The streets were noticeably empty as they made their way to Lucien's penthouse. Klaus had the mayor and police chief impose a curfew, locking down the city until all his rivals were eliminated, effectively freeing the night for their wars.
Finn and the group halted abruptly at the crossroads when they saw the Slayer in her typical biker attire to the left, standing nonchalantly with her sword drawn, seemingly waiting for them.
Sage gripped his arm, "We can take her together."
"No. This one's mine. You guys go on ahead and take care of things like you planned," said Finn, his eyes glued to her.
"Are you sure?" asked Davina hesitantly.
"Yes."
"Okay," said Sage reluctantly. Kissing his cheek goodbye, "Stay safe."
"Brave of you after fleeing from me last time," said Rayna, once they were gone.
Finn snorted, "I assure you, it'll be different this time." Reaching for the two silver daggers he had kept hidden on him ever since their last encounter, determined not to be unarmed like before.
"On that, we agree," said Rayna, stalking towards him, and then in a flash, she was before him, swinging her sword.
He surprised her by blocking with one dagger and stabbing her throat with the other, kicking her dying body away.
Coming back from the dead was one thing, but it came with a cost; she couldn't heal like a vamp despite having their strength and speed.
A critical weakness he was going to exploit.
As soon as the burning dissipated, Finn was there, thrusting his daggers through the vanishing flames.
Anticipating this, Rayna was ready, blocking his initial strike as she stepped back, dodging the follow-up.
"Interesting daggers, but it won't save you," said Rayna, on the retreat, blocking two more strikes.
"You're pretty cocky for a nude chick running away," said Finn, trying to goad her into an attack, keeping up the pressure.
However annoyed as she was by the state of her dress, Rayna had been humbled more than once by him already, and wasn't about to charge in half cocked anymore. He was by far the most skilled fighter she's ever faced, proven yet again as he weaved in feints, allowing him to land multiple slashes against her.
He could tell it was difficult for her to change strategies as she struggled to defend against his barrage of attacks. She was clearly used to bulldozing her way through problems, having always leveraged her immortality to solve everything, much more so than any vampire or even Original who had always had weaknesses, or other foes of similar caliber to fight against.
Regrettably for her, she wouldn't have time to learn, as another feint allowed him to position himself to parry her sword with one dagger while simultaneously stabbing at her side with the other, piercing a lung.
Having weakened her, he batted the sword away with a hard swing and stabbed her half a dozen more times in the torso before she fell dead.
Feeling cocky, he rolled his shoulders, doing a few practice moves while awaiting her return.
When next she rose, he eyed the gem as the two of them faced off.
Two deaths later, he noticed the gem was visibly dimmer as she went for a surprise lunge, grazing his left cheek, the hilt passing his face as he side-stepped, parrying it away, stabbing her in the stomach with his other dagger.
He was then taken aback when she suddenly grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in, biting his neck.
Caught off guard by the unexpected move, he instinctively pushed her away, neglecting to apply pressure on her sword. Letting her slash him across his left arm as she flew back, skidding to a halt.
"Remind me, which one of us is the vampire?" Finn asked, checking his neck, glad the sword hadn't caused it, since it healed quickly, unlike his arm.
Flashing him a bloody grin, she charged for another go.
And as she moved, he realized the purpose of what she did as the stomach wound he gave her was now gone, thanks to the healing factor of his vampire blood once ingested.
'Bitch stole my move,' he thought, parrying a strike and countering when he had to stop, quickly pivoting his hips to avoid a kick to the groin.
"Now you're just being mean," said Finn, stabbing the dagger down into her leg before she could pull it away.
Gritting her teeth, she backed off, looking down at the wound, happy to see it healing with his blood still in her system.
Finn could only sigh as she came back for more. She was getting desperate.
But he was getting careless as she threw her sword, catching him by surprise once more as he moved to dodge right into her oncoming tackle. Dropping a dagger as she came out on top, pummeling his face a few times to vent some of the pent-up anger she felt before going for the kill, hands clasped around his neck in an attempt to break it.
Gripping the dagger in his left hand, he made to strike, repeatedly stabbing her in the side as the pressure on his neck increased.
Seeing her move to bite out his neck, his right hand moved from prying her hands off to stopping her head from getting any closer.
Realizing the danger should they both die here, he moved to cut at her arm as he rolled her off.
An irritatingly short scuffle later, he managed to toss her corpse away as he went to retrieve his other dagger.
"Fuck me, that was annoying," said Finn, wiping the blood off his face.
"At least it'll be over quickly now," said Finn, looking over at the weaponless body, but as it began to burst into flame, the sword was drawn to it, and there she rose, weapon in hand. "Or not," he sighed.
She looked down at the gem in her hilt before meeting his eyes.
He smirked, "Not thinking of running away, now are you?"
The question chilled her to her bones; it sounded like he knew her secret. If so, it would be the first time someone figured it out, someone who had no intention of fleeing until it was done. If only there were others around to kill… Perhaps she should hunt down the group that was with him earlier.
Rayna ever composed hid it well, sneering in response, "Don't make me laugh, I'm the only true immortal here. Death can't stop me, and neither can you!" She charged.
"We'll see about that," said Finn, unconvinced by her calm demeanor. Meeting her charge.