Vampire, You're Busted!

Vampire, You're Busted!

Saturday afternoon, October 30, 2010.

Russell walked out of The Ancient One's Psychological Counseling office once again.

Five days had passed since his last visit to The Ancient One.

Five days ago, Russell had agreed to The Ancient One's terms and taken responsibility for handling this Vampire incident.

Once it was over, The Ancient One would step in to treat all the innocent people who had been infected.

Russell clearly remembered the sly glint that had crossed The Ancient One's face when he agreed.

It was the delight of getting something for free.

Just like when Russell later assigned the investigation to Gwen.

Back at the bookstore, Russell casually asked Gwen, who was listlessly sitting at the front desk watching the store, "Gwen, how's the intelligence gathering going?"

"I found where the Vampires are gathering." At the mention of business, Gwen perked up.

"A lot of new faces showed up again last night. Their numbers have been increasing these past few days, and there are probably over ten thousand of them now."

For the past few days, whenever night fell, Gwen had gone out to track the Vampires' movements and did not return until the sun rose.

Russell had generously given her several days of paid leave.

After all, she was only eighteen. More sleep might still give her a chance to grow taller.

"Russell, do you have a plan?" Gwen asked. "If we can't wipe them out in one go and they rush the civilians, it'll be a huge problem."

"As long as we're prepared and exploit the Vampires' fear of ultraviolet light, defeating them head-on won't be difficult."

Russell frowned.

"But wiping them all out will be difficult with just the two of us.

Once they split up and flee, we won't be able to stop them.

Let's call the police directly, Gwen."

"The police? Can the NYPD handle something like this?"

"Of course not. And the NYPD most likely has Vampire moles.

We need to leak the information to someone with enough influence and earn his trust."

Russell and Gwen exchanged a glance, thinking of the same person at once.

"Come on, Gwen. We're going to find Tony Stark right now."

Stark Tower.

Russell and Gwen got their wish and met Tony.

"Pajamas Baby, you're finally here. Have you figured out your wish? Owing someone a favor doesn't feel so great."

Tony was dressed casually, holding a wineglass as he rambled on.

"And you, Humor Boy, why are you here too?"

Seeing Russell, Tony put on a look of surprise.

"Wine, coffee, or tea? Don't worry, I've got everything here."

Russell merely smiled at Tony's teasing and did not respond.

I'll settle this with you when you get Palladium Poisoning.

Gwen briefly explained why they had come.

"Vampires? I always thought that was just an urban legend.

J.A.R.V.I.S., look into it."

"Yes, sir."

Tony took a sip of wine on the sofa and said, "This is serious. I need to verify it. Give it a moment; J.A.R.V.I.S. is fast."

As streams of data flashed rapidly across the screen, Russell did not understand what he was seeing, but it looked impressive.

J.A.R.V.I.S. really was fast.

A moment later, the data streams vanished, replaced by several distant photographs of buildings and some written materials.

"Sir, records have been retrieved from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Database."

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came through the speakers, explaining alongside the images and text on the screen.

"The earliest appearance of the Vampire race can no longer be determined.

During World War II, the Vampire race came into conflict with Germany. Due to their species' inherent flaws, they were slaughtered on a massive scale, leaving fewer than one in ten alive.

Several Vampire branches fled from Europe to the American continent and appeared to have reached some kind of agreement with the authorities, receiving protection."

The screen changed, and a portrait was enlarged.

"One Vampire branch has now settled in New York. Its leader is named Deacon Frost."

"He is preparing to carry out a plan—Blood God Descent.

Using twelve pureblood Vampires and Eric Brooks, the Daywalker Blade, he intends to awaken the Blood God through some mysterious ritual.

Afterward, the Blood God will Embrace the other Vampires again, eliminating their species' inherent flaws," Russell added.

"All right, that's a pretty clichéd story. But doesn't this sound like an internal Vampire matter?" Tony asked in confusion.

"Mr. Stark, Frost's ambitions go far beyond that," Russell explained.

"Frost is a radical among Vampires. He believes Vampires are supreme, while humans are merely food.

He is deeply dissatisfied with the Vampires' current situation and intends to provoke a war between Vampires and humans."

"Mr. Stark, over ten thousand Vampires have gathered in New York. If they riot, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Gwen joined in trying to persuade him.

"I've been investigating Vampires these past few days and found that they are connected to multiple missing-person cases."

Tony frowned. "The situation is this serious, yet the FBI and NYPD haven't heard a thing? And that S.H.I.E.L.D. whatever—its slogan sure sounds nice."

"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. said, "based on intercepted information, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military already know about this."

"Then why haven't they taken action?" Gwen asked doubtfully.

"It's Saturday. Maybe the military is off for the weekend," Tony said casually.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., connect me to Nick Fury."

Tony sat on the sofa and waited for the call to connect.

Above the United States' East Coast, a massive Invisible Helicarrier hovered in the sky.

"Motherfucker, what are those military idiots thinking? They're actually saying they're off for the weekend and want to delay the operation."

Inside the Helicarrier, a middle-aged white man dressed like a one-eyed pirate was swearing furiously.

"Have our agents keep a close watch on those Vampires and quietly set up a cordon.

Tell the guys to put in some overtime. Once this is over, next month's bonuses will be doubled."

Though furious at the United States military's unreliability, Nick Fury still ordered his subordinates to make preparations.

"Director, Tony Stark is requesting a connection."

Why is Tony Stark calling me? Has he finally come around and decided to join the Avengers?

"Put him through."

"Nick Fury, do you know about the Vampire situation?" Tony got straight to the point.

"I know. Where did you hear about it?"

"Where I heard it isn't important."

Tony demanded unhappily, "Since you already knew, why haven't you taken action?"

Nick Fury was very displeased at being questioned by Tony.

If the military had not been dragging its feet, he would have wiped out those Vampires by now.

But he still calmed himself and said expressionlessly, "S.H.I.E.L.D. has already taken action."

"I don't see any action from you!"

"It concerns classified information. No comment."

Their conversation came to a standstill.

"Mr. Stark, our goals are the same."

Coulson, standing nearby, spoke up to ease the tension. In a sincere tone, he said, "Tony, please believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. has done everything it can.

"It's just that our resources are limited.

"We hope we can cooperate sincerely this time and protect New York's safety together."

"Fine."

After a moment of silence, Tony accepted Coulson's olive branch and agreed to cooperate.

"We'll exchange intelligence. I hope you won't keep saying 'no comment' anymore."