Xaviers!

Will juked to her right, dodging the blur as it flew over her shoulder. She rolled, and got back to her feet, trying to re-acquire her target in the dark, torch-lit hallways of the castle. She slunk forward, trying to stick to one of the stone walls, as she crept into the darkness...

...and cried out as the vampire sunk his fangs deep into her throat, coming out of nowhere to attack her from behind. She fell to one knee...

...and everything froze as the Danger Room paused, flashing a "Mission Failed" notification on all available sensors and scanners.

"Gnnnah. Alright, alright, let's, uh..." Will said, climbing to her feet and rubbing her neck. "Let's roll this back to....second floor, third hallway? Just before the creepy statue room with the...lasers? Yeah, that one. Randomize rooms and, uh, keep the difficulty where it is. Um...hold for just a moment, though," she added, catching her breath and leaning up against one of the walls.

((open))

“Do...um. Do you need a hand, Buffy?” a perhaps unfamiliar voice called out from the observation deck.

"If there are some potential Scoobys up there, you're more than welcome to join," Will said, not keying in on the voice quite yet.

Steph suppressed a bit of a growl. She supposed she had that coming giving what she looked and sounded like, and it had been sort of rude to stare and interrupt someone else's Danger Room time.

"...I'm more Daphne than anything, but I suppose I do look like Scooby." she tried to joke.

"I'm apparently decent at smashing things though."

"Smashing is always useful....I'm sorry, your voice is ringing a bell, but I can't quite place it?"

"St--Stephanie," she replied, stepping up to the window and waving timidly. "I'm sort of new."

She hesitated awkwardly then stepped away and came into the room itself. "I don't think I know you either."

Will blinked at seeing the familiar face come down the stairs.

"Stephanie! It's ah...a pleasure to meet you. I'm Will; I'm the resident goofball 'round these parts.

Sorry about the Scooby quote; I didn't realize..."

The familiarity Will seemed to have struck her as a bit odd, and she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Do I have that much of a reputation on campus, or do you know Tosh or Trev?"

"Um, not exactly. It's a...long story, and not something to be overly concerned about at this point," Will said, rubbing the back of her head. "I, uh, try to keep abreast of all the new arrivals, the comings and goings."

"Oh..." she replied a bit sheepishly, "sorry...i didn't mean to assume...well. I don't know. I'm sort of dealing with a lot of changes lately. Except of course the change back into a form that isn't covered in fur. I don't have that change."

She stopped rambling abruptly, "Ah...I'm sorry. I ramble a lot lately."

"It happens, don't sweat it -- all this is new to you, I gather?" Will said, waving her hand over the whole kit and kaboodle.

"Very...though it's now been so long that I really can't remember what it feels like to be able to sit down without worrying about a tail."

"You'll get there again, I'm sure -- and they make some pretty decent alternative-anatomy furniture down in the woodshop, if you ask nicely."

"I'll have to go check that out. I haven't explored enough...inside I mean. I spend a lot of time outside. This side of me seems to like the outdoors for some reason," she joked.

"Call it Snoopy syndrome. You just need a house to lie ontop of and write your novel."

"I was....well, suppose I still am...an English major, so that sounds appealing. Just need a small bird friend."

"Definitely still am. None of this," she said, gesturing at Steph's form, "changes any of that."

"I guess not," she replied hesitantly.

Steph shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, "So are vampires a real threat we need to worry about, or are you just blowing off steam?"

Will's face got a bit darker for just the briefest of moments.

"I'm...not sure, actually. There were some back where I came from, but that was...a long time ago now. They certainly didn't follow me here.

Of course, I suppose there could be a second, entirely unrelated set of vampires around here, but that would be a remarkable coincidence. No, this is just to blow off steam; I like the whole...theatricality of the setting," she said, waving her hand to encompass the castle hallway, shadows oddly frozen from the paused torchlight. "Very gothic."

“Looks like something my friend Trev would dream up for one of his games,” she nodded, surveying the surroundings appreciatively. “This room is still amazing to me...it all feels so real. There are even...smells here. They’re not quite accurate, but...just impressive.”

"It's really an astounding piece of technology -- it's way ahead of it's time. I guess something will eventually top it, but we're quite a ways out..."

"The ones from before...where you came from though...were they just mutants or actual...vampires? I mean. I guess the other girl that can turn into a wolf here is actually a real werewolf so. I mean. I guess anything is possible."

Will paused and thought. "You know? It's been so long I can't... can't actually remember. I suppose there isn't too much of a difference in practice though, is there?"

"So...Will? Is that short for Wilhelmina? That was my grandma's name."

Will chuckled. "It's not short for anything anymore," she smiled. "'Willow' was it for a while, but no, I'm just plain, simple Will."

"Fair enough," Steph smiled cheerfully despite the fact she really hated how she looked when she smiled with a muzzle and wet nose.

"So Will," she said, cracking her knuckles, then neck, then back, an eager gleam in her eyes, "do you want some help beating up vampires?"

"Oh, absolutely.

The plot, such as I can gather, is that we've chased the Evil Count back to his castle, here, thinking we had the upper hand. But it turns out, the count's castle was filled with all sorts of monsters and traps, and we have to fight through them to reach the vampire up on the top floor. Pretty standard smash everything in sight sort of thing."

"Never had much of an appetite for fighting and beating the shi---crap out of everything in sight, but my other half seems to enjoy it quite a bit, so I'm glad we can indulge her."

Steph's tail wagged excitedly.

"Do we just...talk to the computer to get it started?"

"Just like on Star Trek," Will grinned. "Wanna give it a shot?"

"Absolutely," she grinned. "Don't tell Trev, but he totally turned me into a Trek geek."

"Computer...run program...let's kill some bloodsuckers."

Steph bared her fangs slightly as she sniffed the air as they stood in the doorway of a room with a decidedly creepy status. "Smells...weird in there...did you say something about las--" she was cut off as a beam of angry red light shot towards them. She shoved Will over and dove on top, her tail getting singed in the process.

"Unf!" Will cried, as she hit the stone floor. "Yeah...lasers. Gotta get the timing right to get past 'em."

Steph rolled off Will and towards the wall for a bit of cover behind the door frame. “Is there any pattern, or has it changed since last time you went through?”

"It's set to randomize it each time; wouldn't want to get too easy now, would we?"

“Well of course no-“ Steph was cut off as she rose to her feet gingerly and took a laser blast directly to the chest, sending her flat onto her back.

She let out a low growl.

Will laughed. "Gotta bob and weave, doggo. Bob and weave!"

Will started down the hallway, and showed how "easy" it was by bending out of the way of some of the blasts like freaking Gumby or someshit.

Steph's more feral side (or maybe it was the human side?) bristled at the pet name the slightest bit, and the growl intensified as she did a kick up into a three point stance back behind cover as she watched the pattern before launching into a curious run that was more canine than human, ducking and diving into front rolls to avoid laser blasts.

It was exhausting is what it was--not everyone could literally move typically unmovable parts of one's body to avoid attack.

Once they passed the room and were in the relative safety of another hallway dotted with some doors and ended with a spiral staircase. Steph panted with exertion.

"Not bad! Not bad at all!" Will laughed. "Little out of shape, though?"

"I mean," she panted, "I don't know if it hurts for you to do that to your body... from the two times I've gone from girl to beast it hurts a lot...but moving your entire torso is yes, a bit easier than that entire gymnastics floor routine I just did."

"Mmm, that's a fair point. I didn't realize it was that painful for you, though; I apologize."

“It’s fine,” she said, taking a deep breath and flashing an attempt at a reassuring smile, “I can’t change back so doesn’t matter how much it hurts,”

She exhaled sharply, trying to focus, “And it was fun regardless.”

“....also when did vampires get lasers?”