Chapter 11: The London Vampire
08:27 AM (Japan Time), Sunday February the 16th…
"… Eh… Sorry to bother you, aibou, but…"
"I know you wouldn't bother me unless it was important, Gray."
"You see… Two days ago, inside of the Mu Continent…"
"Did you see something?"
"Well… There were all those hibernation-like capsules…"
"Yes. And?"
"Well… I dunno why but I had a weird feeling… Like someone had been watching at me…"
"Maybe it was a Virus."
"Y-yeah, I thought as much but… My sensors are supposed to warn me if a Virus tries to sneak on me…"
"Maybe it was quiet and not doing anything hence why they didn't pick it up to begin with."
"I know I'm sounding silly, but… Could we have a quick look? There was something queer with that chamber."
"Fine. No harm will come from that. Did you hear of yesterday's mission, anyway?"
"What mission? Charon's?"
"No. Dullahan's."
Eisei had come into the throne room to speak with Kuroban who looked up from the holographic screen: Eisei looked somewhat troubled while Kuroban was calm.
"Eh… What was it again?"
"Use Beast Man and Plant Man to try to seize Andy…"
"Seize Andy? Those two?" He sounded skeptical.
"Well. Yes. But it'd seem they picked a bad spot and were overwhelmed very fast… No big deal, though. I wasn't betting too much on that: I wanted to give it a shot but nothing will change. "Seraph Tower" will be ready next weekend." He replied.
"Alright. Could we drop by for 5 minutes and check it out before heading back?"
"It that'll ease your mind…"
Both headed over to the portal-generating machine and didn't spot Burai being hidden in a corner using some kind of camouflage system to hide his figure.
Chance.
"Alright… Denpa – Henkan! Eisei Aaron, On Air!"
Eisei became Gray Thunderbolt just as the portal turned on: both stepped in followed by the invisible Burai: they headed into the hall with the capsules and Kuroban began to study them.
"I'd heard reports of these. Maybe that "Twilight" man designed his own system which we both used based on these… Or maybe he just got inspired from sci-fi movies…" He muttered.
"But… They're empty, right?"
"Of course."
"They don't have Viruses or something like that inside, right?" Gray Thunderbolt nervously asked.
"Well. Not at the present but it's a possibility…"
"This place gives me the creeps."
"Your imagination is running unchecked."
"Are you sure something won't fall down from the blackness above us and beat us to a pulp?"
"No."
"I can't shake the feeling that something's spying on us."
"Some Virus or another. But who can it report to?"
"Well… True… Like Guilty Spark…"
"Who?"
"Ah! Eh… An orb-shaped robot with AI… Tasked with guarding a 100,000 year-old facility somewhere in the Milky Way… He was left alone because his creators became extinct and tended to the facility alone having no – one else to talk to…" He described.
"Hum. Good example. But these things are automated."
"Well… They could be the Sentinels for all we know… Maybe they report to Ra Mu?"
"No. No – one was supposed to report to Ra Mu. Why would you report anything to a God to begin with?"
"Good point… Then something else? An EM Wave Body?"
"True! I'd forgotten about them. Or the repulsive Erand Soldiers too! They could be stored somewhere in this gigantic place but we don't have the manpower or the time to search it all… But even if they were let loose they would be weak without having a host to use to perform "Denpa – Henkan"… I know they can do that using an Erand Soldier as proxy host but they need to have formed a transformation of their own to begin with anyway…" Kuroban muttered.
Well. You lowlife aren't that mistaken in that part. It's obvious you lowlife have done some research before coming here. And I remember where the "Denpa Bodies" are stored at along with the Erand Soldiers… Heh! You'll soon find your "rule" over the Mu Continent challenged by our fail-safes, repulsive heir of the On'Setsu!
"I'm telling there's something spying on us!"
"Don't get paranoid, Gray."
"Call me paranoid and whatever but this sensation won't shake up until I've lit each and every corner of this hall!"
"Huff. You'd need a lot of spotlights to do that. And this place doesn't have plugs or electrical wiring so you'd need to invent a new system to feed them." Kuroban dismissed the idea.
Gray Thunderbolt formed an annoyed face and grumbled something under his breath while Kuroban sighed.
"So?"
"Alright! Let's go back already. I'm an idiot, alright."
"No, no. You simply let this place's pressure affect you."
"And why doesn't that affect YA instead?"
"It's countered by both hatred and joy. Hatred at stepping into the enemy's capital, and joy at bringing the triumph of my tribe: controlling Ra Mu."
"Alright, alright."
"If that's all then we could head back to the HQ: there's some work left regarding the final preparations of "Seraph Tower"…"
"Yeah, I know… But I hope I won't have to set my feet here again in a long while…" Gray Thunderbolt grimly muttered.
"Don't be so defeatist."
"I'm trying, man!"
"Try harder."
"That's easy for ya to say!"
Hmpf… Internal fights? Good! They'll benefit me! Heh, heh, heh!
"…and for the love of Uncle Moriarty! I won't ever come back inside of this room until all of its blackness has been wiped out!"
"Be serious!"
08:58 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Kneel, in silence, alone… My spirit bares me… Pray for guidance, towards home… In darkest hours…"
I went to sleep late or what?
"… Kneel… Dream within dream we travel… In silence… Empires of faith unravel… Alone… Sealed with our virtues' treasures… Kingdoms falling… Down… Whose hand commands the thunder…? In silence… Cry as we're torn asunder… Alone… unto what gods I call…? Protect us in our… Far away, my soul wandered… Born in my grace… I flew on high, sheltered from thunder… Calling heaven…"
Heaven…? Why does this ring a bell…? Of course! We have Purgatory and Paradise… And where am I, anyway?
"Take me away from time and season… Far, far away we'll sing with reason… Prepare a throne of stars above me… As the world once known will leave me…"
Isn't that…? Oriol's favorite theme… "Take Me Away", by Globus… Did I say Oriol's…? I now know why I feel so tired…
"Take me away upon a battle… Far, far away from fears and shadows… Strengthen my heart in times of sorrow… Light the way to bright tomorrows…"
Netto stretched and yawned to then blink some times: he rubbed his eyes and then realized he was lying face-down in the king-sized bed within Kuroshiro's room: Kuroshiro himself was lying sleeping right beneath Netto's body and both were naked but the blankets were covering them at around the waist area: Kuroshiro looked relaxed and calm while Netto was forming a grin.
Guess we both ended up tired from our intense sex yesterday evening! Heh, heh, heh. He's my perfect lover: he adores me and sometimes spoils me because he doesn't want to do anything which may harm me. And to think I was the one who claimed him two years ago… There, on his apartment's sofa, all of a sudden… Heh, heh, heh!
"Answer our call in desperate hours… Shelter our fall from earthly powers… Temper our souls with flame and furnace… Bears us towards a noble purpose… Heaven hides nothing in its measure… Mortal men guided by false treasure… Formless and vanquished we shall travel… Shield and sword will guide our battle…"
"Yo. Oriol – chan! Time to wake up, cute guy."
Netto grinned and began to rub Kuroshiro's nipples with his hands: Kuroshiro began to make some low-toned moans while Netto began to slowly lick his cheeks.
"Take me away upon a battle… Far, far away from fears and shadows… Strengthen my heart in times of sorrow… Light the way to bright tomorrows… Heaven hides nothing in its measure… Mortal men guided by false treasure… Formless and vanquished we shall travel… Shield and sword will guide our battle… Salvation comes in desperate hours… Angels on high proclaim these powers… Lead us from chaos, we shall follow… Bear us to a bright tomorrow…"
"… Hmmm… Netto – kun! You're terrible… Teasing me already!"
"Past 9 o'clock."
"Hmmm… Alright… But let's not take too long…"
"Sure. It's my turn to play around today but I don't feel like doing S&M because it'd be an insult to what happened yesterday. Say, did you find out who sent those two freaks over there?" Netto asked in a distracted manner.
"Dullahan…"
"Dullahan, huh."
"Yeah… Guess they were making a shot for it because it looked so hastily improvised that I don't believe anything important was on stake to begin with…" Kuroshiro yawned.
"How far are you with the Pocket Monsters Black Pokémon Encyclopedia, anyway?" Netto asked.
"Hmmm… Out of 649… I got 600… But…"
"But?"
"There are two or three which I think they are to be event-given Pokemon and one of them must be that "ultimate PKMN" described in a memo in the P2 Lab… I dunno which the other two are… I got both Reshiram and Zekrom, obviously enough, the "Sacred Swordsmen" trio of Cobalon, Terrakion and Virizion… Then I got the "Kami Trio" of Tornelos, Voltolos and Landlos… I found that Kyurem one too… And there are another three at the end of the list, Numbers 647, 648 and 649 which seemingly are unavailable for the time being… Maybe one of them will come with the newest movie, Movie 14… I still find it odd that Victini is considered a Legendary Pokemon on its own and that it is Number 000 of the Isshu Region index and 494 in the National one, right after Arceus…" Kuroshiro admitted: he opened his eyes and glanced at the ceiling.
"Oh! True, true. And I'm sure there'll be some special events sooner or later… And maybe next year or the next we'll get a Pocket Monsters Gray if we go by the logic of past generations: Pikachu, Crystal, Emerald and Platinum…" Netto grinned as he began to rub his nipples again while having a broad grin.
"Jeez. Netto – kun can be impatient from time to time: or sex is the only thing which draws us together?" He sounded annoyed by now.
"Of course not. But I woke up hungry and you know I'm a glutton: I wanna have hors d'ouevre with your nice little rosy ass." Netto kept on grinning as he loomed over him.
"Fine~…" He closed his eyes and sounded resigned.
"You look like Saito – niisan with that face and voice."
"Obviously." He merely replied.
"Heh, heh! I like teasing ya."
"You can be cruel from time to time."
"That's not being cruel: it's being sneaky!"
"Sure, loopholes-man."
"Oho. You could patent that one."
"Come on."
"Say! Why don't we beat the batter?" Netto laughed.
"What? Is that a joke aimed at Superintendent Oda?"
"Bravo, Holmes."
"Hah, hah. I dunno why but today I don't feel in a good mood: guess that of yesterday still irritates me." He sighed.
"Maybe this will help you snap outta it?"
Netto did something and Kuroshiro suddenly gasped in surprise: Netto quickly hugged him and began to kiss him while he move forward and backward while obviously pumping his cock into Kuroshiro's ass from below the sheets: the kiss turned passionate and Kuroshiro seemed to be wishing for more of it given how he hugged Netto as well: they quickly broke apart, panting while Netto closed his eyes and apparently released given his face of excitement and pleasure: he panted and collapsed atop Kuroshiro who began to stroke his hair from behind.
"Oh… Netto – kun… Guess the hunger was making me feel ill-humored today too…" He giggled.
"Sure thing… And I see you can still take more of it!" Netto eagerly exclaimed.
Netto suddenly pulled the covers over them and some moans began to ring out from underneath them.
"I can tease your ass with my fingers!" He laughed in a hushed tone of voice.
"N-no more… Please…!"
"I still feel hungry!"
"Netto – kun!"
09:26 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hello. Gentlemen."
"Oh. Shade Man – dono. What might we help you with?"
"Do you mind if I take a seat?" He asked.
"Please go ahead, Shade Man – dono."
"Thank you."
Shade Man had walked into the cafeteria where he met with the only customers there for the time being: Agoras and Victor: they invited him to have a seat and so he did: Dark Man walked over to them while having a notepad and a pen ready.
"What do the gentlemen desire?" He asked.
"I'd like an obscure coffee with a hint of heat." Shade Man requested.
"I'd prefer some still water at room temperature." Joel requested.
"I'll have a coffee too." Victor replied.
"So! The orders are two obscure coffees with a hint of heat and one still water. I shall bring them right away."
"What were you reading if I may ask?" Shade Man asked.
"I was reading this." Joel announced as he held up a book which was titled "The casebook of Sherlock Holmes" and grinning.
"Oho! And what do you have to say about you, Victor?"
"Oh, I'd picked this. "The Hound of Baskervile"…"
"Intriguing. Say… Isn't there a tale about a supposed vampire in one of those short stories?" He asked.
"The "Sussex Vampire", you mean to say?"
"I just had an idea… About "Charon"…"
"Is that so?"
"Truly."
He whispered something to them and they looked amused at what he whispered: Agoras' glasses shone with a creepy light and Victor formed a smug smile.
"Excellent." Agoras complimented.
"Magnificent."
"What would that be?" Noir asked as he walked over to them while having his robe and hood on and followed by Legato.
"May we join the conspiracy, fellow conspirers?"
"Of course."
Both sat down on the table and Shade Man whispered his idea to them: Noir looked interested and Legato was amused.
"How clever, Shade Man – dono."
"Thank you, sir."
"Tonight would be a good occasion to put it into practice!" Legato suggested with an eager voice.
"The sooner the better." Victor rallied.
"What a fright they'll have!" Agoras laughed.
"If they thought they were invincible then let's prove to them that they aren't and that we're smart." Noir exclaimed.
"We all agree, then?" Shade Man asked.
"Definitely!"
"Good, good! I'll go arrange everything, gentlemen. So if you shall excuse me… Ki, ki, ki…"
He stood up, bowed and walked away while rubbing his claw-hands: a sinister smile formed on his face and he chuckled in his scary tone of voice…
23:54 PM (London Time)…
Good… The security here is lame: it's obvious no – one thought a thief would come and pick anything here because they're replicas with no actual value…
"Charon" slowly opened a door leading to a rather blackened apartment filled with showcases and some wax figures around the room: the curtains were drawn as well but he had no trouble navigating thanks to his IR goggles: he began to look around.
Now, where's that golden watch which is said to be a true 19th century item worn by Conan Doyle? Hmmm?
He stopped and looked at a wax figure largely covered by a black coat and which had an informative plaque set on the wall next to it titled "The Sussex Vampire" so he shrugged and began to examine the showcase but he seemingly didn't find what he was looking for.
"Damn it all."
"Ki, ki, ki…"
"HUH? W-who…?"
He looked around in a bewildered manner and suddenly spotted that the earlier sculpture had vanished and only left the cloak on the ground: he stepped back and began to look around.
"Dullahan summons Charon. You know what that means, don't you, my fellow conspirer? Unless our party is strong enough then we're screwed and the problem is that he can summon it anytime during his three slotted attacks per turn… And at 16,000 HP it's quite a monster to beat but luckily it doesn't increase HP in the Hard Mode yet its other values rise up and it's quite a challenge to try to tackle that thing…" A voice rang out which seemed to come out from everywhere at the same time.
"W-who…? Wait… That voice…"
"Oh? You know of my charming voice? Well then… Let's make a proper introduction, shall we, my fellow conspirer?"
"W-what!"
Several small reddish bats formed out of nowhere and began to assemble in the midst of the room to give way to a figure which was revealed to be Shade Man.
"Shade Man! You!"
"Oh? We knew each other?" He looked intrigued.
"I read your file!"
"No, no. That sounded like you'd known me on the flesh."
"I read your file!"
"Or maybe not…"
"I read your DAMNED file!" He roared.
"My, my. What manners. Holmes would disapprove of them."
"I couldn't care less for that!"
"I think Eisei Aaron does."
"Eisei – dono does?" He gasped.
"He says you guys are Uncle Moriarty's nephews."
"W-wha~t?"
"You didn't know? My. How amusing. We're Uncle Moran's nephews and Superintendent Oda is Uncle Merton's nephew."
"W-what's with those uncles?"
"They're fond of puns."
"You gotta be kidding me." He growled.
"Nope. Wanna invent Kidding Man?"
"Where's the watch!"
"There never was. We made the tale up to lure you here tonight!"
"Impossible!"
"Not impossible at all, Mr. Smith."
"My name ain't Smith! Charon!"
"That's your code-name although I gotta admit Liquid didn't have a civilian name to begin with." He laughed.
"Liquid Snake?"
"Oho. So you know of the fella. He was raised here, you know? In King Land…"
"I knew that!"
"Maybe you knew he told Ocelot to pack up?"
"In the MGS2 comic!"
"Heh, heh, heh. So you're a hardcore fan. You've played or watched Peace Walker too?" He teased next.
"Of course!"
"Bravo. Are you hooked to the news about Metal Gear Solid: Rising? You surely saw the concept art pieces released a month ago."
"I did! And now hi and bye!"
"What!"
"Charon" suddenly jumped out through the still closed window by forming an electrical field which repelled all objects around his body: he landed on the street and then jumped into a manhole: Shade Man spotted a flash of white light forming inside of it and made a grimace.
"Damn. They fled. Now, the matter is… They knew me in person or they knew from my file? Hard to settle at this stage… Maybe I'm over-imaging things… That was a human, alright."
He shrugged and transformed into bats to fly out into the night.
Back to Japan we go~… Ki, ki, ki!
09:07 AM (Japan Time), Monday February the 17th…
"… I shall present no apologies, Prince, but I failed: Golden Star had lured me there and I barely prevented capture."
"No big deal. No – one's perfect. Who was there?"
"Shade Man, Prince."
"Shade Man, huh. The vampire?"
"He's disguised as part of the wax figures under the title "The Sussex Vampire" so that's why I didn't pay attention to it, Prince. How should I redeem for this mistake?"
"Don't mind it, Styx. It's no big deal. Better luck next time."
"Thank you very much, my Lord."
"It's nothing, I insist. And if Dullahan gets nosy then do tell me because I can't stand nosy guys."
"By thou will."
"Over and out."
"So… What's the verdict?"
"Nothing will change."
Styx had reported to Kuroban over the holographic screen: Styx looked repented but Kuroban didn't find it to that much of a hassle: Styx bowed before the line went out and Eisei began to talk with Kuroban.
"Say, Kuroban Howsad…"
"Hmmm?"
"Have you had an assassination attempt?"
"… Yeah. I had. Why'd you ask?"
"Well, Netsuhonoo was the one who spotted it…"
"Oh. That of the handrail…"
"Yeah. That of the handrail… He got nervous."
"My bad. I didn't intend to scare anyone." He apologized.
"No, no! It's just that he was nervous fearing you were having a nervous crisis or the stress was affecting you…" Eisei replied.
They didn't spot Burai who was hidden behind a curtain and listening in while being invisible: a smug smile was drawn on his face.
Kuroban Howsad! So that's you lowlife's name! The Kuroban Royal Family: the last ruling family when the Great War! So some of them survived and they have continued the tradition… And how curious: "Howsad" is an anagram of the English word "shadow" or "kage"… It's not meant to be read as the English expression "How sad", though! But English didn't exist in that era so it's obviously derived from their idiom and it must have a meaning of its own. Heh, heh, heh!
"Well. Yeah. I had one. But that was over 10 years ago."
"No, no! No need for details! It's not my place to stick my nose where I ain't asked for. I just wanted to see if my hypothesis was very far from the mark or not." Eisei replied.
"Fine."
"Well. I'm off to the club room… I don't want to get on the way: "Seraph Tower" has to be ready by this weekend."
"Yeah. Dullahan's working on it and he'd do a better job if he wasn't being jealous at Styx's publicity as "Charon"…"
Styx AKA Charon and Dullahan… So Charon is that guy's code-name and the real name's Styx… Heh, heh, heh. I've had an idea! Leak this to Golden Star and have them put pressure on the guy: maybe he'll get desperate and make some mistake which will benefit me… To training I go and I hope to be strong enough by the weekend to tackle them!
"…but that doesn't matter much. We will be victorious!"
"Victory! And triumph! For the Seraphs!"