Blood runs beneath our feet(Nekro; open to 1 other)

Unfortunately she was right, the shipment would have to be made and it was far to late to try any other approach since Ronin practically maimed the boss to the men outside. Noah lowered his arm, thinking about the next course of action. This man wanted to be dead, maybe he could use that to his advantage. "Hey, buddy, I know you don't think we are much but I know a way you can get out of this alive to continue living your miserable existence."

Reaching into the mans pocket, Noah pulled out the mans cellphone and looked at it. Wirelessly AIVAS began to hack into it to receive the proper number to call for the man to give the order to deliver the shipment. "You tell your men to deliver the shipment as scheduled without warning the blood suckers and we'll be sure to kill them all. You get some freedom from the ungrateful vampires and we get our targets. We both win."

Noah knew it was a long shot, but if the man agreed to his deal AIVAS would dial the number and Noah would hold the phone up to the man so he could make the call out to give the command, hopefully he wouldn't do anything stupid. "Don't try anything either, your men out there have a bunch of well trained snipers ready to take them all down in less time than you can say dinner is served." Noah was bluffing, but he sure as hell didn't sound like it and this would hopefully give the man a bit of confidence that they could pull off taking out the vampires so that he could live.

"What the hell, what more do I've got to lose..." He cursed his situation but seemed to agree readily.

"Hey Tony. Is everything ready to go? Good, good. You seeing the game after? Nah, I gotta do some other stuff. Yeah I'm fine, just gonna hide my credit card from the blonde. Yeah. Yeah. Okay."

"Fine. If by some miracle you do kill em... tell them I'm done. Now, please just go." He looked at them both, perspiring. Especially at Red Ronin's face.

Red Ronin opened the office window for them to escape silently. She gestured down at the parking lot, and a very expensive looking red motorcycle's headlights light up. She turned towards Steve one last time.

"If you don't check in to a hospital today... I'll find out. Then I start cutting off rather than breaking." Red climbs out first down towards her bike.

Noah followed her, but just before leaving the office he pointed his two finger to the visor on his helmet and then pointed at the bad guy. "We'll be watching you." He finished climbing out the window and followed Red Ronin to her bike. "Mind if I hitch a ride?" He asked, seeing as they were working together now it would only be nice to not have to jump from roof top to roof top. This may have not been the smartest choice he could make by teaming up with this assassin but having some back up against vampires would be that bad, especially against that samurai.

“Hold on then... We’ll need to make a stop first.” She said, letting Noah hitch a ride, the bike’s seat necessitating a firm hold on the biker. The Japanese bike was off at dizzyingly high speeds for city riding, but the Ronin seemed accustomed to such driving.

They pass by a new yet fairly popular Japanese Fast food called Tsunami Chops. The Ronin entered the empty parking lot behind it, the lights conveniently going out. In her bike’s headlights a secret door opens up in the masonry wall to reveal a secret elevator.

The elevator led to an underground safehouse, roughly 2.5 meters wide and four times as long. The floors and walls were plain, unadorned concrete while embedded LED lights in the low hanging ceiling. A few shelves were anchored to the walls by metal angle bars, while a single recess was provided for the Ronin’s armor mannequin. She removed the heavier, outer samurai armor of her suit, leaving the skin fitting black beneath. She keeps her mask on.

It was divided into three sections- the bike area, where the elevator lowered into, and had spare parts for the bike. The middle storage area had the most shelves and crates, as well as a wall of traditional Japanese weapons and transparent lockers containing spare pieces for her armor- that way she could just replace the armor parts while she fixed the others.

In the far wall was a single computer set up, while a large, bulky 3D printer hummed. Framed pictures of a young Japanese family hung on the far side of the wall, still in good condition. It all worked to further enforce the Ronin’s fiction, the life of a aging woman who lost it all and now dedicated utterly to vengeance.

“Make yourself at home.” She points to the small fridge. She sat at the computer and looked up vampire information, from common and not so common sources.

“Vampires. If it’s true, I suppose we’ll need... things like silver weapons, allergens, and UV emitters.” She runs a program on her PC and places her sword in the large printer-like machine. It begins to the run the program, small robotic arms plating her katana and some Shuriken with a layer of silver.

“Tell me then, what do you know about these vampires? We should be prepared.” She asked.

Noah wrapped his arms around the Ronins' waist to ensure he did not fly off her bike, wouldn't want to make her think he was an idiot if he fell of the bike while she drove around town. She was as skilled as her profile said she was, but the real question was if she could be trusted or not. She obviously didn't feel threatened by Noah, as they pulled up to the back of a fast food restaurant named Tsunami Chops which turned out to be a sort of front for her base of operations. However, compared to his partners hideout, this one seemed far less high tech and screamed 'temporary'.

Ronin told Noah to make himself at home, so he did, ignoring the fridge and standing behind Ronin who sat at her computer. She was already searching for information on vampires but she'd probably turn up a whole lot of nonsense from twilight to Dracula. "Doubt you'll find anything too useful on the internet." Noah stated. Tapping his helmet a small USB device ejected from his helmet which contained video footage from his previous fight with vampires including his fight with Harada Katsumoto, the crimson vampire samurai with the ability to resurrect the dead. Something the Ronin could be interested in.

"They crave fresh blood, but to maintain their cover they stick to bagged blood in most cases except for rare occasions in order to avoid suspicion." Noah stated, as the USB would also contain missing person cases as well as murder cases from across the globe. It was obvious that the Blue vigilante had resources. "I doubt the magic Katsumoto used was something vampires inherit from their curse and that he obtained his magical powers secondary by his own accord. An analysis of his armor taken during our fight shows that the armor itself is indeed from feudal japan. I haven't yet pinpointed a specific area of origin from which a design such as that would originate from."

"I've shared what I know, and i'm curious as to what your role in all of this is." Noah asked, he needed to know what she was after incase it could compromise his mission.

Ronin quickly accepts Noah’s input on her computer and the search engine turns up common internet references as well as Sealed Historical Documents from Japan. Most of the images were the earliest photographs of samurai in the 18th and 19th century. A majority of the articles and documents referenced the Satsuma Rebellion.

“I see. That’s good work, but it doesn’t tell us everything quite yet. The name Harada Katsumoto is familiar, though.” Ellie was very well read, and even secondary historical figures tended to pop up a reference in her mind. Ronin brings up a few tabs and begins reading the entries.

“Harada Katsumoto, one of the lesser lieutenants of Saigo Takamori, leader of the Satsuma Rebellion in Japan in 1877. Second man from the left.”



Ronin brought up more documents, scans of very old japanese letters addressed between Harada and his lord Saigo. "Harada was... Takamori's lieutenant in charge of their covert operations and shinobi until the final battle in Kagoshima. There the Samurai were trapped, outnumbered and outgunned; Harada apparently wanted to save Takamori from his ignoble death, referencing 'greater powers', but at that point the rebellion had already claimed so many samurai lives, and Takamori was injured. Takamori's followers charged into the enemy line and were killed to a man. "

More grisly images were brought up, one of a room filled with beheaded, kneeling men. Ronin didn't know about their enemy's present capabilities, but she was certainly apt at dissecting Harada's history. "Harada assisted Saigo to commit Sepukku, but Harada himself was stopped from committing Hara-kiri. He was tried for crimes against the State and humiliated, by being hanged by the Western allies of the new Meiji Government. His remains were buried at an unmarked shrine, but his tomb was found empty after ten years..."

Ronin then turned around and faced Noah, her voice urgent. She played back his grainy, unclear battle with Harada in the present day, alongside the still images of the Samurai from the past. The computer ran an analysis and indeed, the armor they both wore matched, as well as their demon masks. "...Are you sure he introduced himself as Harada Katsumoto? This is a Samurai from the Satsuma Rebellion. I can only make assumptions about his psychological profile, but I think I can piece together some of his motivations... as well as make an assumption that there are indeed 'Greater Powers' at play. which means he isn't in charge. There's someone or something more powerful out there that brought him back."

She retrieves a small cube and connects it wireless to the computer, making a colored image of Takamori. "...Someone with that much history and power though... what  would they want with a bunch of hollywood celebrities?"

The video also reveal a second figure, the teenaged vampire girl in a school outfit toting a bazooka. "And who's that?"

'Am I in over my head...?' Noah thought to himself as Ronin revealed all of these details. When he worked with Red, things seemed cut and dry. Target the bad guy, take him down, and let the police handle the rest. This, however, was different. This was vampires, ancient powers and resurrected samurai. He stood still for a moment, trying not to look to spooked. Noah was only nineteen years old after all, and has only been fighting normal human criminals with the occasional meta-human but nothing he and the others couldn't handle. This was far deeper, deeper than anything he had ever been a part of.

"Lil girls a vampire, unfortunately obsessed with me and wants me to be her boy toy." Noah stated, trying to get his wits about him as he processed everything. "...and yes, he said his name was Harada Katsumoto." Crossing his arms, Noah starred at the image that Ronin had brought up examining him. "...not sure what they want but it can't be good."

Red and Violet were to far away, even if he called for back up they wouldn't be able to get there fast enough. Ronin was good but vampires were fast, strong, and fighting multiple would be difficult. "We need a solid plan if its just going to be the two of us going in as well as a clear objective. We don't know what they want yet...whether its survival or not but I doubt somebody with that much power, more power then Harada, would be content in living in the shadows."

'Think Noah think....' Noah was frustrated, angry at the mental block he was facing trying to piece what little they knew together. 'You're more than just the power...Elizabeth unlocked a part of my brain that nobody else has ever had unlocked. Its given you insight, knowledge so think!'

"Celebrities." Noah stated. "Their influential, powerful. They have money and resources that are legitimately earned." Noah was thinking out loud but he was coming up with some valid points. "They can have anything, do anything and pay their way out of it but they can't by the one thing that we all don't have...Time."

Pausing for a second, letting Ronin take in his theory a bit before continuing. "Eternal youth, a long fulfilling life. Money to fund their operations without attracting attention from police or super heroes. Its a long stretch but that might be the connection. The celebrities might be buying the curse to maintain their youth and the vampires use the money to sustain  themselves. But where does our samurai play into this."

"That's a sound theory, but a theory nonetheless. Speculation only gets us so far. We'll eventually need to force a confrontation. Hold on while the computer runs a background check on the vampire girl." Ronin replied. She believed thoroughly in knowing her enemy, and knowledge was the domain of Ellie's information network.

Harada' files were saved to the local drive as well as Noah's flash drive for future reference. The wonderful hardware Red Ronin had at her disposal began its search on the girl, and the results came up very quickly. Japanese newspaper articles and the like were brought up.

"Yukari Yashida, AKA Megabeth, 2 time Japanese Roller Diva champion by the time she was 17. Disappeared two years ago under mysterious circumstances, speculated connection to her boyfriend's association with the Yakuza."

Extensive Phone call and text records between Yukari and her parents were brought up, tapping a Japanese telecommunication company's archives. This was some serious access power for a basement computer. The translator revealed the incredible hostility exchanges between her parents and the girl, weeks before her death.

"Yukari is the only child of a prominent businessman and an actress. Parents greatly disapproved of her Roller Diva status, repeatedly threatening her with being cut off if she didn't stop. After her disappearance, there was a sharp increase in attacks on Yakuza operations. Psychological profile suggests anti-authoritarian tendancies as well as unstable, psychotic tendencies... so basically, a spoiled brat who didn't want to do what her parents wanted. Again, her motivations for returning from the dead are understandable... but what she's doing here in America isn't. This Dark Power who's resurrecting Samurai and Celebrities must be leveraging their psychological defects in exchange for their services."

Ronin then paused after the monologue of speculation, trying to find all the connections, with a large question mark at the center of her digital web of connections labeled 'Greater powers'. Noah too had a spot on the web of intrigue and conspiracy, as an opposing force.

"These two are only the rooks on the chessboard. Someone is behind all of it, with a deeper goal. Here's the plan: we'll need to prevent the celebrities from turning, but somehow capture one of the ranking vampires. I'm also going to capture Augustus Zhao. If he's getting supernatural help, then far more people are going to be endangered by his human trafficking operation." Ronin stood up and began searching through her armory of gadgets to prepare for capturing. Meanwhile, the 3D printer beeped, indicating that her sword was now finished with the silver coating process.

Noah nodded in agreement, until they knew more about what was happening they would have to go about this carefully. "I agree." He stated, looking at the image of megabeth. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. Spoiled brat or not she was probably manipulated into becoming what she was now. "I also want my AI to run tests on the vampire we capture, if this is a curse than maybe it can be lifted. Not everyone who has become a vampire probably wanted to be one. If not to save some of them we could still use a cure as a weapon against them too" Noah may sound a bit naive, talking about saving them but this is why he does what he does, to save people. Somewhere along the line, listening to Connor talk about the bottom line and reducing crime as their primary mission he had forgotten that. "I'm ready when you are."

Red Ronin emerges from her armory without the helmet, showing indeed the face of a lady in her 50's, deep lines in her face and under her eyes. She slips some sort of thin, translucent fabric onto her face that acted like an HD screen, transforming her features into that of a young, blonde caucasian man.

She had also changed into a fancy suit with her original battle gear underneath. She handed Noah a large back of equipment, as well as her sword. She was already speaking in an electronically altered male voice. She held up one such device found in the bag. "I'll scope out the party and gather intel. You set up these devices at all doors and windows so they can't escape. Let's go."

Ronin reaches her bike, and the elevator lifts them back up to the surface.

"Nifty mask" Noah stated, taking the bag and observing what it contained. 'seem easy enough to set up' He thought to himself. "One second, bags a bit cumbersome for me." Noah placed the contents of the bag on the table and then removed the 'equip' from his belt. Holding it up to the table a blue light spread across the table and scanned everything. Then, everything seemed to turn to particles before being sucked into the equip. He had digitized the traps so he wouldn't have to carry a bag around with him. She showed off some of her tech, so he decided to show off some of his. Though he doubt she would know how it worked.

"Lead the way." He stated, clipping the equip back to his belt and then following her to the bike which they then took off towards their destination.

When they were a few blocks away Noah called out to Ronin, "Once the traps are set i will Sneak in through the roof tops. Good luck" Firing off the glove, Noah latched onto a nearby building and lifted himself from the bike without disturbing Ronin.

He then followed the roof tops until reaching their destination. Using his HUD, he scoped out what sort of guard detail they had, being careful to stay hidden in the shadows. Focusing on the task at hand was priority. "AIVAS..." He whispered, "See if you can get access to any cameras inside and around the building."

The artificial intelligence went to work, wirlessly trying to find its way into the buildings network. Whether it be a wireless device with a camera, a lap top, or anything else that was possibly hooked up to the internet, AIVAS would find a way to look through it.

‘Sixteen are you gay?’
‘Um no …’
‘We’ve been to a couple of places and I haven’t seen you even blink at a woman at all ! You suuuuure … Master Yu Yu won’t judge’
‘Are you drunk?’
‘Your catching on fast … is that a yes’
‘…’
‘Sixteen you really need to learn how to lighten up; You look like something broke your heart.’
‘Broke my heart … ?? ‘
‘You seriously just said that … ‘
‘Talking is complicated for me ..’

This was part of the conversation me and the Ninja Princess conversation went, I can’t really explain her as much as I thought I could study. She is so unpredictable. it’s a bit of an adventure under her wing, me and her decided to sit on top of a building and just talk, I had done my set of training this morning and she said she had something important to talk me about after class so we hung out and did unusual student and teacher bonding. Our feet dangled although it was nothing comparing to the silent almost soft wind that had its flow up and down the air having no destination at all. She liked seeing my face so she made me keep my mask off when I was around her, it bothers her for some odd reason and she has every reason to have odd reasons because she is very odd herself. My blue eyes making contact with hers, after small talk was almost over she turned to me with a serious look on her face before speaking again to me.

‘I’m giving you a mission, a serious mission this time …’
‘What kind of mission …’
‘Assassination and backup’
‘Assassinating who?’
‘Vampires.’
‘Vampires … exist??’
‘Yes, an unfortunate amount that Elie herself is about to face, and I have a bad feeling about who she’s perusing Or worse … Who could be perusing her. ‘
‘These vampires really that strong …’



Breath in … breath out, nice and slow as the sea with no patience and no destination the lungs can be used as a powerful weapon in the spiritual community of exhaling all the negative energy for those who have the technique right. In an alley in the city, where all the actions lie there were bodies scattered along the area of vision. The blood smell covers the lungs and nose giving him a different feeling this time tonight, the dead bodies were humans working for and or with the vampires which is one of the only leads he had at the moment on the case he was working on. Sixteen was back in action, but this time he was chasing a lead on a specific group of vampires that could give him a run for his money, at least this time in a long time he wasn’t fighting for money but this was a test to push his limits, return a favor from a master and she placed a temporary seal on him that brings him a spiritual entity for ‘character development’ purposes.


He stood straight, as his eyes scanned the area waiting for a so called ‘vampire’ to show up, he didn’t expect them to be as strong as she claimed but she created his fighting armor this time giving him each blade and or bullet is infused with Vampire killing bullets and the blade being able to cut and damage Vampires much quickly. His black attire as usual, mask over lower face, black shirt and over a black jacket with a light metal plate on top of it, Gauntlets along with the Current palms, a hood over his head he was going in not as Sixteen tonight; Since he wasn’t assassinating on a normal occasion he figured to try his new name. Lotus of Death, a name branded for life after swearing his soul to his new fierce clan and mentor Death himself.


The smell of blood caused him to turn around, in his vision he could see a vampire, his mouth filled with blood, size about six feet ten his complexion was interracial with white and something else, he was tired and beaten up badly with a look of pure hatred with green eyes breathing almost as hard as he could be if Lotus kept going. Lotus eyes were not visible, but he knew he could see him and within seconds the silence was broken. I never stated words, it was surly true that the man turned around and ran, fear and realization that Lotus skills were just to great so he tried to run. Lotus saw the fear, he almost felt it in his heart but shrugged it off as confusion, drenched in scars and bruises the Vampire leaped off the closest wall he saw and used it for a great support off another building, repeating the jumps until he got up top and surprisingly started running at high speeds beyond human standards. Lotus disappeared and reappeared on top of the closest building watching the man run he decided to give the vampire a head start. When the head start was over he busted air, launched himself forward leaping from building to building, performing flips feeling the air of the night making it behind him in no time at all. The Vampire realized this and started running towards the direction of the coven. Lotus plan was coming into play but he didn’t know how good this was going to get, with the vampire getting close he leaped off a building and land into a street, with a rough landing slamming into a car almost full force. Lotus doing a super fancy ass super flip landed lightly on the sidewalk, he was unaware that he was in Vampire zone. The Vampire got up to face his human but before he could defend himself his neck was stabbed by a knife. Quick fast and easier then what it could have been, he noticed the area that he was dragged to on purpose was a bit off tonight. His Danger senses were telling him to be alert, his danger senses were telling him threats are in the area.


Meanwhile back on their end somewhere ….