(For anybody who gets the reference in the image and the title above, kudos to you. And thank you all for getting this story to almost half a thousand reads already.)

?, A long time ago

"MUMMY! DADDY!" I hear the sound of a very familiar voice cry out, dragging me out of my deep slumber and back into reality.

I break open my eyes to see the dimly lit bedroom I find myself in, laying down on my...our...bed.

"Mmh...'Via is calling us, my darling..." I turn to my wife, who is sleeping in a fetal position, knowing the response I'm going to get from her.

"Ugh...you get up..." She dismissively tells me.

I sigh, as this is probably the least aggressive response I've gotten from her in the past couple days.

I throw on my robe and my squeaky slippers, leaving our room to tend to our daughter.

I open the door to see, arguably, my greatest accomplishment despite all of my, at least perceived, failures.

"'Via? What troubles you my owlette?" I ask, concerned.

The sheets of my daughter ruffle around like her feathers, and she lifts them to reveal her innocent glowing pink eyes with white pupils.

"Daddy?! Daddy!" She cries out, racing to me as I embrace her. "I had a dream! A really, bad, dream!"

I yawn in fatigue, but still pay all my attention to her.

"A nightmare." I tell her.

"I was looking all over the palace, and...I couldn't find you anywhere! And...and my tummy hurt so bad I fell down, and I couldn't move!" She says, almost crying, burying her face into my shoulder. "And...y-you weren't there! I was hurting so bad and you weren't there!"

"There there, Via, it's okay. You're okay." I gently reassure her, patting her back lightly to ease her.

"A-and I saw someone, Dad...someone with...armor...it...was so strong...I...didn't know what it was...I didn't know if it wanted to hurt me...or help...it had some red fire around it...but...it talked to me...a voice that came from everywhere!"

"What...did it say, my owlette?" I ask, not sure how to process that last part.

"I...don't remember much...but...when we were done talking...he said...Octiavia, The Canary...No matter what...Be greater...for the other Demons are coming?" She says, not sure if she's saying what she remembered.

What...is that supposed to mean? I know she has dreams like this occasionally, namely the nightmare from earlier but...

Why call her a Canary? She's an owl!

"Whoever this was, 'Via, that is very good advice, being greater. Even so, regardless of what your dream was about, even if it was about this 'Stranger'...it's okay." I approach her bed, summoning my Grimoire for something I've decided to do for her. "When you're scared, and you don't know where I am, you must remember no matter what happens to me, I will never be far away from my special little starfire..."

I sit down, opening the book, using my powers to cast a spell, creating a little pocket dimension for us to watch a little show...

And to sing her a little lullaby for her...

It always feels so quiet in the dark

It always feels so stark

How silence grows under the moon

And it's always gone so soon

I used to think that I was bold

I used to think love was for fun

Now all my stories have been told- except for one

As the stars start to align

I hope you take it as a sign

That you'll be okay

Everything will be okay

And if the Seven Hells collapse

Although the day will be my last

You will be okay

When I'm gone, you'll be okay

The day that you arrived, the sun went black

An artificial night

You came and stole away the light

And put it in your eyes

How could I possibly suspect

That you'd eclipse the midnight sun

I thought that I knew all the moons

But then you pulled me back to one

If the stars ever align

I hope you take it as a sign

That you'll be okay

Everything will be okay

And if the Seven Hells collapse

Although the day will be my last

You will be okay

When I'm gone, you'll be okay

And if the heavens crash aground

I know you'll hear the trumpets sound

And you'll be okay

Everything will be okay

And when creation goes to die

You can find me in the sky

Upon the last day

And you will be okay

As I finish my song and show, I respectfully close the door to my greatest pride in this world and above, loving her with all my heart and more.

When my daughter is finally asleep, my mind can't help but wander back to what she was talking about...

With...the Stranger?

Red Fire? We've seen plenty of that down here in Hell...it's the status quo.

A voice that came from everywhere? Overlords can do that easily.

Someone that talked with my daughter...in her dream?!

Wait...could someone have hijacked her mind somehow...

MY OCTAVIA?!

No...no, Stolas, be slow to anger.

It might've just been a legitimate dream.

But still...

It's as the mortals say...

Anything is possible...

Could she have had a vision? A premonition of sorts?

But the part that disturbed me the most, and this is something, coming from my daughter, is that 'The other Demons are coming'?

There's only us demons!

Or...

Are there...?

Kai, today

Never knew Zill was afraid of anything.

Was thinking he was the guy who feared nothing and would take on the world for his friends and family.

Not saying that he wouldn't do so, it's just interesting to see that he has a vampire phobia.

The monster in question said she's here for us, me and him...

So, it's clear that she's either here to capture us...

Or more than likely...

Kill us...

I turn to the anomalous one at my side, still trembling with fear.

"Go." I order him.

"But Kai-!"

"Now." I press the subject.

With hesitation, much to my frustration, he ignites his green power and disappears from the immediate area, likely to get his friends out of here too.

"Sending your friend away to fight me on your own...how gutless..." She taunts me.

"And how is that gutless?" I ask.

"Because...suicide is the coward's way out..."

I don't react to her mockery, only staring her down, giving her a death glare while I'm at it.

"Can we fight now?" I ask, she goes deadpanned.

"Son of a...YES!" She exclaims, frustrated.

I start off by slamming my leg into the ground, using it to launch myself into a sprint towards this monster, who joins me in the charge, baring her fangs.

However, instead of meeting her halfway...

I whip out one of the things I've been preparing since I got here from under my cloak.

I pull the pin and fling it at the vampire as I brace myself whilst running towards her.

She slows down due to surprise...

BANG!X9

The Nine Banger instantly disorients her, the flashes and bangs causing her to even lose her sense of direction, stopping her in her tracks.

I take this opportunity to slam my leg straight into her temple, sending her flying downwards and hitting the concrete. She retaliates by swiping her wing at me, knocking me away and putting space in between us.

However, she follows up by lunging at me, hitting me with her elbow and seizing me by my waist.

"Die, scum!" She exclaims as she throws me straight into the air like Damian did earlier.

However, unlike what I was thinking about doing to him...

I think I have free reign to do this.

While in the air, I ready my arms...

Both of them.

I hold them in a ready position like I'm bellyflopping, and though the Vampire attempts to charge at me...

I fling my arms forward.

WHEE-SHUNK!

"GUH?!" She utters in shock, realizing she'sbeen impaled by 2 of my hidden blades, a new one serrated, both attached via tactical paracord.

Side Note: I can switch the original to another thing I've been working on...

I follow up by discreetly activating the winding mechanism and pulling on the wires, sending me flying straight back into her and body slamming the 'hardened' part of my shoulder into her, causing her to convulse.

I fly slightly out of control after the impact, but I regain my stance after landing on my other shoulder and sliding to a stop on my legs. She also ragdolls a little bit but soon reengages me after standing back up, only to be met with a quick roundhouse kick to the face that stuns her. She again retaliates by swiping at me with her claws, I dodge once only to be grazed by the next couple, drawing some blood.

Damn...definitely have gotten rusty...

"GAH! HOW CAN YOU GODDAMN KEEP UP?!" She screams, enraged.

"You haven't seen nothing yet." I retort confidently.

In a hiss of anger, it seems that she decides that it's finally enough, vanishing in a flurry of bats and reappearing behind me.

Despite me giving the beating of a lifetime to her face, she full-nelsons me and lifts me back up into the air.

She suplexes me into the ground and holds her hand to her mouth.

"SIMON!"

She's summoning backup...

As soon as she does, a giant grey wolf resembling an evil version of Fabian appears from above the school.

"AID YOUR MISTRESS!" The vampire orders the evil fox as the latter leaps off the building towards me.

"AS YOU WISH!" She holds me up to him like a sacrifice.

He violently knocks me to the ground as his 'mistress' leaves him to catch her breath.

The evil grey wolf with red eyes gets face to face with me, holding me down as his putrid breath exhuming in my face.

"What's the matter tough guy? You owe my mistress an apology for your crimes..." He taunts me, getting even closer, eyeing me up as his exceedingly long tail caresses me weirdly. "We've heard a lot about you, little 'security guard'. All the 'good' you've been doing? Not really much of a line of defense, if you ask me..."

"Yeah, but I'm the better guard." I return the taunt, gesturing to his superior. "While you've been in here doing whatever, I've been kicking your 'mistress's' ass."

"I know...and where I come from, we got something called 'blood debts'." He aggressively says, baring his fangs. "Time to pay yours for what you've done..."

He prepares his jaws in a striking position towards my heart area, seemingly aiming to tear it out to settle the 'blood debt'.

"Bring it on." I cheekily grin.

"GRAAA!" He thrusts his jaws down at my chest, eager to claim my heart, literally.

Whereas most people would be having their lives flash before their eyes at this...

All I'm waiting is for the-

SCREE-CRUNCH!

"GAAAAAHHHH! NNNGGHHHH! GAHH! FAHH! AUUGHHH!"

There it is.

"Simon! What happened?!" The vampire calls out, surprisingly concerned for her subordinate.

"WHAT THE F*CK?!" I hear him as he backs off, I quickly regain my stance as I watch the feral fox cry out in pain.

When I look closer...I witness his shattered teeth and bloodied gums...

And my cloak torn off from my shoulders.

Dammit...better sooner than later...despite how I initially wanted it to be.

"If I was going to let you have my heart, shoulda earned it first." I tease him, standing tall against the beast.

"Wha-?" He looks at me, his bloodied mouth still in pain from being shattered. "You...have armor...?"

"You really thought killing me was going to be that easy, didn't you?" I hold out my arms dramatically, revealing the metal plating on my shoulders, torso, arms, legs, and feet.

All looking like a certain Mandalorian.

"I'm not invincible, but I'm a really hard guy to kill." I say. "And here's also why."

I reach behind me, feeling the handle of my LeMat pistol, as well as a little something else I have, partially inspired in the same why my armor was.

Soon, I brandish 2 guns.

My revolver...

As well as a specially modified Bergmann No.4, as I call it. Front loading, and seriously compatible with mods, and can easily be made into a carbine, alongside an extended magazine.

I begin squeezing the triggers.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I unleash a hail of bullets against the evil wolf, drawing blood from the wounds and causing him to retreat to his mistress as they both prepare to rally.

"2 on one, huh?" I say, reloading the bullets in my pistol and revolver. "I like those odds..."

"Says the one wielding...whatever the hell those little things are..." Simon retorts, gesturing to my guns.

Have they never seen modern firearms?

Regardless, I snicker.

"Let's be honest, people. I'd say this evens the playing field. I got 2 arms, 2 guns, and 2 of you. It all balances out." I point my weapons to them.

"Sure..." The vampire hisses.

I don't replace the shell in the Lemat because I haven't used it yet...

Though given that vampires have a few weaknesses...

I have a few specially modified Dragon's Breath shells I'd like to try soon...

Zill, meanwhile

"Zill! Why did you leave Kai against that Vampire queen!" Jack chastises me as we sprint through the halls, screaming bloody murder to everyone that the school is under threat.

"H-He was insistent on it! He ordered me to warn everyone!" I tell her.

"Zill, Jack, have faith in him, I've seen what he can do, and I have confidence he can do this." Kayla assures as she hops alongside us.

"Pssh! Better at doing schmuck stuff..." Damian dismissively says as he follows us.

"Dame, if there's ever a time in your supernatural life to shut up. YOU SHOULD PROBABLY DO IT NOW!" Jack uncharacteristically shuts down Damian's antics.

Miraculously, he seals his lips, seemingly not wanting to deal with Jack chewing him out as of right now.

As we continue to warn the students...

We eventually come across our first teacher...

Thankfully...

Cameron

"Thank you for the water, Carrie..." I thank the grey lady as we exit her office.

"No problem! Ya really gotta try my whisky next time though!" She replies, smiling.

I turn to her, still sheepishly crossing my arms.

"Oh...I don't really drink..." I admit.

"Seriously?" She asks, surprised.

"MISS CARRIE!" We both hear someone call out.

We turn to see...

"Zillion Martinez! Arentchu supposed to be in class right now?!" Carrie interrogates the anomalous one.

"Yeah, but..." Jack starts.

"We're under attack!" Kayla continues.

"Kai's getting his ass handed to him." Damian pseudo-helpfully adds to the context.

"Outside! It's a vampire queen! He's engaged her in combat!" Zill clarifies, piecing everything together.

What's he mean by -?

"What in...tarnation...?" I hear Carrie utter, trying to process this as much as I am.

The first thing I do, contrary to what I said merely moments ago, is start chugging Carrie's whisky.

Goes down smooth...apparently...

As I continue drinking the liquor, Carrie instantly gets on her communicator watch.

"Zech! We got an infiltration!"

"What is it?"

"Vampire! Right outside! A Queen, from what Martinez is saying. Security Guard Kai's already keeping her busy!"

"I'm on my way! Carrie, you-"

"You don't have to tell me what to do Zech! I'm on this!" She says as she whips out her lasso, ready to haul any ass to hell if need be. "Kid, go keep the others safe, this ain't a place for ye!"

I nod aggressively, sprinting the same way the kids were earlier.

My friend...you've never failed us yet...

I know you can do this!

Kai

The one named Simon lunges at me with his jaws, I sidestep them and plant my elbow right into his temple, kicking him away as the vampire attempts to swipe at me with her wing.

SHKK!

I unsheathe my normal hidden spear blade, driving it straight into the membranous limb and tearing it open, effectively grounding her, literally.

"GAAH!" She cries out in pain.

"MISTRESS!" Simon exclaims, retaliating with a claw swipe that only serves to push me away and dull his claws on my armor. "Damn metal shell..."

"Thought I'd even the playing field a little." I taunt, gesturing to her torn wing.

"You'll pay for that..." Simon retorts.

I scoff.

"Put it on the tab." I bluntly say.

"RAAAH!" Simon and his mistress scream as they charge once again.

This time...

Let's test my little theory.

I flip the hammer on my LeMat...holding it up...

KABOOOM!

The entire immediate area is lit up in a flash of orange and white, saturating it with the smell of sulfur and burning metal. The miniature blast briefly engulfs the two assailants, and both of them instantly get crippled.

"D-UH! What?!" The two exclaim, confused.

Nice, it worked! Even towards the wolf...guess he's a vampire too...

"IT'S SILVER!" The vampire screams, her skin burning at the metal embedded in her.

"HOW-?" The wolf also exclaims.

I chuckle as they stare at me.

"I did my homework." I say, having outsmarted them. "I mean, such interesting powers with easily exploitable weaknesses? I'm surprised you're not comic book characters."

"Y-You dare cross us?!" The vampire tries to remain strong, but still stumbles.

"Would've crossed you harder, but the UV flash grenade hardly did anything to you. Given that you're apparently vampires in the city during the day of all times, it's honestly impressive that you've transcended one weakness."

I kneel down to them as I sense that the teachers are arriving.

"You said you're here for me and Zill. Why?" I interrogate them.

"I'm not tell you you sh-"

SHKK-SHNNNGGG!

I whip out my hidden blade again, but this time, it rotates in the same way, allowing me to hold it like a dagger as it did when I saved Cameron and fought Kayla...

And the handle extends, transforming it into a makeshift spear.

I wind up driving the stake directly into the vampire's abdomen, causing her immense pain.

"GAAH! WHY?!" She comically shouts.

"VENGANZA!" Simon cries out.

"So you got a name, huh?"

Fueled by a few of my own personal grievances, as well as the fact that they were likely going after my friends, I lift her up like a certain fallen angel I know of and attempt to slam her down into her subordinate.

But she disappears in a flash of bats, taking me aback at this new ability she's demonstrated.

Like Damian before, she reappears behind me.

I thrust my spear at her, of which she parries, using her wing like a makeshift shield. Simon follows up by flanking me on my right.

I use the centrifugal force of the parried spear strike to blade smack Simon in the face and kick him away briefly before having to go on the defensive when the vampire named Venganza slices her claws at me. I block the two strikes before she goes for a downward slash, which I redirect before retaliating with a rotating kick.

Simon bites down at me, which I instantly block using the shaft of the weapon. He continues his aggression, trying to get close enough to where his broken teeth could do something against my face.

They're getting weaker, likely due to either exhaustion or their exposure to silver.

I lift his jaw, and moreover his head, upwards. This in turn gives me the opening to knee him in the gut several times before judo-throwing him over me. I stun him by acrobatically leaping up into the air, driving my knee into his temple as I land, slamming his head into the ground and stunning/knocking him unconscious.

Right now, I've officially defeated Simon.

As I get up, now all my focus is on Venganza, who stares at her subordinate that she seems to admire a little unprofessionally, so to say.

"In all my time...I've never encountered a human who has given us as much trouble as you..." She hisses maliciously.

"Well, hooray for me, huh?" I jokingly say.

"No...I see who you are now..." She utters, I raise my eyebrow. "Our enemy..."

I scoff, yet again.

"Get in line. Can't even tell you how many jagoffs want my head." I dismissively reply.

"Where the hell do you even come from? What even are you...? No human is as strong...much less skilled...as you." She interrogates me.

"Either that, or you've just never met anybody who's on your level. Sure, there's Zill. But he's untrained, never harnessed his power to its full potential. I, however, figuratively and partially literally gone through hell to get where I am now. You're angry because you've never had a good challenge in your life. You're not a warrior, you're a bully." I say, letting my spear go back to its dagger form, and allowing it to slide back up my sleeve. "However, if we are to cross paths again. Train. Hard. I'd be looking forward to our next meeting."

"Oh, I will you smug cu-"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I silence her imminent profanity by performing a quickdraw with my LeMat and Bergmann, filling her other unhurt wing with bullet holes.

This in turn, rendering her essentially flightless if she doesn't use any other flight abilities she might have.

"Language." I bluntly say.

She breathes in and out to keep herself calm despite the fact that she's been shot multiple times.

"We...will meet again...Kai..." She growls, limping away.

"Oh, we will...Vengaza." I say. "I know that for sure. You also said suicide is the cowards way out...you could say the same thing for retreating. But not every coward needs to retreat, sometimes in life you just lose and need to recuperate, and that's okay. Know that."

She stares swords at me, and glances to the wounded and unconscious Simon, seemingly whispering something to herself towards him.

As if she were concerned about him...

Finally, in the same aura of bats as earlier...

The area is without her.

The enemy...is defeated.

I do a miniature victory pose by inserting a new magazine into my Bergmann and using a custom speed reloader to reload my LeMat, closing the actions and cylinders of each respectively as I flip them like a science fiction bounty hunter before slipping them into my holsters.

Like what most would call a badass.

I take a deep breath in and out, having fought my first real battle here.

As I do, I look behind me.

The faculty who came to help are now standing there...

In shock? Awe? Both?

Kind of hard to tell visually, but it's obvious that it is both.

"What...in tarnation...?"

"Monsieur Kai...?"

"How...?"

Carrie, Fabian, and Zechariah all respectively watching me stand tall above my defeated foe.

I sigh.

"Apologies in the manner in which I conducted myself...I had to...let off some steam." I bow my head.

"It's...fine..." Carrie utters, staring at my armor. "So that's what was under that cloak..."

"Never knew that's what you had as a weapon..." Zechariah looks at where my spear once was.

"Simon...?" Fabian says to himself, walking over to the unconscious vampire wolf, eyeing him up to be sure if it's who he thinks he is.

It is.

"You know him?" I ask.

"A...colleague...so to say...an old one." The French fox replies, looking at the bruises, cuts, and bullet wounds. "Dear me, what in the hell did you do to him?"

"What was necessary to put down an assailant. He's a vampire, so after gauging where he was in terms of strength, I exploited his weakness of silver." I explain, pulling out an extra Anti-Vampire Dragon's Breath round I had just in case, showing it to Fabian.

"What kind of weapon...even is that...? I heard it even when I was inside!" Fabian exclaims.

"Firearms. Long story short, miniature explosions built into cartridges that makes projectiles go faster than the speed of sound to penetrate targets. You can essentially use anything as long as you can make it fly." I briefly elaborate, letting him feel up the shell and an extra bullet I pulled out to show him. "Variables play into the amount that you can fire, like how much you can fit into the mechanism, and how fast you can restock spent casings or replace loading systems, and how many projectiles fly at once."

"Then...how did you know that silver would be their weakness?" He asks.

"Like I told them, I did my homework. I've been researching the whole aspect of monsters here ever since Zechariah told me and when I got the chance."

"Is that what you've been doing ever since you got here?" The giant cheetah in question asks.

"Far from the only thing, my spotted friend. If I'm going to be frank, I've been working on a few things, namely that spear you saw me use, as well as that solar flash grenade, and the silver-shot Dragon's Breath you saw me use." I admit.

"Ya had 2 weeks to do whatever, and ya've been doing all that?" Carrie asks, getting up in my face.

"If there's a threat, I'm going to develop a contingency plan to neutralize it, should that become necessary. I'm your guys' security guard, how would you say I did my job?" I ask them.

The 3 of them look to the recent battlefield, and the neutralized Simon, as well as where Vengaza once was.

"You did... exceptional Kai. You put your life on the line for the school without hesitation, and likely saved us, from a Vampire Queen and Wolf, nonetheless." Zechariah praises me for my work and bows his head. "We thank you for that."

"Just doing my job." I humbly say.

"I...think you went well above and beyond in that department, my good sir." Fabian says, looking to Simon again.

"Honestly kinda jealous of yer moves, boy..." Carrie whispers to herself.

"Never knew you were capable of...THAT." Fabian points out what I've done. "Did you really have to do that much?"

"Maybe not. I likely did go overboard. Though, if you think I was a monster, we're all one at least in some capacity, but it's choosing whether or not to be one when you need to be." I advise them.

"Wise words." Zechariah says.

"I learned from the best." I say, nodding.

"Fabian, detain the assailant, we'll need to question him." The cheetah tells the fox.

"Yes sir." He nods, wrapping his giant tail around the wolf and taking him inside the school.

"You sure having him around the vicinity of the students is a good idea?" I ask.

"Fret not, we have a special place for him." Zechariah says, looking at Simon being dragged away by Fabian. "It's a cell that will inhibit his abilities."

"Silver, I'm guessing?"

"An alloy that has it in it, so it'll work." He reassures me.

"Alright then." I say, nodding and trusting their judgement.

After Simon is brought inside and locked up in a stereotypical-looking cage, Zechariah tells me to check up on the students.

I search around the school, scouring high and low for any kids hidden in any nook and cranny.

Though there are some kids hidden in the odd places, most of them congregated in the auditorium.

After retrieving anyone not there, and doing a headcount, everyone is unharmed and accounted for, including Cameron.

"Kai! I'm so glad you're okay!" She squeals, running over to hug me.

"Thanks, Cameron." I say.

"Kai...is that armor?" She asks, feeling up the metal plating on me.

"Yes."

"So that's what you've been-?"

"All this time. Though don't fret, I keep it, and myself clean and sanitary. I'm not a savage." I give her a grin as she rolls her eyes as Zill and his friends show up.

"Dude! You're alive! Did...you actually beat them!? Both the vampire wolf and the QUEEN?!" Zill asks, not believing that I've survived.

"We've detained the wolf, the queen had to retreat." I explain.

"That's...incredible...I knew you could fight...I've seen you firsthand...but not against beings as powerful as them!" Kayla utters, shocked.

"You know they're gonna have a grudge against you, man. Demons never forget." Jack advises me.

I merely turn to him.

"I know."

Though what I said was simple, the way I said it seems to make Jack think I'm insinuating something else.

Fabian, a little bit later

"How dare you attempt to enter our school and endanger our students?!" I shout at the imprisoned Simon.

"So you're a teacher, huh? Figures..." Simon dismissively responds, much to my ire.

"Are you even listening to me!?" I hiss.

"Not really." Simon stares at him blankly.

Damn Simon...all our history together and you still resort to such low tactics such as even trying to target CHILDREN!

"You've never changed..." I utter to him, furious.

The wolf scoffs.

"Some things never do, I guess." He mocks me.

"At least one thing about that I'll admit, is that I've never been able to defeat you." I say, Simon turns his head to me.

"Since when were you this humble?"

"Since I finally at least know someone who is able to beat you." I retort.

He doesn't even ask me who that'd be...

Because we all know who that is.

From the shadows, comes our beloved armored security guard, currently wielding his spear that he constructed.

A spear against a wolf...it's almost poetic...

"He only won because he had that his stuff with him. Had it been a one-on-one fight, I'd have ripped his jugular out." Simon tries to claim.

"Had it been a one-on-one fight, and no bars held, I would've done a lot worse to you. Your little extended snout would give me a lot of leverage to manipulate your head, you know. Do with that information as you will." Kai says.

"Says the one who pulled out the Anti-Vampire cheat code known as silver..."

"I've told your mistress I'm already impressed that you've become immune to sunlight and UV light. You've already transcended one of your weaknesses, so that's something to write home about."

"Why congratulate me? Thought I was your prisoner." He snarks.

"You can oppose your enemies to the ends of the universe and beyond, but you're still capable of respecting them for either their accomplishments or what they've survived, even what they've surpassed. Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you can't be impressed by them." Kai adds.

Simon doesn't say anything back.

"Enough stalling, Simon. I want to know what rogue vampires are doing this far into the city!" Zechariah interrogates him.

He only chuckles, getting into a sleeping position.

"Heh...wouldn't you like to know..." He mocks them.

"Oh, we will." Kai says, narrowing his eyes.

He walks up to me and Zechariah.

"If he ever tries anything or tries to break out, hit the fire alarms, I've gone into the emergency sprinkler system and incorporated colloquial liquid silver into it. It's a medicine I have, and not exactly the same as normal silver, but should have the same effect. When you set off the alarm, he'll get doused." He says.

"How...when...did you do that?" I ask.

"On my way back from doing a headcount of the students and other faculty. If you're wondering how I knew that, I asked Principal Winston for the layout and blueprints of the facility, figured out the water reservoir for the sprinklers."

The two of them just look to and from each other, taking that information at face value, not knowing how to respond to that.

"If you need to get answers out of him, let me know if garlic does anything to him. If not, keep using silver." He advises us.

"Okay." The cheetah says, I nod in agreeance.

"Lastly, Zechariah?" Kai asks.

"Yes?"

"Please tell me you have a club area ready now."

"We do, Room 1028, do with it as you need to." He says.

"Thank you, Zechariah." Kai bows his head.

"Please, call me Zech." He smiles.

"Alright then."

He leaves us with those words as heads out into the hall to do...

Whatever needs to be done...

Zill

"Incredible! Taking on 2 vampires at the same time!? I-I never even thought that was possible!" I exclaim to myself, still blown away at this reality.

I've been a bit of a crime fighter for a while now, occasionally being a vigilante out in the city should there be any case of monsters or malice out there that needs quelling.

I wouldn't say I'm the best fighter, I definitely need some work in my technique and honing my powers further, but I can hold my own if need be.

I'll be the first to admit, vampires are one of, if not the only things in this world that truly scare me. I don't know why, even though I could theoretically stand a chance against them, they're like the only thing that can almost bring me to my knees.

On the contrary, based on what I've been hearing from some students who copied the security camera footage from outside?

Our beloved security guard's moves just put me to shame.

Apparently, they're talking about how he's a seasoned fighter who knows what he's doing, not even hesitating to do what's necessary to win.

I'd...like for him to maybe teach me some moves.

I think we talked about that briefly, so...

As I walk through the hall to get my stuff, as school was dismissed for the rest of the day after the attacks to allow students to go home...

I wind up passing by a door that has some shuffling coming from it.

This causes me to stop in my tracks and look towards the source of the sound.

Since nobody is here, I walk closer, preparing to charge up my fists should there be any other stragglers that were part of the original attack from earlier.

What surprises me, however...is who is in there when I peek through the door.

Kai?

What's he doing in there?

He seems to be cleaning up junk around there, getting everything organized...in spite of the fact that he was defending the school no more than 45 minutes ago. I mean, I'd expect him to be resting after such an intense event, but why do something like this?

He stops in his own tracks.

"It's okay Zill, I'm just getting preparations done." He calls out, taking me aback.

Wait, how did he know I was here?

He wasn't even facing me!

"Come on in." He invites me as I hesitantly open the door.

"Hey...man..." I say, not sure how to process what just happened.

"You alright?" He asks.

"Yeah...I'm sorry dude, what're you doing here?" I ask him.

"Zech finally got a place ready for my idea for a club. Wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible." He explains.

"So...what was the idea? You were hinting at it like crazy these past couple weeks." I point out.

"As I always said, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Not so much a surprise now that I'm here, so what is it?" I ask again.

He chuckles.

"You're right, I guess now's a good a time as any." He nods as he gets up. "Today's attacks were the primary driving force of the reason why I wanted this club to be active. I wanted to be able to teach you and everyone else here the art of self-defense, and should you pursue it further, the art of war."

"Was this your plan all this time?" I ask.

"Not like an evil mastermind kind of plan, as soon as I heard that there were creatures that could pose a threat, I knew I had to do the one thing that could act as the ultimate deterrent."

"And what'd that be?"

"You make the criminals afraid of potential victims, grant the citizens a fighting chance by showing them how to defend themselves should it be necessary. The reason why most monsters here, as far as I've seen, prey on you, is because they perceive you as weak."

"That's...putting it lightly. I've seen it firsthand, so I can vouch for that."

"Yeah, exactly. That's why I'm getting this place set up, to make it official, so to say in this school. You know, if you're not too busy right now, I'd like some help getting this junk out of here. Soon as we're done, I can show you a few moves I know of, if you're interested." He offers, smiling.

"Really?" I beam.

"Yeah, two of us working together, could knock this out in a few minutes probably, then you'd be the Karate Kid by the time 5 comes around." He adds.

"Heck yeah man!" I say, pumping my fists.

"Let's not waste any time then." Kai says, gesturing me to come help.

As I enter the room fully to aid him in removing the miscellaneous junk, namely me using my green energy to disintegrate it, much to his amazement at my abilities, I can't help but think of the club name I saw on the door.

In this school, we got music club, art club, theater club, and movie club...

But never before have we had...

Fight Club

Chapter End

(If you can, why not leave a vote, comment, and a follow? Thank you.)