Ambush

Mel noticed a beeping.

"What is that noise?"

"Huh?"

"Look!" Jessica said, pointing at the screen. A blinking red dot had appeared, and was moving ever closer to the green dot that represented their position. Another red dot appeared, and then another, until the map of the parking complex was crowded with ominous red.

"Out of the car!"

The nightly motorcade came within sight of the two cars the hunters had brought. They stopped, and several men in black SWAT gear stormed forth, brandishing rifles. Behind them came seven trios of pale men in grave finery, ornate swords sheathed at their hips. At the back sulked three brutish men, who twitched and sniffed like agitated hounds.

The armed men in riot gear opened fire, showering the hunter's cars with hot steel. The windows cracked then shattered, tires squealed as they were slashed open. A bullet struck the gas tank, and seconds later both cars were enveloped in flame.

"Whew! Lucky we got out in time!" Dante whispered.

"What we do know?" Paul asked.

"Those fellows with the rifles are heavily armed and armored, and we have but silver bullets. Against their heavy riot gear, we might as well be using sharpened sticks!" Mel said quietly, yet not without his melodramatic flare.

"They're still pretty tightly grouped," Nelson observed, "We have three of these nova grenades, and these pulse rifles have grenade launchers. I take two, Dante, you take one. You target that cluster over by our rides, or what's left of them, and I'll hit go for their second car there. Hopefully, the explosion will cause some of the other cars to blow too. Then you guys make a break for the elevator. Alucard, you cover them."

"Brilliant. And who'll cover me?"

"That's what the third grenade is for," Nelson answered, loading his pulse rifle. "Now!"

They fired. The nova grenades exploded, sending the dark clad soldiers flying.

"Go!"

Paul and Mel dashed for the elevator, firing behind themselves wildly. Alucard leapt from behind the cement pillar, a 9-mm pistol in each fist. He saw one of the armored troopers rising to his feet. He aimed both guns at his tinted plastic goggles, and squeezed off round after round. The reinforced plastic withstood the first two hits, then began to crack. The fifth bullet broke through, continuing on into the soldier's skull. A movement in the corner of his field of vision caught Alucard's attention; one of the pale warriors had drawn his sword, and was charging. With his left gun, he fired at the charging swordsman while, with his right, he fired sent a bullet flying directly towards a gap he had seen in the SWAT armor.

Nelson, Jessica and Dante charged out from behind the pillar, their pulse rifles screaming as hundreds of bullets streaked forth. Alucard turned and dashed for the elevators.

"GO! GO!" Nelson yelled as he stopped, unleashing another storm of silver bullets. He pumped the rifle, then fired the nova grenade. He spun about and had taken his first step when it detonated, unleashing a churning firestorm. Nelson threw himself to the ground, hands over his neck. He felt hot streaks of pain where shrapnel had found his flesh. Blinking away the blurriness, he looked up and over his shoulder. Several of the armored soldiers were getting to their feet; one staggered about blindly, his jacket aflame. The grim swordsmen had unsheathed their blades-none were hurt by the blast. Nelson heard his comrades calling for him to hurry over their sporadic firing. Coming to his senses, he picked up his rifles and sprinted for the door. He heard shots firing behind him, but kept running. A bullet grazed his thing, leaving a red gash that began to blaze with pain a second after it was made. Nelson threw his body at the elevator, plowing Sideshow Mel over in the process. The doors closed just as the masked gunners fired another burst.

"Owww….ohhhh…."

"Robert!" Mel yelled into his comm.

"Yes, cousin?"

"We have quite a bit of a situation. Several armed adversaries ambushed us in the parking complex."

There was the slightest of pauses.

"Casualties?"

"None dead, though Nelson's suffered some shrapnel wounds and has a cut on his leg."

"How many did you say there were?"

"I didn't say. If I had to guess, more than fifty, less than a hundred."

There was a loud slamming noise, and the elevator slowed and shuddered. Alucard's hawkish eyes darted about, while his face remained coolly indifferent.

"We've picked up a stray."

"What?"

"Your shotgun. Point it right there," he instructed, aiming the laser sight of his Beretta a spot on the wall, "Fire when I say."

Nelson pulled his shotgun from his back holster and aimed.

"Now."

Nelson fired. There was a terrible howling, then a scraping as whatever had been clinging to the lift car fell.

"What was that?"

"A werewolf. They probably sent him to disconnect our cables," Alucard said, looking up, in the direction of the heavy metal cables pulling them upward. "Which gives me an idea."

They exited the lift. They approached the other lift doors, and Alucard pried them open effortlessly.

"Shoot them out."

Nelson, Dante, and Paul raised their pulse rifles and fired. The cable snapped, and they heard the 'whoosh' as the elevator inside plummeted.

"It should buy us time at least. Lets find the others," said Nelson.

Homer raced along the corridor, his breaths wheezing horribly. Though in better shape than usual, he was still unprepared for the strain of running so speedily for so long. Marge pulled ahead of him as they rounded the corner. Behind him were Lisa and Brian, with Bart and Sideshow Bob bringing up the rear.

Marge heard rapid footsteps ahead. She stopped, and drew her katana. The others saw her, and stopped, readying themselves for action. They saw Mel and the others come from around the corner, brandishing their weapons.

"How many?" Bob asked.

"About twenty five or so vamps. They're armed, but no guns."

"That should make it easier," Marge said.

"But that's not all," Alucard said, stepping apart from the others, "They have-!"

He was interrupted by a growling. An enormous furred thing, like a gorilla in size but canine in its shape, came tearing around a corner, panting and splattering the floor with slobber. Bob fired but his shot missed, leaving a hole in the drywall. The thing lunged for Bart.

"Aye Carumba!"

Bart drew his sword, slashing at the air wildly. Before he knew what had happened, there was a naked man at his feet, blood oozing from his head and arms. Not comprehending, Bart looked at Bob, who had drawn his wakizashi. His blade was clean. Bart saw his sword; it was covered with dark, warm blood that was slowly sliding down onto his hands. Bart gasped and shuddered.

"The elevator to the ground level stops at the thirteenth floor. We're on the twentieth. The elevator on this floor goes down to the tenth," Mel said, consulting his palm pilot. "That elevator is on the other side of this floor."

"God! Who designed this place?" Bart exclaimed. Mel checked his handheld computer.

"Winchester Construction Co."

"Figures," Jess shrugged.

"Alright, let's go."

They set of down the corridor opposite of the one the werewolf had emerged from. After some time, they heard the heavy footsteps and clattering claws of the other four lycanthropes. Jessice looked over her shoulder, and saw the werewolves crawling along the walls and ceiling like grotesquely oversized flies. Marge turned. She unslung her pulse rifle and fired. A stream of bullets shot forth, leaving a jagged trail along the wall. She fired again, squeezing the trigger hard. The stream of bullets cut across the wall and to the wolfman. Holes erupted across its back and shoulders with showers of blood. It fell from the wall. Marge spun on her heel and raced to catch up with the others. The group had already reached the lifts and crowded in.

"Come on, Mom!"

Marge sprinted for the lift. She heard the crunching behind here as the wolves raced along the walls. She threw herself in as the doors closed.

The wolf saw the doors begin to close. It pounced, its hind legs catching the wall while its front paws shot between the closing doors. Its paws deformed and twisted into clawed, hairy hands, and it hauled the doors open, its fanged head swinging. Dante fired. Blood splattered the insides of the elevator as the wolf was thrown backwards and the doors slid shut.

"Phew!"

There was a whine as the doors above them were ripped open. Something heavy fell on top of the elevator.

"Oh…crap," Bart breathed, raising his TMP.

Alucard aimed his sighted handguns at two separate spots on the ceiling.

The lift was filled with the roar of arms. The roof was torn to shreds by the steady bombardment. A shotgun went off, blasting a hole the size of a basketball in the ceiling. A second thud signaled the arrival of another werewolf. The hunters began firing indiscriminately. Hearing a clank on the side of the lift, Nelson fired his 12-gauge at the wall, producing a large hole but no kill. There was a scrapping along the opposite side of the elevator, and Nelson turned. A clawed hand reached in from the hole in the wall, seizing Nelson by the shoulder and hauling him to the wall. A lupine head squeezing in through the hole, mouth agape, fangs dripping. Alucard, without even looking, jerked his second pistol at the head and fired. The wolf slumped dead, then slid out from the hole and fell down the shaft.

"That's one down!" someone shouted over the incessant gunfire.

Bart ripped a spent clip from his gun and shoved another in. He saw something dart across the hole in the ceiling and raised his gun to fire. The maintenance hatch rattled and began to open. Homer fired his shotgun, blasting the hatch open. Bart turned his focus from the hatch to the hole above him. Something large and furry fell through it. He saw mouth filled with teeth the size of his fingers and two copper eyes. He squeezed the trigger. The wolf knocked him over. He closed his eyes, readying himself for the crushing bite. It didn't come. He opened his eyes and saw the wolf's limp form on top of him. It shuddered, and began to twist and shrink, its matted fur falling in clumps. It turned into a small, young woman, her head torn open on one side by a cluster of bullets wounds.

The elevator stopped with a ding as they reached the tenth floor. The group hurried out of the elevator and gathered around Mel as he scanned his computer's map.

"Okay…we should go right down this corridor, then take a left, then turn left on the second adjacent hallway, and then two rights, and then we've reached the stairwell."

"Right."

They had barely taken a step when the second lift chimed and its doors opened. The sixth wolf pounced and tackled Brian to the floor. Brian tried to point his pistol at it, but the wolf's snapping jaws grabbed it and threw it aside. Brian clicked his tongue, summoning the hidden blade in his wrist guard. The werewolf responded by biting the blade, shattering it like glass.

Mel drew his rapier and lunged. The wolf looked up. The blade plunged into its left eye and straight into its brain. The wolf began to convulse on top of Brian. Mel twisted the blade, and the wolf shuddered and died. Mel helped Brian to his feet, and the group set off again.

They reached the stair well without incident. After three stories, they had reached the thirteenth floor. Mel consulted his palm pilot.

"The elevators are straight ahead."

They passed through a pair of double doors and found themselves in a vast room, overlooked by a large balcony connected by two staircases.

"The lift is up there," Mel pointed. The group began for the balcony. A bubbling laugh filled the room, and they froze, drawing their weapons. Jacques appeared on the balcony.

"Ah, mes amis, leaving so soon are we? Oh, non, non, non. I can not permit it!"

"What now?" Brian asked Bob. Bob looked to his cousin.

"We can reach the elevators the by the long route."

"I'll stay here and finish the bastard," Marge said coolly, setting aside her rifle and drawing her katana.

"No, Marge-!"

"Don't try an' stop me, Homer. I have a score to settle with him, seeing as your girlfriend Mindy really wasn't on our side after all."

"But Mom-"

"Go!"

Bob looked at the strange French vampire. "Good luck, Marjorie."

The others left, leaving Marge with her old paramour.

"So, its just you and moi, Jacques."

"Ah oui. Reminds you of old times, no?"

"Porquoi tu ne viens pas ici?"

"Humph! You honestly think that I would fight you? Ah, non. Ma petite copine, j'ai matters of plus d'importance que toi. But, if you're looking for a fight, I will not disappoint." He snapped his fingers. The doors on either side of him opened. Dozens of men in black suits and black masquerade masks filled out, brandishing bare katanas.

Marge grinned. Seeing the smile on her face caused strange sentimental feelings in Jacques hardened heart.

"That's my lucky charms; they're magi-"

"-cally delicious!" Marge finished, grinning.

Jacques chuckled, then snapped his fingers. One of the masked swordsmen raised his head with a jerk, then started down the staircase, katana raised and ready to strike. Marge focused herself, balancing on her feet. He swung. Marge ducked and slashed outwards, slicing his side wide open. He fell to the ground, blood spurting. Marge stood up proudly; then, the top of enormous hairdo fell off, having been severed by the ill-fated swordsman's swing. Her hair collapsed, falling loose around her shoulders. She shook her head, getting the hair out of her eyes. Jacques chuckled and snapped his fingers once more, sending a group of three more fencers down the staircase. They formed an inverted 'V' shape, ready to surround Marge on three sides. The first two leapt, striking at Marge. She swung rapidly back and forth, blocking their strikes as they landed on either side. The third charged. Block. Block. Strike! He fell. The to her left swung. Marge blocked and swung her sword at the attacker to her right, deflecting his stab and sending it at his comrade, who gasped and fell. The swordsman growled through gritted teeth and swung at Marge, who parried and countered. Parry, parry, stab. Her sword found her attacker's stomach. Marge's opponent, who she realized was a girl, gurgled as blood swelled up her esophagus, and raised her sword one-handed, in a desperate last-ditch strike. Marge pulled out her sword and spun on one foot, lobbing off the girl's hand. The girls coughed and slid along the wall to the floor, leaving a bloody smear.

"Putain de merde!" Jacques swore. "You may be skilled, Marjorie, but you and your friends will never escape this place alive!" He stomped to the door on his right, then turned and yelled, "Tear this fucking bitch apart!"

The remaining eleven Hunters raced down the labyrinthine corridors, following Mel and his palm pilot.

"Almost there! Just another thirty or so turns!"

"Gah! Will this never end!" Homer whined.

Alucard stopped and gave the order for the others to do so as well. The twenty-five vampires had just appeared at the end of the hall.

"Garrr-gnaht jp'nitha hai!" one growled. They drew their weapons, ready to fire.

"No," Alucard said softly, dropping his guns and straightening his grey suit. "It would be utterly dishonorable to use guns against opponents without them." He drew his sword, a long, thin blade.

"Screw that, man!" Bart said, taking aim.

"If honor isn't enough, then how about the fact that there are several large cylinders filled with flammable hydrogen gas behind the opposite wall?" Mel asked as he drew his dagger and rapier.

"I can't believe this! Dante said, slinging his pulse rifle over his shoulder and taking out his machete.

Marge danced wildly though the sea of bodies and flashing steel. Her katana slew to every opening she saw. She was pure momentum, directed by instinct and reaction. She has long ceased to be aware of the screaming, the dieing and the wounded writhing on the floor. She was an animal; her goal was survival for her own sake and the sake of her young.

The vampires charged. The Hunters charged to meet them. Mel ducked under a swing and whipped his rapier at the vampire's ankles, severing his Achilles tendons. He brought it up and around, cutting another's throat. He stabbed with his dagger, killing his first vamp.

Brian saw one of the vampires stumble. He swung and smashed open its head. Lisa blocked a swing and stepped past her attacker, slashing with her dao sword. He toppled over, his back muscles cut. Brian backpedaled, blocking strikes from a particularly fierce fighter. He finally made a mistake, falling for a feint, and Brian stabbed, piercing his heart. He pulled his sword out, and turned on the vampire Lisa wounded. He adjusted his hold on his sword and stabbed down, finishing him.

Marge ducked and dodged, ever moving, her sword never ceasing to strike and block. She pushed on, cutting through the numberless, nameless fighters, leaving a twitching, blood-spurting wake. She reached the door that Jacques had exited through. I'll have just this one chance…She reached out and seized the handle. The door opened, and she bolted through, slamming it shut behind herself. She bolted it shut, and turned, her katana held out from her stomach.

The room was dark and empty. Several computer screens glowed blue. A slight breathing caught her attention. She looked, and saw Mindy standing in the dim light.

"Where's Jacques?"

Mindy turned her head, looking at something on the ground.

"Dead."

Marge lowered her sword. No…I wanted to kill that bastard! She walked over to where Mindy was, and saw Jacques, lying in a pool of blood, a silver stake through his heart.

"I take it you would have liked to have done it."

Marge looked at the woman disdainfully. She felt the drying blood on her face as her face twitched.

"He tried to seduce me. He almost ruined my marriage."

"He ruined my life!" Mindy burst. Marge didn't flinch.

"So what? He's dead now. Go on and get out."

Mindy made a strange smile.

"Oh, by the way, he's rigged the place with bombs! In ten minutes, this place will be nothing but ashes!"

Marge's eyes widened.

"Can't you turn it off?"

Mindy frowned and shook her head.

"That's why I didn't kill him sooner. I wanted the codes to deactivate them, but he said he'd locked the system so they couldn't be turned off."

"Well, we'd better leave now."

"But I can't. You see?" Mindy said almost mirthfully, pulling up her puffy red hair to reveal two small holes in her neck. Marge stepped back, but her face remained coolly indifferent.

"You're one of them," she said flatly.

"Yes. And I want…I want you to kill me."

Marge paused.

"No."

Mindy's eyes glistened in the dim blue light.

"Why?"

"That would be what you wanted. I can't do that for you. You almost destroyed my husband the way Jacques tried to destroy me."

"But you must! How can you let a vampire live! You're a Hunter! Isn't that your duty?"

Marge didn't respond. The door shuddered as the swordsmen on the other side tried in vain to break it.

"Please…I beg of you! I can't feel! Not the wind on my cheeks nor the smell of the night! I can sense, but not touch! I can remember love, and joy, and all that is good, but I can not enjoy it! All I know is cold, and fear, and loneliness! Please…please…"

Marge watched her as she slid to her knees, grasping at her bloodied yellow tracksuit. Marge raised her katana.

"May God have mercy on you."

She struck.

The Hunters reached the elevator. All had survived the onslaught, but not without cost. Dante was badly wounded, as were Paul and Nelson. Brian had a black eye and a broken nose, and would occasionally cough and loose a tooth. Jessica limped painfully, cursing herself for wearing heals to a fight.

They waited for Marge, each second intensifying their worry. Finally, she appeared, hair flying behind her, her outfit stained red-brown with blood.

"Go! Go! Go! There's a bomb!"

"What!"

"A bomb!"

Bob pressed the button for the first floor. Marge ran onto the lift.

"What took you so long?"

"I met some…resistance."

"Jacques is dead," she said, gasping for breath, "Mindy killed him."

"Where's Mindy?" Bob asked.

"Dead…she…was…a vampire."

"No…" Homer gasped.

"I'm sorry, Homie."

They reached the ground floor and raced for the outside. They sprinted from the business complex and down the street. There was rumbling. The sky filled with light, and they through themselves the ground as their eardrums were assaulted by a deafening roar. Marge looked up, and saw the Jade Building collapse into smoking rubble.