Well, while their three friends had been trapped in Rael's basement, Rai and Suyi had been getting along as best they could. The noble felt a great deal of guilt on account of the fact that he wasn't going to track the kidnapper down—because he most certainly had that capability—and Suyi worried constantly about what might happen to them. But, as broken as the two of them were by the disappearance of their comrades, they were taking the whole thing much better than Frankenstein.
Now, Rai's manservant didn't really care about the three of them (or at least he'd never admit it), but he could easily say that the three missing children were important to his master. They had included Raizel in their social circle when they had no idea of how important he was in the vampiric community. So, rather than the usual behind-kissers and social climbers who darkened Rai's doorstep, these three were something Raizel usually didn't have: genuine friends.
With Shinwoo, Yuna, and Ikhan out of the picture, however, Suyi was the only person in the entire neighborhood who would so much as give him or his master the time of day. The neighbors knew that Raizel was a vampire, of course, and, while they tolerated him (in a sort of snobbish way), they wouldn't sink so low as to socialize with him. With Suyi pulled back from the celebrity social scene as a kind of mourning, the three of them passed a lot of evenings watching old movies or playing chess, and this whole situation was a hard pill for Frankenstein to swallow.
He was a scientist, no doubt about the fact. He saw possibilities where others saw only chaos, and the strength he drew from his knowledge ensured that he would never again be in that loathed position of bowing to another's might. Well... any other except for his master. Knowing that the actions of this unnamed vampire were going unchallenged, and had been for many decades, was far too close to powerlessness for Frankenstein's taste. Frankenstein hated being powerless, that was why he had broken the laws of nature so many times.
Still, his master's word was law, and he'd forbidden Frankenstein from taking matters into his own hands. So, the frustrated man had been forced to find another outlet for his rage against his own humanity, and Frankenstein had chosen violence.
M-21 and M-24, the servants at the manor next door, were always looking for an opportunity to ruin Frankenstein's day and, more often than not, one thing would lead to another and all three parties would wind up with about a fifth of their body's blood on the ground and a few broken bones, which took nearly a day to fully heal.
Today was no exception. He had just been going out to get the mail, when a rock had caught him in the center of his forehead, much like the proverbial stone which felled Goliath.
Unlike the famed warrior, however, Frankenstein, rather than toppling over, merely became annoyed and attempted to stab out the eyes of his attackers with his pseudo soul-weapon.
M-21 countered by morphing into his animal form. Like most werewolves, he favored the half-wolf half-human form which left his intelligence and self-control intact. Though, the sickeningly sharp claws and enhanced strength weren't bad either.
M-24 hung back and tried to mind-hack his way past Frankenstein's mental defenses. Much like his friend Rael, M-24's powers revolved around mind-control, though he wasn't nearly so gifted as the younger noble (M-24 was older than Rael by almost a hundred years). M-24 was rarely successful at getting past Frankenstein's mental blockade, but keeping up the effort assured that the human's attention would be divided during his fight with M-21. Not that this made Frankenstein any easier to defeat. Indeed, Frankenstein was starting to get the upper hand on the werewolf when a voice called out from not too far away.
"Rai!" Suyi was saying. "The police station just called; they've found our friends!"
The impromptu fight broke up. Personal grudges aside, it just wasn't fitting to fight in front of their employers... or anyone who might report it to them.
M-21, who now looked nothing but human, slunk back into Crombel's house, followed by M-24, leaving Frankenstein to make his way over to the car, where he knew he would find Suyi and his master.
Seeing as their friends had been found a full month earlier than would have been expected had they been captured by the scumbag, the ride to the police station was a tense one. What if they'd been taken by someone else? They'd been told that the three of them were fine, yes, but a large part of both Rai and Suyi wouldn't trust any source but their own eyes.
Upon arriving at the station, they were told that Yuna, Ikhan and Shinwoo were still giving their statements and were instructed to wait in an office for a few minutes, until—
"Suyi!"
"Rai!"
The two of them found themselves in the center of a group hug, and, for the next few minutes, there was nothing except happy shock as the five of them exulted in their reunion.
Then, though they hadn't really come to terms with the fact that they were really back home, the five of them and Frankenstein made their way back out to the car, conversation struck up about where they had been (or suspected they had been, as they possessed no memory of the previous five months) and what they'd missed in terms of world news, as well as speculation on why they'd been released a month earlier than the scumbag usually kept his prisoners. What might this mean for the agreement with the vampire?
Rai, however, was not listening to any of it. He was too busy being immensely relieved that no harm had come to the three of them in the past few months. Even though he'd accepted Suyi's words about this being a 'cultural thing, and not something he had to worry about', it was still a great relief to see his friends standing in front of him. Except, now that he looked closer...
Agreement between vampire and humans, his foot. That scumbag's head was going to roll.
"Yuna," Rai asked, "what happened to your arms?"
AN: Frankenstein's theme song: "I Want to Look Like Arnold"
