ATTACK
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A fight to the death with a vampire has a few inherent problems.... – source unknown
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The vampire screeched and lunged for Cain, but the werewolf leapt easily over its head and dealt it a punishing blow to the neck, temporarily stunning the creature. Not waiting for it to recover, he reached inside his trench coat to pull out the wooden stake he hadn't stopped carrying even after leaving the Merovingian's employ. The dark-haired program then awaited the vampire's final attack. It did so with another screech that turned into a scream as it impaled itself on Cain's hidden weapon.
"Sweet dreams," the young-looking man whispered in its ear as it fell. He then tried to wipe its blood off his shirt, and succeeded only in smearing it. "Damn vampire. Luna's gonna kill me." Cain then looked to the vampire's victim, a girl who looked to be about nineteen or twenty. She had fainted after Cain had intervened in the attack. He strode over to her and knelt down, brushing her pale hair from her neck and searching for bite marks.
Nothing.
That was good, at least.
Cain hoisted the dead program over his shoulder and hauled the girl to her feet. Fortunately, the girl was his neighbour and her house was right here. He broke inside, left her there, then hauled the creature home. Luna, fortunately, was not home to scold him for getting blood all over her carpets. He shucked his ruined shirt off, swearing never to wear white again no matter how much Luna pouted, and changed into a darker shirt before returning the creature to his shoulder.
He fumbled with a key for a moment, then opened a door that led to a building near Club Hel. He strolled through the garage, snarling when the Q-Ball Gang tried to stop him. "I am no Wingless," he growled at them, fur starting to grow; the startled men let him in.
Cain had no trouble at the so-called coat check, mainly because Jacob and Esau were on duty and he still had dirt on them both. Entering the main club, Cain shoved his way through the varied humans, heading for the Merovingian's balcony.
Tiger was the first to notice him. "Cain!" he cried, startled. Everyone else turned their heads as the werewolf approached them. He halted before his former master, dropping the vampire's corpse unceremoniously to the floor. "There's been a small problem," he said dryly. "Thus speaks the Master of the Understatement," Seth murmured, kneeling by the body to roll it over as the Merovingian demanded, "What is ze meaning of this?"
Cain pointed at the body. "Slayer-bait there attacked my next-door neighbour. Recalling your rule about no vampiric assaults in cities, I of course tried to inform him of his protocol breach. Unfortunately, he opted to act on the programmed hate of lycanthropes and attacked me, forcing me to defend myself." He grinned, showing his wolf-fangs. "I've yet to lose to a bloodsucker, no offence to Tiger meant."
"None taken," Tiger replied.
"It's one of the renegades," Seth said as he stood up, wiping his hand on the dead program's shirt. The Merovingian snarled his favourite curse as Persephone sighed. Cain arched an eyebrow. "The hell?" The Frenchman and his lady exchanged looks, then Persephone gestured to Seth. "You tell him."
Seth nodded and stepped forward. "Well, Cain, you know how restless many of the vampires have been getting since the war ended, right?" Cain rolled his eyes. "Do I? Don't remind me. Part of the reason I left was because the little buggers wouldn't stop challenging me, and I was getting tired of beating them down over and over and over again."
Matthias snorted, and Tiger grinned. Seth rolled his eyes. "If I may continue?" The other two programs contrived to look innocent -- oddly enough, the ex-Agent actually pulled it off, while Tiger only managed to look as if he were plotting some devious prank -- and Seth sighed. "Well, they've only gotten worse. This isn't the first attack we've discovered out of designated areas. The System has informed of that if it happens too much... well, the château will be destroyed and everyone deleted."
Cain arched an eyebrow. "They tried that before, remember?"
"Yes, but since then we've lost Seraph, Shyama, you, Abel, and some others. The Twins are showing signs of wanting out now; you can't really blame them, considering."
Cain winced. "I see the problem."
"Yeah, plus the Agents have been upgraded since that battle."
"So now what?" the program asked. "Now," the Merovingian said, "you return 'ome to your wife and daughter and do nosing." "Nothing," Cain repeated, incredulously. "Nothing as in 'nothing' or nothing as in 'nothing, but do hunt those bastards down if you have the time in which to hunt'?"
The Merovingian smiled, which gave Cain his answer. "Fine. I'll let Abel know -- no, wait," he interrupted himself, remembering who his cousin's neighbour was, "he most likely does already."
Persephone nodded. As Cain bowed to his former masters, he noticed a slight swell in her abdomen. Ah, so that was why they were so concerned over this one. He made a mental note to start vampire-hunting as often as possible.
~*~
"Shit!" came the cry from the Icarus' newest trainee, a youngish man named LCD. "Captain, we got us a self-substantiation happenin'!"
"What!?" the captain, a woman who called herself Genesis, yelled. She and the other two members of her crew were in the room instantly. "Word came down from the Gnosis' 'droid," LCD replied. "We're closest to the location; we gotta get there 'fore she drowns!"
"You got the coordinates?"
"Yeah."
"Then why the hell're you still here? Get your ass down to the cockpit now!" LCD sprang to his feet and bolted, Genesis hot on his heels, Camry and Asmodeus right behind them. Genesis piloted, of course; LCD took co-pilot this time because he had the coordinates to the girl's location.
They reached the fields in nearly record time, but there was no sign of the girl. "We're too late," Camry whispered.
"The hell we are."
It took a moment for it to register that the words had come from operator Asmodeus.
"Wait one damn minute!" Genesis yelped, but Asmodeus was already gone, jogging for the bottom deck. He kicked the emergency hatch open and backed up. "Asmodeus!" Genesis yelled, too late. The antisocial man had already leapt out into the murky water.
"Can he swim?" Genesis demanded of Camry. The first mate shrugged. "Not as far as I know."
"... shit."
Asmodeus manoeuvred through the water-like substance swiftly, trying to find the girl. It was hard, especially because his body seemed to want air. However, he'd seen the ripples from when she'd fallen, so he had an idea of where she was. At last, his hand closed on a slender wrist, and he immediately switched directions, feeling a burning in his lungs as he grew dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Damn lungs... so inconvenient....
His head broke the surface, and he took in blessed air before going under once more. Kicking up, he got his head out of the... water, for lack of a better term, and yelled up to his crewmates, "Get that fucking claw down here!"
They did so, and he grabbed hold, making sure he didn't drop her. He didn't want to take another dunking. They were hauled on board, where Camry discovered that the girl was barely breathing. "Move!" Asmodeus snapped, pushing LCD and Camry aside, taking her naked body in his arms. "Get me a fucking blanket! Her immune system ain't up to sudden temperature changes yet!"
"Why does he care so much?" LCD muttered as he went to grab some blankets. "I'm not gonna let her die before she has a chance to live!" Asmodeus snarled, wrapping her in the blankets and carrying her to the medbay.
The other three blinked.
"Okay, who is he and what has he done with Moody 'Modeus?" Camry asked.
"Maybe his slop was off?" LCD mused.
"That, or he does care for lives other than his own," Genesis replied. The trio exchanged a look. "Nah."
"I heard that!"
~*~
Chapter Edited. Again.
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Winter: I went ahead and did it! Some more of Red, too, as well as Jacob and Esau. But mostly Tiger and some random Zionites. Tiger deserves a girl.
Sapphire: Continued; but see the warning above.
Megami no Izumi: Hook? What hook? *hides fishing rod*
Olafur: *is still laughing, even after eight days* Sorry, baby, I'm not laughing at you... well, okay, yes I am. Take a read of my other 'fic, The Matrix: Legacy. Cain and Abel are main characters. And they're werewolves. Hell, a lot of the descriptions hinge on their senses of smell. ~_^ Just read a little of it. Please.
Phreak: Defo? What doth that mean?
Suzuka: Reloaded plushies! *hunts through the pile and emerges with Seraph, Axel, Cain and Abel, then retreats to a corner* Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeccccccccccciousssssssssesssssssssssss......