Chapter Seven

"Out On The Town"

"So, all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses?"

"Almost." Elke said. "Don't let the movies deceive you. I only withstand sunlight for approximately twelve hours."

Beast Boy grinned. "So you look pretty much human, right?"

Elke shrugged. "I do, but I feel awkward among other humans. I am unlike them, and while I am also unlike my vampire family, I feel closer to them somehow." She played absently with her hair. "So are the questions done, Masked Crusader?"

Robin sighed. "First of all, it's Robin. Secondly, yes, you're done for now."

Cyborg and Vincent reappeared, Vincent standing relatively straight, but still clinging protectively to his side. Starfire smiled, seeing that Vincent was no longer bleeding when he hid the wound. Elke jumped up and tried to hug Vincent, and Vincent stepped out of the way.

"Oh, you're so cruel to your liebschen!" she whined.

"Tell it to someone who cares." Vincent sighed. Vanessa smacked him over the head, and he looked at her, complaining, "What the hell did I do!"

Vanessa poked his cheek. "You wouldn't treat me that way, so don't start that shit with Elke. Strobe lights are on twenty-four-seven call, my friend." Vincent gave her a disappointed, slightly angered glare. Vanessa stretched her arms.

"Hey, you know, we need a break from all this interrogation. There's a nightclub downtown from here that's supposed to have a really great teen-party-rave thing for the rest of this week. What do you say we go give it a check-out?"

Vincent heard the word "Nightclub" and his eyes suddenly shimmered with the opportunity of a fresh meal. The Titans exchanged glances, having caught this, and they gave him a wary stare. Vincent immediately tried to cover his thirst.

"What?" he denied with a shrug. "I like nightclubs too..."

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Cyborg drove the team up in the T-Car, while Robin used his motorcycle and Beast Boy had a newly-bought, working "B-Ped" in his possession. Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and Elke were in the car. When they pulled up to the nightclub that was booming and raving in party mode, Elke was the first to step out of the car, a bit scantily dressed. She looked at the hood of the T-Car and purred,

"Did you have a fun ride, Vincent?"

The bat form of Vincent, eyes wide, was traumatized and clinging for dear life to the windshield wipers of the T-Car, shaking in absolute fear. Vincent quickly morphed to human form and glared at Elke, hissing. She sighed.

"You could have sat next to me, liebschen..."

"GET. AWAY." He pointed an accusing finger at her. "If you had not so persistently clung to me and begged me in seven languages to sit with you, I would not have horrified myself on the hood of this maniacal car!" He held up his hands, whining. "God Almighty! My claws are still shaking!"

"Let's just be happy I didn't wipe you straight off," Cyborg said, "You were kind of blocking my view sometimes."

Vincent whirled around and gave him a panic-stricken look. "I was at the mercy of accelerated winds! What would you do?"

Beast Boy parked his moped, and the T-Car was also put in a proper makeshift parking space. All used vehicles were put into one spot. The team gathered up, with Elke clinging to Vincent's arm. Vincent continued to glance pleadingly at Vanessa for help, but she turned her head and didn't give him the time of day. Vanessa was dressed in her nightclub clothing, and not her superhero outfit: she was in a low-cut, black midriff top with ¾ sleeves and form-fitting jeans with inch-high platform heels. Everyone else was dressed as is, except for Elke's slight wardrobe change (what she was wearing under her "invader" outfit).

The Titans were quickly invited into the club, and booming bass music blasted from the speakers. The dance floor was crowded with throngs of different "groups"—every so often, there were some empty spots. Vincent grinned and licked his lips, and Vanessa smacked him.

"Uh-uh. We're taking shifts watching you, smartass."

"But—!" Vincent looked at her with wide eyes. "How can you! The...They...I...food!"

"Exactly, and we don't want you becoming a suckhead while we're around." Vanessa growled. "So keep it bite-free and PG-13." She jammed Vincent with her elbow in his non-injured side, and Vincent sneered.

"I never slept with my food. That's disgusting." he hissed. Vanessa smirked.

"Well, you tried to bite me..."

Elke blinked, the comment going over her head as Vincent turned the other way, cheeks turning furiously red. Cyborg patted Vanessa on the back.

"Come on, give him a break and let's go have some fun! Dancing's a-waitin', baby!"

"I think I will go stand by the drinks and food," Elke said, finding the buffet. Raven followed her closely; she never was the dancing type. Everyone else, however, went crazy, though Robin had the first shift of watching Vincent. The two shared an angry, rivaling glare with each other, and Robin smiled.

"Getting hungry?" he asked sarcastically.

"Like you wouldn't believe." replied Vincent dryly.

"Anyone look tasty?"

"Yeah."

Robin quirked an eyebrow. "Who?"

Vincent smiled back. "You."

Robin's eyes widened and he took a few steps back, cautiously watching Vincent as the vampire sunk himself into the crowd. He didn't dance, of course, because now he was more on alert than ever. The song changed rather soon, and Elke observed Vincent from afar as Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire began their own freestyles. Starfire, apparently, was a fast learner and was entrancing quite a few male onlookers.

"Vincent will top them all, just you watch." she bragged. Raven rolled her eyes, as she didn't particularly care. Elke fixed herself a glass of punch.

"You said you were half-blooded?" asked Raven. Elke gave her a curious expression. "Earlier, I mean." she added.

"Oh, yes. Why? You are interested in Dhampirs?" prompted Elke. Raven shook her head.

"No, but...I can relate." Elke's eyebrows raised up signifigantly, and she smiled, flashing her stubby canine fangs.

"Stigmas forever." she teased. Raven smiled at that, and a rather animated discussion began between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Robin was watching Vincent from the sidelines as he approached a man slightly older than him (or rather, the man approached him and he accepted), after he'd finished dancing with a girl out on the floor. Robin had nothing against homosexuals, but it disturbed him how quickly Vincent could switch gears between the genders. In two seconds after completing a very implicative grinding session with the girl, Vincent was doing the exact same thing with an older man. Hey, as long as no bloodshed or biting was involved, Robin considered it free game.

Now, of course, Robin began to become even more worried when Vincent turned his eyes and gave him a smirk halfway across the croud. The dancing reached its peak, and Vincent became the dominant dancer with his new pair. Twisting and turning in liquidated movements, he began a dance that not only focused the eyes of his male dance partner, but the eyes of everyone else around him—regardless of sex or sexual orientation. The crowd began to cheer and whoop for him on that side, and Robin suddenly panicked, trying to keep a closer eye on Vincent. Unfortunately, the gathering crowd was making that extremely hard. Robin's eye twitched and he cursed the vampire to his grave, trying to push his way through the crowd.

By the time he had gotten to where Vincent was bewitching everyone with his freestyle grinding, the vampire was nowhere in sight, and neither was his partner. Robin only had two words to say, very silently:

"Oh, fuck."

Immediately, Robin turned and alerted the Titans. Cyborg sighed.

"He's a slippery bastard, isn't he?"

Elke grinned. "I told you, he wows the crowd."

"Apparently, enough to make a disappearing act." quipped Raven. Vanessa growled.

"He boasts his talent at the wrong places and at the wrong times," she complained. After a fast agreement, the Titans spread out through the club searching for Vincent, who was, in the meantime, making a nice hiding place for himself and his "partner" in the far back, abandoned part of the club. There were other pairs there too, of course, straight and gay, getting away from the lively dance floor at the center of the huge warehouse.

Vincent shoved the older man against the wall, and licked his lips. Teen Titans keeping him away from food? He wouldn't live to see the day. Being around this many humans was tempting enough. At least he'd picked a ripe bit of food: Spiked, short black hair, glimmering brown eyes, a dazzling smile. Everyone's typical version of a slim-muscled jock with a bad-boy, warm-hearted attitude.

Stereotypical for a meal, but at least he looks cute. Vincent twitched, Unlike that girl...who was the ugly duckling of the floor.

The black-haired teenager laughed and grinned stupidly at Vincent.

"Slow down, hot stuff." he chuckled. Vincent saw the tint of red in his cheeks, and while the man wasn't overly inebriated, he was definitely a little tipsy. That, however, was not the color of red Vincent was concentrating on. The man, whom he found had the name of Michael, ran his fingers through Vincent's hair.

"You're kind of aggressive..."

Vincent forcefully sat Michael down on a wide stack of boxes and pinned him down, only barely concealing his fangs. "Shut up," he hissed. Michael laughed.

"You like the dominant side?"

Vincent tried hard to keep himself from going straight to the cutthroat, forcing himself to enjoy the meal (the environment was giving him a painfully aching thirst) and brushing his lips over Michael's jawbone.

"I like any side," he growled. Michael smiled at him.

"A younger guy who switches...that I like."

Vincent glared at him. "Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Michael held his hands up quietly in slight surrender, and Vincent slowly trailed kisses down Michael's throat. All he needed was to get close to the jugular, bite him, then suck and run. A simple task. Michael was already on a different page anyway, giving small purrs for some of Vincent's kisses. Less than an inch away from his neck, Vincent unsheathed his fangs, ready to bite.

His ears picked up a clicking sound in the distance, and he paused. His eyes slowly lifted up above the boxes, and there in the doorway, he saw Robin giving him a firm, angered glare. Vincent hissed at him, baring his fangs, and mouthed, "Get the fuck away from my food."

Robin held up his hand from his crossed arms, one holding a Birdarang. From the one hand he held up, he counted on his fingers: Five, four, three...

Vincent paused only briefly before showing Robin that he was putting away his fangs before he went back to showering Michael's neck with kisses, who thankfully hadn't been to distracted from the sudden halt. Robin turned his eyes, satisfied, and not wanting to see a man on top of another man.

Fifteen minutes later, it was Starfire's turn to watch Vincent, and all she decided to do was keep him company in the corner, because Vincent had decided that after having his meal interrupted, that the entire world was just one big bitch and bastard.

"Do not be upset, Vincent," Starfire said, "There are plenty of bags of blood that Vanessa has saved for your enjoyment at the—"

"Who gives a fuck about frozen food?" Vincent snarled. "Nothing beats fresh-squeezed." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Starfire paused before she smiled.

"Perhaps dancing shall take your mind off of your...snack?"

Vincent gave her a small smile, but it wasn't entirely heartfelt, so Starfire squeezed his hand and pointed to the dance floor. "I shall join my friends," she told him before becoming another face in the crowd. After several moments, Vincent paused and looked around; he felt a pair of eyes on him, and there was a tingling sensation up and down his spine. It was stronger than when he'd sensed Elke. A dreaded, cold fear hit him head-on in the face, and Vincent moved himself to try and blend in with the crowd.

As soon as he begun to try and dance with a random pretty girl he'd spotted, a graceful, slender-fingered hand pressed itself to his injured side, the other resting lightly on his opposite hip. Vincent froze as he felt a chilled, vampiric breath curling over his skin.

"How are you feeling?" A deep voice whispered sultrily. Vincent narrowed his eyes, and his pupils went to "cat mode". Long fingernails played with the spike-ended strands of his hair.

"Why so quiet? You didn't miss me?"

"Go away, Arkadij," Vincent snapped, "I don't want to deal with you tonight."Arkadij turned him around, and Vincent looked up into an elfin-framed face with ice-blue, red-rimmed eyes, set on a face that was framed by long, free-flowing black hair. The man, who appeared nineteen, had his hands nicely set around Vincent's waist, and he was smiling to fully reveal a set of very slim, very well-experienced fangs. His clothes included khaki cargo jeans and a midriff black shirt with ¾ sleeves, similar to Vanessa's.

"Ohhh, how come? Because your half-breed heiress is present?" Arkadij dragged Vincent out into the crowd and forced him into a close-set grind. Vincent played along stiffly, with the thought to never feed off another male again.

"No, because I'm tired of seeing your stupid face."

Arkadij tilted his head and purred. "Is that any way to treat me, Vincent?"

"Don't pet-talk me!" Vincent snapped. "You're a traitor, a smuggler and a killer! I won't ever treat you as a friend, until the day the sunlight takes my flesh!"

Arkadij suddenly grabbed a fistful of Vincent's hair and came close as they continued to grind, until they were only a nose apart.

"That can be arranged."

"Over whose dead body?" challenged Vincent. "Mine or yours?" Arkadij only smiled.

"Neither," he said calmly. "Perhaps it's not you who must perish." He ran his palm over Vincent's injury, and it began to bleed heavily. "I already left my mark on you," stated the vampire, "And I do believe one mark is enough, my ex-comrade in arms."

Vincent bared his fangs defiantly. "Lay a hand on Elke, and I will be the one to put a stake through your chest." he said in a low tone. Arkadij laughed amusingly.

"Schvibzik, was that a threat?" he teased. Vincent shoved Arkadij away.

"I am not a Schvibzik!" he roared.

"What seems to be the problem, Vincent?" Vanessa sauntered up beside the vampire, laying eyes on Arkadij, who was smiling without his fangs. Vanessa paused, and then she froze, eyes wide.

"You!" she said in a silent hiss. Arkadij stopped a moment, then glanced at Vincent from the corners of his eyes. Vincent hissed and tried to give a look to Vanessa to RUN.

"Vincent, isn't she that delicious little morsel you found romping the streets only a few months ago?"

Vincent grabbed Vanessa's arm forcefully and glared at him.

"Yes, and she was so delicious, I decided to prolong her existence for my enjoyment."

"WHAT!" shrieked Vanessa. Vincent kicked her in the backs of her legs and flashed her his fangs, in such a way that Vanessa was extremely startled.

"Shut up! You'll talk when you're spoken to!"

"Like hell!" Vanessa snapped. Vincent yanked on her arm and gave her another warning hiss.

Arkadij sighed and shook his head. His eyes had a mockery of pain and disappointment. "Vincent, Vincent, Vincent...after everything you've been taught, you still insist the humans are beyond a cattle's source of food?"

Vanessa gave Arkadij a defying stare. "At least he can do more than suck and leave his prey to die, you heartless son of a bitch!"

"Vanessa!" snapped Vincent, and Vanessa glared at him. Arkadij had a quick smile on his face, but it turned to a brooding frown.

"She's quite a fighter. Sadly, not much of a match for me...or even you." Vincent's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Arkadij held up a threatening pointer finger, holding it at eye level.

"You made a mistake to allow her to live. You made another when you abandoned our homeland. Now you've made a third by sealing the fate of you, and whatever groupies you have kissing your shadow."

Vincent saw Arkadij's fangs being exposed, and he showed his own again. A vampire's contest of testosterone: Who has the better fangs?

"I wouldn't let you lay a hand on any of them," Vincent growled. Arkadij smirked.

"Is that so?" he sneered, giving Vincent a jeering expression. "Then you'd best peel your eyes wide open, my brother. Tomorrow, the hunting begins."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Vincent cried, tackling Arkadij to the ground. Arkadij shoved him off effortlessly and was quick to run out the door. Of course, by this, eyes had turned and then gone away, except for those of the Teen Titans, Vanessa, and Elke. Vincent ran for the door, and then collapsed halfway there, clutching at his side. He hissed in pain and quickly pulled away the clothing he needed to see the bandages. They had been seared by a type of chemical. Vincent looked out the doorway, glaring.

"What the hell just happened?" Robin snapped. "And you'd better tell me now, because I heard that shout clear across the dance floor!"

Vincent stood up, with Vanessa and Elke's help, and pointed vaguely at the T-Car. The indication was that they should get back for a pow-wow—immediately.