[♪ChuChu Lovely MuniMuni - MAXIMUM THE HORMONE♪][1]
Chaos erupts, club goers scream, Vampires hiding amongst their midst, attacking and biting into some of the various Adventurers gathered here. Blood sprays across the dance floor, some even going out of their way to defend themselves, swiftly overpowered by the supernatural might of a Vampire.
Emma pushes herself away from Dahlia at the sudden wails of distress. Dahlia stood up, grabbing a weapon from her bag, witnessing one of the partygoers rushing out into the hallway, tackled swiftly by a creature of the night, biting deeply into their neck and ripping as hard as they could. Blood pooled across the ground, a creature chewing on the chunk of flesh sticking to its teeth.
"What!? What the fuck!?" Emma screamed, the Vampire whipping its head around, noticing the two.
Kylika, escorted by two armored guards. She sighed, hands in her pockets as they led her deeper into the club's underground. "The hell did you guys do to the place while I was gone? Is all of this necessary?" Soon enough, they arrived at what looked to be a utility closet, opening it to reveal inside the missing students at the Academy, including the halfling girl that Meliana was following.
Tymera, an exceptionally tall elf with devilish features and bronze skin, a gakuran cap sat atop her head, black braids falling down her shoulders. Beside her, the blind platinum blond girl, Suuma Alarie, dressed like a stereotypical valley girl, and aside from the halfling, the Kobold, Kydra Newsom, wearing a black hoodie, ripped jeans, sporting red shimmering scales.
"What the fuck is this!?" Kylika whipped her head around, both armored men readying themselves for combat.
Where Dahlia and Emma were, the Vampire was facing them now, standing above a corpse, eyes white and hollow, jaw moving almost like a frothing beast. The Vampiric Spawn lunged out at Emma, seeing her as the weakest between the two, before being quickly intercepted by Dahlia's shield.
Dahlia tanked the hit, pushing the Vampire back with a force greater than its own. The monster slammed its foot into Dahlia's leg, causing her to stagger, and in her moment of weakness, they grappled the shield, attempting to pull it away from her.
"I always wondered what Kobold tasted like." The Drow from before, accosting Meliana, commented with a smile on her face.
Meliana ducked low, jumping straight through the stall gaps, throwing herself through the bathroom door. The DJ broke into a rage, slamming their body against the stalls, causing them to fly straight into the bathroom door, nearly cutting Meliana off from her exit.
Meliana spiraled across the ground, the restroom door now completely battered beyond repair. Meliana scampered to her feet, sprinting down the hallway beside her in a panic.
"You can't run from me, Kobold!"
Back to the remainder of the party, Dahlia takes the butt of her axe, stabbing it down into the Vampire's body multiple times, and as hard as she could, managing even to pierce the skin, ripping through a chunk of its flesh, before pushing it back with her shield, breaking out of its grapple in one, violent shove.
Dahlia gasped, waving her arms to shake off the pain that reverberated into her bones. She looked to see Emma taking a bizarre gun, a blade built around the barrel, about the size of the girl's entire arm, out from her bag. She pursed her lips, index and thumb set against her teeth, emitting a shrill whistle.
"W-Wow, you can whistle that loud!?"
"Yeah, I was calling Rider."
"You call him like that?"
"Y-Yeah?"
And then, the awkward silence.
For Kylika, the two armored men were a simple endeavor, both now dead on the ground, cracked open like the cadaver of a crustation. She sighed, looking back at the restrained students. "Let's get you all out of here, alright?"
Kylika crossed over to the ground, ripping off their restraints with her bare hands. Once she freed Tymera in particular, she stood up, confident in her step. "And so, the true hero has arrived!"
"You were restrained just a second ago, girl, not much of a hero, huh?"
"Sometimes, heroes lose, but that doesn't mean I'll lose a second time." Her tail flicked, stepping out from the closet, stealing one of the dead men's weapons, sheathing it within her belt. "You hear that? The commotion? That means we'll have to save the day, you all!" The girl smirked, tipping her hat in a reassuring gesture.
"What is this kid's problem...?"
Jumpcut: Emma digs the blade of her gun into a part of the Vampire's arm. The weapon barely punctured the skin, prompting her to attempt an additional strike on their body. Putting a bit more force into her strike, she dug the blade as deep as she could, stepping away from a swing coming from the monster, weapon digging as deep as she could into their chest.
Emma squeezed the trigger of this blade, the gun firing straight into the Vampire's chest, causing it to pop open like a bomb had gone off from within the creature. The monster stumbled back into the wall behind them, a streak of red staining the wall, a river of blood pooling beneath them.
Emma sighed. "Okay... okay... that felt good."
"That's a super cool weapon, Emma!"
"I know, right!?"
Two other Vampires from the dance floor poured in, noticing their dead comrade. They smiled, pointing over at the two. Just as the two, once again, charge at Emma, Dahlia stepped in the way, taking the brunt of their attacks. Dahlia let out a long sigh, stiffening her body even more, as if embodying the very essence of a shield.
From the other end of the hall, Meliana, breaking into a full sprint to get away from the Vampire chasing her, made sure to jump into one of the glass booths to avoid attention.
"Meli!?" Emma exclaimed, the Kobold's back slamming onto a couch, visibly panicked.
"The DJ is chasing me!"
"What!?"
During their exchange, Dahlia warded off the two Vampires targeting Emma, cleaving deep wounds into the two. Dahlia huffed, flexing her fingers along the grip of her axe and shield, palms slightly numb from the repeated abuse.
"Where the hell did you go!?" Emma's question was pointed at Meliana, asked as she stabbed one of the Vampires attacking her friend. After she could barely pierce their skin, she opted to fire into them instead, one of the shots managing to stagger them momentarily.
Ao, the Catfolk from before who spoke with Meliana, stumbled in as well, retreating from a Vampire chasing them. "W-What the hell is going on!?" He flicked the bladed scarf at the monster chasing him, causing it to recoil as it took off a section of flesh visibly. "Shit!"
"Kobold!" Finally, the Drow DJ came into view, breaking into a full sprint at Meliana, cut off by a flying axe, taking both of the creature's legs with it. They flop onto the floor, face dropping the instant her legs leave her body, sliding forward until coming to a rest after a moment. "W-What!?"
Next came Kylika, a hoof crushing the Drow's skull in an instant, the body lurched forward like a rabid animal. "What is this, some fucking Vampiric invasion!? What the hell happened to my club since I was gone!?"
"Yare yare daze." With a smirk, Tymera entered the fray, trying her hardest to appear cool in the process, both hands resting on her belt. "What a mess you've all caused, huh?"
Meliana's eyes flickered with recognition. "Tymera!?"
Emma spun around to look at the arriving reinforcements, brow knit tight. "Tymera...?" She whispered. Emma shared a momentary glare at Meliana before refocusing on helping Dahlia, who is presently playing defense, her shield taking progressively more damage from an onslaught of Vampiric attacks.
Meliana, lying down on one of the booth's couches, spun around, firing into the Vampire attacking Ao, causing it to fall straight on its face as its leg is peppered with bullets.
"Thank you!" Ao screamed, now directing his sprint over to where she was.
Dahlia's jaw tightened. "Get off of me!" Dahlia shoved one of the Vampires away, then, reeling back her arm, swung straight at the most worn down out of the two, axe crushing their ribcage instantly and sending them flying into the next room over, crashing into the wall beside them.
After that, she squared off with the remaining Vampires, a sigh escaping her lips. "No worries, my strong comrade... I'll finish off these imbeciles!" Tymera walked past Dahlia, swinging at the nearest Vampire to her.
Tymera drew the blade at her hip, reeling back her arm as she aimed true, the blade gleaming with an iridescent bluish hue. "Ora!" Two slices flew out in a time shorter than an instant, and the soul of the Vampire was severed instantaneously, body falling limply to the floor, an audible hiss exiting their throat.
"Suuma! Heal my newest comrade!"
"W-What!? Who? Where?"
Tymera tapped Dahlia, "Say something."
"W-Uh... me!?" Dahlia did as she was told, confused.
"O-Okay!?" Suuma took in a deep breath, breaking into a beautiful hymn, the magic emanating from it slowly healing Dahlia.
Emma looked out from the hall and over to the dance floor. "Gods, it's a slaughter." They looked away for a moment, and now bodies are strewn about like dolls, the ground completely stained in red. A Vampire stumbled out from the carnage, licking their fingers. "These mortals... they really put up a fight, man..."
"Isn't it more fun that way?" Another spoke up, standing beside their comrade.
They both notice those from their ilk, dead down the hall, and... they didn't care; they just smiled. "Look at that, we found some strong ones!"
One launched itself forward at Emma, just like the others, Dahlia getting in the way. The Vampire took a sharp jump onto the ceiling, bouncing off to get behind the massive woman. Emma fell to the ground, attempting to retreat from the creature as it landed on top of her.
Dahlia spun around on the balls of her feet, axe in hand, aiming to cleave the beast's head off their shoulders. Just before she could get the hit off, she was grabbed by her waist, suplexed by their comrade, and thrown straight into Tymera, sending them both spiraling across the floor.
The others immediately rushed to kill the two, and just as they did, time slowed down in the briefest of moments. The man atop Emma began swelling, boils forming across the skin, until finally they exploded into a cacophony of gore, an intestine loosely slapping against the floor as spurts of blood sprayed out from what remained of their body like a geyser.
Emma was caked in the beast's filth. Viscera dripped off from her face, her eyes clearing away blood.
The other Vampire was just as shocked as everyone else.
"W-What the fuck!? What!? What the fuck!?" Emma screamed in a panic, pushing herself away from the corpse.
"What the fuck did you do!?" The man's voice cracked, and just as the question escaped their lips, they began swelling up as well, body becoming a red, bulging mess before exploding across the floor with a sickening, fleshy pop.
"Huh!? Huh!? What!?"
The Vampires broke into a panic, the lot flooding through the front door in an attempt to escape, but one by one, they exploded all the same, a river of blood pouring out the entrance to the club.
A voice broke out, laughing hysterically. "Damn! I knew it was gonna happen, but I didn't expect it to happen like that!"
The blood in the room drifted, almost as if being sucked up by a vacuum, straight onto the dance floor.
Kylika rushed to see where the suction was coming from, spotting the white-scaled lizardkin, both hands resting on their belt. Kylika growled. "Who the hell are you!?"
The man went slack-jawed, a smile on his face. "You're one fine piece of woman, but I'd like to ask ya to move out of the way. I need all that blood, y'know?"
"Who... the fuck... are you!?"
"Rogier... nice to meet ya... what was your name again...? Kylika?"
"You and your fuckin' Vampiric freaks took a massive shit all over my club... I'm gonna rip you apart for that, y'know that, right?"
Emma rounded the corner with her party, eyes wide with fury. "ROGIER! HOW!? HOW THE HELL ARE YOU ALIVE!?"
Rogier cackled. "Oh, shit! Is that Emma!? Hah!"
"YOU RAT FUCK, HOW!? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE!?" Emma's voice strained from the verbal abuse directed at the scaled man.
Rogier pointed to the scar on his neck. "Guess I got lucky... either that, or I made a deal. I dunno, that's for you to find out~!" Rogier held out a hand, and as the blood coalesced, a crystal formed, a vibrant, potent energy emanating from the device. "Plan B is always a hell of a plan, y'know? My client doesn't give a fuck!"
Rogier pinched at the energy inside, tearing a chunk out from the crystal and absorbing it into his core. The energy permeated throughout his body, spreading like an infection. The muscles in his body bulge, growing significantly.
"Y'see though... I ain't a Vamp... I'm a fuckin' Lycanthrope~!" Rogier cackled, throwing the crystal into a nearby portal. "Whoops!"
Kylika clicked her tongue. "Shit! What the hell was that!?"
Ao looked to Meliana, as the situation looked to have gotten worse. "W-What do we do?"
Rogier smiled. "Alright, thing is... I can't keep any of ya alive! I especially know I can't keep them alive!" He pointed to Emma and her party. "You've fucked with us quite a bit, haven't you three?"
"Four!" Tymera chimed in with a smug look on her face.
"Hah! I don't even know who you are!" Rogier snapped his fingers, "First off~!" With a wave of his hand, a magic reverberated through Kylika, catching her by surprise. "Exilium..."
"Oh, fuck!" Kylika stumbled back, and just as she fell, in an instant, she disappeared.
"Now..." Rogier growled. "Let's do this the good 'ole fashion way... shall we?" Rogier inhaled deeply before letting out a mighty roar that shook the room.
"Surround him!" Emma yelled, and most who remained followed her directions as they scattered across the club. Emma and Dahlia stood at Rogier's front, Dahlia making a clear wall between him and the smaller woman behind her. At this point, Rider had managed to catch up with the party, working to surround Rogier with the others.
Meliana and Ao made a break for the bar, hopping atop it to gain a better vantage point whilst Tymera slipped right behind Rogier, sword at the ready..
Out of the remaining group, though, the sheepish halfling and the panicked Suuma were frozen in fear, unable to understand what was even happening before them. Kydra, however, understood the memo and aimed to take Rogier from the front with Emma and Dahlia. Everything slowed to a crawl, the air growing stale, the stench of iron permeating.
Rogier huffed proudly. "I love it... seeing the people unify against a greater evil~!" Her smile faltered. "But... I can't waste this second chance... I'm coming at you all with the intent to kill, alright? No hard feelings, I hope. I got my job, and you got yours..." Rogier snapped his fingers.
[♪Cigaro - System Of A Down♪]
"Augue!" With a snap of his fingers and a wave of his hand, a flickering light fired out toward Meliana. The fluttering sound it made hypnotized the two, but only Meliana reacted in time, jumping behind the counter as it exploded into a fiery fury, sending Ao straight through a wall.
Ao managed to catch themselves at the last second, lashing their scarf out in an attempt to reach the reptilian man, clipping a part of their arm. In that split second, Rogier grabbed onto the scarf, pulling the young catman straight over to him in one violent tug.
In air time, just before Ao's body met with Rogier's, the reptilian man reeled back a single arm. With a single slam onto the young man's body, he was rendered unconscious, vomit spilling out like a geyser from the impact of Rogier's fist, which shook the floor.
At that exact moment, Kydra moved in with a jab from a glaive she found, skidding across Rogier's thick skin but leaving an impact nonetheless. Rogier swept his hand across the weapon's shaft, but Kyrdra managed to pull away just in time, hopping back, then jumping into the air, rounding her blade and clashing down onto the man's horn, chipping the intricate ivory.
"Flamen!" With another snap of his fingers, Kydra is sent flying back, crashing into the entrance of the club. In that moment, the halfing, in a sudden moment of bravery, b-lined it to the unconscious Ao, placing both hands onto his unconscious body whilst Rogier was distracted. Magic emanated from the girl's palms, resurrecting the small catman, a pained gasp elicited from his throat, eyes wide and bloodshot. As he coughed up what remained of his dinner, Dahlia charged in.
Rogier whipped his head around, avoiding two cleaves of her axe. He ducked low, his attention now locked onto a confirmed support of the opposing team. The halfling girl. "Dens!" A smike shot out from the ground. She spun on her heels, throwing herself back, cleanly avoiding the sudden attack from Rogier.
Rogier's eyebrows raise at a sudden, shrill whistling, red beams of light firing out at his side, coming straight from the blind, Suuma. The Magical Missiles propelled by the musical magic of Suuma all hit their mark, taking off pieces of Rogier's scales. With the moment, he jumped back fifteen feet away from his closest assailants, prepping another move clearly aimed to devastate the various parties here.
"Di-Did I hit the bad guy!?" Suuma questioned loudly.
Meliana vaulted the bar counter, sliding across the floor, pistol in hand. "Yes!" Each shot she fired bounced off the hard scales of Rogier, and all he could do was laugh at the paltry attempt made to take his life.
Midway through Rider's sprint, they took a sharp turn straight at Rogier, prompting him to raise his defenses, and in that moment-- "Coward!" Emma screamed out, rolling beside Rogier, jabbing the blade of her weapon out into his arm, piercing the scales, even if just a little. "Bang!" She pulled the trigger, popping the arm open, expelling a small bit of flesh inside.
Rider, from his side, slammed a jab into Rogier, blocking it with his palm and using it to throw the machine to the ground.
Casually, throughout the short but loaded exchange, Tymera approached the reptilian man, not faltering in a single step, not hesitating for a single moment, before lashing out at the man with one bright, gleaming blade. Rogier's eyes widen, swiftly ducking away from the strike as it lightly grazes his arm, eliciting an audible hissing sound, burning at Rogier's soul.
"I hate shit like that!" One of Rogier's arms lashed out, grabbing the girl by their collar. "Fuck off!" Reeling back an arm, he shot them into the ceiling, throwing them into the building above. The roof collapsed straight above him, debris covering his body.
Rogier snapped his fingers again, a new magic emanating across his body, seeming faster than before.
[♪Innervision - System Of A Down♪]
He chuckled, the minor wounds that had appeared previously on his body now slowly regenerating. "Not enough~!"
Ao ran for cover, momentarily taking himself out of the fight, as the others kept their attention straight at the beast in front of them. Rogier's eyes ran like slits, his mouth frothing before leaping across the entire club, locking in on his prey, that being Ao.
Kydra, closest to the two, took the long halberd she found within her hands and swung it just as Rogier flew overhead, cracking him across the back.
Crack! Kydra's leg went, Rogier bending backward to bite into it, swinging her body into a stool nearby, her body ragdolling, sliding across the ground for a moment before coming to a rest, a streak of blood following her.
"Oh, Gods..." The halfling whimpered. She blinked hard, forcing herself forward, once again rushing ot the nearest injured, sliding right beside the unconscious Kydra, placing both of her palms on her body. Healing energy spread out from her hands, the broken leg unmended, but now the Kobold wasn't close to death.
"Die!" Rogier spat, a flickering flash of light flying out from his fingertip: a fireball, another one.
"No!" The halfling threw a shield up from their waistband to take the impact of the attack, the explosion sending her flying straight onto her back, Kydra once again rendered unconscious, flying back with her.
"Shit!" Rogier cursed, throwing an arm up as Dahlia's axe impacted straight between his elbow and hand, wedging the blade in between, grinding against the bone. Rogier threw the weapon to the side, a claw on his foot scraping against Dahlia's shield, managing to catch the hook of his nail into a divet, attempting to throw her to the side. Dahlia stood firm, a blood red stare meeting his own.
"Who is the most injured!?" Suuma cried out, attempting to maneuver across the chaos of the battlefield.
"Find someone unconscious on the floor!" Meliana commanded, jumping into the fray.
At the request, Suuma slammed a fist down onto the floor, nodding to herself as a hymn exited her lips. "You're gonna be alright!"
"Fragrantia!" Rogier screeched, holding a finger up at the party, firing out in all directions. One blasted through Dahlia's shield, rendering a useless heap of melting metal. Meliana's eyes widen for a moment, a beam of scorching fire hitting her straight in the chest, sending her flying straight into the ground below, along with one final shot, hitting Ao straight in the back.
Thump! Thump! Rider jumped straight in with a Superman punch, right into Rogier's jaw, who was unflinching. He smiled at the lack of impact. "Got you, you fuck!" Emma screamed, stabbing Rogier straight in the muzzle of his face. At that moment, she pulled the trigger, firing twice, straight into his mouth, causing him to recoil from the pain, face blown open.
As Rogier threw his head back, his face now split open at the seams. Tymera crashed down from the roof, just above Rogier, the longsword in her hands once again forming that gleaming blade, firing out twice at the reptilian's beastly visage. Both attacks met their mark, burning through Rogier's soul, causing him to scream aloud.
He threw his body back, and once again, wounds on his body began regenerating themselves. Rogier sighed and then roared out once again, screaming in rage, agony, and joy!
Light flickered out from his gullet, and when he opened his maw, it was the moment panic set in. Lightning cracked through the air, and for a moment, there was a delay. Soon after, thunder followed, an ear-piercing sonic wave that could render anyone deaf within seconds. Emma flew off of Rider, thrown into the wall behind her, body scorched from the lightning's heat, whilst both Rider and Tymera were instantly knocked out of commission.
With most of their fighters down for the count, practically dying. Rogier laughed, the battle pausing for a moment as horror began to sink into the group. "That's it! I love it! Did you really think you could go against something like this!? This is pure, unadulterated power! All you fucks have is your... puny, mortal strength! That is nothing compared to this! Nothing! I'm fucking immortal!"
Dahlia rushed to Emma's side, who was barely hanging on by a thread.
Rogier's smile grew wider, grabbing the unconscious Tymera by the collar. "What do you think...?" He chuckled, struggling to find a name for the girl he held up in the air. "Whatever the fuckyour name is?"
[♪Sugar - System Of A Down♪]
Rogier licked his teeth, slamming the poor girl straight into the ground, blood foaming at her lips. "Not lookin' good, are ya?" Rogier rocked his leg back and kicked Tymera straight into Dahlia. She instinctively went to raise her shield, but quickly threw it to the side, catching Tymera's unconscious body, now closer to death than it's ever been. Dahlia blinked, clearly in shock due to their present circumstances.
Rogier cleared his throat, knocking Dahlia out of her trance, swinging on her. Dahlia weaved out of the way, caught off guard now by a hook from below, clocking her across the jaw. On one last swing, Dahlia buckled, Rogier's fist flying overhead.
"Fuck you, whatever your name is!" Kydra cried out, swinging her halberd down at Rogier, helplessly trying her hardest to persist during these trying times. First strike parried, clipping Rogier's scales, whilst the other is batted out of the way.
"Pathetic!" Just as Kydra finished her string of attacks, Rogier retaliated, bending the halberd in the Kobold's hand, narrowly blocking the attack. "Hah!"
Emma's eyes flickered for a moment, the silhouettes of bodies scattered about, and the white, glistening scales of her opposition. Her surroundings were washed out by the ringing and the sounds of her own breathing. She looked at Dahlia, bleary-eyed, body couched low to the ground, her wall of a back facing Emma.
Once again... was I more helpful this time... at least...? Fuck... I think we're gonna die, and I'm seein' double... I... I need to help somehow... but... I... Rider is down, and my guns are barely doin' shit... w-what do we do? Nothing we're doing is working; it's just a war of attrition, and this guy clearly has the better endurance. Even if we hurt himb... Emma's consciousness faded for a moment. Even... even if we hurt him... b-bad enough... he'll still outlive us...
Suuma's song grew louder, spreading to the other injured scattered throughout the club. Meliana's eyes peeled open, locking straight onto the half-dead body of her friend in Dahlia's arms, along with the utter chaos that surrounded them.
I... I can't let a piece of shit like this live... But... I... I can't fuckin' do anything... even now... I can barely do a fuckin' thing! How... what do we do!? Emma peeled herself off the ground, clutching her gun as tightly as she could. This fuckin'... bastard things he's fuckin' immortal... "You think you don't fuckin' rot away like the rest of us!?"
Rogier is caught off guard by the sudden question, smirking. "What?" He chuckled. "Where'd that come from, huh?"
"I... I'm tired of your fucking shit..." Emma spoke through labored breath. "Rogier... even if I'm put into the fuckin' dirt... I'm killin' ya! Today!"
"How do you hope to do that? Look..." He pointed to the wounds on his body, which were rapidly healing. "What are ya gonna do about that!? Huh!?"
"Every... everything... rots... Even the most... p-powerful being in this Gods damn world can't avoid it... everything... everything rots, Rogier..."
Dahlia is confused, but suddenly, she feels energized, almost as if the gravity of her body had been lifted.
"Everything rots..."
"What the hell are you eve--" Suddenly, he is hit with a wave of nausea, and on his face, a bizarre flowering of flesh had occured. "W-What!?" And in that moment, in that sudden moment, the regeneration of his body had stopped in its entirety. "W-What did you do!?" He couldn't help but hold his wry smile, both intrigued yet terrified by what was happening to him.
"I dunno, but I'd like to call it divine fuckin' judgement, Rogier!"
[1] I'm not doing the full name