"So how's everything going on your end?"
Mario sat by the lake in Central Park, enjoying a rare moment of peace. The water rippled gently, and his fishing bobber suddenly plunged beneath the surface. With a quick jerk of his arm, a fish flew out of the water and disappeared into his inventory.
"You all settled in? What's the vampire situation like? Actually, I've been thinking Los Angeles might be worth checking out. When I was there last time, the place was crawling with bloodsuckers. Could be a good hunting ground."
He cast his line back into the water and quietly waited for another bite.
On the other end of the call, Blade grunted in agreement. Since leaving New York weeks ago, he'd only called Mario once. Today, bored out of his mind, Mario had decided to reach out first.
"Washington's got plenty to keep you busy," Blade said. In the background, Mario heard the sound of a blade sliding through flesh, followed by a vampire's dying scream. "When I first got here, the stench almost knocked me on my ass. These bloodsuckers are everywhere."
The exaggeration was obvious, but it made the point, Washington D.C. had a serious vampire problem.
"What about guild recruitment? If it's just the two of us, we'll never make a dent in their population."
"I've found some solid candidates. Whistler's daughter is here too..."
That caught Mario's attention. He knew about Abigail, capable, driven, and in the original timeline, she'd led a team of human vampire hunters alongside Blade.
"Perfect. I'll head down there and bring them into the guild officially. With some new members, our hunting speed will definitely increase dramatically."
His garlic injectors were begging to be used. And he was confident that anyone serious about killing vampires would jump at the chance to become a proper Hunter with access to the Vampirism mod's skill tree. The power boost alone would be worth it.
And if they want to level up their skills, they'll have to pay guild fees. With enough members, I can just sit back and collect my cut until I hit max level.
The business model was sound. He wasn't just building a vampire hunting operation, he was building a franchise.
They chatted for a few more minutes until Mario heard gunfire erupt on Blade's end. He hung up, packed away his fishing rod, and stood to stretch.
The weather had turned cool, autumn was coming. Dark clouds had been gathering since morning, though it didn't look like rain. Just the kind of gloomy day that made you want to stay inside.
Time to get moving.
"I'll bring Pearl and Allen with me to Washington. Pearl's been going stir-crazy anyway. Might as well leave him there permanently if the hunting's good," Mario muttered to himself as he walked home.
New York's vampire population had been decimated. These days, if Pearl managed to find even one bloodsucker during his nightly patrols, it was cause for celebration.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. incident had happened several days ago. According to Coulson, the organization had taken massive damage. The U.S. headquarters had survived thanks to military intervention, but most international branches had fallen to Hydra.
---
Back at his underground base, Mario found Pearl still sleeping like a rock. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and slapped the vampire hard enough to send him flying.
Pearl's massive body hit the stone and slid to the floor. He blinked groggily, taking in his surroundings until his eyes landed on Mario. Then his entire face lit up.
"Is it vampires? Are we hunting?"
Mario stared at him speechlessly.
"Vampires? You are a vampire."
For a creature of the night, Pearl showed more enthusiasm for vampire hunting than Mario himself. The competition was getting ridiculous.
"Get ready. We're heading to Washington. Once we're there, you can hunt to your heart's content."
Pearl let out a cheer of joy, bouncing around Mario.
"I'm ready! Let's go right now!"
Mario organized his inventory, making sure he had the injection chair and the Altar of Inspiration. This trip wasn't just about hunting vampires, it was about expanding the guild's operations and establishing a proper branch office.
He glanced over at Allen, who was tending the underground farm. "We're leaving soon. Get ready."
Allen immediately dropped what he was doing and hurried over with the kind of deferent respect that made Mario slightly uncomfortable. "Yes. What do you need?"
The guy had become increasingly subservient over the past few weeks. It was getting weird.
"We're going to Washington. Pack whatever you need."
---
Three hours later, their car pulled up outside a suburban two-story house in Washington D.C.
Despite being the nation's capital, Washington never seemed to get the same attention as New York in movies or games. Most foreigners unconsciously forgot this was where the actual government operated.
Following Blade's directions, Mario had Allen park out front. Through the window, he spotted Whistler's familiar weathered face.
The old man emerged from the house as Mario climbed out of the car. His expression was as stern as ever, though he pulled Mario into a brief, awkward hug.
"What brings you here?"
Then Whistler noticed Pearl sitting in the back seat, his massive bat form barely fitting through the window. "Why do you have a bat? And why is it so... fat?"
Mario grinned. "That's Pearl. He's one of my employees."
They walked toward the house together. "I'm here on guild business. Also, New York's vampire population has dropped to almost nothing, so I figured we'd come down here and clean up some of your trash problem."
The house had clearly been modified by Blade and Whistler. Beyond the living room and dining area, every other space had been converted into weapons storage, planning room, workshop.
Whistler led them down to the basement, where Mario spotted another familiar face.
"Karen! Still working with Blade, I see." he extended his hand with a smile. "Any interest in becoming a vampire hunter? Or maybe a vampire?"
Karen looked up from her lab bench and actually smiled when she saw him. "Shouldn't you be busy running your company? How do you have time to drive down here?"
"Company ran into some problems a while back. Got them sorted out. Now the place basically runs itself, Tony and Ivan handle the technical side, I just show up occasionally to make sure nobody's secretly working for Hydra."
He walked over to her workspace and picked up a vial of blue liquid from the lab bench. The color reminded him of Resident Evil.
"Is this the vampire 'cure' you've been working on?"
"You could call it a cure," Karen said. "More accurately, it's a solution to the vampire problem. A very physical solution."
Mario nodded, examining the vial carefully. Once injected into a vampire's bloodstream, this stuff would react with their DNA and cause them to literally explode like overfilled balloons. Even La Magra himself couldn't survive it.
The only downside, from his perspective, was that it wouldn't generate any loot drops.
"Excellent work. Though you might want to consider making an aerosolized version. Spray this from a plane over a vampire nest and watch the fireworks."
Karen actually laughed. "That's not a terrible idea."
Before they could continue, Pearl swooped down from his perch, startling Karen badly enough that she nearly grabbed for a weapon.
"Hey, I remember you! You were with Blade!"
The sight of a talking bat completely froze Karen.
"What the hell is that thing?" Her eyes were wide. "And why can it talk?"
"Who are you? How do you know me?"
"I'm Pearl! We met in the archive room!" Without warning, he transformed back into his original form. His massive body hit the ground with a heavy thud that made the floor tremble.
"I remember you now. But how did you transform? That's impossible! Vampires are just genetic mutations, they're nothing like the mythological creatures—"
Then her eyes lit up like someone had flipped a switch. "Wait. Hold on."
She rushed back to her lab bench and started rummaging through drawers until she pulled out an absolutely massive metal syringe. The thing looked like it belonged in a veterinary clinic that specialized in elephants.
Mario's eye twitched. "Karen. Easy. You planning to drain him completely dry?"
He knew exactly what she wanted, everyone who'd seen Pearl transform wanted to study him. The only difference was methodology. Some wanted blood samples. Others wanted tissue slices.
Pearl was clearly terrified by the manic gleam in Karen's eyes. He instantly transformed back into bat form and flew behind Mario for protection.
"Don't come any closer!"
Mario stepped between them. "I know you want to research him. Just use a smaller needle, and share your findings with me when you're done. I'm curious too, how exactly does Pearl differ from a normal vampire now?"
Pearl relaxed slightly. Drawing a little blood wasn't a big deal. He could always feed later to replace it. But that elephant-sized needle? That was nightmare fuel.
Then Mario's next words made his bat heart sink.
"We'll take it slow and steady. If you drain him all at once, there won't be anything left to study. Just take a few tubes per day."
Pearl gave Mario the most pitiful look imaginable, which only made Mario want to laugh. The vampire's intelligence fluctuated wildly, sometimes sharp, sometimes like a literal child.
Transforming back to his normal form, Pearl wore an expression of resignation as Karen switched to a more reasonable syringe and began searching for a vein.
But Pearl was so massively fat that finding one proved nearly impossible. After several attempts that produced only yellowish fluid, he finally snapped.
"For fuck's sake, woman, just stab me with a knife instead!"
That finally got Karen a proper blood sample.
Right at that moment, footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Multiple armed figures appeared in the doorway, immediately focusing on the strangers in their base.
"Who are you people?"
Then they spotted Pearl sitting on the floor, holding a blood vial and chugging it like Gatorade. Every weapon in the room immediately swung toward him.
"Vampire! We've got a hostile!"
"Look at the size of that thing. He's gotta be powerful!"
"How the hell did he get in here?"
Tension filled the basement. None of them had ever seen a vampire bold enough to waltz into a hunter base. If they hadn't seen Karen and Whistler standing there unharmed, bullets would already be flying.
Pearl wasn't backing down either. In the confined space of the basement, everyone was well within his attack range. Red energy began gathering in his palms. The moment they attacked, he was ready to drain the closest person dry.
Whistler quickly stepped forward. "Abigail, stand down! He's on our side!"
A young woman with a compound bow lowered her weapon slightly but kept her eyes locked on Pearl. She looked to be in her early twenties, with long brown hair styled in loose waves. Her entire posture screamed "trained fighter."
"But that's a vampire," she said sharply.
"I know," Whistler replied calmly. "But he works for Mario."
"Mario?" The name came from a man at the back of the group. He suddenly turned his attention to the Italian standing near the lab bench.
"Mario?! You're the Butcher of the Night?!"
Mario's smile vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of annoyance.
I'm going to find whoever started that nickname and make them regret it.
He forced himself to relax. "Please. Call me the Night Hunter. Thanks."