Author's Note: Sorry this took so long... I was sooo dead for inspiration! You guys are so lucky that I have nikochan23 helping to motivate me. Then again... I mean, if you guys reviewed, that'd prolly help too. c;

Review response time!

—Nikochan23: Honey… until like two chapters ago, this didn't even have a storyline! Hahahaha. But thank you! &&you're helping me a lot, so shhh! I have to give you props for it. C:

And now, on with the show!

Steve let out an exasperated sigh as he watched the maddened vampaneze walk around him in circles. This had so not been a part of his plan. He was thrilled to have found out he was the Vampaneze Lord, and after a while he was totally okay with keeping it from his people for a little while longer. He was even content to act as though he still worked under Murlough for the time being. The problem was, the madness swimming in his one-time mentor's blood kept him from being able to distinguish between what was real and what was a charade. Steve often found himself being lashed out at and given orders, as though Murlough really was he superior. He hadn't signed up for this. Any of it.

But when he'd shown up at the place Mr. Tiny was calling home for the time being, he'd been ordered straight to the sewer system of a large city that Steve had always planned on visiting. Of course, he'd always envisioned himself on the surface of the city, not below it. To add to his frustration, the entire way there, Tiny had ranted on about the flaws in his escape from prison; mainly things he'd known already, such as how he should've drunken from Rodger instead of—

Brucey. The thought of the wiry policeman, so serious in his mannerisms and so stuck in his ways, caused a laugh to ripple through Steve. What would he think now, if he saw Steve with Murlough? Then Steve wouldn't be the crazy one. He wouldn't be the "sick son of a bitch". He'd be the sane one, the smart one, the only hope Brucey had.

And Steve would take the chance to kill him, all over again.

Steve was jerked out of his own thoughts by the feel of ragged claws connecting with the back of his skull, leaving him with welts that exactly matched the scars already on his head. Fuck that. Steve turned around and threw a sloppy punch at Murlough, not really caring about where or how hard he made contact so long as he did. Within a second he found himself with his cheek shoved against the slimy sewer wall, and his arm pinned behind his back by meaty hands. His strength held no power over the full vampaneze, and he found himself in a position that he assumed was much like that his victims felt.

"You can't hurt me," Steve hissed, stating a matter of fact that would appeal only to the sane side of Murlough. He couldn't help but wonder how smart of a move it would be; how much, if at all, of his mind Murlough had left.

"Murlough can do as he wants, yes? Murlough is strong, he is! Can snap you like a twig! Yes he can!" Murlough let out a hysterical laugh that reminded Steve of his mother's drunken giggles. "Puny half-vampaneze can't stop me, can he? No, no he can't!"

"I didn't mean physically, dimwit," Steve snarled in response. He had no fear of this man— whether that made him brave or was a testament to his wavering mind, he had no idea. "I'm your Lord. You have to listen to me. Tiny'll kill you if you harm even a single hair on my chinny-chin-chin." His arrogance carried him through the sardonic reply, which mocked Murlough's manner of speech and captured his own twisted sense of humor rather nicely.

"And then no more bags of blood for Murlough, hmm?" The vampaneze's grip on Steve alleviated as the stronger of the two hopped backwards and crouched low. "Very well, Stevie. I will let you go, hmm? I won't hurt a hair on your chinny-chin-chin."

"For that to happen, he'll have to grow some," a booming voice commented from the shadows. Both creatures of the night were suddenly alert, and with every reason. Running into somebody in the sewer tunnels underneath a highly populated city wasn't exactly a common event. If they happened upon you, more times than not it meant that they were looking for you. And if they weren't, it meant that a construction worker was turned into a nighttime snack.

However, the former revealed itself to be true as Mr. Tiny stepped into the light. His bright yellow raincoat was darkened with sludge and smog from the air above and the sewage beneath. He glanced back and forth from the two vampaneze before asking of them, "Do you like these accommodations?"

"Yes! No humans to come with pitchforks down here, hmm? Tasty snacks with no attacks following." The crazed lunatic's reply and accompanying giggle made it impossible to hear Steve's grumbled "Fuck no."

"What about you, Steve?" Mr. Tiny's eyes landed on the boy, the look shining in them an indicator that he had heard his answer despite Murlough's noise. "Are you happy in the tunnels?"

"Gee, whiz," the teen responded with false enthusiasm. "It's just swell down here surrounded by crap. I mean, golly, the aroma is just super!"

"Good," Mr. Tiny replied, giving no attention to Steve's sarcastic tone. A smile came over his face, revealing his warm smile that sent chills down every living being's spine. "We wouldn't want our lord to be uncomfortable, now, would we?"

"Of course not," Steve grumbled, averting his eyes. Though his arrogance kept him from being afraid of Murlough, Mr. Tiny was still one he considered not to be messed with. The way he saw it, Mr. Tiny was the one who had helped him achieve his destiny; if it weren't for him, he'd still be at home with his mom reading up on how to kill Crepsley. Vengeance on Darren would be no more than a pipe dream, and his life would go on to be unsuccessful and unfulfilling.

With Mr. Tiny's help, he'd managed to create his reverie into a very real possibility, and had become the Vampaneze Lord. He was the most powerful being alive, other than Tiny himself. The little old man with the chubby face framed with the snow-white hair had proved time and time again that he could take power as quickly as he could give it.

Steve wasn't going down without a fight. He wasn't willing to lose any chance he had at putting an end to Shan, no matter what the cost may be. Mr. Tiny had given him every chance, every opportunity; it was just up to him to meet every standard.

Mr. Tiny was not to be fucked with, and as long as Steve stayed on his good side, neither was he.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long… I'm sooo dead on Steve! Nikochan23 is pretty much my driving force in getting shit done, teehee. But today I got a million ideas for when they're in Crepsley's hometown, so I figured to get there I have to write this! But anyways, they'll probably be on their way next chapter. Maybe. We'll see c;

Thank you so much for reading! C: