World Tree MUSH

    Emmanuel Noire is not the kind of man to take a threat on his life lightly.
    A man of wealth and means, he has acquired a holiday home for himself in a small town in Nothern Italy. Of course bringing his money and his staff with him has breathed a bit of fresh life into an otherwise economically lacking little town, even if he's rarely out during the daylight hours.
    The fact of the matter is, after finding a letter written in blood, in his own bedroom, after getting by all of his staff without notice, someone is out to kill this man. Given no choice in the matter, he sought out people of skill and grit from offworld. A general notice for skilled security needed by an otherwise unassuming and probably boring wealthy land owner to protect him from an unknown assailant. It should be an easy job, right?
    Emmanuel has currently invited his new security force into a sitting room in his well appointed new manor. He's a gaunt figure of a man in a dark suit, settled in anhigh backed chair, and looks just a little too pale as he swirls the dark contents of a wine glass in his hand somewhat anxiously. "I'm hoping you're all as good as I've heard."

    One of those hired to protect the Lord Emmanuel is a black-clad being that has chosen to completely hide their features from head to toe. Black tunic, black gloves, black leggings, black boots, black hooded cloak. The clothing is somewhat plain, made of leather and cloth, leaving it difficult to tell the time period this person may be from. But there's a sword at the person's waist. This person has even chosen to hide their face, behind a mask that looks like it was carved from stone.

    Emmanuel's words prompt a sibilant voice from behind the black-clad being's mask, somehow not sounding muffled at all. "I speak not for the others, milord... but as for me, worry not for my skills, nor my loyalty. Coin is not the only thing worth striving to achieve." They speak with reverence, and as they utter these words, the black-clad being executes a low, respectful bow.

    AN HOUR AGO

    Dante sits just outside of the mansion's gates on a motorcycle, staring at his phone. He's read the offer over and over again about ten times now. Something nagged him about this guy, something about him screamed either 'mob boss' or 'vampire lord', or some kind of vampire mobster lord. Eventually, he takes out a coin, and flips it. After catching it, he just smirks. "Guess it's your lucky day."

    NOW

    Dante is currently the exact opposite of the disguised figure, in demeanor. Relaxed, cocky even. He strides into the room with a black waistcoat and red dress shirt under his coat, looking as presentable as possible.

    He is however, -strapped-, with his shotgun holstered at his back along with Rebellion, and Ebony & Ivory are holstered at his hips. Not to mention any other Devil Arms he's got but aren't showing up right now. Despite his constant money issues, Dante does know how to dress when he needs to look his best, one can easily admire the Florentine silk and rich leather in his attire.

    "Tranquilo, signore. You'll get your money's worth, every penny of it." He grins to Emmanuel, and grabs a seat, resting Rebellion beside him as he crosses one leg over the other. "Time to see if we're being pranked or not."

    

Serrah, in her black T-shirt and boots, rainbow-colored skort, and baseball-filled sports bag, is somewhere between Dante and the dark-clad figure. Or perhaps she's a third point on the triangle: 'grungy'. "It's kinda hard to beat stopping time," she says, idly tossing a baseball into the air. "And blunt objects moving hundreds of miles per hour." Suddenly, as abruptly as a video skipping ahead, there are five baseballs in the air; she catches all of them, and stuffs four of them back into the bag. "But I can vouch for Dante here, at least." She jerks a thumb at the devil-hunter.

She shoots her employer a fangy grin, because she's getting a similar feeling to Dante, and even though this unquestionably does not look like a vampire from her world (which is to say, like her), she's pretty sure his reaction is going to be 'oh, good, she's one of us' rather than 'this young woman is a potential predator'. "My loyalty is cool, too," she adds. "If I didn't get paid because you died, that'd be a pain in the ass." This sounds ... a little bit like an excuse. But hey, she's still here. "Just, uh, I'll take cash, if that's all right."

Well, Holly has grit at least. She had ended up here by complete accident. The map she was holding got turned upside while she's flying. Italy looks kind of like Belg from that angle and she found herself going south instead of north. She had ended up smashing through one of the mansion's windows by accident trying to slow down. As a result she found herself on security duty in order to pay for it.

At least some of her other friends were here. Hopefully, no one's afraid of ghosts because she's with Servis and Lavaux as usual. The witch waits patiently brushing glass from her back side.

    A slow sip from his glass and Emmanuel side-eyes the figure in black. Eyelids fall half-way into something of a mild glower at the masked figure's obsequious manner, and he says nothing for a long beat as Dante settles in, Serrah vouces for the demon hunter while showing off her own capabilities, and Holly settles in.
    If he seemed bothered by the smashed window, the display of Serrah's fangs, Dante's bravado, or the dark-clad figure's hissed hush of a voice he doesn't show it, clearly more preoccupied and concerned by the threat to his life.
    "We'll just have to see." He mutters, shifting listlessly in his seat before crossing one leg over the other. "So my 'problem', tonight, can be considered... Expendable. I don't care how you handle it, just deal with it so I don't have to think about it anymore. If we're understood, I'll make the pay worth your while."

    The black-clad figure nods. "Of course, milord." A tilt of the figure's head, and a question is hissed meekly, "Is there any sort of indication what this... 'problem' may be? Anything that we may look for as a sign of the arrival of this 'problem'?"

    If the black-clad figure is aware of Emmanuel's displeasure with them, they've made no indication. They could be completely unaware of it, or perhaps they just think they can continue to grovel into Emmanuel's good graces. Though that said, at least they didn't continue to proclaim that they weren't motivated by coin when payment was mentioned, so... maybe there's some awareness of it there after all.

    Though it may be worth mentioning that, now that the figure's spoken again, those who are familiar with the sound of an eastern European accent may detect the ever-so-faintest trace of one in the words...

    "Clear as glass, my dude." Dante says, kicking back in the seat. He gives Serrah a little wink and grin, pointing his fingers at her like pistols in her direction. He does perk up a little, hopping out of his seat. "Mask Dude's right, we better split up and search for clues." Pause. "Or just...search for clues."

"I don't know why you would let someone know in advance you're going to try to kill them. Wouldn't that just make it harder?" Holly has a bit of a puzzled look on her face.

 "Not necessarily, if they're afraid they might doing something reckless. Besides, would you be able to sleep knowing someone wants you dead," Servis explains to her.

 "Well, I'm already dead and if someone tried to kill me again I would go after them before they would get a chance!" Lavaux adds to the conversation.

 "You think whoever broke in would have been on camera or something. Unless if they're a vampire and don't have a reflection," She figures that a place this fancy must have some kind of security system.

Serrah smiles at Holly; she makes a point of keeping her lips shut to hide her fangs this time. She ... doesn't react to Emmanuel's attitude. Okay, yeah, this guy's definitely a vampire. He acts like the ones from her world, at least. He'd probably get along well with Vincent.

Her gaze flits to the shadowy figure. Hmm. Yeah, she doesn't have anything to say about that; he's just probably someone she hasn't met before, and if he doesn't want to introduce himself, then, fine.

She just rolls her eyes at Dante's ... Dante-ness. "I'm fine either way," she says. "But if I've got the story right, there might not be anything that's actually here, it's someone coming to us."

She shrugs at Holly's banter with her ghosts. "That only applies if the camera uses silver-nitrate-based film," she says. "At least, it does where I'm from. Whoever we're dealing with here, they're good, probably. Anyway ..."

She looks around, and then ... melts into the shadows, right there in the middle of the room. This isn't like the brightly-lit prison; in someone's house in the evening, there's plenty of places for someone who can turn into shadows to hide.

    "My problem's name is 'D'." Emmanuel replies. "They've killed before, and I know they'll kill again unless stopped here tonight." He says, pausing long enough to sip from his glass again, before he sets it down. "I think, the 'clues' as you so put it will be coming to us, tonight." But then he shakes his head. "When they left the note they managed to get by all of my staff. That's what worries me." He mutters, rising from his seat, pausing just long enough to watch Serrah become one with the shadows. His lip twitches almost imperceptibly, but he masks his expression well as he moves to stand by the window and have a glance outside for a long moment.
    "Regardless," he says, "D will be coming tonight. I'll bet all of your pay on it."

'D' has already been here for some time. By a flexible definition of 'here' at least. Outside the estate proper, on the upper floor of an abandoned and half-ruined old home she's set up shop, adjusting and calibrating her sights and waiting for the right moment. Though hard to see, there's a brief flash of light as the hunter's projected trajectory lines up with Emmanuel's heart.

And soon after, an inch-thick, six inch-long wooden projectile is flying soundlessly. If there's no response, it will shatter the window and make its way into the vampire's heart. A clean shot, the kind a professional makes. Not long after, hit or miss, the figure jumps out of the window and begins to make her way to the estate.

    This time the figure decides to speak to someone that isn't Emmanuel! Holly first, it seems. "Ah, but some vampires are very particular. They may not show up in mirrors, but sometimes do on a camera. Particularly these very sophisticated... 'digital' devices..." There seems to be a hesitation there, some knowledge of electronics, but not enough to generalize. Unfamiliarity with the devices in general?

    Between Dante and Serrah's words, the figure nods. "Indeed. Nothing here... YET. Rather I meant, should we be expecting a large, loud intrusion? Or should we be keeping a look-out for a quieter, more understated attempt to enter the premises?" they clarify. "More simply put, is it a loud angry problem, or a quiet angry problem?"

    Though as Emmanuel comes to stand at the window, the black-clad figure raises a hand. "Milord. Standing by the window... that could be dangerous..." the figure starts to warn. Their words end up being prophetic, as it turns out...

    The shattering of the window is the first clue, and with Emmanuel's nearness to it, there's not going to be much time to get over there. The figure seems to just... lean in that direction... and then suddenly in a red flash, they are THERE, aiming a slash at the precise location on the pane of glass that the window shattered from. It's a very precise attack, and the figure may not have aimed properly... and even the teleport may not have been fast enough.

    Dante is about to ask for scotch, before he gets a hint of danger ahead. He sees a flicker in the window, and suddenly makes his way to intercept the projectile with a flash of movement. He can't compete with freezing time, but he's still fast enough to evade gunfire. He's on his feet in barely a second as he draws his guns. "Get to cover!" He barks at Emmanuel, and raises an eyebrow at the masked man. He's seen that move before, but now's not the time to question it.

    He aims outside, and opens fire, ruining a priceless window in the process.

"Interesting, I don't really know much about high tech stuff." She grew up in a typical family of mages and now lived somewhere that was roughly during the turn of the 20th century. "You know that leads to an interesting question, if someone with silver implants in their body was turned into a vampire what would happen?" Serrah's mention of silver got Holly to thinking, so much she didn't notice her friend disappear.

 "Hey, where did she go? And who's D? You know the person who wrote the letter? Why didn't you tell us that soo..." Holly's disrupted by another window shattering, it's not her this time. She draws her candy shaped staff to try and block the projectile with but she misses. "Oh no!"

Serrah notices the flash of light. As a result, the window has barely had any time to shatter before Serrah is suddenly standing in front of Emmanuel, her hand grasped around the projectile -- which is still moving, and jerks her hand forward, but not fast enough to cause any harm. "Whoa!"

She smirks, and tosses it aside. "Someone made a mis-stake," she quips. "You doin' okay, sir?" She stands back away from the window, not wanting to get into the line of fire, but she's already visibly very tense.

    Standing by the window probably wasn't one of Emmanuel's best ideas. Folding his arms across his chest, he narrows his eyes again. "I'll do as I please in my own damned house." The man grunts dismissively. 
    It almost costs him his life.
    The darkly clad figure is first to move as the glass shatters. It's enough to make Emmanuel flinch from the surprise as Dante barks for him to get to cover and Serrah is suddenly there' holding a stake that was meant for him. After that he need not be told twice as he gets away from the window very quickly.
    "I've told you everything I know." He growls at Holly, before he sweeps his arm. "Go! Find them and kill them!"
    He's quick to order someone else's death. Especially when his own was just narrowly avoided as he retreats deeper into the room and away from the window.

    "You're the boss." Dante says, as Serrah does that ZA WARUDO thing and catches the projectile. He takes note of the metal and wood, before he leaps out of the window and lands on the estate grounds, dashing off after whoever fired that stake.

    "It looked like a single figure," the black-clad figure notes. "But if there is one here, there may be others nearby." A look around. "...Someone should stay here. In case That One or its allies comes back." They don't openly volunteer, but they're not refusing either.

At the order to kill the intruder, Serrah automatically nods. And then she blinks and grimaces, looking away; she's having ... issues with her own natural bloodthirstiness.

She waits until Emmanuel is out of the room, and mutters, "Yep, our boss is a vampire, all right." As if she wasn't obviously a vampire herself. "I wonder if he's as fast as me. Uh, without stopping time, I mean. Uh." She shakes her head. "Oh well, I'm at least twenty-five percent taking this job just to annoy my sire anyway."

She nods to the dark figure. "Okay, you do that," she says bluntly. "I'm gonna go cover Dante." And with that, she once again melts into the shadows, and flows outside. Much less damaging to the windows! She makes her way towards Dante, but stays a little bit away from him; she doesn't want to get hit by anything that moves too close to him, after all.

It doesn't occur to her that she might become more of a target than he is.

The figure is moving towards the estate as others come out, and she puts the rifle away. With the decreased distance, it's obvious that this hunter's kit postdates the twenty-first century. She pauses when she gets close to Dante and Serrah, and though her face is obscured there's a warmth, a charm and innatural charisma to her voice. "How much did the Duke pay you?" There's a deliberate pause, "Did he even tell you who he really is?"

Regardless of the response, she pulls out a heavy metal mace and flicks a switch, an a thin film of liquid begins to cover the surface of the weapon. "I don't have any issues with you, just leave and I will put the monster to rest. I'll even ensure his payments go through." That might be a bit of a fib, but she sounds so convincing.

>> GAME >> Diana Bp62412 spends an Edge for: Majesty of the Night

    Dante nods as Serrah joins him outside. "Hey, does that guy seem a bit sketchy to you too? Besides in a mob movie kinda way." He asides, sprinting towards a figure toting some kind of bizarre nailgun looking thing. He assumes that's the mystery sniper, anyways.

    "Nope!" He answers the huntress, pulling his pistols. "He didn't even pay up front, dunno why I even accepted the gig at all honestly." His stamina must be ridiculous, if he can carry on a conversation _and_ run like this at the same time. With Ebony & Ivory in hand, he opens fire at the huntress, mainly trying to open up suppression fire for Serrah to do whatever she has to do.

    "How good of you to volunteer." Emmanuel says to the black-clad, stone-masked, figure when they suggest someone remaining behind. "You can stay here and make sure the rest of them aren't taken in by that killer's lies."
    "And in the event that they do, you can kill them too and take their shares of the pay." He decides as Dante and Serrah intercept the mysterious D.

Serrah stays with Dante. "Besides being a straight-up actual vampire?" she says. "We're all kind of sketchy." Beat. "Also I can't believe I'm saying 'we' so casually. How long have I --? Oh."

She pauses when the huntress shows up. "Uhh ...?" She looks the figure up and down; seems the Majesty of the Night is affecting her. "Well, I mean ... I did figure out that he's a vampire, but if you mean something more specific --" She's jolted out of her reverie by Dante's gunfire; she looks between the two, confused for just a few seconds, and then ...

Serrah stops time again. She takes a deep breath, even though it's been eight months since there has been any relief tied to the action, and throws half a dozen baseballs at the huntress, before she jumps to the side and resumes time, ready to dodge like hell just in case.

    "We shall see, milord," the black-clad figure rasps. "The one in red... he is hardly one to fall for lies." A pause, and the figure's masked face turns slowly towards Emmanuel. "Tell me... what sort of lies would this assassin tell...? Perhaps..."

    And here the figure's voice deepens. It would be all too familiar to Dante and Serrah... if they were in earshot. But since they're outside... ...Then again, that could have been the intent. The figure continues, "...Perhaps that you are... no longer human? That your thirst is of a decadent, evil sort that no wine can quench...? Or is it... more than that...?"

    The tone is flat and lifeless, betraying no emotion, whether happiness or malicious intent. He isn't making to threaten Emmanuel with gestures, either, so perhaps he's just asking because... well, if Emmanuel has any vampire senses of his own, he would have long figured out that this masked figure is a vampire himself...

Holly had flown on her broom to the other roof, figuring that's where the shot came from. By the time she makes it over there it seems like Serrah and Dante have already beat her to the estate. She's not the best flier. It seems like they're down below, well this is a bit awkward. Well, good thing falling doesn't really hurt her much and she uses her broom to help her dive bomb off the roof at Diana. "Going down!" The two ghosts float downwards as she descends.

    Emmanuel meets the masked figure's gaze, eyes narrowing into a squint as his lip curls. The questions. The questions are growing incessant and atop that, quite poignant aren't they?
    He meets that flat tone with a noted caution in his own, he words slow and deliberate.
    "They would call me a monster." He says. "And what would it matter to you of my thirsts and my tastes?"
    Oh he can tell. He knows what this masked figure is, but his trust is not easy to earn with a hunter out for his life this night, he glances to the shattered windows, frowning at the gunfire and commotion beyond.

"Your Employer is Duke Emmanuel the second of Florida, responsible for the death of tens of thousands the misery of millions." Diana answers Dante, as she responds to the gunfire with superhuman agility, still getting grazed by a few bullets, and one clips into her shoulder. Then, the baseballs appear and even though she shouldn't have time to respond, she does. Only half of them connect at the same time that mace is swinging for Serrah. The liquid it's covered in is holy water. Then, a witch crashes into her.

She looks beaten up and weakened, sure she looks like she'll be fine given time to recover, but she's clearly not in fighting condition. Even the bullet in her shoulder doesn't seem to hinder her as much as it should, but she takes a deep breath and stops to concentrate as she continues to talk, stalling for time as much as anything. "Not that you're likely to care. After all, he's a paycheck." As she concentrates, the bruises from the baseball heal and the bullet in her shoulder falls out, leaving no trace of the wound. "But if you do manage to find your conscience, there's people actually worth protecting."

>> GAME >> Diana Bp62412 spends an Edge for: Regeneration

Serrah lets out a shriek and jerks back from the mace, but barely. Yeah, that should make it obvious that she has a healthy fear of holy things.

But then she frowns, as she actually processes the huntress's words. "Okay, wow, shit," she says, backing away and putting up her hands. "At least fifty percent of the reason I was taking the paycheck was so if my sire grabbed me here, I could lord it over his head that he'd stopped me from protecting another vampire, but those kinds of numbers blow most of the vampires where I'm from outta the water. Fuck that noise." ... That's up from the twenty-five percent she said earlier.

Still, she's clearly still somewhat affected by the huntress's mental effect, if she's believing her that easily.

    "Right? Guy struck me as the vampire type. Never did have to fight one of those before." Dante says, over the roar of .45 Auto that seems unending. Diana's abilities don't evade Dante's notice, and he begins to press the attack as he rushes in to back up Holly. "Holly, get clear!" He barks, then dashes up into Diana's face.

    "No shit! I had a hunch! Just wanted to get close without spooking him!" Dante calls out, and suddenly-

    He lowers his guns, and shrugs. "Well, guess we're not getting paid tonight. Like hell am I sitting out on a chance to kill a vampire." Pause. "A bad one, anyways. This guy seems like he's got the market cornered on that."

    Not waiting for Diana, Holly, or Serrah, he about-faces and runs towards the estate at full sprint again.

    "Come now, milord..." the figure notes. "I know of your thirsts, just as you know of mine." Indicating that, yes, this masked guy knows he smells like a vampire. And an indication that yes, Masked Guy did indeed smell it on Emmanuel. "Our kind... are beyond them. We have no need of the opinions of mortals."

    He pauses here, and tilts his head. "A suggestion. 'Tis not at all unusual in my world for vampires to form more... long-term alliances," he notes. "Another vampire lord lived in Father's castle for centuries, for protection. For the here and now? This may be a repeat performance of your harasser... or others. You can see that I am a powerful combatant. And let me tell you my family's name..." He pauses.

    "...Tepes."

    No, it's not the same one, more than likely. But he's noticed the name in a lot of lore in other worlds. It's an advantage, so he'll use it. He pauses again, with a nod. "So... what is your decision? Are you beyond mortal law? Or does your power frighten you? Are you willing to take more when offered?"

Holly's only a bit bruised from the fall but she raises her arm to shield herself from Dante's attack before. Only for him to change his mind, "Wait, the vampire we're working for is a bad guy?" She pulls herself as she says that before turning towards Diana, "Sorry about that, it sounds like I missed something." She trusts what Dante said even only she caught part of the conversation. Still she's a bit hesitant about killing the undead even if they are evil.

    He's clueless that Dante has changed allegiances. This so called Duke of Florida is once again backing away from the window, turning to better face the stone masked figure once again. His brow knots.
    "That doesn't sound unwise." He muses to the suggestion. But then the figure gives his family name.
    "You are not the emperor's kin. Not of my world at least." But his lips purse.
    "I need not concern myself with the laws and opinions of cattle." He nearly spits.

Fear of holy things does not /necessarily/ make you a vampire. But the things Serrah talks about kind of do, and Diana's gaze instantly fixes upon Serrah, and the huntress seems tempted to keep fighting; but she has her priorities straight. The Duke must die, Serrah can be dealt with later. "Could've not shot me if you were going to help out anyway." She complains somewhat annoyedly as it turns out her appeal to conscience did the trick. While Dante is heading back, Diana just gets ready to take aim once again, hoping that the vampire lord will find himself curious about the state of things. She loads a large cylinder into the weapon, and the magnets begin to charge.

    The stone masked figure nods. "I had thought as much," he rumbles. He turns more to face Emmanuel. His voice here has more emphasis. A more... 'heroic' bent, if such a thing can be said of a vampire's voice. "You forget that you feed upon people. Had you not forgotten that, I would have let you live..."

    Despite his words... well, he can hear the others approaching again. He does have some integrity as a hunter, after all. This 'D' came to conduct pest control. And it would be rude to that that opportunity away.

    So he runs forward, so fast he leaves afterimages of himself -- though not as fast as that teleportation strike earlier -- and makes to grab at Emmanuel. If he can grab the front of the vampire's suit, he's going to try to subsequently THROW the man out the window.

    All this should happen as the group reaches the house, so Emmanuel won't have too long to try and make his escape. From the window, Alucard -- for now his voice can be recognized -- notes, "This one has no care for mortals apart from cattle. Thus I would suggest you not suffer him to live." He pauses, to remove his mask and push his hood back.

    Dante was going to do something stupid and try to jump up into the window he made, but Alucard just made this very easy. "Yo, thanks Adrian!" He calls out chipperly, as he watches Emmanuel fall out of the window thanks to dhampir-assisted throwing.

    Then he opens up on Emmanuel, to blow his kneecaps out. Diana's wanted to ice this bastard, he might as well make sure the vampire hunter will have herself a target that'll cooperate.

    "What?" It comes as a shock to say the least. To have one of his own kind turn on him. To remind him that people are not cattle. It clicks in the next second for Duke Emmanuel the second that he should be on the defensive now. He takes a step FORWARD, intending to strike before he can be struck, but the son of Dracula himself is faster. "Son of a-"
    His cry is strangled by the fact that he's bodily hurled out the window.
    He lands on his feet at least. Before demonically empowered bullets blow out his kneecaps. There's a snarled hiss of pain as he drops to his knees, legs bloody and mulched but visibly beginning to regenerate.
    Perhaps this is the moment where he realizes his mistake.
    "What- what had that bastard told you? Whatever they said I'll double what I offered to pay- triple it!"
    Ah. How the cruel always turn out to be such cowards.

Serrah frowns back at the huntress, not initially understanding that stare -- hooray for Majesty of the Night! -- but she simply shrugs. "Dante's kind of trigger-happy, I guess," she says. "And in our defense, we literally didn't know anything about this asshole."

She whirls around when Alucard makes himself known, and snickers. "Okay, great, thanks!" she calls up to him. She looks back at Diana. "I don't have anything that can specifically kill vampires," she says, as Dante opens fire. "For, uh. Reasons which I hope are apparent. I'll let you do the honors of, of dusting the bloodsucker." Well, she doesn't seem to have any love for her own kind. She looks over at Holly. "Unless you wanted to?"

    "Nothing times three is still nothing, asshole." Dante says in a flat tone, dropping any attempt at joviality from before. He stares at Emmanuel with cold, piercing eyes, his expression radiating disgust as he stows his pistols and nods to Diana. He's all hers, now.

Holly merely watches and cringes a bit as Dante kneecaps Emmanuel. She wouldn't intervene but she still finds this a bit unnerving. "Go ahead..." This isn't the first time she's seen a vampire being killed but it's still doesn't make her happy to see it.

Diana changes plans the moment Alucard throws her target out of the window. She visibly glares at him but isn't going to let a good opportunity go to waste as she rushes over and pops a stake out of the shell. "My lord, the time has come to rest." She states, before driving the stake into his heart. The vampire goes still, but his regeneration doesn't stop. She picks him up and throws him over her shoulder without any issue, "I'll make sure no-one gets any funny ideas about removing the stake before the sun can claim him." She answers the others, thinking about introducing herself; but stopping short of telling vampires, even cooperative ones, her identity even if she's decided to treat them as allies for the night. "Thank you for your assistance."

    In goes the stake, and Emmanuel makes a strangled noise somewhere between a choke and a splutter as the spike is driven into his heart.
    "Urk!"
    It is not a pleasant sound, as he goes still, paralyzed and helpless. "Bas...tards." It takes all his effort just to curse his former 'security' for turning on him before he's bodily lifted and his fate is to be sealed.

    "Adio, bastardo." Dante says coldly, and salutes Diana. "You take care, lady. Gimme a ring if you ever need backup hunting these guys again."

    "A coward and a fool," Alucard observes at the words -- begging, basically -- from Emmanuel. He hops out the window, his cloak temporarily flapping like a great pair of wings -- feathered wings, to note -- and he lands upon the ground as easily as if he had merely stepped down a single step. He is there now mainly to ensure Emmanuel doesn't get away. "You prey upon those weaker than yourself, and think to pay your sins' cost with coin. What you have taken cannot be repaid with money."

    Huh. Rare form tonight, it seems, for Alucard to start sermonizing. He must really dislike this guy.

    He does shut up eventually, though... just in time to notice Holly's discomfiture with the events. And so he moves around the vampire as Diana moves in, standing where he can shield the deed from Holly's eyes with his cloak if she doesn't want to see it. "My apologies," he offers, his voice gentle. "For some, the curse corrupts their souls until they are truly naught but monsters. For the good of others, they must be... put down. Much as a rabid animal."

    Alucard nods as the woman begins walking away from the scene with the vampire. He thinks about going after her... but that glare -- she knew. She knew he was a vampire, and glared at him as if he were cut from the same cloth as this Emmanuel fellow. No, she does not want a dhampir's company right now. Maybe not ever.

    So instead he nods. "Take care," he offers to her instead. And to Dante's words, the offer of assistance in the future? Alucard agrees, "Likewise."

"I know, this isn't the first I've seen a vampire die. It's kind of hard to convince people that they're not all but I'm not going to give up!" Holly still is concerned about how people treat the undead after all. "I wonder if he has any magical artifacts?" If he's rich and magic exists on this world, it certainly would be likely.

Serrah sniffs the air. The huntress certainly has an ... interesting smell. It's giving her mixed signals that kind of remind her of Alucard, actually. But she just shrugs. "Same here," she says, nodding to Dante and Alucard. "I mean, yes, I'm a vampire, but I'm still holding out hope that we can dust the asshole who turned me fast enough that I can go back to being human."

She looks at Holly, and grimaces. "Shit," she mutters. "Yeah. I mean. Honestly, I feel weird about ... watching people die." She looks down at herself. "It's, I mean, right now I'm a vampire, which means that I'm ... instinctively okay with it?" She shakes her head. "And, and I keep feelin' like ... the part of me that isn't okay with it is draining. My 'essence of humanity' ..." She sighs. "Like I was saying."

    Dante seems fairly unconcerned as Emmanuel is carried off. "We'd better get going, if we're done here. Unless any of you wanna go poke through a guy's stuff." He says, and takes off after throwing everyone a salute. "I'm off, peace."

"Marriage is kind of a steep price for mercenary work. Also like, you're not my type." Diana answers Dante, and is about to continue when she overhears Serrah and stops. "Not possible. Your only way out is to be put to rest. I can take care of that for you, if you like." So maybe Diana has a few things to learn left about how some things don't work the same in every world.

"And miss Witch. He died a long time ago, and right now he is no more dead than he was before I came. He's just unconscious. Only sunlight kills a vampire." As she's addressing others anyway, she glances to Alucard, "The blood of innocents is not yours to take whether you see them as people or cattle."

Having said her piece, she's back to walking away.

Dante just laughs, and Diana will probably find a business card with Dante's contact information on it flying her way.

    Alucard is well aware of the truth of Diana's words. Though he doesn't directly address them now. He's quiet, lost in thought... remembering a time when he did exactly that. A friend upon whom he inflicted the curse that runs through his veins...

    It's not too difficult to tell when the Son of Dracula is out of sorts. He has a very specific way of dealing with it. By just not being there. And this time is no exception, either.

    Without a word spoken to anyone, he shifts forms into that of a wolf, and darts away into the night. For what it's worth, he didn't 'storm' away. He just has a lot on his mind!

Serrah blinks. "Marriage, wha-- oh." She facepalms. "'A ring.' Holy shit." And then she adds her other hand to the mix. "Great," she says. "Another vampire hunter who thinks re-killing me is a favor. I still need to tell Sonia about our chat while we were chasing Grendels, by the way, Alucard ... uh ... Alucard?" She looks around in confusion.

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> Facepalm x2 combo!

"Don't worry Serrah, we'll find Vincent and make him turn you back!" Holly's likely in over her head here but that's never stopped her before. "I wonder if I can use my magic to force him too..." Of course she would have to get her magic to work properly first in order to do that. Her attention then turns towards Diana, "I won't let you!" The normally cheerful witch sounds rather serious there for a moment.

"Think about it." Diana answers, "You admit that you're losing your empathy for the living. Way I see it, it's only a matter of time until you become like this guy. Would you really want to have that kind of blood on your hands?" She doesn't stop walking, just going on. She doesn't bother responding to Holly, but Dante's card gets pocketed.

Serrah shakes her head. "Vincent doesn't actually need to be involved, Holly, we need to actually either kill him or destroy his scepter." At the huntress's question, though, she shrugs. "Well, of course not," she says, "but the way vampires actually work in the world I came from, there's an actual measurable essence of humanity, when you get turned into something else. And there's plenty of examples of people getting turned back. I can name at least three vampires, for example. I looked them up right after I got turned," she adds.

"Well, I don't he's just going to hand over it right? So unless you know a way to get it without him noticing and he disappeared the last time I tried that." Holly's not exactly the subtle type after all.

 "Would it be possible to replace it with a duplicate?" Servis suddenly speaks up from the silence.

 "Well, we would still have to find someone who can make something like that, I doubt there's another like it right?" She figures that sounds like one of kind artifact.

"If you change your mind, the offer remains open." Diana shakes her head and keeps walking away, clearly not believing Serrah's claims of being able to return to humanity, but also not inclined to debate it. Soon, she picks up the pace and is swiftly gone.

Serrah sighs, and stops following after Diana. "Wonder if she's another Belmont," she mutters. "Or a Van Helsing, the old vampire-slayer clan in Hartford." She to turn to face Holly. "Hate to break it to you, Holly, but this is unquestionably a situation where we're gonna need to fight him," she says. "Ideally without him using me as an undead meat shield, but, like, I'm not holding my nonexistent breath on that."

"Well, then maybe I can summon you so he can't! I somehow did it with Iota...just have to figure out how to do it again." Of course that might take Holly some time to figure out how. "Or find a way to make my magic more powerful." They likely would need to do that in order to stand a chance against Vincent.

Serrah raises her eyebrows at Holly's offer. She doesn't look incredulous or defeated anymore. Just ... intrigued. "That's ... yeah," she says softly, a wry smile forming. "Yeah, you work on learning to do that, Holly." She shrugs. "Just ... be careful about it, all right? Summoning ... sometimes has weird side-effects." She turns away. "Anyway. Gotta jet. Got stuff to do, and I haven't sensed Vincent trying to follow me lately, which probably means he's up to something. So ... yeah. Later!"