Chapter 26
"Damn it, I should have accounted for this!"
"It's not your fault Snek,"
"No it is!" he protested. They had an early morning conference. Snek, Bad, Garou and Pig God. Bad explained the situation from yesterday, which prompted Snek to rake himself over the coals for his lack of attention on the matter. "Metal Knight is a known slayer of what he calls "Others" aka, us!" he stated. "Look, I don't know how to deal with him at the moment. We have just managed to keep him off our trail for a while, but…"
"He has access to all the videos here, doesn't he?" Bad asked.
"Yeah, he does. But we have enchantments in place so if someone is showing off their true form, like when I do, it's not recorded, if anything I just appear as I do now in my human state." Snek explained. Yet as he turned to Bad he couldn't ignore the sensation. "You think he knows about you?"
He nodded. "Just by the way he spoke, since when the hell does he ask another hero for help, let alone from some kid like me?" Bad questioned. "Metal Knight is an army of one isn't he? He doesn't ask for anyone's help and much rather do things alone. So… I can't help but believe he knows the truth about me, at least part of it, to lure Garou out."
Snek paused as he considered the notion. "It's logical… since when the hell do you think things through?!"
Bad shrugged. "I got a hot streak going on, what can I say?"
Snek nodded yet he paused again. "What happened to your aura? You couldn't have contained it already on your own!"
Pig God then stared at Bad oddly. "Strange, I just noticed that now too… Is everything okay Bad?"
A blush came over Metal Bat. "I… uh… ate… more souls recently…" he said hesitantly.
Snek was stunned. "You WHAT! AFTER NEARLY EATING 10,000 VAMPIRE SOULS YOU ATE MORE!"
"Apparently when he reached 10,000. The craving for them would stop according to Sonic. We did a light spar session after. Bad's gotten stronger but shortly after the mist he was expelling was quick to gather and enter his body. Since then, he's been like this." Garou explained.
"10,000 souls…" whispered Pig God. "Why does that seem to mean something more to me?"
"Either way, I haven't eaten a soul since, I swear to God!" Bad announced. "No souls, no blood from Garou. I still eat a lot, but I'm cool with that. I just got to lose some weight and it will be fine… right?" he asked.
Snek sighed in defeat. "I can't complain about the results, but I got to make record of it."
"So be it," muttered Garou. "But what do we do about Metal Knight?"
"If Bad wants to handle it, I say go ahead." Announced Pig God.
"Huh? Really!?" Bad asked.
He nodded. "A mere mortal such as him should know what happens when you tempt fate. You can easily overpower him and perhaps encourage him to change his ways before its too late. He fails to realize, the more he kills of our kind… the greater the punishment he will face later."
Bad shuttered. "Shit, I even got a chill from that!"
Garou did too. "When Pig God says something that serious, he means it!"
#
Bad ventured to the upper levels of the Association, he found Metal Knight's scouter once more roaming the halls, yet it froze the moment its sights set on Bad. "Metal Bat" it called.
Bad turned and waved. "Hey, about what you said yesterday… Let's talk about that"
Metal Knight's robot nodded. "Not here." It said in a hushed tone. "Follow me."
Bad decided to follow the robot out of the association, there a drone appeared in the front entrance with a transportation pod. 'Defiantly a trap' Bad thought.
"Let's speak somewhere more… private. In here, we will depart immediately."
Bad smirked as he walked into the pod, the robot followed as the door slammed tight and took off. The scouter drone shut off, yet Bad could hear a speaker turned on. "Nice little transportation thing you got… so where are we going?" Bad asked.
"Metal Bat… how long were you going to hide this?"
"Huh? What you talking about?!"
Metal Knight chuckled. "Oh youth these says, have no idea what is going on in the world. I have done research Bad, I have seen him feed off of you. Garou has chosen you to be his blood supply. I am going to cut him off from it and starve him to submission!"
"Riiight" Bad said with sarcasm. "So… what are you going to do with me huh?"
"When Garou is dealt with, I will unfortunately have to deal with you as well, but make it appear natural. I am so sorry Bad, there is no cure for vampirism." The pod jolted as it came in for a landing. Bad was preparing for the worst as the bottom part gave way! He dropped down the shoo before landing in a prison cell.
"Huh, could be a little more cozy, perhaps something SOFT to land on!" Bad protested.
One of Metal Knight's bigger bots emerged from the darkness. "It's a shame this had to happen to you Bad, but please know this is for the benefit of all. Garou comes from a very powerful vampire family…"
"I know, we killed them in battle when his mother wanted his power. She wanted to destroy the world, not Garou!" he protested.
The robot froze. "His mother? What war?!"
"You know jack shit do you?" Bad sighed. He picked himself up off the floor and leaned against the metal bars rather casually. "Look man, you think these guys are evil, sure some are. Just like people, but they ain't all that bad! Trust me, I know!" he protested.
"What would you know of the darkness in this world? You are just a young fool. Bewitched by a vampire's charm to say the least… this why your physical appearance altered, are you not aware of your own transformation?"
Bad snorted. "I wish that was the cause, you really think I would let myself go after meeting Garou? Like hell that would happen, I want to keep up with him not become a lazy ass!" he protested. "I got to nip this now before you cause so serious harm. Seriously, you are doing far more harm than good Metal Knight."
"What do you intend to do? You are trapped in a cage made of pure silver, weakness to a vampire, even a halfling like yourself…" before Metal Knight could finish, Bad already phased through the bars and was on the other side. When it was noticed. Metal Knight summoned all his weapons and took aim at Bad. "What… how could you do that?!" he demanded.
Bad shrugged. "Dunno, first time trying it myself. Envisioned myself turning into smoke and boom, through. Not a bad little trick…"
The robot stood firm as its guns began to power up. "This is complicated… I never anticipated you to do that… I am sorry Bad, there is no other way to save you from a damned life."
The robot fired everything it had at him. Bad didn't even move as the familiar black aura returned and encased around him. He felt no impact of the blast, bullets or heat that Metal knight launched. The room filled with smoke and dust, yet Bad could see through it all. The robot used every weapon it possessed and was now cleaned out. Bad slowly lowered his aura, Metal Knight was at a loss for words. "You done yet?" Bad demanded.
"What… this is not mere vampire power…"
"Figured that out huh? Look man, I ain't here to cause trouble, I don't want us to fight over nothin', all I am saying is you need to back off when it comes to what you call 'Others' okay?"
However the robot powered up again. "I will save humanity! I will protect them from such monsters who walk among them!"
Bad rolled his eyes as another barrage came at him, he should have know Metal Knight would have put in a backup system just in case it used all its ammo. Once more the black smoke took the impact, but then, it fought back! He never gave the order or even thought to it! The smoke acted on its own accord wanting to protect him! Four sharp wisps came out of nowhere and severed the arms and legs of the droid. "Ooo damn, I hope you ain't in there!" Bad said. The smoke infiltrated the cracks of the metal, sparks began to fly as circuits were severed and parts became displaced. The robot was being dismantled from the inside out!
"How… how can this be possible? What did Garou do to you?"
"This ain't Garou's doing… some of it but not all of it you see." Bad said. He sat down on the chest piece of the fallen robot. Despite it trying to activate what little weaponry it had left, it was unable to. "Metal Knight, listen to me, and listen good. You got to stop man, you don't have good karma built up here, and the more harm you do the greater the price you are going to pay, just a warning to you now." He said.
"Why… why warn me?" he asked nervously.
"As I said, we're Class S heroes, we worked hard to keep the people safe. This is part of my hero duty too is to keep my allies safe. So, quite your slaying business while you can, or you are gonna suffer for it."
"Tell me… what are you?"
Bat stood up and off the robot, he found the exit door and was about to leave. "I'm the Shadow King."