Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Conference of Blood... ( Chapter 116 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"Is everyone here? Can we get this meeting started?"

"Patience, Lord Dukov," Yui of clan Shi urged the representative of Tribe Kriel, "My Aunt Miyu will be along soon enough, and we are two seats short of a full house, so I ask that you all be just a little more patient so that we can begin this conference with a full Quorum of all the concerned Houses in attendance…"

"Lady Yui," M'shulla of Clan Yonagar spoke as diplomatically as he was able, "We respect your word that the Princess has been detained by a personal matter, but still this meeting should be of such importance to her that we might be graced by her presence. If Clan Shinma does not consider the issues at stake here to warrant full attention…"

Unnoticed in the space directly behind and to the right of Yui, the Shi warrior named Nagi tensed and scowled ever-so slightly at the tone of light dismissal in the ancient Shaman's voice, the barest hint that Yui might not be up to speed in the role that she was assuming as both Clan Leader of the Shi and as Miyu's delegated lieutenant. Having to arbitrate such a delicate and important meeting of many of the most powerful families and bloodlines while finding a solution for their mutual goals was certainly a lot of pressure to put on the shoulders of a young girl who-despite her apparent youth-had been fully a vampire for little more than a decade. In the eyes of the more wizened and ancient among those attending this meeting she was but a child prodigy, to be admired and even feared for the power she could command but little more than a moth before a candles flame, here one moment and gone the next….

"Please do not mention stakes to me, Bushman," Sabastian of Clan Urikel complained, "I nearly had one shoved into me on my way here to this meeting. You all know that there has been an increase in anti-vampire activities of late by those who loathe and despise our very existence, and I am still waiting to hear whether any steps might be taken to deter further such aggression."

"Why deter it?" Leguire of tribe Loire asked dismissively, "We should crush these annoying pests and make an example of them before all of their fellow humans."

"You would have us war with those upon whom we must depend for our very existence?" Yasmina of Clan Obsidian pointedly countered, "Never forget the age in which we live, my brethren. Humans outnumber us many thousands to one…it is not like in the old days when we held the upper hand and could force them into submission."

Nagi unconsciously nodded her head towards the source of this practical viewpoint, the dusky skinned Arabian princess who dated back to the time before Sheharazad told her first bedtime story, and who clearly had a better grasp of the underlying issues involved here, which went far beyond the scope the petty tribal disputes and ancestral rivalries that often tore away at the cohesiveness of such inter-clan tribal conferences as this one that had been convened in the fairly "neutral" territory of Nerima, Japan, which was jointly claimed by the Shinma and Shi clans under the mutual clan-ties of their ruling princesses. Scanning the room to study the other delegates at the table it was obvious enough which ones could be counted upon as allies…and which delegates just as clearly were entertaining their own agendas.

"True enough, Lady Yasmina," Yui agreed, "Humans are very resourceful, and they possess now the means to work towards our total destruction should we provoke them. Remember why the Blood Pact was forged in the first place, to maintain the peace between our two worlds of Day and Night, to insure our mutual survival by denying the truth of our existence from common knowledge."

"Ah yes, the great Dance Macabre," Leguire said with a smug, superior look upon his genteel (some might say almost effeminate in a Bishonen kind of way) features, "Were we supposedly must restrain our urges to allow the humans to breathe in peace without suspecting our very existence within the shadows. But enough of them know already to put the lie to this façade, and how much longer will we need to wait before they do decide to take aggressive action against us all worldwide? I say we should strike now and early before such a day slowly creeps upon us…"

"There speaks the voice of ignorance and youth," M'shulla snorted, "For one barely two centuries old you have a remarkably shortsighted vision of the way things work in the modern world, and would you really have us all behave like Goya, little more than beasts who feast on life and revel in their primitive natures?"

"At least some Goya are true to their instincts, Bushman," Leguire sneered at the elder, "Not like the rest of us, who must play nice with the humans and even fancy ourselves as their protectors. But we have yet to hear from Tribe Jezril upon this very matter. Tell us, Constantine, why you who are not even a drinker now stands in the place of the European Council and claims the backing of his majesty, the Count, as his benefactor?"

The man sitting with great dignity at one end of the room only smiled and nodded back towards the Loire Vampire before saying, "Please, I prefer the name of Fries now. I haven't gone by Constantine in a very long while now, not since a kinsman of mine made that name rather notorious. Besides which…I may not be one of you, but I know what it means to be patient, and this is hardly the time when you should be fomenting hostilities between yourselves while listening to old suspicions, old tribal prejudices, dividing your resources instead of uniting behind a common purpose."

"Thank you, Julian," Yui sighed in relief before arching her tone and saying, "That is the point that I have been trying to make here: that we cannot afford petty squabbles on territory to distract us…"

"Oh, so now you are calling our struggle to maintain the integrity of my tribe's territorial boundary a mere petty squabble and a trivial matter not worthy of attention?" Dukov asked with arched eyebrows.

"No, of course I didn't mean it that way…" Yui began to insist, "But the issue of territorial border incursions works both ways, and everyone here knows that we solve our problems best when we work together rather than at cross purposes…"

Nagi silently bristled as he saw the way certain delegates were reacting to the impassioned entreaties of his Mistress. In their eyes she was calling them weak and vacillating and in need of clan Shi-Shinma's wise powers of arbitration. Considering the proud and noble lineages of a few of the delegates it was remarkably that they could abide to be together at all under one roof facing down like this, but to suggest that they had no choice at all in the matter…

"I think we understand what you meant by this, Princess Yui," Julian spoke in a more conciliatory tone, "We are all of us quite capable of managing the routine affairs of our lives-or respective unlives-buy no clan is so strong that it can afford to go it alone in the face of a mutually hostile aggressor. Better by far to talk it out and come to a reasonable understanding between ourselves than to squander our time and resources through petty bickering over large and complex issues. Better by far to take a step back and reign in the passions that might otherwise divide us than to lose sight of the larger objectives…"

"You keep saying 'we,'" Leguire remarked, "But you are not even Kin. Your kind may be immortal, yet you tend to prey upon one another with your own petty games and intrigues. Vampires should settle their own affairs without resorting to the like of your kind, Julian the Apostate…"

"Your forgiveness, Monsieur, if I take mild exception to your characterization of myself and my ilk," Julian smiled a bit sadly, "As you say, we Immortals do tend to prey upon one another with our own petty games and sword fights, yet when we take the Quickening from a rival is that not the same as drawing blood from a victim? How then are we so very different where it counts, save that we prey upon our own kind and tend not to disturb too much the affairs of ordinary mortals."

Nagi felt an immediate wave of gratitude and respect for Julian and the way in which he had managed to neatly thwart Leguire's sly attempts to bait him. Being difficult to nail down was a cardinal trait of Julian's makeup and one feature that made him both an excellent lawyer and a first rate diplomat, one trusted by cardinals and princess of the Shadow realms for his ability to deliver compromise and smooth out the differences that often divided these hot-tempered tribes of lower-echelon Nightbreed. From the way in which the Loire half-breed was fuming to himself it was obvious that he was not the sort of fellow who took being put in his place with good graces.

At the far end of the table the ancient and redoubtable Yargo of Tribe Nosferatu spoke up, "My clan respects the authority of Lord Julian and honors the esteem in which he is held by the European Council, and most especially by the Count, his current patron. Do you challenge the wisdom of his Excellency in delegating to Lord Julian the authority to represent him?"

At that Leguire grew paler than normal and said, "I…did not intend any slight towards the Count…"

"Good," Yargo smiled a pasty smile of his own that showed the wicked teeth that were so typical of his Tribe of Undead nightwalkers. Bald and unhealthy looking with deep-sunken eyes that made him seem as though he-more than any other drinker present-belonged in a coffin rather than a boardroom, he still radiated the ancient authority of his antique bloodline as he said, "It would be a pity if his Excellency should have to remand you for discourtesy. I understand that, of the last fellow who did so, you could not have found enough of his ashes to fill a matchbox, let alone an urn. Now, do go on with your address, Princess Yui. You were saying how we need unity of purpose here in order to find common ground for settling our differences without resorting to pointless violence."

Nagi could only imagine the gratitude Yui felt towards this portly "Uncle Fester." Yargo tended to address her with the respect and affection of a kindly old uncle rather than to imply that she was but a mewling infant when compared to one of his undying lineage. Such a sensible voice of wise council was exactly what a meeting of this nature called for, and certainly he had defused the rather bland attempt by Leguire to undermine Yui's authority by implying that the Shi vampire was but a poor reflection of her more famous Aunt (read mother/kinswoman). It was rather unfair of the Loire to attempt to put her on the spot like that when it was hardly Yui's fault that Miyu had been delayed by "other matters."

And just where was Miyu when she was needed to maintain order over this assembly? Miyu was a force to be reckoned with and certainly not one to be casually dismissed by even those boasting of the most august bloodlines. Whether one was born a vampire or merely "turned," all had heard of Princess Miyu and what she could do when her anger was aroused, and that alone would have kept the wilder tribal leaders in their place rather than risk testing her directly to see if she truly did measure up to hear fearsome reputation.

"Fair enough, Uncle," Yui smiled and nodded to her elder before turning to look at the other faces present and saying, "There are enough of us here to form a quorum, yet there is one delegate who has yet to arrive, and until the representative of Tribe Tsiel has joined us it would make little sense to open these negotiations. After all, it was originally a dispute between her clan and that of Kriel that set off these issues of inter-border rivalry."

"My clan would prefer if peace were to prevail between ourselves and Tsiel…of course," Dukov insisted with predictable nonchalance, thus ignoring the accusation that it was minions of Kriel tribe that had originally started the violence.

"I know with what authority I speak when I say that tribe Jezril shares your desire to have this matter resolved amicably, Lord Dukov," Julian assured them, "The Count himself has conveyed to me his concerns that this not spread beyond the boundaries already involved in these unfortunate exchanges."

"Which is why the rest of those of us present are involved here as well," Yasmina pointed out, "Disputes that transcend international boundaries, even datelines, can be so tedious to have to sort out."

"I think it is the body count that worries my people the most," Leguire duly noted.

"What bodies?" Dukov asked rhetorically, not bothering to add that his Tribe tended to go to ashes when they were terminated.

"Very well then," Yui said, "We will wait until the Tsiel representative gets here, and then we will go right to the issues that started this all, which…I am given to understand was a case of…credit card fraud?"

"Meaning the Kriels pinched a crate load of bogus plastic and tried to circulate it in Mongolia as the real thing under a dummy corporation," Leguire mused, "Which, naturally enough, the Tsiel resented, especially when some of these fake cards wound up in other territories, which played hob with the human economies within our districts."

"Didn't think you were the sort to care about that sort of thing," M'shulla noted, "You always go on about how meaningless the affairs of mortals are to your sort…"

"Yeah, but not when it impacts upon the wallet, Bushman," Leguire insisted, "We prey upon humans, but being jacked in our bank accounts is an entirely different matter."

"This subject is no longer relevant," Dukov insisted, "The malefactors have been rounded up and dealt with. We consider it a dead issue. It is the Tsiel who refuse to accept our sincerest apologies upon the matter, and they who escalated things with pointless retaliation, forcing us to respond in kind, and thus the escalation."

Almost too soft to be heard, even by Vampiric hearing, Julian mused to himself, "And they call us Lawyers parasites…"

"Very well," Yui said somewhat dubiously, "We will hear from the Tsiel upon this matter, after which we will attempt to assuage past grievances and hopefully come to some sort of permanent resolution to prevent something similar from happening in the future."

Nagi could only roll his eyes at that and silently think to himself, (Fat chance of that with this lot…)

Meanwhile in the next room outside of the conference chamber, the retainers, assistance, hangers-on and trusted aids to the vampire delegates were all lounging about and generally attempting to pass the time while their leaders were busy discussing important issues (though in a few cases their tribal disputes tended to carry over onto their retainers).

One such example of this was a staring contest presently being waged between the women companion of tribes Kriel and Yonagar, both dressed like mean, street-tough ladies and obviously sharing a history that warranted the baring of fangs with occasional bursts of cat-like hissing. The others pretended not to notice these exchanges (while a few took private bets of how long it would take for a "cat-fight" to break out between these likely contenders).

Off to one side Himiko Se was smiling from beneath her sunshades, studying these retainers with a slightly jaded amusement. The spiritualist reflected on a time when she might have held very different views of these people and what they represented, but years of experience had somewhat broadened her perspective and had given her a deeper sense of the true purpose behind their very existence. At any rate, she was content to sit and read her magazine while waiting by the door for the arrival of her Princess, or to convey whatever message Miyu might have to share with her concerning the meeting presently being conducted by poor Yui, who was not entirely comfortable with the job of delegate Princess.

Though only feigning a disinterest in what was taking place all around her, Himiko was keen enough to detect a familiar presence as he brushed by in the shadows and remarked aloud, "You've been away long enough, what took you?"

"Forgive me," Larva replied as he made his presence known, mask and all, "Dimitri detained me a bit longer than expected."

"Have you determined what mischief he's up to this time?" Himiko asked, "And should we notify Miyu about it if he is intending to cause trouble?"

"Unnecessary," the normally silent Shinma prince responded, "Miyu already knows that Dimitri is planning something typically malevolent, but I do have something new to report…it seems that he is suffering from some manner of affliction."

"Affliction?" Himiko raised an eyebrow to this, "Of what kind and nature?"

"Unknown," Larva replied, "All that I can vouch for is that he was in a great deal of pain and was conserving his strength. Morgan and Raptor were attending him, which ought to show you just how significant this is if he's willing to delegate a portion of his authority onto their shoulders."

"How much pain?" Himiko smiled without humor, then added, "I trust it is a lot, though it could hardly be the crushing weight of a guilty conscience since we know for a fact that he has none."

"Ordinarily I would agree with you," Larva replied, "But…there is something about Dimitri's ill humor that suggests to me that his problems are more internal than external."

"It would be too much to hope that he'll stay home with a headache rather than try to infiltrate his ghouls into this meeting," Himiko was no longer smiling, "I don't like this, Larva…Morgan and Raptor…and who knows how many other members of the Dark Pack they brought with them? It definitely suggests that something big is in the works, and who knows when and if they will strike when we have this many VIPs in attendance."

"Yes, and if anything should happen it might touch off a war between the tribes," Larva said, "Which would suit Dimitri very well since he thrives upon such conflict."

"I've taken precautions to beef up security," Himiko said, "But it all goes out the window if Dimitri finds out where the conference is being held and mobilizes his people. Then the Dark Ones may well converge upon us in great numbers and we'll be helpless to defend against them all."

"Especially if they bring Anakaris or Jumaji along," Larva remarked, "Which they may well do if they are already in Japan. This could get extremely ugly."

Himiko turned to regard the cloaked Shinma and asked, "You did take precautions to see that you were not followed here, didn't you?"

"I am not exactly new to this business, Himi-chan," Larva chided, "I made certain that none of his people could follow me. What does concern me is that the sun will be going down very shortly, and if that happens before the meeting can get started…"

Himiko turned away and bit her lower lip as she silently fretted for a moment, then said aloud, "I wish Mei-Ling and Tsien-Ko would get here with their representative. It would reassure me to have those two ready to back us up in case of trouble."

"I am certain that they are taking every precaution that they can to protect the representative of Tsiel clan," Larva assured the spiritualist, "They know as well as any of us do the stakes that are involved here, and what might happen if Dimitri attacks in the absence of the Princess."

"Simply knowing that something is coming isn't the same as being prepared for it," Himiko duly noted, "And with such a concentration of influential Vamps gathered together in one area, it's bound to pose too tempting a target for Dimitri not to go after…and don't even bother telling me that was a double negative because I already know it."

It was impossible to tell if Larva was smiling from behind his mask, but the enigmatic Shinma warrior remarked, "All the more reason for the both of us to be ready…though my impression of him leads me to suspect that there is more than just Dimitri involved here…and did you happen to know that there is a Slayer now residing within the city of Nerima? It's true, I was present when she quickened."

"A Slayer?" Himiko asked, "Are you serious? Here in Nerima?"

"I am not one who puts much stock in coincidence," Larva remarked, "And I can only conclude that the Powers have chosen to quicken a candidate to full Slayer status because her services may be needed in the very short future. And this on top of the manifestation of a Master Vampire, who is also a Daywalker, in the same short timespan…well, you can see how I would define our situation as somewhat more desperate than metes on the surface."

Himiko stared straight ahead and thought this over for several long seconds, then she murmured aloud, "We are so screwed…"

"Perhaps things are not as grim as I am making them appear," Larva said before making a typically dramatic gesture, "However, I have always been a cautious man by nature, so I will go in search of my Princess and…"

Himiko's expression abruptly changed, and without warning she reached out and caught Larva's cloak with one hand, then came away holding a tiny object that surprised the Shinma warrior to no end as he stared at the object in question then exclaimed in shock, "I…don't believe it…a tracer?"

"I think we've greatly underestimated our foes," Himiko shot to her feet then declared, "Emergency everyone! This meeting must be adjourned…because unless I'm wrong we're about to be attacked at any…!"

On cue the main door to the chamber exploded inward, and before any one of the guards and retainers could react a hail of gunfire greeted their shocked expressions, and then the slaughter began in earnest even while the defenders attempted to belatedly marshal their personal defenses…

Inside the walls of the council chamber the eruption of gunfire came as a complete surprise even to Yui and Nagi, who had been prepared for some sort of trouble from the onset.

"What is that?" Dukov demanded.

"Treachery!" Leguire snarled like one no stranger to the concept.

"It's coming from just outside this very chamber," M'shulla noted.

"I thought your defenses were supposed to be impregnable," Sabastian exclaimed in an accusatory manner.

"That's not all…" Julian was suddenly on his feet, a curious look of dismay written plain upon his features, "I…I sense a presence…another Immortal…"

"Would you just zip it and get ready to evacuate with the others?" Yasmina snapped, "We are obviously the targets here, so if we're to preserve our very lives…!"

"Too late!" Yargo warned, "I can feel something breaching the barriers and protective spells coming down…almost as if they were not even…"

There was a sudden folding of space in the center of the chamber, and then all at once a massive burst of light caused all of the delegates and their bodyguards to freeze in place, shocked and horrified to discover the rays of the sun itself come bursting out in the darkened room in full, horrific glory…

Miyu paused in the act of racing towards the building where the conference was set to take place, feeling the psychic wave of shock and horror strike her to her very marrow only instants before she heard the explosion and saw the plumb of smoke that ruptured outward from the steel and glass exterior at the side of said building. The realization that she was too late and that the attack had already begun sent Miyu into overdrive, and with a speed that would have shocked even another vampire she closed the distance to the sight of the raging battle, arriving with a suddenness that took the attackers by surprise, and many did not even know what hit them, the lucky ones who would spared meeting the wrath of an angry princess…

"<Ha, these Nips are toast,>" one mercenary said to another, "<Hardly put up much of a fight, I'm almost disappointed.>"

"<Cut the chatter, you!>" another mercenary barked, "<And don't count anyone as dead until you see them crumble. Use double-shots on all the bodies just to be on the safe side."

"<Sir, what about this one we captured?>" a third reported, "<He's not like the others. We've got him contained but he's still moving.>"

"<Must be the Shinma, we were warned about him. Don't worry, men, we're well equipped to cope with his theatrics…>"

Himiko heard these words of condescension and realized three things in one and the same instant, the first being that she was wounded but not dead, the second being that their attackers were ruthless mercenaries equipped with specialized weaponry and on an obvious "kill" assignment, no doubt to eliminate all witnesses to the slaughter that they were committing.

The third thing she realized was that their attackers were not vampires, they were human.

She could smell the difference about them, detect the subtle hints in their movements, the rasping coarseness of their breath which demonstrated that they were Breathers, not Vampires, in spite of their ruthlessness reminding one of Goyas. That meant someone had either hired or assigned them to terminate everyone at the conference meeting, whether vampire or retainer.

It also meant that she was as good as dead herself unless she managed to get moving in short order, but the pain that she was feeling in her side and her leg made that a very tall order. At her best it would take her time to regenerate from such damage, and time she definitely did not have since these guys were shooting corpses, especially the ones that had not already crumbled into powder.

Even as she thought this she managed to turn her head and see that Larva was hardly faring any better. In fact three men had him pinned against a wall with pole arms while a half a dozen wooden stakes projected from various parts of his anatomy, while two other men kept guns trained upon him. The masked Shinma was struggling against his wounds and the bonds that were holding him in place, but it was clear that the advantage lay with the bad guys.

"<Hey, this one is still moving!>" a mercenary reported, and from the angle of his voice Himiko knew that it was her to whom he was referring.

"Shit…!" she whispered tensely, realizing that it was all up and she would be really and truly dead in another few instants.

"<You heard the order," the leader said, "Termina->" only to have his voice fall silent with a suddenness that was daunting.

All at once the two men holding weapons on Larva found that they were holding nothing at all as their arms ended abruptly at their wrists. They had no time to scream in horror at this discovery since their head followed next, and their corpses only seconds later, along with the pole-arms pinning Larva to the wall, along with the men holding the pole arms, and the others nearest to them.

The man who had been pointing a gun at Himiko lasted only instants beyond that moment, and as his headless body toppled away the remaining mercenaries all turned in horror at the unbelievable spray of blood that shot in all directions. They automatically trained weapons on a white-clad form that came to rest atop a table holding a weapon in one hand that resembled a silver-bladed Chinese-style rapier, but the mere slip of a girl who held this sword at the ready appeared to be a young girl of no more than fifteen years of age, yet the snarl on her face belonged to nothing less than a demon as she coldly regarded the remaining mercenaries with a look of death portending.

"P-Princess…?" Himiko gasped.

The mercenaries opened fire, but their aim was good for nothing since they were only targeting an after-image, the real Miyu moving faster than they could pull the triggers, and within a matter of seconds the entire company of a dozen armed men were down, eleven of them dead, only one of them still breathing.

"Are you well, Himiko-chan?" she heard Miyu ask as the Spiritualist sought to make sense of the rapid change in their fortunes.

"Ah…I think so," Himiko felt her wounds then glanced around to see if anyone else (besides the mercenary that Miyu presently held pinned to the ground) was moving, "A-Anyone else?"

"None that I can detect," Miyu swept the room with a look now of pure sadness, "These men were very thorough, and it appears they were sent to destroy us. If I had not been delayed in arriving here…"

"My Princess," Larva said as he fell to his knees, still sporting the wooden stakes in his body, "Your niece, Yui-chan…Nagi…"

"Right, I am on it," Miyu replied, "Stay with Himiko-chan and protect her. I will tend to your wounds later."

With that she seemed to disappear before their eyes, not even moving so fast that she was only a blur but actually teleporting into the secured room via her own particular backdoor enchantments.

"Protect…me?" Himiko turned her head to regard the masked Shinma, "But…who will protect you…if those guys have friends?"

To that Larva could not answer, but his eyes shown through his mask and they were burning with a need for vengeance and redemption…

The blast had taken everyone by surprise, some more than others. The concentrated burst of UV rays had blinded even those who had some resistance to the effects it caused on true-blooded Vampires were rendered incapable of movement, paralyzed by the blast itself, which slammed their bodies to the far walls of the chamber.

For the likes of Dukov and Sabastian the result was instantaneous disintegration while Yonagar, M'shulla and Yasmina were only slightly less affected, the former exhibiting the effects of severe third-degree burns while the latter was turned into a stone-like state of crystallized hibernation. Leguire fared somewhat better though his skin was flash-fried with a total body sunburn, while Yargo was the worst affected of the lot, the UV rays polarizing his skin and causing him to boil from within before exploding in a burst of charred and blackened fragments.

Of the lot, only Yui and Nagi escaped worse harm, though they were knocked immediately unconscious. Only Julian retained some conscious awareness of his own condition as he felt the lump that he had taken to the back of his head and wondered when the world would cease ringing church bells in both of his eardrums. He tried to shake it off since longtime survival instincts warned him that the matter was far from completely over, but even given his phenomenal powers of healing, it was going to take him more than a few seconds to get his bearing back…

And seconds he most definitely did not have as he felt the approach of a familiar enemy Immortal.

"Well then, what is this?" a cunningly malevolent voice remarked, "My old friend Constantine? Ah yes…I had heard that you were selling your services now to the Blood Pacts of Europe. Such a pity to find you here, I was hoping for an entirely different sort of encounter, one that would allow a more, shall we say, personal ending to your illustrious career?"

"Sergei," Julian hissed, adding the word, "Cossack" like an epithet that needed no elaboration.

"And a good evening to you as well," the dark haired swordsman smiled as he extended a heavy scimitar as if offering a token salute, "Do you like the way my employer has redecorated the room? Of course, I prefer the color of the blood I spill to be red, like a normal human, not this black ichor that fills the veins of these drinkers…"

"Why…why are you doing this?" Julian asked as he forced his eyes to remain open, looking up to see that his longtime adversary was far from alone and that he had other men with him who seemed similarly dressed for battle, albeit they held guns while Sergei had his scimitar at the ready.

"Oh, you'd like me to explain things for you like one of your Western-style villains," the dark haired man grinned, "Sorry, it doesn't work like that, and in any event you haven't long to live, so what would be the point of telling you? It really would make no difference, other than to permit you time to heal back, which-regrettably-I will not permit."

Julian felt the press of a sword against his neck and felt like cursing, glaring defiantly up at Sergei while wondering if this would finally be the end to his illustrious career. To be taken out this way…it was so undignified, and at the hand of such a…peasant…

All at once a man cried out, startling Sergei and the others, who turned in time to see two more mercenaries go down spurting blood in all directions. Julian was amazed to see the Princess Miyu standing there with a gleaming silver blade in hand even as the fourth mercenary fell to the floor in various pieces. Like that it was down to Miyu and the former Cossack, even as Sergei managed to block a thrust that had clearly been meant for him, reposting Miyu's thrust and forcing the younger girl to dodge back, taking evasive action.

"So," Sergei remarked as he regarded Miyu frankly, "The famous Shinma Princess arrives at last to engage us in battle. Such a pity you could not have been here sooner, you might have prevented the loss of so many friends…"

"The only pity should be reserved for you," Miyu hissed back, "And I will not allow it!"

Miyu tried again to attack the blade-wielding antagonist of this little drama, but Sergei proved remarkably quick and agile in meeting and countering her assaults, even matching her for blinding speed as she attempted to skewer him, only to find his blade blocking the way at each and every repost, while the object of her furious wrath seemed to be taking her measure with no real strain to his abilities that she could discern in either his style or confident expression.

Julian, seeing this, managed to croak out the words, "Princess…he's a…Toshindan player…"

That brought comprehension to her eyes, and Miyu immediately disengaged and backed away to take new stock of her opponent, realizing at last why the man seemed little taxed by his exertions. Sergei, for his part, merely continued to stand there with brazen contempt written large in both body posture and facial cast, reeking disdain in every pore as though it troubled him not to be faced by a Master Vampire of the tribe of the Shinma, and one who had easily dispatched over a dozen heavily armored human men in less than the time it would have taken to describe it.

"Yes, I have been a contender in the Toshindan tournaments, as have you, my dear Constantine," Sergei remarked with the superior airs of a truly cliché villain, "But now this engagement, while charming in its ways, has started to bore me, so why don't we get back to settling our own accounts while the Princess is otherwise occupied dealing with my other allies of convenience. Meet the back-up team held in reserve for just such an event as your slaughter of the first strike team."

Miyu dared not shift her golden eyed stare away from the dangerous Immortal before her, but when ruby eyes began appearing from around the darker corners of the room she had no choice but to shift the focus of her attention, at which point she sneered, "Goyas? You dare send Goyas to fight me?"

"You misunderstand me, Princess Miyu," Sergei remarked, "They have been specially selected and trained in order to kill you, and they are very good at their work. Now, if you will excuse me, I must attend to other long-unfinished business."

Julian had recovered sufficiently at this point to reach for his business satchel, and in one quick move he drew two blades from concealment and fought to get to his feet with these swords at the ready, even managing to snarl out a defiant, "Come and try me…Cossack."

"You say the word as if it were a bad thing, Comrade," Sergei grinned, and then with a dramatic sweep of his scimitar he cried, "DIE!!!" and all at once a force-bolt of pure ki-energy shot from the blade to engulf Julian, who stood with swords raised to block the maneuver.

Ki-force met with Ki-force and the resulting explosion ripped a hole out of what remained of the back wall to the chamber. Julian was barely conscious of striking the shattering glass plane that was directly behind him, nor did he fully realize that he was airborne until the rush of wind suddenly revived him, and only then did he realize that he was plummeting six stories out the side of the office building with a rude encounter with the pavement far below only seconds away, which was barely time to brace for the impact…

"Hey, what are you stopping for, Miyuki?" Natsumi asked.

"I thought I heard something," her partner replied as she pulled up along the side of the road then stopped the engine, opening the door and stepping out to the left onto the asphalt, "It sounded like an explosion."

Natsumi, who was following the gesture, got out on her side of the car and said, "Explosion? Is that what it was? Sounded more like a bomb going off and..."

All at once both women were thrown to the sides as something came crashing down on top of the roof of their vehicle. Miyuki was nearly run over as she had to scramble to get back out of the way of a car that had been directly behind her, while Natsumi drew her service weapon and immediately pointed it at the body that had partially caved in the Subaru's top portion.

"What the…?" she gasped, even as Miyuki-on her side of the car-duplicated her gesture.

"It's…a man," Miyuki marveled.

"You think?" Natsumi moved forward and immediately placed two fingers along the side of the blond guy neck and felt for a pulse, then shook his head, "He's a goner, poor devil. Wonder who he was?"

"I'm a little more worried about what threw him out the side of that building," Miyuki glanced up, "There's a lot of debris, and obviously there was some sort of explosion up there, which means we ought to call this in and…"

All at once the blond man came to life with a sharp gasp of air and-in the process-nearly gave both women a heart attack, so much so that Natsumi immediately aimed her gun at him as though expecting him to attack her.

"Wh…where am I…?" he glanced around until he saw Natsumi, then weakly smiled and said, "Hey…don't worry…I won't bite…"

"You're still alive?" Miyuki asked automatically, "Who are you?"

"Name's…Julian," the man said as he forced himself into a sitting position, glancing down at what he had landed upon before giving Miyuki an apologetic, "Sorry…about your car…"

"You just fell six stories after being in an explosion!" Natsumi blurted, "How can you still be talking?"

Julian began to feel himself up and said, "Guess I'm lucky this time…no major damage, just a little internal bleeding…nothing I can't handle."

Miyuki exchanged looks with Natsumi then said, "Um…this sort of thing happens often with you?"

"More than you'd believe possible," the man winced as he took better stock of himself and groaned, "On no…and this was an Armani…"

The two non-uniformed police women could not help noticing that the man's expensive clothes had been torn and rent in various key places, and as they watched him peel off what remained of his double-knit coat to reveal a torn silk shirt with a double cross-belt set of straps hidden underneath this, and hanging from his back were a pair of leather-sheathed butterfly swords whose handles dangled just around the level of his shoulder blades, up until he hitched the belt strap and elevated them to project the hilts above his shoulders.

"Um…what are you doing?" Miyuki asked, trying not to sound too nervous.

"They're not for you, so don't worry yourselves, Officers," the man said as he climbed down from the car, only to favor one leg, which did not seem ready to take is full weight at the moment. Nonetheless he mastered the pain and managed to stand upright, towering over both women, "It's just that the guy who did this is still up there…and if I know Sergei Rustov half as well as I think I do, he'll be along any minute now to finish the job he started."

"Sergei Rustov?" Natsumi asked.

"Uh, what did you just call us?" Miyuki asked.

"Forgive me, but I'm a trained observer," Julian smiled, "And those weapons you're holding are department issued firearms, the kind that only Tokyo police women are authorized to carry. That means you're either undercover policewomen or you're private collectors who like matching accessories in your hardware. Either way, I suggest we get moving now before Sergei shows up and really spoils your day off."

"Ah…how do you know that it's our day off?" Natsumi wondered.

"I've got a very keen sense of smell," he smiled, "And unless I miss my guess you two were enjoying a day off when you got rudely interrupted. And sorry about that, I do hate raining on people's parades."

That got another curious look between the two partners before Miyuki said, "Maybe we should radio this in before we go any further, at least to see if anyone up in that building needs medical attention…"

"Trust me, they won't," Julian said grimly, "And anyone who survives the slaughter up there won't be helped by modern medical technology…"

"Nor will you, Old Friend."

Miyuki and Natsumi gasped as they turned to see the one who had addressed the blond man, only to find the fellow was not alone, and that the others with him had eyes that were glowing red in the dwindling light of early sunset.

"What took you so long?" Julian asked with no real surprise in his voice.

"Forgive me, Comrade, but unlike you I chose not to take the express way," Sergei replied as he raised his scimitar and said, "Shall we continue where we left off?"

Miyuki and Natsumi had no trouble identifying which ones were the bad guys here and at once trained their guns upon the strange dark-haired man and his unearthly companions, Miyuki saying, "Put that down or we'll shoot!"

"Oh?" Sergei sniffed, "And I am supposed to be impressed by that?"

"We mean it, buddy!" Natsumi snarled, "Take one step closer and we'll drop you!"

"Aim for the head," Julian advised, "They'll barely feel it if you aim for any place else.

"The head?" Miyuki asked.

"Trust me," Julian replied, drawing his Butterfly knives, "On second thought, look away, this may sting a little."

With that the blond man crossed his blades, them suddenly parted them with such force that the very air itself was torn through his efforts. A flash of light and a suddenly surge of Ki energy lanced out from where he stood to strike the ground almost at the feet of Sergei, who jumped away at the last instant, only to be caught and thrown backwards by the shockwave, along with his minions.

Julian sagged a bit as the effort clearly taxed him, then he said, "Drive…get us out of here…now."

"But…" Miyuki turned to look back at her damaged car.

"How can we drive with the roof caved in like that?" Natsumi wondered.

Julian only grimaced, then summoned up what remained of his considerable energies and made a side-slash with one of his twin blades, which sheered through the metal roof as though it were made of paper, catapulting the roof to one side and instantly render the Subaru into a convertible.

"My…car…?" Miyuki gasped.

"I'll pay for it…just drive," Julian said as he stumbled over and leveled himself into the back seat, nearly passing out from the effort.

"But…" Miyuki tried to say again.

Natsumi blinked her own eyes as she saw shadowy forms picking themselves up off the ground, and some turning hungry glances their way as though in a virtual remake of "Night of the Living Dead," and instantly the practical side of her personality came to the fore as she snapped, "Just do it, Miyuki! Get the car started and get us out of here-NOW!"

The frightening urgency of her partner-slash-lover's voice shook the other policewoman out of her daze, and at once Miyuki vaulted into the driver's seat as Natsumi climbed in on her side, and to their great relief the engine started on the first try, which earned a profuse, "Thank the kami…" from the latter policewoman.

"I beg your pardon?" Miyuki asked as she put her foot to the accelerator and took off in a tire-screeching burst of acceleration.

"At least that's one movie cliché we've managed somehow to avoid," Natsumi answered, then when she saw the questioning look her partner gave her she just smiled weakly and said, "I'll tell you about it later…if there is a later, that is…"

Sergei had fully recovered from the shockwave by the time the car was already halfway down the block, but he was far from deterred as he snarled to his Goya minions, "After them…do not let them escape! I won't let him get away from me again, and the first one who finds them gets to claim the women for himself!"

The Goya understood the implications, and at once they scrambled to their hidden vehicles while others took off on foot to pace the topless Subaru with loping strides that were more fleet of foot than anything merely human…

Continued

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