Inside the decrepit and abandoned subway, echoes the sound of gunfire and the clang of metallic objects coupled with painful screams and groans.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE MADE OUT OF?!”
“CALL BACK UP! CALL ANYONE!”
“HOLY SHIT SHE’S FAST!”
“IS THAT A FUCKING KATANA?!”
Going through the incomplete subway station entrance tunnel, full of spider webs and inappropriate yet creative graffiti lies a bloody mess that painted the stained walls. As if a tornado of swords and machetes came flying through, slicing up everyone that came in its way. Limbs and organs scatter the dirty tiles of the station with spent casings painted red with blood. Weaving through the maze of tunnels came the main terminal where four old subway trains are left with its armed passengers all turned into minced meat. In the middle platform stood Queen Elizabeth with Detective Henry, searching through the bodies and rummaging through the Armored Crates around.
“You know you could’ve just made life a lot easier and maybe not rip them apart?”
“Hmph, I do not waste time nor give mercy to invertebrates.”
“Uh huh. Well, how do you expect we're gonna find the keycard to that safe door?”
“Just use that magic of yours that helped us trackdown the steps of the natives that were entering and exiting the underground stations.”
“That magic only works on low to medium creatures that haven't put much into their stealth. So those natives we fought, with Trace magic. I can detect and follow their steps, vampires though? No.”
“Just let me open it then. A mere light punch will do. These dotard think they’re smart to rig it to blow up with the rest of the station, but if I could find the mechanism for it. I can easily force it open.”
“Sorry to break it to ya’, but unless you're a trained Electrician with skills in terms of security gadgets. No amount of punches will save us from the ceiling.”
“Tsk.” Crossing her arms and fixing her side swept bangs, the Vampire Queen looks at the well lit subway trains with working interior lights and doors, all blocking the entrances to the tunnels. Curious, she heads to the end of the right train. Henry sees her enter it and after tip-toeing from dismembered humans and vampires, follows her to the driver seat. To the Detective’s surprise, the key was in and the train was actually fully functional.
“Detective, you were asking about how they were able to move all those boxes right?”
Popping a smoke, a light smirk is seen on the Detective’s lip. “I always wanted to drive one of these things. Let’s see where they take them.” He takes a seat at the conductor's chair and after some looking around, he pulls the throttle down. Making the train move forward. His smirk gets even larger as he starts to drive the train around the abandoned subway tunnels. Seeing him have fun, Elizabeth dusts off a nearby seat and elegantly sits down with her arms and legs crossed. She closes her eyes and attempts to sense anything out of the ordinary.
The train was more wobbly than your usual ride. It’d occasionally brush past large cobwebs and debris leftover by people. Going through a dark station, the Queen’s pointy ears twitch. Hearing beats of music, deeper underground and the train was headed there. With this, she taps the Detective's left shoulder and signals him to keep going while she heads to explore the cars. The smell was rusty and the interior lights would occasionally flicker as the train wonked from the unmaintained tracks.
From the metro seats and the old and outdated advertisements “Wanna win an enchanted armor? Visit our shop at Rosewood street!”, “In need of some Avatar sculptors? We got some here, visit our website for more photos and videos!” with them dating 2036. The attractive blonde woman nonchalantly walked through the cars and ended up within the last one where a bunch of armored crates haphazardly stacked on top of each other rattled and buckled from the bumpy ride. With military labels and the names of hospitals, she begins to get curious about them as she reads further into the white paint labeling.
Knocking on the crate, her eyes open wide and a smile pops on her face. With her immense strength she forcibly opens one of the armored crates that was loaded onto the subway train's last car. With her super strength, she lifts the heavy kevlar and composite top cover of it and there it was revealed to her what they were transporting below sparkling icicles that kept the temperatures of the box well below 40.
“Blood Bags?”
She takes one of them and takes a sniff of it. “Hmm… sweet.” She then looks at the writings and sees that it has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, English, Spanish and Arabic. “Do not tamper! Blood Donation to creatures that have Renfield’s Syndrome! Please keep frozen!” with this evidence, she walks to the front of the train to show it to Henry who was surprised. “Hmph. I thought it was full of guns and ammo, but a Blood Bag? What hospital is that supposed to go to?”
“It says Saint Mary’s?”
“I think this is the stuff the Hospital gives to players with avatars that need to drink blood. Keep that, if we could link that to the next place we’re going to, it might be enough to finally get the final piece of the puzzle and end this once and for all.”
“How rich. The Government of humans gives its special citizens the blood they need.”
“Might be alien to you, but it's the function of a modern Government. To provide good social welfare and help those in need… well maybe in a better world.”
“Over reliance can be a bad Detective. Do not fall for a heartful body of politicians. Your safety is the last of their concern.”
“I never trust the Government but… they pay me well.” He puffs a smoke, opening the window to blow it.
“Isn’t this enough to prove that Blood is being stolen?”
“Yea, but even then. We’d need to find out where it's headed. There’s only four main cities that get this much attention. Neo Tokyo, Woodstock, Treyevite, and Sampson. If we can link to even one of them that leads to Neo Tokyo. Specifically a certain hotel there, then that’s basically this case shut and closed.”
“Ehhhh… I’m surprised none of you ever found out of this pretty large and wide operation happening right beneath your nose. Even though you have all the necessary tools to wipe out this type of widespread criminality.”
“Don’t overestimate modern technology Elizabeth. What we have, they can also have with the right connections and money. Doesn’t take much to slip underneath even a well funded police force like Woodstocks Police Departments. All it takes is one high ranking person to side with them and like a cancer festering, it’ll spread and it’ll be far too late to do anything with.”
“And people ask me why my Legions would do everything I wish for them. Regardless of what side they stood on, they became my Knights because they were willing to lay everything for me and not for the people. You humans should learn something about that type of blind loyalty, your reliance on mutual trust will always open the chance for something of this scale to occur.”
She sits down, playing with the Blood Bag with her arms spread. Stretching her upper body from the tiring day of fighting and investigating.
“But didn’t you love the vampires and all that?”
“I do, but my Knights and Grunts fealty is to me. Not the people, but I guess it's different with your kind, yes?”
“Yeah, but not that different still.”
“BWAHAHAHA! You humans always amuse me. For the thousands of years I’ve lived, you never did change. Birthed with short lives and fragile bodies, you all long for changes and constant entertainment to give value to your lowly souls. Ohhhh do I wish to see more of your modern society, just how repulsive and weak you all have gotten and most of all… how easy would it be for my kin to thrive with weakened humans reliant on technology.”
“Weakened? Huh, weren’t you defeated by three Generals from my world?”
“Yes but this power is not truly yours isn’t it? From My Lord’s word. It is merely inherited by your Avatars. Fufufufu… and seeing him react to the pinnacle of beauty like me. Hohoho… I could only imagine the damage I could’ve done if I sent my Legions to ravage your land instead of this place.”
“It would still be the same, we have the most advanced militaries and the best technology that many of you think to be magic. Actually, I think the moment you’d make your Legions rise, it’d get nuked from orbit knowing how much we long for wars with how much civilized we’ve gotten since the Third World War.”
“Oh please. The moment I saw one of your vehicles, I already deduced that there is no way shape or form have magic involved. It's way too imperfect and noisy for something as beautiful as the manipulation of the Gods creations into something one may use for their own, to create and use magic is something no creature on this world may truly be able to fully understand, the Elves have tried to break it down to naught, humans too, and it all ended in failure and the creation of countless ungodly creatures that could destroy this planet whole…
“And who said I was gonna send my Legions to attack your armies?”
“... What do you mean?”
“Oh my. But why would I have to send an armed force against a weakened populace? Waste such resources and time for something a few well trained and well versed vampires can collapse in mere days, and if you humans are still as resilient as the ones here as I see in My Lord, who shows courage and humanity like those who live in fear in these continents, then maybe, it’ll take me a decade. But that is not a big concern for an immortal creature. I can turn that cancer that festers into a virus that devours all of humanity’s civilizations within a hundred years and the funniest of all, I can do it without exhausting my armed force.”
The Queen then switches the cross of her legs and slides her hand from her chin to the top of her face. Her hand massages her forehead as she continues to think deeply.
“Remember Detective, the best way to win a war is to win it without a singular battle and I feel like I could do that with modern humans. Without magic in your hands like the humans of Threa, I could exploit so much of this lifeless cycle that you’ve created.”
“Do not underestimate us Elizabeth. We might be like this to your eyes, a downwatered and sanitized version of the humanity you know, but I tell you. Five decades of living in a sanitized and modern society means there’s a lot of pent up carnal desire in there.”
Queen Elizabeth the entire time was looking straight, she didn’t flinch or look at anything else as the Blood Bag dangled from her free hand. The only thing that moved was her lips and legs, speaking from her heart. Soon, they could see light from another station and she could hear the music getting louder and louder. She stands up nonchalantly, holding onto the subway pole as the train slows down.
“But, be not afraid Henry. My Lord has earned my respect and adoration not only as a warrior, but also as a human. He is worthy of my devotion and endearment, maybe your last words do have some merit. He told me that he isn’t a real Knight. But those eyes, and that heart. I’ve even seen it in my former husband and the Knights that served under me, he is more than the man that he sees himself as and I’d go to the depths of the Underworld to save his soul if it meant making him see his true value. As my Knight.”
The train stops with the windows covered with fog with party lights and lasers, fully blocking their view of the platform and Henry looks around the cab and at the back of the conductor's seat and left door open button. Pressing it, the noisy station is revealed to be populated with people from all walks of life and no human or elf at sight. There were players and natives, wearing from modern skinny jeans and oversized shirts to Victorian age suits and hats. Music was blasting through the station's speakers and Henry walked out with his jaw dropping and his cigarette hitting the tiles.
“I-is that My Chemical Romance on the speakers?”
Queen Elizabeth just looks at him with a blank stare and grabs him by his jacket's collar, dragging him through the room full of Vampires. “Stay close to me, I can feel the hunger on them.” Some tried to grab the Detective, but the Queen's hand was faster and those she couldn’t stop, she used her Primordial Authority on. Though wearing her Crown, the 30s strapless knee length vintage dress she wore made it look like she was just wearing a costume. The Bouncer who was a big burly werewolf stopped her with his arm. Almost touching her breast.
“Sorry ma’am, but you gotta wait in line.”
Using wind and vampire magic, she makes a shard of glass fly up using splattered blood from a fight and it bounces off the ray of the bright party light on the balcony of the station. This makes the big man grunt in pain as his eyes are burnt and she chuckles victoriously. Kicking the metal door in and walking into the Club named “Transylvania - Club of the Night Walkers”. Deep into the halls full of Vampires, Wolves, Lizardfolk, Dwarves, and mixed hybrids that had nowhere to fit in, the ground was littered with soda cans, napkins and the occasional blood splatter. They were consuming everyday products with the spin of it having blood or human meat mixed into it. Elizabeth could only look disgusted at the depravity, the lack of common sense and the awful smell mixed with all bodily fluids imaginable coupled with the ear blistering music.
“Let’s make this quick Detective.”
“Remember, our mission here is to look for any clues that could be damaging to Havannah. If we can, we should look for the boss’ computer or something.”
“And that fool that drank the blood of a little girl?”
“Hays… his description is ponytailed, pale skinned Caucasian and last seen wearing a high school varsity jacket.”
“Good.”
The Detective then stops at a map layout of the place on the wall. “Bunker #01 - Heaven Bound” and the nine differing levels below it. On the first floor is the Administration and Officers Barracks and below it was the Civilian Dwelling and R&R. Taking a mental note of the place, he runs to Elizabeth who was trying her best to find the man.
“Also, this place seems to be some sort of a bunker. We should go deeper and see if they have anything else inside this place.”
Elizabeth scoffs him off as her smelling was unable to get anything proper. The more they walked, people started staring at her, noticing the old time looking woman walking like a supermodel in the decrepit bunker tunnel that’s been turned into a club. Everyone around her was wearing modern outfits, crop tops, yoga pants, tight jeans and oversized shirts. Reaching the ground floor, they arrive at two heavy metal doors that’s supposed to lead to an emergency bomb shelter incase of an attack. Smelling the air, Elizabeth hold’s Henry’s wrist and in the bunker. A large poster of a special vampire only event was occurring inside the vehicle chamber.
“Do not escape my sight Detective.”
“This is not going to be fun.”
Hearing her say this with a straight and valorous eyes caught him off guard and makes him lightly blush as she opens the door, revealing a large open space with a DJ on the end, the sprinkler system was praying fresh blood and Henry wanted to vomit immediately but the Queen kept him close to her as she shoved the vampires away, entranced by the moment, she didn’t have problem barging anyone out of the way. She didn’t open her mouth as her pretty white skin turned red and her purple dress with its white frills drenched with the red blood.
Some of the vampires tried to touch her, but with magic, she’d manipulate the air and dislocate their hands and arms without having to use her hands, man or woman she didn’t care. Anyone who tried to interact with her was met with extreme prejudice as she walked with extreme disgust at the open hedonism. A pretty blonde woman tried to touch her chest, but with a swift hand, she grabbed her eyeball and pulled it out, throwing it into the air while holding its Optic Nerve. She closes her eyes and flows her Mana through it and as it spins in the air, she notices a man in a varsity jacket and ponytail a few meters ahead.
With her target in sight, the woman drops the eye on the ground to be crushed by the other party goers as she penetrates through the crowd and straight to the teenage man.
“WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, CALM DOWN! I’M STILL BACK HERE!”
Henry’s panicked voice didn’t mean anything to her as she pulled him gently but her stride was unbreaking, like a steam train going through a thick patch of snow. She kept plowing through everyone with magic, not even opening her mouth to talk. Her target was busy partying like everyone else, opening his mouth and drinking the blood falling from the ceiling sprinklers and noticed her dangerous intent too late, as he was entranced by her beauty almost instantly. Rather than making a run at the sight of the visibly angered woman with a drenched purple gothic dress, he winks handsomely at her before he is grabbed by the neck and violently pushed through the crowd and into an emergency exit.
“DAMN LADY, TO ROUGH, TO ROUGH!”
She then lifts him up and proceeds to look around for a way out. With two men in her, she takes them for a ride to the sides of the bunker's motorpool. “Damn, lucky dudes!” and many other snarky comments were made as she dragged the two around the place. In a few minutes, she finally sees an exit that opened as a couple stormed out of the place, intensely making out. The varsity teen is then thrown through its steel doors like a toy.
The locks and the doors itself break open from the sheer velocity the man was thrown, none of the vampires cared as they enjoyed drinking the blood and were completely engulfed by the lust of the moment. Inside the clear white hallway with its armored walls, the bloodied Vampire Queen looks down on him. She briefly wipes the blood out of her glistening pink lips, only making it worse as it spreads to her cheeks. Her dress was still dripping with it and left a trail whenever she’d move. Looking around, she puts her hand into the man's pocket.
“Oh hey lady, you like it like that huh?”
“Sir, I recommend you shut up before she permanently ends you. Man, that was fucking horrible.”
“Oh wow, a threesome with a handsome nerd, let’s go!”
Unbeknownst to him, she just did this to take his handkerchief and used it to amorously wipe the blood from her mouth. Her magnificent seductive beauty was mixed with a mountain's worth of danger and savagery.
“I expected a lady like you to need more than seven men or women. Wahahaha~!”
Just as he laughed, all of his limbs are ripped out by the Queen and his torso is lifted up, though his limbs were regenerating, Elizabeth opens her palm. “Oh!” Henry then teleports his enchanted Tachi, before the man could regrow half of his limbs, she penetrates his chest and embeds the teenage vampire in the hardened steel wall.
“Now you cretin, I shall allow you the gracious mercy of the Ancient Queen and speak to me. Did you or did you not drink a little girl’s blood?”
With her hand on her hip, she reluctantly awaits his answer. Seeing that his arms and legs weren't regrowing and couldn’t pull the Tachi out of his chest, he starts spazzing out, violently trying to free himself. The vampire couldn’t do anything as he stopped moving, unable to calculate what was happening to him. The Queen then slaps him, it was so hard blood spewed out of his mouth.
“Scoundrel, answer me now.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I-i was taking a No Blood Challenge from my friends. I-i-i was so hungry, I had no choice. I had to drink her blood.”
“No Blood Challenge? Did modernity turn your brain into a vapid goop of deuce? For someone as young as you, drinking blood is of the utmost importance and now, look what you’ve done. Passing this curse to an innocent child.”
“I-i didn’t mean it, please. Please let me go.”
“Who owns this establishment?”
“S-some weird dude with a suit, he only lets special people see him. Please, don’t hurt me!”
“Disgusting.”
She pulls the Tachi out and gives it back to Henry who was flapping his jacket, letting the blood off.
“You done? Now we gotta look for a weird dude. Hey dipshit, does this hallway lead anywhere?”
“The lavatories and the bunker rooms for the Admins…”
“You heard him. Damn, next time I should have the Prime Minister call you for when vampires are running amok. As expected, only a Vampire can track another Vampire. It was fruitless of me to even try to compete, this was… an eye opening experience.”
“Don’t look down on yourself Detective. It takes a special human to be a vampire hunter, now imagine tracking one with all of these modernity. Believe it or not, your courage to walk up to me and ask me to come with you was all on you. I believe you also have a part in the success of this ten month long investigation of yours.”
“I guess. Let’s go, the longer I stay near that place. The more I want to vomit my dinner.”
Slowly, the teenage vampire's limbs regrow and Queen Elizabeth immediately starts walking down the hall, following the detective.
“Also, why didn’t you answer me back there? My wrist still hurts from your pulling, you know? I felt that you were trying to be gentle but that was a bit too intense.”
“I apologize, I was in a hurry.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I’d not dare drink that insipid and meretricious blood. They act as if it's the blood of Noble humans when even through the smell, it's merely third-rate substandard besmirched gore. Not when I have My Lord and his stupefying taste, sweetness that no other blood could match. I shall only drink his and his blood, no matter if I am weakened by the lack of intake of nutriment.”
“That’s uhhh…”
The Detective proceeded to remove his fedora. Slapdashing the blood out of it.
“You may not know of this. But when a vampire is under the contract of a Lord. The vampire will only need its Lord's blood as a bond is formed, a vampire contract is not merely something you humans sign with or an enchanted scroll that will require your blood. Nay, it's a bond with one's very soul. A binding that shall not begone till each one perishes. Hence, to me. His blood will be everything I want and need, though I may drink from another source. It cannot match up to his.”
“So… marriage but with extra steps? That sounds awfully like a metal version of Till Death Do Us Apart.”
“Something of that sort.”
Henry could see how offended the Queen has been, and he just leaves it be. Knowing what type of woman she is. Going Up a metal staircase with a label “Administrative Barracks”, they’re met with a blast door that has signs that it has been turned into a love hotel. The entrance requirement was that it had to be a couple, but no one was guarding it to enforce the rule. So she just took it as it is and walked in without care while the Detective observed the layout of the place.
Inside, the Queen was hit with an intense smell of bodily fluids that even she had to pinch her nose while Henry hands her his handkerchief while he holds his breath in, ignoring the happening through the open glass windows. Some were more vanilla while some were more violent and fatal to some degree if it was a human.
“How much free time do you have? I’ve never seen such degeneracy in my lifetime. Ugh… and that says something as I thought that I’ve seen it all.”
“Don’t question it. We have a lot of weird people and weird fetishes and I guess being a Vampire made things… more interesting for those who are more experimental.”
“Heavens, just what are you Outworlders doing with your lives before coming here?”
“... No comment. I think that’s the T intersection up there. Follow me, there should be the Commander's Office on the right.”
Reaching the end of the hall, the right path leads to a Canteen while on the right leads to the Command Center. Its location is led with a yellow line which the two follow, so far. None of the half naked or fully naked vampires really gave them a problem, many tired from there nonstop sexual activities and chose to leave the clearly angry and disturbed woman drenched in blood alone with her human. Walking up the stairs, she is brushed by a young teenage vampire with short messy brown hair in jagger pants and sneakers with a baseball cap.
“Oops, I apologize.”
“Tsk.”
Reaching the Commander’s Office which was unguarded, there met with a visibly used room for controlling the Bunker’s systems but there was no one there and the large screen on the wall showing the CCTVs was left on with the computer, the small portable TV next to it shows stock footage of King Harold shaking hands with the UN General Secretary and right after it are UN’s forces rolling through the countryside of Schon. Being met with stiff resistance from the local Hybrid population and the headline states the Joint Armed Forces were forced to start bombing and shelling towns and villages as the Hybrids would merely join in with the locals, the TV then switches to footageo of UN supply lines getting destroyed with explosive magic crystals.
The brutal televising was relentless in showing their valiant skeleton soldiers fighting tooth to nail and not giving the people to view the Rogues or Hybrids as anything but humans or relative to them. All footage of the Rogues were labeled with headlines calling them creatures worse than the Orcs or Goblins with no tact or self decency. Bearing no flag or allegiances and only existed to destroy.
Henry on the other hand was busy looking through the files and documents, but alas after a few good minutes and the rattling sounds of more couples going in the Bunker, he scrolls through the countless categorized folders and projects being undertaken by the criminal organization.
“These people are using the Blood being handed out by Woodstock to gain profit and fuel their activities and looks like some of these are being used for personal purposes. They’ve been doing this for months so it seems. That blood bag, labeled for Saint Mary, is also here. I’ll try seeing where it's supposed to go.”
The blast doors to the Commander’s Office open, and a vampire wearing a black vest and a red shirt with black slacks gets shocked by the two. But before he could scream, the Queen had already decapitated him. To her surprise, it was a player and the body dissipates into a golden sparkle.
“Hasten Henry, I’d like to withdraw from this place.”
“Don’t worry, I highly doubt they have a response team. Even if they do send one, you’re here anyway. I just need to find that one folder, dammit. I should’ve bought a USB with me.”
More people then started coming, eyeing the predator guarding the Commander’s Office. She’d snarl at them as the naked vampires strutted off to find a personal room for themselves.
“Just how active are these red eyed vampires? Are they usually this… rabid when it comes to lust?”
“Doesn’t your Kingdom have something like this? C’mon, as much as you want vampires to be less of a sexual deviant, this is literally part of your species as a whole. The vampires in Threa also need blood and they usually take it through sex right? Also, all of the vampires in Tur have Red eyes because they’re considered to be Demons. Not made by God but by the Devil.”
“It's out of control, this could lead to many devastating effects. You were never there, but unregulated. This could turn even the oldest vampires into cretins and monstrous creatures only led by-”
“Love?”
“Ha-ha Detective. Please hurry along and not all of us love blood. Those who were humans and loved their human lives couldn’t pass the trauma and thus, harvested blood was made. Even then, it was merely a band-aid solution to a long complex problem of feeding a population with such a unique nourishment.”
A team of well dressed and heavily armed vampires with guns and halberts appeared. The tacky and well ironed suits of the pale white vampires were instantly drenched with blood as the Queen battled them in hand to hand combat. Their guns were unable to damage her as she dodged and weaved through the hail of bullets. She’d then catch the halbert and throw its blade back at them.
One of the vampires armed with an M249 SAW tried to overwhelm her with bullets, but with extreme inhuman finesse. None of the bullets hit her and the team sent was completely decimated without one managing to damage her.
“You really loved your species didn’t you? I hope the kind General can give you a good life.”
“Too kind. Also, how much of this trash are they gonna send to me? These vampires have barely matured. Even with guns, none of them were able to damage me.”
“That just means we’ve overstayed our welcome. Just wait, I found it finally.”
The detective writes down the Hotel’s name and the route the Blood Bags was supposed to be transported through. “Huh, to think they’re using government transportation to basically flow in an endless supply of stolen blood without a hitch is pretty damn interesting.”
“Hurry now!” more of the well dressed vampires appear, some now wearing jackets over their black vests and some even wearing kevlar vests and were equipped with M4A1s and M60E6 general purpose machine guns from both ends of the tight hallway.
“They knew we were coming, that's for sure. Let’s go Elizabeth before the plane leaves. I already have a location and it's exactly where that bitch is staying. To think the evidence was right in front of me after all this time, inside the very Guild Leadership. I guess that’s what makes her a vampire. Christ, I feel so stupid now. Of course.”
Henry then pulls out his New Nambu M57 and helps out the Vampire Queen who was in the middle of another meat grinder. With her usual sinister grin, she was tearing up the low level vampires without a hitch but needed cover to properly be able to take her time and fight everyone at once. The Detective activates his skills “Ranger’s Eyes!”, “Elven Feet!” The combined magic made him able to run through the side of the wall.
Since the vampires they were fighting were extremely fresh, he was still able to go up against them without his Samurai armor. Every one of them they’d kill out turned into a sparkle of mana, alerting them and they’re all players and would soon return with heavier gear. Seeing the dire situation, the Detective screams “TRAIL!” and every visible path without resistance is shown to him.
One of them was a vent near the other end of the hallway which was right before the wall of armed vampires shooting at the Queen who was trying her best to draw fire to herself. “Elizabeth!” He points at the other end of the hallway and she nods, quickly ripping the poor players apart as he quickly inspects the vents' metal hatch while under intense fire. “DUCK!” the Queen ducks and he shoots the lock of the heavy hatch which proceeded to swing open into the tightly grouped up vampires.
He then climbs into it and the Queen simply turns into a cave bat and follows him through the tight vent, the vampires then proceed to the Commander’s Office to inspect it if anything was stolen or broken while some turn into Bats and Oxpecker birds to chase the two inside the vent. Elizabeth senses them and stops in her tracks while Henry looks down at another hatch to see if it leads to a safe hallway.
In her vampire bat form, with its red wings and jet black leather like skin. She faces multiple ones with sheer viciousness, as if she was an Eagle and not a small cave bat. But before she could turn more of them into mincemeat, a loud clunk could be heard and the Detective drops into the hallway that leads into the Motorpool, with the metal doors still broken. He weaves through the crowd and back to the station's platform. But he was then stopped by the Queen.
“There’s a lot of them.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds… possibly armed.”
And behind them, the vampires who were giving chase were as relentless as she was with her ravenous attacks.
“Okay, we’ll do this then. Since I’m a Ranger, I can easily slip through the crowd and back into our train. When I’m at the door, I’ll start popping shots off to the vampires giving chase and I want you to, in return, protect me.”
“Alright.”
The Detective blasts his way through the door and the man guarding it proceeds to turn into an eight foot tall white werewolf. The Queen then taps his tail and is punched. A brawl between the two proceeded to start with the well dressed vampires caught in the middle of it and the crowd that was trying to gain entrance. A panic soon ensued but the music blasting from the speakers muffled out the fight and the screams of the players.
It's a brutal yet organized choreographed fight, with the Vampire Queen doing her best to keep the eight foot tall muscled werewolf from overpowering her. Not even her instantaneous regeneration was able to save her from its absurdly sharp claws that cut through the train cars and the station's platforms and pillars. Alongside it was a hail of bullets trained at her and with a single bullet, Henry shoots at the light stage at the ceiling, causing a massive plume of dust.
With the opening, the Queen slips through the chaos and into their subway train and manages to perform an escape. After two hours, they managed to return to the airport and boarded just in time with the Prime Minister of the Guild already waiting for them inside the plane. The 747 takes flight once again, and this time to its final destination.
Elizabeth, after taking a long and meticulous shower chose to indulge her time by sitting pretty next to a window and enjoying a glass of Wine given by Woodstock’s President to the Greater Tokyo Guilds Leader, as he wasn’t feeling good, the man just gave it to her as a gift. Detective Henry soon joins her, sitting in front with a folder in hand.
“How’s the wine?”
“Very good, but not as good as the one my Kingdom makes.”
“Oh wow, so far that’s the only thing you seem to approve of.”
“Of course, Wine is wine. Though some may vary in quality like us vampires, at the end of the day, it is all but the same. The Minuit Estate’s wine is the finest in my humble opinion. If it weren’t from my responsibilities of monitoring My Lord’s health, I would’ve drunk myself away oh! I also have that special wine. I shall indulge with that fine one later.”
“Really, that sweet Countess? What’s her family wine called?”
“Domaine de la Minuit-Conti. The finest wine in Threa, though of course. Only the richest and noblest may afford it.”
“Man, I’d like to have that.”
The No Smoking Sign turned off and Henry immediately fetched a cigarette and lit it with magic, but he also made sure the ashtray was close to him so as not to disturb the Queen.
“Is your dress all good? No more blood?”
“Yes, I’ve cleaned it thoroughly.”
“Good. So, I’ve been busy on the phone and got all the info I need. Your next target will be Sky Garden, A six star establishment meant for Executives and Celebs. Somewhere down the line, the Blood Bag meant for Saint Mary gets through a middleman and is transported inside it. I’ll go into the Stations basement and see if I can maybe trace another one of these blood bags with the labels.”
“Celebs?”
“Yes, Dark World has a lot of Idols, you know? In a game that allows you to become a… like you, a Vampire. Who wouldn’t take advantage of that and sing and dance?”
“Hmmmm… I see. Haven’t you gotten enough evidence by now?”
“I do, and I want to seal the deal now. After landing, I’ll give you time to R&R. I’ll be trying to trace if another one of these blood bags would be in a plastic or medical junkpile in a dump. I know a friend in the Department with a Merchant job and has the specific Locator Skill that will help me.”
“You really wanna seal this investigation with an absolute case closed huh?”
“I’ve been waiting and begging for this chance, I’m not gonna slow down now with our momentum. Our first business is getting to Neo Tokyo without delay. Let’s hope the snow won’t stop the trains and buses.”
“Let us get this done. I want to be there when My Lord awakens.”
The No Smoking sign lights back up and a ding is heard in the cabin.
“こんにちは、これはあなたのキャプテンが話しています。シートベルトを着用し、乱気流に備えてください。私たちは中程度の降雪に光に遭遇するでしょう。Hello, this is your Captain speaking. Please wear your seatbelts and prepare for turbulence. We'll be encountering light to moderate snowfall.”
Within the next four hours of turbulence, the aircraft finally arrives at Neo Tokyo, the massive sprawling modern city amazes the Queen, even though it was the dead of night, the city had so much life and light that it made her jaw drop at the massive expanse of it. Larger than Woodstock and its streets smaller and tighter. Another ding is heard.
“こんにちは、これはあなたのキャプテンが話しています。近く栗林国際空港に到着します。私は総理大臣の健康と最高の贈り物を願っています。ありがとうございました。Hello, this is your Captain speaking. We'll soon be arriving at Kuribayashi International Airport. Please put your seatbelts on. シートベルトを締めてください。”
The plane touched down on an island that’s been turned into a large airport, and on the tarmac was a big parade of Diplomats and Generals, greeting the return of their Prime Minister who was not very happy and unresponsive in the entire trip. Most of the flight he was looking outward, to the skies. After greeting the people on the tarmac, the Leader says his goodbye to the two with a 45 degree bow as he hastily boards the armored Lexus LS600h with the two Demonic Samurai clashing with their swords, Symbol of the Greater Japan Guild on its door.
A jet black Toyota Century from the local police department was there to pick the two up and bring them to the station. But before boarding, Henry looks at the snow and sees that on the outside, it was already piling up. Lighting up a cigarette, he takes a gander at the well plowed tarmac of the airport. The two Red Star AN-225 Antonovs and five C-5M Super Galaxies from the Men of the Woods were also present, loading in military vehicles and crates of equipment. One of the Super Galaxies was jam packed with crates, the only opening was so that the pilots could gain entrance to the cockpit, but even then, they were still loading more crates in netting while Christmas lights could be seen on the exterior of the terminal.
His sightseeing was abruptly halted when the horn of the Century was being blasted by the Queen. “What’re you waiting for? Take a look at those machines when you have the time to spare, we must depart!” He smiles and crushes the bud of the cigarette with his shoes. Hopping in and being driven to the Police Station. The entire time, she couldn’t help but look at the bright lights and the well dressed people out and about, even though the snow was thick and slippery, there were still so many outside. She was completely amazed by the Metropolis but was also confused that they were driving on the left side of the road.
Soon, after some light traffic due to heavy snowfall in some areas, they reached the five story building of Greater Tokyo Police Department, even at night, all of the rooms of the station were fully lit and players were going in and out and police cars roaring its engines to life as it responded to calls. The Toyota stops right in front of the doors and Detective Henry quickly exits out and with a blonde European beauty in tail, the players couldn’t help but stare at her. Taken aback by her looks as a black Tahoe passes by them. Splashing snow into the sidewalk and making some of the Cops dodge it. Disrupting their stare of the Queen.
On the third floor, Henry goes to his desk and sees a pile of paperwork and documents. The other Detectives on the floor greeted him and bowed to Elizabeth which she took kindly and slightly bowed back to each one of them with a smile. Many of the Detectives and Beat Cops started asking for selfies and group photos with her. “Already an instant Diva. Geez, this is going to be a long night.” he first sits down and opens the computer, the man then starts searching for any related cases involving the smuggling of blood through Government transport routes and vehicles.
To his surprise, there wasn’t one case about it. Though there's been requests to open one, all of them were denied as more pressing matters were cited. Even ones relating to well dressed vampires being a potential gang was all but denied. Rubbing his chin and his left foot stomping, he nods to himself and proceeds to put everything on a leather briefcase, he then taps the Queens shoulder, alerting her that they’ll be going. He leads her to the garage in the back. Politely bowing to the Officers still in their shift. Inside his Briefcase, he takes out a key for his hybrid Toyota Prius. The Blonde Queen stops a bit and takes a look at the small car.
"What?"
"That's your vehicle?"
"Yes. Now, get in."
Getting in, the two tall people looked as if they were gonna have to slouch to properly fit in the car.
"Had the Officers put all of your stuff there?
"It's only two Travel cases."
"You mean two large treasure chests."
"Hey now, unlike you humans. I have the strength to carry it around."
"Then, when I bring you to the hotel. You bring it up to your room. The Guild Ministers have given you access to one of the city's best suites."
Just as he was about to put it into drive, Elizabeth held his hand.
"Hold on."
"Wha-what now?"
"We aren't going to Sky Garden? Didn’t they mention they’re there?"
"No, it's been a long flight and I wanna sleep and I also wanna investigate something further. Remember, its Sky Garden and one more place. I don’t know what the second one is, but let’s not rattle the hive right now."
"Really now? I thought you'd have more resolve."
"Why? Does Paul keep up with your suggestions?"
"He does."
"Jesus, when he awakens you better give him a kiss. That's some stress he's working with. But knowing him, he must be used to it."
He puts it into drive. Noting how light and soft the Queen's hand was.
"Are you acquainted with My Lord?"
"Not in that sense, but his name. I knew it rang something. Paul A. Jackson, in his file he put Businessman and location was Southeast Asia yet he also named the player characters of two other founders of a mega corporation in my world as his contacts."
"What do you mean by any of this?"
"That you should keep watch of him. Right now, he might only be showing you one side of him. But if my theory is true, he might be the elusive head CEO of Metafora Group. A Southeast Asian transport conglomerate that has a big bad PMC that’s known to be not so friendly with International Groups."
"And? That is not who he is right now. He is Mister Jackson, a mundane Knight of two Vampires and with a companion that is a Dragon. I don’t care of he is some evil man in your world, we aren’t there and to my soul, he is good enough."
"He might also be a ruthless man. A man doesn't get that rich from passion alone, keep watch of him. Because if it is truly him, then so far. He only shows you one side of his true self."
"Even then, I'd gladly accept him. No matter if he sees me as a tool. The adventure we've been through says otherwise of his soul and alignment."
"It's just a theory, but the file of him the UN gave me is very suspicious. But for all I know he might just be bullshitting us and didn't take his Joint Military ID information seriously. That man has done a lot of things in his life thinking about it now."
Driving through the busy streets of Greater Tokyo, Elizabeth notices how congested it was. But at the same time, everything was properly placed and unlike Woodstock, their roads were properly paved and painted. Not a single pothole and the litter was existent. People were also dressed more properly, while the neon lights of the tall buildings took her attention. Through the golden lights and the snowy city, she's taken to the deepest part of it. There she could see a big blue steel tower, she was amazed by it. Though her Castle was bigger, the fact that it was made out of metals took her aback. The city was more refined and suited her taste perfectly. A peek to their own worlds potential future that she herself might be very well alive to see and explore.
"It should be around here. Damn GPS, enjoy the city as much as you can. For the eleven months we've been here, it's been sporadically expanding."
He picks up his phone and calls the Hotel. “こんにちは、すみません。あなたのホテルへの道順を知りたいのです。” after a few seconds, he starts bowing and politely speaks back to the small gadget “感謝感謝。私はまもなくVIPと一緒にそこにいます。”
"Hm. This is a marvel of humanity, but I can also see why My Lord got tired of it. It's amazing and beautiful, but I do not think such a society would be good for you mortals with fragile souls."
"Aren't vampires more unstable than humans? So far, you've been the most normal-ish person I've met from the species."
"Preposterous. Remind yourself that we live for an eternity, no soul is capable of living that life without becoming a tad insane."
"Explains why your Gods waged war against one another and split this planet and created its continents."
"That's merely the tip of the iceberg, human. The history of Threa is far more deeper than you could imagine. But seeing as you all wish to return to your world, be sure to at least know why."
He stops the car in front of a massive hotel named "Three Star Alliance". It was both in English and Japanese, and now with a new plaque written in Dragonian.
"Yea, if I pick up another history book of this world in English."
Unlocking the door, the Queen stepped out and went around the back where the trunk was as it automatically opened. The back seats were folded to make space for her second Travel Suitcase. The big and heavy leather cases seemed as if it weighed a car’s rear axle to its max. With the blinkers on, Henry looked back and could see that she was able to take it out without much hassle even though the ground was covered in snow and she had heels on.
"How many bodies are inside those? I'm gonna report you to Paul for murder. Wahahahah."
"Oh please, these are mostly my gowns and dresses that I've Alana reclaim on my behest request."
"Really? I thought you bought an entire IKEA furniture set with you."
Not understanding the joke, she swifts her head at him. Making her long blonde hair flow like a wave as it almost touches the well cleaned sidewalk. She then walks inside the grand lobby of the magnificent six star hotel. With the walk of a dignified supermodel, the staff gathers on the edges of the red carpet. Bowing 45 degrees and the Manager in front of the reception desk kneeling with a keycard to the Presidential Suite.
She lets go of her suitcases and sees its floor was all the way up to the 55th.
"Human."
"Yes mam! I am Head Manager Mikado!"
"Am I able to see Sky Garden from my lodging?"
"Yes mam! It should be the one just as tall as ours but has a garden around its helipad!"
"Good. Bring my possessions up stairs, and would you be a dear and prepare my supper? No need for a feast. No blood either."
"Of course mam. We've already prepared a Snow Aged Steak with gravy and vegetables."
"Goodness, such hospitality. I applaud your services."
She then heads to the elevator with the Manager while some of the staff drink some potions to be able to carry her heavy suitcase up. Reading the signs and labels, she puts her card on a reader and the buttons for the floor lights up. Pressing 55, the Manager bows one last time as the door closes. With her hands together, she turns around as the light of the city enters from behind. Awestruck by the birds eye view of the city, from the three massive communications towers and the skyscrapers that litter the concrete jungle, the colorful lights of the Asian styled Metropolis made her fall in love with it. Staring at the rectangular and oddly shaped buildings with sparkly lies. It was only disturbed as the ping of the elevator alerts her.
Walking through the marble floor, her heels clang as she arrives at her apartment. Entering, she was given a big glass window that gives a perfect view of the entire player built city inside the comfort of her room. Looking around, she could see it was full of modern amenities and devices. Reading the English instructions on many of them, the one thing that caught her attention was the Coffee maker. Opening the cabinet underneath it, she is given a massive selection and takes a liking to the smell of Espresso. Carefully following the instructions, she manages to make herself a cup of coffee. “Woah, such magnificence. The aroma and the taste, I couldn’t believe this small device is capable of brewing such good coffee. I should ask My Lord to buy me one.” she then heads to the bath. Though it was for the size of Asian people, it looked extremely good with wooden floors and walls and had Shampoo of all types.
She was then disturbed by ringing on the door. Walking to it and opening, she is greeted by the vampire staff of the building who brought with them her suitcases which they could effortlessly carry around, the Manager who was a human brought with him her snow aged Steak with some Sake and Wine.
“Good Evening Miss Bartley. Here is your Niigata Snow Aged Wagyu Steak with a thirty year old Hibiki Sake and the famed Domaine de la Minuit-Conti for humans, no blood as requested. Have a Merry Christmas.”
“Oh my, that looks splendid and lucious.”
“I thank you for complimenting our services. Please enjoy your time."
"If by any chance time alloweth thee. I'll ink some invitations to my heralds at House of Bartley and hold a ball here. It won't be long till the surname Bartley is heard once again."
"Of course, please enjoy your stay."
"Please do unload all of my properties. You, prepare a bath for me."
Soon, the staff starts unloading all of her gowns and dresses while two prepare the Jacuzzi and Bathtub for her. After a while, everything got sorted out. She takes a good long shower then in the hot jacuzzi. With it being a bit small, her long slender legs were resting out on the edge of the tub. Her already perfect skin was sparkling wet and it shined brightly with her golden blonde hair. Soon, the door closes and the staff leaves her alone.
Seeing the opportunity to once again enjoy some fine wine, she exits out of the tub bare naked and goes to the living room where her steak and sake with wine awaits. Looking around, she noticed some neatly placed wine glasses, the last ones were Goblet styled and appealed to her greatly. She then takes one and pours a bit of the Domaine de la Minuit-Conti and takes a smell. "Hm, it seems the Countess' hard work is paying off well. I wonder if I could make Paul drink. Might be a good way to tease him and teach him a lesson with the mingling of people from a higher class." She then takes the wine glass goblet with her to the jacuzzi and enjoys a long hard relaxation after days of endless action.
Soon, she arose from it and dried herself. Now only wearing a silky white bathrobe as she pours herself more of the expensive Wine while drying her hair. Looking outside, she could properly see the three communications towers. Red, Yellow and Blue. Though the buildings were taller, it was still a marvel of engineering with an observation platform near its top. Soon, she turns around and sits down on the big table made out of a special wood. She elegantly slices a small piece of the steak and takes a bite of it. Her face instantly lights up. Looking left and right, she starts eating more while taking another wine glass for the Sake. With her posture and looks, it seemed as if the room was made for people like her.
After a while, she finishes the food and starts exploring the apartment even more. It had a total of three rooms, with one being the Master with a large flatscreen TV and drawers. It's also where her gown was kept while near the door was a large cabinet where her large collection of shoes was placed, some still visibly old and worn from being left in a decrepit Castle. Looking at the table in front of a Flatscreen TV was the book Paul bought her. A language book from Romanz to American English. Seeing as there's not much for her to do and the time is near 1 o'clock in the morning, she sits on the sofa and starts reading it in silence while holding a glass of wine.