World Tree MUSH

Off in the sands of Arizona lies a relatively new town called Tombstone. There's a Vine leading nearby here, and the local law enforcement has picked up offworld military activity. They didn't think they had the oomph to take it on themselves, especially due to mounting tensions with a gang called the Cowpokes, so the call went out for offworld help.

Special Policeman Wyatt Earp is a mustachioed gentleman of an elf in a formal suit. He strikes an imposing figure, casting a long shadow as he stands at the southern edge of the town. One hand sits on his six-shooter as he waits for the arrival of the defenders.

Nearby, over the crest of the hill, voices and other sounds are carried over the breeze. It's clear that the vampire encampment is starting to wake up -- and getting ready.

    It doesn't take long for Dante to get there. He's heard there's action to be had, and he didn't need convincing to drop in. "Howdy." He grins, offering a wave and tipping a pretend hat to the elfin policeman. "Heard we got some buckaroos to rustle up. I'm in." Sword over his back, guns at his belt, Dante's not just blowing smoke here.

The worlds beyond her own are vast, strange and confusing. Diana has decided there is but one solution, explore. Of course, when she heard the call for help she was curious. She looks completely out of place, with her twenty-third century tech. The fact she's obscuring her face likely doesn't endear her to local law enforcement, nor is her introduction. "Call me D. I heard you needed a few temporary deputies? Posse comitatus and all that?" The way she says this sounds like she looked up some articles on old timey US law enforcements in some kind of encyclopedia.

Tombstone, that sounded like the perfect place for Holly to visit. She wondered if this place was full of the undead from the name. It sounded kind of familar but she isn't all that famiilar with American history. Something do with a shoot out or pizza making. Of course Servis and Lavaux were present as well floating by her side. "It seems like a lot of towns in the west here have trouble." She's visited quite a few of them chasing after Salome. She smiles and waves to Diana and Dante, it was nice to see them again so soon.

Mariam happened to still be in Pandemonium handling the after mess of 'Dumb Mechanicals', and trying to figure out something in case they came back. They probably wouldn't. Mariam wrote a small piece about the rudeness of doing bad Witch impersonations. Still. Word of vampires sends Mariam across the way and to Tombstone in the Arizona territories.

Part of her knew Salome was out here. Heck for all she knows, Salome is the cause of the vampire problem because maybe she thinks throwing vampires into the void fixes it somehow through some sort of strange arcane math equation.

She arrives on her broom after a long travel and waves. "Hello!" she says. Holly she knows! Everyone else? Nope.

"I'm Mariam Highscribe. I'm here to help." she says.

Officer Earp nods to each of them in turn; he doesn't even blink at Dante's over-the-top cowboying or Holly's ghosts. "Somethin' like that," he says to Diana impassively. When Mariam arrives, however, his eyebrows raise for a second. "Ah ... a Highscribe," he says, a faint twitch of a smile forming on his lips. "Welcome aboard."

His gaze flits westward, towards the few remaining rays of the setting sun, then he nods to each of the group in turn. "Glad y'all could make it," he said. "Military movements ain't easy to hide, but it looks like we're dealin' with bona-fide vampires, and they know how to be spooks." He looks around, picks up a stick, and starts drawing a diagram of the battlefield. "They've 'parently come from a Blossom called Hartford," he says. "The leader is a Duke of their Empire, His Grace Vincent D'Ambrosio. There's four vampire officers, six vampire soldiers, 'n' ten humans. I'd wager the Duke's a right twit, seein' as how he brought his lady-servant and a scepter to the battlefield, but I wouldn't count on him callin' the shots instead of the officers." He pauses. "They've also got a countess there -- Countess Delaney -- but ..." He frowns in the direction of the dunes. "... Can't rightly say what she's doin' here."

    "Call me D too, D...ante. Dante." The devil hunter says cheekily, and pops his neck. Drawing his guns, he listens to Earp's briefing, raising an eyebrow. He's not sure if these vampires would be vulnerable to his weapons, but past experience indicates it could work. He does channel demon energy into his guns, after all. Dante observes the diagram, cocking an eyebrow. "Seems a lot more organized than I was expecting. You want any of these guys alive?"

"Hi Mariam! We should talk more when you have a chance. Wait, Vincent's here with the scepter and Serrah? We just need to destroy it then!" Holly figures they can solve both problems at once.

 "I don't think it's going to be that simple, Holly." Servis points out the danger she's about to put herself in.

 "Well, I'm not alone. We should be able to take him with all the people here right? Unless he teleports away again..."

    Cowboy world!, and a town called Tombstone?! It sounds very cool for a young teen, and thus, perhaps a bit too late?, a young kid comes, he is wearing a cowboy hat he obtained somewhere! (likely a costume shop) just to try to fit in the mood, and is followed by Pangshi, because the Jiangshi panda needs fresh air now and then. 
    The 'kid' finds where the group is, and waves one hand happily, while the odd costumed panda floats by his side and waves a bit. IT looks very vampire like, with red eyes and fangs, but looks harmless otherwise.

Diana taps the cylinders on her belt. "Wooden stakes. Vampires are my specialty." She explains, glancing towards the place. "A duke and a countess? Sounds like they're trying to claim this place for themselves." She nods to Dante, Holly and Mariam. the latter gets a, "Nice to meet you, ma'am." Then Holly helpfully clarifies that this means Serrah is here. "I'll handle the countess." She offers helpfully.

Mariam smiles. "Hi Holly!" she says to the other witch. "Wait, who's Vincent. And Serrah?" she asks curiously as she scratches the side of her head. She looks down over the edge, as she gently hops off her broom finally that was hovering there as she flips it around to grab the trigger handle at the front.

She mutters something into the air as her hand ignites in flame, before she places it against her broom, which seems to absorb it, and start magnifying it, charging it up, as she looks back at the group.

She looks over at Dante, and Diana a moment. "Are you a vampire hunter?" she asks Diana curiously.

    Click-clink... Click-clink... Click-clink...
    The distinctive sound of high heels and spurs softly jingles through the Arizona night as a figure in red crests a dune and starts making way into the lonely little town of Tombstone, a cold mist licking at her feet as she saunters through the street with all the purpose of fashion model with murder on their mind, one hand holding her grinning hat down to her head, and a black cat trotting at her heels.
    It's not long before that chill mist floats ominously around the gathering posse as the click-clink-click-clink draws nearer.
    "Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world..." A familiar voice to some declares as the witch in red stops just short of the witch in blue.
    "I do declare, mister Earp, sir, you've amassed the most rag-tag posse I have ever seen." The dark elf says, doffing her hat with a sneering grin and taking a bow, before plopping it back on her head. "But. I can't rightly say I'm rightly keen to letting these vampires settle in on my turf, don't you agree?"
    So says Salome Highscribe... Gunslinger. Witch. Outlaw.

Officer Earp shrugs. "I ain't worried about enemy casualties, I just want 'em outta here by hook or by crook. And yes, Miss D, that's the same impression I'm gettin' here."

He pauses, and gives Luke and Pangshi a hard look for a moment, then simply shrugs. "You're ... a Trainer?" he says. "I heard somethin' about that."

And then Salome arrives.

Officer Earp turns; Salome has his full attention now. "Hullo, Miss Highscribe," he says, smiling faintly. "I could not agree more. Pleased to have you grace us with your presence this evenin'. And with your gun on our side."

Shouting becomes audible from over the hill. A few words are intelligible. " ... caught me napping ... damn Mark ... your heart myself!" Yep, that's Serrah's voice all right.

And as the last few rays of the sun fade away, the shadows in the darkness are starting to move.

    Dante is about to draw one of his guns as Salome shows up, but he greets her with a big grin on his face. "Hey Sally, nice to see you finally on the same side for once." He says cheekily, and wiggles fingers at Holly in a friendly manner. Seems like he doesn't hold anything personal against Salome, by a long shot.

    The Pangshi does get a double-take at Dante, but right now noise in the distance is a more pertinent matter to deal with. "Sounds like Serrah, I'll take point." He says, then dashes off toward the sounds of curses.

"Serrah's a friend of mine! Vincent's this evil vampire ruler who has a magical scepter that can make people into vampires. He did so to Serrah unwillingly. We need to destroy it so she can go back to normal." Holly explains to the others, hearing Salome she turns her looking at the witch and then Mariam. "This could be a problem." She knows the two sisters aren't on the best of terms. She then turns towards Dante, "That doesn't sound good either." The witch wonders if she's arguing with Vincent and quickly follows the demon hunter.

    The boy seems a bit surprised someone actually knows of pokemon trainers, but he nods eagerly, "I am!, I'm a Pokemon trainer!, Luke Gray, pleased to meet you." he tells to the officer, moving a bit closer. Of course, he waves to the others, now that he finaly arrived, quite the happy boy apparently. 
    Meanwhile, Pangshi approaches Dante, perhaps sensing something off with the Son of Sparda, tilting his ead and waving a few times, making a soft chirp noise... Any further interactions are halted at the sound of a familiar voice shouting!. The boy tries to grab the spooky panda with one hand as he rushes after Dante, "That's Serrah!" he calls, "She certainly sounds like she is in trouble.". While he is not a demon hunter, can't hurt to try to help, one hand moving to his belt even as he tries to keep up with the others. "I should get a Poke ride one of these days." he mumbles.

"Yup, miss Highscribe." Diana answers Mariah. "Call me D." She glances towards Salome and narrows her eyes. "The way you talk, I somehow get the feeling living on your turf is almost as living on vampire turf." She comments coldly, but doesn't seem inclined to go beyond that commentary. 

When she hears Serrah's voice, she begins to head over to find herself a nice vantage point from which to snipe any conveniently located vampire.

Oh. Oh it's her twin sister. Mariam gently sighs and flips her hair a bit. "Salome." she says bluntly. "I'll be watching you." she says with narrowed eyes. She does that point to her eyes, point at Salome, back to her motions, as she angrily marches over near Diana.

"D, then." she says softly. She looks over towards the others and blinks.

"So this Serrah, you don't want her hurt? Better point her out." she says as she readies her broom/shotgun.

Everyone here holds no ill will towards Salome. That's okay, she'll carry it all.

    To say that Salome and Mariam aren't on the best terms puts it... Lightly. Mismatched eyes narrow as the witch in red taps the butt of one of her revolvers with a finger, in an absent motion.
    "Mariam."
    The frost in Salome's tone says it all, and it must be taking the witch a herculean effort to not just draw then and there, but that is not why she is here. "Watch me all you like, dear sister." She says before mismatched eyes flick to 'D'.
    "Please." She says, curling her lips into a sharp-toothed smirk. "I am no lord of the night, reigning in terror over a dominion. I'm just your ordinary every day house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch."
    "Now then, ladies and gentlemen, shall we be gettin' on with this?" Asked as long ears twitch at the sounds of shouting from over the hill, and starts moseying in that direction.

As the group approaches the shouting, it suddenly becomes muffled. It's clear to see why, once they crest the hill: a raven-haired vampire in a red and black French maid uniform is trying to hold her hand over Serrah's mouth. Serrah is standing perfectly upright and perfectly still with a glowing purple heart-shaped mark on her forehead, wearing an elaborate purple and red gown, glaring daggers in the general direction of ... the group? There's also the ten human soldiers, armed with assault rifles. They raise them towards the group, but they don't fire yet. But ... where's the other vampires?

And then suddenly, a shadow behind Officer Earp coalesces to form a tall man with a razor-thin beard, grinning smugly like a gigantic tool. His scepter is outstretched, and fires a bolt of purple light right at Wyatt Earp, who whirls around, gun drawn ...

... but he doesn't fire. Instead, he turns around, revealing a glowing purple heart on his forehead. "What in tarnation!?" he exclaims. "He put a 'fluence on me --"

"Good evening!" says Vincent D'Ambrosio. "I hereby claim Tombstone, Arizona in the name of the Hartford Empire!" He gestures ...

And suddenly Earp shouts, "LOOK OUT!" as he points his gun at Holly and fires!

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> -1 ally. +1 mind-controlled enemy!

    Click-clink... Click-clink... Click-clink.
    Salome reaches the top of the hill and shifts her weight to one foot, hand resting on her hip as blue-red eyes fall half lidded. She watches for a long, silent moment through her lashes at the men armed with assault rifles; at the vampire holding Serrah. At Vincent D'ambrosio.
    A glance is spared over her shoulder as Earp draws his gun, under foriegn influence.
    She knows this man. She knows his draw is quick and his aim is true.
    The sudden, resounding, report of a second gunshot fills the night, and a spark flickers in the air where one bullet slams into the other and knocks it off course, the schofield revolver in the witch's hand whispering smoke and gunpowder from the barrel as she spares Holly a trip to the morgue.
    "Now now, let's be civilized. Takin' over a man's body just ain't right." She says, twirling the gun on a finger and sliding it back into one of the many holsters hidden in her coat as she approaches D'Ambrosio.
    There's silence for a beat as she stares the man down, fingertip tapping on the butt of her Colt Peacemaker at her hip. She licks her lips once, before they curl into a sneer as she locks eyes with the vampire Duke.

    "I'm your huckleberry..."

>> SUMMARY[Salome] >> Let's play for blood.

Doubt fills Diana's mind. She'd been thinking that Serrah was at best in denial about her monstrousness, and at worst playing games. But this, she looks the part of a hostage at best. It'd still be a kindness to get Serrah her rest, but... that's a thing to consider some other time. Right now, there's a vampire who seems quite occupied with Serrah.

Vincent's arrival and influence over Earp is noticed but not responded to, Diana trusts these people are either competent enough to handle themselves, or stupid enough they could do with a harsh lesson in their own limitations. So, her sights are adjusted, distance measured, and then there's the soft hum or electromagnets charging up until the trigger gets pulled and a wooden stake is sent flying straight for the heart of the vampire holding Serrah. Not much noise, not much light, and only barely subsonic.

>> SUMMARY[Diana Bp62412] >> Let's try to snipe a vampire.

Holly's tougher than she looks thanks to the accident with the strength potion, still she's happy not to be shot. "That was close! Thanks Salome! Wait, he can control people who aren't vampires?! Or did he make the sheriff into one?" She looks a bit confused.

"Fight now, ask questions later." Lavaux's makes a suggestion before the witch is caught in the line of fire again. She lets Salome deal with Vincent and goes for Earp swinging her lollipop shaped staff at the man's head.

 "Sorry about this!"

    Dante stops once he's in sight of the vampires. He knows a standoff when he sees it, and Earp's currently disarmed. Thankfully not literally. He keeps hands close to Ebony and Ivory, fixing a steely eye at the vampires and their thralls. "For once, let's be civilized. We can take you in cold or colder, your choice." He says icily.

While Salome speaks with a southern drawl, Mariam speaks with a classy New Yorker accent and just what the heck is Salome gonna do? Murder a vampire lord. By herself? Maybe she can handle it.

"Something seems off, hey Hooty." she says to the owl on her shoulder. Who hoots. "Get skyward and try to show me if anyone is hiding behind some sort of magical stuff." she says as the Owl salutes and takes off skyward, as she hefts her broomstick and scans the area she's in as she watches the chaos begin and Hooty begins using his ability to detect magical fields to try to see if anything is indeed hiding or coming into an ambush.

Vincent swings the staff to bear against Salome ... and then hesitates, looking between her, Earp, and Holly. "What the hell just happened!?" he exclaims.

"What happened," says Earp, a faint trace of smugness in his voice, "is that you're playin' against the Covenless Calamity. -- oof!" He goes down instantly at the hit from Holly; Vincent's control was enough that he wasn't even able to move to defend himself.

Vincent smirks. "All right, then," he says. "Witch or not, you're still breathing!" ... Was that supposed to be an insult? "Fine, then! Let's dance!" And he darts forward with superhuman speed, intent on karate-chopping Salome upside the head!

Wilhelmina and Serrah are unaware of Diana, but it seems that someone was keeping track. Right before that shot goes off, a vampire appears out of out of the shadows at their feet and trips both of them, knocking them to the ground; it's not fast enough to be a clean miss, so it does actually go through Mina's chest, but it clearly misses her heart. "Thank you, major," she croaks as she lies on the ground, still smiling that empty smile.

The vampire officerstares at her, looking mildly creeped out. "... You're welcome."

"Shit," says Serrah, rising back to her feet in defiance of gravity because Vincent's order was for her to stand still, not lie still. She furrows her brow at Dante, still mostly unmoving. "Uh, I'm not here willingly, this purple glow means I'm under His Gr--"

The vampire officer gestures, and the ten human soldiers open fire on the devil hunter.

The vampires aren't that hard for Mariam find; they're hiding from human vision, not a witch's magic. Five patches of undead darkness are closing in on Dante from all sides; one is right next to Vincent; two are making their way towards Diana; and one is lurking by the Vine, apparently just guarding the way in (or out).

>> GAME >> Serrah Delany spends an Edge for: Several things are happening at once!

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> Earp goes down. Vincent vs. Salome. An officer saves Wilhelmina from Diana and orders the soldiers to shoot Dante. Mariam catches the hidden other vampires in the act.

    Dante goes for his guns, drawing Ebony and Ivory in the blink of an eye as he returns fire on the soldiers. He mostly aims to disarm, shooting guns out of the soldiers' hands. Really, he's not taking these guys seriously. As for the vampires, he gets a silly idea. Lacking stripper poles to spin on, he suddenly stows the guns and plants Rebellion into the ground blade-first, before grabbing onto the hilt and flinging himself around in a circular motion, his boot kicking out as he lets out a "WOO!"

    The whole Temen-Ni-Gru thing has given him ideas for combat tactics, and he's always wanted an excuse to exploit the enemy's formation like this. Given how they're positioned, they'd probably end up charging into one another.

Mariam peeks through Hooty's eyes for a bit, and when she frowms, she sends a little mental command for Hooty to keep on the lookout. Owls are good at hiding in the dark. She frowns as she raises her broom and with a little tug of a mechanism, sprays a cone-like shotgun blast of magical fire and flame into the air behind Diana, trying to smack the vampire in the side of his shadowy, ambushy butt.

"HEY WATCH OUT, D!" she calls out, as she looks down at her gauge. She'll turn to shoot some of the ones coming for Dante, too, firing off another magical fire cone from her boomstick broomstick.

Sadly, Diana does not see the sneaky vampires coming. Mariam does, fortunately, and while the fire shotgun startles her; she appreciates and lowers her weapon to pull out another. "Thanks, miss Highscribe." She answers as she draws forth her mace and flicks the switch; and immediately holy water begins to coat the mace as she swings it in the direction where Mariam attacked.

    Salome's smirk twitches wider by a fraction when Vincent hesitates and Earp tells him who she is.
    "Why Duke D'ambrosio, you look like somebody just walked over your grave..."
    But she is breathing, it's true. "You say witch like it's a bad thing." She jeers and thumbs back the hammer on her revolver, ready to draw. Her eyes widen...
    Pupils narrow into thin, cat-like slits, scarlet eye beginning to glow. For Salome, her perception of time slows to a crawl. Even with the blessings of the Deadeye, Vincent is monstrously fast.
    But Salome's hand is just as fast as she draws Elphaba, finger squeezing on the trigger as she backflips to avoid the blow. The hammer slams down, impacting the percussion cap of the slug, but no bullet comes out. What comes out is apell instead; a terrible hex to impart upon Vincent the absolute worst of luck. Truly the baddest of Juju called down to fall upon the vampire's head as she snaps her hand to the second gun at her hip, Glinda.
    "HEY SISTER, don't dodge this one!"
    It happens so fast, as she shoots Mariam... But once again, no bullet flies from the barrel of the gun.
    As she transfers all of Vincent's luck to her sister. Let it not be said Salome can play well in a team when she feels like it.

>> GAME >> Salome spends an Edge for: Two actions in one turn: Debuffing Vincent, Buffing Mariam.

Of course now that Earp's taken care of, Holly wants to get her hands on the scepter. There must be a way to do so without him gettting away. She watches as Salome hits him with the bad luck hex, now was her chance. She chants and points her staff at Vincent before a plastic pumpkin shaped pail apppears above his head. Just because Vincent's luck had turned bad didn't mean that Holly's magic was anymore effective.

The human soldiers are caught flatfooted. Dante makes short work of their weapons, and they take a step back, hands raised. The officer rolls his eyes. "Only human," he practically spits. He twirls his fingers, conjuring up glowing purple magic circles, which start firing glowing purple shards at Dante ... right before Mariam's shots tear into the ground. Two vampire soldiers manifest materialize, clutching their guts; they stagger, but they don't go down -- yet. The remaining three vampires leap out of the ground, two soldiers and one officer, and the soldiers come at Dante with knives.

The ones hit around Diana have it even worse once that mace comes out. The soldier hit by Mariam's attack leaps forward, lets out an inhuman screech at the impact of the holy-water mace, an disintegrating completely. The other one, an officer, promptly manifests and flicks out knives, one aimed at Diana and the other at Mariam ...

... but, of course, bullets are faster than knives, even when thrown by a vampire; the knife intended for Mariam goes sailing off into the night.

Vincent recoils, and glances down at himself and then up at Salome. He gives her a fangy grin. "Was that luck magic?" he says condescendingly, almost sounding delighted. "Fool! A vampire with power makes his own luck!" He darts forward, swinging another punch like a freight train, followed by a swing from his scepter, followed by a yell of surprise when Holly's pail obstructs his vision. He takes a step backward, and trips over Earp's prone form and falls flat on his back.

The glowing heart-shape on Serrah's forehead starts to sputter and fade. "Anyone feel like kidnapping me?" she says, almost conversationally. "I really don't feel like going home with Vinny the Tool."

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> One officer attacking Dante; two soldiers staggered by Mariam; one dusted by Diana, the other throwing knives; Vincent bucketed and tripped.

"I don't think Rue would be very happy if I came back with a vampire. That and Columbia isn't too hard to find." Holly doesn't really have any good hiding places. Holly uses all of her strength to try and grab the scepter from Vincent while he's on his back. Of course the question is what she'll do what with it if she does manage to get her hands on it. It's unlikely the witch can just break it over her knee or something.

A knife impacts Diana's gut, cutting a hole into her jacket; and she's bleeding. She ignores it, best she can, having overheard Serrah's request. The vampire hunter raises goggles to reveal a pair of deep green eyes, and she addresses the soldiers and officers in a tone that's simultaneously friendly and imperious, like how a vampire lord might address a loyal subject. "Good men. Let me handle Countess Delany, it's imperative that she's extracted from this scenario before much harm can be done." There's a superhuman charm that just makes it so easy to trust her.
If she can get close enough, she'll whisper to Serrah. "My lady, for as long as you are under my hospitality, you are under my protection. It will be my duty to see you comfortable and fed." This is clearly some kind of etiquette she's been taught by someone who cares much about such matters.

>> GAME >> Diana Bp62412 spends an Edge for: Majesty of the Night

Mariam is firing firey magical shotgun blasts. When a knife headed for her gets shot out of the sky, but Salome shoots her with something... just as she runs out of magic in her broom--- now. Mariam will claim, for months from now, that Salome wasn't gonna be happy until she shot her with something. Now it's a good something, but Mariam won't care.

"H-hey!" she sputters at Salome for the moment, as she raises her hand and mutters against as her hand starts sparking this time and she taps the broom, filling it with an electrical charge as she starts firing a stream of focused electricity from the broom into more vampires.

"Ugh!" complains Mariam. Just. Ugh! She'll let Diana handle trying to get whoever is a supposedly friendly out.

    Vincent's speed is something to contend with. Even with Salome's perception of the world slowed at it is, to have someone rush her at such speed means she has to keep on her toes.
    Right up until Vincent eats a pail, trips on Earp, and lands badly.
    Salome casually pushes the ejector rod down on the revolver in her hand, the empty spell-slug popping free of the cylinder as she loads a fresh one in.
    "Don't get pissy with me leech." She says, casually. "Even tapped out, I can still do a love spell to make you fall in love. With the sun."
    With a click the gun is loaded once again as she twirls it on her finger. Let it not be said she didn't shoot Mariam with something good, this time at least. "Now, I think it's time to play a little unfair." She decides as she aims down at the supine vampire and fires a ray of sunlight from the barrel of her gun.

    Dante seems content to just draw his pistols. These vampires are beginning to annoy him anyways. The officer gets several shots to the chest from Ebony & Ivory, they may not fire silver but he's sure demonic energy can do a whopper of damage on these bloodsuckers. Hopefully the display of firepower is enough to get the non-vamps to bail. If not, then Dante will probably end up smacking them around.

    If they don't do the smart thing and leave, he flips the guns so he can smack the soldiers around with a few swift strikes of the butts to jaw, enough to knock them the hell out.

Vincent quickly sits up, with the bucket still on his head. "Excuse me, young human!" he calls after Holly. "Didn't your mother or whatever teach you not to take things that aren't yours?" The scepter promptly flies out of Holly's hand and into his. With his other hand, he theatrically tosses the bucket aside.

And then Diana gives her command.

The officer who just attacked Diana frowns at her, looking from the knife wound back to her eyes. He gets the full brunt of the Majesty of the Night, and blinks a few times, as if he's not sure what the correct action is ... but he doesn't move to stop her. The officers are ... mostly trying to resist, and the vampire soldiers fare slightly worse; the human soldiers actually stand aside and salute her.

"Of course, my lady," says Vincent distractedly. He seems to have fared as badly as the human soldiers, he just has a different way of reacting to that sort of thing. He furrows his brow, as if he's trying to remember something that's slipping his mind.

Serrah just blinks at Diana in confusion as the purple glow fades completely, leaving only a black heart-shaped mark. "Uh ... okay?" she murmurs. "Look, I'm not actually nobility, Vincent just made me technically-a-countess as this, uh ..." She gestures vaguely. "... a protocol thing."

Of course, this general distraction is enough to give Mariam and Dante leave to pretty much knock out the group of vampires; the ones hit by lightning stagger and collapse, twitching, while the ones shot by Dante's weapons simply collapse, prone, as if ... well ... dead; they don't disintegrate, however.

And then Vincent gets hit point-blank by sunlight, causing him to ... stagger backward, seemingly unharmed. "Ow! What was that?" he says. "Wait. That was ... that was sunlight, wasn't it." He glances between Salome and where he was hit a few times almost quizzically, then shouts, "Retreat!"

A white flag pokes out of the shadows next to Vincent. "Yes, that would be a good idea, wouldn't it?" says a woman's voice, which might be familiar to Holly as the vampire who surrendered in Vincent's previous invasion. "This has been another total wash. "As his grace pleases!" she calls out. (Translation: "His grace gave an order that wasn't shortsighted or self-absorbed, so let's just obey it.")

The human soldiers stand at attention, salute, and immediately move to help the injured vampires around them, giving Dante a wide berth. Vincent and the officer by Diana promptly fade back into shadow, and all of the attacking squadron starts retreating towards the Vine. Except for Serrah, of course.

So long as they don't get in her way, Diana doesn't actually care how Vincent's crew responds to her charm. "And as a countess in a foreign vampire society, you will be welcomed by my home's authorities; who will treat you with the respect nobility can demand." Diana answers Serrah, seemingly having been serious about her offer of hospitality. With Vincent and company gone, she lets the charm fall off. "You remind me of someone I used to know, and so I'm willing to give you a chance; but I'd like to get to know some things, as it's clear your kind of vampire doesn't quite work the way I'm used to." A pause, "Holy Water isn't supposed to do that to a vampire."

"He has telekinesis too?!" Holly looks a bit surprised as the scepter goes flying from her hand. "Didn't yours teach you not to make people into vampires without asking!" She could feel the artifacts power for a second and tries to tackle him but he vanishes into shadow before she can make contact. "We really need to fight him when the sun's out." She looks at the others a bit frustrated but she's glad to see Serrah still there. "Or find a really big sun lamp."

    "Or just drag his ass out into the sun when he's asleep." Dante offers, as the bad guys run like hell. He stows his guns, "I need to see if any gunsmiths can make sun guns. That'd really make this easier."

    "You're no daisy." Salome spits as Vincent calls for retreat. "You're no daisy at all." She says, stuffing her revolver back into the holster and watches him go.

Mariam lowers her b(r)oomstick as she looks around and takes a deep breath. Run away, yes. Run run run. She eyes Salome. When she puts the gun away, she frowns heavily but still looks back to the group. "That seems to have done it... I think..." she says quietly, brushing herself off. Brush brush with a hand.

Serrah considers this. "I'm not a fan of authorities, especially vampire ones," she says, "but, like, I'll take what I can get. And I'm cool with answering questions." A slight pause. "For starters, if you'd successfully hit Wilhelmina in the heart with that stake-launcher of yours, she'd be dust. That's one of our instant-fatal weaknesses that doesn't require special equipment."

She looks sidelong at Dante. "Sunlight doesn't hurt us, it just weakens us. Vinny's just a coward, he just arrived at the same conclusion as Major Maledicta for different reasons." She nods to Salome, seemingly agreeing with her comment.

Then she just smiles. "But, uh, for real, though," she says. "Thanks, guys, All of you."

Officer Earp gets unsteadily to his feet. "I oughta second that," he says, nodding to each of the defenders in turn. "Thank ye kindly, ladies 'n' gentleman. I'll see to it that y'all get financial compensation for your troubles ..."



...



Meanwhile, three Blossoms over, the Hartford squadron hastily sets up camp so that their wounded can be tended to. Vincent sits morosely on a munitions crate, cradling the Blackheart Scepter in his lap.

Suddenly, he jumps to his feet, Scepter i hand. "Hey, wait a minute!" he says. "We have to go back and get Delany!" He turns towards the vine they just came out of.

Major Maledicta sighs, grabbing his shoulder to stop him before he gets too far. Ugh, nobles, she thinks privately to herself.