Beeeeep.

Beeeeep.

Click!

“Hey… It’s me, Pandora.”

“Uh, yeah, I know that! Some of us have smartphones with caller ID on them! Don’t you still use a Brickberry? Yahaha!”

“I need more blood.” Pandora’s tone is assertive, no dancing around the subject. She backs herself against the bedroom wall, her left foot crossing behind her right.

“Then go drink some? Really, Pandy, your problems are self-made.” Replies the bitchy voice from over the phone, the clicking of keys echoing loudly to accompany her sass.

“All out, and no, I’m not drinking a human’s blood. I refuse.” Her tone remaines firm.

“So you’re hungry, yet refuse to eat. Pandy, you’re one of the biggest dummies ever. I hope you know that.” The condescending voice taunts.

The redhead lets out a sigh, banging her fist against the wall behind her, causing a significant amount of damage to form in the shape of cracks. “Listen, do you have what I need or not?! I’m not playing here, Aurora!”

Silence on the other end… Soon followed by a mischievous laugh. “You sound desperate, Pandy~ finish your last bag? Sounds like you’re really counting on me to come through, hm~?” The squealing joy over the phone grates Pandora, her arm clutching around her stomach.

Alas, she’s not wrong.

“I’ll pay triple from last time.”

“Nah, I have too much money. This stuff is USELESS! Why do humans let it control them so much?” Aurora, so she’s called, belts.

“Maybe it’s because not everyone can control the masses with disgusting eyes.”

“Oh, my sweet Pandora’s Song. I don’t need my eyes to control anyone. Let’s take you for example. I will make whatever demand I want, and you’ll fulfill it. Why? ‘Cuz if I don’t get what I want, you don’t get what you need.” Black blood oozes from Pandora’s bottom lip from how hard she bites down on it, the only thing keeping her from ripping into the person over the phone.

“Whatever your lifeline wants, you will have to do~! No matter how ridiculous, humiliating, or dangerous, you have no choice but to shut your mouth and do it.”

“What is it?” She growls impatiently.

“Huh? What’s what?”

“Your damn price, you son of a bitch!” The redhead snaps back.

“Why didn’t you ask straight out like that, huh? Leaving it to little old me to connect the dots. We must talk seriously about how you talk to people, Pandy!” Her overly sweet voice toxically exudes. Pandora’s grip nearly breaks the keys out of the phone in her hand.

“If you don’t tell me what you want, I’ll come over there myself and beat it out of you.”

“HAH! You? Let’s face it, your starving ass isn’t doing any of that. However, you aren’t completely useless to me. I heard you’ve taken up a manager job, ran fast track as well. Proud of ya!”

“What do you want? Spit it out already!” Pandora barks beneath gritting teeth.

“For you…” It’s like she can see Aurora tapping a singular manicured finger against her temple as she hums a thought aloud. “No, your partner took out some troublesome characters for me. Good ranking numbers, aaaannd… There’s blood in it for you.”

Slowly blinking, Pandora doesn’t waste a second.“Who?”

“More than just one, Pandy. An entire list, sending it your way now… Hope you’ve got a free schedule~.”

Boop!

..

..

..

In the middle of the school’s hallway, sunglasses covering his eyes, mouth wide open, and a tired index finger repeatedly pressing at the soda machine in front of him, Roy hasn’t even realized there isn’t a single cent in the machine. “Damn thing… It’s broken… Maybe this is as good a time as any to cheat…”

The samurai looks left.

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Then right.

Behind him.

A wide grin spreads across his face as he holds his finger out. “One clean slice through the middle, then I’m drinking like a king! Sensei always said I had to let my sword speak for me.” Readying his blade, the brunette slashes downward-

Only for his blade to narrowly avoid Pandora!

“HEY! DUDE! W- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! I could’ve slashed you! W-where did you even come from?”

An amused but tired expression lays on the ennui face of the vampire. “...Are you trying to break into the vending machine?”

“That damn thing robbed me, Pandora!” Roy shouts, volume control a foreign concept to him.

The vampire spins around and then gets on her knees. “Dude, you didn’t put any money in here.” She turns to face him. He blurts an excuse.

“Well, I don’t have any money! Remember that from yesterday?” Roy sheathes his katana once more. Now he stands with his arms crossed, an unquenched thirst unsettling him.

“You need dough? Come on, I got us a duel.” With her hands in her skirt pocket, Pandora starts off towards the food court door. Roy’s frown morphs into a wild grin as he hurriedly runs beside his manager.

“Cool shit! Who is it today, huh?” He asks, catching up to her speed.

“Can you swim?”

“Uh, yeah? Who the hell can’t swim?”

A small smile lights up mocha. “Hah. You’d be surprised. Anyway, you’ll be fighting… Dakon, the creature from the black poolgoon!” Pandora stops at the pool door, cracking it open as Roy’s smile fades. A beam of light shines through.

He scratches behind his head. “D-Do I have time to change first?”

“Does it matter? Just fight him.”

“Y-Yeah, buuut.. what if I get my headband sogg–AH!” Pandora gives Roy a soft but firm push, literally throwing him to the fishes, the doors swinging open all the way as he trips and stumbles past the tile floor right into the monstrously sized pool.

Splash!

Roy takes a heavy breath in, stabilizing his nerves once he gets his head above water. “You got this, Roy! Oh yeah, welcome to the bloooooooodbath!”

A throaty, deep voice suddenly interrupts his self pep talk. “What’s this~? Who has given I, Gill the Gill-Man, some food?!” He swims over to Roy in the same vein as lightning, his claws ripping through the water the same way he intends to rip through Roy’s flesh.

“Hey asshole, go fish!” Rising out of the pool with his blade standing tall, Roy breaks the impact with the water's surface. His katana makes contact with Gill, severing his skull from his neck. Finishing his maneuver with a frontflip back to the edge of the pool, he smirks as a geyser of blood erupts behind him.

Pandora goes wide-eyed.“Woah! That was fast.”

“I don’t have time to waste on small-timers, Pandora.” Roy flaunts, his nose in the air.

“Got time for another duel?” Pandora asks, smirk on her lips.

“Two in a day? Now you’re speaking my language!” Roy punches his palm excitedly.

“Good, because next up, you’ll be fighting…”

“THE BRAZEN BULLLLLL!” A quadrupedal, horn clad, fuming golden beast calls across from Roy in a stone wall arena, a gate filled with spectators behind it watching. “If you don’t succumb to my iron-clad strength, you’ll be melted down with my flames! Now go to hell, you puny samurai!” His cocky, confident, deep voice demands. Roy looks tiny compared to him.

“Psst, Roy, one thing?” Pandora clings onto the gate door, standing behind Roy.

“Yeah?” He turns to look at her, his eyes completely off his opponent.

“Welcome to the bloodbath. Go get him, tiger.” The manager smirks as her duelist rolls out of the way of a charging bull, the cage gate shaking with a rattle.

Roy’s follow-up has him riding the wall to jump on the back of his assailant, hanging for what was sure to be a bumpy ride. “YOU DARE JUMP ON THE BACK OF BRAZEN BULL?! I HAVE BUT ONE RULE… I SHALL NEVER BE RIDDEN BY THOSE INFERIOR TO ME!” Smoke puffs from his nostrils as he charges relentlessly.

“You’ve got to remember something, buddy. The bigger they are… The harder they fall!” Standing to his feet, Roy runs full speed off the charging bull. Using his superior agility, he goes up the wall as bait. Brazen Bull goes skull-first into pure concrete when Roy just barely jumps out of the way, knocking him down.

The samurai lands, walking over to the downed bruiser, a scowl on his face as he twirls his blade. “You meathead types are all the same. All bark, no bite!” With one clean stab through the head, another eruption of gore stains the gym. Roy once again spins his katana, sheathing it in the same movement. The walls go down as the crowd goes wild, chanting with hype. Roy approaches Pandora and smacks his lips together cockily, sheathing his katana.

“A challenge next time, Ms. Hellsing?”

Pandora’s mouth parts slightly. “I’m so damn impressed… Think you can do a few more?”

“Have you seen me take even one hit today? We’re riding this thing to number one.” The two exchange a passing fist bump before heading to the next target on the list.

…

…

Every hack, slash, ounce of blood, and rank up is recorded on a clear crystal ball, which is being watched intensely by a blue-haired woman. “Aceee! Come check this guy out. He’s ranked up like… Eight times in one day!”

With a sigh, her green-haired roommate sluggishly walks over, holding a wet rag while scrubbing a plate clean. “See? This guy is crazy! He bounces around like he’s got superhuman speed! But guess what… He’s a human! No powers! The only thing I don’t like about him is how cheesy he is during fights. Seriously, who talks like that in real life? Anyway, that’s not the best part… Guess who his manager is.”

“Who?”

“Guess! Go on, guess! Bet you can’t get it!”

With a sigh, he shrugs his shoulders as he returns to the tiny kitchen sink. “You’ve won yet another bet. How ever do you do it?” His sarcasm and lack of interest in playing a guessing game causes great annoyance in his bracelet-littered roomie, who lets out an agonized groan before slumping in her chair.

“Sometimes you aren’t entertaining, you know that?” The woman states, hands on hips.

“If we were both fun, we’d never get anything done.” Ace shoots back.

“Maybe you’re right… His manager is Pandora Hellsing, by the way.”

“What?!” Repeating his movements from earlier, Ace rushes over to the crystal ball, crouching to his knees to get a good look. Sure enough, there she is, clear as day. “What the hell is she managing for?”

“Do you really have to ask, Ace? She has the title ‘Starving Daughter’ for a reason. A vampire who refuses to drink human blood, all because her father turned her. Tragic, isn’t it?”

“What, she thinks that guy can kill her father? Liz Beth, does he seem that impressive?” Ace’s frustration shows in his empowering yet soft voice.

“Why, jealous? Don’t worry, Ace, you’re still my favorite~!” Liz Beth sing-songs.

“...The way he swings his blade, it pisses me off.” He grumbles.

Liz Beth wraps her arms around Ace’s shoulders, drooping them right below his neck while she blows at the strand of hair that constantly covers his right eye, smiling as she does so. “Lack of technique?”

“Opposite of. He has all the technique in the world, yet he fights like he’s playing a game.” His eyes don’t scatter from the crystal ball. “Every move, each slash, all done with a level of precision that could only be taught by a professional. It would require extreme focus from anyone to pull off the moves this samurai is pulling off… Yet there he is, joking around like some sort of comic book character.” His right eye twitches.

“Mmm~ your hair always smells so good, always so softttt~ you’ve got to teach me your technique someday, Ace… Oh? But that face you’re making, hair time will have to wait, won’t it?” She pouts her bottom lip.

“Afraid so. What’s the name of him, hm?”

“Oh, Pandora’s duelist? Roy McCoy. Pretty catchy, huh?”

Even his name causes his eye to twitch. Nevertheless, he exhales, tapping the crystal ball and shaking his head. “Roy McCoy… I request you set up a duel between the two of us. Someone needs to humble this circus clown.” Liz Beth smirks.

“He’s a good hundred ranks below you.”

“I don’t care about rank. Consider this an exhibition match if you must. A battle of technique rather than a battle to the death.” Ace’s hand clenches into a fist.

Roy, the rising superstar samurai, versus the most technical fighter in the school, Ace. Things are about to get extremely interesting around the halls of Sleepy Hollow…