This is a gift fic for Bustahead, who I promised to write a one shot of her OC, and a familiar character from a fandom.

Title: A Challenge.

Rating: T

Gen Fic: Vincent Valentine, Reiko OC original character.

-XXXXX-

-s-

Sometimes a man is just a man, and sometimes a man turns into something he isn't quite sure of….

And suddenly his life changes before his eyes. No one gave him the book to learn how to be a good person, or be a bad person; it was already honed into every human being. Black and white, shades of grey, whatever.

Not every man thought of how his life would be; a man watches his parents go through the motions of nurture and support. What more could a man want? What more? Sometimes a man has been given the gift of power, and his world changes; a butterfly has emerged from the ugly cocoon. Perhaps he wanted to be hidden from the world; how would he have made a difference anyway he questions in his more philosophical mood.

In such a way, sometimes, these things are crucial. They say each person makes a reaction, and from every action causes a reaction. There was a captivating moment when that man had to take another life, to suck the life juices from the other, in order to survive. How could he fight against such darkness? If so, he thought to himself, if he could just make sure that he would take only from the evil, from the dark ones, then he would be given justification. Right?

That's what he tried to convince himself. Walking through the emptiness of the woods near his manor, or in the realm of his heart – a chasm of pretended emptiness, but therein lay the irony. The heart beats, soft but stirring, and his eyes, hazel and light against the summer sun that he could never see again. He had learned to imagine what it would be like, by daring himself to place his pale fingers near a flame, by the light of a burning candle. And by that rationalization, he could feel a thousand pulsating suns. A vampire who got too close to such dangerous flirtation could find himself the wick of that audacious act. Reiko was one of his kind, because he was like many vampires, and unlike any other. The double helix of his personality only perplexed those who got to know him.

In many nights, he liked to wander restlessly, finding solace in his heart, burden though it may be that he'd find a soul. A soul to fit his own; a key to his unopened treasure. All these metaphors were making his head ache; and yet, he couldn't find the words to explain. He had many treasures on his world trek, having many adventures with people he had been privileged to know, or those who have been honoured to know of his particular kind. When he decided one day to find solace on one evening, taking the step onward to see dissimilar realms; to seek people who would understand him, he was in for a big surprise. It was the ring of fire that brought him to a new world, to find if others like him were around. And if, by curiosity, and by the death of a cat's whisker, he'd find stimulation to his lost soul. He had left two hearts behind in the previous world. One shining glorious woman who kept herself loyal to him, and another……

The mirror in his eyes; a flicker of amber fire burned against the night sky viewed the new world. It was burning with fires of nuclear fission; blown up like comets airborne across the painted sky. He felt a tinge of sadness, as he had stepped through that glassy new world, his booted feet creating the sound of dead crisp leaves and firewood. He noted with a sniff in the air that the atmosphere carried a strange scent of unwelcome. It was almost hostile and it generated with some kind of scientific technology. He smirked and a snort came from him; he didn't think that he belonged in this world where people only cared about experiments and science. He was after, an ancient being, something that is beyond what scientists could provide or understand. Reiko almost turned, went back into the glassy time machine that took him here.

But then, the wind whispered a sweet promise in his dark hair, revealing an innocent paler face; a dichotomy of his expression stood before the miracle of his exploration. He didn't even see the young man garbed in crimson, like a classic vampire with a unique taste in clothes; one who stood there with arms folded. The young man he appeared to anyone, but with eyes of an immortal. Just like him…

Reiko didn't mind being stared at, because he was used to that. But what he didn't understand was that, if he looked so interesting, what about the person who was staring at him? The lone vampire eyed the man in this world; a world that he didn't belong to; yet by default, he respectfully nodded towards the man.

The stranger decked in that thick blood-red bandanna covering his forehead peeked out with mesmerizing eyes. He was leaning against a sandstone colored building that sprung out of the ground like a towering edifice. Arches that lined the purple tinted colored windows jutted out, holding what could look like gargoyles resting wearily. Not your typical cathedral on a Parisian street, but a monument of what looked like a cross between a neo-scientific laboratory and a German-esque medieval construction.

As if the man was expecting him, he walked with a deliberate stride; an arrogance to his step cautioned Reiko. The vampires hazel eyes, alert and alive, sought the guns that hung by the man's side. Bullets wouldn't do any good against him, he knew that. Yet…..something told him that this world wasn't like any human world, not with people that walked around like that. He silently laughed, thinking that the world of devils and harpies were enough. He nearly rolled his eyes at that but staunched it and would have to be ready for anything. The glassy ring in his finger sparkled for a moment, reminding him of the ticking of the clock. How do the worlds here go by their time system? Is it by chance the same?

The man spoke, a deep voice, much like his own. "You're not human I take it," his eyes roamed Reiko's for a flicker of a moment, then sprung back up with a challenge. "There are no humans here for your thirst, vampire.." He said, accentuating the last word like dripping acid. Reiko would have flinched at that, at least before he got the feel for being a typical blood sucker. Instead he felt nonchalant and carefree about his fate. It was after all, just a life that he himself didn't really choose. He was so used to people's expectation of him. What would he have done?

And sometimes, a man is just a man. Sometimes, with the gift of power he didn't understand too well.

But this one, this one who dared to speak to him, kept his guns to his side and gave him a warning. So by degrees, his casual hazel eyes with the power of a hypnotic stare kept up the pretense, for awhile. Reiko shrugged, moved his head in a lazy fashion and slowly smiled, revealing white teeth and the obvious fangs.

Just when you think you're going to have to fight……

The other man drew his guns, looking like a five star cowboy, without the hat and his cape blew behind him. It flapped noisily in the dark sky, emblazoning a fiery red against the blackness and the sandstone of the building.

And Reiko found himself drawing his rapier from his side, decked out like a pirate on a Caribbean sea. The dancing lights burned in his eyes even when the black sky couldn't hold a sprinkle of star to shine on their arena.

The sound of guns fired in that world; smoke furling a seductive haze over them, and suddenly they were caught up into the moment of time