I quickly tried to safeguard everything: papers, scanners, data, tasers disks, the gauntlet—everything I could. The formula was what mattered most to me above all.
"Give me the dagger, cousin. We might not be able to burn them, but we'll still stick it to them," I said.
"Here you go."
I checked the hidden cameras I had installed and realized there were several vampires. Even with the weapons we had, they outnumbered us three to one. I handed the dagger and the electric gauntlet to Nacho. I also offered him another gauntlet that looked the same but was a regular one.
"What's this for? Aren't we going to confront them head-on? Ambush them?" Nacho looked at me with some confusion.
"There are ten of them. They're not Volturi; they seem to be nomadic bounty hunters. If we confront them all at once, they'll disarm us and we'll lose. Plus, I don't want them to get their dirty hands on our data. I have a plan. Trust me."
We slowly made our way up to the surface, pretending to surrender. Nacho wore both gloves, masking the electric one I gave him, and he kept the dagger well hidden. I carried a pair of tasers and the saber, along with some smoke bombs.
When we finally reached the entrance of the ruins, we encountered the ten vampires: three women and seven men. One of them stepped forward and, looking us in the eyes, said, "Greetings from Vladimir and Stefan! They wanted to come personally, but they thought it would be better to speak with more calmness since our first encounter wasn't the most pleasant. So, once we agree on good terms, we can escort you to Romania, and they'll personally welcome you with a fresh meal waiting."
Nacho began to tense up, and I said to him, "I thought they operated solo. I didn't know they had allies."
The man looked inside and crossed his arms while the rest surrounded us. Walking back and forth, he said, "You know the Volturi want you dead, right? They also want to destroy all your gadgets. They're only interested in your head on a stake and your gadgets with it. But the Romanian coven isn't like that. Both Vladimir and Stefan see you as an ally, and they see your tools as the key to the future. They'll provide protection and contacts for you and your friends. All you have to do is give us the gadgets and whatever you have in your backpack."
There was a long minute of silence. After assessing their bodies, calculating different scenarios, and considering all the variables that could come into play, I took out a small vial with blood inside.
"This is the future. There's much more in the lab beneath us. There are also blueprints on how to find it. You can take a sample if you wish."
As I opened the vial, the sweet aroma filled the air, and the vampires began to tense up. I was worried about Nacho; he seemed like he was going to relapse. The man leading the nomad group tried to order the group, and each took a sip from the vial.
"Oh, my goodness!" one exclaimed.
"Good heavens!" another girl said, relishing the taste.
They were all really excited about the blood. My plan seemed to be working.
"What is this?!" the man asked, looking genuinely happy.
"Oh," I said. "This is the crème de la crème, human blood of the finest quality. And there's much more below in the lab. There are also plans and data on all the people who possess this peculiar type of blood. But, as I said, it's all down there."
The group was initially in shock, then in euphoria. The man finally ordered them to search the place, but there seemed to be some dispute over who would get their hands on the blood bank first. After a long argument among themselves, the leader sent what seemed to be four out of the ten in total.
While the other four were downstairs, Nacho seemed to gradually understand what was happening.
"What are you laughing at, tall guy?" a bald man said as they had us on our knees with our hands up.
"I remembered a very funny joke," Nacho joked.
As they searched us, the bald man asked, "All right, noodle, let's hear the joke," clearly mocking, while the others laughed.
Nacho replied: "Do you know Doug?"
I understood where the joke was going and looked at Nacho, waiting for the signal.
The bald man laughed, along with the group, and in a mocking tone, as the group continued laughing, he got close to Nacho's face and asked in English, "Who the fuck is Doug"
Nacho looked at me and said, "The one who fucked you like a dog!" quickly activating the glove, electrocuting him, and swiftly decapitating him with the dagger.
I activated the bombs in the laboratory, and the ground began to shake; the vampires in the lab had fallen into my trap.
After shaking off everyone, I managed to launch two tasers and, with the saber, disarmed one of them, splitting him in half. Finally, the fight had balanced out to four against two.
The leader and one of the remaining women came at Nacho, while I threw a smoke bomb that covered us all.
Nacho punched the leader in the face, temporarily knocking him out with the electric shock, and it became a one-on-one with the woman, who tried to dodge the cuts with the dagger.
With the saber in hand, I tried to keep my two opponents at bay, waiting for an opportunity, launching slashes and moving around the scene. One of them tried to grab my arm, but as I had dodged, I aimed my saber at his face and lightly moved the blade, cutting off his ear.
As I pushed him away, the other managed to wrap his arms around me and lift me. Nacho caught the woman's arm and, with an electric shock, cut off her arm. As she fell in pain and the leader lunged at him, I managed to release a taser from my hand and activate it on the man's foot, then bit his hand, tearing it off.
The earless guy tried to grab the saber, and with my last taser, I reached his arm, paralyzing it, and finally sliced off his head with the saber, now in my possession. The leader of the group tried to grab Nacho's hands; he quickly evaded and, after electrocuting him and holding him on his knees while the current flowed through his brain, began to beat him with his other hand before finally decapitating him with the dagger.
The woman tried to run, and Nacho went after her, moving towards her with at lightning speed, catching her, and easily finishing her off.
"He's really fast," I thought as I finished off the last man who tried to reassemble his other half, crawling toward where his hips and legs were still moving.
We took each part from all the bodies of the group as they still attempted to reassemble, and making a pyre with fire, we began to burn the remains one by one.
"Are you okay?" I asked, looking into his onyx eyes. Nacho had accidentally inhaled some of the smoke bomb.
"Okay? Im great!" he said as he repaired one of his fingers that had been sliced off.
"Back to the old ways, huh?" he joked as we looked at the rest burning on the pyre. After a pause, he looked at me and continued.
"You lost all your data, cousin! What will we do now? How will we repair the battery of the dagger and the saber? And how will we continue with your detective activities?"
I pointed to my head and touched it with my hand, saying, "It's all here."
He smiled and said, "Brain."
We laughed, and I pointed to my backpack, saying, "And here too."
Nacho looked toward where the lab used to be, now in ruins. "The Batcave's gone. It looked so cool. Luring the thirsty ones was a great idea; your toys really make a difference."
"That's why the Romanian coven wants my weapons," I added. "They highly probable want revenge on the Volturi for taking away their privileged position in Europe and vampire society, but no one should get their hands on Dr. Petrov's research data or the technology I have. It would trigger a tremendous arms race, and things would escalate quickly."
Nacho looked outside and then at the pyre where we were burning the remains of the bounty hunters, took a pause, and commented:
"Hmm... That's why the Volturi prefer to eliminate you and destroy your weapons rather than possess them. With the control and power they have, it's more than enough for them. But getting their hands on your toys would trigger a change they don't want to risk, I imagine."
"Exactly," I replied. "They prefer not to complicate things. Now I'm really screwed, cousin."
"We are," he corrected me. "Well, Brain, where do we go now?"
I crossed my arms and thought for a moment. "We need to go somewhere else where we can repair the weapons. Besides, I have to continue the cure investigation and map out all the existing covens. The more we know, the better. Let's go, Pinky."
Once all that was left of the vampires was ashes, we continued on our way to Europe. My next destination was Switzerland. I had no one else to turn to but my dear friend Juan, but I had to be quick because I was getting dangerously close to where my pursuers lived—the Romanian coven in Romania and the Volturi in Italy.