A while later in a Dark Alley


Kashi was standing with a group of hunters looking at a chain link fence. Beyond that fence was a large and seemingly abandoned factory. Some time before, the hunter known as Sally had slipped up close to the fence and cut a door like hole in it and tied it back in place with some loose twist ties. She claimed a single hit by the first person through would send the fence crashing down leaving way open for those that followed.

"Are you sure they can't see it's been cut?" Kashi asked again.

"Relax, Kashi, it's fine. We can barely see it and we're not that far from it." James assured him.

"Remember, they aren't looking for trouble. They won't look too close. They think they're the big bad monsters. Besides the kid's right. You only see it because you know what to look for." Sally said.

Kashi looked back at Sally. He thought she looked more like a mousy, brown haired housewife rather than a hunter of monsters. However, if Lucy could be an effective hunter then appearances obviously didn't count for much.

He turned back toward the building and ran through the mental exercises he used to psyche himself up for a game yet again. They usually helped calm his nerves, but this time there were feelings he just couldn't shake. The first was a thread of panic that this wasn't a game and he was in over his head. The second spoke with a calmness that helped quiet his doubts. It assured him that he had done this all before. It soothed and yet unnerved him slightly as it dredged up memories that were not his own.

"I'd be more worried about getting your bones jumped after the battle. I think when Tex saw you in that suit her eyes bugged out. It really hugs the form and you have a good one." Sally said as her eyes roved hungrily over Kashi's form. "Too bad I'm married or I'd be in line for some of that. Nothing feels better then a post battle romp." She admitted.

"I'd rather not think about that. Tex doesn't do it for me. Besides, I'm dating Sayuri." Kashi said without turning.

"It's not the physique that made her stare. She recognized the armor. She used to have a crush on John." James explained.

"You said I didn't look like him but had a similar build. You think this armor reminded her of him?" Kashi asked.

"Yeah. She was pretty tore up about it when he died. She was only eighteen back then. Her affections were unrequited as they never got together. John was older but she crushed on him pretty hard when she was like fifteen to sixteen." James admitted.

"I wonder if that's why she's let herself go. She looks to be at least in her early thirties. I'd have thought she was five years older than Bree. Not five years younger." Kashi said thoughtfully. He thought about those haunted eyes. Tex had eyes that looked like a war veteran. His mind flashed to how torn up he'd be if Sayuri died. Maybe that was indeed why the seemingly tough as nails hunter had let herself go.

"Not likely." Kevin said, interrupting Kashi's internal musings. "She had a fling with Alex Silbern. Even before he went on that rescue mission in '04, she thought Alex was the coolest thing ever. She started living her life like a maniac when he got married." Kevin said.

"I don't think so, Kev. She's been a soul in pain the entire time I've known her. She's lived her life like she was in a rush to end it all. I don't think even she knows what pain she's running from. Don't forget, she doesn't remember anything of her life before she was adopted by Liam and Debbie." Simone said in her quiet voice.

"Is that Lucy's son and wife?" Kashi asked.

""Yes. They found her when they were fighting a court of the Fae-touched. We aren't sure what they did to her she was just a girl. She couldn't have been more than twelve. She couldn't remember anything; not her name, where she came from, anything. She could barely speak. Liam and Debbie pulled her back and helped her adapt and learn to live again. She's been living her life on the edge of death ever since, however." Simone sadly explained.

"She's just wound up is all. She's full of action. She's restless and got too much life. You know, she burns the candle at both ends. She drinks, fights, smokes, hunts constantly, cruises with mercenaries to pick up skills between hunts and she's been known to make like a rabbit with every guy who looks athletic enough to take on six feet of toned woman. Which Kevin could but compared to Alex...damn! Silbern was like a seven and a half foot tall body builder." James said.

"Can we change the subject? I don't want to go into battle sick!" Jesus exclaimed.

"Why?! 'Cause she never hit on you? She's repeatedly said she didn't think you were a man." James shot back at Jesus.

"No, cause beastiality is some nasty stuff that I don't' like talking about." Jesus said with a scowl.

"Is everything supernatural obscene, Jesus? Oh, doing it with vampires is necrophilia! Were-anythings is beastilaity! Doing it with a fae-touched is teratophilia! What is doing it with us, huh? We're not exactly normal you know! I'm not married but if I was married to a non-hunter like Sally is, I'd be pretty pissed at you right now, you judgemental prick." James exclaimed as he lurched forward at Jesus threateningly. Before he could continue, Kashi put his hand on James' shoulder and pulled him back, giving Jesus a warning stare.

"First, we don't need this right now. Save it for the enemy. Next, I would agree, sex with a vampire sounds like necrophilia and gives me the heebie jeebies. I'd have to think on the rest. I don't know enough about them but if were-creatures are just people that change shape, I don't see how anything about that is wrong. I mean I have powers, you guys do, does that make us unnatural? How do you balance having powers like this and the shit it draws into your life. Something I might want to talk to you about Sally. As for you James, I like you, I'm glad you found your balls, but let's tone down how much you pull them out and show them to everyone. As for you, Jesus, I liked you when I first met you. Since then I have heard some things that make me like you a lot less, so let's try to reign in the judgmentalness a bit and let other hunters live with their own choices. Sometimes people aren't evil or misguided or even wrong they just make different choices. Now I've seen teammates turn on each other due to nerves. I'd like to think everyone here is just on edge because we got a lot riding on this; more than any game. That's all the more reason to remember these are the people who are holding your life in their hands. They're trusting you to do the same. That's alot of weight to put on someone, so lets give each other credit for being here and being ready to do what needs to be done." Kashi said.

Just like his old pre-game pep talks, it worked. Everyone nodded at him with a serious and determined look. They even managed to keep it up until the signal came; a flare launched from the tank. Kashi pulled hard at the power inside him. He didn't care, for once, how deeply he pulled on that power. He channeled it into his body in every way he had done on previous occasions. The power suffused him, increasing his speed, hardening his skin and empowering his fists. The hunters, knowing what was coming, turned away as the brilliant power rushed out of him. The dragon made of brilliant golden energy shot up into the sky, answering the tank's flare with a swirling bonfire of Solar energy. He took off running, first hitting the fence and tossing it aside.

The concrete area around the factory loading docks passed in a blur as Kashi headed to the double doors to the side of the loading ramps. Kashi plowed into the door, blowing it off its hinges as if it were cardboard. His brilliant aura surged into the room like a crashing wave. He dashed into the plant, feeling bullets strike his body yet he felt no pain. He crashed right into a vampire that was nearest to him and trod over him as if he weren't even there. He immediately grabbed the next vampire he saw in his vise like grip. Without slowing, Kashi tossed his victim into the nearest group; knocking them aside like a bowling pins. The one Kashi threw continued on, slamming into the wall behind the group of vampires so hard he exploded like a sausage with a ruptured casing.

Kashi whirled and dashed up a set of metal stairs. He grabbed random objects as he shot up the stairs. He tossed them at groups of vampire gunmen. They were firing at anything but the tank. They had to be the ones who were trying to pin the other hunters down who had come in behind the concrete and steel monster. Looking at the tank, he saw that, just as Tex promised, it was impervious to gunfire. Kashi slammed into the first group just as he ran out of objects to throw at others.

The newly awakened tactical portion of Kashi's mind told him to play to the long game. Disrupt grouping, isolate players and pay attention to his own group's formation and clustering. These were all tactics he was familiar with from soccer and football. Fragments from the dream-like battles in his head further guided him. One thought ran like a mantra through his mind: keep them on the defensive! Always the defensive! If they could keep the momentum going they could keep the edge.

Each hunter played to his strengths, calling on the gifts they'd been given when they answered the mysterious call to hunt and were granted an imbuement of power. James helped Simone pull wounded away from battle while pointing out threats to the others. Simone healed and sent her charges back into the fight. Both occasionally fired off covering fire for the others or to stop vampires from closing in on their makeshift first aid station.

Jesus charged in running to any group that was besieged and attempted to break their attackers up first with blasts from his flamethrower and, when that ran low, with his shotgun.

Kevin had eight years to get used to fighting with his other hand. He called on his edge to produce a sword made of black fire. He did his best not to look at Simone, but in his heart he knew if they both made it out of this he'd put behind having lost Paula. He would stop thinking about what Big Ted would have thought about it and he would ask Simone to marry him. Fighting the vampires in the present he defeated the ghosts of his past.

Sally and Reg slipped through the compound together like two shadows. Reg disabled electronic security computer systems and downloaded data while Sally covered his back. He returned the favor when she planted explosives or assassinated an isolated vampire.

Everyone did their part. The fractious animosity amongst them was, at least temporarily, washed away in the flames of battle. The homemade tank might have lacked an actual large turret, but made up for it in a volume of antipersonnel weapons. Juanita managed most of the weapons Tex had mounted to the outside from the computer station in the back of the vehicle. Guns mounted on the deck fired from electric motor controlled mounts leaving Tex to just watch her driving and occasionally fire the fixed forward and rear guns. The battle was going just as planned until suddenly, the tank started to lose traction. "Check the cameras find out what we're stuck on!" Tex yelled back to Jaunita.

Juanita blinked. "It's not a what, it's a WHO, Tex!" She exclaimed.

Outside Kashi did a quick scan for problems when he noticed something that caused him to double take. He couldn't believe his eyes. A vampire had rushed the tank and, upon reaching it, had transformed into some sort of bat creature. He then had shoved a piece of rebar into the tank's treads and started to wrench it back and forth. Kashi could see the track starting to break.

Kashi judged the distance between them. He hoped the power that reinforced his body was up to the task he needed to undertake. He leapt down off the catwalk. He easily made the jump but the distance was not what he was worried about, it was the landing that concerned him. He hoped it was survivable. With a jolt he landed with both feet on the vampire. The shock of the impact was jarring and pain ran through his legs and back. He didn't feel anything break or sprain, but he had a feeling that if he survived this, he'd be sore as hell when the adrenaline wore off.

Kashi rolled to one side and quickly rose from the ground. He looked at the vampire. It also rose and the edge of its wings started to warp into blades. The wings swung at him and Kashi ducked and tossed a quick jab back at the creature. Kashi had encountered vampires whose bodies were supernaturally hard in the past, punching them was like striking stone. This was different. This was more like steel.

"Fool! Were you expecting the typical street rabble? You have strayed into the lion's den, boy! You should have run when you had the chance!" The vampire exclaimed in a guttural, accented hiss as he launched forward to attack.


Lucy's House


Amy looked up from her laptop. "So far so good. The reports from the hunters are sporadic, though. I think they're having a hard time, but that was expected. All the groups except the sewer group have reported contact with the enemy. The sewer group is still making their way through the maze of tunnels." She reported.

"Anything about Kashi?" Sayuri asked.

"Only amazement about some of the things he's been doing. I wouldn't be worried. He's in less danger than the other hunters with the powers he has." Amy shrugged.

Sayuri turned to see if Willow was relived her brother was doing alright but she found Willow was no longer in the room. She turned back to the bookish Tremere. "Amy. where did Willow go?" She asked.

"Tung out in the satellite van asked for her. Something about getting her to help him tap into some sat-maps." Amy said distractedly.

Concerned, Sayuri headed outside. She didn't think a petite twelve year old should be getting into a van with a stranger, even if that twelve year old was a high school freshman.

Outside, she found Willow not working but standing next to one of the vampire guards; a handsome redhead named Aubrey. Willow seemed to be acquainted with most of the guards. Nines picked the four vampires that, back in June, escorted Willow away from a violent scene between the Sabbat and Camarilla to a vampire named Therese who seemed to be of some importance. It was Therese who had sent Willow home.

"So tell me more about yourself, not just your clan. You must have a lot of interesting stories. You said you were embraced in the sixties? It was such a time of cultural conflict where did you fit in?" Willow asked with genuine interest.

Sayuri suspected Willow was curious to hear from someone who saw part of the past with their own eyes, but she also suspected that her interest was not completely scholarly. She had picked the most handsome male vampire their kind had left to speak with after all.

"If Tung is through with you, go back inside kid." Aubrey said without even looking at Willow.

"Wh-What?" Willow stammered at the abrupt ultimatum.

"You heard me, child. You are off limits to feed on and you're too young and under developed to be useful for anything else. Don't take a moment of mercy that I wanted to brainwash you and toss you on the street rather than kill you as a sign of affection. I rather wish now we had never seen you. Everyone else is out fighting yet, despite being the best gunslinger Nines has, I'm stuck here watching out for a bunch of children, old ladies and computer nerds. Now go before I decide to stop being nice." Aubrey commanded.

Willow didn't say anything but her face turned into a blank mask. Sayuri noted the seething fire in her eyes, however. She stalked back to the gate where Sayuri stood. As she tried to slip past, Sayuri took her arm.

"Don't touch me!" Willow yelled shrilly as Sayuri turned her around.

"Willow get a grip! What is wrong with you?! You go out to a total stranger's van alone? Then I find you flirting with a very adult predator? Do you have a death wish, Willow? You're too smart to act so stupid!" Sayuri said in frustration.

"What did you call me?" Willow said, her eyes narrowing.

"I didn't call you anything! I said you were acting stupid not that you are stupid! What's gotten into you? You're flirting rather than listening for news about your brother who is out there risking his life! Or are you going to decide I've insulted you and file it away, hold it in, and resent me of me for all time?" Sayuri questioned her voice thick with emotion.

"You've been spending too much time with Kashi. He's dragging you down to his level. I'm sorry if I don't feel that there's any value in driving myself crazy with hand wringing, waiting to hear who lives and dies in all of this, but I have to find more useful things to do." Willow shot back turning to walk away.

Sayuri grabbed Willow hard and spun her back. "I know you cope with things by armoring yourself up with cynicism and caustic wit, but you had better start acting like you care! He's out there fighting for us you know!"

"I didn't ask him to!" She shouted, tears welling in her eyes, her face suddenly contorted in an instant from it's placid mask to one reflecting an unbelievable level of pain.

"Willow?" Sayuri questioned softly, her face changing from confusion to concern.

"Do you think I like this? That I want any of them to die? Do you think I want Kashi or any of them to leave their blood on my hands? How do you think it will be if I have to go through life hearing Kashi's voice calling out that this was all my fault? Go on! Tell me I'm stupid! Tell me I caused all of this again! Tell me how it's all on my shoulders! Make sure you tell mom too so when the precious, darling boy she's sacrificed everything for doesn't come home she knows who to blame!" Willow ranted.

"Willow there's a balance between holding it all in and acting like you don't care at all. Come here." Sayuri said as she offered her hand.

"No!" Willow shrieked as she tried to wrench herself away from the older girl. "I don't want to be touched right now! God! I'd think you were getting a psych degree not a medical degree from all your touchy feely analysis! Just stay out of my head for a minute and let me be!" Willow rambled, her face returning to a blank expression, however the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"So you can wall it all back in? Willow that's not good for you. Neither is holding on to things forever. You might not be able to forget some of the things others did, but you need to start letting the hold they have on you go. I'm not just talking about Kashi, your classmates or your mom. Everyone will do things that hurt you. It's not malicious sometimes we don't know how our words hurt or we are so wrapped up in what's going on in our own lives we don't see that we did something harmful. You do it just like everyone else. Case in point; you slept and didn't even see Kashi off. Your last words were ones of anger. Both of you have a long way to come in sealing this rift because you're both at fault here." Sayuri consoled.

"I don't know how." Willow whispered.

"Don't worry. I'll be here I'll help" Sayuri said as she closed the gap between them to embrace the tiny girl. She was relieved Willow let her give her a hug.

"Willow!" A guttural voice from beyond the fence called.

Sayuri opened the gate. Upon seeing the speaker, she clutched Willow tighter and stifled a scream. Bertram Tung was a Nosferatu. His appearance was straight out of a horror movie; sharp teeth and red skin with odd, bulbous swellings made for a sight out of nightmares.

"Willow we were right. There is a pattern to the tunnels. Bree and the Tremere are walking into a trap!" Tung warned.

Willow leapt out of Sayuri's arms. "Come on! We have to warn them!" She yelled back as she dashed into the house.


In the Tunnels


Luck had not been with the group in the Nosferatu tunnels. They had failed to make contact with the enemy, finding, despite their attempts to avoid detection, the inhabitants seemed to have vacated the living tunnels and moved away in retreat.

Being broken up into many groups, each unit kept moving attempting to block their quarry's escape based on sporadic signs of which way the Nosferatu and Harbingers had apparently retreated. Yet, there was still no contact with them.

The Tremere named Solomon Fritz motioned to Bree to stop. He drew close and whispered to her. "There's trouble. Apparently, when you disregard elevation and look at the tunnels we've been slogging through from a sat map, it forms a mystic symbol of power; a spiral or vortex. It's symbolic of venturing into the lower realms of hell or the underworld." Sol explained.

"A protective measure or a trap?" Bree asked.

"A trap. We think it's a ward that draws in and contains creatures, likely undead ones summoned by the Harbingers of the Skull, then exposes them to baleful energies that likely make them stronger or at least more aggressive." Sol said checking his phone again.

"If we turn back we'll lose our quarry. It seems to me this 'trap' is to cover their retreat if their warrens are ever breached. We will have to fight through this." Bree said resolutely.

Sol looked at his phone. He began to text furiously. He was also concerned that the small portable signal boosters they had brought to cut through the interference of the tunnels were running low. If this chase dragged on, the groups might end up out of contact. He did not relish the idea of getting lost. Yet his concerns were dismissed by the response he received to his text.

"The Regent concurs. It appears we will all meet up soon in the center of the trap. He has ordered everyone to load the special ghost shot ammunition and to switch from cellphones to headset radios." Sol said with little enthusiasm.

Bree and Sol turned on their headsets, changed clips, then continued on. Soon they arrived at a door, which Sol opened. He paused and and pointed downward toward the sill. There was a smear of chalk powder.

"I take it opening the door has destroyed the ward and now the evils contained inside can escape if they make it past us?" Bree surmised.

Sol nodded grimly then pointed across the way. "The phone says the regent is there almost one story in height above us and at an angle across the room. The others are down from us in an arc."

"It's most likely our quarry is in the center. Tell everyone to turn on the lights. Let's see what we're dealing with." Bree said pulling out her hand spot light.

The other teams confirmed readiness and the spotlights shone into the darkness. The spotlights revealed a pair of cadaverous vampires, who could only be Harbingers of the Skull, along with a group of Nosferatu. The Harbingers were bent over in the middle of the room, focused upon an arc they had drawn in chalk, completing a semi circle painted on the floor. In the middle of this circle there was a hatch that lead down to a lower level. The Nosferatu were climbing down into the escape hatch. It appeared they had all entered the room via the doorway that now a pair of Tremere had also entered. Seeing them, the Harbingers struck the paint line breaking it off from the semi circle exposing the intruders to the horrors trapped in the room.

Those horrors consisted of several hundred zombies. The undead paced outside of the wards in the center of the room. With the entry of the Tremere and Bree they turned, sensing an outlet for their frustration and anger as well as an escape from their long confinement. The zombies raced for the stairs to the upper levels and dashed through the now powerless lines that once blocked the ground floor door. The air above was hazy with an equal amount of spectral undead who outpaced the zombies in racing for the upper tiers. They skipped the stairs and sailed up directly for the upper levels ignoring the ground floors.

Bree focused the power within her and began to blast away at the spectres headed for her. The Tremere began to shoot at the ghosts as well, their shots joining Bree's golden contrail bullets. The ghost shot ammunition immediately showed it's worth, despite the expense. The oncoming ghost's incorporeal bodies were shredded by the force of the special munitions.

Despite the firepower being leveled at them, the spectres continued to advance. They swarmed past their injured, heedless of the damages inflicted on their numbers. On the ground the assault team that had come through the bottom door had already been forced to retreat. The zombies were bashing at the door the team had quickly closed behind them, while others began to climb the stairs in pursuit of those on the upper levels.

"We're going to be over run if we don't do something quick!" Bree called out over the headset.

Strauss frowned, realizing Bree was correct, the enemy was simply too numerous. Once the zombies joined the spectres they would be forced to retreat. Strauss unrolled a scroll and set it alight. He threw it into the room. Strauss had once created a golem of vitae to guard an art museum for Therese Voerman. He had been well paid for his efforts However, few knew that he had created a second one tied to a summoning scroll as a line of defense incase the Tremere Chantry was ever threatened.

The scroll hit the ground as flaming ash. Seconds later the golem appeared. The effects were dramatic. Strauss knew the ravenous dead; be they ghosts or flesh eaters were attracted to blood. Blood contained raw life force and magic. It was the very reason vampires could feed upon it. The golem being made of concentrated magic, animated by the lifeforce of the blood it was formed of was like a beacon to the ravenous dead's hunger. Yet the creature had no way to fend off the spectral dead. While it was strong, it would not hold off the zombie horde long.

"Concentrate your fire power! Utilize your most potent magics as well as the guns! Hit those at the back of the packs furthest from the golem! When the golem falls and they are gathered feeding on it's remains, toss the grenades in their midst!" Strauss commanded his clanmates.

Bree followed suit blasting away at the creatures, pouring all she had into her gun and bullets. Her anima flared as the first clips emptied. A fiery bird spread it's wings over head and glared down into the room. Albeit busy, Strauss noted while the sunlight was distracting and fear inducing to the primitive part of the mind, it seemed to radiate a different power then Kashi's. It was paradoxically more brilliant, but less threatening somehow.

Pulling on her innate power, Bree's hands moved in a blur to reload. Bullets rained out of her guns with a speed that defied the limits of the mechanical tolerances of the gun, overriding inconvenient physics with golden power.

Soon the golem fell. As soon as the construct was defeated, half a dozen grenades soared into the packed mass of undead. One more streaked over controlled by some telekinetic magic to land directly in the midst of the pack. The grenades exploded in an orgy of carnage.

Enhanced by the same so called 'technology' as the projector created bullets, wisps of spectral ichor whirled about among shreds of dried zombie flesh. A few more scattered shots rang out and it seemed the battle was over. Bree rose shakily, realizing she was surrounded by more clips then she had brought with her. Sol pointed to his empty ammo belt.

"That was unbelievable." He stated with astonishment.

"I think I used too much power too quickly. I feel weak." Bree replied as she started to carefully descend the staircase.

"I hope you recover soon. The chase is still on. We must reach the hatch! Catch up when you can! I'll see what lies ahead." Sol said as he raced downwards.

Bree caught up about the time Strauss reached the line. Looking at them he turned to his clan. "Sol, dispel it's magic. All of the ghouls backup in case the wards are trapped. Bree you appear unsteady are you harmed?"

"No, but I do feel hungry and tired. Let's get on with this." Bree said testily.

"Thank you, Regent, for this honor." Sol stated with pride.

"You used the least of your magic so have the greatest reserves, and are the most expendable." Strauss commented blandly.

Disheartened, Sol performed his incantation and dispelled the ward. As soon as it was down, he joined one of his fellows in turning the handle and opening the hatch.

Inside decapitated bodies littered the blood soaked floor. However, the blood did not flow everywhere. It had been pooled within channels carved into the stone flooring.

"Regent, these appear to be ancient Greek. If my translation is correct the inscriptions call upon the legacy of Charon to ferry one in safety to the far shores of the River Styx. I fear it seems to be only Nosferatu Antitribu bodies here, sir. The Harbingers of the Skull have betrayed and murdered their own to power a spell of escape." Sol reported.

"Lamentable. I concur with your analysis, Solomon. Your studies in Greek are paying off it would seem. Do you see what caused the Nosferatu's beheading?" Strauss inquired.

"A tension driven blade. It looks to be a metal coil, like a winding spring only with a sharp edge. I see the release mechanism. There must be a button somewhere. Most likely a false rivet in the hatch somewhere that released it." Sol reported.

Strauss looked at the hatch and found just such a mechanism.

"Climb back up. We have learned much, but we have no magic that can duplicate such a perilous journey even were I willing to pursue the Harbingers into a literal Hell." Strauss commanded.

"We have learned these Harbingers were not just ready but had planed all long to slay their fellows to escape any danger. They don't seem too loyal to this Sabbat." Bree commented.

"Indeed, that echoes my own thoughts. What that bodes I am not entirely sure. Let us destroy what we can of this place and retreat for now. It seems the battle is over." Strauss turned to hasten his clan into action looting and sabotaging the remains of the trap and warrens.

Bree shook her head, regretting some of her quarry had escaped. They would work further evils she was sure. She hoped Kashi and the hunters had fared better.


Sabbat Headquarters San Diego


Kashi's head rolled back with the force of yet another blow from the elder vampire. He felt the taste of blood in his mouth from where his teeth nicked the inside of his lip. He pulled his head back up and, with astonishing reflexes, brought his left arm shooting out just in time to deflect the blade edged wing of the chiropteran from monster.

The vampire saw Kashi's arm over extend. The elder snapped its head forward hoping to bite into the blood filled wrist of his foe. Kashi moved faster than he expected once again. In a flash, the arm moved and Kashi's hand clamped down on the elder's skull, his thumb inserted deep into his large bat ears. The elder attempted to pull away, finding, to his desperation, the grip of his foe was implacable. He was forcibly dragged, one handed, in an arc. Kashi's other fist rounded to meet the side of the skull being pushed towards it by his left hand. The blow was so powerful the vampire felt blood vessels rupture filling its right eye with blood. While this was not as crippling as it would have been for a human, it signaled this boy had again hurt him far worse than a mortal should be able to.

The elder vampire sliced the air with it's other wing, forcing Kashi to relinquish his grip and sending him scampering back to avoid the blow. The battle with the chiropteran vampire had already lasted several minutes. The words of his martial arts instructor from when he had been younger mirrored the words from the odd memories in his head. When a battle drags on too long you have to dramatically change tactics. What he was doing was not working. His opponent was dead. He wouldn't tire and Kashi knew he couldn't keep up this pace until dawn when the vampire would have to stop. He needed a game changer.

Across the pile of rubble that had become their battlefield, the vampire was thinking along the same lines. His vitae reserves were far lower than he let on. Even a few units of blood from a wound would help, but he had not been able to feed. Initially he had thought to go for one of the hunters nearby, but the boy had been right on him ready to strike if he turned his attention for more than a fraction of a second. The boy himself had left no openings that had allowed him to feed from him directly. Meanwhile that damned tank had continue to tear the Sabbat vampires apart, breaking barricades and disrupting the soldiers who attempted to make a cohesive stand against the hunters. An idea formed in the wiley vampire's mind. He rushed for one of the spots where the hunters and his own soldiers shot at each other from behind barriers, confident the boy would follow as he had before.

Kashi did indeed give chase. He had not given much thought to why the elder vampire occasional broke to try to assault the hunter lines. In fact, because of the vampire's inhuman animalistic appearance, he had stopped thinking of it as a person with a reasoning mind.

The vampire did not stop to assault the hunters but bowled them. He leapt through them headed for it's own kind. Kashi vaulted the same barrier, too breathless to mutter an apology to the hunters as he charged past.

As Kashi sailed through the air the elder vampire sliced at him with his wings, not turning from his path. As Kashi hit the ground he saw what the elder was trying to do; the tank was charging the other barrier with vampires behind it. It was the very location he was now sailing towards. Kashi grabbed one of the vampire's wings as he sailed over his head. Upon hitting the ground, he pulled hard and flipped the bat shaped monster further into the tank's path.

With a frantic flap of its wings the vampire half flew half leapt sideways, narrowly avoiding the tank's crushing treads. Kashi, seeing the tank bearing down without stopping, leapt straight up and landed on the concrete and steel behemoth. He banged an exposed piece of metal and yelled "WATCH what you're DOING!"

Seeing Kashi atop the tank distracted, the elder swung his wings around and shot like a dart colliding with the boy. They both fell off the back of the tank with the elder on top. The inhuman thing's jaws lunged down. Rather than a throat full of veins, however, his mouth made contact with skull as Kashi head butted him brutally. Kashi quickly followed with two more head strikes, causing the elder to stagger backward. The creature was almost certain he had felt his right fang break when Kashi headbutted him. Seizing the initiative, the youth managed to grab his off balance opponent.

The elder called on his powerful gifts, attempting to bolster his inhuman strength and break Kashi's grip. The exalt's grip, however, didn't loosen, it tightened. Pulling on more essence the glow around Kashi and the elder intensified. The the golden dragon of Kashi's anima banner reappeared. It coiled around the pair, mirroring Kashi's clinch. Disbelief washed over the elder as he felt his ribs start to crack. His disbelief on deepend when he felt his ribcage begin to shatter. The golden dragon's toothy maw appeared before him. The phantasmic dragon had an almost knowing smile, as if it was leering at him, mockingly.

Kashi could feel his foe crushing beneath his grip. It was then, unfortunately, that the loose track on the nearby tank became stuck on the barrier. The track snapped and now with one side unable to move, the tank spun in a circle propelled by it's lone track. Seeing the tank once again coming for him Kashi cursed. He was going to have abandon his crushing grip to leap out of the way.

"You have got to me SHITTING ME!" He raged.

In desperation, Kashi pulled some of his remaining power into himself. He was going to try a maneuver he'd seen in his memories but never attempted. As the tank advanced on them, he released the power and, with a mighty heave, tossed the elder toward the nearest support beam at an incredible, almost impossible speed before rolling out of the way.

The elder attempted to slow himself by expanding his wings. Kashi had launched the creature so fast that the effort barely slowed him. The creature crashed into the concrete support pillar with such force that it shattered. Concrete rained down from the ceiling. Rising from the rubble, the elder sent vitae flowing into his body to heal his wounds. Kashi watched in dismay as the vampire healed before his eyes.

The elder scanned the area. What it saw was not good. The hunters were finishing up the last of his soldiery. In minutes they would start to regroup, then they would converge. The boy looked tired but kept fighting while his own vitae reserves were exhausted. He could feel the inner beast howling to feed, if he hadn't been old and disciplined its call would have been overwhelming.

The elder spread his wings and pointed one at the glowing youth. "You might have won this day BOY, but this is far from over! The Sabbat will retake this city and rebuild! I have lived eight hundred years and survived crusades far grander than this! In time I will gloat over your graves!" He then shot up into the sky headed for a hole in the roof that had been opened by the fighting.

Giving a shout Kashi grabbed up a hunk of concrete from the shattered pillar and tossed it skywards. He pegged the vampire on the blow had little visible effect other than a slight wobble in the escapee's flight. Hunters scattered as the hunk of debris fell and broke into even smaller shards.

"DAMN IT!" Kashi screamed.

Kashi looked around. Seeing no other foes, he sank to his knees in exhaustion. He drew in several deep breaths. Jesus, Kevin, New Ted and Big Al had drawn up close to him. They were looking up watching the hole in the ceiling as if expecting the vampires return. Several other hunters were gathered around a single spot busily working.

"What's going on there?" Kashi inquired panting heavily.

"Reg got clawed pretty bad. Simone is trying to help him." Kevin answered with a forced neutrality.

Kashi heaved himself to his feet and made his way over. Once there, he saw the situation was bad. Reg was sliced across the neck down into the shoulder. The wound had hit bone then sliced more shallowly down the pit of his arm and side of his ribs. Near by, rotting, was one of the flesh warping vampires. Its arm had morphed into a wicked scythe-like blade of bone. James had a manual resuscitator forcing breath into Reg's lungs.

"Is there anything I can do? I know CPR and basic first aid!" Kashi offered, panicked, his tan, flushed face paling.

"Turn him and hold him up carefully. If I can't stop the bleeding quick he's going to go into cardiac arrest. CPR won't help his heart beat with out blood to pump." Simone succinctly ordered.

Kashi carefully moved the hunter trying to ignore and divorce himself from the nature of what was happening, like he was trained. Focus on the job. He told himself. Don't panic until the job is done.

The pop of small explosives rang out and a section of the tank's concrete armor fell off revealing a hatch. Out of the hatch came Tex and clinging to her back, Juanita. After some coughing, both women took in the seriousness of the situation and came over with the others to stand vigil over the medical group's work.

After a few moments Simone put down her tools. She put her arm on James' hand. She shook her head. James stopped. Kashi's eyes widened. He looked at both of them and then back down to Reg. His eyes the shot to Reg's friend, Sally. Sally turned away and started to cry. Jean took hold of her comfortingly.

"He's dead. That's it? He's gone?" Kashi asked, his mind reeling in disbelief.

Simone just nodded and took hold of Reg's hand as James reach over and closed Reg's eyes.

Kashi felt something start to crack in him. He started scrambling backwards. He felt a very strong hand clam down on his shoulder. He turned to see Juanita. Having no legs, she sat on the floor. She looked into Kashi's eyes with an understanding he found almost frightening.

"Hold it together for now. You can fall apart later but right now we owe it to Reg to get this mess cleaned up and get out of here. When you do fall apart, I want you to remember the last time we did this we didn't wipe them out, Six died. Myself and Kevin lost important bits. What you helped up do here today was a damn miracle. We saved a lot of lives and that's what what we all, Reg included, go out for every day, even knowing we could be the next one on the floor." Juanita said soothingly.

"Anyone here know his preferences? Sally?" Tex barked.

"He doesn't have any close family, but he wanted to be taken back. He has a will." Sally said, drying her eyes.

"Then let's get everything ready to move out. Jean and Sally; scour the place for things we don't want to leave for the police. Al, Ted and I will gather up the bodies. James and Kashi help Simone get Reg in a bag so we can take him home, clean him up and see he's sent to his family." Jesus said.

Everyone broke into teams and started working. Kashi found he really had to focus to keep his mind from drifting. It was trying to go off somewhere else. It didn't want to deal with the idea that a man had just died. Like the hunters, he tried to focus on necessary matters to keep his mind too occupied to think about what had just happened. He heard Tex telling Jesus something.

"Stack the vampire corpses next to the tank." She ordered, climbing back into the broken machine.

"Too bad about the tank. I guess it's staying here" Jesus commented, looking at the broken war machine.

"I'm going to give him a viking funeral" Tex said with a gleam in her eye.

Jesus eyes widened then he turned to hurry the others up into getting out of the building.

"Does that mean she's going to set it on fire?" Kashi asked.

"Fire and explosives are more likely. I'll bet she's got the innards stuffed with some nasty stuff in case she got trapped. She's always said no vampire was ever going to catch her alive." James admitted.

Soon the team was done. As they all rode away explosions and fire lit up the sky. The tank's body became shrapnel, bringing down the rest of the old factory, burying the battle site in a blazing cairn.

Kashi was riding in the bed of Jesus' truck with James, Juanita and Tex. He was surprised when he heard the words Tex uttered.

"You were a hero, Reg. The fireworks are for you, buddy. I hope you can see them from Heaven." She smiled upon saying it and a silent tear ran down her cheek.