A Werewolf In Under-Town

Vlad shifted over to the vault now that he was alone. The giant, metal, spoked handle of the vault door was locked into position by several even larger metal rods. He examined the seams around the vault, looking for a way in. In his mist form, he could probably seep through the cracks and get inside. But there didn't appear to be any cracks. Vlad figured he could probably brute force the door if he needed to, though.

He found the keypad for the vault just to the right of the large circular door. It looked like a biometric and pass-code lock. Which meant that it would probably be easier to use that than to get all sweaty forcing a door open. Vlad grew his nails out until they were four inches long and black. He took a moment to smile at how sinister his hands looked once he had his main weapon out. Then he turned back to the vault's lock and grinned smugly.

"Looks like I'm going to have to hack the mainframe." Vlad chuckled before stabbing his hand into the metal keypad.

The metal gave way like silk, and Vlad felt tiny sparks of electricity bite at his skin. With a twist and pull, Vlad wrenched the entire structure out of the wall. The metal kiosk that housed the keypad and biometric scanner was a little stubborn. But with minimal effort, Vlad yanked the entire thing free. What was left in the wall was a large nest of sparking wires and bits of metal.

Vlad tossed the kiosk aside and glared into the hole he had made. There was a sizable space between the wall now, and Vlad could see the side of the vault door from just inside. There was a large seam in the vault's door that had been hidden by the wall. But now it was he was free to take advantage of it.

The sharp scent of blood and a silent whooshing sound alerted Vlad to the arrival of his kin. Without turning around, he addressed his Thralls.

"Are you all done?"

"Yes, Father." came Juniper's voice.

"Deaths?"

"Uh… I don't know? Maybe over thirty?"

Vlad sighed. "On our side, Juniper. How many deaths on our side?"

"OH! None, I think. All of the Thralls handled things fairly well upstairs. A few succumbed to bloodlust, but they pulled it back."

"Then we had the two that died down here."

"What?"

Vlad finally turned around from his inspection of the wall and glared at Juniper. The pale woman gulped as she looked around in confusion. Vlad pressed his hands together and squeezed as he bit back his displeasure.

"We came tonight with 30 vampires. I killed Smitty. Which brought us to 29. So if you had bothered to do a headcount, you would have realized that we are down two more. Bringing us to?"

"27?"

"Very good, Juniper. Now does that number match up with the headcount I am sure you did?"

The woman's response was to vanish in a snap of air. Her long black hair fluttering behind her. Vlad rolled his eyes and tried to not think about how his minions were so damn inept. Instead, he focused on his mist-walk ability and felt the power take hold. His body became weightless and felt like he was flying as he dashed into the hole in the wall. As careful as he could, Vlad probed the edge of the vault with his misty body. Searching for traps.

Sensing no danger, Vlad forced his misty form into the seam on the door. As usual, the sensation of being squeezed pushed into Vlad's nonexistent chest, and he felt himself grow short of breath. His ears popped and his lungs screamed as he focused on pushing through the tight space. It took longer than he expected, but he finally managed to pull through to the other side of the vault door.

A completely dark vault met his eyes, and Vlad let his vision adjust before he approached the terminal in the center of the room. He heard his shoes kick against several boxes and loose credits, and Vlad grinned. The night had started rough, but their goal was literally right under his feet.

With a wave, he activated the Vault's terminal and read through the notifications. As soon as he activated the terminal, it recognized the robbery attempt and started a countdown. It signified the time it would take his team to grab all the money in the vault. They were being penalized because of the alarm and cause the vault door was closed. But Vlad quickly fixed the second part of that with a few key strokes.

The vault door screeched in protest as its large door slowly opened. It sounded like an enormous creature coming to life in Vlad's ears. It reminded Vlad of his time playing other, more fantasy-inspired games. The memories made him smile as the vault door opened and reveal his Thralls standing before the vault. Vlad quickly wiped the smile from his face and put on his Master of The Night voice.

"My Children! The work is half done. Now we must abscond with our ill-gotten gains."

"Yeah, how are we gonna do that? The cops are right outside the bank," said a voice from the crowd.

"And I think I heard Supes out there too," said another.

"Who cares who is out there!" Vlad shouted over the noise of his Thralls grumbling. "We are vampires! Creatures of darkness and spite. We shall flood out of here like a plague and no hero or cop will stop us!"

"Is that, like, the actual plan? Cause it seems like you're saying we'll just grab what we can and then try to run." A nasally voiced asked, quickly adding. "Which I'm fine with! I'm used to a smash and grab. I just want to make sure."

Vlad finally gave up and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "No. That's not the plan. All of you grab what you can and then I'll create a distraction out front. While I am dealing with the cops and Supers. All of you make a break for the sewer entrance around the back of the bank. Juniper!"

"Yes, Father."

Vlad sighed. "No…you can drop that now. Do you remember the sewer system layout I showed you and Smitty?"

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"Yes… sir?"

"Good. Then you'll lead the rest of the Thralls out the back door and then through the sewers. Use the shadows and we'll rendezvous at the cemetery. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!!" His Thralls answered him excitedly. But Vlad wasn't feeling it.

Juniper must've sensed his mood. But the brave woman pushed in closer and asked. "Are you alright, sir?"

Vlad growled in the back of his throat and nodded. "I'm fine, Juniper. I just really want to kill something right now."

The young woman wisely backed away and started filling her pockets with credits. Nearby, several Thralls were picking up large cases of credits. Vlad watched them work for a few minutes before he slowly left the room. Using his enhanced senses as he walked, Vlad checked the building. The sharp tang of blood on the air was mildly distracting. But he pushed through as he returned to the main floor.

The lobby was a slaughterhouse. Blood was everywhere and so were pieces of bodies. It seemed more than a few of his children had succumbed to the bloodlust. Although the building's windows and doors were covered in heavy metal plating now, Vlad could still hear the sounds of movement just outside the bank. The cops were scrambling and would probably burst in at any moment.

Vlad found himself a decent spot to pose in as he waited. His Thralls may have lacked presentation and panache. But there was no way he was going to give up on it. Initially, Vlad wanted to use the dead corpses of the bank employees as a throne. But sitting on a pile of corpses was odd and uncomfortable. So instead, he constructed a crude chair out of the debris of the bank's desks and chairs. It was only slightly less uncomfortable, but it suited his purposes.

He got into position and then tried to decide on the best way to sit for when the cops and heroes burst in. Legs crossed for an air of elegance? Leaned back to show he didn't care? Should he get a goblet of blood from one of the bodies?

CLACK-CLACK-CLACK

He was looking for an appropriate goblet when the shutters around the bank began to open. Quickly, Vlad got into a comfortable position and put his mental finger on an ability he hadn't tried yet. It was a recent acquisition and one he'd been eager to show off. As the shutters rose, Vlad could hear his Thralls stomping up the stairs and getting ready to move. Blue and red lights flared in the darkness beyond the opening shutters.

"This is the police! We know you are in there! Surrender now or face the consequences!"

The magically modified voice of the cop outside echoed in the empty lobby. Vlad snorted at the cliched line and reached down to the pile of bodies next to his makeshift throne. With a grunt of effort, he flung the limp corpse through the smashed up front doors. He smiled as he heard gasps of alarm and cries of shock from the cops outside. Sitting back in his chair, Vlad waited for the first hero to barge in. His mental finger still on his ability.

He didn't have to wait long as three figures zoomed into the space. Two women and a man charged into the bank with looks of trepidation on their faces. Which Vlad was happy to see, but it also marked all three of the Supes as NPCs. A player wouldn't react quite as shocked at the level of brutality on display in the bank's lobby. Vlad again wished he had a goblet of blood as he surveyed his three opponents.

The man was clearly a speedster. His slight frame and friction-defying skin-tight bodysuit marked him as such. The bigger woman was some kind of power house. Vlad could see a two-handed warhammer on the her back, that glowed with an eerie green light. The shorter woman was a ranged fighter. He counted no less than four energy weapons on the woman's body, and that was just what he could see.

After taking in the dead bodies and the blood-smeared floors and walls, all three heroes turned to Vlad with looks of anger on their faces. Vlad grinned as he got ready to give his speech. But the second he opened his mouth, the speedster was off. The man's skin-tight blue suit blurred into a line of color as he shot toward Vlad with a scream of rage.

Vlad rolled his eyes and activated his newest ability. "These bastards have no respect for showmanship!"

He felt the power well up inside him as the ability made him stand and raise his arms. As he did, the Speedster rammed into him and bounced off like a toddler. The ability's I-frames giving Vlad a few seconds to himself as it went to work. All around the bank, pools of blood were pulled into the air. Globules of blood were quickly dragged toward Vlad as he his hands went through the pre-programmed motions of the ability.

The sea of blood in the lobby soared into the air above Vlad, and his hands moved to shape it. Tiny red bats were carved from the blood as Vlad felt the ability winding down. Mentally clicking on his three targets, Vlad felt the ability shove his arms forward. A wave of blood bats dove through the lobby and toward the three heroes. The speedster looked sick, the shooter screamed, and the warrior woman looked pissed as hundreds of blood-red bats crashed into them.

Vlad smiled as he watched the bats swarm and sat back down. The bats would harry and snap at the Heroes until they ran out of power. Meanwhile, Vlad listened for his Thralls to move. He could almost smell them still waiting in the back hallway. They needed to move.

"Argh!"

"They're everywhere!"

"They're biting me!"

All three heroes cried in pain as Vlad sat and watched the macabre scene. The only one doing slightly well against the swarm was the speedster. But even he was having trouble. Vlad rated the man's speeds somewhere in the realm of Dave when they first met. He was fast, but only in short bursts.

The shooter managed to get a gun free and was firing blindly, nearly hitting her teammates. Meanwhile, the warrior woman was screaming like a banshee and swinging her warhammer. The blood bats would burst with each swing and cover the woman in blood. Vlad rated her the most dangerous, as she seemed to have kept her head during the melee.

A burst of air caught Vlad by surprise, and he barely had enough time to get a hand up. The speedster, now covered in blood, had tried for a sneak attack. But Vlad was faster, and his pale hand reached out and caught the man's fist easily. He could've crushed the Hero's hand there, but Vlad simply kicked the man away and back toward the swarm of bats. It wasn't quite time for him to play just yet. Soon, the Blood Bat ability would end and he would have to make an even greater show of things.

His enhanced hearing picked up on the back door, clicking open, and Vlad breathed a sigh of relief. His people were away. Now all they needed to do was get to the sewer and then get away. But with all eyes currently on him. Vlad felt sure that the evening was finally picking up for him.