"Vampire Genesis"

Chapter 4: "Angel's Punishment"

Disclaimer: Teen Titans and Hellsing belong to their respective creators/owners, which are DC Comics/Time Warner and Kohta Hirano. I make no profit from this story except the satisfaction of knowing that I've written something good.

Author's note: As you can tell from the last chapter, Robin has become the (unwilling) agent of the leaders in Jump City's vampire community. His first task on their behalf is to stop the Initiative from using vampires in experiments to create superior vampire hunters, but will he succeed? And if he succeeds, will he encounter something worse? To find out, read on.

Robin returned to the club in a very troubled state. He couldn't believe the nerve of the clan leaders; they thought to order him around as though he was just some neophyte? Well, he was; in spite of his power, he was still new to the world of the nightwalkers. The only thing that prevented him from single-handedly kicking all of their arrogant rear ends was the fact that innocents were in danger.

Yes, innocents. Just because they were undead did not make them truly less human than someone who had not been brought over. In Robin's mind, it was unfair to treat all vampires as though they were evil. That was the only compelling reason he had for deciding to follow the clan leaders' orders. However, he was going to need help; he wasn't so sure he could take on military-upgraded vampire hunters all by himself, especially if they were all like Dagon.

Inside him, L'andira was seething. How dare she behave that way toward you! I thought the container of my essence would be afforded more respect than to be looked at as yet another to add to her harem! How dare the rest of them treat you like some lowly servant! They should be kneeling before you!

I never wanted anyone to kneel before me, Robin answered.

Doesn't matter, L'andira replied. You deserve more respect than those arrogant clan "leaders" have shown you.

I still have to do this, Robin insisted. The military is using vampires to create superhuman vampire killers. I can't let that happen.

Very true, but we won't be able to do this by ourselves, L'andira replied. We will need help. Vampire help.

What about the Titans?

We can't get all of them involved. We need stealth. Therefore, we'll take Jericho, Raven, and Kid Flash with us. Raven knows how to be quiet, Jericho can possess others, and Kid Flash has super-speed on his side. On second thought, we can bring in Cyborg, too; his ability to interface with machines will be very useful. The others will hang back as support, although I would be more comfortable bringing in some vampires.

Who?

How about Mai? She comes from a very strong bloodline, I can smell it. And I think we can trust her.

If you think so.

"Hey, Robin."

Speak of the devil. Out loud, "Hey, Mai."

"What happened?"

"I've just been committed to shutting down a military organization that's been using vampires to create dhampir-like vampire hunters. I can do it, but I think I'm going to need your help."

"Sure, but I'm not sure how useful I'll be."

"I'm sure you'll be more useful than you expect. And I'm going to bring in the Titans. Are you fine with that?"

"Sure. I'd like to meet your friends, particularly Raven and Argent. I like their style."

Robin looked at her warily. "As long as you don't go too far with them."

"Who, me?"

Robin sighed. "Let's go."

The Titans were just hanging out in the living room-slash-ops room, doing various things. Cyborg and Kid Flash were battling each other in a fighting game, with Kid Flash and Cyborg almost even because their abilities allowed for superior reaction times to normal humans. Beast Boy was waiting for one of them to win so he could play, while Starfire cheered them on. Raven was reading Frankenstein, with Jericho reading over her shoulder and Raven surprisingly allowing him to be that close to her. Argent was listening to her iPod, which was currently playing the song "Jester" by Dagger Orchestra.

Starfire was the first to notice that Robin had come back, but he had done so with company. Said company was a girl with blonde hair styled in warrior braids and honey-colored eyes. A black bodice pushed up and emphasized her bosom, while knee-length leather shorts molded to her hips and thighs. Black boots with steel heels and toes completed the ensemble.

"Robin, who is she?" Starfire asked suspiciously.

"She's a friend," Robin replied.

"Hi," the blonde greeted pleasantly. "Nice to meet you all."

"Hey," Cyborg greeted.

"Whoa," Kid Flash uttered. "You're hot."

"I'll tell Jinx you were flirting with other girls again," Raven threatened in an aside. Kid Flash paled and decided to keep his mouth shut.

"I brought her over here because she can help us," Robin said. "There's an organization affiliated with the U.S. military going around kidnapping vampires and using them in experiments to create superhuman vampire hunters."

"That would mean that wanker Dagon wasn't a real dhampir, just a synthesized one," Argent deduced.

"Who better to kill a vampire than someone who has the powers of one?" the blonde added. "By the way, my name's Mai."

"What do we do about these guys?" Beast Boy asked. "No offense, but we're gonna be going up against trained soldiers and not just trained soldiers, but trained soldiers with vampire powers! You think we can take 'em?"

"We're Titans," Robin answered simply.

"And why are we going out of our way to stop the U.S. military from creating vampire hunters?" Kid Flash asked.

Mai glared at him. "Do you have a problem with vampires or something?"

"Other than the fact that they prey on humans for their blood, no," Kid Flash replied sardonically.

"That doesn't make us all psychopathic killers," Mai said. "We do it because we need to. Blood is the only way for us to survive. And by the way, we try our best not to kill humans when we feed."

"Is that supposed to make it better?" Kid Flash asked. "Kill them or not, you're still forcing them to give you their blood."

Robin glared at Kid Flash. "Are you trying to say that vampires deserve to be experimented on against their will? Are you trying to say that they're so inhuman that they deserve that fate? Well . . . are you?"

Kid Flash refused to answer that, but Robin could read the truth in the speedster's heart. The yellow-and-red-clad boy was full of prejudice toward vampires. He thought of them as disgusting predators upon the human race. That saddened Robin deeply, for now he was one of those so-called predators.

"Never mind. I have my answer."

While this was going on, Cyborg was staring at the computer screen. "Hey, Robin, do you know what this organization is called?"

"Hack into the U.S. military computer system and look for 'Initiative.'"

Cyborg followed Robin's orders, slicing through the firewalls the military had put around its computer system. Once he'd torn them down, he searched for "Initiative." When he found it, his organic eye widened. "Holy shit . . ."

"Holy shit what?" Kid Flash asked, speeding to look over Cyborg's massive metallic shoulder. His eyes widened as well. "Aw, fuck."

"What are you blokes going on about?" Argent asked, coming over to see what had made Cyborg and Kid Flash swear like that. Her crimson eyes widened when she saw what they'd seen. "We're not going to let that stand, now are we?"

"Hey, let me see!" Beast Boy said, pushing himself between Cyborg and Argent to reach the computer screen. "Son of a . . ."

"What's going on?" Robin asked.

"You gotta see for yourself," Cyborg replied, his tone expressing all the horror he felt.

Robin walked to the computer screen and looked. At the top of the screen, he saw Operation: Nightrider. He looked further, seeing the truth in the old saying, "The devil is in the details." He read reports describing blood-splicing experiments that mixed human blood with vampire blood and injected the solution into human soldiers. Further reports detailed harvesting of vampire organs and spinal fluid as another method of enhancing vampire hunters. There were even reports of vampire-hunting assassins being grown from vampire DNA with human DNA attached. Worst of all, the humans that were being used in these experiments were soldiers found guilty of unbecoming conduct by military tribunals and offered a pardon in exchange for their participation.

The Dark Squire noticed that the other Titans and Mai had gathered around him, seeing what he saw. He heard Mai choke back a sob. "How . . ."

"Goddammit," Kid Flash uttered. "I may have my problems with vampires, but this is fucking awful. I mean, criminals? They're turning criminals into vampire hunters?"

"They have an incentive," Raven answered grimly. "And judging from the psychological profiles of the human subjects, we're dealing with remorseless killers."

"Do we know where they're located?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Cyborg replied. "They're underneath JC Tech."

Robin's clothes shifted back into his costume and he donned his familiar mask, concealing eyes that had completely red-shifted with rage. "Let's go."

Later on, the Titans were headed for the Initiative facility underneath the JC Institute of Technology. Cyborg drove his T-Car, with Raven, Beast Boy, Jericho, and Mai as his passengers. Starfire and Argent flew, while Kid Flash ran and Robin rode his R-Cycle. Robin was in the lead, riding his motorcycle with the speed and ferocity of a madman. He was moving so fast that he was melting the streets on which he rode his motorcycle and his slipstream was knocking down other vehicles.

"Robin!" Cyborg shouted. "Slow it down; you're tearing the road apart!"

"No, Vic, I will not 'slow it down,'" Robin snarled over the communicator. "These monsters think they can turn sociopaths into vampire killers. We're going to show them what we think of that. Do you have the schematics for the entryway?"

"Yeah," Cyborg replied. "Downloaded them into your communicators."

"All right," Robin said.

Are we going to kill them? L'andira asked. Please tell me we're going to kill them.

No, we're not, Robin replied. I told you before, L'andira, I'm not letting you turn me into a murderer, no matter how angry I am.

Robin felt rather than heard L'andira's scream of fury at being denied the blood of her enemies. We'll shut them down, he promised her. We won't kill them, but we will shut them down.

We'd better. I'm not letting humans abuse and exploit my children so they can make better killers of my children.

"We're here," Robin said, reaching the entryway and getting off his R-Cycle. "Remember the plan. Cyborg, Raven, Jericho, Kid Flash, and I go in while the rest of you hang back as backup."

"Ok," Beast Boy said.

Starfire and Argent looked at Robin, their expressions saying volumes about how concerned they were for Robin. The Dark Squire merely nodded at them before Cyborg jacked himself into the security system and disabled it. With that done, he, Robin, Raven, Jericho, and Kid Flash entered the Initiative facility.

The five walked down sterilely gleaming white corridors. Robin briefly looked at Kid Flash and Kid Flash nodded once before zooming away. The yellow-and-red-clad speedster returned one minute later and Robin looked at him curiously. Kid Flash looked at him with an appalled expression.

"That bad, huh?" Cyborg asked.

"That bad," Kid Flash confirmed.

"Where's the chamber of horrors where they create their nifty vampire killers?" Raven asked.

"I'll take you there," Kid Flash replied.

"Wait," Robin said, raising a hand. Seconds later, human soldiers poured out from the doors, pointing high-powered rifles at the five.

"Not a step further!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Or you'll do what?" Robin asked.

The soldiers opened fire, only for a wall of shadows to form in front of the five, blocking the bullets. The shadow wall then "spat" the bullets back out at the soldiers, forcing them to duck. The wall of darkness wrapped around Robin, forming into quasi-organic black armor with a crimson wing symbol on his chest. An armored mask covered the entirety of his face with white covers surrounding glowing red eyes.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that," he snarled, his voice inhuman.

Robin zoomed at, around, and amidst the soldiers, fighting them too quickly for them to dodge. They tried to fire at Robin, but Robin caught the bullets just after they left the rifle chambers and telekinetically blocked the ones he couldn't catch. He slammed his elbow into one soldier's stomach, hitting his liver. He whirled and smashed his foot into another soldier's kidney. The soldiers began to pile on him, figuring they'd overwhelm him with sheer numbers, but they had underestimated him greatly; telekinetic force emanated from him and threw the soldiers off him.

"Reinforcements!" one of the soldiers shouted into his comm. "We need reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements," Robin echoed. "Bring them on."

Out of the range of the senses of everyone present except Robin, Kid Flash, and Cyborg, Dagon rushed in with wrist-blades extended. Robin whirled out of Dagon's way and tripped him from behind, but Dagon flipped upward and landed with a kick to Robin's armored head. Robin grabbed his ankle and threw him across the corridor, only for Dagon to flip off the wall and throw himself at Robin again. Robin caught him in mid-lunge and spun him into a slam that landed him on the floor. Dagon kicked Robin off him, but Robin rolled onto his feet.

"So you're the reinforcements," Robin sneered. "I kicked your ass once. I can kick it harder this time, and maybe you'll learn."

"Learn what?" Dagon asked contemptuously.

"That I'm not one to casually mess with," Robin replied, shadow-matter blades projecting from the backs of his hands. The Dark Squire zoomed at Dagon, punching him in the stomach with the blade projecting from his fist. Dagon snarled and struck Robin with his fist, knocking Robin away. Robin twisted in midair and his cape unfurled into a mass of black tendrils that lunged at Dagon, who slashed at them with his wrist-blades. One tendril got lucky and wrapped around Dagon's wrists, binding them together. Others followed, wrapping around his legs and torso.

"Let me go, you freak!" Dagon screamed.

"Freak, am I?" Robin commented. "So says the one who needed biotech modifications to give himself a fighting chance against my kind."

The tendrils pulled Dagon to Robin, who retracted his armored mask to reveal his regular mask. He smirked briefly at the helpless artificial dhampir before lunging and biting his throat. There was no gentleness in Robin's bite; he simply tore into Dagon's vein and drank his blood. Dagon would have struggled, but the shadow tendrils held him fast. Once Robin was finished, he threw Dagon's limp body aside, having acquired what he needed from the artificial dhampir. He could see it now, in the other's blood, just why he had been targeted by the Initiative.

"Aw, fuck!" one of the soldiers shouted in horror. "He took out Dagon!"

"What the hell is this freak?!" another soldier asked.

Raven, Jericho, Cyborg, and Kid Flash were aghast at what they had seen Robin do. Raven and Cyborg had never seen Robin behave so viciously in combat, not even when Slade was involved. Jericho could barely stand; he felt like fainting after what he had witnessed. Kid Flash . . . was simply trembling with disgusted fury. To him, this black-armored thing that stood before them now was not the friend he had known. His friend would have never been so vicious to an opponent, not even Slade. No, this bloodthirsty monster was definitely not his friend.

"Anyone else?!" Robin challenged. The soldiers began to retreat, replaced by a small army of zombie-like creatures.

"Zombies?!" Cyborg yelled. "What's wrong with these Initiative people?!"

"They're what happens when you try to turn non-virgins," Raven replied, "even if you're making them into dhampirs. The Initiative learned that the hard way and now they're using these ghouls as foot soldiers."

Robin glared at the ghouls. "There's nothing we can do for them. Just as you can't make a vampire human again, you can't make these creatures human again. The most merciful thing we can do is kill them." The armored mask re-formed over his face.

"He's right, unfortunately," Raven agreed.

Robin charged into the midst of the ghouls and began tearing them apart, literally. He punched one so hard in the face that his fist went through the back of the ghoul's head and whirled to slam his foot into another ghoul, knocking it down along with several other ghouls. Robin tensed his wrists and Razorbirds made from shadow matter released themselves from his gauntlets. Robin threw them at the ghouls, slicing their heads and limbs off.

"How are we gonna fight these things?" Kid Flash asked. "They were human once."

"So were vampires," Cyborg replied grimly, charging up his sonic cannon and blasting sound waves so powerful that the ghouls crumbled after being hit. Jericho transferred into Raven's body and they fought together, utilizing close-quarters fighting techniques augmented by Raven's telekinetic powers. Kid Flash ran amidst the ghouls, fighting them at hyper-speed.

"Glad you're helping," Robin snarled as he sliced apart more ghouls with his blades.

"Shove it, you bloodthirsty son of a bitch," Kid Flash sniped.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"And I'm going to pretend that one of my best friends hasn't been turned into a monster."

Soon enough, the ghouls had all been shredded by the five Titans. Robin dissolved the shadow-matter armor, revealing his now-regular costume. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't the end of it?" he wondered.

"Because it isn't," Raven replied, her eyes glowing green to indicate Joey's presence in her body. "We have to rescue the vampires they're using for their experiments. That's what we came here to do, not fight amongst ourselves while fighting the Initiative's monsters."

"Done that already," Cyborg replied. "Managed to do a wireless hack of the Initiative's containment system while we were fighting those ghouls and the prisoners are free."

"What are we going to do with them?" Kid Flash asked as the formerly imprisoned vampires began to emerge.

"We're taking them to the Tower," Robin replied.

"What?!" Kid Flash exploded. "You're not serious!"

"Look at me, Kid Flash," Robin said. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"No, no, hell no!" Kid Flash yelled. "We're not housing those things in our Tower!"

"Watch who you call 'things,'" one of the vampires spat.

"Fuck you, you bloodsucking bastard," Kid Flash retorted.

Jericho released himself from Raven's body with a slight flush on his cheeks. "Who's the little sweetie?" another of the vampires asked, her voice teasing.

"You're not touching him!" Kid Flash yelled.

"Asshole," the denied vampire muttered.

"His name's Jericho," Raven replied evenly, although Robin could sense her jealousy.

"We're not doing this," Kid Flash spoke almost frantically. He looked at Cyborg. "Come on, Cy, you're not going to let him house those monsters in our Tower, are you?"

"Our Tower's the safest place for them right now," Cyborg replied. "And unlike you, I know enough about what it's like to be hated for being something you can't help but be. I'm not going to treat them like monsters, because if Robin and Mai are any indication, most of them aren't."

Kid Flash sputtered in rage and tore off faster than anyone except Robin could follow. Cyborg sighed remorsefully, while Raven stared contemptuously at the spot where Kid Flash had been standing just then. Jericho just shook his head sadly, looking at Robin with large green eyes. Robin looked at the remainder of his team and then looked at the vampires that Cyborg had freed.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go before the Initiative sends any more of their freaks after us."

Later on, the freed vampires looked upon their surroundings inside Titans Tower. For a tower that headquartered a bunch of teenagers, it was very well-kept and well-stocked. The high-tech equipment was a marvel to them, as most of them had never seen technology that advanced in their lives. Some of the more technologically astute gazed upon the supercomputer with fascination, wanting to play with it a bit.

Robin had to smile; they were like kids in a candy store. "There are guest rooms placed all over the Tower. The windows can be blacked out; light will still come in, but the ultraviolet radiation will be blocked so you don't actually burn up during the day. There's also blood packs in the walk-in refrigerator; you can pour the blood in a cup and warm it up or just drink it from the pack."

"Use a straw, though," Beast Boy popped in. "Because just biting into it is even grosser than using a straw. With the straw, it's just creepy."

"We'll keep that in mind," a floppy-haired vampire remarked with a hint of a smile.

"Where is Kid Flash?" Starfire asked.

"He didn't want us housing the Initiative's prisoners in our Tower, so he left," Raven replied. "He's just being an asshole right now."

"He is being the opening of the rectum?" Starfire wondered, confused.

"It's a more vulgar way of saying that he's being a real jerk," Argent explained.

"Oh," Starfire said, her confusion cleared. "Why is he being so unpleasant? In my solar system, there was a disease that turned people into blood drinkers, but they were not hated. We knew that they suffered from a disease and we worked hard to ease their suffering in the absence of a cure. Some of us offered themselves up as what you would call blood donors."

"Not everyone on Earth is as tolerant and understanding as you, cutie pie," Mai said, prompting a confused look from Starfire.

"I appreciate you calling me 'cutie,' but what is the meaning of referring to me as 'pie'?" Starfire asked.

"It's a common nickname here for people whom other people find cute," Mai explained with a smile. "Besides, if everyone on Earth was tolerant and understanding of vampires, we wouldn't have vampire hunters. Bastards like the Initiative and that priest freak wouldn't be around to torment us."

"Dude, you're like our Moses," another vampire uttered in worshipful awe.

"Moses?" Beast Boy echoed.

"Yeah," the vampire confirmed. "As in the guy who led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land."

"What makes you think I'm Moses?" Robin asked.

"You saved us from the Initiative! And now you can take us to someplace better, something greater!"

"And how am I going to do that?"

"You've got power unlike any vampire we've ever seen. Even the old vampires would have a tough time fighting you."

"What are you saying?"

"Revolution, man! We don't have to take the old way of doing things! We don't have to let the old people run things! We've got you now! You can take us to a new world, make a new vampire society!"

"Ok . . . Clearly, you're somewhat divorced from reality."

"You think I'm nuts? I'm not crazy, man. The old vampires have gotten so secure in their power that they think they can do whatever. They think they're untouchable. That's why guys like the Initiative are coming after us. With you on our side, things would have to change!"

"I should mention that if it wasn't for the clan leaders in this city, I wouldn't even have been aware of your situation and I wouldn't have been able to rescue you."

"But you don't have to listen to them! You have more power in your pinky than they do in their entire bodies!"

"I should bring up the point that destabilizing the vampire world just to bring about the new order you seem to want could expose us to humans. Then what would happen? There's far more of them than us, even with our abilities."

"Dude, you're like the Superman of vampires! You can take 'em!"

Robin pressed the space between his concealed eyebrows and groaned. "For the love of . . . you're really serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's time for a change. Long past time, actually. And you're our ticket to that change."

End Notes: It appears that the Titans' successful rescue of the Initiative's captured vampires will have deeper consequences down the line. One Titan has already fled in protest and there is restlessness among the young vampires, a demand for a new order in the vampire world. Not to mention the clan leaders' interest in Robin and whatever it is the Initiative wants with Robin. And what will Kid Flash do about the vampiric presence in Titans Tower?

Any remarks, critiques, or questions would be quite welcome. See you next chapter.