Turned for the Worse

Tsukune pocketed his phone immediately, heart racing as he came bursting out from the main office with such force that the hinges of the door he came through buckled. He ran towards the janitorial office, feet pounding against the smooth, hard floors while he navigated the hallways of the empty school. All he could think about were the woman's words before she hung up.

The door to the office was open, the light on inside, when he got to it. Dread and panic filled him as he entered, yelling "Saito!" while looking around desperately for any sign of his best friend. He wasn't there however, and instead he found a gaping hole in the cement wall. A hole that went through a few more rooms and into the main gymnasium where the indoor basketball courts were.

Dust was still settling around the hole, with some broken pipes leaking water and spewing smoke as some steel reinforcement bars protruded from the broken edges of the walls, most of them crooked and bent.

Tsukune tried hard not to imagine the horrors that Saito had faced with this woman as he jumped through the rough openings torn into the walls. Leaping into the gymnasium, his shoes squeaking against the waxed wooden floor, he cursed how dark it was in there. Almost as if on cue, half of the lights turned on, providing some illumination. That was when he spotted him.

Lying face down in the center of the main basketball court was Saito.

"SAITO!" he exclaimed fearfully as he approached, afraid of the worst as he noted the vast amount of blood that had pooled around him.

Saito's orange hair was half soaked with fresh blood, turning part of it red. His skin looked deathly pale and one of his legs looked like it was bending the wrong way. His right arm appeared to be broken in multiple places and dislocated at the elbow based on the way it was resting. The fingers on his left hand looked crushed and twisted like someone had stomped it with their boot. Bruises covered his exposed skin, and there was a lot of exposed skin because his clothing was ripped all over, cuts of varying sizes crossing this way and that in between and even over the bruises.

Tsukune stumbled to the side and dry heaved twice before finally vomiting from the grisly sight. It took him another half minute to compose himself enough to look back at his tortured friend. Wiping away some of the mess from around his mouth, he trudged closer to the prone figure.

He then dropped to his knees and immediately teared up, not caring that his friend's blood was soaking into his shorts and was getting onto his knees. Never in his life had he imagined that something like this would ever happen. Saito, one of his close childhood friends, looked to be dead and he could not help but blame himself.

Closer inspection revealed that he was still breathing, but only barely, and it amazed him to see that even after all that Saito had suffered, he still lived. Through his increasingly blurry vision, he could see the slightest of movements in his friend's torso, indicating that he was still breathing; showing that he was still fighting to live. If Tsukune could get help fast enough, they might still be able to save him. Even though the chances of that looked slim given his injuries, he had to try.

He reached for his phone to call for help when something abruptly smashed into the side of his head, the force of the blow sending him sprawling several feet away into an unconscious mess.

-xxxxxx-

"Too easy," she remarked casually, lowering her leg from the kick she delivered and then slowly moseying over to the unconscious, dark-haired young man.

Akua knelt down on one knee, taking in his sweet, delicious scent. Her tongue darted out and licked her lips absently. Even after feeding on his friend with the orange hair, his blood was seriously tempting her. But again she held herself back. It wasn't time yet. This young man had a few more tricks before the show was over and she wanted to see him perform.

She slipped her right hand into Tsukune's right pants pocket, where she had noticed him grabbing for his cellphone. With her left hand she took out Moka's phone that she had taken from her little sister's room last night. Every message and voice mail that Tsukune had sent so far she had deleted. It was rather pathetic how he truly tried to get to her.

There was no space in the vampire realm for human friends, only human prey, and even that role was pitiful given how easily she had taken out Tsukune and his friend. She also did not like the way Moka was starting to like Tsukune. If allowed to continue, she thought that there was a risk that there might even be a relationships beyond simple friendship, and that was definitely unacceptable.

"Time to end this foolishness," she said to no one in particular, smirking all the while as she texted a brutally honest message to Moka using Tsukune's phone. Once she was done, she deleted Moka's number from his phone and returned it to the proper pocket. Her sister's phone buzzed in her left hand, indicating that the message was received.

Satisfied, she left the gym only to return with some rope as she quickly tied Tsukune up, hanging him by his ankles from one of the rafters.

"Stay put, Tsukuneee," she commanded in a sing-song voice as if he could hear. Stepping back to admire her work before departing, she broke out into a smile as she imagined the impending results of her actions. This was a lot more fun than she had anticipated, though she had hoped there would be some kind of a challenge put up by Tsukune and his friends.

-xxxxxx-

It had been a full hour since he last spoke to Tsukune, and the sun was already beginning to set. Rocca was worried for what seemed to him like the millionth time that day. He had texted both of his friends several times in the last hour and neither had replied. Even Ramsey was beginning to feel uneasy, gripping the steering wheel tightly with his left hand and then easing up, only to grip it tightly again in a never ending pattern while his right hand tapped a beat on the dashboard.

"We should check up on them," Rocca said, staring out the window of the car beyond the gates and to the school itself. "They should have gotten out by now. And they should have responded to my messages already."

Rocca began to call his friends. First Tsukune a couple of times and then Saito. Again, neither answered. He at first thought that perhaps this was some kind of joke they were playing on him, since it was not too far fetched to think they might be doing this to make him sweat and worry. But this had gone on for a full on hour now, and he didn't think they would take it that far.

"They're not answering their phones, Ramsey... I think... I think something's wrong," he voiced his concern, tearing his gaze away from the school and towards his driver, bodyguard, and friend.

Ramsey stared long and hard at the tall wrought-iron gates that barred entry into the school, wondering what could possibly have happened that might have incapacitated both of them in there. Had they been caught and gotten in trouble with the authorities, there would have surely been police by now, not to mention commotion at the guardhouse.

He stopped his finger-tapping on the dashboard and got out of the car.

"Where are you going?" asked Rocca, opening the door on his side but not getting out.

"Gonna talk to the guard." Ramsey walked up to the guardhouse, knocking on the reinforced window to try and wake up the sleeping guard. "Hey! Wake up. Wake up in there!"

He started banging on the glass and yelling, but the two guards that he could see didn't move a muscle. They didn't even appear to be breathing. Then he noticed the blood. The front of their uniforms were soaked with it as each was hunched over, and he could barely make out that one of them seemed to have his neck torn open. He shuddered ever so slightly at the thought; he did not expect to see such atrocities here.

Backing away slowly, his right hand slipped underneath his suit jacket, fingers feeling the familiar steel of the grip of his concealed pistol. His eyes darted around, in case the perpetrator was around and saw him, but there was nothing out there except the trees and the wind. He jogged back to the BMW and told his charge to buckle up.

Rocca was confused and wanted to know why Ramsey was acting so strangely. He blurted out a string of questions when Ramsey buckled up himself, "What's going on? Did something happen? Are they in trouble?"

The engine growled to life. "They are in a heap of trouble, Rocca. Someone's killed the guards, and they're probably in their with Tsukune and Saito right now."

The young teen didn't even know how to respond to that, simply gulping and sitting back as he double-checked that his seatbelt was securely fastened.

Tires screeched as he put the BMW in reverse, driving fast and causing them both to be lurched forward by the sudden movement. Once he backed far enough away, Ramsey began to rev the engine.

"Wh-What are you..." Rocca began to say but he didn't finish, cut off by Ramsey's yell.

"Hold on!" He slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator, eliciting protesting screeches from the wheels before they jumped forward with increasing speed towards the iron gates.

-xxxxxx-

Moka stepped out of the limo and looked up at the great castle doors. They began to swing open, the ground rumbling as the massive doors moved, stopping once there was enough room for someone to walk through comfortably.

Akua Shuzen emerged from the castle, a look of joy on her face as she neared her arriving family members.

"Father," she greeted first with a bow of her head before turning to the pink-haired teen, "Moka dear."

"Akua," returned the family patriarch. For his part, he at least acknowledged his smiling eldest daughter as he walked by without the slightest pause. Now that his task was done and Moka was all set to be enrolled at Yokai, he had a lot to do and his mind was already thinking ahead to the work.

Once he was well inside and out of earshot, Moka confronted her eldest sister with an accusatory tone. "What have you done to my cellphone?"

Akua looked surprised and hurt at the accusation. "Why, I haven't seen the thing, Moka. Why would you think I had taken it?"

Moka held her gaze on the dark-haired vampiress steady. "This isn't funny anymore, Akua. Where is my phone? I want you to give it back."

"But," replied Akua, "Returning it would imply that I have it. And I can tell you, dearest sister of mine, that I do not have your phone. You can check my pockets if you wish, or even search my room. Though, I'd rather you not mess it up like you have done to your room."

"So you were in my room!"

"Oh, just now, yes. I stopped by to see how you were doing, but you weren't there," she frowned as she said the last part, as if actually upset about not finding Moka in her room.

"Hmph." Moka scrutinized her older sister's face, but she wasn't able to tell if she was lying or not. "If I find out that you have my phone..."

"Oh, don't worry. You won't. Because I don't have it," replied Akua in an annoyed tone. "While I do love talking to you dear sister, I have some business to attend to. Catch you later, Moka." She flashed Moka a smile and walked over to her own limo, which had just pulled up.

Moka watched her leave, the limo speeding away to wherever she was going.

It took her another three minutes to get to her mess of a room, quietly closing the door behind her as she slipped in. Looking around at the effects of what looked like a category five hurricane, she decided to clean up, hoping that it would help to keep her mind off of everything that had happened.

Within twenty minutes of starting to clean, underneath hodgepodge of books, clothes, and other items, she found her phone.

"Seriously? It was there the whole time?" she said, shaking her head as she leaned down to grab it. Flipping it open, she read the notification that came up on the screen.

1 New Message
~Tsukune~

-xxxxxx-

The iron gates were no match for the BMW going over eighty miles an hour as the vehicle blasted through them, knocking them aside forcefully. Not that they escaped unharmed from the incident as Rocca managed to break his nose on the seatback in front of him while the airbag deployed, knocking Ramsey's head back into his own headrest and jarring him.

Glass showered all around them as the windshield shattered once the car hit a tree just outside the school's front entrance, halting their short thrill ride permanently as the engine was totaled in the crash. Thankfully the airbag was still deployed, but the added whiplash after breaking his nose and the stress of the situation knocked out the teen in the back.

Smoke spewed from the crushed engine, the front part of the car bent around the tree like a wrench to a screw.

Dazed and breathing heavily, Ramsey got out of the car, the door opening with some effort and the sound of groaning metal. He stumbled but managed to catch himself, turning to look into the back seat and noticing that his charge was unconscious and bleeding. In hindsight he should have told Rocca to get out and crashed through the gates himself, with the young boy following afterwards. But hindsight was twenty-twenty, and there was no time for dwelling on what could have or should have been.

He quickly went around and got him out, making sure to move him carefully and taking him far enough away from the wreckage that he would be safe should the car happen to explode for whatever reason.

Taking out a handkerchief, he pressed it against the boy's bleeding and broken nose, causing him to stir and groan.

"Hey, you awake?" he asked, noticing Rocca's eyes moving underneath his eyelids.

"I wish... I wasn't... my nose... it hurts," came the slow reply.

"Anything else hurt? Just your nose?"

"... nose..."

Ramsey grabbed the nose through the handkerchief.

"Owww..."

And without any warning he pulled it straight a second later.

"AHH!" Rocca jolted up a little, eyes fluttering open and his hands reaching up to grab at his nose as fresh blood spilled from his nostrils.

"There. It should be set now, but we'll still need to have the doctors look at it once this is over," said Ramsey, "Now I need you to hold your head down and press this kerchief on it to stem the bleeding, okay? And stay here. Call the police while you're at it. I think it's about time they got involved."

The former SAS operative didn't waste any more time as he stood up, turned, and ran towards the school entrance, pulling out his pistol. Safety off.

-xxxxxx-

Tsukune's head was heavy and throbbing and his ankles were hurting as he slowly came to. For a few seconds after opening his eyes, his vision was blurry and he was wondering why his upper body felt so full and heavy. And then he realized that he was hanging upside down more than forty feet above the hardwood floor of the basketball court.

His cheeks felt damp and there were salt granules in his eyes from the dried tears that he tried to blink away.

He could see Saito still sprawled on the ground in the middle of the court, a pool of red around him, and his heart lurched.

He tried to yell, but a thick rope had been tied around his head and in between his mouth. That was the first time he felt the pain in his jaw muscles because of the rope across his mouth. His hands were bound tightly by the wrists; there was no give.

Looking around in search of the dark-haired woman, he was both relieved and afraid to not find her anywhere. Was she still here, watching him from the shadows? Or did she leave him hanging up there? He hoped that if she had gone, she would not come back. Tsukune figured that his chances of survival were slim enough without her returning.

To escape from his bindings was close to impossible, but even if he did manage to do it, there was the forty foot drop to worry about. That was definitely going to hurt, and it might even kill him. He tried to think of a way out of his predicament, but his strength and concentration was ebbing as the seconds ticked by, his blood pooling in his head and making it hard to think.

This was it. This was how Tsukune Aono was going to die. Tied up in the rafters of his school gymnasium. Tears welled up in his eyes once more. The tears of a young man afraid of death. Tears of sorrow for all the life ahead of him that he no longer had. Tears for the pretty pink-haired girl who he would no longer be able to see. Tears for his childhood friend who had probably already died while he hung over him, helpless and weak.

There was nothing more he could do besides accept his fate. His heartbeat began to slow.

His vision blurred again, though whether it was from the tears or because he was losing consciousness he was not really sure anymore. He could have sworn he was hearing his name being called out. There was someone out there. Someone had come. But who? He couldn't tell. And he didn't care anymore. The voice was fading away, so very far away, and the darkness that was washing over him was oh so comforting.

-xxxxxx-

He gasped, taking in a big lungful of air like a man who had been underwater for far too long. He sucked it in, through his mouth and his nose, unable to get enough of the precious invisible substance.

For a moment he considered the possibility that he was dead. It sure felt like he had slipped under for good there. But then he could feel his head still aching and pounding, his heart still beating furiously in his chest. Every one of his limbs tingled and felt stiff. His wrists and his ankles felt tender.

It dawned on him that gravity was no longer pulling him the wrong while he slowly regained his senses. Once the world stopped spinning he carefully opened his eyes and found himself looking up at the rafters of the gym. The very same rafters he had been hanging from only moments before, or at least he thought he did. Was that whole thing a dream? Had he been on the ground this whole time?

Cool to the touch, the hardwood floor spread out all around him as he rolled over onto his belly, his strength trickling back to him. He pushed himself up to his knees and checked his surroundings.

No one was around. Not even Saito.

He did a double take at that. Saito was not in the middle of the court anymore, although it was evident that there had been someone there because of the outline of his body in the swathe of dried blood he left behind.

He shook his head, unable to comprehend what was going on. Where was Saito? Where was the scary dark-haired woman?

Feeling strong enough, he shakily pushed himself to his feet and put his arms out for balance. His legs continued to tingle but he managed to take a few steps towards the middle of the court, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him and he simply could not see the body. But no, the body was really gone.

"Don't worry about him," said a feminine voice that he now despised.

He visibly tensed, his hands balling into tight fists as he looked around. He tried to speak but only ended up coughing uncontrollably for a time, eliciting a light bout of laughter from his tormenter.

"What... What have you... done... to my friend?" he managed to say, composing himself.

"I said," she replied, "Don't worry about him."

He whirled around in a circle, trying to locate her.

"Up here," said the voice.

Glancing up, he noted a shadow moving between the rafters. It was quick and light on its feet, moving around with grace. Then it leapt and began to fall, crashing down hard onto the hardwood floor, causing it to buckle into a small crater as the sound of wood cracking and snapping as well as the thud of her landing echoed throughout the empty expanse of the gym.

She stood to her full height, raven-black hair framing a pale face with intense red eyes that stared at him hungrily. Her lips were twisted into a smirk as she noted his surprise at her sudden entrance.

"You almost died up there," she told him nonchalantly, "But I got back just in time."

Bewildered, he could not help but ask, "You... You saved me?"

She laughed again. "Of course. You're not allowed to die until I say so."

That statement sent a chill down Tsukune's spine, but he held his ground, fists still clenched.

"What have you done to Saito? Where is he?"

She shook her head. "I'm not going to say this again, Tsukune. Don't worry about your little friend." She paused and then added, "Although I do admit his blood was rather tasty."

"You monster," Tsukune spat. "You're going to-"

"Pay? Ha!" She walked in a circle around him, far enough out of his reach that even if he jumped towards her he could not reach her, but close enough that he could hear and see her clearly.

He grit his teeth. He still felt weak and tired, but he would not give her the satisfaction of seeing him go down without putting up some sort of fight, futile it may be.

"Who are you? And why are you doing this to us?" He asked since she seemed to be in a talking mood.

"Oh my, how rude of me," responded the young woman, putting a hand up to her mouth as if embarrassed, "We've spent all this time together and I forgot to introduce myself. Well, my name is Akua. Akua Shuzen. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She let out a giggle at that last bit.

Tsukune was sure he didn't hear her correctly. Did she really just say her name was Shuzen? No, it couldn't be. "Shuzen?" he repeated, disbelieving.

Her head cocked to one side. "You recognize the name?"

"Moka..." he whispered.

She seemed genuinely surprised at that. "You're smarter than you look, Tsukune. I guess you figured out my sister's real last name."

"Your sister?"

She ignored his question. "As to why I'm doing this... well, you mean besides the fact that this has been so much fun?"

"Monster..." he repeated through gritted teeth, glaring at her. Images of what she did to Saito flashed through his mind. Those were things she considered to be fun, and it sickened him.

"And right you are, Tsukune! You are so very right, because you see... I am a monster," she admitted, finally stepping in closer and her red eyes widening at the same time as her smile deepened. "I'm a vampire, to be exact. One of the most powerful vampires alive, if I may say so myself." She leaned her head back a little so that the light shone clearly on her teeth, displaying her sharper than usual canines proudly.

That came as a surprise, the admission unconsciously making him take a step back. "A.. A vampire? But..."

"Vampires aren't real, yada yada... yes, we're very real. And the only reason I'm even telling you is because, well... you won't be alive for much longer."

The threat didn't even phase Tsukune anymore. "Why haven't you done it already? Go ahead and kill me then!" he yelled defiantly.

Her expression changed to one of thoughtfulness. "Well, you see, that's the thing. I haven't decided yet if I really do want to kill you... or if I want to turn you. And then maybe unleash you on all your friends. Doesn't that sound much more exciting? We can both feast upon the people you care about the most!"

Again, Tsukune took an involuntary step back as yet another shiver went down his spine. His hands were shaking as the fear became very real to him, his mind imagining the horror of killing his own friends and family. He would most assuredly rather die than let that happen.

She stopped just out of arm's reach in front of Tsukune, and he bravely held her gaze, not wanting to look away both because he wanted to and because her eyes were once again seemingly drawing him in.

She spoke again to break the silence, "Let's change it up a little. Let's make it even more interesting." She raised her arms out to her the sides, stopping at shoulder level. "I'll give you one shot, Tsukune Aono. One blow right here, right now. Go ahead, I won't defend myself. Hurt me, and you go free. If you don't..." She trailed off.

Tsukune didn't know whether this was a trick or not, and even if it was real he wasn't sure if he would be capable of even causing harm to her. He took a tentative step forward after a few seconds of thinking about it.

"That's it," she smiled, her tone relaying her anticipation.

Tsukune was within striking distance now. He could punch her. Kick her. Elbow her. What was he to do?

"One free hit, Tsukune Aono. I hope you can hit hard enough to hurt me. Come on, I won't move. I won't defend myself," she repeated, egging him on.

"Good," said a voice off to the side, catching them both by surprise and causing them both to turn towards the voice.

BANG.

BANG. BANG.

Three shots. The sounds of their firing echoing heavily across the gymnasium.

The shots hit Akua before she had fully turned around. Each shot impacting like a sledgehammer, throwing her backwards as the bullets hit her in the chest in a tight grouping.

Tsukune stood there, still shaking and stunned at the turn of events. He had never been so glad to see Ramsey before.

The former SAS operative was not done however, as he ran forward and quickly put two more shots into the unmoving woman.

BANG.

BANG.

He turned to Tsukune and said, "Just to make sure."

Tsukune reached his hands out as he almost lost his balance, his legs feeling weak.

Ramsey immediately moved forward, holstering his pistol and steadying the teenager. "Are you hurt?"

Tsukune shook his head and said, "I'm feeling faint, don't have much energy, but I'm fine."

Ramsey looked around and spotted all the blood in the middle of the court as well as the crater left by Akua when she dropped in from the rafters. "What in bloody hell happened to you guys?"

Tsukune motioned towards the dead woman, "She happened."

"And Saito?"

Tsukune was silent as he looked away, unable to meet Ramsey's eyes. Unable to tell him what he had seen.

"Oh." Ramsey couldn't believe it. How did it all go to hell so quickly? "Well, it's over now. You're safe."

Numbly, Tsukune nodded to indicate that he had heard, hobbling out of the gym and through the halls with Ramsey's help.

There were three police cruisers right outside as well as an ambulance, all of their lights flashing. Two more police cars barred the gate, yellow police tap already being rolled out in different places. Two policemen had their guns trained at the entrance when they came out.

"Freeze!"

"Don't move!"

They raised their hands in the air.

"Tsukune! Ramsey!" yelled the familiar voice of Rocca, who was being treated in the back of the ambulance for his broken nose as well as a few other minor scrapes he sustained from the crash. Gently pushing the paramedic aside, he rushed over to his friends. "They're with me, officers! They're my friends."

The two policemen slowly lowered their weapons, although they made sure to keep an eye on them as they walked passed. Apparently satisfied that they were harmless, the two policemen entered the school, guns out and at the ready.

Rocca, his nose all bandaged up, was all smiles as he greeted the two. "Hey guys! I'm glad you're safe. Where's Saito?"

Tsukune initially had a small smile on his face, seeing Rocca, but that smile quickly went away as he looked down at the ground from the mere mention of Saito's name.

This time it was Ramsey who shook his head, looking solemnly at Rocca, and breaking the news to him, "He... He didn't make it."

Rocca looked stunned, the smile wiped off of his face as well. "You mean he's...?"

Both Tsukune and Ramsey nodded.

"But... how?"

A police officer came forward at that point from elsewhere and approached them, interrupting their conversation.

"Excuse me, are you misters Tsukune Aono and Ramsey Bradbury?" asked the officer.

They nodded.

"Okay, well we got an initial statement from your friend mister Rocca Higashi here. I understand that you were both inside, and that you, mister Aono, were inside this whole time?"

"Yes officer," replied Tsukune.

"That is correct. I only went inside about ten minutes ago," added Ramsey, trying to be as helpful as possible.

"Okay, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, mister Bradbury, I'd like to speak to mister Aono alone for a moment," the officer said.

"Sure thing off-" Ramsey was saying when he was interrupted by the sound of gunshots coming from inside the school.

The officer's eyes narrowed towards the front doors of the school, reaching for his radio. "What the hell is going on in there?"

His radio crackled to life. "Officer down! Officer down! There's something in he-AHHHHH..." The officer immediately radioed for backup and then drew his weapon, advancing forward with the gun out and aiming at the front doors.

Tsukune and Ramsey looked at each other with unbelieving eyes as they turned towards the front doors as well.

"You don't think..." Tsukune began to say, trailing off as more gunshots could be heard.

Ramsey shook his head. "Impossible. Bloody fucking impossible. I shot that bitch five times. There's no way!"

Rocca, slightly behind them and shaking with fear, asked, "W-What's in there?"

One of the remaining front doors to the school flew outward, torn off of its hinges and sailing through the air because something barreled through it. The door slammed into the side of the nearest police cruiser with such force that it flipped over the cruiser and bounced a few more feet before coming to a rest. The cruiser itself rocked from side-to-side, suspensions squeaking. The side of the cruiser facing the school looked like it had been rammed by a car, the driver's side window shattered and the rear left passenger window lined with cracks.

Then there was the blood. It was all over the near side of the cruiser and the door. That's when everyone noticed the bloody torso of one of the policemen that had gone inside. It had no head and no legs, only a torso and arms, and it rested about a foot away from the cruiser. On its chest, amazingly untouched by the carnage, was the officer's still-shiny badge.

The officer closest to the doors couldn't contain his disgust and bewilderment, saying with emphasis, "What the fuck?"

Getting over their initial shock, every officer converged around the front entrance, taking cover with guns drawn, some of them even brandishing shotguns.

Ramsey pulled Rocca and Tsukune off to the side before sprinting over to the totaled BMW and popping the trunk open. Only two things could be found in the trunk: a spare tire and a locked black suitcase. Punching in the codes to disengage the locks, he opened it up and quickly assembled a machine gun from the three distinct parts stored in the suitcase. Checking to make sure everything with the weapon was in order, he popped a magazine in, cocked it, and then took the three other magazines in the suitcase, stuffing them in his pocket.

He had a sinking feeling he was going to need every bullet.

BOOM.

"AHHH!"

Another door exploded outward from the school, flying through the air, hinges and all. The force that it exploded outwards with was enough to bend even the steel doorframe. This time the door-turned-projectile slammed into the officer who had been asking Tsukune and Ramsey questions, hitting him with a sickening crunch as both his arms broke in several places and throwing him back about twenty feet, rolling on the ground like a ragdoll.

A nearby officer practically begged through the radio, "Where the hell is our backup? We have officers down! I repeat, we have officers down!"

A lone figure stepped out from the school, covered in blood and looking extremely and crazily pissed off. The figure walked limped out, either unaware or uncaring about all the guns now pointed in its direction. Glowing crimson eyes looked out at the assembled force.

"STOP RIGHT THERE! Put your hands up!" yelled a brave police officer, although his words lost some weight because of the shaking in his voice as he yelled.

The figure halted its advance and looked around, appearing to assess the situation. Whether it had obeyed the order to stop or it simply chose to stop on its own at that moment, it was impossible to tell.

Ramsey lined up his sights on the target, finger already on the trigger.

"Oh no... No, no, no..." Tsukune murmured as he recognized the figure, the blood draining from his face.

Rocca whispered in horror as he too recognized the figure, "Is that... Saito?"

Author's notes: This story is receiving a lot of my creative attention at the moment, hence the barrage of chapters. I hope you continue to enjoy it.