Thanks to those that reviewed and liked the opening part to this fanfic project. As I continue with each chapter, I'll be trying to add more layers and as you read this fanfic...I'm sure you'll eventually figure out the four people that I mentioned in the prologue. As for doing research on various firearms and other weapons...this will take up a bit of my time as I try and figure out a certain style for some of my characters, as well as supporting ones and try to stay true to the canon characters without trying to make them OOC...which I obviously find as a challenge besides writing the action scenes because of the many details I have to input. Others seem to have a knack for writing those types...I'm just not one of them.

Also...for anyone that is familiar with firearm stats and think I might have made some mistakes somewhere regarding them...please...by all means put your constructive criticism about them in your review as I would much appreciate as much clarification on them as possible.

Disclaimer: Same as I mentioned in the prologue. I only own the characters that I've created...nothing more.

With that said...enjoy.

Chapter 1 Discovered & First Encounters

The night appeared to be still, however it was anything but peaceful. A slight breeze blew through the forest as a small research team was accompanied by 2 paladin forces. The leader in the research team kept pointing the group in the direction that the signal in his tracker was giving.

"Keep your heads on a swivel people…we don't know when they'll probably show up," said Patrick, the lead captain in the first paladin platoon.

"How much further Dr. Reese?" asked one of the paladin soldiers in the second platoon.

"A couple more meters…we're getting close," he replied.

By the time they arrived at the specified site, one of the research team members next to Dr. Reese brushed away some leaves to reveal what appeared to be a stone door. Dr. Reese then took out what resembled a pendant and then placed it into the small opening in the center and turned the circle slowly.

The ground suddenly began to shake as the area they were standing in started to rise. A couple more minutes of shaking occurred before the group then found themselves standing at the entrance of ancient ruins. Cracks were showing on a couple of the stone columns that was holding the entrance. Several statues of what appeared to be ancient royalty were in between a few of the columns entrance.

"Raven 01, are you seeing what we're seeing?" asked Patrick, to one of the higher ups back at HQ.

"That's affirmative Knight 01. We're seeing the exact same thing that you guys are."

"Talon 01, keep a clear visual contact above the ruins," said Jason, the lead captain in the second paladin platoon.

"Roger Knight 02, maintaining distance of 5 feet above the ruins," replied one of the helicopter pilots.

As the two platoons and the research team went in the ruins, they didn't realize that they would soon be followed by something.

Back on the helicopter, a young man that had brown hair and silver eyes stirred slightly. Kaname usually didn't say much during his meditative state, yet tonight somehow felt different. He didn't stir for a few minutes before slowly opening his eyes and saying, "They're following them."

"Who is following them?" asked a paladin soldier on Kaname's left, named Andrew.

"Not who…but what?" clarified Philip, Kaname's long trusted partner.

"Alright then…what?" asked Andrew.

At that moment, Kaname then opened his eyes and put up his night vision visor and faced Andrew.

"Do you believe that creatures of the night exist soldier?" asked Kaname.

"You mean like…nocturnal…sir?" inquired Andrew.

"I meant…creatures that are not considered normal," clarified Kaname.

"What do you mean sir?" he asked.

"Vampires…and lycans," answered Philip.

"T-th-those…are just myth…right?" asked Andrew, his voice slightly quivering.

Kaname looked at Andrew with a stern look on his face.

"They're real all right," he replied. "Why do you think paladins existed?"

"T-to…vanquish all that is evil in His name," answered Andrew.

"How would they realize they're being followed?" asked a soldier next to Philip, named Carlos.

"They won't…they're silent…fast hunters. They use the darkness…to their advantage," answered Kaname.

"You forgot one other detail, partner," said Philip.

"Which is..." inquired Kaname.

"That they were also enemies of each other," he answered.

Back over in the ruins, Dr. Reese and his research team lead the group deeper into the ruins floor by floor, until they reached on particular room that appeared to be a hallway. One of the new paladins was about to cross until he was stopped by Dr. Reese.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What is it doc?" asked Patrick. "Looks like a regular hallway to me."

"The designers of this place would set traps to prevent any…raiders or treasure hunters from going any further," he answered.

"That's pathetic…there's no way this place could be…" began another paladin soldier who was also a newbie and stepped on a tile causing a spear to launch out from the walls and impale him on the opposite wall.

"Anyone else…dares to try?" inquired Dr. Reese.

"Alright…so how do we get through this doc?" asked Jason, holding up a flashlight over the doctor's notebook and looking over his left shoulder to get a better look at the notes.

"According to what I've found…it says that there's a certain sequence of tiles that need to be stepped on in a certain pattern in order to cross the river of spears and fangs," he explained.

"By fangs…I'm presuming he means spikes," guessed Patrick.

"That would be correct Captain," said Dr. Reese.

"So...how are we supposed to solve this thing?" asked Jason.

"Take a look," said Dr. Reese, pointing at the floor.

When he did, Jason noticed there was a series of letters that were scattered across the whole floor.

"What's the riddle?" asked Patrick.

"The name of a vampire that created from one who understood psychological warfare is needed to cross the river of spears and fangs," answered Dr. Reese.

"That would explain why one of the newbies was killed," said Patrick. "He stepped on..."

Jason noticed the shoe and slowly pulled it away...revealing the letter "C".

"It's obvious...the name has to be fictional," said Jason.

"Who's the person that understood psychological warfare?" asked another newbie paladin.

"The vampire's name should be familiar," said Patrick.

"Do you have the answer to that one?" he inquired.

"No...do you?"

"Actually...I think I do," said Jason. "If the letter that the person stepped on was 'C'...but doesn't start with it...then that means it would have to be a..."

He slowly extended his right leg to the nearest 'V' and waited as the others tensed up in case anything happened.

"Good guess Jason," replied Dr. Reese. "Do you know the rest of the name?"

"Vlad Tepes," he replied.

"However...this appears to be a two part answer. Jason already has the first answer...the question is...who's the other person?" asked Patrick.

Meanwhile...the helicopter that was carrying Philip, Kaname, Andrew, and a couple of other newbie paladins were currently setting down near the base of the ruins.

"So...what details did that professor share with you prior to the mission?" asked Andrew.

"Just one riddle to a puzzle," answered Kaname.

"What was it?" asked his partner.

"The name of a vampire that created from one who understood psychological warfare is needed to cross the river of spears and fangs," he replied.

"It's a two part answer," said Philip.

"Not exactly," said Kaname.

"A vampire named after a person who understood psychological warfare?" inquired Andrew.

"More like...inspired really," said Kaname. "It's a fictional one at that...however...the person himself was real."

"What were the names?" asked Philip.

"The first one I'm sure most people are familiar with...is Dracula," answered Kaname. "The second...the person who inspired the vampire...is Vlad Tepes. The first name was what he was referred to since he drank the blood of his killed enemies that were impaled on stakes...hence, this would have given the allusion that vampires can be killed with a stake through the heart."

"Which happens to be nothing more than a myth," added Philip.

"Precisely," said Kaname.

Back over at the ruins, Jason then explained to Captain Patrick as well as the other paladins about Vlad Tepes and how he tortured his victims, one was through the use of impalement on stakes, causing some of the new paladins soldiers to shudder at the disturbing thought.

"I'm impressed Captain Jason...you seem to have done your homework," said Dr. Reese.

"I just like to read history," he stated, as he continued on to find the remaining letters.

"Alright…everyone stay on the doctor's ass and don't deviate or lose sight. Also...watch your step," said Captain Patrick.

As Dr. Reese and his assistants slowly traversed across the hallway, some of the paladin newbies had some trouble following what sounded like a simple order. Either they almost accidentally stepped on the wrong floor tile or lost their balance and risked himself of getting killed or triggering a trap that would kill all of them. After about 20 agonizing minutes of having to navigate through the trap laced hallway, across a rickety bridge where another paladin soldier nearly fell, they eventually reached a door which appeared to have a puzzle within it.

"Oh great…more traps," said Maxton, a two year paladin veteran.

"No…not a trap…an interesting puzzle," said Dr. Reese. As he carefully read the weird writings on top of the puzzle, one of the newbies quickly whirled around and began looking around in a panic.

"What…someone afraid of the dark?" joked Jason.

"I thought I heard something sir," he replied.

"What…like we're being followed?" asked Maxton. "I doubt that's possible."

"So…what does it say doc?" asked Patrick.

"To get to the chamber of the elders, prove that you are one of their allies," answered the archaeologist.

"By solving the puzzle," realized Jason.

"I've never been one for puzzles," said Patrick.

"Luckily my colleague Dr. Ross has a knack for this sort of thing," answered Dr. Reese.

A young woman of about 22 with long black hair and brownish-red eyes and wearing glasses went over to the door with the puzzle.

One of the newbie paladins in the second platoon wolf whistled as he eyed her nice figure. "She's quite cute. She single doc?" he asked.

Jason elbowed the soldier and rebuked him. "Now is not the right time for such questions," he growled through his teeth.

The puzzle resembled that of having to put together a picture or symbol by sliding the tiles over and over till it formed the completed image. Dr. Ross had some trouble rearranging some of the tiles as she saw some of the tiles together formed what appeared to be a pendant picture. She constantly had to rotate some of the tiles around numerous times before she finally figured out the pattern and the arrangement. The team then tried to take the time they had to take a short break.

"By the way Dr. Reese…does Dr. Ross know how to solve tile puzzles?" asked Jason, leaning against the wall of the entrance leading to the chamber room.

"Usually when they're not as worn out, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this one," he replied.

"With ruins as old as these…I wouldn't be surprised considering this has probably been here for centuries," chimed in Maxton.

The group heard a hiss and then a rumbling sound of the doors before they slowly pulled apart and it revealed a round room with a staircase leading to something on a round platform.

"How long did that take you?" asked Jason.

"5 minutes," she replied.

"Funny…it felt longer than that," said Jason.

"Looks like this is it people. Stay sharp…there could be traps around here so watch your step," said Patrick.

"Talon 01, are you seeing this?" asked Jason on his com link to the first helicopter pilot, using the flashlight attached to his Heckler & Koch G36C.

"Roger Knight 02, we're seeing the exact same thing on our monitors," he replied.

As they slowly continued inside, the room itself was nearly pitch black save for a small beam of light at the roof that pointed down at what appeared to be a tomb according to the silhouette.

Unbeknownst to them…someone or something was watching from the shadows…slowly circling from the top of the room as well as below.

Jason's ears caught the faint sound of growling and immediately knew that they had either walked into a trap or that they weren't the only ones competing for what was in the tomb.

He then looked at Patrick and the two captains made eye contact that lasted for almost a couple of minutes as Jason mouthed 'Lycans' and then made a circle motion with his forefinger. Patrick looked up and around the roof and briefly saw pairs of shining eyes looking down at them. He then looked at Jason and mouthed 'Vampires' and did the same circle motion that Jason did. Jason then put his mouth near the com link on his left shoulder.

"Talon 02...how soon can you send backup?" asked Jason.

"We can send them in 5 minutes," said the pilot.

"Talon 02 that's 4 minutes too late," said Jason. "We've got contacts...and I mean a LOT of them."

"Well make it 50...stand by," answered the pilot.

Seconds later, something flew above them in the blink of an eye. One of the new paladin recruits suddenly began to panic.

"What was that?" he asked, clutching his AK47 tightly.

"What was what?" asked another next to him.

"Stay away!"

"Hold your fire, you'll give away our position!" shouted Patrick, but the panicked paladin wasn't listening and fired a few rounds into the dark.

"Everyone...get into defensive formation and provide cover fire. Make sure that research team gets to the artifact first before the others do," ordered Jason.

One of the soldiers in the second platoon named Rick, noticed something flying above them and threw a flash grenade out into the open.

"Flash grenade!" yelled out one of the paladins in the first platoon.

The rest of the paladins as well as the research team shielded their eyes from the bright blast until they heard what sounded like a screech and a growl about a second in between the two.

Seconds later, several vampires and lycans broke off from their stationary positions and began to confront both each other as well as the paladins. Swords clashing, guns firing, as well as paladins screaming from being torn apart by a lycan.

"Maintain defensive formation," ordered Patrick, as he blocked an incoming attack from a vampire's sword with his own.

Guns were blazing as paladins tried to wound or shoot down a werewolf or vampire, while swords kept flashing about even for a brief moment in the dark as metal made contact with metal. Slowly they ascended the stairs that would lead to the tomb. Werewolves were slowly coming at all sides while trying to fend off the vampires, while others were engaging them in swordfights.

The chamber had just erupted into complete chaos.

By the time the research team had reached the tomb, they had already lost almost more than half of their platoon. Patrick took a careful look at the design of the tomb and Dr. Reese noticed a puzzle within it.

The puzzle resembled that of having to move certain lined and squared blocks around so that it uncovered what appeared to be a picture.

"Looks like we need to solve this puzzle in order to fit some sort of key into a keyhole," he said.

"Well make it quick doc...we're running out of time, options, and ammunition," said Patrick.

Jason activated his night visor placed over his left eye and began shooting at whatever moved toward or near him and his team whether it'd be vampire or werewolf. He already finished two magazine clips and was about to reload when a nearby werewolf barely struck at his chest before being shot by one of his fellow paladin soldiers.

A paladin near the research team spotted an incoming energy projectile coming towards them and shouted "Look out!"

The blast itself sent the first platoon flying everywhere. Both sides then turned their attention to the now scattered paladins while they also kept fighting each other. One paladin got his head cut off from a vampire's blade, while another got hounded on by a couple of werewolves.

"We need back up! The enemy has got us scattered," shouted Jason into his com-link.

"Hurry it up," yelled one of the soldiers in the first platoon.

"We need 5 more minutes," said Dr. Reese.

"We don't have five minutes," shouted Patrick.

"Well then you'll just have to make some then," shot back the archaeologist.

Meanwhile, Philip gently tapped his partner who was currently in a meditative state when he slowly opened his eyes and asked his partner, "What is it?"

"We've been summoned," he replied.

"About time," he said, strapping his MP7 across his chest and his sword Vanguard on his back, while his partner strapped himself to a harness.

"Pilot...can you get us up at the roof of the ruins?" asked Philip.

"Yes sir we can," replied the pilot.

"Get us there as quickly as possible," ordered Kaname.

As the helicopter fired up its engine, Kaname then turned to Philip and asked, "Where do you think that will lead?"

"Well...if my hunch is correct...that roof we'll be landing on will lead straight down into the tomb chamber below," replied his partner.

"So how will we get in?" asked a paladin by the name of Carlos.

"We'll make an opening of our own," answered Kaname. "Anyone got any explosives on them? C4 perhaps?"

"I've got a couple of them," said Carlos, taking them out of his small pack and handing them to Kaname, along with the remote to detonate them.

"Thanks," he said.

By the time they reached their drop off point, Kaname then dropped the two packs of C4 precisely on the spot he intended to blow up, and then told the pilot to get to 30 feet in the air. He then said over his headset before pulling the trigger, "Fire in the hole." The shockwave of the explosion slightly rattled the helicopter, causing the pilot to fight for control for a brief moment. The hole itself however was big enough for the others to rappel down into.

Some of the bits of the ceiling that fell hit a few vampires and werewolves either dazing them or killing them. The bigger chunks from the blast definitely took out a few vampires and left a few other werewolves temporarily injured on their hind legs causing some of them to limp, making them easy prey for their ancient rivals.

"Alright…Andrew, Carlos…defensive formation; Philip on me…you know the drill," said Kaname, holstering his MP7.

"Injure, but don't kill…got it," said Philip, holstering his Benelli sub-machine gun.

"Why is that sir?" asked Andrew.

"Don't ask…just follow," replied Carlos, nudging him.

The helicopter pilot then gave the signal for the others to drop. "Okay…let's go, go, go!"

Andrew was the first to go down, and then Carlos and Philip took their positions.

The helicopter pilot then checked the two of them and asked, "You guys good to go?"
Philip gave him the OK sign until Carlos asked Philip, "What about your partner?"

"He doesn't need one," he answered.

Carlos then stared at Philip in surprise. "What? He's going to jump at THAT height?"

Before anyone could stop Kaname, he then did a swan dive jump and then curled into a ball halfway for a few seconds before he went spread eagle to ease his fall.

"How does he…"

Philip then patted Carlos on the back. "Practice man…years of practice," he said, as he rappelled down, with Carlos following behind him.

"Hurry it up there doc…we're running out of rounds," yelled Patrick.

"Almost there…a few more seconds," said Dr. Reese.

"I'm afraid a few more seconds aren't what we have right now," said Jason, before he was suddenly taken by surprise from an oncoming werewolf and knocked down.

"Jason!" yelled out Patrick, as he was about to shoot the werewolf that knocked him down before a vampire swooped down and was about to stab Patrick, but not before a series of shots were fired from above as Kaname's team came down and joined the fight.

Kaname was the first to arrive, followed by Andrew, then Philip, and finally Carlos.

"It's about bloody time. We could use the backup," said Patrick, as he stabbed an oncoming werewolf with his sword.

"Is that the thanks we get for arriving to the party on time?" asked Philip, shooting at a couple of vampires as they tried to ambush them.

Kaname then took out a couple of flashbangs as Philip notified the others.

The research team, as well as the remaining paladins quickly closed their eyes as the flash grenades lit up the room temporarily blinding the vampires and werewolves. Kaname then put up his nighttime visor and began to attack. He jumped down from the chamber and unsheathed his sword shooting vampires and injuring werewolves with Vanguard as he went. The remaining paladin soldiers of both platoons managed to fend off the vampires and werewolves slowly but not before what appeared to be a female vampire loomed over them and fired the same attack from before knocking over the remaining paladin soldiers and Commander Patrick and Philip. After several minutes had passed, Kaname then spotted the one causing most of the havoc and was about to attack until a fleeing werewolf caught his attention.

"Hey wait…" he called out, running after it.

"Kaname…we're supposed to stick together!" shouted Patrick.

"Take care of the researchers…I'll be back," he yelled back.

Some of the vampires began to follow Kaname as he chased after the lone werewolf into a series of winding tunnels. Luckily for him, his eyes enabled him to see in the dark.

'Man…it's like these tunnels just go on in whatever direction,' thought Kaname.

The werewolf that was fleeing gave off a blue aura, according to how his eyes saw it.

'Weird…this one is either scared or apprehensive of something,' thought Kaname.

He could hear the faint screeches of the oncoming vampires and whirled around to face them. Kaname then let loose a full magazine cartridge from his MP7. The shots hit their targets and caused the oncoming vampires to fall down. Taking his amulet around his neck and placing the jewel within a small opening in the center of his sword, Kaname then chanted a spell which then caused the blade to glow and unleashed an energy blade attack which eventually drove back the vampires that was chasing him.

Once the vampires left, he turned his attention back to the werewolf which was now staggering trying to get away.

"Hey…what are you running for?" asked Kaname, as he slowly went closer.

The werewolf growled at him and tried to scratch him with his claws, yet Kaname took it as a means of it saying to "stay away".

"Easy now…I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know why you're running," said Kaname.

The creature didn't look at him for a few seconds before he saw the eyes change slightly from black…to a light blue color. Surprised, Kaname then put down his sword and gun.

"Look…I don't want to hurt you…I just want to help," he said.

The growling slowly began to die down as Kaname got close enough and took out a bandage to dress the creature's wounds.

After a couple of minutes…the werewolf wasn't as tense as it was before. Kaname then saw the aura change from blue to white…indicating that it calmed down.

"There you go," he said, as he stepped back a few steps before picking up his weapons and heading back. The werewolf temporarily looked at Kaname before leaving.

"Kaname where the hell are you? We're getting pinned down here…and the enemy has almost gotten us overrun," yelled Commander Patrick from Kaname's com-link.

"I'll be right there. Just hold on for a couple of minutes," he answered.

"You better get your ass down here or there won't be any more minutes left!" shouted the commander.

As Kaname slowly navigated his way through the tunnels, back over at the chamber room, the casualties started to slowly rise. Only several paladins remained, including Commander Patrick and Jason, Philip, Maxton, and Andrew. Carlos got impaled by a vampire's blade. The research team managed to solve the puzzle and found the key they were looking for and were currently trying to send the artifact back up to the helicopter that waited for them. The female vampire that launched plasma energy balls kept trying to destroy them. Several vampires kept trying to get near the group, but the platoon was barely holding.

"I don't think we can withstand another one of that vampire's attacks while the other ones kept sneaking up on us like that," said Philip, breathing hard and constantly trying to stall the enemy with his two P30 pistols.

"Talon 01 where the hell are you?" shouted Patrick.

"We've got your position, however we're also getting ambushed by vampires and are having trouble lowering the rope down to where you guys are," said the helicopter pilot.

"Is the artifact secured?" asked Andrew.

"Now it is," said Dr. Reese.

Some of the vampires that were trying to get close to the research team were hindered by the shots fired from the remainder of the paladin platoon.
A few seconds later, Philip saw the rope drop and ordered the research team to climb while he and the others provided cover fire. The female vampire was about to launch another attack to prevent them until a flash grenade suddenly rolled into the chamber room.

"MOVE!" urged Philip to the research team.

"Shield your eyes," yelled Patrick, as he turned away from the oncoming flash, which blinded the vampires again and threw off the attack of the female vampire that appeared to be the leader of the group, causing it to hit a column where several dead vampires and werewolves laid.

"Who did that?" wondered Maxton, as he fired at some of the dazed vampires.

"Probably Kaname…attack the leader," said Jason, as he fired several rounds from his

As it turned out, Kaname made it back to the chamber room and noticed some vampires that charged towards him. He then jumped towards one of the oncoming vampires and used its body as a jumping platform to the next one and the next and the one after that until he reached the leader and unsheathing his sword, Vanguard slashed at the female vampire's back before kicking off from her and landing where Philip and the others were.

"Let's get a move on," said Kaname.

Patrick and Kaname provided cover fire as each slowly went up the rope while fending off the attacks of the vampires. The vampire leader was about to launch another attack to thwart the escape but Kaname already took out his sword with the jewel in the middle and began the same chant to cause the blade to glow with energy before unleashing his attack seconds before the female vampire leader had a chance to attack, stunning her and driving back a few of the vampires that kept trying to get at them.

When she regained her senses and looked around and realized they were going, her breathing went from tired to nervous as the remaining vampires gathered near her.

'Precia-sama is not going to be happy about this,' she thought.

After about 5 minutes passed, they were all above ground but were met with vampires that kept trying to ambush them while the helicopter kept trying to keep them at bay. Kaname looked over to his left and noticed a faint flashing light in the distance.

"Reinforcements are coming in," said Philip.

Sure enough, another helicopter armed with two gatling guns began pouring it on the vampires causing them to retreat allowing Kaname and the others to get back onto the helicopter.

"Raven 01…the artifact is secured," said Patrick to HQ.

"Roger Knight 01…good work; return to base."

"Roger, headquarters…returning now," said the helicopter pilot.

"Nice way to make an entrance," said Andrew, patting Philip on the back.

"Yeah…"replied Philip, who wasn't paying attention to him but looked at his partner with concern written on his face.

Kaname appeared to be off in his own mind after what had happened and his odd encounter with that fleeing werewolf.

'What is with that one I wonder?' thought Kaname.

"What the HELL was all that about? You run off in the middle of a fight and
leave us to take care of most of the vampires and werewolves?" yelled Patrick.

"With all due respect…captain, if I wasn't around…you and your team would've been dog food or worse," said Kaname, bluntly.

"If you hadn't had those skills and been a regular paladin soldier I'd have you booted out in a heartbeat, soldier," growled Patrick.

"He's got a point there Commander. Without his skills and talents, you guys wouldn't last long against them," said Philip, stepping in.

"Last I recall…this had nothing to do with you," yelled Patrick.

"You should just be fortunate enough that you got what you came for and made it out alive," said Kaname. "Thanks to your efforts, that research team can analyze the artifact that was retrieved."

"Let it go Patrick. Kaname…you've been working your butt off a bit too long here. Take a load off, get some R & R. We'll take it from here," said Jason.

"In other words…you guys are just trying to find an excuse to get rid of me," said Kaname.

"That won't be necessary Mr. Zenryuu," said a voice. The rest of the guys turned to see a man who appeared to be in his early 40s with a thick beard and mustache.

"Commander Remington…" said Kaname, saluting. The others present in the hangar room followed suit.

"At ease," he said, walking over to Kaname. "You must be tired after that long fight. The researchers wanted to thank you and the rest of the team for your efforts…you in particular."

The commander then handed Kaname a small wooden box that had a small lock on it.

"What is it sir?" asked Kaname.

"You'll find out eventually," said Remington. "I suggest you follow their advice and take a little break. We'll notify you when another mission comes up. You're dismissed soldier."

Kaname and Philip gave salute as did the others that were present in the room as the commander left.

"What do you think it is?" asked Philip, following Kaname to the parking lot.

"I'll check on it when I have time. Right now…I need to go visit an old friend," said Kaname, taking out his keys and pushing a button which set off an alarm and walked over to his red motorcycle with white stripes on the sides.

"You don't mean over at that old bar…do you?" inquired Philip.

"Yeah…I do," said Kaname. "Want a drink?"

"Why not?" answered Philip, getting on his motorcycle.

The two made their way through Tokyo's noisy streets and managed to find a place to park their bikes and headed into the narrow spaces where a few bars were open. Kaname looked around and spotted one with a red rose with a martini cup flashing red lights.

"The Rosy Star…this place again?" asked Philip.

"Hey…I thought you said you wanted a drink," said Kaname.

Philip sighed and silently followed his partner inside the bar.

*sighs* Talk about nearly exhausting...mentally at least. I had to look over my original chapter and then pick and choose which bits to keep and figure out where to insert the parts that I didn't get in that I'm doing right now. Anyway...I'm going to be looking over and editing nearly half of my original draft and then trying to do more research on certain weapons and the like...including firearms and their stats (firing rate, accuracy, etc.). By the way...I'll be doing the reference list (bibliography) at the end of this first part. If any writer's feel that I should do it at the end of each chapter instead, then I'll do a quick re-edit and put them at the end of the chapter.

R/R onegaishimasu.