Half the guards in the patio and inside slumped to the ground.
"Oh damnnnnn! You fuckers got GOT!" Yelled East. He then turned towards Gerald. "Yo Caster, you sure the others are good?"
Gerald set his pistol on the table and lit up another smoke. "The ones on this floor are still your men."
"Hey cool it." East yelled to the remaining guards that were about to fire. "Those bitches are working with the dude upstairs. You all that remained loyal will be getting raises."
*Ding*
An elevator opened back inside the room. Everyone looked and found it empty.
"Caster. That one goes to the penthouse."
"Then it looks like my time here has come to end." He said while picking up his gun and walking towards the lift.
"Remember, once you clean out the boss, I can get you anything you want."
Gerald entered the elevator and turned towards the doors.
"The only thing I want… is to kill monsters. Don't cross the lines that should never be crossed, and you won't be mistaken for a monster."
The doors closed and the elevator started to rise.
*Ding*
The doors opened and cigarette smoke flowed out. Gerald moseyed from the elevator and stepped into the lavish penthouse.
An elder vampire sat across the room in a large leather chair next to the lit fireplace.
"You have finally come." The vampire spoke.
"Are you willing to go quietly?" Gerald asked.
"Ha, ha, ha, you may thing your good because you got rid of that youngling. But your team is no more. They even struggled to defeat that useless brother of mine. I think you greatly overestimate yourself. I am not like them. I am so much more. I have walked through time for over four thousand years. You can't fathom what I have been through. You have potential but still… you are nothing to me. If you desire to keep living, kneel and accept your new master."
Gerald snorted. "A four thousand year old Elder Vampirus Stalicous wants me to kneel. Even in your true home, you are nothing but a miscreant that must live on the edge of society to survive. You are nothing but a glorified errand boy who got tired of being under a thumb and fled. Me kneel to you? What a joke."
"You may be smart, but I see through you. I have seen you fight. I know what you are capable of. You have no chance. But I won't offer twice. So let's settle this. The victor remains while the loser is lost to history. Give me your best."
Gerald removed his jacket and set it aside before rolling up his sleeves and storing his glasses. He opened the drawer of the end table next to the elevator and pulled out two swords that were black as night and then stored his jacket in the drawer before closing it. He gripped one sword in each hand.
The vampire put his hand together and conjured a blood red saber that was over four feet long.
"Come!" The vampire yelled.
In the blink of an eye, Gerald was before the elder. He slashed down with his right before stabbing with his left.
*Clang* *Clang*
The elder parried both blows. He then cut down with his full might. Gerald was able to narrowly dodge with only a small nick in his skin. The saber cut straight through the floor before it was pulled back up.
Gerald straightened himself up while the vampire glanced at the droplet of blood on his blade. The elder then looked towards his opponent and saw that the small wound he inflicted was already healed.
"It seems that you were holding back against the youngling, but it looks like I still have the advantage. Again!"
The vampire surged forward and slashed with each step. Gerald moved backwards while deflecting the blows. He was being backed up towards a wall, but after the seventh slash he kicked out and found the vampires chest. The elder flew backwards and spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Powerful, but still not enough." The elder remarked.
Gerald glanced at his chest where the large slash into his skin was slowly healing.
"Again!"
Gerald rushed forward, with both blades slashing in opposite horizontal directions. The elder transformed into a swarm of locust that enveloped Gerald. Blood red slashes flittered through the swarm as Gerald defended.
Cuts began to crawl up his arms, inching closer and closer to his neck.
Gerald released one of the black swords and it pierced several locust, splattering blood in the process.
"Was giving me a minor wound worth one of your swords?" A voice echoed from the swarm.
"AHHH!" The vampire screamed.
"Not just a minor wound." Gerald remarked.
The swarm disappeared and the elder took form. A large gash that cut deep into his bone appeared on his left arm. He looked towards Gerald and then glanced behind him and saw a second Gerald holding the second sword.
"Again!" Gerald yelled as he attacked from both sides.
The elders ducked and spun while slashing. The three moved around the room at incredible speeds while the place was being destroyed.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
"Enough fooling around." The elder said. As he griped his saber tighter, the shadows bent and formed black demonic armor across his flesh. He began to shrug off the attacks with his armor.
*Clang* *Clunk* *Clunk* *Clang*
The vampire whipped his foot and launched Gerald towards his copy.
The two crashed together and became one. Before Gerald could get up, the vampire was upon him. He cut and stabbed while avoiding the lethal attack but wasn't able to dodge the knee to his stomach the blasted him through the window and out onto the balcony.
Gerald didn't have time to admire the view, but he did notice that the penthouse really was above the lower level of clouds. He could no longer see the city below. Clouds stretched as far as the eye could see in the dark night.
"Again!" The vampire screamed while dripping in his own blood mixed with Gerald's.
*Woosh*
The elder tilted his head as the sword flew past him, but then a black chain appeared, connecting the hilt of the sword to Gerald's wrist. He yanked and the sword started coming towards the elder's back.
The vampire rolled to the side but another blade came whistling down from the sky, also attached to a black chain.
*Woosh* *Woosh* *Woosh*
Gerald whipped the blades in wide arcs as the vampire rolled, dodged and blocked with his saber. Deep gouges appeared in the stone balcony.
The vampire struggled to close the distance towards Gerald until he transformed into a swarm of locust. When he reappeared, Gerald's blades were at the ends of his chains, fifteen feet away. He brought his saber down while hacking towards Gerald.
He cut a foot-long slice into Gerald torso, going from his shoulder till his chest.
"You lose!" The vampire said before he kicked Gerald in the chest, sending him off the balcony.
A hint of worry flashed through the elder when he saw Gerald smirk. The chains suddenly wound around the vampire and dragged him over the edge as well.
The chains bound the vampire's arms around his torso and tied him to Gerald before both blades lodged themselves in Gerald's back, far from the vampire's reach.
"You fool!" The vampire screamed as they plummeted through the clouds. Did you really think I would fall to my death with you?"
The vampire shifted but found himself unable to transform into a swarm.
"Stop! What are you doing? The fall will hurt but it won't kill me. Only hindered me for a few days until I regenerate but you will die. Stop this and I can save us both!" He yelled as the street approached, the pair that was plummeting headfirst.
Gerald only grinned. Then bright red flashes began to flicker on the center of his forehead. The blood that seeped out of his back on onto his own blades began to get sucked into the swords. Red flashes began to flicker like sparks across the blades and along the chains.
An then… The swords and chains became the embodiment of fire. Flesh began to melt and the chains pulled tighter. The elder was unable to struggle as the flames of hell began to spread to his soul.
People ran from the street while others looked from their windows as a ball of flames slammed into the road.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
*Splat*
The hellfire consumed every bit of flesh, bone, blood and metal, leaving nothing behind.
[Three Elder Vampirus Stalicous on Earth4714 have been removed]
[D-class mission successfully passed]
[Operative Gerald Acers being restored to home world]
[Please hold for after mission debrief and rewards]
[Actualization in progress. Operatives consciousness has been returned to originally body]
Gerald found himself standing in a white space with limitless boundaries. A moment after he appeared, the four others materialized next to him. Gerald sat down in a chair that had just taken form.
[D-class mission completed with 100% removal. All foreign invaders removed.]
[Pass rate: A+]
[Notes for improvement: Vampire spawns that were once local citizens remained after the mission finished. Local authorities removed the remnants within the next three days. If the operatives had personally disposed of the remaining spawns, then the ranking would be upgrade to S+]
[Rewards for D-class mission with A+ ranking: 4 points for senior operative, 4 points to standard operative, and 3 points for junior operatives]
[Please select rewards]
[Rewards available for purchase are the skills and talents equipped for the mission along with the items used.]
The others eagerly took a seat and began to select their rewards.
A stream of information appeared in Gerald's mind. In a single moment he witnessed everything the team of four did while they were separated from him during the mission. He was satisfied with their actions.
Gerald himself spent his points on the body armor, stab proof suit. He already had a few but it was always better to have multiple suits of different designs. He spent the remainder of his points on a set of glasses and a watch. He sighed. It really was an addiction. When he didn't see anything, he wanted he bought glasses and watches.
Then Gerald was given a prompt to approve the rewards selected by the others. Dasher's choices surprised Gerald a bit, but the others were predictable.
Alpha spent a point on the briefcase minigun and two points on the super strength.
Bravo spent a point to buy two packs of high-voltage splicer picks. They were available to him since Gerald had passed him a pack. The two remaining points bought the SUV.
Charlie spent a point to but the collapsible and concealable compound bow and two points for the stealth ability.
Dasher who had four points, purchased a pack of recruitment patches and then the last three points purchase three cellphones that Gerald had given them.
When the rewards appeared, Dasher explained. "Mr. Acers, these should replace the ones we borrowed from you. He then turned towards the others. Take these phones as final gift from me. Since they are from Mr. Acers originally, they will be untraceable and very useful. They will always have a signal and charge."
Everyone excitedly then passed their material rewards over to Gerald to transport for them.
A desk appeared and Gerald stored them and shut the drawer. A replica of Gerald's office appeared and everyone took their place.
"Shut your eyes and relax." He instructed. They did as they were told.
"When will it happen?" Alpha asked.
"It already has." He answered.
The others opened their eyes and saw the sunny street outside the window. Gerald reached for his desk and pulled out their rewards. Well, most of them. He passed the keys to Bravo.
"It's in the garage under the building. Should be easy enough to find." Gerald said.
Alpha, Bravo, And Charlie collected their loot like kids on Christmas. Then together they turned and faced Gerald, giving him a military salute, even though he wasn't in the military. General Dasher joined them.
"Thank you for this favor. We will make sure that you remain undisturbed." Alpha said.
"We won't forget this." Charlie said.
"Thank you." Bravo offered.
"I may be retiring soon, but if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call." Dasher said.
"I wish you all safe travels on your future journey. Now if you don't mind, I have a new novel to write."
"Yes, yes, we have imposed on Mr. Acers too much. We will be taking our leave."
Gerald saw them out and locked the door behind them. He then started thinking of the title for his newest book. Maybe 'Dawn City' or 'Quarantine'. 'The Team From Central' didn't sound half bad. Before he reached his office there was a knock on the door.
"Forget something." Gerald said while opening it. He then frowned.
A man and a woman in black suits and sunglasses stood in his doorway. They were both sporting the look that Gerald had worn the past two days during the mission.
"Gerald Acers? You need to come with us."