this? Any ideas how to fight these things?"

And the question goes unasked, maybe the most important question of them all: Can they be reasoned with? Robin is in War Mode right now, and his temper and his hubris keep him from exploring other avenues.

Essix has posed:
Now that the word Vampire has been mentioned, Essix is able to put two and two together and get what Fangers means. All the books she read about the various mystical things believed to be just that, myths, and here was one that was true. Was their fact in the legends?

"I should not have been listening," she suddenly says. "But I over heard a phone conversation. Only one side of it mind you, I could not hear what the person on the other end was saying... but something called the Justice League Dark is coming to Gotham to help with the situation."

She pauses there, glancing to Damian. "I did not know what the situation was, until now. As I said, I should not have been listening, that is very bad of me, very bad."

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil turns his attention back to Caleb's gadget while he listens. "Interesting..." He, too, is interested in whether it works; if it's been tested. "What if they can be cured, though? There are cells with dangerous people in them. A lot of them don't even mean to hurt anyone. They just have, you know, some condition they can't control." His tail twirls and thrashes behind him, the gold bands along it gleaming in the dim streetlight as it occasionally whips out from under the coat.
    After he listens to Essix he nods, and adds toward Damian, "If you can collect some samples from them, maybe there's another option?"

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Well, I threw a UV flashbang granade at a bunch of them, and they flew away. Given the hungry state they were in, I see no other reason why they'd leave", Caleb says. He points at the device, "Yes, my design. Take it. Use it on others as needed, reverse-engineeer it."

"But, given that I was giving them a run for their money brought the attention of their leader, I tried to size her up." He shakes his head, "It was so above my paycheck, I actually tried to fight my way out." He pulls out a sword, "Titanium core, silver plated." It's broken. "She just forced her hand against it in an opposing motion. Looks like silver does jack for this one."

He looks at Essix, "Officially, not... But it's great news!" He looks at the others, "This means the superhero community's taken notice of the problem." He smiles a little at that.

Tt's a faint smile.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin leans over and picks up the UV light device. He starts to poke around on it. "Alright, this will be useful," he murmurs. He called it 'useful.' Coming from Damian Wayne, that's the normal person equivalent of gushing. "We'll tear it down and make copies. The Bat computer might have some ideas for enhancements." He tucks the device into a storage compartment at the rear of the Redbird.

"Alright so we have tech development. We know that the JLD is coming in thanks to our spy." Robin gives Essix's shoulder a friendly shove when he says that last part.

"Eddie asks a good question, is this like a disease? Can it be cured? But how would we even find something like that out? It would require taking one of these things in alive."

Essix has posed:
A smile spreads across Essix's face when she is nudged. She was a good spy, even when she wasn't supposed to be listening. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time to hear things was good, other times... not so much.

"A sample of these vampires would be required to determine if this is a disease, a mutation or something else," she states with a nod. "Most legends regarding vampires claim that the bite alone will turn someone, which implies some sort of disease, but there are also legends regarding killing the 'master' vampire will free the others of the curse." She really did read too much.

"What this means is... a sample is needed," which she had just said, but she was an alien who liked to over share.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil considers Caleb's observations, thoughtfully slurping at his coffee. "'This one' you said. So there are different kinds? Like, garlic and crosses might work on some, the UV lights on others? Then we'd need a scanner or... something... to quickly identify a subtype and deploy the correct countermeasures." He looks off down the street and gnaws on his lip, showing a hint of fang while he does. Demon fang. Not vampire fang. For whatever that's worth.
    "I need to get a head start on setting up some equipment," he says finally. "I think there's an office in town I should be able to get some lab space in. With any luck they'll have what I need for organic assays. If it's something more ~metaphysical~, uh, well, that's not really my jam." Despite appearances.
    "I'll be in touch! And send over those samples if you're able to get them. But mostly-- be careful."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Holy water works too", Caleb asks. He pulls out a pellet from his featureless vest. "Throw in a few, sprays water droplets all over..."

And his eyebrows raise as a /HUGE/ idea pops into his mind.

"Essix...", he looks, "You're mostly water, right? Or, if not necessarily water, you can become it, right?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin nods to Eddie as he departs.

Then his eyes light up at Caleb's unspoken suggestion. And this time he actually /does/ smile. Just a bit. But if you tell anyone he'll probably kill you.

"Holy goop, Batman," he says as he punches one palm with his opposite fist. "Essix, Caleb's suggesting we get you blessed by a priest. We can carry you around in a medieval aspergillum. I'd have to make a custom holster for it, of course." He starts to rub his chin as he imagines all of this in his head.

Essix has posed:
Still thinking about the types of vampires she's read about, Essix blinks a few times before looking up at Caleb.

"My natural structure has no H2O," she explains. "But, I can in fact become water with a protective shell to keep myself from spilling."

Registering now what Damian said about holy water, she grins broadly. "That is a very interesting concept and idea. Would a priest be able to bless the water I become, or my natural molecular state of being? Would this blessing carry over to permit me to be thrown and attached to a vampire?" She pauses there, clearly searching her photographic memory for any information she might have on priests blessings. "Ah... a priest can bless an item, such as a cross or even a weapon, thus any blessing placed on me, no matter my form, should theoretically work."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
And here is where Caleb flicks a finger! "Holy weapons..." He sighs, "That might bring a whole new ball game to it."

He chuckles, "We might just have a real chance here!"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would go to cross her arms, coming in casually. "There have also been a number of missing." Her tone is relaxed and displays no level of wariness. Arriving seemingly out of nowhere, but also her presence easy to be aware of rather than her stalking from ambush.

Mary Seward has posed:
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, kid!" Now, a fifth party lends their voice. Unfortunately, for Caleb, he'd be the only one who'd recognize it.

Floating up above the group was the woman of their discussions herself. Mary Seward, Queen of Blood. Fearsome vampire.

Unlike last time they met, she seems to be donning something more unusual. Something very...batlike. With a cape to match. How did she get her hands on a bat-suit.

"You know, I don't talk about how much things you guys got right in the Twenty-First centuries...I mean, I hate all you damned, stinking, slop-guzzling mortals with a passion but...marriage equality, internet, rock music, cars, and don't get me started on all the movies! So much I wish we had years before...But, I'm most fond of drones. They're so, so helpful for finding out just who's sneaking around with their friends, talking about you behind your back."

She grins, showing her fangs.

"Alright, who wants to go up first? Mama's hungry."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Talia's arrival clearly isn't Robin's favorite thing that has happened so far tonight. "Talia," he says cooly. "If you have practical experience with these creatures please share your data with us. Focus especially on weaknesses. Please go quickly. We have reason to believe that time is of the..."

And then comes Mary. There is something about Mary. But Robin doesn't do spooked. All her villain monologue earns her is a righteous frown from the former Heir to the Demon now Son of the Batman. He jerks a thumb Mary's way. "Caleb, for fuck's sake, tell me Anne Rice up there isn't what all this excitement has been about."

Talia may be the only one here who has seen Damian spring into action before. People think they can steel themselves against it, prepare for it. But it happens with alarming speed and alacrity, like a movie being kicked into fast forward. Four Birdarangs armed with stun charges are suddenly flying at Mary. Robin uses the diversion to tug the UV light device that Caleb made out of the storage compartment of his Redbird.

Essix has posed:
Talia, Essix didn't know, but since Damian acknowledged her, she let the sudden arrival it go with nothing more than a nod in the woman's direction. Whatever her reason for being here, in this exact moment would clearly have to wait.

The little alien was in fact one of the few who had seen Damian go from grumpy to action in under ten seconds, but her eyes were distracted by the vampire floating above them. She wasn't afraid for herself, she had no reason to be.

In the spit second of time she had, her electrical pulses that formed her entire being calculated the best possible approach to this situation. Damian was clearly going for the UV light, Caleb was exposed to this creature above then, and she herself might be the ace in the hole for later use. So she decided in the most logical action for now, put herself between Caleb and the vampire.

"You may wish to reconsider your actions tonight," she states to the vampire. "You will not find an easy meal here."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Okay, you know how vampires are descibed to be pale, right? Well, as Caleb hears that fifth voice, color just about drains from his face altogether.

"No..."

Plus, he just gave her a name - his name. He looks at Damian disapprovingly.

"Bloody Mary!", he says, without any hint of knowing her real name - he actually just dubbed her after the drink, "How unhappy to see you again!"

He grabs a number of his UV devices and throws them against the walls and ground. They cling with glue to the walls, and start emitting UV light in the vicinity, in the hopes of flooding the whole area and create a safe zone.

He looks at Essix, and has an idea - he pulls out a cartridge of pellets and gives it to her, "Here! Eat and break these and do what we just discussed!"

Next, he pulls out a sword, and flicks a switch. It starts to glow in that UV light, over which he breaks a few more of those pellets.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
As Mary goes to make her rather blatant appearance, Talia goes to muse, "Different types have differnet weaknesses. Sunlight tends to be universal with some very few exceptions. So your discussion would likely work. Now.. For those that you're not necessarily sure of.." Talia goes to idly take out a small pouch from her hand, seemingly indifferent to the drones that were flying on in towards the group. They wouldn't have lethal rounds - at least not yet.

Talia would go to rapidly start to swing the pouch around, whirling it over through the air like she was readying a sling.. Then she would launch it through the air in the arc! WIthin it a wick would sizzle down, going to strike the contents and spray them over a wide area! Fuel, mixed with other rather nasty alchemical concoctions that could sizzle it's way through solid steel and concrete.

Greek fire.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward 's face turns from sharp and predatory, to smug and amused. The nicknames gain her interest as well. Caleb in particular catches her eye. As does Talia. Her again. Here she thought they'd be maintaining their little truce for longer. She'll get to her later. "You really are a one-trick pony, aren't you?"

Backing away from the UV lights, she brings her cape up just like a classic movie vampire would. This shields her, yet as Damian's birdarangs head her way, she suddenly thrusts the cape off of herself. Miraculously, the cape swirls around the projectiles, catching them up . Spinning around, she swings the cape and realizes the weapons they have trapped. As they sore through the air, they hurtle towards Caleb's devices, lodging into some harshly. With that, the light they brought is quickly dimmed.

Mary drops the cape, which then moves as though it has a life of it's own, heading towards Damian and opening wide, trying to bundle him up before he can pull out the UV.

Then, Talia intervenes, throwing a weapon of her own. As the pouch bursts, Mary turns her body to mist, reforming next to Talia and taking a swing at her.

"Now, you, I wasn't expecting to run into..."

Damian Wayne has posed:
The battlefield conditions are evolving rapidly. Damian has been trained for chaotic battlefield conditions. The successful warrior adapts and reprioritizes. The fact that his Birdarangs were bested is of no consequence to Damian. They were mere diversion, and he never expected the simple devices to be effective against an enemy that has already given several Bat Family members severe trouble.

Really he wanted to pull out the UV light generator, but Damian can see the cloak is coming at him too quickly. So he abandons his plan and leaps into a backflip, pulling a glue grenade from his belt and throwing it, hoping to trap the cloak within it.

His backflip puts him right next to his mother. Intentional and preplanned? Maybe. Don't ask him because he'll never tell. But isn't it convenient that Damian is now right next to Elvira Mistress of the Dark now? With a grunt he activates the stun devices in his gauntlets and starts a barrage of punches.

Essix has posed:
Oh joy, wonderful cartridge pellets! Essix doesn't require food, nor does she ingest things like as humans do, but for this moment she will make due with her knowledge of how humans eat.

"I got this!" she chirps /way/ too cheerfully, the pops the entire cartridge in her mouth. Quickly chewing chews them up like a human eats a bite of steak, she spits out anything metal or not part of what ws inside the pellets. She holds on dearly to the water that was contained in the inside, gathering it all up in a pocket inside herself.

As the metal of the cartridge hits the ground, mere seconds of time, Essix's body is melting and morphing down into something on the ground. After only a few more seconds, it is obvious that she has turned herself into a water balloon. That should be all, right? Not even close.

From the ground the water balloon some how launches itself at the vampire, timing the move so that she is aiming at Mary when the greek fire is launched. Mary will have a choice, dodge away from the fire or the holy water alien water balloon. If Essix misses, she will extend a tendril to grab on to something so she can swing back for another attempt. If she hits, she will latch on to the vampire and attempt to wrestle her while holding the holy water against the skin.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"No... I got better ones!", Caleb says.

He manages to press a button, and from the devices not hit by the birdarangs, small spherules are spat out in Mary's direction...

And upon bursting, the air is sprayed with a droplets of an oxygen-igniting compound.

Let's see how Mary reacts to flames, in this case.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Mary has centuries of combat experience, having fought the worst things in the world. She might rank p there as far as monsters and abominations go. She's no doubt faster than Talia when it comes down to reaction speed. Talia? She was trained by the League of Assassins, and has fought the Bat. Not to a stalemate. Each time a loss..

Two katanas are in her hands, slashing out at Mary Seward as she would maneuver to the side. "I can't say it's a mutual pleasure." But there are lines. Mary threatened her son. Blade meets claw and barely deflects it. Counterstrike is done, katanas slashing. She makes no maneuvers to try and kick or punch. They're not going to make the slightest difference against a woman that has strength and power no doubt comparable to someone like Spider-Man. So she goes defensive, simply trying to stay alive.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward grins as she grabs onto Talia's blades, in the midst of her counter-attack. "...Shame. Guess I won't go easy on you this ti-" Luckily for Talia, she's occupied with her long enough to get hit by Damian's attack. The presence of the shock in his gauntlet causes a noticeable stagger. Then, the next hit comes, and the next.

Their effective-ness starts being less apparent as the barrage moves on, until Mary is looking down at Damian as he hits her. "Oh, well, aren't you just adorable? Isn't it past your bed-time?"

Caleb then makes his attack launching the spherules at her. She moves to summon back the cape, only to find it trapped in Damian's glue, all the while she sees Essix swinging back from the corner of her eye.. Thus, she tries the next best thing. Bursting into mist, as the spherules burst into flames as she did with the greek fire. She's expertly able to fly out of the way, reforming legs first as she goes in for a drop kick on Caleb.

She's out of the way of those fires...but the closest thing next to her when she was in their path was the Al Ghuls...

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Queen of the Damned over there is really starting to piss me off," Damian quips to Talia as the vampire ports away. "Essix, Caleb, fall back and form a front with Talia and me," he barks as he shoulder rolls to the Redbird. He's going to get that damned UV device. And just to make sure he does, he releases a handful of miniature flash-bangs letting them roll along the ground in Mary's direction -- little bouncing pellets of potential energy. He doesn't care if they get near her or affect her all that much. He just needs the distraction. He tugs Caleb's UV light generator from his motorcycle and starts to backpedal to give himself room to work.

"10-50 officer down, requesting all available ground and air units to the Narrows," Robin barks. Who the hell is he even talking to? The perceptive observer would have noticed him changing the frequency of his comm unit on his gauntlet. He is broadcasting over the GCPD emergency frequency making them believe a police officer is down. "Fall back!" he orders again. And then he turns on that UV light generator, which makes the UV grenades that Caleb employed earlier seem as firecrackers to an M80...

Essix has posed:
Missing the target as Mary turns to mist, Essix takes mental note that a mist form matches three legendary types of vampires, even as the tendril lashes out to grab onto a lamp post to swing her back around toward the combat.

Water balloon trajectory was unreliable, it required external momentum, so the alien morphs in midair from balloon to raven, a bird large enough to maintain hold on the holy water. "Caleb watch out!" she caws in a feminine voice, even as she spread her wings and caught the currents.

With her trajectory now in her own control, she hones in on the vampire. With the wings spread out to flight, flapping when she needs to, her target line is clearly the middle of Mary's back. Even as a bird she can 'pop' like a balloon and release the holy water, it's just a matter of getting that hit in, and hopefully with three others distracting Mary, Essix had a chance to land her blow.

If the blow manages to land, the holy water hitting Mary's back, Essix will immediately turn back into a raven and fly over to Damian. If she misses she will just move past and over to Damian. As she lands, she will assume a human form again, and stick her tongue out at Mary.

"Go ahead Bloody Mary, try to claw and slash me," she taunts.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Keeping his guard up, Caleb, sword ready to use, keeps his eyes on the mist that starts to move on him and coalesce into a pair of undead legs aimed straight at him.

He times it, training at the Themysciran Arts Center coming to him, to dodge and stab that UV-lit sword - coated with holy water, no less - to bury it as hard as he can into undead thigh!

And, from underneath his featureless mantle, with his free hand... A stake, which he aims to plunge into Mary's reforming body!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Going to take several steps back with her blades up in a defensive position, even as she would dive to the side enough to avoid th efire and make herself back to back with Damian, and sighing over at Caleb and shaking her head. Really? Then her hand is going over to her back, even as she switches her katana out to take out a large sawn off shotgun as she quickly steps bcakwards. One blade in front of her still defensively, which ends up with her holding the shotgun underneath an elbow to pop the chamber open.

Mary Seward has posed:
Being mostly unflappable up until this point, the stabbing in the leg and the spray of holy water at her back elicits her first screech of the night.

It also serves to significantly piss her off almost immediately, not helping is Essix taunting.

She sees Damian about to turn on that UV light and knows she needs to act quick.

Then, Caleb has to go and get cocky. Overstep himself when he had a good window to fall back as Damian says.

She catches his stake arm and hoists the boy up, her feet planting against the ground.

"You watch too much Buffy."

Even in her rage, she couldn't help but get out a smart remark.

Caleb's body provides a good human shield against the shining UV.

Her body morphs into some horrible, vicious beast. Something not too far from a werewolf...This was apparently what she was hiding from the rest up-to this point. "BYE BYE!" She flings Caleb's body, right towards that hateful generator shining it's light in her direction.

"You people are the worst." She hops back, taking back her original shape and taking to the sky with massive bat wings. "Pray we don't meet again."

Essix has posed:
Made of electrical impulses and not muscle and bone, Essix's reaction is faster than a human beings. In the blink of an eye she turns herself into a giant stuntman air cushion for Caleb to land on.

"Got you!" she calls out, spreading more to ensure his landing is center of the bag. "I do not like that vampire at all," she then adds with a snort... talking giant air bag, that's new.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
It's time to fall back now as the vampire does. "Obviously I can note that your current loadout needs some work." She would quip over to Damian, though her tone is a bit snarkier rather than belittling. "I'm sure that you'll adapt, however." She does however nod at the departing Mary in complete agreement over on Buffy.

Apparently there were things that those of which were intent on burning and corrupting the world in different ways could agree on. So there was some level of sympathetic overlap!

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Oooooomph!", Caleb exclaims as he's caught, tumbling over. Getting himself off the ground, he shouts, "Yeah, well fuck you to, and I hope it hurts!"

He grimaces as he looks around and straightens himself, "Is everyone alright?" He pants repeatedly, controlling his breath, eyes falling upon Damian. "And /that/ was whom I met before. On a scale of one to ten, how do you guys rate the fucked-up level?"