NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: For all people who joined on the Vampire Hunters of WWI thread, this is the place where the rp shall take place. If you are not signed up, but viewing this thread and have peaked an interest in joining, feel free to do so at the OOC thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=511090).

IC:

July 17, 1916
Austria-Hungary
The Imperial Palace

“Continue this war. Do not fear your defeat. Even Russia will soon kneel once you have claimed victory…” These were the thoughts that entered the Emperor of Austria by the will of an outside force no one expected to be in existence within the government. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary was on his throne contemplating the war that was taking place through all of Europe. It all began when the man he was speaking to convinced him to destroy Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After that, all of Europe followed, Britain, France, Germany, even weaker states like Bulgaria and Romania had entered to face each other. Now Emperor Franz Joseph I was caught in a war that he was unable to pull himself out of and it seemed that he only followed the will of the man next to him. Aristocrats of Austria knew this man as Dominik Konstantin.
The Emperor asked, “Are you so certain that the remainder of the war will be in our favor?”
Dominik answered, “It will be my lord… I am preparing a new weapon that will soon bring this war to a close, as it will for all others around the world…” The Emperor truly did not believe that Dominik was telling him the truth, but he was unable to even think so otherwise. There was just a form of power about the man next to him that bent the Emperor to Dominik's will.
The Emperor concluded, “Very well then, have your men finish this weapon soon… I will not live much longer and I doubt I shall live through this war… You are dismissed.”
Dominik bowed and left saying, “Thank you my lord.” Dominik went outside the palace of the Emperor and there, he stood under the moonlight. After making sure he could not be seen by anyone, he transformed into a bat and began to fly away into the night. Dominik began to fly to his home in Liechtenstein Castle.

The wind howled as it hit the old barn's windows. It reminded the Metal Man of his screams the night Species One came and tore his body away. As he looked out the window and into the English countryside, it was not difficult for the Metal Man to imagine the entire world screaming in agony from the war that had come to hold all of Europe in its grip, with the promise of the New World becoming ensnared at any time.

The situation was actually much simpler that it was made out to be. A boy with a gun had seen fit to kill a good man with it--a well-connected good man. From that point on, things all but ran on automatic. It didn't matter that the government in Serbia, where the incident had occurred, had granted Austria-Hungary unparalleled privaleges to investigate the murder. The Magyar Parliament wanted nothing short of a de facto annexation--and so the war was on. In Germany, the Kaiser was just sane enough to honor his international treaties, and, the next thing anybody knew, France was occupied terratory, and the war was on.

This war was a nasty one. They had begun following the model of the American War Between the States--destroying civilian targets to remove an foreign country's ability to wage war. The days of soldiers alone bearing the brunt of war had rudely ended. And the Kaiser had turned the brilliant products of his brilliant educational system to the most horrible of causes: developing the most horrible of weapons. Other countries had, of course, attempted to follow suit. There was even talk of a weaponized flu virus being developed in Spain.

The Metal Man had taken on the persona of a retired math teacher who had bought a big house out in the country, converted the barn into a workshop and taken to puttering away his few remaining years. If the people of the nearby berg knew that he was actually giving clandestine tactical support to Brittish forces, no one seemed to care. It was a patriotic thing, anyway, to help out The Boys.

Which left good ol' Peter Berl sitting in his barn in the middle of the night, speaking numbers into a shortwave radio by the light of a lantern. The radio was hidden in the best of all possible places: where everybody could see it. It was one of many machines that occupied places on a large workbench that filled the center of the barn. Different stalls also had different inventions: a generator that used diodes to produce uniphasic power; a portable refrigeration unit; even a bread slicer (though, the Metal Man had learned, someone in the colonies had actually come out with the thing about ten years ago*). To all the world, it looked like a great place for a putterer, where pipe dreams rotted in the pipe. And, as long as they didn't find the lab under the lab, that's all it would ever be.

As he finished his last transmission, a gust of wind put out the lantern. This could only mean one thing: a shutter had come open somewhere. Rather than let the wind put the poor thing out again, he stood up and turned to face the windows--and, finding them all intact, decided that he didn't have a building problem after all. He had an intruder problem.

"Whoever you are," he said, "you'd best come out where I can see you."

"But no one can see in such total darkness," a girl's voice said. "Silly old man."

He turned and gazed upon her then.

"You appear to be in your early teens," he said, "with blonde hair, brown eyes and a wavy, red dress."

She smiled, and fangs extended through her upper lip.

"Very good," she said.

"So what brings you here?" he asked. "Just letting it all hang out?"

She chuckled. "You're funny," she said. "I hope I can see you more later on. But, to answer your question, I have a message from Theodore."

"Who?"

"You know, Theodore--the one who gave you the cross you wear around your neck." She reached out and put her finger on the blue jewel at the top of the cross. As she touched it, it glowed slightly. The fact that she could do this marked her, as she intended, as a Child of the Dawn, a righteous vampire. Her point made, she drew her hand back.

"And what is your message, then?" the Metal Man asked.

"There is more to this war than meets the eye, Mr. Gilbert.** You must travel to Berlin, there to meet a man named Otto Kayetan. He will know much, but he will not know of the Children. Bring your cross and bring your blades, old man. You're going to need them."

And, with that, she simply faded from all existence.

Theodore wasn't a man's name, it was a title. He was the head of the Children of the Dawn, a coven of vampires who sought to reverse their curse. If he said that it was time to go to Berlin, then it was time to go to Berlin.

The Metal Man turned around again and shut off the radio. He was done with his work for the day. It was time to pack up for tomorrow.

* Yes, we didn't have the technology to prepare sliced bread commercially until the early 1900's.

** Pronounced french-style, with the accent on the last syllable--gil-BARE.
It is the Metal Man's birth name, and very few people know it.

Tom stumbled along through the flooded trenches, his had trailing along the trench wall. His hood was up, but offered next to no protection from the driving rain. His eyes were closed, but he could still sense the bodies lying in the trenches. At last he found a living man, hunched up against the side of the trench wall. His eyes were wide open and there was a look of terror on his young face, but Tom knew nothing of this. He sensed that the man was close to death, and there was nothing he could do for him. Tom felt the man's neck, the two wounds he had found on the other soldiers, and had expected to find on this man were not there. Tom felt the mans body, there were no apparant wounds, it seemed asthough the man was dieing of fright.
At last Tom noticed that the man's hand was clenched tightly around something. Tom prized the mans hand open and felt what wsa there. It was a crucifix. Tom took it and put it around his neck, he then stood up and pulled his pistol out of his holster, moving it untill it was level with the mans head. He pulled the trigger gently.

Prussia, Germany

Four men were walking down the streets as they made their way for a carriage that awaited them. They wore heavy cloaks and kept their faces from being seen with their hats. The driver of the carriage saw the men reach the corner of the streets and prepared to climb in. However, they were intriuged by a figure that stood out from the darkness. He greeted them saying, "Greetings sirs. I believe you were headed for someplace?"
One of the men said, "Indeed, we are leaving this city to visit the allies of Germany."
The man questioning them said, "Great to hear... I'm afraid none of you will ever reach your destination though..."
The lead man asked, "What?" With that, the questioning man drew out a stake and threw it at one of the men in the heart. The man did not die in a normal way though. When he got on his knees, he started spewing out blood from his mouth and showed he was not a normal man.
The three remaining men stepped back and realized who the man was. One of the men proclaimed, "You! You are the mortal who has followed us from Warsaw!"
The man lifted up his head answered, "I am, its taken much effort to catch up with you. And it doesn't seem like chasing you all was worth the effort."
A battle ensued between the four men as the three men grew out their fangs preparing to bite the challenging man. After they rushed towards him, the man dodged one and drove a stake into the charging man on his left. By avoiding the blood, he made sure none got on his clothes. The two remaining men surrounded him and both leaped at him. To save himself though, he drew out the sword from his belt and swirled in a circle to cut off their heads. Blood filled the streets as the blood from the bodies spilled out from them. The man who slew the vampires made the sign of the cross with his hand and said, "Thy work is done O Lord." The carriage driver was stunned by what had just happened as he viewed the man slay the vampires. The carriage driver began to walk off before he was caught by the shoulder by the man who slew the previous four men. The man explained, "Trust me, no one will believe your story." and gave him a few marks for his trouble.
The carriage driver asked, "Who are you?"
The man walked off answering, "Just know that this is the fate every vampire faces, when the face Otto Kayetan" and he walked off into the night.

Pozieres Ridge:

Two complete lines of German troops waited in their heavily fortifyed trenches on the ridge for the allied advance. Pozieres Village fell to the Austrailians in one hour and the attack was headed for Gibraltar, a German strong point, a mere 200 yards seperated the Austrailians from the ridge. The British 17th Warwickshire Regiment reinforced the Austrailians at the village in preperation for the attack on the ridge.

The Attack:

Franz Groppler peered out over the open ground towards the enemy lines, all of a sudden wistles brew an an all out attack was launched on the German trenches, the sound of artillary fire ehcoed through the air, Franz dropped off the ladder and retreived his rifle jogging through the trench system towards an MG post where he dropped beside two of his commrades,

"Jurgen, the Tommys are comming ja!"

The man feeding the chain into the machinegun tapped on Jurgens helmet signaling him targets were in veiw, the machine gun roared to life....

**Ratatatatatat, Ratatatatatattat**

Franz took aim and fired...

**Pow**

The entire trench opened fire into the waves of attacking enemy....

4 Days later..

The fighting had been intense these last couple of days, the allies had lost roughly 3,500 men during the attack on the ridge. Franz sat on the ground in the muddy trench rocking back and fourth, he coughed several times, the conditions in the trenches were horrible but not quite as bad as 'The Somme'.

They had been informed that the allies had fresh rreinforcements and intended on making another push for the ridge, the Germans wern't ready to give it up yet. Franz took out a piece of paper and a pencil and started to write to his mother and father,

Dear mother, father

The fighting on the ridge above Pozieres is hell, men die in the thousands in the run of afew days, it's nothing new, the British have reinforced and are planning another push on our trenches in an attempt to take the ridge, all attempts before this have failed miserbly only resulting in the loss of many lives..these days drag on and seem like years..

The cracks of gunfire made him quickly stuff the paper in his tunic pocket picking up his rifle once more,

"Here they come!! postions!!" Yelled an officer...

The final push:

The trenches were littered with corpses, screams of dead and dying men could he heard through the sound of artillary screaming down and exploding, the British were fully visible advancing forward and the only opposition the Germans had to offer were acouple machine gun posts and men with rifles. Franz fired shot after shot as his enemy but they could not be stopped now,

"They're comming down over the top! left flank!!" Yelled a soldier while fixing his bayonet..

Franz looked up to see three soldiers grouped together jumping into his trench, he already had his bayonet fix and struck stabbing one man in the chest, another dropped in behind him and he brought his rifle butt into the mans face after pulling the bayonet out of the other,

"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!" Groppler yelled at the top of his lungs in a rage..

A third man, an officer jumped down on top of him holding his tunic and repeatidly hit him in the face, Franz lowered his head and the officer struck his helmet as hard as he could,

"Bloody hell!" he screamed..

Franz hit him in the face then seen his knife, he quickly drew it stabbing the officer in the chest three times. Groppler reached into the mans holster removing his pistol,

"God...help...uhh uuh...i don't ...wanna...die.." he said to himself before getting to his knees..

There has hardly another German soldier standing, the British had taken the first trench but all wasn't lost yet, Franz raised the pistol and opened fire..

**Pow, Pow, Pow, Pow,**

Three more enemy soldiers were hit, he went to get on his feet when he froze up all of a sudden..a sharp pain shot through his side, he looked to his left to see a young soldier had stuck him with a bayonet in his side, the man stared in his face horrifyed, Franz dropped to his knees but before failling to the ground he turned the pistol to the man who's facial expression turned grave, he clicked the trigger of his rifle but nothing happened then he went for the bolt,

"See you in hell!" Franz screamed in German while leveling the pistol with the mans face,

**POW**

He then fell over and turn to his back...he lay there looking at the dark smokey sky waiting for death to come.....

Hekvar sat in a plush chair overlooking his estate garden. The sun was slowly setting in the distance. All in all it was a beautiful scene, of course it was quickly spoiled by Hekvar's brooding mood. He knew who was really behind this war, Konstantin... Luckily before he left Konstantin he read one of the prophecies and knew what Konstantin was trying to do... Over Hekvar's many centuries of life he had grown a kind of fondness for humnans, probably stemming from the fact that he was human, once.

As Hekvar brooded a knock came at his the balcony door.
"Come in." Hekvar nearly purred in his quiet voice, his brooding mood set aside since he would now be able to rant at some official who wanted money for some ungodly thing. A soft hesitant footstep came forward behind him.
"Uh.... Sir, I have been sent f-f-f-fro-from."
"From where?"
"Uh... From the Prussian high command. Th-they have been asking for you to con-contribute more funding to the war effort."
"Hmmm.... Really..... Very well. Gestor! Fetch my strong box!"
Grestor, the man who let this stuttering official inside, walked into the massive common of Hekvar's room. When he returned he carried with him a massive chest that was clanking noisily with coins.
"Now. Take as many as you want, but on one condition."
"*Gulp* What is that?"
Hekvar loved these games, "You may choose one of two. One, I take one of your thumbs..." Hekvar saw the stuttering and slightly fat oficial begin visibly trembling," or two, you leave right now, without a single coin and never come back."
Hekvar watched as the fat man made up his mind. He always played these games.
"Uh.... I-I-I think that I'll just go."
"Smart man. Grestor give him something as a prize for getting the right answer."
Grestor rummaged through the strong box and pulled out fully two dozen solid gold coins which he handed the shaking fat official who quickly departed.

Grestor picked up the chest and locked it again. He then carride the chest back into Hekvar's bed chambers and returned to the balcony.
"I must admit master that was a truly mean trick." Grestor's deep throaty voices said from just behind Hekvar.
"Yes but it's just so much fun."
"Yes, I notice your mood has considerably brightened."
"Truly. Grestor, bring me a glass of something strong, I'm absolutely parched."
Grestor wordlessly walked to the door and stepped behind the bar. After some small clinking sounds he returned with a glass of depp red liquid.

Hekvar took a small sip, "Mmm, type AB my favorite. Thank you Grestor, that will be all." Grestor turned and departed soundlessly with only a faint click as the door closed. Hekvar watched the setting sun with mild interest as he viewed the garden below.

OOC: My guys laying there dying waiting for one of the vamps to save him...well...turn him...

Sooo what ever Vamp turns him, they will be his mentor.....as u can tell, Franz is fearless..

Amsterdam,Holland

Francis Weldheimer sat quietly in the chair. He was not alone in the bar. Several others were drinking away their sorrows, but there was one major difference between them. He could walk in the sunlight, they couldn't.

"You there, quit looking so glum, you are bring the entire place down with you." A particualritly druck man told Weldheimer. He remained sitting while he pulled his Mauser out from its holster and stabbed the man in the stomach with the special blade built into the stock. The drunk collapsed and began to burn away. He was a vampire. The rest of the bar hardly noticed in the little light there was and cast Weldheimer not even a glance. Francis took a long drink of ale then left the bar. He would head to Berlin. Thats where he would find his answers.

Lutei Kaspari walked out of the building, looking both ways down the street as he exited. The heavy rain soaked him, no matter how much protection his hood offered him. He quickly turned right and walked down the main thoroughfare in Western Vienna. As he walked towards his humble home, he realized that someone was following him. There was a padding on the ground behind him a split second after his periodical stops. He turned around, to find nothing there. He shrewdly guessed what was following him. A vampire. He had become a vampire hunter after his family was killed by one at the age of seven. He quickly turned down a side dead-end alley, as to provoke the vampire into attacking him. He heard a hissing noise behind him as he turned to face a vampire only about his age. This will be an easy fight, he mused. The vampire lunged for his neck, as to bite Lutei. He stood, unmoving, until the last second, in which, all in one motion, he feinted left, moved right, pulled out his customized short halberd, and held it right over the vampire's heart. He then spun around, propelling the halberd foward, hitting the vampire hard in the chest. It fell to the ground. All to easy. He smiled, pulled his weapon from the vampire's chest, and walked away.

Ali limped across the darkroad as best he could, he had been walking all night since "the Incident". The day where everyone he knew, everything he had known, had betrayed him. He remember that day well, It started and went by like any other day, he woke up, ate, went to school and left school, while he was walking home though, he was ambushed by a strange looking woman who(if memory serves) bit him. When he woke up, it was already night and the moon was full, all he could think of was to get home. When he got there he expected to be welcomed home, but his father instead took one look and cursed him from his house. Ali looked to his mother but all she did was cry. He left utterly confused only to be attacked by the kindly priest he'd known since childhood. "What is wrong with me!?" Ali shouted at the priest but all he said in answer was "BEGONE SERVENT OF THE DARK ONE!!!" and waved the crucifix he always carried at him. Ali Backed off and the priest then took out a vial of holy water and flung a few drops at him. Ali had touched holy water before in his life, so he was not afraid. But when the holy water tu ouched his skin it burned with such ferocity that he could hardly believe it was of this earth. Ali ran so fast from that place that he wondered where he got the energy.
Several days of walking and hiding later his leg still hurt from where the holy water touched. To Ali the world had betrayed him. He saw the sun was rising and for some reason the sun's rays hurt him. He found a hollow in a tree by the road and hid in it.
As he fell to sleep, he was barely aware of footsteps outside of the hollow.

OCC:Anyone can find my guy, he will either help the side of Good or Evil. Whoever helps him the most I guess.

Draza walked along the dirt path quickly and silently, his black cloak concealing him in the night. He had been sent by his master Dominik on an important errand to retreive a newly turned vampire and to convince him to join their ranks. Draza could remember every word his master had said to him.

He is different from the others, he will prove to be a most valuable asset to our cause.

Draza felt a surge of anger run through him and he began to walk faster.

Why am I so angry? he thought to himself. Could I be jealous? No...why would I be jealous of him? He's just another new vampire...besides, Lord Dominik values me as his most faithful servant.

As Draza reassured himself he felt himself calm down and regain his composure. Suddenly he caught something in the corner of his eye, there was a figure inside one of the trees near the side of the road. As he walked towards the tree Draza already knew that the vampire he was seeking was hiding inside. A fierce demonic aura was radiating from it, an aura almost as powerful as his own.

Perhaps the master was right...this boy is much more than I had expected.

Draza walked up to the tree and whispered inside the hollow, "Awaken my brother, I have come to show you the way of the night."

Ali woke with a start. He'd heard a voice whispered through the hollow, So soft and yet so clear.

"Awaken my brother, I have come to show you the way of the night."
Ali saw a figure wearing a dark cloak at the hollow's entrance looking at him in the darkness.

How much time has passed? Ali thought to himself. And what does he mean "way of the night"?

He looked at the man with wary, but curious eyes. Ali had been tricked before and had already planned at least three escape attempts, all he realized would not work.

He felt the cold reassuring blade of his knife as he said "Who are you and why do you not run like the others?"

The man had a feeling of power around him and yet, did not seem to want to hurt him. Ali did see the man's eyes were like the woman that had attacked, and that unnerved him.

OOC: My guys laying there dying waiting for one of the vamps to save him...well...turn him...

Sooo what ever Vamp turns him, they will be his mentor.....as u can tell, Franz is fearless..

"Hahahaaa.... Mortals... They fight so valiantly and make it seem so worthwhile..." The vampire chuckled as he watched his crystal ball viewing the Battle of the Somme. It wasn't as violent as the Brusilov Offensive, but was satisfying for anyone who enjoyed slaughter. This vampire was Dominik Konstantin, or also known as Jacob Primorismalum the Lord of All Vampires. "This will be the one thing I will miss once they have been brought under the rule of my father...."
Jacob viewed the aftermath of the battle for a while and noticed a German Soldier still struggling for life. He had seen this soldier make many outrageous attempts at defeating his French enemies, but he was brave none the less. "Hmmm... Perphaps he would do quite well to the cause..." Jacob said to himself. He did send Draza to fetch another recruit for his plans, but he knew that no one could have too many worthy men. He stepped into a pentagram in the middle of his throne room and teleported to the Somme.

Aftermath of the Somme
Jacob stood in the battlefield and saw the many corpses littering the ground after the bloody battle. The fact that he was a well dressed aristocrat in the middle of a battlefield would make little sense to anyone who was still alive, but Jacob was sure that no one else was. He searched around for signs of life and saw Franz. He seemed unconcious, so Jacob picked him up and teleported back to his castle.

Liechtenstein Castle
Jacob sat Franz's body onto the steps of his throne. This was the regular proceeding he did with every man or woman he saw fit to become a vampire and prepared Franz for his new life. Jacob looked down to the ground and said, "Oh Father... Look now... You have a new son..." With that, Jacob's teeth grew longer and he bit into Franz's neck drawing out as much blood as he was able to. After that, he left Franz's body on the steps, sat on his throne, and waited for him to awaken. It was only a matter of time before Franz would see himself alive again....

Grestor, servant of Hekvar Malpheus, walked along one of the back roads so common in Europe. He traveled with two other vampires who also worked for Lord Hekvar. They were on a simple mission, one they all had been briefed about. A new vampire had just arisen, but unlike any other. This one was strong, very strong, and Lord Hekvar had to keep him from Konstantin's grasp. They continued to walk down the road to the hollowed tree where this vampire hid.

As they approached Grestor sensed another demonic prescence in the area, no doubt one of Konstantin's lakeys. They had to hurry. They nearly ran to the tree only to see a cloaked figure standing there.
"So, Konstantin's servants come to do his work for him," Grestor said in his deep voice, "Well, we'll just see who gets him." The three vampires moved in closer, their fangs elongated and they all drew blades of various sort. Grestor himself held two foot long blades and moved in catlike, crouched low to the ground.
"Come on! Konstantin isn't going to get this one!"

Draza smiled as he heard the boy's question.

"Who am I?" he replied, "I'm afraid I can't answer that right now. However, I can tell you why I'm not afraid of you."

Draza took off his hood and let the moonlight shine off his silver hair.

"It's because I'm just like you child, I too am a vampire."

Suddenly, Draza went rigid. He felt the presence of three other vampires in the vicinity, and he knew that Lord Dominik wouldn't send in help for this assignment. They had to be hostiles; he knew that he had to get this boy out of there, and fast. However, the three vampires were getting closer and were preparing to attack. One of them spoke to him; his deep voice killing the silence. Draza knew this wouldn't be an easy fight, and he couldn't count on the the inexperienced boy to help him.

"Listen, there's no time to explain," he whispered urgently, "You're going to have to trust me and get out of here. Run as far as you can and don't stop until you find another safe place to hide. I'll come find you after I deal with these fools."

Draza then turned around to face his three adversaries. He smirked as he saw the weapons they were carrying, normal blades wouldn't be able to hurt him.

This is going to be easier than I had thought.

"Come on then," he said, his red eyes now glowing fiercely, "let's see what you weaklings are made of!"

Ali blinked when the man said he was a vampire.

Vampire? he thought I'm a vampire?

He was going to ask more questions but the the man in the dark cloak went stiff, he said "You're going to have to trust me and get out of here. Run as far as you can and don't stop until you find another safe place to hide. I'll come find you after I deal with these fools."

Ali waited about half a second, then he jumped out of the hollow and tore across the forest ground as fast as he could.

He ran deep into the forest until he a rocky outcropping. He ran into the cave and jumped over a rock, only to discover a muddy slope that led deeper into the cave. Ali tried to catch himself and failed.

He slid down the slope until he hit the bottom. Ali felt a sharp pain in his left leg and found it bent at a weird angle. He signed and and let his back fall into the mud.

A vampire... That explains so much. he thought. I wonder if I was followed.
I hope that man doesn't die, he may have answers.

"This night just keeps getting better and better." Ali said to no one in particular.

Do you think so?

Ali bolted upright. "Whose there?"

I am.

"Who are you?"

I am no one, you however are someone I find very interesting.

Ali stared into the blackness of the cave.
"What makes me so special?"

You don't know?

"Know what?"

Ah, I see.

"What?" Ali asked more confused than he had been before. But the voice did not answer again.
Ali sighed, lay back down again and fell asleep.

He wasn't sure whether it was France or Germany--and, technically, the point was moot. In a war such as this, the concept of an international border actually meant very little. They spoke german here, though--or, at least, that was the language that they used on the road signs. This fact allowed the Metal Man some preparation as he levitated invisibly eastward over Weissbergstrasse toward something that he couldn't quite describe.

The cross had led him here. Its gentle glow spoke of a gathering of vampires--and this was something that would require investigation. Whatever else one may say about vampires, their eating habits made for fierce competition. It was rare to find more than two of them in the same place. If a new coven had formed, certain...beings...would have to be notified.

Then, he got his bearings. This was one of the western provinces, Rheinland-Pfalz, close to the border of Frankfurtam Main, starting to get near the city of Wiesbaden. This was the turf of Hekvar Malpheus, a fairly powerful master vampire. The Metal Man had strayed to the south in his route. Fortunately, no one had spoken yet of any deadline for his arrival. Then again, since he had left Brittain, no one had...

...There were noises up ahead. Ultraviolet scans revealed three. The cross said they were all goons, but that one of them had a much more powerful aura than the other two. The Metal Man was about to decloak and join the fray when the cross twisted and took him in another direction. He flew away, leaving the three of them to settle their differences.

His way took him east, over a forrest and into one of the hills that lie to the north of the city. As he flew over the hill, the cross directed him back. Carefully, he searched his surroundings until he found a small cavern at the base of the hill. Probably carved out by a river that flowed shortly after the ice age, when the great glaciers melted, it was still there as a reminder of times gone by. Carefully, the Metal Man set down and decloaked.

He found that he no longer needed the cross to guide him. There were footprints in the mud in front of him. As the cyborg went forward, he decided that whoever made them was in something of a hurry.

There would be no sneaking up on this one--not in this terrain. He would have to be found and either talked into the dawn or put out of the entire world's misery. It was thus with a certain amount of care that the Metal Man walked down the same path and found his quarry at the bottom of a rather precipitous drop.

The first thing that he noticed was that the creature's leg was at an odd angle. If the leg was broken and had not instantly healed, it could only mean that this was a fledgeling vampire, one who had not had even his first meal. This could be good and bad. The Metal Man's blood was fatal to vampires--but this one wouldn't know that. If he mistook the cyborg for a mortal, this could end badly.

Best not to keep things waiting.

"Can you hear me?" he called down the slope.

As the three vampires stalked Konstantin's servant, the young vampire they were after bolted from beneath the tree.
"Wait! Don't go!" Grestor said in a loud voice, "You two take care of this one, I'll get that vampire back." With that he ran, cirlcing Konstantin's vampire and chasing the young vampire. Meanwhile the other two attacked, charging at Konstantin's vampire, their blades held low, the runes carved into the blades glowing a faint red color.

Grestor continued to chase after the young vampire. As he began down a hill which he saw this young vampire run down he saw a heap at the bottom of the hill and slowed.
"Boy, boy? Are you alright?" Grestor slowly moved forward, one blade concealed under his cloak but at the ready.

The Rhineland, Germany

Weldheimer saw the strange metal thing bolt away from the vampires and decided that it didnt matter. He would get these three on his own. Francis took aim with his gun and fired two sucessive shots that took out two of the vampires. The last one ran forward and tried to bite him. He sidestepped and let the vampires body fall to the ground. Without a word he drew his sword and cut the creatures head right off. He turned towards the way the metal thing had gone and thought about following. Only thought. He turned and headed east to Berlin.

Ali heard the voices of the two men.

One right after the other.
I 've got to choose better hiding spots. He thought.

After a few seconds and a considerable amount of pain, He propped himself on a large rock and said
"I want answers."

That was all he could manage before he felt his remaining energy slip out of him like water through a hole in a bucket.

He slumped down and reality abandoned him.

Weldheimer saw the strange metal thing bolt away from the vampires and decided that it didnt matter. He would get these three on his own. Francis took aim with his gun and fired two sucessive shots that took out two of the vampires. The last one ran forward and tried to bite him. He sidestepped and let the vampires body fall to the ground. Without a word he drew his sword and cut the creatures head right off. He turned towards the way the metal thing had gone and thought about following. Only thought. He turned and headed east to Berlin.

OOC: I'm assuming you also meant my character as well? I hope you didn't intend to kill him off that easily.

IC: Draza was prepared to strike down all three of his opponents when suddenly one of them bolted away after the boy.

Damn! he thought, I can't let him get to that boy; I'll have to finish this quickly.

Draza then caught a glimpse of something in the sky. It looked like a metal box, except it was flying.

What in hell's name is-

Out of nowhere a shot rang out through the night and he felt a bullet hit him in the chest. The force of it caused him to lose his balance momentarily and fall to the ground. He heard another shot and saw as the vampire in front of him collapsed to the ground; the bullet must have hit him straight through the heart. Draza then realized that this would be his perfect opportunity to escape, so he got up and ran as fast as he could deep into the forest.

I don't have time to deal with weaklings like them, I have to get to that boy!

Draza felt the wound on his chest as he ran, there was a small amount of blood coming out of it but there was hardly any pain.

The fool didn't even think to use silver bullets?

He cleared his thoughts as he forced the bullet out of his chest. The skin around the wound slowly sank into it and effectively healed it. He had to get to that boy, that was his only goal, his only mission.

I've never failed Lord Dominik, and I don't intend to today.

Dante stared at the moon from his balcony, his small flat in Berlin overlooked the city and yet he felt troubled..for a demon that wasmost unnerving

He had lived on this mortalplain for centuries but his demon powers had wained and so he was forced to take drastic action, he allowed himself to be bitten by a vampyre and so in his blood runs the legacy of vampires and demons but he was cursed to live a human existence and so he does, he succumbs to illness but can overcome them easily, he had no urge to feed like vampires only the urge to learn a way tomake himself a demon once more as so he couldend this existence he suffered

He walked back inside his flat and laying on the bed was a demon, this ome clad in armour or so it seemed, his skin was hewn from magma and the stench filled the air

"Atreyu...what do you want..it has been what several HUNDRED years since last we spoke, and now you choose to speak with me..I am not interested in hearing your words" Dante spoke as he walked towards his whiskey bottle, evcen a demon had its problems and weaknesses

"not even to hear news of the first of the bloodwraiths has risen again, our..I mean My master has sent him to do his bidding but there are thoseamongst us who feel... disgusted by his choice that he chooses his seconborn above our kind" Atreyu replied as he stared out at Berlin

"I care why...I no longer serve that fool in hell..but if what you say is really true then he must be dealt with, but why tell me this"

"Perhaps there are those who sympathise with you and perhaps there are those who believe we are the elite and perhaps we wish to create a new vision...needless to say I have taken a great risk in coming here..but nonetheless...I wish for you to defeat him... or at least tellme what you have learnt, perhaps your reward will be your return to your demon brothers"

"I'll think about it..." Dante replied but as he turned around to see Atreyu he was gone

The Rhineland, Germany

Weldheimer saw the strange metal thing bolt away from the vampires and decided that it didnt matter.

OOC: Strange metal thing? He looks and sounds like a fat old man with gray hair and brown eyes--when he's visible.

IC:

"Ich will Antworte." the young vampire said, then slumped back, unconscious. ("I want answeres.")

Well, I can't give him any if he can't hear me speak, the Metal Man thought.

"Junge, Junge, bist do wohl?" the vampire asked. ("Boy, boy, are you alright?") He held his sword beneath his cloak as if to hide it, but the Metal Man's eyes could see X-Rays and infrared, where it showed plainly through.

"Er ist unbewusst," the Metal Man replied. ("He is unconscious.")

It didn't seem to get the hint. If the Metal Man had been human, the vampire would have instantly sensed his presence. Instead, it only noticed him after he spoke up. It was one of those things that the Metal Man himself couldn't explain. His best way of describing it was that he was so anti-magical that he had no aura. Still, the vampire's eyes narrowed when it saw him, as if it thought him a mortal man.

The Metal Man took that as a complement.

"Aelter Mann," the vampire said, "was machst du heir, ausser eine schlechten Eindruck? Geh weg, weil du jetzt sien Lebens hast." ("Old man, what are you doing here, besides making a bad impression? Go away, while you have your life.")

The Metal Man sighed. "Mussen wir immer kampfen? Es ist sooooo langweilig. Die Vampir hoeren immer dasselbe aus. Sie benutzen immer dasselbe langweiliger Worter." ("Do we always have to fight. It's sooooo boring. Vampires always sound the same. They always use the same boring words.")

"Was kennst du von die Vampir, aelter Mann?" ("What do you know of vampires, old man?")

"Ich kenne dass wir euch den ganzen Nacht heir im Streit versauchen konnen, oder wir konnen uber unseren Freund verhandeln. Welchen vorziehst du?" ("I know that we can waste the whole night in conflict, or we can negotiate about our friend. Which do you prefer?")

Grestor stood above the unconsious vampire and spoke clearly and calmly to the old, metal man.
"I don't have time to talk to you, right now I have to get this vampire out of here. If you want to help, there's most likely another vampire coming here... If you could waylay him while I get this one somewhere safe, then we can talk." Grestor began to heft up the unconsious vampire in his arms.

Meanwhile one of the vampires facing Konstantin's minion was hit full in the chest with a bullet and fell as it penetrated his heart. At the same time Konstantin's minion fled into the forest. As the remaining vampire attempted to follow him he was hit in the back of the skull by another bullet and fell to the ground.

OOC:Sorry i didnt pay enough attention to who the vampires were.

Erfurt,Germany

Weldheimer rubbed his eyes. He must have imagined the machine that night. He looked out the window of his train car at the countryside that was giving way to the city of Erfurt. Francis had to reach Berlin thats were he would find what hes looking for.

Grestor, not waiting for this strange man's reply, teleported away and landed in the courtyard of Lord Hekvar's estate. Two attendant vampires rushed up and took the unconsious vampire.
"Give him some blood and bring him to Lord Hekvar, he'll want to see this one. I've got to get back, something came up." Before one of the other vampires could argue Grestor said a small incantation and returned to the spot where the metal man stood.
"Now, where were we?"

Ali heard two voices, though they sounded as if they were said from afar.

"Hey, wake up."

"Come on we don't have all night."

Ali barley registered the two. His mind slipped further and further into darkness.

"Give him some blood."

Ali felt a refershing liquid being poured into his mouth. Instantly He felt renewed, He felt his senses sharpen and could see two vampires surrounding him. He sat up. One of the vampires handed him a glass filled with red liquid. Ali took it and drank it. It tasted good.

After he finished the glass he spoke to one of the vampires.

"Where am I now?" Ali asked

"You're in Lord Hekvar's estate courtyard." said the vampire.
After seeing the confused look on Ali's face the vampire said
"Don't worry, Lord Hekvar will explain everything."

The two vampires stood up, and Ali with them.

"Come" said one of the vampires. They began to walk away with Ali trailing them.

One Hell of a night. thought Ali as he followed them.

"Thank you for returning," the Metal Man said to Grestor. "It would have been an inconvenience to follow you." He was not surprised at all by Grestor's ability to teleport, nor was he totally mystified as to the location to which he had gone. The cross would lead him to the boy again if it became necessary. "I see from the medallion in your pocket that you work for Lord Hevkar."

The Metal Man regarded his compatriot coolly. He had met his share of vampires whose only interest was in killing those around them. If this was one such, he would find himself in far greater peril than he suspected. Fortunately, not all of them were so undisciplined. This one struck him as capable of some modicum of reason.

Grestor started slightly when he learned that his latest aquaintance could see objects concealed within his robes. It was necessary--something had to be done to convince the vampire that what stood before him was not a man. Unfortunately, a security protocol had activated when the Metal Man escaped his cybernators, and this control software prevented him from directly stating what he was. The cyborg had to find another way to get the point across. Words were the first choice. It would complicate things if he had to prove himself worthy of a vampire's respect by slaying one--and, truth be known, he was in no mood for killing tonight.

"I sometimes conduct business with the Children of the Dawn," he said, hoping that this stranger would know--and at least somewhat respect--the only coven of vampires ever to hold the Holy Cross unaided. "Perhaps we can reach an accomodation. May I ask your name?"

Grestor recognized the name of the famed vampire coven, the Children of the Dawn. At this point Grestor was startled by two things, one that this strange man had met with other covens and not been bitten, and two, that he could see Grestor's medallion. Grestor, slightly unnerved by this strange man's abilities, decided to be truthful, this time.
"Name's Grestor, as you already know I work for Lord Hekvar up north. Preytell, you seem to have powers that are far beyond that of normal humans, what or who are you?"

Back at Lord Hekvar's estate, the two vampires accompanied this young vampire to Lord Hekvar's bedchambers, as they opened the door Lord Hekvar himself was sitting in the common room sipping a glass of bright red fluid.
"Ah, our guest has arrived. Come! Sit, have some," Hekvar said pointing to a strangely shaped bottle that was sitting on a side table with another empty wine glass, "It's a marvelous year, it takes a little time to get the best quality." As the young vampire sat down in a plush armchair Hekvar poured him some of the fluid from the bottle and handed it to the young vampire.
"That will be all." Hekvar said to the two attending vampires. Hekvar tooka small sip from the glass he was holding and looked at the young vampire, this one had a massive demonic aura. Perhaps this could be the one the prophecy spoke of.
"So tell me vampire, what is your name?"

Berlin, Germany

Weldheimer remained sitting in the train. Something seemed different. The air about the city was darker and colder than before. The usual open windows were shut tightly and no songs were being sung. The war was taking its effects home. Weldheimer ignored the solemn faces around him as he headed striaight for his old friends house.

"Name's Grestor. As you already know, I work for Lord Hekvar up north. Preytell, you seem to have powers that are far beyond that of normal humans, what or who are you?"


He had lost count of the number of times he had wished he could answer that question. Each time he tried, the Control Software stopped him.

"Because you have been truthful and ernest with me, I will answer your question as best I am permitted. When I was a man, I had a name. It no longer matters. My name is whatever you wish to call me. Give me a name, and, for all who live and work with Lord Hekvar, I will answer to no other. I now go by Peter Berl, but this is a temporary arrangement.

"As to what I am, I am not able to say. This much I can tell you, though: you and I have much in common, but there are differences. For example, you are confined to the darkness, but I can also walk the light. I am here to ensure that the boy you removed from my presence has the opportunity to greet the day should he desire it. Though I detest violence, I will war with hell itself just to give him that opportunity. That is who I am.

"I must ask a favor: an audience with Lord Hekvar, who has now no doubt taken posession of the boy, to negotiate the young vampire's immediate fate. That I do so should come as no surprise to you."

By now, a third being was approaching. He was in range of the Metal Man's motion sensors, but The Cross could tell nothing, overwhelmed as it was with Grestor's presence.

---------------

OOC:

That would be Draza. Forgive me for presuming that one so high in the ranks of the Evil One would not be easily disuaded from his task.

---------------

IC:

"We have company," the Metal Man said. "I pray that this does not degenerate into...an opportunity for me to elucidate my condition.

There were still things that the Metal Man didn't understand. Normally, a vampire crossed over so young would be considered an abomination.* Why they were treating this one so delicately--and the fact that he was still undead (the cross would have told him otherwise) was proof that they were making an exception to some of their rules--was a question that would have to be answered.

--------------

OOC:

* At least, that's what they said in Interview with a Vampire.

Grestor, also sensing the demonic aura, turned back towards the forest.
"Unfortunatley, i think that violence is the only way out of here. But yes, i will willingly grant you an audience with Lord Hekvar. From our, albiet brief encounter, I believe you are a trustworthy.... Humanoid. You say you go by the name of Peter, verywell then, that shall be your name in our company. Now I believe that other vampire is getting closer, we'll resume this conversation afterwards." Grestor drew both of his short blades and fully turned to face the forest and Konstantin's vampire, therein.

"M-My name is Ali." he said to Hekvar. The room Ali was in was grand and expensive looking, he felt out of place. His eyes wandered around the room. He noticed his leg was in place and felt fine.
"Why am I here?" Ali asked Hekvar.

"I understand," the cyborg replied.

He decided against cloaking, and against activating his weapons mode. The blades remained available, but he would first try to reason with the newcomer. He realized that he had been lucky with Grestor--this vampire did indeed appear to be open to reasoning. If Hekvar was as reasonable as his associate, the Metal Man even had something to offer by way of negotiation: contact between Hekvar and the Children of the Dawn. If this newcomer was reasonable as well...but if he wasn't?

The auxiliary power systems fired up. They would help should he need shields, weapons, flight--whatever.

OOC: Oh man I missed quite a bit, I guess that's what I get for going on a short vacation.


OOC:

That would be Draza. Forgive me for presuming that one so high in the ranks of the Evil One would not be easily disuaded from his task.

No problem, I was going to turn up sooner or later anyways.

IC: Draza was getting close to the boy, he could feel it.

I have you now...just a little closer...

Draza came to a stop just short of a clearing in the forest. He could make out two figures; one of them was the vampire that had taken off with the boy. The vampire held two blades in his hands and looked ready for a fight. Draza was now getting agitated, he didn't have enough time to deal with so many interruptions. However, he knew that the vampire wouldn't readily give up the boy, so he prepared himself for combat.

If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're going to get.

Draza muttered a short incantation and suddenly blood started gushing out from his hands. The blood, still in its liquid state, slowly formed into the shape of a longsword. When he stopped the incantation the blood solidified and the gushing ceased. Draza now held a sword in his hand that looked like it was made out of blood red steel. He sprinted towards his opponent at an amazing speed and thrust his sword straight towards his opponent's heart, hoping to strike a fatal blow.

As Konstantin's vampire charged towards Grestor he was ready. At the last moment Grestor ducked low and to the right, stabbing forward with his blade, straight to the other vampire's heart.

Hekvar sipped his drink again, "So, Ali. My name is Hekvar, it's a pleasure to meet you. You should drink that," Hekvar said gesturing to Ali's glass, "It'll make you feel better, after all, the stuff you had before you came here was all you needed to fix your leg. Drink up, we have a lot to talk about."

As Draza charged forward to impale his opponent's heart he saw him suddenly change his stance and barely dodge his thrust.

Damn, this guy is more skilled than I had thought!

Immediately afterwards, Draza felt a sharp pain as a blade pierced him straight through the heart. He froze in place for a moment before shoving his opponent backwards and then doubling over, spewing out a large amount of blood. He quickly removed the blade from his chest and regained his posture; he was deeply wounded from the attack but was still able to fight.

I can't die here...not to the likes of him!

Draza charged his opponent again, but instead of stabbing he swung the short blade in his left hand. The vampire dodged the swing, as expected, and Draza brought down the blood sword in his right hand and severed his opponent's arm.

This was not going well. The moement the second vampire had entered the area, a melee broke out. This had to be stopped.

A joint just above the thumb on the Metal Man's right hand swiveled downward, stretching the knuckles on that hand. As it did, a blade sliced through, forming a hole in the hand, through which the blade itself and something else emerged.

The arm itself stiffened, and tracked the Metal Man's eyes, moving first to each of the two vampires, and then to a tree just behind the one whose neme the cyborg did not know. A plasma blast issued forth from an emitter under the sword, slamming into the tree. Though the tree was not completely severed, splinters flew everywhere--and some of them embedded themselves in the second vampire.

"Now," the Metal Man said, "was that enough to get your attention, children, or do I have to...spank?"

After successfully cutting off his opponent's arm, Draza jumped backwards to avoid any sort of counter-attack. He had just enough time to notice that the second figure, presumably a human, was pointing his arm at something behind him. The man's hand suddenly began to glow and a second later a brilliant light shot out and hit the tree behind Draza. Several small splinters flew through the sky and a few managed to impale him. Draza screamed in agony; being a vampire, the wood in his body felt like hundreds of hot needles stabbing into him. He fell to the floor, writhing in pain, but managed to slowly stand himself back up. He noticed that the vampire in front of him had also seemingly lost the will to fight, as he crouched motionless, clutching at the stub of what was left of his arm. The man with the glowing hand then spoke to them, catching Draza's attention.

"Who the hell are you?!" Draza screamed, still dealing with the pain. He looked around the clearing, and with a grim realization he yelled, "...and where the hell is that boy?!"

"Alright..." Ali said as he lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink from it. The taste lingered in his mouth.
"I'm still waiting for an answer."

Grestor rose shakily, clutching at his severed left hand, but seeing how his opponent was also standing he did not drop his blade.
"The boy is safe from you. The prophecies will come true!" Grestor almost attempted to charge forward but remembering how Peter had had shot that strange ball of energy, and the fact that he had only one hand, he did not attempt an attack.
"And I won't give my name to one of Konstantin's servants, I know of the magic a name possesses."

Hekvar looked deeply into Ali's eyes. Yes, this was the one.
"You are at my estate, in Prussia. Don't worry, I don't mean to hurt you or anything unpleasant, but seeing as how you are now a vampire, you will need training," Hekvar took another sip of his drink, and pondered for a moment, "Not just training in using your skills... that you need though, but also... you will need instruction in.... etiquite... yes. That will be important..."

"What do you mean?" asked Ali. "Are you going to train me to be an aristocrat or something?"
Ali had no idea what Hekvar meant.

It took a few seconds for the vampire's words to sink in. They had gotten the boy; he had failed.

No...impossible...I've never failed Lord Dominik before.

For the first time in almost a century Draza felt a sensation he had hoped to forget: the sensation of fear. He didn't know what Lord Dominik would do to him for his failure, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant. He quickly shook off the feeling of weakness and regained his composure. For a moment Draza thought over the vampire's words, trying to get some sort of information that he could use.

The prophecy? I thought only Lord Dominik knew about it...the only other people he's ever told it to were his most trusted students.

Suddenly it came to him, the only other person who knew about the prophecy was the great traitor himself: Hekvar Malphaeus. Draza snickered to himself in satisfaction; perhaps he wouldn't receive his punishment after all. Now there was only one more thing to clear up. He turned towards the strange man who had shot the ball of light out of his hand.

"You!" he shouted, "who are you and what do you want with that boy?"

There were things at work here of which the Metal Man was unaware. There was a prophesy of some sort. But his plasma shot had its intended affect: the conflict was temporarily ended, and he had the newcomer's undivided attention.

He hoped that, with the momentary stop in the conflict, Grestor might be able to retrieve his severed arm. Some vampires could replace limbs such as that one with no loss of function. Either way, if the armless vampire had gotten a decent look at the blade, and understood the science well enough, he would know what the Metal Man was. If he would demonstrate that knowledge, the Metal Man could then tell him.

This newcomer was not like Grestor. He was devious. The Metal Man had watched the play of emotions on his face as he seemed at first downtrodden, then came to realize something that seemed to hold value to him. He had a miserable poker face, but he was keeping his cards close to his vest anyway. There was also the mention of the name Konstantin. This boded darkly. Rumor had it that that was the name of the eldest of the vampires, and the most dangerous. The Metal Man was going to have to treat this one as an adversary--and you never just gave away information to an adversary. You made him pay for it.

He turned to the newcomer.

"Before I can answer your questions, I need to know whom I am dealing with, so that I can phrase my replies with proper respect."

While this conversation was taking place between Konstantin's vampire and Peter, Grestor had been slowly but steadily moving towards his severed arm. As he reached it he sunk down into a sitting position and placed his severed arm on it's bloody stump. He then reached inside his pocket and took a large swig of blood from a hip flask at his side. With a slight wince of pain the arm regrew the nerves and bloodlines between the arm and his body and Grestor flexed his fingers again. Konstantin's vampire and Peter were still talking.
"While you two have a lovely chat, I have to report back to my master, Lord Carcov- uh, Hekvar, yes Hekvar." Grestor allowed a look of fear to show onm his face as he attempted to correct his statement turned to Peter and gave him a small wink and teleported.

Hekvar chuckled at Ali's statement.
"No, no. Not an aristocrat.... unless you want to be... but no, right now your training must be for vampires only. There are many rules to being a vampire, I should know, it took me 30 years to learn them all. Don't worry about that, there where much more of them back then. There're two key rules that must be upholded, 1 unless it is absolutely vital to your survival, do not atempt to bite a human- Now don't get squeemish on me here Ali." Hekvar said seeing the boy's pained look at he mention of biting. "This, as I said is only in the most dire of times, the second rule is to never go out into direct sunlight unless less then half of the sun is visible, or you have had the proper training. For the time, just don't go out into direct sunlight, we'll leave it at that."

Grestor arrived on the estate grounds and one vampire came out to meet him.
"Sir Grestor! What happened?"
"Don't worry about it, tell me where the Master is, and bring me some blood."
"Yes Sir Grestor." Grestor, still clutching at his reconnected arm, walked towards the manor house.

Lutei was walking again. He had arrived home and gone to sleep, only to find he was haunted by nightmares of dark creatures. He woke up to go for a walk. He decided to stop by a bar to grab a bite to eat. There, as he waited for food, he was approached by a boy, approximentally 18 years old, who looked almost exactly like Lutei. "Ah, Niklas! Wac ich kann machen fur sie, freund?" (Ah, Niklas! What can I do for you?)
" Sie konnen finden und konnen einen Vampir Zaynak Micalek zerstoren hat genannt." (You can find and destroy a vampire named Zaynak Micalek) he replyed. "Und wo werde ich ihn finden?" (And where can I find him?) Lutei inquired. "Inner Stadt." came the stiff reply. " Und zahlung?" (And payment?) Lutei asked. Niklas gave no reply. Lutei asked again. Niklas hesitated, then said," Sech hundert und funfzig tausend kronen." (650,000 kronen)
"Ja," Lutei said. He got up to leave, but Niklas stopped him. "Versagen Sie mich nicht oder ich werde Ihnen nachkommen, mein Freund," He said. Lutei gave no reply and walked away.

*OOC: I know I didn't translate it. You can find out yourself or wait until I write the next segment. It's up to you. Also, if any other character wants to meet, help, and/or go after Lutei, I am open and listening

The man spoke to Draza with a look of distrust in his eyes. It didn't matter, Draza didn't need the man to trust him, only any information he might have. He hadn't notice this before, but the man seemed to have a strange aura about him. It wasn't human, nor was it vampire.

What in hell's name IS he?

Draza saw out of the corner of his eye that the vampire was slowly retrieving his arm and replacing it back onto his body. It didn't matter, the conflict here was over. He turned back towards the man and tried to phrase his response carefully.

"Although it is not of your concern human, I am a servant of a very powerful vampire. I will not reveal his name, but I can assure you that if I don't get the answers I need, there will be severe consequences."

The vampire, now with a reattached arm, then spoke to him and teleported away. He had let something slip, but was it on purpose? Draza was fairly sure he was working for Hekvar, but he would remember this slip up, just in case.

"So old man, it looks like it's just you and me now."

Draza smiled maliciously, "Now...I think it's time you told me who you really are."

Around half-a-mile away in the forest from where the Metal Man and Draza stood talking, a vampire fled for his life through the trees. Sensing the growing nearness of the two by the cave, the hunter decided to speed up the capture of his prey to before coming close enough for either of them to interfere. Thus, in a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder that, on this cloudless night, wouldn't be hard to miss for several miles around, the winged hunter sent a surge of electrical energy into his prey.

The vampire's flesh was charred quite severly from the jolt. Seeing his hunter approaching in the shadow of the tress, the wounded vampire began to whimper and beg for his life.

"Who...what are you!?" he demanded.

"Humans feed on cows and chickens. Vampires feed on the blood of humans. Did you never wonder if there was anything higher in the food chain?" replied the figure before splitting his target open like a ripe melon with his axe.

With a smile that displayed his fangs quite elegantly as they glinted in the moonlight, the figure allowed the vampire's blood to flow through the air and be absorbed through his wings. Once the last drop was sucked up, he bent down and pulled the vampire's heart out from his chest.

"You won't be needing this anymore," said the figure before crushing it in his bare hand, ending the life of the vampire before him once-and-for-all.

Tossing aside the remains of the now dead vampire's heart, the form of the figure in the shadows visibly shifted. The wings shrunk away, his claws shortened into passible figernail length, his blood-red axe vanished, his eyes changed from bright red to grayish-blue in color, and his hair fell down upon the back of his neck instead of standing over his head. When the figure stepped into the pool of moonlight the corpse lay in, he appeared as no more than an average traveling priest. His clothing may be a bit more flamboyant than most, harkoning back to older times, but the glasses perched upon his nose were of a bit more modern design.

OOC: That should do alright for an intro post for this thread. Up to Draza and the Metal Man to decide if they want to investigate the disturbance or continue their verbal sparring match with each other.

OOC: "Humans feed on cows and chickens. Vampires feed on the blood of humans. Did you never wonder if there was anything higher in the food chain?"

Lovely quote from Trinity blood, by Trinity Blood. Good show neh?

IC: Grestor grabbed the pouch of blood handed to him by one of the attending vampires and drained it gratefully. Feeling regenerated and checking for any remaining wounds he walked up the stairs and into the manor.

Hekvar finished his drink and set it aside. He leaned forward towards Ali and looked even deeper into his eyes. This was the one, there was no mistake.
"Ali, you will make a fine student, very fine indeed."

"So when does this training begin?" asked Ali.
Ali had been determined not to show any weakness, but the thought of teeth biting into skin brought up unwanted memories.
"and is there anything else I should know about this place?"

"I do not need to tell you," the cyborg replied. "You need look no farther than the blade that extends from within my hand--which you can see plainly--to know who--and what--I am. If you do not recognise me, take this information back to your master. If he is indeed as powerful as you claim, he will."

He threatens me over questions that are already answered. I hope his master is equally feeble-minded. This gives me an idea, though. It is a common game of vampires to feign arrogance in order to pry information from their adversaries. Let's see how this one reacts to his own game.

"Now, forgive me, but I feel I have no cause to inconvenience you further. I've business to tend to. Please try not to--," the Metal Man paused for a moment, and smiled slightly, as if he found something funny, "--threaten me again." Offhandedly, he snapped his blade back into his forearm. The knuckles slid back into place, and, in a moment, the skin sealed. Within fifteen seconds, the wound had healed, leaving only a slight scar. It was a slight gamble to treat the newcomer as if he were not a credible threat, but he could extend the blade quickly enough again should it prove necessary.

He took the cross in his hand and turned northward, using it to find the aura of the vampires he had been in contact with earlier. He would not take to the air with this other vampire watching, but he would let his adversary see the "fat old man" run at full speed for hours on end, if he chose to keep up.

Then, things changed slightly. First, the Metal Man's electromagnetic sensor spiked hard, and then the cross flared so brightly that it illuminated the entire outcropping where the two non-humans stood.

The Metal Man sighed. "It is a bad night for plans," he said. "Now, I've got another anomaly to investigate. Follow me if you must, but try not to fall too far behind if you do."

With that, the Metal Man ran off, rapidly accellerating to a full 45 killometers per hour, in the direction of the anomaly.

"Versagen Sie mich oder ich werde Ihnen nachkommer, mein freund," He said. Lutei gave no reply and walked away.

*OOC: I know I didn't translate it. You can find out yourself or wait until I write the next segment. It's up to you. Also, if any other character wants to meet, help, and/or go after Lutei, I am open and listening

OOC:

It reads,

"Fail me or I will come to you in the night, my friend." I think there's a "nicht" missing somewhere. :) :) :)

Due to the Metal Man's special circumstances, he didn't register on the Crusnik's senses as a human. Though, as he also didn't register as a vampire, the 'priest' decided to remain in his human form and drew one of his pistols and flicked the safety off. Cloaking himself once more in the shadows of the forest, the man slipped behind a tree where he could view the reaction of the approaching presence to the drained vampire corpse.

OOC: Hope you don't mind the liberty I took with your character, Marionetonia.

"The training begins.... whenever you want it to Ali," Hekvar replied with a slight smile, "But I'd reccomend that you begin soon, very soon. Not tonight of couse, but soon, once you've rested for a while. Perhaps.... tomorrow night?" Hekvar noticed a pained look in Ali's face, "Don't worry, don't worry. We don't bite people, that's stuff that you see in novels, they always portray us in the worst light. No, we use livestock blood, predrained and cleaned," Hekvar leaned forward and gestured towards Ali's glass, "How do you like your O negative? It's spiced up a bit, but that's to be expected. But still, how does it taste?"

Grestor walked into the small barracks in the manor house.
"Oy, I need two volunteers to go show one of Konstantin's vampires some trouble. Show him our true colors, use Carcov's cloaks." Two vampires stepped forward, they were young, but experienced, they would do perfectly. The two vampres donned the cloaks with Carcov's seal on one sleeve and pocketed Carcov's crest in their pocket. Carcov was always such a showoff, if any of his vampires ever went out, they wore his crest. With a brief incantation they teleported to where Grestor had departed from.
"Hey! I feel an aura from over there," he said pointing to the woods. they broke off at a run following the demonic aura searching for Konstantin's servant.

Draza felt himself become more and more agitated as the "man" began speaking as though he had nothing to fear. However, he began to realize that perhaps he was underestimating him; that this man was much more powerful than he appeared.

There is definitely more to him than meets the eye. Not only does he not fear me, but he speaks as though Lord Dominik would know him. Not to mention the strange light that he shot out of his hand...

Before Draza could reply to him, the man pulled out a cross which suddenly began glowing extremely brightly. The light blinded Draza for a few seconds, and he heard him speak a few words before taking off at an amazing speed.

"Damn it, I'm not through with you yet!" he yelled after him, "what was that cross?!"

Surprisingly, Draza found it slightly difficult to keep up with his speed. He didn't know where the man was going, but he would continue following him until he got the answers he needed. While all this was happening, Draza managed to miss the auras of the two vampires stalking him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

"It tastes... good." Ali said, unable to think of a better word.
Ali took another sip of his drink.
"I want to start this "training" as soon as possible."

Hekvar smiled, "Good, we'll begin your training tomorrow, tonight you rest, you'll need it." Hekvar stood and rang a small bell, an attending vampire strode in.
"Take Ali here to his rooms, and see to it that he's quite comfortable," Hekvar turned to Ali, "If you ever need anything or need me just ring this bell." Hekvar pulled a small golden bell out of his pocket and handed it to Ali.

The two vampires moved quickly but quietly, stalking Konstantin's vampire. They knew what they had to do, and as they closed the distance between themselves and the fast moving vampire they drew their blades of steel with Carcov's crest in silver embedded in the hilt. When they closed to earshot they slowed, keeping pace with Konstantin's vampire and maintaining a small distance.

Berlin,Germany

Weldheimer slowly entered through the broken door of his friends home. its quiet he thought. Francis drew his sword and silently crept farther into the house. He smelt the stench of death before he seen the blood. The sight of blood had never phased him before, this was no different. He looked around the room and lowered his sword. The vampire was dead and his friend was lying dead beside it. Why would a vampire be here of all places?
Weldheimer thought back to the Rhineland. That vampire that got away must have had this done. Weldheimer stood in thought for a moment before making up his mind. He would go back to that spot and find out what happened.

It was not long before the Metal Man reached a clearing in the woods, the vampire from his previous encounter hot on his heels. He chose his pace deliberately to make it difficult, but not too difficult, for his quarry to keep up. The drain on his power was negligable, and he found that he had been able to recharge the tiny portion of his reserves depleted from the earlier blast from his onboard generators.

------------------

OOC:

This is one of the Metal Man's weaknesses. Although he has powerful antimatter generators that will never need refueling, they can't crank out enough wattage to run his full weapons package. He has to charge up what amounts to batteries to run them. Exhaust the reserve power and you limit his options.

@TB: I don't mind at all.

------------------

IC:

The scene was grisly. Near the edge of the clearing lie the remains of what had once, long ago, been a man. The corpse had died quite a few years ago, judging from its state of decay. After death, it had been severely charred, then cleaved almost in two, from the top of its head to almost two thirds of the way down its torso. Yet, the cut was clean enough that, while the ribs had been severed, most of the internal organs had been left intact--most, but not all. The heart had been removed.

Tracks led to the foot of the corpse, then...altered, shrinking from roughly a size seventeen shoe to more like a size twelve. Then, the smaller footprints, warmth from the feet still visible in the infrared spectrum, led away from the corpse and behind a nearby tree.

---------------------

OOC:

I hope the good father's body temperature is higher than that of the air around him. There is some confusion as to whether this is the case for a vampire or not.

----------------------

IC:

The conclusions were obvious: the body had died and been re-animated before meeting its eventual complete demise--a vampire, and a vampire hunter. By the looks of things, this hunter was competant, and had a mean streak. One does not normally tear the heart out of a the vampire one hunts. A vampire does not normally run from a hunter, either. Could this one have fallen victim to some kind of...vampire predator?

"Well," the Metal Man said, "this is certainly a first."

The vampire came up behind him. He laughed.

"I'd be careful if I were you," he said. The cross flared slightly. There were other vampires nearby, and they were getting closer. With a hunter like this one this close by, that could only mean trouble. Best to try to defuse the situation before the bomb went off.

He turned toward the tree with the...being...behind it, keeping a sensor or two on the vampire, ready to bring out his blade if it decided to do something stupid. "You're a bit flamboyant for a vampire hunter," he said. "Maybe you can do me a small favor and send this errand boy back to his master. He becomes boring."

He turned back to the vampire. "You DO have a master, don't you?"

The vampire had no idea what great favor the Metal Man was offering him--but the cyborg did not expect him to take it. Rather, if he remained in character, he would stay just long enough to insult and threaten the Metal Man, and this would seal his fate. This one travelled alone--he had no allies coming to help him. He would be caught between the vampire hunter on one side and the other vampires on the other. Even with this one's fighting skills, Konstantin just might be finding himself in need of a new servant by this time tomorrow--and he would not learn that the Metal Man had been prowling this forrest.

Abel winced as he noticed how he had forgotten to remove the traces of his tracks. A mistake that allowed this new arrival who was still a unkown. Though, noting the vampires following the 'man', he reached up with his free hand, grabbed a branch, and pulled, using his momentum to flip him ontop of a branch sturdy enough to support him. His new position was still in shadow, but there was enough moonlight filtering through the leaves to provide the others with enough light to see that he was there, but not enough to provide them with enough light to see that many details. If the soft thump of his landing on the branch didn't attract their attention, the glint of the moonlight from the pistol he had held in a ready position, in case it was needed, would.

OOC: I operate under the assumption that he's not undead (as he never died), thus normal human body temperature should fit right in for my character. I also tend to view vampires, in general, as a seperate species and not members of the undead (actually, a part of my plan when I get everything ready for me to RP with my planned tech), so they also tend to have normal body temps, unless altered by special circumstances (like being frozen in a block of ice, re-entering atmosphere without a ship, falling into a volcano, a stasis chamber, et cetera).

Draza followed the man for several minutes before they reached a clearing in the forest. In front of them lay a mutilated corpse, not that of a human, but a vampire. Draza laughed as he saw the grotesque image in front of him, he hadn't seen anything like it before. The man then spoke, warning him to be careful, then he turned towards a tree and spoke in that direction. Draza felt an aura behind the tree, it seemed human, yet...different. The man seemed to be talking to a vampire hunter; Draza focused his thoughts and prepared himself for a possible conflict, he wouldn't be caught off guard. He then felt two auras behind him, they belonged to vampires.

How did I not notice them before?

The man then turned back towards him and spoke, taunting him.

This man just doesn't know when to shut up, does he?

However, Draza knew his enemies had the upper hand. Although he was strong, he couldn't take all of them at once. He had to get out of this situation, and fast.

"Damn!" he cursed under his breath as he turned towards the man, "Don't think you've seen the last of me yet, we still have business to settle."

With that, Draza muttered a short incantation and teleported away. He knew that what he had done was cowardly and dishonorable, but he had to report back to Lord Dominik at all costs. He would get his revenge soon enough, it was only a matter of time...

OOC: Is the OP away or something? He hasn't posted in this thread for a while...

The two vampires pursuing Konstantin's vampire saw him dissapear as they came into the clearing.
"Damn we're too late," one of them said, "I'll follow him. You stay here." One vampire spoke a small incantation and was off. The other turned to the metal man, "So, you're Peter, Grestor told me about you. So, who's your friend behind the tree?" The vampire gripped his blade tighter and turned towards the tree.

"Here is your room." said the servant vampire pointing to a extremely large and expensive looking room.

"This is mine?" said Ali, a little surprised he was getting something like this.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Wha? No, no. It's great."

"If you need anything just ring the bell." said the vampire as he left the room.

"Right, right." Ali studied the small bell. It had some strange markings on the inner side.

Later thought Ali. He fell on the bed and just stared at the ceiling.

Let's review. he thought as the night's events replayed in his head.

Grestor walked into Hekvar's common room.
"Ah, Grestor." Hekvar said, "You look like you had a rough night. You can tell me about this later, for now... the boy's training... I'm appointing you to be his teacher. I expect you to teach him all of the basics of course, but also.... teach him about our history. Not the prophecies, not yet. Let's wait a while for that... Get your plans together Grestor, I expect the boy's training to begin at sundown sharp."
With a short bow Grestor nodded and left the room. Hekvar poured himself another drink and stared into the fire. He knew the prophecies, and knew what had to be done...

"I'm not certain yet," the Metal Man said. Then, raising his voice slightly, he continued, "I'm not even certain that he realizes yet that I have no intention of threatening him." He lowered his voice again as he spoke. "He appears to be a vampire hunter, though, so you may wish to use some caution when addressing him. I'd like to ask him a few questions, too--I'd like to determine if he's found anything about the vampires who crossed the boy over. I would not be surprised if that," he indicated the corpse, "is what's left of one of them, and if this was punishment for his indiscretion in crossing over one so young."

He looked to the trees. "You can come out if you wish," he called out. "I will vouch for your safety from this...gentleman." He looked back at the vampire. His face took on an expression that was deadly. serious.

"I'm quite comfortable where I am for the moment," Abel called in reply using a tone that clearly indicated he was, for the time being, hestitant to trust this 'Peter', as one of the newly arrived vampires had called him.

However, he did alter the position of his drawn pistol so it was in what ammounted to an at-ease position, but could be brought to the ready if needed with but a flick of the wrist.

"Now," he continued, "who are you and what do you want from me?"

The vampire looked forward at the tree, he thought of several things he wanted to DO to the vampire hunter, but Peter probably wouldn't allow it. He knew what Peter could do.

Several seconds after casting the spell, Draza blinked back into existence in front of a large castle. As he walked towards the castle a vampire teleported right in front of the gate.

"Welcome, Lord Draza," the vampire said while bowing, "is there something that you need?"

Draza smiled as he thought to himself, Now this is the kind of respect I deserve.

"Yes guard, I need to speak to Lord Dominik immediately."

"I'm sorry lord, but the great master is currently not allowing anyone into his chambers at the moment."

"You don't seem to understand the situation," Draza said, getting a little agitated, "I have to report back to him as soon as possible, now stand aside."

"I'm afraid I-i can't do that sir," the guard said, his voice getting shaky, "th-the great master said not to let you in u-unless you brought the boy."

"What?!" Draza yelled furiously.

"I'm sorry," replied the guard, just before teleporting back into the castle.

Things weren't looking good; Draza couldn't teleport into the castle without the necessary pendant, something Lord Dominik had refused to give him.

Fuck, now what am I supposed to do?

Draza knew he couldn't do all of this on his own, he had to get some reinforcements.

And I know just where to find some...

Draza muttered the same incantation under his breath and teleported to the city of Berlin.

The vampire looked forward at the tree, he thought of several things he wanted to DO to the vampire hunter, but Peter probably wouldn't allow it. He knew what Peter could do.

Abel noted the look in the eyes of the vampire looking towards the tree. To be on the safe side, he adjusted the position of his drawn pistol so it would be more visible to those on the ground. He knew he could probably take one of the vampires one-on-one, but he wasn't sure about having to take them both on at the same time as he hadn't done anything of the sort for a few centuries. Besides, 'Peter' also introduced an unkown variable. So, he decided to bide his time for now and wait while gathering as much intel as he could.

The vampire pursuing Konstantin's vampire appeared outside the castle. As the guard teleported to investigate the vampire drew his blades and charged. With a move to the side the guard dodged the attack and sliced the vampire's neck. The head rolled off the side of the road and into a small hole near the side. The guard looked down to investigate to which coven this vampire belonged.
"Carcov! You bastard!" The guard said and teleported into the castle to get reinforcements.

Hekvar rang a small bell in his common room. Silently one of his attending vampires walked into the room.
"I want a guard posted outside Ali's door, he doesn't have to stay inside... but keep him safe. Don't let anything happen to him." As the attendant withdrew Hekvar turned back to his book, Hekvar had ben wanting to finish this one for about 30 years now and he finally decided to do it, there was nothing else to do but wait.

The vampire looked at the pistol just visible from behind the tree.
"Well hunter... don't get to hasty here. I haven't done anything."

The vampire looked at the pistol just visible from behind the tree.
"Well hunter... don't get to hasty here. I haven't done anything."

"The scent of blood and death is strong on you," replied Abel, "now, that either means your are a mass murderer or a vampire. Now, you don't have the aura of a human, thus that only leaves you being a vampire. As you can see from that stiff over there on the ground, I take my job rather seriously. Honestly, I would rather not kill you as you intrigue me. Your aura is that of a vampire, yet its nothing like the aura of any of the vampires who preyed on the innocent that I've encountered over the years."

OOC: I hope I remembered correctly, but I'm operating under the assumption he's one of the good vampires.

ooc: good assumption, yes I am.

The vampire looked shocked, "ME? Feast on humans? Never, that's not our game, the only ones who do that are the rouges and the desperate, you've read too many fiction books my fine fellow."

"First," Abel growled slightly in response, "I'm not your friend, not yet anyways. Second, what do you think I was hunting that one over there for...public indecency?"

He knew his question was slightly rhetorical, but he had asked it anyways. To date, he had yet to meet a vampire, other than his sister, Seth, and the now deceased Lilith, who saw humans as equals and not just lambs to be led to slaughter like his brother, Cain, did.

The vapmpire strolled over to the corpse of the now shriveling dead vampire, his back to the hunter and his blades down, a sign of trust, or at least in this case, attempting to have trust, and lightly prodded the corpse with his foot.
"I must say, you did quite a number on this one. But still, even in the shriveled state, he looks a bit starved, no wonder you took him out so easily, poor fellow would probably have wasted away soon." The vampire turned back to the hunter behind the tree.
"Still, that's one less rouge vampire around, so tell me, hunter, what's your name?"

"Yes," the Metal Man said, turning to smile gently at the hunter. "I believe that you've already heard the name I go by. And could I stop to share with you information about your recent...dismissal? I recently discovered a young boy crossed over, and I want to find out who is responsible before we have a pandemic of vampirism on our hands.

"I'm not sure how much you know about vampire covens, hunter, but they tend to be careful about those whom they take into the fold, so to speak. They often punish their own for indiscressions such as I recently described. Did you happen to grill this one," he indicated the corpse, "for whereabouts of...possible associates. These would have some explaining to do."

The vapmpire strolled over to the corpse of the now shriveling dead vampire, his back to the hunter and his blades down, a sign of trust, or at least in this case, attempting to have trust, and lightly prodded the corpse with his foot.
"I must say, you did quite a number on this one. But still, even in the shriveled state, he looks a bit starved, no wonder you took him out so easily, poor fellow would probably have wasted away soon." The vampire turned back to the hunter behind the tree.
"Still, that's one less rouge vampire around, so tell me, hunter, what's your name?"

"For now, you can call me Father Nightroad," replied Abel as he holstered the pistol, "as for our friend there, well, he was quite plump when the hunt started last week."

"Yes," the Metal Man said, turning to smile gently at the hunter. "I believe that you've already heard the name I go by. And could I stop to share with you information about your recent...dismissal? I recently discovered a young boy crossed over, and I want to find out who is responsible before we have a pandemic of vampirism on our hands.

"I'm not sure how much you know about vampire covens, hunter, but they tend to be careful about those whom they take into the fold, so to speak. They often punish their own for indiscressions such as I recently described. Did you happen to grill this one," he indicated the corpse, "for whereabouts of...possible associates. These would have some explaining to do."

"I can assure you he knew nothing of this boy you speak of," responded Abel, "only a century old and still going solo like those newly turned do unless guided and taught. That one was as wild as a vampire can be while still being a thinking creature. I've hunted him for long enough to know, however, the identities of other vampire's he came into contact with. If you wish, I'll take you to the nearest one I know of for you to, as you said, 'grill'."

The vampire looked at the hunter, "Father Nightroad.... are you a priest?" A slight frown came over hs face, a priest was not good news for vampires. The vampire then turned to Peter. Grestor had told him that Peter knew about the child.
"Lord Hekvar questioned the boy, he said the boy didnt know about who bit him. So for that, we dont know yet. Sorry Peter."

The cyborg turned to the priest. As he did, the top stone on the cross began to softly glow. It was anomalous, however. Normally, the stone was blue. Right now, it glowed a wand shade of amber. This would require furhter investigation at a later time. Right now, with Konstantine's servant having shown greater self-discipline than the Metal Man had given him credit for (he would not underestimat that one again), the primary task reverted to ensuring the boy's socialization, taking Hekvar's measure, and arranging contact between himself and the Children of the Dawn if this proved worth pursuing.

"It would seem, then, that we've all got our work cut out for us," he said. "Father, forgive me, but I would appreciate it if you could find out who crossed the boy over and get that information to Lord Hekvar's camp. This is Hekvar's turf. We would be overstepping my bounds if we did not allow him the opportunity to socialize or sanction the rogues in the area, and I do not wish to disrespect my soon-to-be host.

"I will be in Berlin in three days, in a bar called Der Spiegel, in a small subterranian line of shops called the Underground. Meet me there, please. I suspect that I will have tidings that concern you in your professional capacity."

I wish I had more time to talk with the Good Father. I must learn whether he shares my conviction that some of them can be dealt with through means other than the sword.

---------------

OOC @Scaveutland: note the spelling of "rogues," please. "Rouge" is makeup that some women wear to accentuate their cheek bones.

--------------

IC:

He turned to Hekvar's servant--or, he was probably Hekvar's. He certainly wasn't Carcov's. His medallion was fresh from the mold, and Carcov, while actively recruiting, hadn't made a new medallion in decades. "You, sir, should give me reasonable directions to the place where I am to be received. You cannot teleport me. It simply does not work. I don't understand why."

------------------

OOC:

The Metal Man is a mechanical being. His very nature makes magic less prone to work around him. He can even thwart prophesy--or, at least, he
has done so in other threads. :) :) :)

-------------------

An hour later, he stood before the castle, weapons powered down and dressed in a dark blue three-piece suit and black surcoat. It had been a challenge to get free of Father Nightroad, and he wasn't sure that the priest hadn't seen him disappear when he cloaked just past the clearing, but he had made sure that he wasn't followed. Now, he was plainly visible at the main gate.

"Who goes there?" a guard demanded.

"I go by the name of Peter," the Metal Man responded, "and I have requested an audience with Lord Hekvar regarding a new crossover whom we both should have met." He did not say that he had been granted an audience, but merely requested one. He was prepared to wait if need be.

The vampire looked at the hunter, "Father Nightroad.... are you a priest?" A slight frown came over hs face, a priest was not good news for vampires. The vampire then turned to Peter. Grestor had told him that Peter knew about the child.
"Lord Hekvar questioned the boy, he said the boy didnt know about who bit him. So for that, we dont know yet. Sorry Peter."

"I work for the Vatican, yes," replied Abel, "so you can say that makes me a priest, in a sense."

The cyborg turned to the priest. As he did, the top stone on the cross began to softly glow. It was anomalous, however. Normally, the stone was blue. Right now, it glowed a wand shade of amber. This would require furhter investigation at a later time. Right now, with Konstantine's servant having shown greater self-discipline than the Metal Man had given him credit for (he would not underestimat that one again), the primary task reverted to ensuring the boy's socialization, taking Hekvar's measure, and arranging contact between himself and the Children of the Dawn if this proved worth pursuing.

"It would seem, then, that we've all got our work cut out for us," he said. "Father, forgive me, but I would appreciate it if you could find out who crossed the boy over and get that information to Lord Hekvar's camp. This is Hekvar's turf. We would be overstepping my bounds if we did not allow him the opportunity to socialize or sanction the rogues in the area, and I do not wish to disrespect my soon-to-be host.

"I will be in Berlin in three days, in a bar called Der Spiegel, in a small subterranian line of shops called the Underground. Meet me there, please. I suspect that I will have tidings that concern you in your professional capacity."

I wish I had more time to talk with the Good Father. I must learn whether he shares my conviction that some of them can be dealt with through means other than the sword.

"I'll see what I can dig up and bring it to you there," replied Abel, "why? Because I'm as interested in you as I can tell you seem to be in me."

With that, Abel began moving from branch to branch as he followed the trail 'Peter' and the vampires had left back to the cave. From there, he would track the boy back to the hollow he had been hiding in earlier and from there, back to his hometown eventually.

OOC @Scaveutland: note the spelling of "rogues," please. "Rouge" is makeup that some women wear to accentuate their cheek bones.

OOC: Actually, I think I was making that mistake as well.

The vampire stepped closer to Peter and spoke quietly to him, "Lord Hekvar's estate is in north Prussia, about ninety leagues northeast of here. And don't worry about justidiction now, this area is technically common ground owned by several covens, including my lord, Hekvar's." As the vampire stepped back he muttered a small incantation and teleported back to Lord Hekvar's estate.
"Home sweet home." He said to himself as the guards came out to meet him.

An hour later Peter arrived outside Hekvar's manor castle. After Peter introduced himself he was admitted into the castle, straight to Lord Hekvar, who was waiting for him in his study.
"Ah, you must be Peter," Hekvar said rising to meet Peter, "Grestor has told me about you. He says you are strange, and most likely not a terran. If you could tell me a little but about yourself, I'll see if I could identify you," catching an almost irritated look on Peter's face he replied, "I don't mean to make you sound like an animal but I have never seen a humanoid like you." Hekvar sat and offered Peter a chair.

Draza materialized in the outskirts of Berlin, the city where he would most likely find the vampire he was seeking. He knew he couldn't stay in his current form, walking around in the middle of a city as a vampire was dangerous, even at night. He muttered a few words and suddenly felt his body begin to change. His red eyes turned brown, his silver hair darkened to a jet black, his skin lost most of its paleness, and his fangs retracted back to normal size. He also felt his demonic aura drop dramatically; now only an experienced vampire hunter or another vampire would notice that he wasn't really human.

Hopefully I won't have to remain in this disgusting form for long.

Draza quickly walked down the empty streets and looked around for a certain bar that his acquaintance was likely to be in. He looked up towards the sky and saw that it was getting brighter, the sun would be up soon.

Shit, I don't have much time left.

He walked through a complex route of alleyways and streets until he finally reached the discreet location of the bar. As he walked in several heads turned towards him and stared. He must've looked strange wearing a black cloak at night, but that wasn't the only reason that they stared. Most of the heads turned away, minding their own business again, but the ones that kept their eyes transfixed on him were the ones that knew that he wasn't human. He walked up towards the bartender, who was one of the ones that didn't stop staring.

"I'm looking for Dejana, any chance she's here?"

The bartender looked for a moment longer, as though thinking whether or not to respond, then he nudged his head towards a table in the corner of the room. Draza smiled as he walked towards the table and took a seat next to the attractive young woman.

"Dejana, I thought I'd find you here," Draza said, then leaning his head closer towards her he whispered, "things aren't going as planned...I'm going to need some help."

OOC:

I would appreciate some character interaction with my character, Lutei Kaspari.

"Forgive me, Lord Hekvar, if I appear angry. I am merely frustrated because I am not at liberty to answer such a simple question, even for someone whom I feel deserves to know. I can speak of certain events that have occurred in my lifetime. Perhaps these will help you to ascertain my condition.

"I was born in the colonies, across the pond, in the year of our lord 1742. As a young man, I hunted deer and beaver near the shores of Lake Superior. My parents brought me up a staunch Catholic, as do all God-fearing French.

"In 1865, I entered the county of Moldova, a part of the Turkish commonwealth. I worked my way back along the coast until I reached Istambul. There, I was convicted of murder. There is only one problem: the victim survives to this day.

"As I fled the city, this was in 1872, I took pity on a man who was being beaten by a mob. I drove the mob off and saved his life. That man turned out to be Theodore, who heads the Children of the Dawn.

"In 1876, I was in Prussia; I made my first visit to Berlin in 1884, and, by 1890, I was living in France. Nice country, France. Around the turn of the century, I migrated to England, where I eventually took the identity of Peter Berl. It is my habit to take the identities of dieing men and help them to secure their estates and their families in what the world will know as their declining years. I did so with Peter, God rest his soul. Now, I will have to take a new identity. This business has stirred up too much trouble. It is my hope to eventually make it back across the Atlantic and return to the place of my birth.

---------------------

OOC: the timeline calls for him to do that in the late 1930's, but a U-Boat will sink his ship en route, and he'll end up walking much of the distance. :) :) :)

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"I can say those things, and I can say that you will never find another such as myself. That is the limit of what I can say. I do not think that this will satisfy you, so I have called for someone who can speak of me in my stead."

As he said those words, the guard at the door called out again, "Who goes there?"

"My name is not relevant," came the reply, in a voice that was at once majestic and gentle, "but those who know me call me...Theodore."

Weldheimer knelt down at the place he had killed the vampires. No trace of the third one remained. The only clues that remained were that only two bodies had burned up. He concluded that the last one must have ran.

Where could he have gone?

Weldheimer thought. No place stuck out in paticular. He decided to think for a little while about his next move. He moved under a tree and sat against it. He sat doing nothing but thinking.

Ill ask a local.

Was the only thing he could think of. Weldheimer travelled until he encountered a citizen and after a short string of questions headed in the direction the old man had told him to go. He wasnt sure if it was correct but he hoped he could use his horse and catch up.

OOC:Sry for not posting for a bit. Been busy.

He stood a shade under six feet tall, built thin but strong. He wore a hooded robe and matching black slacks. There was a cross on a chain around his neck.

His head was bald, hairless except for white eyebrows that bespoke immense age. Below the eyebrows, circular lenses were held in place by the brassy frame of the eyeglasses that led to his pointed ears.

When he spoke--whether in German, French, Latin or any of a dozen other languages--it was with an exotic accent, one that didn't seem to come from any one place, as if it was learned from the entire world.

-------------

OOC: Think of Indira Ghandi as a vampire, with a little bit of Hollywood
thrown in for good press. :) :) :)

-------------

IC:

As he was led into the castle, he noticed that the flowers in a pot near the door had started to wilt. He stretched out his hand and they straightened. This was as much to verify his identity as to replenish the blooms. Different vampires have different powers. Theodore's trademark power was the Touch of Healing. Other vampires, strong in the ways of their curse, could do things like stand in sunlight or hold the cross. Only Theodore could do these things and cure the sick or heal the wounded. Still, he smiled at the guard who escourted him when his work was done with refreshing humility.

OOC:

I would appreciate some character interaction with my character, Lutei Kaspari.

OOC: If you would like, you could have him show up at the hometown of Ali Falkland, Hetwan's character, when my guy, Abel, shows up hunting for the female vampire that turned him. That alright with you?

IC: Abel blinked in the light of the day and yawned. He had been walking down the road Falkland had use to reach the grove of trees for hours upon hours now and he had only just caught sight of the of the spires of the church that the preist who had burned Ali with holy water called home.

"I'm starting to get a little out shape," muttered Abel to himself in an unpleased tone.

It took him a little longer, but he managed to reach the doors of the structure. Fighting back the need for sleep, he knocked. It took a minute, but the same priest Ali knew opened the door.

"Can I help you, father?" he asked from the doorway.

"Right now," replied Abel, "a simple bed would suffice. I've been on the road for several days straight and I feel as if I'm about to drop from exhaustion. I'll fill you in on what I can of why I am here when I've slept enough to recover my strength."

"Understood," responded the priest before he led Abel to his own cot.

"Thank-you," muttered Abel as his eyes closed and he began to drift off into sleep.

As Theodore entered the room Hekvar stood in surprise, to have the Patriarch of the Children of the Dawn here!
"Come in come in! Its an honor to have you here. This is too great an honor for my small castle." So peter wasn't lying, he did know Theodore. The prophecy was coming true.
"Perhaps we could sit for a while. Day is coming and unlike you two, I myself cannot enter the sunlight." Hekvar offered Theodore a drink which he took, "I have recieved information about you Peter, and I believe that you have been modified, for you have no aura, therefore, I must conclude that at least part of you is mechanical, or bionic. Is that about right Theodore?"

Dejana moved around in her chair a little, looking uncomfortable.

"Help?" she asked, "but...I've already done what you've asked me to do Lord Draza."

Draza smiled and reached out his hand to stroke her long, blond hair.

"Please, just call me Draza," he said as gently as he could, "we're friends now, remember?"

Dejana looked a little relieved and smiled slightly.

"We appreciate what you've done for us to help make the prophecy come true," he said, his tone getting serious, "but we're going to need more of your help."

"But I've already bitten that boy for you," she whimpered, "I didn't want to, he was still so young..."

"We know, and Lord Dominik is truly grateful for that; he will reward you with his protection for your loyalty. However, we've seemed to have lost possession of the boy and, well, you are the one who bit him..."

Dejana knew what he was asking; a vampire always had a strong connection with the one who bit them, so she might be able to convince the boy to return to her. It would require a normal vampire to meet with the other in person for them to communicate, but she had an unique ability: the power of telepathy.

After a moment of deep thought she answered, "Alright, I'll try my best..." she blushed a little, "...but only for you."

Draza smiled as he got up from his chair, "I know you will."

He walked out the door and looked towards the horizon; the sky was orange, it would be morning soon. As he walked quickly down the streets to find some sort of shelter he thought to himself.

How ironic that a woman with telepathy could be so feeble minded...no matter, as long as she fancies me she'll do whatever I say. There's no need to worry, everything will go according to plan, and the prophecy will most certainly be fulfilled.

OOC: Uhm, you do know telekinesis is the power to move objects with one's mind? If you wanted mind-to-mind communication, that's called telepathy. Sorry for nitpicking, but there's a big difference between the two in my mind's eye (and maybe a little OCD as well).

IC: Eight hours of sleep later, Abel yawned and stretched. Blinking, he rolled himself so he was sitting up on the cot. Through a near-by window, he could tell that the sun was going down.

"Luckily," he thought, "I won't need to get any more shut-eye for a while, so I won't waste much of the three days I've got to meet up with that 'Peter' guy in Berlin. Of course, the hard part will be just finding transportation to get me there before he leaves."

Then a smile crossed his face for an instant as he realized it would be easy to get there on time if he just flew. So, having made up his mind on how he would get to his final destination in time for the meeting time, he stood up and sniffed at a familiar odor permuating the air. His nose lead him to his armpits.

"Bugger," he moaned, "looks like I'll need to waste a little longer to get cleaned up."

So, after hiding the things he would prefer not to be found by the locals, he set about making sure his clothes would be cleaned by the time he got out of his bath.

Thirty minutes later, he was out on the streets of the town following the dying trail of pheremones(sp?) where Ali's feet had landed following his encounter with the vampire who had bitten him.

It turned out that the local priest had already spread word of his arrival while he slept. It didn't take much for the locals to figure out why a man of the cloth would show up so unexpectedly, especially considering what had happend so recently to one of their own. Of course, he did encounter mild resistance during his questioning of the townsfolk, most likely due to some hold-over sense of community and parental-like concern and protectiveness in regards to the boy.

An hour later.

"What was I to do, Hekvar?" Theodore asked. "Here, right in my lap, the Lord had placed a test. He had been crossed over, just as we all have." As Theodore spoke these words, there were nods of agreement around the room. "He is a limited immortal, as we all are. So I did what anyone in my position would do: I gave him training.

"It was difficult. His curse is different from our own, yet...similar. There were many times when we had our differences. Our alliance has not always been an easy one.

"But the rewards have been more than compensatory. While my people and I taught, we also learned. The Metal Man bridges many gaps--biology and technology, science and magic. In dealing with him, we have come to understand much about these things--and of ourselves."

Theodore had risen from his chair and paced the room. The whole story had come out--about the abduction, the cybernation, the escape, the knowledge that humanity was unsuitable for harvesting. They even knew about the space ship that he had commandeered, which was now in orbit, still capable of spaceflight. Theodore had shown Hekvar more trust than the Metal Man was comfortable with. He and his coven now knew many of their guest's weaknesses. Somewhere along the way, Grestor had found that his arm was back in place and as good as new.

"There is one other piece of information that is very important," Theodore continued. "The Metal Man has the power to thwart prophesy. He is anti-magical." As Theodore spoke these words, faces around the room changed. The vampire now had more attention than would normally befall a storyteller. "This is why I have told him nothing of the prophesy--to him, it would have no meaning. I think that it is time for us to break our silence. And I think that he should work with your servant, Grestor, as a part of the boy's training. Considering what he did to Konstantine's servant earlier tonight, I think he's earned at least that much."

"Are you certain that this is what you want me to do?" the Metal Man broke in. "It will not be easy for me to conduct business vampire hunters in Berlin while I'm hanging on the sleeve of a master, trying to help a new acolyte learn the ropes."

"Hunters?" Hekvar said.

"If Konstantin is to be stopped," Theodore said, "it will require an alliance of unprecedented proportions. That is why I have sent someone who can negotiate with anyone. Still, this is your castle, Hekvar," he continued, placing his hand now on his benefactor's shoulder. "You have the boy. This is your decision, and I--we--will respect whatever choice you make. I know that the boy will be exposed in Berlin, but his being there could also serve to draw out Konstantin's people. We can be ready when they show themselves, and act!"

Hekvar paused as the faces around the room looked at him, waiting for his decision.
"He will go with you... as will Grestor, and you shall be his teachers. You shall leave for Berlin, and the Vampire Hunters shall become involved in the prophecy. But before you leave, something is supposed to happen. In this castle tomorrow night. Even you cannot change this Peter, for if you do, then the prophecy will fail and.... Konstantin shall succeed in his plans... For now, we shall wait. For a few hours. Before you leave, I will give you a copy of the prophecy. You must review and understand what has to happen... or else even your anti-magical properties cannot change what will happen." Hekvar stood and walked to Theodore, "If anything happens, I need to be able to count on you to continue the course of events, you know the prophecy, you must make it come true! As I have said... something will happen tomorrow night, that must happen," Hekvar turned to face the others in the room, "As for everyone, if something is to happen to any of us, Peter, Theodore, Gestor, or myself, I expect you to continue on, these are unimaginally important times.... and if our cause fails.... then.... all is lost. I expect your best. Don't fail me." Hekvar sat back down in his chair and looked at the others. There was really nothing left to say, those that knew the prophecy could most likely understand the passage he was refering to, hopefully.

Abel had reached a dead end, figuratively and literally. The locals he had spoken to recalled a woman who had appeared one night and vanished soon after Ali had been run out of town. That was the figurative dead end. The literal dead end was the run he had located as the original bite site. He knew this because there were still a few smeared drops of Ali's blood on the ground.

"Where do I go from here," pondered Abel silently.

He paced the alley for a few minutes before deciding he would try to pick up the scent, figuratively and literally, of the vampire who had bitten the boy and track the creature of the night.

OOC: Alright, I've gone as far as I pretty much can go alone. Whoever is RPing the vampire who bit Ali needs to step in now with said character.
Lol, she's got a 967-year-old Crusnik on her tail now. Personally, I would be scared *censored* (I didn't really feel like typing it and I don't know if some of those following this thread are old enough to view such language).

OOC: I've just introduced Dejana, the girl who bit Ali, and will RP her and Draza if you guys don't mind. If anyone wants to step in and RP her instead then feel free.

IC: Draza peered outside the window of his hideout and saw that the sun had set, it was finally night. He had spent the day in the cellar of an old abandoned house, the darkest place he could find. As he walked outside he could see that there were still quite a few people wandering the streets; it didn't matter, none of them would be able to see through his disguise anyways. There wasn't much for him to do tonight, if Dejana did what she was told then there would be nothing to worry about. He paced down the streets, wondering what he should do with his free time.

Hmm...I haven't had much fun in a while, and I am getting quite hungry...

Draza chuckled to himself as he thought about his midnight plans, it was time for a well deserved meal.
____________________________

Dejana woke up suddenly with a cold sweat, she had just had the dream about the boy again. It was as if she was reliving the incident; the boy was walking down a pathway, probably going home, when she leaped on top of him. She could remember the look of fear on his face as she sank her teeth into his neck, his screams echoing through the night...

"I can't take this anymore!" she screamed to herself. "It's all my fault!"

She then remembered what she had to do tonight, the task assigned to her by Lord Draza.

I just hope that they will help the boy, he didn't deserve any of this.

Dejana cleared her thoughts and focused her mind. It took her several minutes to find Ali's thoughts and establish a link with them, but she finally got it.

"Hello...Ali, I hope you can hear me. Listen carefully, you are in grave danger. If you wish to save yourself, come meet me at the city of Berlin. Once you get here I will give you further instructions. Be wise, and take heed of my warning."

OOC:I need some character interaction to keep me going. Im trying to get involved some more but I can only use the computer an hour a day.

Weldheimer had hit another snag. After travelling some distance he realized he was heading back to Berlin.

What a waste of time that was

He continued silently watching for movement in the bushes in case the vampires had decided that his following of this one was a problem. If they were out there we would try and get them to tell him what was going on. He rode still in silence on his horse towards his desination.

Abel had managed to compile the descriptions of the strange woman who had passed through town into a rather decent drawing. Retrieving his belongings from where he had hidden them earlier, he thanked the local priest for his kindness earlier in allowing him a place to sleep and bid him farewell. Vanishing into the night, he waited until he was several kilometers from the farthest outskirts of the town before shifting to his Stage II Morph form and launching himself into the air. At his air speed, he estimated he would arrive at Berlin a bit before dawn. He flew as high as he could so as to avoid any anti-aircraft systems. Thus, to those on the ground, he would appear as not more than a bird.

OOC: Lol, looks like we've been RPing it lately as if we had forgotten it was set in WWI era. TBH, I can't recall if radar was a WWI or WWII invention, so I didn't mention it by name.

OOC: Radar=WWII I am 70% sure. or it at least came after ww1 Im 100% sure of that.

OOC:

RADAR was END OF World War II technology. They had a prototype system in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese invaded, but, at least according to the official line, it was so unreliable that it was shut down on that day.

In World War I, the best technology available to the allies was...spotters. That's right, guys in towers with binoculars. Some guys in airplanes, but these, too, were an unreliable technology, especially for the allies (german aircraft were faster and more maneuverable and had better firepower at that time). At the time, most of them didn't even have radios. The first vacuum tube transmitters started coming out in this country around 1914. Even by 1917, when the US entered the war, the technology wasn't particularly reliable.

----------------------------

If anybody knows anything about The Prophesy, now would be a good time to let me in on it. TG me either at Marionetonia or at my primary nation, the Dominion of Dastardly Stench, or leave an OOC message. Just let me know.

----------------------------

Apologies in advance for any problems I cause in RPing Ali.

----------------------------

IC:

"Peter, am I in danger?" Ali asked.

"Not from me," the cyborg replied. "Not right now. In fact, I've taken great pains to make sure that you would be safe."

"But there's danger for me if I stay here."

"There's danger for you because they don't want you to stay here. I'm going to Berlin to find a vampire hunter, and they want you and Grestor to go with me."

"But, why?"

"It seems, Ali, that you're in demand. Lord Hekvar isn't the only one who enjoys your company. There is another camp, run by a vampire named Konstantin. Hekvar and my friend Theodore don't like Konstantin very much, and I trust Theodore, so I'd have to say he's got to be a pretty slippery sort."

"So this Konstantin is bad?"

"I don't know. I've heard horrible things about him, but our paths have never actually crossed. You'll have to decide for yourself. I'd be on my guard if I were you."

"And if I decide that he is good?"

"I will let you go to him."

"And if I decide that he is bad?"

"I will do what I have to in order to keep him from harming you."

"You're a good man, Peter. Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because, a long time ago, some people did a bad thing to me without giving me any choice--."

"Like the ones who made you into what you are?"

"--like the woman who made you a vampire. She never asked you, did she?"

"No."

"Well, I try to make sure that people get to make choices that are important to them."

"Oh."

I hope Ali can make his decision freely. I hope he won't find me too difficult a taskmaster. I'm going to have to get him up and running in a hurry. Memory enhancement, reading speed and comprehension, mathematical skills, basic occult principles (at the very least, the Law of Threefold Return)--he's going to need his basic learning tools, and there isn't time to make sure that he'll learn them well. But all the rest flows from this. I wonder why I want so much for him to like me.

OOC: The telepathic message was actually what I was looking fr, I was hoping for a more direct confrontation, but the wheedling in Ali's mind works just fine.

IC:Hekvar looked at Ali, it was nightfall and they would be setting off soon. Hekvar crouched down to Ali and looked him full in the face.
"Ali, I want you to be careful, Peter and Grestor here will protect you, but still, be careful."

OOC: I sent one of the loose drafts of the prophecy to Marionetonia but here's a little bit more defined one, I added a bit.


And behold, in the days when the lands are torn asunder by conflict, the dwellers of the night shall quarrel. The elder of the night dwellers serving the master of darkness, the younger dwellers keeping the darkness away.

In this time the dweller of nonmale features shall infest the Chosen One, the Chosen One shall be of a newly man's age and is the key to the savior or the death of the world.

The Chosen One shall have companions in his journey to defeat the darkness attempting to swallow the world. The Metal Man, the Loyal Servant, the Rogue Master, the master who can see the day, the Dark one turned Light, the man with two forms, and the Mortal Hunter. One of these companions shall fall along the way, he who falls shall determine the path of the Chosen One, Darkness or Light.

Guard well the Chosen One physically and mentally, for if the darkness consumes him all is lost. But if he is skilled and ready, there is hope for humanity.

OOC: I've decided that I'll have to drop my hunter character since I can't find room for him to fit in. Anyway, here's an IC. The goal here is to get Ali to doubt if he really is in safe hands and possibly meet Jacob for the first time.

IC:
Liechtenstein Castle
Jacob had sensed it. Draza was apparently having trouble with capturing Ali. It seemed that now, it was his time to bring his hand into the play. He stepped into the pentagram in the middle of his throne room and teleported to the location of the hunters.

Hunters Location (At night)
Jacob saw the hunters and the young boy Ali among them. It would not be to his benefit if he were to capture the boy, he needed him to come willingly. To do this, he decided to fool with Ali's mind by giving him a nightmare. He made Ali dream of the hunters ganging up on him while he was asleep and butchered his body. After doing so, Jacob hid away waiting for Ali to awaken.

Ali woke with a start, the nightmare he'd just had replayed through his mind in detail.
"Damn" He looked at the moon, wondering if it meant anything. He remembered the voice he'd heard in his head a night ago, he'd ignored it easily enough after talking with Peter, but that combined with the dream...
Ali looked around, it was still early in the night, he had some time.
Ali got up and walked torward the forest.

"Hey"

"Hmm?" It was one of the guards.

"Where are you going?"

"Just for a walk, need a little time for myself."

"I'm afraid I must come with you, to make sure nothing happens."

"Alright." Ali said as he walked into the forest with the vampire trailing him.

Grestor sat in the hollow of an old oak, he enjoyed oaks, they were large, sturdy, and perfect for climbing. But now he was just sitting, he was thinking about the message Lord Hekvar gave to him as he left, "On your way to Berlin, something is to happen, watch out for Ali." He saw Ali and the guard walking by and decided to investigate, after all, that was his job. He pulled himself to his feet and followed Ali at a short distance, taking special precautions to be quiet. This was probably the thing Lord Hekvar said would happen, so he had to stay close.

"No," said Theodore, "you have to stay out of this, old friend."

The Metal Man raised his eyebrows. Theodore chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"You know, when I first met you, you couldn't even smile."

"When you first met me, I couldn't even grow the skin to use on one of my suits."

"Yes--and now, look at you. So comfortable in your new surroundings that you even bunch your forehead just like a mortal."

"Or some varieties of immortal--but you haven't answered my question."

"On the contrary. I answered the one you asked quite plainly."

"Now, it should be my turn to guffaw," the cyborg said.

"See. I'm getting to be quite the accountant in my old age. You're rubbing off on me."

"Yes, but...why do I have to stay out of this?"

"Because of your ability to thwart prophesy--and your inability to control your ability."

"Is it that I can thwart them, or is it that there is no such thing?"

"Certainly, I can understand, old friend, that you might not believe in them."

"Good." The Metal Man smiled. "We're making progress. Now, for the next step: if there is indeed such a thing as prophesy, and if indeed it works as you claim, then why should my proximity to the events that play out in one affect my ability to change it? If, indeed, they're somehow magical, and I am anti-magical, wouldn't my mere knowledge of the magic spell make it that much weaker?"

Theodore laughed a mirthful laugh. "Oh, the Divine One," his expression became particularly amused, "if you believe in such, must have a sense of humor. All the centuries I've lived and unlived, all that I have learned, and now He puts before me one who reminds me that I still don't know everything."

"So...that would make your answer..."

"Yes. We're going to have to find out, aren't we?" Theodore chuckled again.

Abel had made it to the outskirts of Berlin roughly five minutes before the dawn's light would reach his position. Quickly shifting back to his human form, he twisted his arm to work a king out of his elbow, wincing as the cracking noise echoed around the area. He had arrived early, long before the requested meeting time by 'Peter'. Venturing towards the more civilized parts of the city, he spotted a vampire slipping down an ally and into a run down building. He was about to continue on as he had no reason to follow, when he noticed this vampire bore the same crest as Draza.

"I'll secure him now and let this 'Peter' interrogate him after he arrives," he thought with a crooked smile.

Having made up his mind, he darted after his new target.

OOC: @All: Alright, guys and gals, how am I doing at this RP thing so far?

ooc: don't worry, you're doing fine. Except for the whole copying the character word for word from the show, Trinity Blood. But overall, just fine.

bumpity bump bump bump

OOC: Sorry for taking so long to post guys, I had an unforseen snag in RL that kept me from using the computer much over the past few days. I'm back now though and I'm eager to get involved in the RP.

IC: Five hundred feet above Hekvar's estate

Caphriel soared noiselessly above a vampire, known as Hekvar Malphaeus's, estate. He had transformed into an owl in order to get here unnoticed. It was true that he could have flown here in his normal body, but somehow he didn't think he would have gotten within twenty miles of this place that way. As an angel, he tended to give off a rather bright light and it would have made him stand out like a beacon against the night sky.

Although he had reached his destination some time ago, he had not yet made his prescence known. Mostly because he wasn't sure exactly why he was here. From the moment he had set foot on the earth outside Berlin, he had been pulled to this spot by something that he couldn't explain. He had been around long enough to know that it most certainly wasn't his Lord God that had nudged him in this direction. This knowledge alone was enough to worry him just a little.

Now however, all of the pieces had alligned themselves in neat little rows just for him and he couldn't afford to wait any longer. He had to find out exactly what he was up against. So on his next pass, Caphriel swooped downwards over the roof of the estate and glided in to the nearby woods where he transformed into his human persona, a certain George Bronson. Strolling out of the woods as if nothing was the matter, Caphriel advanced towards the gate of the manor waiting for someone to challenge him.

Draza smiled to himself as he prepared himself for the hunt. He was hidden in the shadows and brandished a dagger made from his own blood. He could see a young couple kissing under the moonlight a few meters away; they looked so happy and carefree, perfect victims for his long awaited meal. He silently emerged from the shadows and walked up to the couple. He tapped the man on the shoulder, and as he turned around he stabbed him in the stomach several times. The man immediately fell to the floor, clutching at his stomach, and the woman began shrieking and started to run off.

Now, now, we can't have that...

Draza chased after the woman and muttered an incantation. Immediately afterwards the woman's lips were sealed shut and her shrieks were turned into muffled noises. He then sprinted up to her and forced her to the ground face-up. He could see the tears in her eyes, the terror in her face, pleading him not to take her life. However, this caused him no hesitation as he brought down his dagger and slashed open her throat. The scene was gruesome and messy as large amounts of blood filled the street. Not wanting to let any of the precious liquid go to waste, Draza quickly said a short phrase that caused most of the blood to flow directly into his mouth. After consuming a large amount of the liquid, he quickly ran towards the man's body, now in a puddle of blood, and poured as much blood as possible into a large vial. It would be morning soon, and he wanted to save some of the drink for later. He then pocketed the vial and ran off into the shadows. Draza licked his lips in satisfaction as he ran, the hunt had been fun, and the reward was just as satisfying.
____________________________

Dejana stopped and rested for several hours after linking with Ali's mind. It took a lot of energy to mentally link with another being and her mind was still a bit strained. She looked out the window and saw that the sun was about to rise again.

Has it really been that long? The nights seem to get shorter and shorter...

She walked up to the window and closed the curtains, bathing the room in darkness. She found it hard to fall asleep, but once she did she began to dream. It wasn't her usual nightmare, rather, it was a pleasant dream. A dream where Ali would come meet her and she would take him to Lord Draza, and as a reward he would show her his affection. Yes, this was a dream she longed to come true, a dream that she would do anything to make a reality.

Hekvar watched from his room window as the angel approached his estate. He had sensed an angelic presence coming closer and knew who it was, as such he had arranged for no guards to come and obstruct him as he entered, Hekvar was going to meet the angel himself.

Grestor continued his silent stalking of Ali as he walked through the woods. Something was going to happen, something bad. Grestor didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

OOC: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Someone needs to take up the role of Jacob Primorismalum/ Dominik Konstantin. I'm just unable to stay active on this thread and I plan on giving up rping for a while. I'm not certain if it will be for a few months or forever, but I'll see what happens. If you need any help on what Jacob/Dominik is trying to accomplish, just be sure to tg me about it. Good luck.

OCC: Who's going to take over Konstantin?

sorry, but it aint me, I already have two guys to RP as. What about True Race?

TB has volunteered in the OOC thread, and so have I...but, if I'm going to do this, I need to know what Braz's plans were. Normally, when one goes to write a story, one has at least some sort of an outline to work from, after all... :) :) :)

uh, Konstantin wants to raise satan from the underworld and he's going to do that by drenching the world in blood of mortals and by using Ali, somehow, not sure about Ali.

A fruit bat flapped its wings in a nearby tree. This was nothing unusual, especially for this time of night. Fruit bats, and their insectivorous cousins, were known to nest in the area. They caused no harm, and even helped to propogate certain species of trees, and to keep down the population of several kinds of varmint.

Slowly, it spread its wings and took to the skies--but it did not stop to flit at the nearby pear or fig orchards. Instead, it took to the skies directly above Ali. As it did, others arrived and took up station in the nearby branches.

Swooping low, it let out a cry, a sound of evil glee. It had found what it was searching for. At that moment, the rest of the swarm took to the air. In a flash, the skies were filled with hundreds and hundreds of bats. They blotted out the moon, the trees, everything.

Come away, Ali.

In a malstrom of swirling black wings, they surrounded the boy, singing an irrisistable message.

Come away, Ali. We are here just for you! Let us show you the joys of the nighttime skies! Let us keep you safe within the rustling of our wings and the cries of our voices!

The swirling, looping mass of wings continued building mass, circling around the boy vampire, entreating him to join them.

Abel had delved deep into the catacombs beneath Berlin in search of an old aquaintance in a similar position as him with a similar job. While Abel was a Crusnik, his aquaintence was a vampire that worked as a vampire hunter for the human family that had entrapped him into their service long ago when he had gone by a name feared by all who heard it.

"Where is that fedora wearing twirp," muttered Abel to himself as he took careful steps to avoid holes in the floor that led to the level below.

The guard with Ali was surrounded by bats almost immediately and despite the fruit bat's noncarnivourous ways he was forced down and bitten repeatedly. From the outside of the clearing Grestor saw the bats surround Ali and started forward.
"No! Ali get away from here!" Grestor jumped into the swirling vortex of bats and grabbed Ali.
"Ali, get out of here! Now!" Grestor picked up Ali by his collar and shoved him out of the massed bats. The bats immediately attacked, flying in upon Grestor and biting him many times, Grestor drew his blades and began hacking at the bats, killing some, but there were too many.

The bats came out of nowhere, Ali could not see the guard.
The bats surrounded and swirled around him.

They seemed to want him to join them in flying. Ali had a very strong urge to fly away with them, before he could do anything though he was lifted up by his neck and thrown out of the the circle of bats.

Grestor was yelling at him to get away.

I can do that. thought Ali.

As he was turning to leave though, something caught his eye.

One of the bats was leaving the large grouping and flying torwards him at a moderate pace. It wasn't the bat itself that caught his eye, it was the eyes themselves, they brimmed with intelligence.

The bat looked at him and seemed to smile.

Ali acted on an impulse, "Are you Konstantin?" Ali asked the bat as it came closer.

No, the bat's voice rang in Ali's head, I am his servant, Hissler. Konstantin is above the presence of vile creatures such as that.

It was obviously referring to Grestor.

You are not like them, Ali. You are above them. That is why we are here--for you. Once, Konstantin lived with creatures such as them, but they grew jealous of him and tried to harm him, as, in time, they will try to harm you. That is also why I am here, Ali--to keep you safe. Come away with me, Ali, and we will ensure that you will never need to suffer the company of the inferior again.

Caphriel glanced warily from side to side as he reached the gate unchallenged. Carefully he reached out and pushed, expecting it to be locked but to his suprise, it opened quite easily. With that he slowly walked into the courtyard still expecting some sort of trap.

This is very strange, he thought to himself as he reached the doors of the estate. They must have sensed me somehow and prepared for my arrival. It just doesn't make sense though, why would they readily let an angel of my particular profession walk right into their home?

Stretching out his hand toward the large gargoyle shaped doorknocker, he pulled it back and let it fall three times and waited patiently for his host to arrive. All the while, he still puzzled over this strange set of events that had led him here.

Hekvar flicked his hand and the estate doors slowly creaked open. Hekvar walked forward towards the angel slowly but in plain sight.
"Greetings, one of the light. Come in, come in, but uh... please, remain in that form, if nothing else, then for my own health." Hekvar reached forward towards the angel and stopped just in time to remember that even in human form angels were deadly to the touch for vampires.
"Ah, do come in."

Grestor rose, swatting bats from him left and right. Seing Ali still siting on the ground mezmarized, Grestor spoke a small incantation and teleported, directly to Ali's side, and grabbed the young vampire. Muttering another incantation he teleported to the only place he knew would be safe, the camp, where Peter was.

When the vampire greeted him, Caphriel thought briefly about denying exactly what he was but dismissed it right away. This vampire obviously knows what I am but perhaps not why I am here. This meeting could prove interesting.

As he entered the manor, he smiled as the vampire reached for him and then drew away quickly as he remembered what he was dealing with. "Thank you for welcoming me into your home, my name is Caphriel and as you have correctly guessed, an angel. You are Hekvar I presume?"

With that, he strode farther into the house taking in every detail of the entrance hall. "Now, introductions made, I am curious as to the assortment of beings you are having as your guests this evening. Especially the presence of a vampire who I believe had interests somewhere on the other side of the spectrum."

"And the mountain came to Mohammad," the cyborg said. He was looking at Theodore at the time, smiling a smile that was broadened with the delicious irony of the situation.

"Oh, dear," said the Holy Vampire. "First, an Angel arrives at the estate, and now this."

"An angel?" the cyborg said. "Really? Maybe I can give him some free will. After all, I'm supposedly made of the stuff."

"Don't be so smug. Any of us could feel him as he arrived, but you had to be told."

"We all have our blind spots," the man-machine replied. "For example, did either any of you gentlemen notice the tear in the fabric of underspace that you arrived through?"

"We travel through that," Grestor said. "Of course, we develop some feel for--."

"Good," the Metal Man cut him off. "Then I'm certain you've also noticed, as I have, that it didn't completely seal after your arrival."

"What?"

The blades came out of the Metal Man's arms. "I think that you were followed," he said.

Sure enough, a bat flew lazily through the unsealed rift. It was an easy matter for the Metal Man to target and stun it with the beam from under the blade, but that wasn't the end of the problem.

"Oh, dear," said Theodore.

"What's wrong now?" Ali asked.

"There is a disembodied presence in this room! I can feel it! It must have come in with that bat! Quick! Get away before it takes posession of...

An unholy light began to shine through Theodore's eyes. His features twisted into a look of evil, zealous glee. When he spoke, his voice had changed. It sounded more serpentine than human.

"Come away, Ali. You're in danger here. They want to harm you, Ali. Only Konstantine can keep you safe."

"If I'm so intent on harming anyone," the Metal Man broke in, "then why did I not even kill the bat you flew in on?"

Whatever Theodore had become, he ignored the Metal Man's attempt at reason.

"Come away, Ali."

"Away. Grestor, help him. This thing isn't interested in discussion. It just broadcasts a message and doesn't care if it's the truth."

At that, the posessed Theodore turned toward his old friend. He laughed. "You will hear the word," it said.

Thedore seemed to choke. He clutched his throat and bent over a tent pole. For a moment, he gagged. "Argghhhh! It's after you, Pierre!"

And then, his features returned to their posessed state.

The Metal Man's eyes narrowed. "Can't posess me, can you?" he asked.

It laughed a vile, wicked laugh. "You are the man-machine," it said. "The Prophesy is truly upon us at last."

"Grestor, why are you still here?"

It laughed again. The wind began to pick up now, just a little breeze. It smiled gleefully as it raised its hands. "There is no escaping the prophesy," it said.

"Grestor! GO! Find that angel whom Theodore was talking about. If anybody can drive this demon away, it can!" As he spoke, the Metal Man retracted his blades, reached over and grasped Theodore's robes. It laughed harder, and slashed his face with the old vampire's talons.

"Is that really the best you've got?" the Metal Man asked as the wounds began, rather rapidly, to heal.

-----------------------

OOC:

I never wrote that Hissler was a bat. :) :) :) Grestor had better hurry, though. It won't take Hissler long to realize that the Metal Man is just trying to distract him so that Grestor and Ali can get help. Then again, maybe Ali will start manifesting some of those vaunted powers of his. Who knows?

ooc: I don't think that Ali is at his full potential yet, so I guess at the time running would be the best option.

IC: Grestor quickly grabbed Ali's robes and pulled him close. He muttered a short incantation and teleported, not directly to Lord Hekvar's palace, for that would be stupid, but instead some bleak uninhabited part of southern Germany first then said another incantation and teleported directly to Lord Hekvar's manor, all the while holding on tightly to Ali's robes. If he lost Ali then Peter's diversion would be meaningless.

Hekvar was watching as the angel inspected his manor and felt another presence which he knew quite well to suddenly appear right outside, it was Grestor, and Ali. Something was wrong.
"Uh, I believe that I must attend to something upstairs, please excuse me."

Behind Grestor and Ali, the air began to crackle and bubble with electricity. Something was coming through where they had been.

Slowly, the form of Theodore began to appear amid the lightning. Something else, not yet visible, was with him. From the look on his face, he was not happy with it. He writhed and shook, trying to throw whatever it was off, but it seemed to hold fast.

"Curse you, man-machine!" he said. "You've slowed me down enough! Begone!"

Slowly, Peter's body became visible. It was as if he was being forced through something that was not meant to admit him.

"Let go!" the bodiless demon bellowed. "Your body will be shorn from you! I swear!"

"I told you," came the emotionless reply, "that, wherever you go, I go, too. You should listen instead of only talking."

------------------------

OOC: Thought that this would add some urgency to the story. The show now belongs to Hekvar, Grestor, Ali and, of course, Caphriel. Take it away, guys!

"Long time no see, my bespectled friend," commented a man in a canary yellow fedora as Abel rounded a corner.

"Conisdering you always hide yourself and never stay in one place for long," retorted Abel, "I'm amazed I was able to find you at all."

"So," came the reply, "what is it this time? I've got a new shipment of those silver bullets of yours from the Vatican. It just arrived yesterday. There's some Holy Water, stakes, crosses, even got a few new flash-bangs said to be as intense as the sun..."

"Nothing right now," interrupted Abel, "right now, I'm more interested in information than your wares or my shipment," he pulled out the picture of the female vampire* who had bitten Ali, "What can you tell me about this wench?"

OOC: *What was her name again?

Grestor teleported onto the second floor of Lord Hekvar's manor and collapsed, he had not had any blood recently and his wounds were terrible.
"Ali, go find Lord Hekvar, tell him we were attacked. And send someone up with blood..." Grestor passed into unconsiousness.

At that moment Hekvar bounded up the stairs with two bottles of blood and noticed Ali and the collapsed form of Grestor. He ran up and immediately opened Grestor's mouth and poured some of the blood into his mouth.
"Ali, help me, hold open his mouth." With Ali helping him he managed to pour about half of the bottle into Grestor's mouth, as he pulled the bottle away Hekvar noticed that some of Grestor's wounds were beginning to heal.

The moments after he questioned the bat or whatever it was flew by quickly.
Ali vaguely recalled teleporting, Peter and Theodore, and some lightning.
Ali was helping Hekvar pour blood into Grestor's mouth when he noticed the strange presence inside the estate.
"Who's in there?" he asked Hekvar.

Behind the three vampires, Theodore and the Metal Man fully materialized.

"So be it," the posessed vampire said. "You must come. It is not mandatory that you choose to do so." With that, the light in Theodore's eyes went out, and he sagged forward, heaving.

"Don't let it posess Ali!" the Metal Man called out.

Hekvar grabbed Ali and pulled him tight, he then clasped his hands and muttered an incantation. As he finished a pale blue nimbus surrrounded himself and Ali in a protecting light. Just as he finished the aura surrounding them turned deep red as the spirit attempted to posess one of the beings inside.
"Damn... Hekvar said through clenched teeth." It was taking all of his energy to hold up the barrier, but he had one last truck just in case...

OOC: That trick is that if the barrier breaks the spirit must posess Hekvar instead of Ali due to the vortex of energy that is caused by Hekvar using all of his energy to hold up the shield, if it comes crashing down the spirit will get sucked into Hekvar.

Caphriel saw the change in Hekvar just before he ran upstairs. Quickly discerning the source of the trouble, Caphriel dashed upstairs hot on Hekvar's heels. When he reached the landing, he spotted Hekvar leaning over another vampire and pouring what looked like a bottle of blood into its open mouth. Behind them, he saw two forms fading in and out of sight until finally they materialized.

Caphriel felt the demonic prescence that possessed Theodore right away and was already moving towards him as he slumped foward. He felt the demon move straight for one of the vampires as Hekvar struggled to place a protective veil over him.

Quickly he interposed himself between Hekvar and the airborne demon. And then speaking very firmly and quietly he said, "If you wish to possess him, you will have to get by me first."

Then with a wave of his hand, he created a holy barrier effectively barring the demon from getting to Ali at least for the time being. Then he muttered, "God give me strength," and a flaming sword appeared in his hand. Turning to Hekvar he said, "Take the boy and go, I must transform to properly fight this demon."

Seeing that others had joined the battle, the Metal Man dragged his friend out of the room, collecting Hekvar and Ali along the way.

"We're safe," Theodore said, turning to him. "Go back."

"You're sure you don't need my help," the cyborg asked--not just Theodore, but all of them.

"No!" the Holy Vampire replied. "HE does, though! You're the most acutely physical of us. That's why the demon can't posess you. Your mere presence acts as a damper on its powers!"

"I understand," the man-machine replied.

He gently released his grip on Theodore, who slumped onto a nearby bannister. Then, he turned around and went back into the room. He arrived just in time. The demon had turned itself into a horrible ball of lightning and a bolt struck the newcomer just as the cyborg re-entered. The blade came out of his left hand. It acted as a lightningrod. The next bolt, intended for the newcomer, hit the blade instead. It sent a jolt of pain through the entire suit, but the primary systems held--this time. A few more shots like that, however, and the Metal Man would be completely paralyzed.

Hekvar ran along as best he could while carrying the semiconsious form of Grestor on his shoulders. The sound of lightning could be heard upstairs, something bad was happening.
"Ali, turn right up here." Hekvar said, at least Hekvar had planned for this day. He pulled down on one of the torch holders (not very original, sorry) along the wall and a door opened revealing a small saferoom where he dragged the limp form of Grestor inside and closing the door.
"We should be safe here, I've placed certain charms around this room, that thing won't get in here."

The bolt of lightning struck Caphriel before he could react, but the Holy barrier took the majority of the blow and only succeeded in pushing him backwards a few feet. Another lightning bolt struck out at Caphriel when the Metal Man charged into the room and redirected the bolt onto himself.

Caphriel realized that even someone as extraordinary as this particular man couldn't keep doing that forever. Quickly, he threw up another barrier to buy himself time to transform into his angelic form.

It started with his eyes as they began to glow with a holy light. Then his clothes seemed to melt away and golden armor took their place. Giant wings sprouted from his back and a round shield emblazoned with a cross appeared on his arm.

He completed his transformation just as another bolt lanced towards him. Quickly he brought the shield up and the lightning bounced back towards the demon striking it squarely. Then turning quickly to the recoverd Metal Man he shouted, "We need to immobilize it!"

With that he charged at the demon and swung his flaming sword in a fast arc through the air, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. His first swing missed the demon as it dodged to the side. But Caphriel was on it again in a instant keeping the demon from using its lightning again. It would have to transform into something else if it hoped to win this fight.

OOC: well, this fight is now in the hands of Marionetonia and Beta Aurigae since no vampires can come close to the angel,especially since that angelic light he gives off, shouldn't the demon feel it too?

When it noticed that its lightning no longer had any affect, and that the room had been cleared of its quarry, the demon transformed into a thick, green cloud.

The Metal Man had a bad feeling about this. He powered up his shield. Sure enough, the cloud spread out from the transformed Angel, and, when it touched a nearby chair, it ate the chair away.

The Metal Man had never fought alongside an Angel before. He had come to feel that he was all but alone in his striding of the path of the light. To see the Angel transformed was at once heartening and menacing. To see what it fought against, however, left no doubt that it was a force for good. This was fortunate, as, with its personal shield holding against the demon's acid cloud form, it would have made quite a formidible adversary--as the demon already had.

"Alright, Angel boy," the cyborg said, "I'm going to make this as simple as I can. This thing behaves like a living metaphore for disinformation. It posesses your mind, it sends but does not receive, it strikes like thunder, and it eats away at everything that it touches. Maybe if we treat it as a metaphore, we can find a way to stop it. How do you defeat a lie?"

---------------

OOC:

Yep. Metaphore. Definately a metaphore. Wonder if anybody else figured it out. :) :) :)

ooc: are you freaking kidding me? a metaphore?:confused: well, you're the RPer so i guess so, by the way, the way you defeat a lie is to not believe in it. since if no one believes in it, it is not a lie, it doesn't exist, similarly, if everyone truely believes in it then it becomes truth and therefore dies as well since the truth is represented as an angel, and demons cannot become angelic again. Boo-yah.:cool:

Hekvar rested Grestor's semi-consious form on the small cot in the room. He had enough blood in here to treat his wounds, but it would take time, and he wasn't sure how much he had.

Ali was sitting on the ground next to Grestor's unconscious figure. Hekvar was telling him about the charms around the chamber.

"Who was that other man with you?" Ali asked Hekvar after he had finished speaking.

OCC: When will my guy find out about the prophesy? In Berlin maybe?

Bennet Kingsley stepped off the U-Bahn into Vienna's stunning cityscape. The people though, were abrupt, almost too the point of harsh looks, and unjustified attacks through their accusing eyes. Bennet would have too move fast. He had an apartment reserved too which Jimmy, a close friend of his, and fellow RIS agent was keeping a safe house. He had managed too smuggle in a pistol and knife, but he would need more than a single magazine. He strode quickly arriving at the complex. He quickly received his key, and headed upstairs. Jimmy was sitting on the bed. "Ello Mate." Jimmy shot up, only too give a wide grin and slap his friend on the back. "I got ye' some magazines mate." Bennet nodded over the magazines assorted across the oak table. "Any news on the Austros?" Jimmy shook his head, losing his trademark grin. "No mate, I've been waiting for you." Jimmy leaned closer, motioning gingerly for Bennet. "They're been rumors mate..." "Oh yea?" Replied Bennet skeptically. "Ya mate. Vampires." Bennet walked away chuckling, opening the mini bar, and pouring himself a scotch. "Tis true mate, I hear it from the Austro police constantly." Bennet smirked, as he took a gulp of scotch.

OOC:

A lie doesn't become the truth just because somebody believes it. Even if somebody believes that the world is flat (a lie), the world is still round. Not believing a lie, likewise, does not defeat it, as others can still be exposed to it, and may become "infected."

IC:

From outside the still-open door, Theodore looked into the room. What he saw frightened him. The representative of the Divine, Holy One and his best friend were held at bay by a sinister demon.

He knelt, head bent toward the floor. "God," he called out, "we are your humble, ignorant servants. Please help us in our time of need!"

Instantly, the cross around the Metal Man's neck went crazy. Its glow filled the room like an explosion. For a notable time, the entire room was filled with Holy Light. Theodore did not scream, but he fell to the ground when it hit him.

When it was done, Hissler was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah," the Metal Man said, "to defeat a lie, you shine the light of truth on it. Give it no quarter."

Faintly, a voice from the center of the room said, "I'll be back. You'll pay." Then, the demon was gone--and the glow from the cross faded.

"Thank you," the Metal Man said, looking at the Angel. "You're quite courageous. Please excuse me while I try to tend to my friend. Oh--might I ask your name?"

------------------------

OOC:

I'm going to start RPing the bad guys more and my characters less from now on. It's on to Berlin.

bla bla bla blablalblalblallllsjgdgjkxfldcxijjkxjsjsjdjfjgjgjhjfggikdoll;slfkseweweeeeeeeeeeeeeweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeblablablablafuckblablablablablabitchblalblafjdjgjsdjgdfgkdfxgxdhasshole jjfijcobgxjcxhjcuhguxciggjfiggxhbjackassjgfkgfdxihjsufhUIShzduifshfuighudghdiughxrhaoedgvhfuckyomomm adkgjdjgjdgjkdfkrnmgvmdkcvdjvjmfmvdjfdfnmjdknfndsjdksfjfnnakedsexonyourbedwithyourmomdjdfgjdgjkdkjgj fjgkfkfkdkfjdjdfjweeeeeeeeeeeeweeeeee!!!:D :fluffle: :eek: :cool: :p :headbang: :mp5: :sniper:

Are you high? :confused:

I hate that guy.

IC: Hekvar dozed silently by the door, it had been a very tought past few days, and he hadn't had much sleep, might as well get some while he could. On the simgle cot in the saferoom Grestor awoke. He still had the aftertaste of blood on his lips and couldn't rememeber much, except running from something that Konstantin must have sent. He looked around the small room. Lord Hekvar was sleeping by the door and Ali was asleep on the small chair in the corner.

Grestor's mind was still foggy but he began searching the castle for auras, he noticed that there was an extremely large agnelic aura above, that must have been what helped them since otherwise there would be something attacking the angel. However he couldn't feel Theodore anywhere. Since he was posessed when Grestor fled with Ali he guessed that Theodore was hit by the angel's might, along with the demon.

Grestor slowly got out of bed, quietly so as not to wake Ali or Lord Hekvar. He walked over to where there were some small bottles of blood and took a long drink. As he brought the bottle from his lips he immediately felt much better. He padded slilently to the door and slowly opened it. Nothing out in the hallway, he sighed, guess he should just wake for Hekvar and Ali to wake up. He walked back to the cot and sat down. Too bad there weren't any books in here to read.

OOC: Sorry about the posting lapse guys, I was moving back to college over the weekend.

IC: Theodore's intervention, or rather God's intervention, suprised Caphriel. The demon had disappeared for the moment but it gave him something else to think about. God had responded to the call of a vampire, this was something that Caphriel had never seen before.

His thoughts were driven from his mind by the Metal Man speaking again.

"My name is Caphriel but my human persona is a man named George Bronson. With that being said, perhaps it is best if I resume human form as I can see I'm doing Theodore much more harm than good like this."

Seconds later, there was a flash of light and Caphriel had once again assumed human form. Then he turned to Metal Man againand said, "I'm afraid there isn't much more I can do for him. My powers of healing will not work on him and he cannot touch me. But I am grateful for his intervention."

OOC: Sorry about the posting lapse guys, I was moving back to college over the weekend.

IC: Theodore's intervention, or rather God's intervention, suprised Caphriel. The demon had disappeared for the moment but it gave him something else to think about. God had responded to the call of a vampire, this was something that Caphriel had never seen before.

His thoughts were driven from his mind by the Metal Man speaking again.

"My name is Caphriel but my human persona is a man named George Bronson. With that being said, perhaps it is best if I resume human form as I can see I'm doing Theodore much more harm than good like this."

Seconds later, there was a flash of light and Caphriel had once again assumed human form. Then he turned to Metal Man againand said, "I'm afraid there isn't much more I can do for him. My powers of healing will not work on him and he cannot touch me. But I am grateful for his intervention."

"You should get to know him better, George," the Metal Man said, walking back through the door and out into the hallway. "The Cross of Longenus was putting out enough energy to make a normal vampire just wink out of existence. I've had it for twenty years, and I've never seen it do that before. The fact that he's still with us says a lot about--."

"Oh, ye of little faith," Theodore replied from the floor. "God does not destroy His servants for showing His greater glory."

As the Metal Man helped his friend first to sit and then to stand on wobbly feet, it struck him that the demon had been repelled, not destroyed. Could it be that God had witheld His hand to keep His servant alive? Then, he noticed something different about the old vampire.

"Your brow," he said. "It used to be gray, but now it's gone pure white."

"Perhaps, then, I am a step closer to my goal." He put his hands on the bannister to steady himself, the cross he wore around his neck clanking against it as he did, but he smiled at the news.

"Goal?" Bronson asked.

"To die of old age," the Metal Man replied, "and have his immortal soul freed from the curse that binds it."

"The boy will be safe now," Theodore said. "Take him to Berlin. I must return to my Children now, and prepare for the trial that is to come. The sun will be rising soon, and, when it does, I will no longer be able to travel as a shadow. I must take my leave of you now. Thank you, Caphriel, for your help. You are a valiant servant of the Divine One. I hope that, some day, I can shake your hand for it." With that, the aging vampire closed his eyes. He seemed to dissolve into a dark mist, and to flow along the floor and quickly out the door.

"Does he always stay that long?" Caphriel asked.

"Something tells me that, when he's needed, he'll be there," the Metal Man replied. "In the meantime, we've got work to do--and I can start by giving you the knowledge that we all share."

And, right there and then, the Metal Man recited the Prophesy to Caphriel.


THE NEXT AFTERNOON

The travel car's wheels clattered noisily as the cyborg stood opposite the Angel in the clear space of a luxury suite, blades drawn. It had not been easy to arrange transport for two large containers on such short notice, and there was still a lingering possibility that allied air power would break through the lines and bomb out the tracks, but their luck had held so far.

"Well," George said, "you wanted a lesson? You're going to get one. Defend yourself!"

The Metal Man took a sideways stance, leading with his left foot. His left blade was pointed directly in front of him, while the right was at a slight cross angle--a defensive stance, designed to more easily counter the difficult-to-parry overhead slam. George shot forward, testing the tip of the left blade. Three moves later, the Angel's sword was at the cyborg's throat.

"Now," he said, "do you know how I did that?"

"I have a funny feeling that you're going to tell me either way," his new friend replied.

----------------------

OOC: Please forgive me for taking liberties with Caphriel. I tried to pay him a complement or two while I was at it. :) :) :)


We are now on the train to Berlin. It is daytime. Grestor and Ali are in coffin-sized boxes in the baggage car. They'll come out at night--they've got to cross half of Germany, so it will take a good day of travel.

If anybody wants anything to happen on the train, this is the time for it to happen.

The Metal Man is a teacher as well as a student. When the sun goes down, Ali is going to start getting some lessons... :) :) :)

I think it's going pretty well so far, but I believe that both you and I could train Ali. He is a vampire after all.

OOC: @Xai cheese: I thought you had joined the RP to play a character, IIRC. However, all I've seen from you since the RP has started is unneeded spam. Please delete your posts in the IC thread as they are disrupting the flow.
@Marionetonia: IMHO, its time for some comic release, or at least a little humor. Thus, I'm going to have Abel's little sister, Seth, pop up selling tea on the train in exchange for a ride to Berlin (they'll get a cut of her profits).

IC: As Abel worked in Berlin on making ready for Metal Man's late arrival for the meeting (OOC: IIRC, I had Nightroad arrive the morning of the assigned day for the meeting), picked up orders, gathered information, and made sure the enemy's minion was in easy access, a figure from his past appeared on the same train as the Metal Man, Ali, Grestor, and the rest of their party (OOC: Don't know if their are any).

The young looking girl, Seth Nightroad (http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o293/True_Human_Empire/Character%20Pics/Sethknight.jpg), walked boldly up to the Metal Man.

"Would you care for some tea, sir?" she asked indicating the tea pot she was carrying strapped to her back.

OOC: ANOTHER one taken from the show? :rolleyes:

xai cheese, you should really stop making a fool of yourself:(

OOC: Hi everybody, forums founder here........ I love the sound of crickets. Anyway I have recieved a message from Marionetonia regarding a problem with Xai Cheese.

Xai Cheese:
Amidst growing discontent for your actions, I am afraid that I shall have to ban you from this thread and are hearby removed from the rp. (In other words, you can't come here anymore because many people here are tired of your actions).

Well, that's all I have to say. Feel free to contact me if you have any problems or questions.

The Metal Man neither ate nor drank. Two antimatter energy cells, hooked up to implants within his containment system, provided all the nutrition that he ever needed. Thus, he almost dismissed the offer of the big-eyed young lady in front of him without a second thought.

Then, something caught his eye: a minor deformity of the skull that led the girl to have a small chin. It would have seemed nothing, but he had to check. He enhanced the X-Ray portion of his vision, and took a good look at her skelleton. Though the body appeared to be almost normal, there was unusual wear and healing at most of the joints and a general pitting of the bones--as if the calcium had been remove and replaced. Extreme age. Yet, she showed no standard signs of vampirism. Her body had odd magnetic properties...that hinted at a transmorphic ability. This one would require further investigation.

"Please, come in, Miss," he said. "They call me 'Peter.' I didn't get your name."

------------------------------------------

Draza had not failed. He had suffered a setback, but a setback is not a failure. He had never been set back like this before, but even a setback can be an opportunity. In this case, he would, for the first time, experience what it was like to react to a setback the way that many, many of his prey did: by drinking.

Tonight, he was going to experience many firsts. He was going to see how the other half lived...and he was going to show a few of them how they died...and he was going to create a work of art.

He had come to the realization that any bloodsucker can run down a prey animal, take the hunt, and be off. An artist, however, could do much, much more. He could select his victim with care, prepare the feast, serve it fresh, and then...leave a masterpiece to show the soft, fleshy creatures of the world that in fact there still was a true master in their midst.

He had spent nights searching and researching until he found the perfect victim--one who was of the perfect age and temperment, a creature of great but understated beauty, and yet would not be missed. An only child, looking to catch a man for security and family--never thinking about the man who might be out to catch her. Then, he had slowly and carefully inserted himself into her existence--watching, waiting, working for the perfect opportunity to introduce himself and begin her seduction--and the start of the masterpiece.

It had come in, of all places, an art gallery. From there, it had led to a small party house that he know of off Bissmarkstrasse, where he had plied her with alcohol and sweetened her with opiates. By the end of the evening--which was actually the early hours of the morning--she barely knew where she was going as he walked her--kept her from falling as she stumbled--out of the bar and into a nearby alley.

From there, it had been a simple matter of plying her with kisses until she raised her chin in the assumption that he would continue the kisses. Of course, he did for a while--as his lips slowly found the vibrations that marked the veins and arteries that would make the exquisite feast complete.

She barely knew what happened as he drove his fangs into her veins. She barely tried to struggle. It was so sweet, the way she couldn't bring her arms up along her sides as he gently began to draw. She tried to scream, but, before the breath could come out of her lungs, he moved his mouth over to her juicy little larynx and slowly, deliberatly bit down and crushed it. With her lungs full, she would last slightly longer--which was just what he needed. Then, secure in the knowledge that there would be no interruptions, he went back to the delicious fluid that was spilling forth from her wonderous body and--slowly, deliberatly and with much enjoyment--finished draining the warmth from her. As he drank, he slowly brought her to the ground, above him, so that the nourishing juices would flow entirely from her body and into his. When this was finished, he moved his lips downward, and bit into the nodules of womanhood, feeling each deflate in its turn as he sucked it completely, totally dry. Then and only then did he withdraw his fangs and stop to feel the effects of the substances that she had so willingly taken, so and so willingly passed on now to him.

As he had anticipated, the affect was truly inspirational. And then he knew what he would do with the body. Why, after all, should he merely dispose of such a true and faithful servant. She deserved more than to disappear in complete anonymity.

He took her to a nearby park. Once there, he set her on the ground, face up, and posed her like an angel. Finally, to make sure that she was more than a temporary exhibit, he found a nearby troop truck and, using its treads, pressed her soft, delicate flesh into the pavement on which he had lain her. The effect was truly glorious!

He stood back and breifly admired his work. Yes, it was truely the work of a master. Then, he left, never to return. The substances were still at work, and he wanted to enjoy them for as long as he could.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Sadistic enough for ya, TB? Makes me wanna puke.

This post is long enough, though. I think I'll save the one with Konstantin for later. :) :) :)

The Metal Man neither ate nor drank. Two antimatter energy cells, hooked up to implants within his containment system, provided all the nutrition that he ever needed. Thus, he almost dismissed the offer of the big-eyed young lady in front of him without a second thought.

Then, something caught his eye: a minor deformity of the skull that led the girl to have a small chin. It would have seemed nothing, but he had to check. He enhanced the X-Ray portion of his vision, and took a good look at her skelleton. Though the body appeared to be almost normal, there was unusual wear and healing at most of the joints and a general pitting of the bones--as if the calcium had been remove and replaced. Extreme age. Yet, she showed no standard signs of vampirism. Her body had odd magnetic properties...that hinted at a transmorphic ability. This one would require further investigation.

"Please, come in, Miss," he said. "They call me 'Peter.' I didn't get your name."

"Call me Seth," she said quite cheerfully as she hesitated at the door* as she had only met this strange, 'older'** man and she didn't know his motivations for inviting her in.

OOC: *I wasn't picturing it as a private room kind of car your guy was in. My bad.
**Lol.

OOC: Sadistic enough for ya, TB? Makes me wanna puke.

This post is long enough, though. I think I'll save the one with Konstantin for later. :) :) :)

OOC: Agreed, it is much darker than your usual fare of posts. Still, the stuff I've got planned for my Civil War coming up will probably need disclaimers and Moderator clearance.
Still, I have to compliment you on your post. Perhaps you should let out your inner darkness more often if that's what results. Though, if it doesn't sit well with you, no need to.

"Call me Seth," she said quite cheerfully as she hesitated at the door* as she had only met this strange, 'older'** man and she didn't know his motivations for inviting her in.

OOC: *I wasn't picturing it as a private room kind of car your guy was in. My bad.
**Lol.
.

There were three others in the car with the elderly gentleman: two men and a boy. Judging by their body language, there was an uneasy truce among all of them.

"As I was saying," Peter began, "I think that it would be best if you concentrated on the basics of his new life, while I worked with him on general skils that anyone would need. For example, I'd like to teach him to read 1200 words a minute, use a simple mnemonic system that will allow him to remember anything that he desires for as long as he desires and maniuplate a numeric system that will allow him to do virtually any mathematical calculation that he needs to almost instantly."

He turned to Seth. "Of course, I will gladly make these skills available to anyone who wants them," he said.

----------------------

OOC: I don't know how Cuzniks (sp?) tell vampires from non-vampires, but Seth's vamp alarm should be ringing two bells about now. If she can tell that Ali has been recently crossed over, then she knows why she's there. Of the people in the car, though, only George can take part in the young lady's tea.

There were three others in the car with the elderly gentleman: two men and a boy. Judging by their body language, there was an uneasy truce among all of them.

"As I was saying," Peter began, "I think that it would be best if you concentrated on the basics of his new life, while I worked with him on general skils that anyone would need. For example, I'd like to teach him to read 1200 words a minute, use a simple mnemonic system that will allow him to remember anything that he desires for as long as he desires and maniuplate a numeric system that will allow him to do virtually any mathematical calculation that he needs to almost instantly."

He turned to Seth. "Of course, I will gladly make these skills available to anyone who wants them," he said.

----------------------

OOC: I don't know how Cuzniks (sp?) tell vampires from non-vampires, but Seth's vamp alarm should be ringing two bells about now. If she can tell that Ali has been recently crossed over, then she knows why she's there. Of the people in the car, though, only George can take part in the young lady's tea.

OOC: I RP mine as it more of an additional sense that's closely related to smell (pheremones) and sight (auras). There is also a more of a sixth sense type deal in sensing the aura of those out of the direct line-of-sight.
And its Cruznik, just so you know.

IC: Seth's eyes narrowed as she noticed the others in the room with the 'old man'. She was distracted enough by the presence of the two vampires, she was a few moments in registering what Peter was saying.

"I've picked up a few words in many languages in my travels increasing and decreasing my stocks, sir," she said, "though, I wouldn't mind learning a few new ones."

She flashed a quick glance back to Ali and rapidly shifted her gaze back to Peter. While it was a minor movement, Peter would probably catch it with his unhuman senses. It wouldn't be much, but it would be enough to plant a seed of doubt in his mind about this apparent 'young girl' if he gave it much thought.

"Though," she added, "I'll think I will just sit by the door for now."

She removed the tea kettle from her back and placed it on the floor before sitting cross-legged next to it.

"I am honored," the strange man said, "that you will tollerate a motley crew such as us in your presence. You are, after all, a lady at the height of her abilities." She cast another glance around the room--so fast that the Metal Man was probably the only one who could see it.

"God, you're quick," he said. "If you're prone to violence, it would have been a mistake to invite you in. I hope for all of our sakes that you mean us as little harm as we mean you."

The boy and the dark-haired man looked at the older man--the boy in confusion, the dark-haired man's features betraying a hint of fear. The older man looked at her. His face, however, showed nothing of the fear or anger that one might have expected. Instead, it had a strange kind of empathy, almost affection, on it.

"Please excuse my bluntness," he said. "Desparate times have made me far less congenial than I prefer. I assure you, I ask this in complete respect of you, and, as long as you do not attempt to harm me or my friends, I will do whatever I can to keep you from harm--but what precise manner of creature are you, and why are you here?"

The dark-haired man now rose from his seat and took a defensive posture, in front of the boy. The lighter-haired man simply steepled his fingers.

"Don't bother, gentlemen," the older man said. "If she chooses to attack, we won't be able to draw our weapons. It's already too late for that."

-----------------------------------------

Draza took the bottle from the bartender, turned and walked to the dark booth in the corner of the bar. As he arrived, he noticed something that he had not seen: someone was sitting in the corner. This unnerved Draza slightly. He had always prided himself on his ability to detect the auras of the creatures around him. The only one who had ever eluded his grasp thus was...

Joy filled his being!

"Master!" he said quietly. He bent down on one knee, head held low. "You have not forgotten me."

"Of course not," Konstantin replied. "Uncommon loyalty such as yours deserves special rewards, and, hence, I am rewarding you with my presence." He was wearing a tweed suit with a wide-brimmed hat that obscured his face. Still, the demonic gleam in his eyes showed through the darkness as he spoke. He extended a hand with a large gold ring. Grasping it gently, Draza bent forward and gave it the gentlest of kisses.

"Sit with me, my old friend," he said.

"Yes, master, yes!" Draza said, quickly joining him.

"You know, my friend, word of your recent failure has reached me." Draza's heart sagged. "At first, I was disappointed. Then, I sent another of my servants to deal with the enemy, and, from that, realized what you were up against." He recovered. There was hope that he could return to his master's good graces.

"The Divine Adversary is infinitely shifty," Konstantine continued, "and set against you four of the five Great Obstacles described in the First Prophesy. You are certainly superior in every way to any of them, but I can understand how, together, they might have been able to turn away your attempts to secure the Vessel."

Draza thought back, and realized that it was true. He had personally seen two of them, and, where the Loyal Servant strayed, the Rogue Master could not be far behind. So...others had already gathered. This was important news! It could only mean that the Second Prophesy was in full swing!

"Yes," he said as the light of understanding dawned on his face. "I was...outnumbered, wasn't I?"

"Of course you were," Konstantin replied, "and we can't have our most faithful servant failing us because we refused to provide the resources that he needed for his hunt, now, can we? It simply wouldn't be fair, now, would it?"

"...resources?"

"Of course. It is a bad father who refuses to provide for his children...and so I shall provide you with a team to surmount the Obstacles. They will be at your command."

"One for each of them?"

"Of course not. That would mean equivalence, and they are not our equals. There are five of them, so I shall provide you with a trinity, for a total of four harbingers of our little apocalypse. They will be under your complete command. The first of these you are already acquainted with, though you've never worked with her personally before: my servant, Hissler."

As Konstantin finished, the formless demon appeared as a small black splotch against the dim light on the ceiling above the table.

"She is...depleted now, from her previous task, so I have graciously provided her with sustainance. Observe the far corner."

Two young people, a man and a woman, sat in at a table there. They spoke in hushed tones in the dim light. Occasionally, the man would reach over and place his hand on the woman's as she held her mug and spoke with him.

In a moment, everything changed. An angry ball of green appeared above them and descended so rapidly that they barely had time to know that something hit them. Any screams were stifled as their heads disappeared into the cloud. Frantically, they waved their hands to try to force the evil presence away, only to have them dissolve in the air! In less than a minute, the two young people were reduced to a fine ash, as if they had never been in the tavern at all.

"I will provide two other servants as I can arrange it--but one small word of warning. Their numbers will not be sufficient to hold you back this time, and I do not tollerate true failure. Hissler can feed upon your flesh just as easily as she did theirs--though I am told the process is signifigantly longer and more drawn out. Now, let us have a drink together and celebrate our impending success!"

----------------------------------------

OOC: Anybody wanna help me design two characters of type

villain: nasty

? Please use the OOC thread.

OOC: It's going to be a few days between posts now that I'm back at school, so please bear with me.

IC: Caphriel was just about to tell Peter exactly how he had bested him so quickly when the little girl showed up in the doorway offering around tea. He sensed something strange about her, a sort of deception that belied her appearance.

He smiled warmly at her as she entered but declined the tea that she offered. He noticed that Peter seemed to be somewhat suspicious of her as well and he decided that it was best to see if they could figure out exactly what she was.

Peter did most of the talking and Caphriel merely stood off to the side and let him work. He was however focusing intently on the girl's reactions to Peter and caught the slight change in her features when Peter began to talk about languages. When she answered, it set of alarms in Caphriel's head, something was definitely wrong with this picture.

He was just about to say something when Peter called the little girl's bluff and handed out his warning. Although he did as Peter asked and didn't summon any weapons, he did move closer to Ali ready to protect him should anything go awry.

"I am also curious as to what exactly you are miss. No one has had this effect on Peter before."

"I am honored," the strange man said, "that you will tollerate a motley crew such as us in your presence. You are, after all, a lady at the height of her abilities." She cast another glance around the room--so fast that the Metal Man was probably the only one who could see it.

"God, you're quick," he said. "If you're prone to violence, it would have been a mistake to invite you in. I hope for all of our sakes that you mean us as little harm as we mean you."

The boy and the dark-haired man looked at the older man--the boy in confusion, the dark-haired man's features betraying a hint of fear. The older man looked at her. His face, however, showed nothing of the fear or anger that one might have expected. Instead, it had a strange kind of empathy, almost affection, on it.

"Please excuse my bluntness," he said. "Desparate times have made me far less congenial than I prefer. I assure you, I ask this in complete respect of you, and, as long as you do not attempt to harm me or my friends, I will do whatever I can to keep you from harm--but what precise manner of creature are you, and why are you here?"

The dark-haired man now rose from his seat and took a defensive posture, in front of the boy. The lighter-haired man simply steepled his fingers.

"Don't bother, gentlemen," the older man said. "If she chooses to attack, we won't be able to draw our weapons. It's already too late for that."

"Meh," replied Seth with a shrug, "you don't get hostile and I won't have cause to defend myself. Kapeesh?"

Everything about her conveyed the impression of a care-free youth to those who didn't know her that well. Very few of those who had seen her serious side had lived to this day and age (OOC: Ie, they mostly died of old age).

Still, she kept the heavy metal tea pot close at hand in case she needed to use it for something other than pouring tea. But she wouldn't start anything unless she had to and there was no other option.

"As for what I am," she continued, "I'm not more than a honest medical student selling tea to help with tuition. I'm heading to Berlin as I plan to surprise my brother, who I hear has recently arrived there."

She had intentionally kept her response general and vague. It was obvious that she wouldn't open up to just anyone at the first meeting.

Ali watched the girl sitting to the door. When she had first came in and offered tea, Ali had said nothing and looked away. He heard Peter and the girl talking and noticed a blur in his eye. He blinked and it was gone.

Ali then heard Peter say that the girl had made this impossibly quick move. He shot Peter a quick look. Ali also saw the others inch closer to him in a defensive pattern.

She doesn't seem dangerous he thought.

Ali opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and shut it.

It's probably better to let Peter handle this. Ali thought and leaned back in his chair.

The Metal Man smiled. She didn't know it, but he'd been analyzing her voice stress as she spoke. She was a little scared, but she was telling the truth, as far as it went. That she didn't particularly care to give a full answer pointed out that she was cautious. This was not a bad trait.

"I see," Peter said. "Seems a difficult way to raise money. How much do you charge for a cup of tea? It's interesting that you should be going to Berlin to meet someone. We're going there ourselves, and plan to meet a man of the cloth. He goes by the name of Nightroad." As he spoke, the top jewel in the Cross of Longenus, still around the cyborg's neck, took on its orange glow again. Peter looked down at it, and his eyebrows raised slightly. "Perhaps you know him," the not-man finished.

Grestor relaxed slightly. This girl said that her last name was Nightroad... perhaps there was some connection. Which also meant that this girl had was the same thing tht Father Nightroad was. Although he knew it was unlikely he still readied himself for an attack.

Then the thought came to his mind from Ali, It's probably better to let Peter handle this. Grestor, despite the tension in the car felt a slight swelling of pride, Ali had already learned how to transmit thoughts, a little generaly to be sure, but he was quick about learning.

The Metal Man smiled. She didn't know it, but he'd been analyzing her voice stress as she spoke. She was a little scared, but she was telling the truth, as far as it went. That she didn't particularly care to give a full answer pointed out that she was cautious. This was not a bad trait.

"I see," Peter said. "Seems a difficult way to raise money. How much do you charge for a cup of tea? It's interesting that you should be going to Berlin to meet someone. We're going there ourselves, and plan to meet a man of the cloth. He goes by the name of Nightroad." As he spoke, the top jewel in the Cross of Longenus, still around the cyborg's neck, took on its orange glow again. Peter looked down at it, and his eyebrows raised slightly. "Perhaps you know him," the not-man finished.

Seth raised an eyebrow, but quickly dropped it, at the mention of the name, but only said, "My brother's name is Abel. He works for the Vatican going around ensuring that none are using the Vatican's name for personal gain.

"As for the tea," she continued in a more jovial tone, "let me see," she did a few quick mental calculations, "eight Pfennig* for you per cup."

"Why I do it? Well, it allows me to travel, see the world, and meet new people."

OOC: *1 Pfennig = 1/100th of a German Mark (according to Wiki).
@Scaveutland: Actually, all she said was her name was Seth. The Metal Man asked if the name "Nightroad" rang a bell. At this point in the game, when she does say her last name, she'll probably say its 'Nightlord'.

Seth raised an eyebrow, but quickly dropped it, at the mention of the name, but only said, "My brother's name is Abel. He works for the Vatican going around ensuring that none are using the Vatican's name for personal gain.

"As for the tea," she continued in a more jovial tone, "let me see," she did a few quick mental calculations, "eight Pfennig* for you per cup."

"Why I do it? Well, it allows me to travel, see the world, and meet new people."

OOC: *1 Pfennig = 1/100th of a German Mark (according to Wiki).
@Scaveutland: Actually, all she said was her name was Seth. The Metal Man asked if the name "Nightroad" rang a bell. At this point in the game, when she does say her last name, she'll probably say its 'Nightlord'.

OOC: The only other information available about her is that the Cross of Longenus says she's a Cruznik (sp?)--but TMM doesn't understand that this is what it's saying. He only knows that she is a vampire of some kind, but not what kind. TMM doesn't understand the Cross--it is one of the few more or less magical items around that will work in his presence (though its capabilities, as we may or may not find out later, are markedly reduced) and he doesn't like to rely on it. :) :) :)

IC:

He hoped that he could build a repor with this new entrant into his life. It was more than her physiological resources that intrigued him. There were hints that she cared very deeply about others, and this was a trait to be fostered.

Still, it would all have to wait. It would simply not be ethical to involve this lady in the events that had claimed the Metal Man's time. It could be dangerous to her health.

He decided to do his share to foster her education and hope to run into her again--and find out more about her--later.

The cyborg walked over to a cupboard at a nearby wall, opened it, and produced a stout mug, brown, with the words "Mit Arbeit versaucht man sich den ganzen Tag"* on it "How much to fill this?" he asked. He couldn't drink in the standard sense, but he did have a small storage tank that he could use in social situations. This would be one of them.

*With work, one wastes the whole day.

Seth thought for a moment as she pondered the size of the mug.

"I would say twice the original price for one of these," she said while indicating one of the standard tea cups clipped to a special belt that was attached to the strap for the tea pot.

OOC: As I don't know the conversion rates at the time, I've no way of truely guesstimating the cost.

"Your price sounds fair, all things considered," the cyborg replied. He then produced two 10-pfenig coins from his pocket, handed it to her and held out his mug. "Keep the change."

OOC: I don't know the currency rates of the time, either. Oh well.

OOC: Uhm, it was 8 Pfennig before. Twice that is 16, if I did my math right. Just felt I should mention that.

IC: Seth pocketed the coin and filled Peter's choosen cup with a blend of tea from the tea kettle that she had aquired in Sweden.

"Thank you," he replied, tasting a sample. Perhaps "tasting" isn't the best term for what actually happened: he took a sip, and tested it using a miniaturized toxicology sampler located within his body. It indicated that the brew would have a stimulant affect--it had a high caffeine content--but that there was nothing poisonous about it.

"Real tea," he said with a smile. "The kind that puts hair on your chest. You might want some, George." He stepped back, so as not to croud the lady. "Thank you again."

"You're quite welcome, Mr....., uh, sorry, but I didn't catch your name," replied Seth.

OOC:George, was that refering to me?

OOC:George, was that refering to me?

OOC:

No, George--specifically, George Bronson--is the name of Beta Aurigae VII's character, when in human form. The comment about putting hair on his chest was a dig at Caphriel's goodie-two-shoes side. :) :) :)

IC:

"You're quite welcome, Mr....., uh, sorry, but I didn't catch your name," replied Seth.

"They call me 'Peter.'" The odd thing, to him anyway, was that he had originally used the English variant on the name that he had taken, but, from the time wheh Grestor had taken it up, it was the German variant (an english native would spell it "Pater") that everyone had used--and that he had used in that conversation. To use a Brittish name during this war would be foolhardy. So much for internationalism.

"Nice to make your aquaintance then, Mr. Peter," said Seph in her usual jovial tone, but strangely with a British accent this time, probably to make her customer more comfortable so he would buy more tea, but she continued in her normal accent-less voice, "let me know if you would like seconds.

"As for the rest of you," she jokingly glared at the others, "there's still plenty of tea to go around."

Grestor started patting around in the coat he was wearing and pulled out a small cup.
"Well, if you're offering.... I wouldn't mind some. How much did you say it was? 8 Pfennig?" He pulled out a 10 Pfennig coin and tossed it to the strange girl with the tea kettle.
"About three quarters of the way full." As he took back the newly filled cup of steaming liquid he reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a small hipflask and poured some red liquid into the tea and placed the hipflask back into his coat. After taking a large swig Grestor commented, "Hmm... Not bad, you make a good cup of tea."
After he took another swig he remembered something.
"Oh dear, where are my manners? One for the boy too." He said pointing at Ali and pulling another 10 Pfennig coin out of his pocket and handing it to the girl. He sent his thought out to Ali, When you get the tea add some of this into it. You'll need it. The tea isn't bad, but it just doesn't have any kick to it. Grestor, attempting but failing to stealthily hand Ali the hip flask from his coat.

Caphriel smirked slightly at Peter's remark and then said, "Forgive me young lady, but I have never been a big fan of tea. I'm afraid the caffeine does a number on my stomach but, how about I just make a charitable donation instead? How does half a mark sound to you?"

Seth accepted the money and poured each their tea.

"So," she asked, "if you don't mind my asking, where you all heading?"

She watched as Grestor gave Ali something to spike his cup with. Guessing what it probably was, she didn't make a fuss about ruining her tea.

Caphriel smirked slightly at Peter's remark and then said, "Forgive me young lady, but I have never been a big fan of tea. I'm afraid the caffeine does a number on my stomach but, how about I just make a charitable donation instead? How does half a mark sound to you?"

Seth thought for a moment before responding, "I'll count it towards my own share of this pot. That an agreeable compromise?"

Seth accepted the money and poured each their tea.

"So," she asked, "if you don't mind my asking, where you all heading?"

She watched as Grestor gave Ali something to spike his cup with. Guessing what it probably was, she didn't make a fuss about ruining her tea.

"We've already told you," 'Peter' said. "Berlin. I hope the man we're supposed to meet is still there. We're late.

"Interesantes, dass Sie mit ein Englischer Akzent meine Name sagten. Wie kennen Sie, dass ich aus England komme? Ich stolze mich auf mein Akzentlos Deutch."* Can she read my mind, too? I was thinking about this when we spoke before, but I didn't actually say anything.

OOC:

:P :P :P

*Interesting that you said my name with an English accent. How do you know that I come from England? I take pride in my accentless german.

Ali poured a little of the flask's contents into the tea and took a drink. It was surprisingly good, Ali didn't have much of taste for tea.

"Thanks" he said to Grestor "It's very good tea." he said to the girl.

Grestor took back the hipflask from Ali and put it back into his pocket. It was good tea. He took another sip and savored the taste.

The shades were drawn, and the lights were down. It did not matter. Des could see plenty fine even in the scant light that the surroundings gave. She stood by the newly-closed door, a few paces from the bed, where the food lie, ripening. Except for the body, and the towels beneath it, room seemed fresh, and the bed fresh-made. Des knew that the covers would not be disturbed. The prey could not move. In fact, one of its legs was nothing but skin and bone already, and the other leg, below the knee, was all but missing, too.

She smiled, revealing a pair of large, hollow fangs, and hummed a lullaby as she walked over to the food. As it heard her voice, it began to whimper--and the closer Des got, the louder the whimpering became. She sighed, ecstatic in the knowledge that the food was not overripe.

She knelt beside the victim, brought her mouth in to the remaining thigh, just below the panty that was the only clothing to be found on the body, and, using her lips, felt for the perfect spot. The food was now whining at a frenzy, whipping her to a higher plane of ecstacy with each frenzied breath. Finding a slight pulse, she spread her lips, clamped and bit. The food screamed.

She savored, sticking her tongue almost halfway down the thigh, spreading the final injection of digestive juices, and drawing in the liquified meat. It was warm and delicious all the way down.

She drew her tongue back in and slowly withdrew her lips. The near leg now looked much like the far one had, and the prey's whimpers were of a horrible, downcast, defeated variety. This was as it should be. This was how the food paid respects to its mistress.

"Hello, Des," came a voice from the darkness behind her.

Her head whipped around, and her fangs came to the ready. Her arms shot up to her sides. Then, her arms relaxed and lowered again, and she smiled, her fangs glistening in the light that filtered through the shades.

"Konstantin," she said. "It has simply been too long." She licked her lips after saying this.

"I know. I need you, Des." He was smiling the same gleeful smile as she was. To anyone else, it would be quite unnerving, but, to those who shared their history, it was little more than a sign of friendship.

"You need me. Oh, I'm flattered," Des replied. Then the smile faded from her lips. "Those lackies of yours letting you down again? I warned you about that--."

"The First Prophesy is in motion, Des. Several of the Spoken Ones have come together. They stand between us and The Vessel. I need you."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, this is so good," she said. "How does a Spoken One taste?"

"I will leave that for you," Konstantin replied.

"Good," she replied, the smile returning to her lips. "When do I begin?"

"Go to Draza. He will instruct you."

"Draza," she said, a look of mild disgust forming on her features. "Well, it could be worse.

"Oh--I've quite satisfied myself on this one for now," she said, indicating the lump on the bed. "I'll leave it for you, as a token of my appreciation." She licked her teeth after she said the last, and then turned and simply walked out the door.

Konstantin turned to the food. A dark-haired face was forever turned toward him. A gaze that could not move was fixed on him. He smiled, showing his longer, thicker fangs.

"Hmmmm," he said, "I've always wondered..."

The whimpering began anew.

"We've already told you," 'Peter' said. "Berlin. I hope the man we're supposed to meet is still there. We're late.

"Interesantes, dass Sie mit ein Englischer Akzent meine Name sagten. Wie kennen Sie, dass ich aus England komme? Ich stolze mich auf mein Akzentlos Deutch."* Can she read my mind, too? I was thinking about this when we spoke before, but I didn't actually say anything.

OOC:

:P :P :P

*Interesting that you said my name with an English accent. How do you know that I come from England? I take pride in my accentless german.

OOC: The nose knows, as they say. Even though its been a while, you're guy's been in England so long he'll still carry the smells of the English countryside. Plus, last I checked, he still wore the clothes he had on when he left England, thus they'll probably be of the local design of that area instead of German. Subtle clues like that.
Just for the record, the Nightroad family is of British origin as well, at least in canon (if I could, I would have added the canon reference that Abel was also a Lieutenant Colonel, IIRC, in the RAF before he went to work for the Vatican).
Oh, and is the German bit aloud or your character's thoughts?

IC: "Oops," replied Seth, "guess I missed that."

Ali poured a little of the flask's contents into the tea and took a drink. It was surprisingly good, Ali didn't have much of taste for tea.

"Thanks" he said to Grestor "It's very good tea." he said to the girl.

"You're welcome," said Seth with a smile, "and thanks."

OOC: The nose knows, as they say. Even though its been a while, you're guy's been in England so long he'll still carry the smells of the English countryside. Plus, last I checked, he still wore the clothes he had on when he left England, thus they'll probably be of the local design of that area instead of German. Subtle clues like that.
Just for the record, the Nightroad family is of British origin as well, at least in canon (if I could, I would have added the canon reference that Abel was also a Lieutenant Colonel, IIRC, in the RAF before he went to work for the Vatican).
Oh, and is the German bit aloud or your character's thoughts?

IC: "Oops," replied Seth, "guess I missed that."



"You're welcome," said Seth with a smile, "and thanks."

OOC: It's all aloud. The point is that, with the story set in Germany as it is, the entire conversation--the words of every character--is/are in German. The things we are reading are merely a translation, in the context of the story. Grestor, Ali, all of them are speaking German.

can we get back to the storyline?

Yeah, I think the train should get to the station or something.

OOC:

If you want the train to pull into the station, what's stopping you from writing the scene?

IC:

Konstantin took a pendant from around his neck and handed it to Draza. The stone of the pendant seemed a small and unassuming red gem unless one looked at it closely. A fire seemed to burn endlessly within the stone, sometimes burning stronger and sometimes weaker, but never completely fading.

"With this, you can control him," Konstantin said. "Do not hold him too tightly in your grasp, though, less your fingers be horribly burned."

"Control who?" Draza asked.

"You shall see."

Draza looked into the gem and saw the flames rise. When he looked up again, Konstantin was gone. In his place stood a young vampiress. Tall and blonde, she filled out her aqua summer dress quite well. Obviously, well-equipped to lure the male humans off whom she fed.

"Oh, him," she said.

"Do I know you?" Draza asked.

She smiled, revealing fangs with small holes at their tips.

"Desparella," she said. "The Master sent me."

Draza returned her smile.

Grestor sat lightly dozing in his chair, when he fell asleep Peter and this Seth girl were talking about England. Grestor really didn't care, he had been to England, it was too wet for his liking.

He awoke to a slight jolt as the train entered into the Berlin train station. It had probably been several hours since it was nearing dawn and Grestor and Ali would have to get inside soon. The aftertaste of the tea still tasted sweet upon his tongue as he looked around the car Ali was just waking as well and Peter... well Peter didn't need to sleep.

"You'd best be getting to your daytime chambers," the cyborg said.

This was the second time that the Metal Man had seen Grestor sleeping. It was a most unusual trait for a vampire. Normally, they went dormant during the day and remained alert during the entire time the sun was down. Not so, Grestor. The cyborg made a mental not to ask his friend about this when there was time.

The boy hadn't been sleeping. He had been studying. After speaking with the boy about his education, the Metal Man had concluded that they needed to rebuild from the ground up--and that meant teaching the boy how to learn.

He was a quick study. In a few hours, he had taken in the rudiments of a system by which he could memorize any arbitrary list. At this rate, in a few weeks, he would master Absolute Memory, and be able to "turn on" the ability to remember anything he chose to. Then, when he could comprehend, the Metal Man would teach him how to read.

Ali had been resting his eyes. He opened them as soon as Grestor awoke.

"You've done well," the cyborg said. "But it's time for your studies to end forthe night."

Now that they had finally arrived, there was much to do. There were two people to be contacted, one of whom had expected him the day before and one whom the Metal Man did not know the whereabouts of. No one ever said that life was easy. First, though, would be to establish a residence. Then, a shower and a change of clothes was in order. The Metal Man appeared--and was--too old for military service. It would be easy to explain why he was not in the armed forces. This was not so for Grestor, and perhaps not for Ali. Yes, there were yet many things to be done.

--------------------------------------------

"He will come to you," the young man said.

"And you know this because...?" Draza asked.

"It is written in the flames," he replied. He stood relaxed but rigid, as he had from the moment of his summoning, before his vampire host. It made Draza nervous. It was as if, were it not for the control that Draza's pendant gave him, the creature would just as soon kill him as stand there. Worse still, right now, he was in no mood to rub it in.

"I trust you, then. All we've got to do is be ready to strike when the moment is--."

"Conflict may not be necessary," the fire demon cut in. "It may yet be possible that he will choose to come with us."

"Fine. When?"

The fire demon smiled.

Grestor stood in the train car and streched his legs. It had been a long ride.
"Come on Ali, we'd beter find somewhere where we can spend the day." Grestor opened the cart door and heard the sound of boots outside. Soldiers were on the train. Most likely looking for those eligible for the draft.
"Uh... Ali come this way. We don't want to be seen by the soldiers." Grestor closed the door again and latched it closed.
"Peter, can you think of something?"

Ali arched his back. He liked to move around every once in a while, when he didn't, he felt more tired than he should. Stretching was a good way to get rid of this.

He was just following Grestor out of the car when Grestor quickly moved back inside and latched the door, mentioning something about soldiers.

That's not good. he thought We need some kind of a distraction.

OCC: The reason I didn't write about the train coming in was because I'm new and could still see some things happening on the train to the station. I didn't want to ruin the opportunity.

ooc: oops. sorry.

"I will handle the soldiers," said Caphriel with a smirk. "If there is one thing that I've learned about mortals, it's that everyone has their price. But just in case, it might be best if you snuck off of the train while I try to bribe them."

With that he pulled out a rather thick wad of German Marks and stepped out in the corridor. Before he slid the compartment door shut he turned back and told them, "If they arrest me, don't worry. No jail can hold me and I will find you after I escape."

After he closed the door, he headed straight for the soldiers. "Good morning gentlemen, wonderful weather don't you think?"

The first soldier nodded absently and said rather harshly to him, "Move out of the way."

"Well you see I would but, I was wondering exactly how much it would cost to have you overlook this section of the train?" He flashed the wad of bills out of his pocket. "Certainly you gentlemen could use the extra money, the last time I looked, pay for a foot soldier was woefully small."

The two soldiers dropped their harsh demeanor almost immediatly and their eyes lit up like lights on a Christmas tree. "How much are we talking about," the first soldier said greedily.

Caphriel regarded them for a second as if contemplating a sum and then said, "How about all of it, I believe it is close to thirty-thousand. I'm sure you could find a way to split that evenly," he said with a smile.

"Done," the soldiers said at once and they snatched the money from Caphriel and move quickly back the way they came.

"A pleasure doing business with you too," said Caphriel to their retreating backs. With that, he turned on his heel and out of the train onto the crowded platform.

The Metal Man chuckled.

"Well," he said, "you probably would have preferred his method anyway, but, for the record, I do have a cover story.

"You see," he continued, removing a forged ID from his wallet, "I'm a professor from the Berlin Medical Academy. George is my assistant. You two," he indicated Grestor and Ali, "are cadavers that I was bringing back to the uni for the students to disect." He pulled a pair of flat tables out from one of the side walls of the compartment. "Of course," he pointed out, "I could have taken you out of storage to check on your condition. Couldn't have the corpses go bad before they got where they were going, now, could we? All you'd have to do is decorticate and let me put a sheet or two over you, and there we would have it."

As the cyborg finished his speech, there was a knock on the door. When the Metal Man opened it, a young girl entered. He had seen her before. She was the one who had originally recruited him.

"You're late," she said.

"I had guests," the Metal Man replied.

----------------------

Even with the vampires' help, it took four entire hours for the two who remained awake to secure transport, get the makeshift coffins aboard the coach, and take it to their newfound abode, the crypt below an old church. This was provided courtesy of the Children of the Dawn.

The Metal Man bathed, changed his clothes, and hit the streets. It was not difficult for him to follow the trail of a priest from out of town, find the vatican safehouse where he had stayed, jimmy the locks, and find the dessicated remains of another vampire in them.

"It was him. I'll have to keep that in mind."

From there, the trail went cold, however. Everyone he talked to thought that the priest was still in the safehouse.

It was almost nightfall when he returned to the safehouse, empty handed, but ready for his next search. He wondered whether or not it was his good fortune that the vampire hunter would not be expecting him.

Grestor waited dormant in the coffin for hours on end. After the initial jumble with the dead body ruse he could finally get comfortable. As he lay in his coffin waiting for nightfall he thought about all that had happened to him recently. It had all gone by so fast.

Before he knew it it was dark again and he 'awoke.' As he opened the coffin he saw that he was in what appeared to be a cellar. Next to him Ali was just waking as well.

OOC: The Metal Man never put his dead body ploy into affect. George/Caphriel bribed the soldiers, so it was never necessary.

----------------------

It was well into the evening when the Metal Man returned to the church crypt. By then, he had a pretty good idea of where to find his next compatriot, but he felt the urge to check in with his friends and let them know what he was doing.

The young girl vampiress was there to greet them.

"Did you find them yet, Pierre?" she asked.

"Nightroad appears to have left town, and our man Max is asleep right now, and I didn't want to wake him. I never got your name."

"You can call me Elle. You should try to do better, you know. With the ruckus you caused when you arrived, your enemies have to know that you're here. The sooner our man Max," she said those three words in a bad imitation of a deep voice, "gets here, the more time we will have to prepare."

"Yes, but we've got to be delicate about this. Max is a hunter. He knows only the worst of vampire kind. If we're not careful, and don't show him the good that is in some of you, he could turn on you and try to hunt you down. I doubt that he would be receptive to the process if we woke him from a sound sleep."

"It won't matter if Draza hunts us down first."

The Metal Man sighed. "The impatience of the young," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Elle replied. "You do realize that I'm almost 63 years old, don't you?"

"That would make me more than twice your age, kid," he said with a smile.

"Alright, old man," she retorted also smiling, though her fangs showed through, "I'll respect my elders--this time--but Theodore has made me responsible for your group, so..."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

ooc: I thought that we still used it to get off the train because there would probably be more soldiers in the station.
IF you want I'll do Kalsipher.
---------------
Kalsipher was feeling decidedly hot today. He had spent the morning thinking about how he had gotten into this predicament with Konstantin anyway and it made his very angry. Needless to say the fire department arrived shortly after to water down the smoldering remains of the apartment building where Kalsipher was staying.
As he walked down the now darkening streets of Berlin he turned down a deserted alley to go meet Draza, not out of any longing to go but because he had to go.
He was jumped when he saw the street ahead. The three muggers attacked him and hit him with clubs. Every blow simply made Kalsipher angrier. When one of the muggers swung again he grabbed the club and set it ablaze burning the assailant's hands.
As the others stared in horror Kalsipher reached up and grabbed the man's head and burned it to a crisp. The flaming man could not scream and simply writhed in horrible agony. When Kalsipher let go of the remains of the head the corpse fell to the ground. When he turned the other assailants fled.
Kalsipher felt wholly better. As he straightened his shirt and walked into the street he began to hum a tuneless song to himself.

OOC: How was that?

OOC: How was that?

OOC: Excellent.

IC:

Draza watched as Kalsifer walked in through the door. The foolish demon had not bothered to check whether he had been followed. It was one of many habits that he had that Draza was building a keen dislike for. If he wasn't so disgustingly useful, the vampire would have simply ended his existence. As it was, he had to find a way to keep the demon from destroying himself and the entire city around him until after they had the boy safely under their control.

He had treated Kalsifer with respect, and the demon had scorned him. Kalsifer was pathetic. He could not look past the pendant that Draza used to control him. Draza had not had the time to speak with him about it yet, but he had no doubt that the demon would just as soon burn him as listen to anything that he had to say.

The others whom Konstantin had sent had similar problems. Desparella was greedy almost to the point of idiocy--which was good, as she could be bribed--and Hissler was just plain crazy. The posessor demon was impossible to truly understand, but just seemed to be doing what it did for the perverse, sadistic thrill of making the entire world go to hell. This was also good, as she did not need to be bribed.

But this would be a hell in which Draza was a prince, and better a prince in hell than a pauper in unlife.

"So," Draza said to the fire demon, "how was your trip in?"

"Rough," he replied, "but satisfying."

Draza didn't like the sound of that. He changed the subject.

"It is good that you have found some satisfaction," he said, "because we are here to satisfy the needs of our master. Now, I have it on good authority that the man machine, the boy, an agent of the wayward master and servants of The Perversion of Darkness have come to reside in the crypt beneath Our Lady of Pompei Church, much as you profesied, Kalsifer."

"The flames do not lie," the fire demon replied.

"Well, perhaps they can be of use to us in the next phase of this operation. We need to devise a plan for how we will take the boy into our care."

"Ahhhhh," said Hissler, who looked like a miniature hurricane a short way above the ceiling fan, "mayhem. Good. The boredom was becoming untennable." Thinning out, she slithered down the fan's support post and dripped into the air beneath it, becoming completely invisible as she did. "Soon, I will need a body," she said. "I think I should like a girl-child this time. Desparella, you can have it when I'm done with it."

Desparella smiled. "Mmmmmm. Sounds almost better than sex," she said. "Can you make sure that she's kneeling when you leave her?"

It had been like this for several days now, and it was starting to take its toll on Draza's patience. "Now that you've got your next victim planned out," he said, "perhaps we can plan out our primary course of action--you know, the reason why we're all here."

"Yesssss," Hissler cooed, "of course."

"Good," Draza said, "now let's begin."

Grestor stretched his legs and walked around the tiny cellar. His body had been tingling since he awoke and that only came when he encountered holy grounds so he figured he had to be under a church. 'Where's Peter?' he wondered to himself.


Kalsipher sat at the small table with Draza Desperella and the other one. Draza was rambling on about something or other and Kalsipher really didn't bother to listen very closely. He didn't need to, all he had to do was take orders and everything would be fine for him.

"Hello, Grestor," the Metal Man said as he dropped his invisibility cloak. He had been standing right in front of Grestor all along. "It seems that our mutual friend Father Nightroad has left town. It also seems that he was the one who was dispatching...other vampires." The cyborg let that last comment sink in. "I found a body in a Vatican safe house that was similar to the one left in the woods."

It would be tomorrow before he started his search for the vampire hunter Maximillion. In the meantime, Caphriel would be strongest here, so he intended to get in some training--and to make sure that Ali got some in as well.

"What will we do to prepare Ali tonight?" he asked.

Ali felt sort of lightheaded as he walked torward a window. He looked out at ground level and saw a long street. The window felt cold to the touch. Ali noticed a stack of old newspapers in the corner.

He absently walked over to them and picked one up. It was dated December 6, 1916. Apperently Germany had occupied Bucharest, The Capital of Romania. Ali didn't find anything else intresting in the paper.

OCC:I decided to put out the date, that about right?

ooc: that seems fine.

IC: Grestor looked at Peter calmly. He had learned not to trust holy men, especially anyone who worked directly for the Vatican.
"Hmm... Since we can't protect him all the time we should teach him how to fight. A little bit at least. Perhaps we could start him on one of my blades..." Grestor hadn't had any need to draw them for several days and he absently stroked the hilts of his weapons.

"That would be an excellent idea," the cyborg replied. "I'd also like to continue boosting his memory. Would it be too much to ask that I be allowed to sit in on your lessons, and to tutor him on another subject when you're done?"

"I'll agree to that, but I think that you should take him first, even though he is a vampire, after my training he'll be too tired to learn anything else." Grestor smiled, "but you can try if you want to."

"You're right," the cyborg replied. "I should go first. Besides, my lessons--which I encourage you to participate in as well--will only take about two hours."

Seeing that Grestor had agreed to the day's activities, the Metal Man turned to his newest protege.

"Ali," he said, "today, we are going to develop your memory."

Grestor groaned inwardly. Somehow Peter had managed to include him in Ali's training.
Damn... I thought I had finally made it out of school for good. Ah well... it couldn't hurt I guess.

"That sounds fun." Ali said without glancing up, he was still looking through the papers. "How does this training work?"

"It starts with a little demonstration," the Metal Man said. "I want you to picture someone sitting at a desk. On the top of that desk is a name plate. This person sits behind the desk, and in his lap is a baby. On the baby's hand is a work glove. In the glove sits car from a model train. Finally, on the back of the car is a little hobby horse. You think you can remember that?"

"Of course," Ali replied, "it's easy."

"Good. Because what I've just told you is a way to find out the basic information that you would like to know about anyone you've just met. On top of the desk is a--."

"--Name plate."

"So you would want to know the person's name. On his lap is a--."

"--Baby."

"So you would want to ask if he has any children. On the baby's hand is a--."

"--Work Glove."

"So you would want to know what he or she does for a living. In the glove is a--."

"--Model train."

"Does he like to travel? Where has he been? Finally, in the back of the train car is a--."

"--Hobby horse."

"What are his hobbies?

"Now, would you two gentlemen like to get better acquainted?"

-------------------------------

OOC: I would just love to get this story moving, but I haven't the foggiest notion where it's going to go. There's an OOC thread where I've asked for us to come up with a plan, but no one's posted there in a dog's age. Oh well.

OOC: sorry, I've been busy with school, sorry I haven't poster for a while.

IC: Grestor looked at Peter with a puzzled look on his face.
"But we already know each other. What else do we have to know?"

Grestor perked up suddenly. He felt two very distressing things. The aura of Konstantin's vampire servant. And three distinct and very powerful demonic auras. Nearby. And getting closer.
"Peter-"
"Yes, I felt it too."
"I guess we'd better adjourn the lesson. Get ready Ali. Here take one of these." Grestor handed Ali one of his blades.
"Hold it tight. You may need it."

Kalsipher sauntered along. It was a nice night. Perfect for destroying these chosen ones. As he neared the church he felt the characteristic tingle when he got near these holy places. Kalsipher sent out a probing thought. There were two vampires inside. And something else. Something not human, but not a vampire... Nevermind. Kalsipher flared, it was all in the plan, all he had to do was dirive them out the other side of the church. Easy enough.
"Alright then. Let's go!"
Kalsipher blasted his flame forward. Luckily for the chosen ones inside, and the plan, the church was stone. So even though the church roof and all the wooden areas caught on fire. Kapsipher retracted his flame. The church was already on fire no need to melt the rock.
"Easy enough. This wasn't even a challenge." Kalsipher watched the flames with a mild grin, whistling a little song to himself.

OOC:How's that for gettingthe story rolling?

OOC:How's that for getting the story rolling?

OOC: It'll do.

OTOH, Peter doesn't "feel" things--in fact, he's SO anti-esper that he restricts the ability of those around him to "feel" things. He relies on the jewels in the cross that he wears around his neck. They glow when occult entities are nearby.

And there are more than two vampires in the crypt. The Children of the Dawn have a small force down there. The radical priests in the rectory are sheltering them as they attempt to throw off their respective curses. There are also church workers and priests in the area, and, of course, civilian authorities not far away.

IC:

There was a soft, muffled explosion, and then people and vampires started moving hurriedly through the catacombs.

"What's going on?" the Metal Man asked Elle as she ran to join them.

"The church is under attack! It's on fire!"

"I'm sorry," the Metal Man said, extending the blades from his hands and moving to the door nearest the source of the attack. "I thought I had another day to establish a defensive parimeter. Whowever they are, they're [i]fast."

He looked at Grestor.

"Do you want to clear the frontal attack or the rear ambush?" he asked.

Ali felt the explosion ripple through the stone, though it wasn't enough to cause any real damage, it was unexpected and would burn large sections of the church. He gripped the blade Grestor handed him tightly and stood to the side of the room, as to not get in the way.

It had taken Caphriel some time to find where the others had got too, they were very good at hiding themselves but, with the powers of heaven supporting him they couldn't stay hidden forever. As it turns out, it was lucky he found them when he did, he was gliding along disguised as an owl again when he felt the prescence of the fire demon. He scanned the perimeter of the church just in time to see the demon light it on fire.

Now we can't have that, thought Caphriel to himself. Avenging angel enter, stage left.

He dived quickly down towards the demon like a silent bullet, his features slowly melting back to that of an angel. When he reached the demon, he was fully angel again with his sword arcing toward its head.

The demon of course became aware of his prescence at some point during his initial dive and was prepared for the strike and ducked sending the strike through thin air. The demon scrambled backwards to put some distance between himself and the angel to get a better look at his attacker.

Caphriel landed on the ground with a thud and glared at the demon over his shield. "Excuse me sir, but to join this party you need an invitation."

OOC: OOps, forgot. my bad.

IC:Kalsipher smiled, just when this was getting boring look who shows up.
"Sorry there, I didn't mean to interupt if you had any buisiness, just following orders. And unfortunatly for you, my orders say not to let anyone interfere." Kalsipher flared up and lashed out at the angel with a tongue of flame coming from his palm. Naturally the attack was blocked but at the same time Kalsipher sent another lash out from the opposite side.

Grestor looked around thoughtfully, even though the church was on fire Grestor figured they had a little while to plan this out. Seeing a flash of white light from the window on the side where the church was burning Grestor figured that Caphriel had arrived, he could take care of that side.
"I suggest we take the other side of the building. We don't want to make them feel left out. Ali, you come too."
Grestor had personal reasons for bringing Ali, but he couldn't leave him down here, the fire was spreading and he wasn't sure if the attackers couldn't get by Peter and Grestor to get at Ali, he would have to come.

There was simply no way to protect them all. They had...something...with pyrokinetic powers. The Metal Man could probably handle that one one-on-one--but, if Hissler came back, that would be a problem! In fact, there was no way that the Metal Man could think of to protect anybody, himself included from Hissler. The formless demon was simply too powerful. The best that he had done, unaided, was to hold it off for a while.

Then, the jewels on the Cross of Longenus started acting up. A red jewel near the center of the cross had begun to glow when the firestarter showed up. That one was easy to read. Then, the white gem just over the center stone had begun to glow. That stone indicated the presence of the divine.

"It looks like our friend Caphriel is here to help us," he told the others.

He decided to share his concerns.

"Grestor," he said, "what happens if Hissler comes back?"

Grestor looked at Peter sharply, he hadn't thought of that, what if the demon did come back. Then they couldn't really do anything.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now I'd feel much better in a place that wasn't on fire."

Kalsipher reeled back. Somehow the angel hit him before he could lash out his fire. This guy was quick.
"Good, I was worried this would be boring! Come on!" Kalsipher threw a massive orb of fire forward at the angel.

"Agreed," said the cyborg. He walked to the end of the room, opened the door and grabbed the first person who hurried by. "Where's Elle?" he asked.

"I'm right here," she said, coming down the hall.

"What's going on out there?"

"We're under attack. There's a fire demon at the front door, and he's set the church ablaze. We all have to get out before it comes down on us! But there are more of them out back!"

"How many?"

"We can only see one, but there might be others."

"Is there an alternate route out?"

"Yes. There's a tunnel that leads to the mausoleum, but we've got to hurry." She walked past him and into the room.

"Let's get going. I'll help. Ali, give me your hand."

Thinking quickly, Caphriel sent a bolt of lightning from the tip of his sword that struck Kalsipher preventing him from following up his first attack with any speed.

"Good, I was worried this would be boring! Come on!"

This jibe was followed by a huge orb of fire speeding towards Caphriel. He lifted his shield and caught a corner of the fireball sending it up and away from him and then with a flap of his wings, he rose quickly into the air above the demon. This would give him much more mobility than being on the ground allowing him to play a little bit more offensively than before.

"You'll have to do much better than that if you hope to capture the chosen one," he shouted down at Kalsipher. "You coulnd't even defeat a mortal with an aim like that."

Caphriel really wasn't interested in continueing this fight much longer than was necessary for the others to escape. He hoped that last insult would play into the demon's explosive temper and make him forget about the task at hand and focus solely on Caphriel.

Just in case though Caphriel figured it couldn't hurt to make this demon think twice about attacking their group again. So again he swung his sword sending a stream of lightning bolts towards the demon. Then he dived following the lightning straight towards the demon this time, the swing wouldn't miss...

As the angel rose from the ground Kalsipher realized that he was outmatched. But orders were orders.
"Great, now I don't have to worry about buildings getting in the wa-" Kalsipher never got off the last word because as he spoke the angel sent a shower of lightning downwards toward him with the angel hot on the bolt's trail. When the lightning neard Kalsipher summoned a wall of flame which managed to divert the blast. With the angel hot on the lighning's tail Kalsipher simply sent the wall of fire blazing forward towards the speeding angel.

Grestor followed Elle down the hall. She had insisted on taking Ali herself. Something about that nagged at Grestor but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Why would she insist on taking Ali? Grestor and the others countinued down the hall.

Ali and Elle traveled down the hall with the others close behind. Grestor eyed him and Elle suspiciously.

He began to slow however as they went further into the Mausoleum.
This is... he thought as they passed a horned statue.

Familiar...

Suddenly, the group stopped mid-stride, crashing into each other.
"Ow" Elle said to Ali.

"Sorry" he replied "Why did we stop?"

"The tunnel branches out in two directions, we need to take the left."

"Alright then."

Ali began to move up the tunnel. However, something in the right tunnel made him turn in its direction. He started into the darkness of the hallway, the air seemed to slow around the entrance. He finally stopped at the entrance.

"What's wrong?" he heard someone ask, he didn't respond.

A horrific, demonic grin distorted Elle's cherubic face, and the Metal Man knew what had happened.

"Grestor, run! It's a trap! Hissler's got Elle!"

As he brought up his shield, he realized that Hissler had already undergone a partial failure. If she had actually touched Ali, she should have been able to posess him--but she hadn't. That meant that something was protecting him from her. Perhaps his special powers were beginning to assert themselves.

"Back away from her, Ali," he said.

"Ohh, you don't have to worry," Hissler said through Elle's mouth, "I won't hurt him. Besides, Des wanted a little girl."

Before the Metal Man could even worry about diverting his attention, something blew out a door in the right side of the path. Behind it, two vampires surged forward: Draza and one other. That must have been the one Hissler called "Des."

There was no time for subtlety. The Metal Man just flared his shields, letting go all the energy that he had been able to pour into his capacitors in the last twenty seconds. A powerful electrostatic jolt hit Elle and Ali. It dropped Elle like a stone, but Ali acted as if it didn't even phase him. Resistance to electrical weapons, the Metal Man thought. Maybe he has Hissler's number.

He would have to find out soon enough. As he watched, the disembodied demon rose like a cloud from Elle's unmoving body. He extended the blades from his arms.

It turned out to be just in time. One of the vampires behind him stepped forward and raised a blade. When the swords came out, though, he hesitated, giving the Metal Man an opportunity.

"Hello, Draza," the cyborg said.

"Goodbye, Man-Machine," the vampire countered. He brought his blade down in a lightning quick overhead slam.

Normally, this is very difficult to block; however, the Metal Man was ready, and had his blade up and was waiting. In a moment, he had deflected the blow and Draza was paying the price for his overconfidence. His balance lost, he gasped as the Metal Man took ahold of his sword and pulled him forward--into a horned statue. Then, the cyborg turned to Hissler and let loose another shield blast. Draza screamed and dropped to the floor. Hissler cursed as she, too, was diminished. Ali, who also took the blast, was again strangely not affected. Behind him, though, the second vampire entered the fray. Having been out of range of the shield blasts, she strode up to the Metal Man and, far more careful and calculating, stabbed at his back with a sword of her own. She had caught him completely by surprise. There was no way that he could parry.

----------------

OOC: HELP!!!

Grestor saw the demon stab Peter too late and only reached the two after Peter had fallen to the ground.
"Damn you!" Grestor yelled stabbing out at the demon. He managed to get a stab at the demon in the torso when she turned to confront him but seeing his friend's crumpled form Grestor's emotions got away from him and he began to stab out wildly in a blaze of fury completely uncharacteristic of him. Luckily the demon was hurt after his first blow and Grestor still managed to inflict several effective stabs.

Kalsipher was visibly sweating. This angel was good.
Damn, I've used some of my best stuff, this angel just keeps coming. Kalsipher decided to try one last method, which he had only used once before. He couldn't remain in his human form to do this so he flared and diminished his phony skin.
"Time to die angel." Kalsipher said from a burning maw which served as his mouth.

The demon Grestor was fighting eventually couldn't stand the onslaught, even though it was fairly ineffective, and fled. Grestor hurried over to Peter's still form after he saw the demon's retreat.
"Peter? Peter! Speak to me!" Grestor took Peter's head into his arms. He was a cyborg, but Grestor hoped that the blow hadn't been fatal.

Behind the other two, Draza took in the situation.

"I'll get the boy yet," he said. "You can count on it." Taking Desparella by the shoulders, he helped her limp away with the injured, amorphous form of Hissler following slowly.

The Metal Man's whole body shook as he looked up at Grestor.

"Ro--roll me on my sto-sto-stomach," the cyborg said. "She g-got through my armor and cr-cra-cracked my t-t-tank. God, I didn't-t think-nk it w-was poss-ss-ssible with just-st a s-s-sword. I'm bleeding to death! If I get the crack on the top, it won't leak. I--I'm having trouble mo...ving."

With Des, Draza and Hissler in retreat, the attack was over. Elle groaned, a sign that she would soon regain consciousnes. The only one seriously injured from the encounter was...the Metal Man.

Ali had been watching the events before him with a feeling of detachment. The energy charge Peter had thrown and him and the possessed Elle hadn't even left a scratch. He watched Grestor's attack of rage and Peter's injury with glazed over eyes.

"If we don't do something, he'll die from blood loss." Ali spoke in Monotone.

"Neither you nor I know how to help him." he added. "Perhaps Caphriel can help us."

Grestor labored to push the surprisingly heavy man onto his stomach.
"If we don't do something, he'll die from blood loss." Ali spoke in Monotone.

"Neither you nor I know how to help him." he added. "Perhaps Caphriel can help us."
Grestor looked at Ali with so many different emotions blazing across his face that even he didn't have time to figure them all out.
"Well Ali..." Grestor said through clenched teeth, the nerve of this boy, even if he was god himself! simply standing there while we were attacked. We were fighting to protect HIM.
"If we need Caphriel, then why don't you go find him?" Even though Grestor was angry he knew Ali was right, even the healing powers that Lord Hekvar had taught him wouldn't help here, only angelic powers would work.

Kalsipher readied himself to throw all of his might at the angel now flying about ten feet in the air and, as he readied for the attack a familiar though unpleasant voice piped into his 'head.'
"Kalsipher you good for nothing! Get back here, the attack failed thanks to you!," It was certainly Draza, he was such a melodramatic," Where were you you fool, we could have had the child! Now we'll have to regroup, get back here... NOW!" Then the voice was gone, but the message was painfully clear so Kalsipher dowsed himself and shrunk back into a size that would fit into his skin.
"Sorry angel, I hoped that I could kill you here but plans change. Gotta go!" Kalsipher flared in a sheet of fire and dissapeared. He teleported about a mile away in an abandoned alleyway.
And thus my fun ends. Oh well, maybe next time.
Kalsipher walked out of the alley towards the inn above the bar where Draza and the others were located.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Elle began to scream. She sat against the wall and screamed and screamed and screamed as loudly as she could scream.

From his place on the floor, the Metal Man looked up at her with infinite compassion.

"L-l-latent telepath, are y-y-you?" he said. "Got in His-hissler's mind when sh-sh-she got in yours. Oh my God." He reached out for her, and, surprisingly, she did not blanch. In a moment, he was gently holding her hand. Slowly, the screams started to ease.

"Easy," the cyborg said. "Easy. Be strong." And, soon, she was no longer screaming, but sobbing at the top of her lungs.

"The horror!" she cried at length. "The horror! She's so evil! She was going to feed me to that other vampire!"

"My God."

"She lays eggs in you! She has a venom, but vampires are immune! They were going to tie me up and--oh GOD!" Elle cried again.

"It's over now," the robot-man said. "We've driven them both away. Now we need your help. Do you think you can help us, Elle?"

"I'll--I'll try."

"I'm hurt," the cyborg continued. "Get Theodore. He can help me. Can you go and get Theodore?"

"Ohhh," she said, rising to her feet. "I must. I must bring father. I must."

With that, she ran down the hall at super speed.

"Thank you, Grestor," the Metal Man said. "It seems that the way you've positioned my body is helping. You think you're up to helping me out of this suit, gentlemen?"

Kalsipher's wall of fire managed to halt Caphriel's advance as the shields came up once more to create a path through the fire. Then Caphriel waited for the demon to make a move. And make a move it did, it's skin melted away and it became a certifiable fire demon, that would be its first mistake of the night.

"Time to die angel."

Caphriel stared defiantly at the demon before replying, "You would have been better off keeping to your human skin, it would afford you some kind of protection."

"Protection from what," the demon yelled back, "You haven't even come close to hitting me yet."

"I haven't even come close to trying either," Caphriel retorted. "But since you asked, how does your new body feel about a little holy rain?" As he spoke, the heavens opened up and sheets upon sheets of holy water rained down upon the battlefield.

And then just as suddenly as it appeared, the demon vanished in a wall of flame before and significant damage could be done. Well, that was interesting, thought Caphriel. I'd best go find the others.

He didn't need to look far however because just as he landed and transformed back to human, he heard several blood-curdling shrieks from inside the church. Quickly, he sprinted inside and when he found the source, he was distressed to see Peter sprawled out on the floor bleeding heavily and looking worse by the second.

Quickly, he rushed to Peter's side. Kneeling next to him, he said very quietly, "Peter, can you here me?"

As the clear, viscous fluid that served as the Metal Man's blood spread out on the ground beneath him, the cyborg received heartening news. The angel Caphriel had come.


Quickly, the angel rushed to Peter's side. Kneeling next to him, he said very quietly, "Peter, can you here me?"


"Yes, I hear you, my friend," he replied. "How good are you at making cracked crystals grow together? Though Grestor has been a great help, it won't be long before my reserves bleed out, and then I'll be in trouble."

bumpity bump bump;)

"Yes, I hear you, my friend," he replied. "How good are you at making cracked crystals grow together? Though Grestor has been a great help, it won't be long before my reserves bleed out, and then I'll be in trouble."

"I'm not sure," Caphriel replied, "I've never done it before. Life is full of small challenges though." Rolling up he sleeves, Caphriel laid his hands on the affected area. "Just try and relax," he said as he closed his eyes and reached deep into himself.

He could feel the crystals inside Peter, could see their molecular structure in his mind's eye. He reached with his mind towards the shattered crystal sections and his hands glowed white. The crystals slowly began to re-form much easier than Caphriel had originally thought they would.

Then without warning, the crystals stopped knitting back together and began to deteriorate again. Peter began to convulse under the strain and Caphriel was losing his control over the crystals. Re-doubling his concentration Caphriel opened his eyes which glowed with a heavenly fire that flooded the room with light.

"Your not going to die on me, not today at least," he said to Peter. Concentrating with all of his might, he re-gained his control over the crystals and stopped the deterioration. They began to mend themselves again this time much faster than before and within the space of a few minutes, the last one had been repaired.

With his work done, Caphriel returned to his normal level of awareness had just enough time to glance down at his work before he passed out from shear mental exhaustion.

The first thing that he noticed was that the colors he saw were much sharper. The room was bathed in some kind of light. Functioning as he was on a minimal sensory input, the Metal Man was not using his active sensors to probe behind him. The "blood" had fouled half his systems. They were designed to survive this, but they wouldn't work intil they dried out. The reserve can was almost empty, too. Caphriel had fixed the leak just in the nick of time.

He flexed first his fingers, then his wrists, then his elbows, making sure that each joint still functioned. Then, he repeated the process for his legs. Finally, when he was sure that he hadn't lost any motion control, he rose slowly, carefully to his feet.

Calmly, he knelt down again, this time by Caphriel. He took off his leather jacket, rolled it up and placed it under the exhausted Angel's head. Looking at Ali and Grestor, he said, "Normally, it is I who heal the wounded. You know, the destruction is the easy part. A simple crack in my tank that took two tenths of a second to make exhausted me and him to set right."

Theodore walked into the room. He seemed tired, but he still managed his that mysterious smile that was his trademark.

"Well met, friends," he said. He looked at the Metal Man. "It appears that the Angel has healed you. For this, we owe him a debt of gratitude. We must take him with us now as we leave."

"Leave?" asked the Metal Man.

"Though the demons have left, the church is ablaze," Theodore replied. "The authorities will be here any minute. They're going to want an explanation for all of this. Your presence will present them with...a slight challenge."

"I concur," the cyborg replied. "Pick him up, Ali. He should be safe for you to touch right now."

Ali silently walked over to Peter and Caphriel and carefully lifted Caphriel up. He seemed light, or maybe Ali was just stronger.

Hard to tell...

Ali then turned to face Theodore, getting a good look of his face.

"Where now?" Ali asked.

"I understand that my friend visited some vatican safe houses earlier today. Under the circumstances, I think that we should be paying them a visit--in priest's robes. This should make our identities somewhat easier to conceal than last time, and give us the opportunity to set up a better security parimeter."

"There won't be any security," the Metal Man countered. "How do you secure yourself from a being who can posess any of the people you entrust with guarding the premisis?"

"Where would you go, then?" the vampire asked.

"I'm not asking for a change of change of venue," the cyborg replied, "only that we all keep our eyes open as best we can from now on. We have some powerful enemies."

----------------------

OOC: If I wasn't about to die from lack of sleep, I'd post something with the villains. Guess I'll leave that for later. Anybody want to describe the trip to the safehouse?

Grestor spoke up from the back of the line.
"I don't mean to be rude, but unlike you Theodore some of us can't go onto holy places, and more over wearing priest's robes. It wouldn't work. However, Lord Hekvar does have a safe house on the east side of the city. We could go there. They have detectors and shields to counter the demons."

Grestor spoke up from the back of the line.
"I don't mean to be rude, but unlike you Theodore some of us can't go onto holy places, and more over wearing priest's robes. It wouldn't work. However, Lord Hekvar does have a safe house on the east side of the city. We could go there. They have detectors and shields to counter the demons."

"Detectors, you say," the vampire said. "Yes, this would be better. Something was done to that safe house to allow vampires to enter it--I'm not sure what, it was done by that priest you spoke of--but your resources would be much better."

"The PLAN," Draza yelled, "was that you were SUPPOSED to JOIN US and DEAL WITH the CREATURES! IF ONLY YOU HAD PAID ATTENTION, YOU MIGHT HAVE KNOWN THIS!"

"SHUT UP, YOU TOTAL MORON!" Kalsifer fired back. "I WAS ATTACKED BY AN ANGEL! MAYBE IF YOU HAD BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, THEN MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, YOU WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT!"

"What!?!? Another one???"

"YEAH! ANOTHER ONE! SO YOU CAN JUST SHUT THE $*@# UP NOW, CAN'T YOU?"

Draza had fumed for the two miserable hours that it had taken them to return to their lair, then let the full fury of his tirade loose upon the disrespectful fire demon. Now, however, what he heard caused him to drop his voice to a dangerously soft level.

"You know, I was about to let you off the hook before you went and pulled that stunt. Now, I'm going to have to teach you some respect anyway." He placed his hand upon the crystal that hung from his neck, and, in the middle of his protests, Kalsifer went silent--and rigid. A look of sadistic pleasure spread across Desparalla's face as she watched the fire demon, powerless to help himself, walk over to the door, into the water closet and over to the shower. In a moment, he had drawn himself a cold bath.

"The next time you raise your voice to me," Draza said smoothly, "you'll be lieing in that bed that you just made. Do you understand me?"

Shaking with anger, Kalsifer replied, "Yes, but that doesn't change the part about the Angel."

"I know," Draza replied. "They're always adding to their numbers. So, what do you think is the obvious thing that we should do?"

"I'm a fire demon, not a mind reader," Kalsifer replied. "If you already know the answer to your question, why bother asking it?"

"The obvious thing that we should do--and you'd know this if you were paying attention--is to hunt them down and dispose of them. The man-machine is dangerous enough all by himself. Just standing too close to him completely negated all of my magical powers. When you add to that the powers of an Angel, not to mention Melkour's minions, it stacks the odds to strongly against us.

"So we're going to have to go hunting for a slightly different sort of game now. We will start by learning how it was that Desparella managed to penetrate the man machine's defenses. She alone had a worthwhile evening tonight. You can drain your bath."

As Kalsifer put his hand into the water and gently pulled out the plug, he screamed.

"Oops," said Draza.

Grestor looked at Theodore appraisingly, "Alright then, we'll do it your way, but you'd better be right about this. Otherwise I and probably Ali will be in trouble too."

Kalsipher grabbed his hand after Draza had released him.
Damn that crystal and damn Draza. That sick bastard.
Kalsipher walked back to the table while gently massaging his hand. This was not turning out to be a good day.

"Yours is the better path, my friend," Theodore said to Grestor. "It offers security and reliability that mine cannot. There is no way of knowing what would cause this--condition--on the safe houses to suddenly expire. I was wrong and it was you who were right."

Abundant
suing,
imbroglio,
spills.

bump!

Perhaps
My
Utterances
Blunder.

OCC: I AM HETWAN!! REVIVER OF THREADS!!! Just kidding... takes a while to get off the train of Real life and come here. Much, much too long...

IC:
Ali looked back and forth as the others decided where to go. Whatever form of energy Peter had thrown at the possessed Elle and him, it appeared to have an affect after all...

Ali felt as if there were two of him in his mind, what he could be. One was purely good, the other purely evil. They seemed to be arguing over his actions.

We should have helped in some way.
Bah! What could we do? Besides, Peter seems well enough.
They were fighting to protect us.
We could handle it. It's not like they were trying to kill us.

Be quiet. Ali thought.

The argument continued as if he had not said anything. It was taking a lot of concentration from Ali not to actually speak the words the voices were saying.

We would probably wish we were dead.
Afraid of them are we?
Do not underestimate them.
They shouldn’t underestimate us.

Ali wondered if anyone saw he was breathing more heavily, he just gritted his teeth and hoped no one would notice…

Yeah right…

"Ali, are you alright?" the Metal Man asked.

"Is there some problem?" Theodore chimed in.

"He's breathing," the cyborg said. "Vampires normally don't breathe except to speak. Is there something that you'd like to say?"

------------------------

OOC: Many months ago, a change came upon NationStates, and I was unable to log in as my primary nation, the Dominion of Dastardly Stench. It became impossible for me to log on at all using DDS, so I created a posting puppet, Marionetonia, to allow me to participate in threads such as this one.

Now, it appears that whatever problem they had has been solved...and I've got Dastardly Stench back!!!!! :) :) :)

It has also occurred to me that some may not recognize DDS and Marionetonia as the same person. This is to assure any such that this is the case.

Thank you for your patience. We will not return to our regularly scheduled programming on Smellovision...

PFFFFFFFFFFTTT!!!!!

...
.......
...........
Say something.

"...no..." Ali muttered. "...its just... nothing..."

Yeah, nice. That's sure to fool them.
Just tell them, it's not like they're new to this or anything.
Be quiet, he's doing bad enough as it is.

OOC: Sorry I haven't ben here for a while. School is going on.

IC: Grestor looked ahead and noticed Ali nearly panting. Something was wrong.
damn, if only master Hekvar was here. He'd know what this is.

"Ali? What's wrong?"
"...no..." Ali muttered. "...its just... nothing..."

Something was definately wrong. He was a vampire and yet, he seemed distracted. Out of focus.

"Ali, something's wrong. Tell us what it is." Grestor walked forward to the spot where Ali had stopped along the tunnel and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on Ali, you know you can tell us."

In a temple carved into the heart of an active volcano, Konstantin smiled and radiated his glee. Arms spread, he basked in the moment before the ritual's final phase reached its zenith.

The sacrificial virgins--human females harvested at the height of ripeness--lie upon their three altars--two, on lower altars, drugged to a stupor and one, as the ritual required, fully conscious, at the highest, central pillar. Though the bonds that held her otherwise naked body were tight, one could still see her strain against the bonds and writhe with the pain of her bondage. She had been prepared perfectly.

The ritual progressed. Slowly, lovingly, Konstantin carved the beating hearts from the two virgins on the sides of the altar. As their blood flowed onto his white robe and down the floor through the trough into the heart of the volcano, so he began a mystic chant that he had learned centuries ago, and practiced for longer than any human could ever live.

As he chanted, tongues of lava arose from the hearth of the altar and lazily moved upward, outward, finally encircling the third virgin. Where they touched her, she instantly burst into flame. In parts, her skin seemed charred almost as black as her auburn hair. The bonds burst under the strain, and she was pulled screaming and burning into the pit--a symphony of usefulness.

The universe seemed to take up her cry as a maw in the dimensions cracked open. Jagged-edged and incomplete, it nonetheless allowed for communication between this reality and that of the Dark Father.

Supplicant, Konstantin dropped to his knees.

Ali went rigid as Grestor's hand touched his shoulder.

Pretty quick to change sides isn't he?
What?
I mean, when you first told him of Peter's condition, he was snappish with you.
So?
So now he's the concerned parent? Hardly.
There were reasons he was "snappish" with us.
Such as?
Well, for starters...


The voices suddenly stopped. Could they be gone? Or were they merely silent? The answer came when Ali felt the presence of the dark one. It couldn't be anything else, every part of his body felt some degree of pain.

Maybe the voices were on the same plane as... him... The voices possibly being on a higher plane of thought. It would explain how Ali could sense... his... presence.

Ali shut his eyes and tried to say that he was fine, when he wasn't, but his body didn't respond.

Maybe, Ali thought. Since the voices didn't respond to my voice, then... he... won't either.

Either way, Ali would just have to listen to whatever the Dark one had to say.

As the hole in the universe was torn open, a man could be seen standing at its edge, just on the other side. His hair had all fallen out with age, except for a few whisps of white in his eyebrows and a few scraggy tufts of beard. Nonetheless, he did not appear disheveled. Rather, he wore an immaculate suit of gleaming black armor that covered his torso. In his hands, which were as low as one could see through the hole, was a sword, also gleaming black. A jewel on its hilt glowed red, tongues of fire lapping out from it as a warning to any who may try to take the blade from its wielder.

The man's eyes glowed red, and an aura of eternal, unquenchable rage beset his features. Even so, his features seemed to soften, if only slightly, when he looked upon Konstantin. He took a deep breath.

"You have been too long out of touch," he said.

"Thank you for your concern, Dark Father," Konstantin replied, head bowed. "I was busy attending to the business of the Vessel."

"So you were," the Dark Father replied, "and it would seem that you are still busy."

"I--I'm sorry, Dark--."

"Spare me your apologies, boy. Would you accept them from the lackey that you sent to do a man's work? Then why should I be any more forgiving with you?"

"You are not suggesting that I pardon--?"

"I am SUGGESTING that you FINISH THE JOB, and QUICKLY! You, with that iron body that I gave you, have no conception of what it is to watch your strength slowly slipping away into the arrogant hand of time! I NEED another VESSEL! There is one READY! What prevents its presence NOW?"

"There was an Angel--."

"Yes, one PITIFUL minion of the Cruel One was all it took to upset your PITIFUL lackey's PITIFUL plans! He should be made to PAY for his lack of resourcefulness!"

"There were too many of them. He will triumph eventually--."

"EVENTUALLY isn't good enough!" exclaimed the Dark Warrior, red flames flaring from his eyes as he did. "This Vessel is not immortal as the new one is! I had to sacrifice this for the power of procreation! If it is not replaced--SOON--I will have to start acclimating to mortal bodies all over again! It could take MILLENIA!"

"Then what do you suggest, Dark Fa--."

"Go to them. Find them. Bring them to the Place of the Vessel. When you are there, they will open the pit of hell and loose my Demon Army. They will take the Vessel and bring him here. You will conduct the ritual and join us. We will set the world right again, forever, with you at my side."

Konstantin bowed his forehead onto the floor. "Yes, Dark Father. So shall it be."

Grestor felt Ali's body go stiff under his hand.

Is he angry with me somehow? Or is it something to do with the prophecy? Damn. I wish Lord Hekvar were here. He could explain some things.

Ali still hadn't moved in all this time, something was definitely wrong.
"Ali? Ali... what is it? Hey Peter! Get over here! Something's wrong with Ali!"


Hekvar walked calmly up the volcano into the temple carved into it's heart.
Konstantin must be slipping, not posting any guards out here.
As Hekvar walked into the temple the smell of fresh blood reached his nostrils, it couldn't be! Hekvar couldn't sense Ali anywhere near here. So why had Konstantin done the rite of summoning? Unless... He was simply getting orders, that must be it. Considering that Hekvar couldn't sense any demonic auras except for Konstantin's, that must mean that the rite had ended.

Hekvar started up the steps to the main dias, at the top he saw the lone figure standing there, his former master, Konstantin.

"Well master, it's been a long time since we last met." Hekvar continued to walk up the stairs even though he already had Konstantin's attention.

"I believe that our last lesson was never finished. Something about combat? I hope I didn't miss anything." Hekvar had drawn the two blades he held at his sides and gripped them firmly.
"So master, where were we?"

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in a while. And I hope I didn't skip over anything Marionet. Cause I really wanted to get Hekvar back into this.

Konstantine smiled a wicked smile. The usurper had come to his home, walked right through his door, and had the unadulterated arrogance to attempt to mince words. Konstantin was older, and had a much bigger vocabulary. He replied, closing his fist to summon magical energies as he did.

"But, my zealless acolyte! That dispensation was to be vetted long ago. You're tardy! Teacher...spank." Well...sometimes the simple words worked the best.

Konstantin snapped his fingers and three rather large stone gargoyles that stood along the wall behind him turned their heads toward Hekvar. Swords and shields moved in their arms as they stepped out onto the stairway, and a gentle breeze began to blow through the hall, and out the door behind Hekvar.

"We can discuss this matter further once my...disciplinarians...are finished--if you're up to discussing anything, that is." Never taking his eyes off of Hekvar, he began slowly to ascend the steps, walking backwards, as if he could see everything behind him.

---------------------

OOC: that breeze is going to keep getting stronger until it's gale force. If Hekvar hangs around too long, it'll eject him from the volcano.

The three gargoyles all swung their massive swords at once in an attempt to smash Hekvar, all the better for him.

Muttering a short incantation he had learned from Konstantin he transformed into one of a vampire's most potent forms, an intangible cloud of mist. The massive swords of thge gargoyles swung right through him and landed harmlessly smashing the floor. Hekvar 'flew' or more floated forward away from the gargoyles and returned to his original form.

"Well teacher, despite thge big words you throw around your vocabulary in magic is even worse than mine." Hekvar said another incantation and a thin streak of blue flame flew from his outstretched hand and landed on the closest gargoyle melting all of the statue it touched. Especially melting both arms in which it carried it's sword and shield. With the gargoyle in two molten pieces it fell to the ground and shattered.

Well, that one wasn't so hard, I just hope the others are as easy.

Now do you see?
...
This is the fate you would have led us to?
...
Well?
...it must be a trick...
A trick? Hardly.
...

Ali listened to the voices, or rather the voice. The other voice was more silent and withdrawn then before, while the once-quieter voice was victorious in his choice.

Where is your blind reliance now?
...
Still silent?
...Well its not like we could get stronger with "His" plans for us.
What?
I mean we must set aside our differences, for now, and look for a way to better ourselves. Serving "him" would not help us in any way.
Well... at least your on the right side. If for the wrong reasons...

It seems the two voices had made a pact, to not serve "him". Ali then became barley aware of Grestor asking for Peter's help.

Help? Help in what? Ali thought.
He then realized Grestor was talking about him.

"I'm fine," Ali said quickly, but then added more calmly "Although we should get moving."

"Words are so easy to use in haste."

Konstantin smiled. From the melted gargoyle rose a form of mist, congealing into an almost humanoid form. Slowly, it drifted toward Hekvar on the breeze, which was soft but noticeable now. As it did, its body seemed to sprout vaporous spines.

Meanwhile, small wedged formed in Hekvar's skin where the gargoyles' (enchanted) blades had "gone right through him." Hekvar's magic had been potent enough to prevent them from breaking his skin--a less powerful sorcerer would not have been so well off--but he could feel the result of the blades.

Konstantin reached the top stair and disappeared into the room beyond.

--------------------------

"Yes," said the Metal Man, "we need to get going."

--------------------------

OOC: @ hetwan: we should've gone over this in the OOC thread. Please check that thread now.

"I'm fine," Ali said quickly, but then added more calmly "Although we should get moving." Ali started walking away from Grestor down the tunnel and let Grestor's hand fall silently from his shoulder.

Something happened there. But what?

Grestor started walking again down the tunnel following Ali, not taking his eyes off him.

-----------
"Shit!" Hekvar yelled loudly as the mistlike vines approached. As he jumped the wound to his shoulder opened wider and blood oozed wildly out of the now wide slice. Hekvar jumped back again and reached into his pocket, pulling out a packet of blood he bit into the side and sucked the contents dry.

"Ah, much better. Now I can concentrate." With the wound healing visible Hekvar muttered another incantation and a streak of blue fire ripped from his hand at the mist cloud heading for him. A wide hole erupted from the middle of the figure and the particles the flame touched burned but the figure as a whole was still coming.

bump

Konstantin closed the door behind him and bolted it with a magical bar.

"Dark Father," he said, "the Usurper comes to invade our sanctuary."

"The ignorant, arrogant whelp," the old man's voice reverberated through the chamber. "If he wants to visit, then we should be sure that he will be...among friends. We will open the portals here...now."

On either side of the temple, a new rift formed. Rather than circular, however, these were more vertical--like gashes in the fabric of time and space. As they opened, dark creatures began pouring out onto the floor. Gargoyles, griffins, ogres, dragons--demons of every shape and size, anything that would fit through the holes. They took their places next to the vampires who had helped with the original ceremony, and, as the floor space was limited, some began to crawl up the walls and onto the ceiling. In the meantime, the breeze, which was still increasing, began to draw heat up from the volcano into the dark citadel. The floor at the central tunnel was soon glowing a dull red glow.

"A fitting welcome committee, no?"