King: Part two of our triple feature. Now, to address something, for some reason, this site pulled something stupid last time and didn't send out notifications or show anything properly for a hot minute. Hopefully this one works.

Knox: ALSO! Ya boy put out his first part of Bowl of Dates over on Ao3. Look for Knoxs_Garden and you'll find me! If the first one isn't to your liking, I don't apologize. But there will be others with different set ups and pairs.

King: With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy as always.

Inspiration: Hunters the Parenting by Bruva Alfabusa

/\

King snapped his fingers and the next round just popped in.

The scene opened to show a house in the countryside. A loud scream rang out before cutting in to show Shay held in a dog cage. As he screamed, a wooden stick was poked into his eye. The camera cut away to show Jaune, Neptune, Ren, and Jaune's son standing in what looked like a basement. Jaune was holding the makeshift spear as he addressed the vampire, "Don't make me say it." He pointed to a paper taped to the wall reading, [Screams are loud. Do not do them.]

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Shay shouted back at them, the camera revealing all of the vampires were in dog cages, hunched over in their prisons.

"Okay, but that's weird." Harriet remarked.

"I have to concede that point," Winter tapped her finger against her crossed arms, "but it feels a bit justifiable given they're literally vampires."

"Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh the BOYEST of boys!" Neptune was getting more and more excited. "Oh please, I beg you, let us begin!" Ever the scholar, he was ready to learn what made these undead monsters tick.

Mercury sighed, seemingly more annoyed than anything, "So, what war crimes are on the docket tonight?"

"Mustard gas." Jaune answered, matter-of-factly.

Both Ruby and Jaune's on-screen son asked, "Mustard comes in gas?"

Mercury chuckled, "Why don't you open a can and look inside, you little… FUCKING WRECH!" The outburst scared Jaune's son and resulted in Jaune putting a spear into Mercury's face. As a vampire, he'll heal, but it still like hell.

Jaune just tapped the spear against the ground, "Do not ruin my son's first interrogation, blank."

"Blank?" Blake asked. That felt derogatory the way he said that.

"Blankbody," King explained, "A term they use to talk about vampires in regard to their low body temperature."

Ren popped up next to Neptune, "Oi."

Neptune responded, "Oi."

"So, I'm not the only one here…"

"Yeah?"

"...who's watched…"

"Yeah?"

"Interview with a Vampire."

"You make this joke every time."

Jaune responded, "It is a clever and funny reference."

"Okay, real quick," Yang spoke up, "Why does Jaune talk like that in this one? He sounds super robotic and kind of weird."

Penny turned to the blonde, "I do not hear anything odd."

Yang winced, "No, I mean… no offense to you but…"

"It is fine, friend Yang." Penny laughed. "I am messing with you."

King chuckled a bit, but still answered Yang's question, "This Jaune has always been like this. He was likely born with an imbalance in his brain that results in him not picking up metaphors, never using contractions, and generally feeling somewhat robotic in the day to day. That said, it could also be a result of everything he's done in his life. He used to work in Mining." He let that one hang in the air for those who understood.

Ilia winced, knowing too well the dangers of mining operations.

Meanwhile, Tyrian, the psycho, effectively feral, vampire shouted, "Stab me!"

"No." Jaune denied.

Nora snickered, "Weirdo."

"Silence you wretch!" The scorpion faunas shouted back.

Shay started to blubber, "You shitheads will never know what it's like!"

Mercury just sighed in annoyance, "Here we go again."

"You fuckers go out in the sun, buying your cream crackers and your wheat-a-bix! You finish college and shit on a toilet in a cramped room while playing Snake on your phone!"

"Gonna be honest," Ren interrupted, "Not very relatable." It was 2006 and he was talking like they were in 1996.

"Shut up, toilet shitter!"

Raven just sighed seeing one of her tribemates acting like that. It was pathetic.

"Your mundanity is something we will NEVER HAVE AGAIN!" Shay had been turned into a vampire during a blood drive and had no choice on the matter. "We are persecuted because you fuckers refuse to yield to your betters!" But was still a vampire at the end of the day. "And when we deny our nature, Caine's principles of Universalizability are shattered!"

"I'm sorry," Ren interrupted again, "Caine's what?"

"LOOK IT UP!" Shay shouted as his emotions broke him down more and more, "Basically we can't eat cream crackers any more." He used to enjoy those, a nice treat he'd have on the road that reminded him of better times.

"I was about to say something," Qrow spoke up, "But that's fair I guess. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug in its own right."

Jaune huffed, "Do not speak of cream crackers as if they are some halcyon dream. Boy is on an all meat diet and he's never been stronger."

"Okay, one!" Saphron shouted, "He should have a balanced diet, not strictly carnivorous. Two! Why doesn't he call his son by his name?"

"He doesn't really have a proper one." Knox explained. "Boy is as close to a name as he gets."

"WHY?!"

"Names have meaning. And meaning can be powerful." No one knew what he meant and remained silent, so he continued. "In a world of magic, a name is a powerful thing. For instance, if I know your full name, I can curse you. I can manipulate you in some way. I have power over you. In such worlds, this is the reason you would have a middle name that you don't tell others. That's why it's weird to say it in most circumstances. Longer, harder to remember names are good defenses against this. However, if the child doesn't have a name, but is addressed by one like Boy, it's harder to pin them down. For instance, if I say, 'I curse Ruby Rose!' You," he points at Ruby, "are Ruby Rose and there's not many of them out there. Thus, it's easy to pin down. But if I say, 'I curse the Boy,' suddenly it's harder to tell what I mean. This is technically why Jaune has a middle name, a holdover from a more superstitious age."

"Oh yeah!" Ruby called out, "You never told us what it was."

Jaune gave a glance toward the magical entities in the room. "I'll tell you guys later."

Ruby and the gang followed his eyes and saw what he saw. After that explanation from Knox, they understood his apprehension.

Boy decided to speak up, "I keep getting the meat sweats…"

"Not now, boy. I'm speaking with the monsters."

"Monsters?" Tyrian chuckled, "Oh! Hm! GRR! I'll show you a fucking monster!" He was clearly unhinged.

"You are pathetic. Blankbodies are parasites. You kill people and you eat them. To allow you to live to to abet genocide."

Sienna couldn't help but groan a little. As a predator-type faunas, she'd been accused of that exact thing. But looking back, it was easy to see the ways she ignored who was calling her that. There were faunas who accused her of the same thing as rumors spread.

"'Abet genocide'?!" Shay challenged, "You're genociding us right now!"

But Jaun was having none of it, "You're life has already ended, tick. I can't kill a corpse."

"But… They're still alive, kind of. Right?" Ruby asked.

"Think about it like this, Ruby," Qrow offered back, "Would you still kill a Grimm if it could talk? Everything else is the same, it can just think and talk."

"Obviously!" She didn't hesitate. "It's a monster that kills people! And… Oh. I get it."

"Hohohoh-holy shit, fellas!" Mercury laughed out, "Wouldn't this guy make such a good Ventrue?" He then proceeded to mock these Ventrue. "Uh! Kindred do not live, we unlive. We do not do things 'all day' we do things 'all night.' We don't X, we 'vampire word.'"

"Op! Hold on! What is a Ventrue?"

"Oops! Woopsie. Seems now I've platformed the antediluvian concept of clans."

"Good going, Merc." Shay shot back.

"Ah who cares! The clans and the Masquerade can burn! Along with all the other Camarilla / Anarch bullshit."

As the humans in the room started asking questions, Shay shouted, "OH MY GOD, MERCURY!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Are you afraid of a little Masquerade Breach? Well, take the prince's pussy out of your mouth and start acting like Cainites, goddamnit! These fuckers," he changed targets to the humans, "You fuckers wouldn't even be alive if we took over! And we could!"

"Mercury! We don't got the resources to…"

"You drinking Cammi-piss, lick? We're the goddamn Sabbat! The Sword of Caine!"

"I am so lost." Nora added.

"It's likely that more information isn't necessary." Ren offered. "This particular style of exposition is actually rather interesting. It's giving us information without breaking the flow of the scene. This Mercury comes across as a self-important type while giving information to the viewers. Granted, in their world it likely would still feel off, but for a movie or show it's actually interesting to see it done this way." Eyes were on him for a moment before he nodded once, "I have an interest in movie production, remember?"

"And Tyrian! What does the Sword of Caine do?"

Tyrian grinned from ear to ear, "It falls where it pleases~"

"Amen~"

Ren finished up his notes, "Camarilla, Anarch, Sabbat. Got it. Got it. Hey, Camarilla is spelled like gorilla, right?"

"First one's free sweet pea." Mercury chuckled, "What are you going to give me for the rest?"

Jaune crossed his arms, "We already know about Carmilla, the first vampire. I always suspected she lived in Norwich."

"That feels wrong." Blake tapped her chair in thought, "I can't place why, though."

Mercury started to laugh, "First vampire? You mean the Prince?"

"She is a sterling example of degeneracy." Tyrian laughed. "She and her posse sitting in her ivory tower… in Norwich!"

That got Yang to laugh, "He was right. Go figure."

"Forcing Cainties to stay hidden. They call it the Masquerade! I call it censorship!"

Jaune shook his head, "Preventing murder is censorship, now?"

"Preventing murder?" Tyrian scoffed, "As if they could…"

"No," Mercury challenged, "As if they would." The Camarilla's all about murder. Murder Kine. Murder Kindred…"

"Kine?" Jaune asked.

"Are you dense?"

Before someone (likely his sister) could say anything, Jaune immediately went, "Don't say it!" A few jokes were avoided that way due to his newfound self awareness.

"Kine means you guys. Humans. Mortals!"

Tyrian followed up, "You know. Animals."

"And while you're wasting time with us, the Cammies are playing you like good little puppets."

Ren scoffed, not believing him, "Come again?"

"That's just a common tactic of theirs. See, we Sabbat believe in Liberty and Revolution."

"For vampires."

"Cainites," Mercury corrected. "That's right. But the Camarilla? They believe in slavery and serfdom for our kind!"

Neptune decided to ask, "And what about our kind?"

"Your kind are just livestock. That's it. That's just the way of things. No matter what you do, mortals are just… meat."

Yang decided to make a joke, "Gives 'looking at someone like a piece of meat' new meaning, eh?"

"Really?" Weiss deadpanned.

"The only way out is the Embrace. So… if you want Liberty, well… we can give it to you."

Ren had to take a minute, "So- you're saying that you'll exchange freedom for… freedom?"

"It's either us or them!" Tyrian began a preach, "We are the children fo Caine! And our manifest destiny is to RULE! Praise the dark father!"

"Intriguing." Neptune spoke up again. "So, why haven't you been murdered yet?"

"Because the Sabbat doesn't fuck around!" Mercury shouted. "We're on a warpath. And our cause? To see you lowly apes serve your natural purpose."

"So, you're just here to kill." Ren concluded.

"No you snail wretch! You're wrong as hell!" Shay shouted.

"Oh, so now you grow a pair, Shay." Mercury grumbled.

"We don't just kill! We're smarter than that. I went to college, son!"

"And yet he was part of the reason they got caught." Qrow chuckled, watching his sister's subordinate squirm.

Raven's eye twitched in annoyance.

Neptune decided to make a joke of it, "Is that why you were living out of a hole in the ground and killing random joggers in the middle of the night? What major is that?"

Tyrian answered, "Political Science."

This got Ironwood to have to stifle a quick bout of laughter. Seeing Winter and the Ace Ops' confused looks, he explained, "Sorry. That reminded me of an old officer during my boot camp days. We had a commander that went through the collegiate training path in Political Science. The officer used to say 'Political science is the study of liars.'"

"Very entertaining sir." Clover couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Harriet, meanwhile, actually started to laugh. It was no secret to anyone that the Atlas Council is frustrating at the best of times. The fact that two of them came from Atlas itself and were rich elitists didn't help. That said, the member representing Mantle wasn't much better, looking to blame and tear Atlas down for everything.

Tyrian grinned, "We conquered that tunnel. Purged it of Anarch filth. It's our turf now. This whole distract."

"The district of North Norfolk…" Ren deadpanned. They lived in what could generously be called a rural area. If one wasn't feeling generous, they could call it the middle of butt-fuck norwhere.

But Tyrian kept up his erratic laughing, "This shall be the new theater for our Glorious Crusade! A domain to bleed…"

"Alright…"

"...out as we please~!"

Shay shouted back at his partner in vampirism, "Tyrian! Your mouth is a drainpipe. Plug it!"

That got Yang to chuckle. "That's actually kind of funny."

Shay continued to grumble, "The Anarch Barony ain't moved an inch since we got chased out by those Cammie bastards. We're still building up our base of operations!"

Mercury sighed in annoyance, "Yeah, man. Really selling our cause with the base building."

"Fuck you, Mercury! The categorical imperative compels me to tell you the whole truth about why-"

He was cut off by Tyrian, "Kant is not a Noddist philosopher."

"Fuck you, Tyrian!" The two then proceed to get into a vampiric, philosophical debate.

"I'm so lost." Nora held her head as the cacophony of confusing statements rang out on screen.

"Not to interrupt the discourse," Ren spoke up.

And Nora added, "No, please do."

"But you're saying you're at war with this "Anarchy Barony" over the district… of North Norfolk."

"On the small scale." Mercury explained, "That and Great Yarmouth."

Ren groaned, "Oh I fucking hate Yarmouth."

Something that got Mercury to chuckle in understanding, "Yeah! I get it. It's pretty sad. But I'll tell you this much, the Anarchs… They have the spirit. They had their ideals."

Tyrian picked it up from there, "But! But… They lack purpose. They restrain themselves just like the Camarilla!"

Shay and Mercury both groaned as the biker called out, "Mercury, he's doing it again!"

Tyrian continued, undeterred, "They refuse to unleash their Beast! They want their petty Revolution but for what? To continue hiding?"

"Shut up!" Shay interrupted.

But it didn't work, "Proud Canite, dost thou hear the call? Purge your degenerate humanity and live as your forefather did!"

"OKAY, dude!" Mercury succeeded in interrupting, "Turn down the larping. You're barely in the Sabbat. You haven't even partaken in the Vaulderie. So stop angling for pack priest and stay in your fucking lane!"

Watts couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "I wish he could."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tyrian challenged, "I simply spread the word of our dark goddess, as you should!"

Salem appreciated the devotion. Really she did. But it gets old sometimes. Granted, it was either that or have him talking about his favorite ways to dismember people. And that wears out fast.

"Speaking of…" Mercury looked back to the humans, "Where's Kevin, anyway? The 'wizard-type.'"

Neptune huffed, "He's having a 'special interview' with our father. Nothing you need to worry about." Said interview involved omelets made of sulfuric acid.

"What the hell?" Terra visibly shivered in horror-filled disgust of that imagery, "How is he alive?"

"He kind of isn't." King explained, "Vampire, remember? But to answer your question, only a handful of things can actually put this particular type of vampire down permanently. They'll just super heal otherwise."

'Special interview' could be taken the wrong way, and Mercury did, "Kevin gets to fuck?!"

Causing Yang and Nora to bust up laughing.

Gira's sons all proceeded to collectively deny through sheer traumatic necessity.

Ren quickly shook off the issue, "Okay! Moving on. If I understand you correctly, you're basically Vampire supremacists."

"We are Canite Naturalists."

Ren groaned.

But Mercury continued, "Speaking of, fair's fair. You did kick our asses. So, I'd like to extend the offer. Why don't you join us?"

There was a collective moment within the humans, Neptune saying, "Immortality is pretty tempting."

Salem shook her head, knowing full well it wasn't worth it at the best of times.

"Exactly. And the old man would never expect it, not that he couldn't join as well."

Neptune mused, "Wouldn't that be something."

"I'm being serious." Mercury made his case, "Immortality. Supremacy. A new family. What do you say? Are you in? Or… are you out?"

"It is tempting." Neptune kept up a look that said he was thinking it over. Jaune looked like he was about to but his spear through Neptune's head if he took up the offer.

"Oo-hoo! He's pissed." Yang chuckled.

"But you know what's more tempting? Having everything we do from here on out being morally justified…"

"Yes!" Mercury shouted, excitedly, "Exactly!"

"Because we'll be doing it to a bunch of vampire fascists!"

Mercury almost got too caught up, but saw what he did, "Ah… okay."

"FUCK!" Shay shouted. "It didn't work, Mercury!"

"And I'm so hungry." Tyrian groaned, an edge forming in his tone, "Hey! You do know what happens if we don't eat our fill, right?"

They did not. And Neptune was interested, "Tell me."

"The BEAST! Shall be freed! Unleashed to satiate our urge, OUR NEED, to bite your necks open and slurp from them!" Tyrian let out a low growl, "The Beast's birthright is your blood! And it shall have it for its will is mightier than any shitty metal boxes you could put us in."

"Okay, so basic vampire stuff." Blake mentioned, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"So…" Neptune was just unimpressed, "Is this guy, like… a parody of himself or…" Then he had an idea. "Hang on. You know what, you will get to eat tonight."

Jaune gave a side eye to his brother, "Neptune…"

"No, shut up, I have an idea." Neptune whispered to Jaune before speaking up again, "Come on guys!" Neptune left with Ren.

Jaune and Boy remained a moment as Boy looked to his father, "So, we're just leaving them here?"

"Yes." Jaune responded.

"What if they break out?!"

"They will not. I have fortified this room. It can withstand a force of 1,800 pounds per square inch. No Blank will get out of here."

"That's not too bad." Elm suggested, "Nothing crazy, but in terms of keeping someone locked down, it's pretty good."

They both left the room and followed Neptune up to his study / room. There was a computer set up with a few monitors, one of the feeds showing the cellar.

Jaune, as per the creed of the sibling, had to rib his brother a bit, "Sick video gaming rig, brother. Spent a lot of money on it, did you? Instead of… you know. A gun?"

"Hey! TF2 comes out next year, I am justified. Now, the quality isn't great but we can see everything going on down there. So, here's my idea…"

"What could he come up with?" Velvet asked, thinking to herself. "He promised them food… is he going to see how long until they crack and beg for the food?"

"... we have them eat each other."

"I like Velvet's idea better…" Neptune just shook in disgust.

Ren was just surprised and a little concerned, "Like… literally?"

"Yes, literally! We have no idea what happens if a vampire eats another vampire and I want to find out!"

Ren made a noise that signaled a moral stipulation.

Neptune sighed, "Look, feeding doesn't necessarily mean killing."

"We are already stepping over bounds bringing them into my house."

"Boundaries set by who? The Arcanum? Don't really feel like I should care after they banned us. Can we please just start the experiment?"

Ren gave up, "Make them eat the larper first, he's the worst."

Tyrian got pretty offended, "Hey!"

"HA!" Nora shouted. Their rivalry was young, but it was powerful.

"Right! So… Microphone!" The scene transitioned into the cellar with a loud tone as he now spoke off screen, "So! Good news! You're going to be fed." The cages opened out their own as he gave one last bit of encouragement, "Go buck wild."

Shay strode up to the camera, calling them out, "Are you fucking serious?"

"What? It's for science. Besides, Larper-Lyria, or whatever his name is looks like he's willing to take one for the team."

"Don't go volunteering me for bloodbag duty, bloodbag!"

"That's really kind of your call."

"Forget it!" Tyrian challenged, "The Sabbat would never turn on their own just to slate their own hunger and… SNEAK ATTACK!" Tyrian uppercut Shay from the side with a sucker punch.

"Well that didn't last real fucking long." Qrow scoffed. "It was pretty obvious what would happen there."

"Of course!" Tyrian agreed, "they are not my glorious goddess! They are, thus, expendable!"

"Ah! You little shit!" Shay turned back to face his attacker.

Tyrian called back to Mercury, "Mercury! Help me hold him down and…"

But Mercury just laughed, sinking into the darkness.

Meanwhile, in the office, Neptune and Jaune were sitting at a shared desk Neptune holding the mic. He slammed his fist on the desk, "And here they GO!" He spoke pretty quickly like a wrestling announcer, "This is a hardcore threeway elimination match where three vamps enter and only one may leave!"

Jaune proceeded to follow suit as the co-commentator, "That is right, Nep! We have a hell of a show for you today and we're right here in the action!"

"Why are they doing that?" Ruby asked for any kind of answer.

"They're making sport of it." Hazel, it turned out, was the one to answer. "Forcing them to cannibalize each other is just their game."

Their voices pick up through the mics as the scene plays out. "We see a retaliation from the bikerguy, but the speed of the LARPer…!"

Tyrian dodged away from Shay's attack.

"He's looking for an opening. And…"

Tyrian stabbed his hand into Shay's side.

"FIRST BLOOD!"

Tyrian swung over and knocked Shay onto his back. He proceeded to use his claw-like fingers to slash into Shay's face.

"Savage…" Ren commented.

And Neptune kept up his shtick, "Savage is right. And I love it!"

"It's clear there is some bad blood here." Jaune added.

Sun gave a light chuckle, "They sound just like the announcers from the VWE. They're really on point with the inflections."

Shay grabbed Tyrian's hand and squeezed hard enough to warp his wrist, "You dirtbag!"

"Is this?" Jaune commented, "A reversal!"

Shay punched Tyrian hard enough to knock out teeth and get the smaller man off him. He moved to wrap Tyrian in a chokehold. "I'm going to pop your skull you little shit!"

"It's desperate times for the larper, will the sludge lad break the pin? Hey, is he STILL hiding?"

Mercury tapped his foot on the ground, knowing what to expect.

The camera cut into the office as Boy said, "You can't see him! Could his time be now?"

Jaune pat his son on the head, "That is a very funny reference, boy."

"Thank you. Say, do you think this is a solemn warning of what happens when one embraces their monster and loses their soul?"

"Well that came out of nowhere!" Harriet cracked.

Ozpin nodded, understanding what the child was saying. How you can lose your humanity for some underlying cause or desire and be willing to do such awful things to their fellow man.

Jaune just paused a moment before confirming, "No."

"Oi boys! Look at this!" Neptune brought their attention back to the cellar.

Tyrian was grabbing Shay's arm and pulling it away from his neck. He broke the hold, reversed it, and locked Shay in a bent over stance with his arm wrapped over his head. He jumped into the air and slammed Shay face first into the concrete beneath them.

"Impaler DDT!"

"I don't think that biker will ride again, Neptune."

"Me neither, Jaune. And look! The LARPer is calling slime boy out!"

Tyrian turned to the darkness, "Mercury you treasonous dog! Face your death like a true Sabbat!"

"You know, Tyrian…" Mercury's voice ran out over the room, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "I always liked your spirit." Mercury was suddenly behind Tyrian, "I bet it tastes great!" He then stabbed Tyrian through the heart and out the other side of his chest.

"HOLY SHIT!" Marrow actually jumped back into his chair and fell to the ground.

Tyrian choked out, "Not like this…"

"Like this? You're right. We'll go slower." Mercury pulled his arm back and caught Tyrian as he started to fall.

Tyrian shook in pain and spoke with a raspy voice, "Mercury… please… I…"

Mercury shushed him, "Hey, don't worry. I was just putting on a show. After all, we're family."

"Y-you me-ean it?"

"Do I mean it? Come on." Mercury playfully punched Tyrian on the nose. Twice for good measure. A little harder. A little harder. Harder. Harder! Much harder! Break his nose! Splatter his blood! One after the other after another after another after another! His head will be paste!

The viewers were all silent at the sheer brutality on display.

And Neptune had a similar reaction, "That's… not really… legal."

Ren challenged the situation, "Neptune, this is barbaric."

"You're right." But Jaune just kept going, "Slime lad is beating the LARPer to death with his bare hands!"

"How can he just be like that?!" Saphron cried.

"Jaune. Come on, man."

"What? Why the change in tone?" Jaune slid back on a chair, "Blankbodies aren't people."

Blake, Sienna, Adam, and Ilia all had an involuntary cringe, having heard the exact thing about them as Faunas, particularly as White Fang members.

"I mean…" Neptune was having second thoughts, "Well…"

"It doesn't matter!" Ren interrupted, having had enough, "Whatever this is, it's horrid."

But Jaune threw it right back at him, "Didn't you say you wanted this one to 'die first'? Isn't it a little late to object now?"

"HEY JR! Can't help but notice the crowd go mild." Mercury called up to them through the camera mic, "Am I good to collect my winnings, now?"

Jaune side-eyed Neptune, "Well?"

Neptune sighed, "For the experiment's sake…"

Jaune nodded and took the mic, "Go ahead."

"Thank you kindly~" Mercury bit into Tyrian and started to drain him of all his blood and energy.

"I think I'm going to be sick." May shuttered, very not used to any of this.

Ciel gagged a bit and avoided the worst of it, but it didn't change anything.

Arslan had to turn away from the scene. It was too disgusting for her right now.

As his son, brother, and in-law recoiled, Jaune challenged their state, "You are uncomfortable because the thing dying appears human. But I can assure you he no different from the creature eating him alive. All vampires are destined to become monsters. Each one slain is who-knows-how-many lives saved. That is why I do not hesitate to cheer and make sport of their death! And why you shouldn't either."

"I don't know, dad." Boy spoke up, "It seems like it might be more complicated than that."

"I have learned many lessons from my old mining days. This was one of them."

Ilia perked up the moment she heard 'mining days'. He was a miner? What caused him to learn THAT? She clenched her fist and remembered how dangerous mines could be. How easy an 'accident' can be made.

But Jaune continued, "But you are right, Boy. They are also afraid because they are British."

"OI!" Ren shouted back.

The scene returned to the cellar as Mercury tossed Tyrian's shriveled body to the side. "Thanks for the meal, Tyrian. You were delicious." He seemed a little taller and his eyes were more pronounced than they were before. "Now, for the second helping~"

"Mercury…" Shay pleaded, "Please…"

"You know, Shay. I actually thought about sparing Tyrian. I kinda liked him. But you? Despite the Vinculum old man, I never liked you." He reached over, covering the camera as Shay begged for his life, only to be devoured all the same.

Mercury let out a huff, having seen it coming. All the same, it was a brutal display that didn't sit right with him. He can be a little sadistic, but that was all on another level. If they were going to die, he should have just got it over with.

As this happened, Gira entered the room with a sing-song tone, "Good news everyone~! I got some tasty information from that Kevin guy. He told me the Chapter House in Yarmouth is…" He then noticed the screen, "ha… hA…?! What are you doing?!"

"Hello father." Jaune answered, blunt as usual, "We are engaging in a marginally sadistic professional wrestling commentary."

"What the fuck is that vampire doing?!" Gira pointed at the screen.

Neptune, since it was his idea, answered this time, "Oh, we made them eat each other to see what'd happen."

"YOU'RE LETTING THEM DIABLERISE EACH OTHER?!"

"They're what?" Blake blinked.

And Gira leaned forward. He wouldn't…

"Well, yeah. Wait, what?"

"YOU STUPID BOY!" Gira grabbed Neptune by the collar, "LETTING VAMPIRES DIABLERISE EACH OTHER IN OUR CELLAR! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE THEM…"

He was cut off by a metallic sound and a shaking of the house.

"...immediately break out…"

The scene moved from them and slowly moved to the hallway passed them. They were no longer safe.

End of viewing.

"I have a question." Gira called to King, "Did he not tell them about that?"

"Got it in one."

"Why not?!" Gira's paternal instincts kicked in as he shouted.

"To him, he's protecting them. Vampires take their secrecy seriously. They'll send kill squads after anyone who knows too much. So, the way he sees it, they only need to know a little bit. Change some names. But nothing else it necessary and makes sure they aren't hunted."

"But that would be something they need to know! At least tell them not to do that then!"

"You're preaching to the choir, big guy. But, different world, different rules."