Thanks for the reviews. It really boosted my morale, being an amateur writer and all. This is a mainly-action chapter. So if you don't like too much action, at least skim this chapter since there are some important details included.

Azec Sistra

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Lia waited outside of the sewers, as she often did when Jon went on missions. She rarely ever got involved in any physical action, her only purpose being to provide support and information when needed. This was clearly shown through her appearance, wearing comfortable clothing as opposed to the gears Jon wore and her breast length dark brown locks almost always neatly tied or braided.

The ride she was in, an ordinary looking Toyota Camry, had been painted black to provide camouflage, especially for nighttime missions, and had been tweaked with custom made parts to maximize its braking and accelerating speed and its maneuverability. The inside of the car was filled with all sorts of electronic equipments and weaponry, ranging from a high-tech GPS to exploding silver throwing stars to guns…lots of guns.

But none of that mattered now. Lia couldn't believe what she had just heard, a Lycan that had been pumped full of silver nitrate was somehow still alive. In her mind, she was playing out every possible scenario in which this was possible, but she could find none.

"That's not possible." was the only words that she could speak.

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Jon started to think back to the Vampire he had just killed. Other than the heavy burns and a slight scratch on the left side of the Vampire's chest, he couldn't remember having seen any other physical or bullet wounds. Jon knew perfectly well what Lia had meant. If a slight scratch like the one on the Vampire's chest had allowed enough UV fluid to enter the bloodstream and caused the Vampire to sustain such severe burns, then it was impossible for this Lycan to be alive, especially not after having been directly shot with silver nitrate bullets no less than three times.

"What should I do?" he said somewhat lamely, never having been faced with a unique situation such as this one.

"Bring the Lycan back. I'd like to run a few tests on him." Lia replied equally as lamely since she didn't really need to say it. The both of them knew that no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to kill or leave behind such a unique specimen.

"Ok. I should be out in a couple of minutes." Jon said as he gently placed the Lycan over his left shoulder, careful not to reopen any of the wounds that were slowly beginning to heal.

Jon had no trouble remembering the way out and the extra weight on his shoulder didn't really slow him down, but he was still forced to stop dead in his tracks when he reached a large open space filled with concrete pillars. The thing that he had hoped would not happen tonight had happened. He heard a shout. In front of him stood at least two dozen Cleaners.

"Fuck…"

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The Cleaners had entered the sewers only moments before, fully armed and not knowing what to expect since things had gotten way out of control recently. Only two days ago, they were sitting in their headquarters, merely monitoring Lycan and Vampire activity. Now, Lycans were firing openly on Vampires in full view of the public, the safety of Amelia and the Council members had been completely ignored, and the Awakening of Marcus was put off. The dwindling number of Lycans wanted nothing more than to survive, and the Vampires never acted so recklessly in order to ensure stability. So what could have provoked such radical behavior?

"What in heaven's name happened here?" Dex asked with a sickened expression on his face. He, or any of the other Cleaners for that matter, had never seen such destruction. Sure they had cleaned up Lycan and Vampire bodies in the past, but it was nothing compared to this. Hundreds of dead bodies lay before them. Many were missing limbs and covered in still thick and fresh dripping blood. The smell of the burnt and rotting bodies would stay for days.

"I don't know, but I didn't expect this. From what I was told by Tyke, there hasn't been a den of Lycans this magnitude for centuries. Not since the days of that Lycan elder Lucian. It's amazing how they've kept themselves hidden from the Vampires and from us all of these years." Bane said.

"You two! Enough talk! I want the entire area checked out and cleaned! I don't want a single trace of the existence of the immortals! IS THAT CLEAR?" Tyke's booming voice interrupted them.

All of the Cleaners, however, were forced to jerk their heads up and cock their guns. A Vampire carrying someone on his left shoulder had just walked in. Odd…this vampire had green eyes.

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One of the Cleaners had taken first shot, firing at Jon using a SP12 shotgun.

Jon instinctively put his right arm up to block the incoming barrage of bullets. The last thing he wanted was to get his head blown off. He was pissed off, his eyes focused on the Cleaners and his canines elongating. And before any of the other Cleaners had a chance to fire at him again, he pulled out twin MP5A5 machineguns and started counter firing.

All of the Cleaners ducked and hid behind the closest concrete pillars. That is exactly what Jon had wanted, and he wasn't about to give them the slightest opening to get a shot at him.

"LIA! FIND ME THE QUICKEST WAY OUT OF HERE! NOW!" he screamed at the top of his lungs in order to break through all the firing noise.

Lia was the best at what she did, and she wasn't about to let him down. She quickly reviewed the entire layout of the sewers in a matter of seconds.

"TURN AROUND AND RUN ABOUT 200 METERS! YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THREE PILLARS! BLOW UP THE MIDDLE ONE! IT'LL CREATE AN OPENING THAT'LL LEAD YOU STRAIGHT TO THE EXIT! DON'T FORGET. THE MIDDLE ONE!" she screamed back at him.

Jon was glad that he had customized his guns with extended clips. This allowed him something of a moment's breathing space and allowed him to put some distance between himself and the Cleaners. But just as all good things must end, his clips eventually ran dry. He threw the guns forward with all his strength, actually managing to break the jaws of a couple of Cleaners.

Jon turned around and broke into a run. He shifted the position of the Lycan on his shoulder in order to run faster, now carrying him in his two arms.

He knew the Cleaners would start chasing and firing at him, and he was right. The Cleaners were some distance behind him and shooting like there would be no tomorrow.

Jon received a dozen bullets in his back, arms, and legs. He could feel a cool liquid dripping down from the areas he had been shot and knew that they were using silver nitrate bullets. He had reasons to worry about this. The bullets were beginning to slow him down and another dose of silver nitrate could kill the Lycan.

When he reached the place Lia had described, he quickly pulled out a throwing star. He opened up the blades and threw it at the center pillar. The explosion that was generated did exactly what Lia had said it would and more. A chain reaction had occurred, and the two side pillars also collapsed, blocking the paths of the Cleaners.

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The Cleaners stopped. The Vampire had blocked their path, but they weren't going to give up that easily.

"Unit 3. Do you copy?" Tyke hurriedly said.

"Yes, sir" a Cleaner replied.

"There's a Vampire in close proximity. I want you search the perimeters of the area and him find. It's crucial that you eliminate him. Our existence cannot be discovered. Is that clear?"

"Yes si…Sir! We found him!" And with that the line broke off.

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Jon reached the outside of the sewers, but this was no time to stop even to catch his breath. It was safer to assume that the Cleaners had some backup plan.

Luckily, he didn't have to run far to find the car. At the same time, however, Jon heard the noise of a speeding car and looked up to find that a van with three Cleaners was headed straight for them.

He quickly opened the rear door of the car and threw the Lycan in, not sparing any time to secure him or to make sure he was comfortable. It was better to be hurt than dead.

"GO!" he yelled at Lia he got in the passenger seat and slammed the door.

Lia slammed her foot as hard as she could on the gas pedal. The delay in the initial startup, though, had given the Cleaners enough time to catch up to her. The front of their van was touching the rear end of her car.

"Do you mind providing some kind of diversion or something?" Lia said, clearly annoyed at how at she had been right since the beginning. They really hadn't known what the Cleaners were truly capable of. Their equipments were matched evenly by those of the Cleaners.

Jon stared at her and grabbed the strongest gun in the car, a M95 sniper rifle. He took a couple of seconds to look at the GPS and then leaned out the window to fire. But the Cleaners had been ready. The one in the passenger seat had already leaned out and fired at the sight of him. If Jon had any ordinary immortal, he would have had a bullet through his skull, but he wasn't ordinary by any standards. He withdrew. The bullet missed and hit the side rear view mirror.

"Damn bastards! They're too close! I can't take proper aim!" he hissed.

"Well…I can fix that at least. Hang on to something." she warned right before she slammed the brakes, turned sharply, and started to head in the opposite directly.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"I'm taking a different way back. Besides…you should perhaps look out the back before you start criticizing me."

Lia had managed to put some distance between them and the Cleaners. Jon seized this opportunity and leaned out the window.

"12 degrees down." he murmured to himself as he aimed and shot the tire of the pursuing van.

His shot landed perfectly, but the van faltered only a little and continued after them.

"What's wrong?"

"Run flats."

"Can you think of something else? What are you doing?" Lia asked when Jon pulled out a grenade pistol.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to blow them up. They weren't wearing protective goggles so I'll try using these."

He showed Lia flashbang grenades that he had specifically engineered for Vampires. They weren't too useful against humans but still effective enough to stun them for several seconds. He loaded the pistol, leaned out the window again, and shot at the ground next to the van.

(Huge flash of light)

He saw the van swerve in all directions. He had been successful. They were home free…for now.

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Writing an action chapter is a lot harder than I thought. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and get ready for some really odd plot twists in the next chapter. And to clarify things, bold text is another language, normal text is English, and italicized text is thought.

The story is going to be moved to the M section for language and violence.

As usual, all your comments and reviews are appreciated!

Thanks!