The ride went as planned. It was a clear night, though the still air was a little chilly for most people’s tastes. The moon three-quarters full in the sky, but dim enough for the full brilliance of the stars to be visible. Not many people were out on a Sunday evening, and the GPS tracking that the cruiser had was disabled while they rode back into the city. As planned, the police officer was crammed into the back seat with Luna for the journey, fast asleep from being fed upon earlier.

The trio ditch the car in an alleyway between a few cheap apartment buildings and leave the officer there, making sure the car was visible from the street if anybody came near. Sakura and Luna scamper up to the roof of one of those apartments, using the safest looking fire escape they could find and wait for Miguel, who had went off to find food. It took the better part of a half hour but he returned with a large bag of fast food tucked underneath his arm.

Luna and Sakura had spread out the blanket they had taken from the first car and were sitting on it, the snow sitting thickly on the roof. Luna’s tail wags as Miguel approaches, the man taking a seat between the girls.

“Oh my god that all smells so good...what took you so long?” Luna sits up a little bit, the cacophony of delicious smells making her mouth water in anticipation.

“The only thing that I could find that was open was Burger Dude. I hate that damn place, but it was either that or take a hike. You know how hard it is to find a place that’s open past midnight around here?”

Luna rolls her eyes at him. “...Thier motto is really dumb, but they make some really good burgers. I wish I worked there instead of Bub’s.”

Sakura, who is laying on her back, turns her head over towards Luna. “What’s their motto?”

“Welcome to Burger Dude, home of the burgers dude, can I take your burger, dude?” Luna says, mimicking the weasley voice of a teenage boy.

Sakura snorts. “Hah! Nice.”

Miguel reaches into the bag and fishes out two chicken sandwiches, a large cup of fries and a drink and pushes them to Luna. He takes out a much smaller burger combo for himself. “Alright. So, what’s the plan? Where is Scar?”

Sakura lazily rolls over onto her rear and crosses her legs. “Ever heard of the Silvernote Jazz Club?

Miguel shakes his head, unwrapping his burger. Luna’s nose instantly picks up on the presence of barbecue on his sandwich. “Not off the top of my head, no.”

“The club is new, but the building is pretty old. You know the Scratch? It’s like on the corner of that neighborhood near the downtown area. It’s part club and part card casino. Scar owns it. It’s a real classy place. Fancy clothes, food, all of that.”

“Just like the Golden Aces. Of course, he’d just reopen the same place again. How did I not figure that out?” Miguel says, grumbling the whole way through chewing his food.

Luna tears into the chicken sandwiches in record time and just like she’d remembered, the food at Burger Dude was pretty good. She attempts to take a drink from the soda Miguel had brought but when she wraps her lips around the straw and sucks at it, the liquid...doesn’t go anywhere. Did the straw not work? She peers at it oddly.

Sakura and Miguel pay her no mind.

“Tell me some building details,” Miguel says, more interested in learning than eating at the moment.

“I only visited the place once but it’s a pretty large building. It’s got two floors. The bottom floor has a stage for the performers, some card dealing tables and a kitchen for food. Upstairs is balcony seating and a few private rooms. Scar’s office is up there. There’s also a door that takes you to the roof.” Sakura says.

“Alright...sounds simple enough. What’re we gonna do?” Miguel questions, taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, we’re going for Scar, right? We need to draw him into the open or else we won’t have room to work. He’s also got guards. So we’ll need a distraction. Let Luna and me in first. We’ll go through the back door in the kitchen, take out the guys in there and then blow the lights to the club.”

Miguel smiles craftily. “Blackout huh? That’s pretty good. What should I do?”

“Head for the roof.” Sakura continues. “We’ll force him up and then we can jump him as soon as we get up there. Between the three of us, we should be able to take him out.”

Luna tries, again and again, to pull her soda through the straw, but eventually, she gives up. She snatches the straw out of the cup and tosses it angrily aside. Sakura peers at her inquisitively. “Problem over there?”

Luna frowns. “Straws don’t work.”

Sakura grins. “Have you tried turning off and on again?”

“Ha-hah.” Luna chides sarcastically, biting into her sandwich once again.

“Can we focus here?” Miguel interjects. “You mentioned before that those…‘abilities’ you have with your hands. Sanguine Arts, right? Does Scar have any? I’m assuming he does.”

Sakura nods. “Well for starters, he has a shield he uses to catch bullets. He’s also got these little shadow tendrils he uses.”

“Like the ones he used to stab you?” Miguel conjectures. Sakura holds a hand over her heart for a moment and nods.

“Yeah. They can stretch and move. He doesn’t use them unless he has to. But beyond that, I don’t know of too much else he can do with them.”

“Are all of his guards Vampires like you?” Luna asks.

“Hmmm...most of them, but not all of them. There’s a few humans in the know there, but the few vampires he has are kids. Baby vampires, hardly any tougher than a human.”

Luna finishes her food rather quickly, rolling her trash up together and placing it back in the Burger Dude bag. Realizing something, she turns up to look at Sakura. “Don’t you still need to eat?”

The vampire grins. “Oh, I’ll take care of that when we get to the kitchen.”

Miguel takes one last sip of his drink before standing up, rubbing his hands over a napkin. “We should get going. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. It all ends here, tonight. We’ve got a plan together. So let’s follow it through. And make it through this in one piece. Agreed? Don’t go being a hero. And Luna…?”

The werewolf stands and turns to face Miguel directly. “Yeah.”

“I’m mostly talking about you.”

The trip over towards the Silvernote Jazz Club was thankfully easy. The night helped them to remain concealed, and even better, most of the buildings were close enough together that they could leap between them. When the trio arrived at the Silvernote it was a little past 2 a.m. and judging by the lack of cars, recently closed for the night. The building sat on a street corner almost to itself; it’s nearest neighbors looked worn from vacancy. The old signage reminded Luna of the 1940’s detective movies and the front wall had the remnants of advertisements of years long past. There were no windows on the first floor, and the only visible entrance were two cushioned doors from the front. The glow of a few grey neon lights spills into the snowy streets.

Luna, Miguel, and Sakura stop on an alleyway facing the Jazz Club, with the latter two looking around for any pedestrians. A lone man jogs by, clad in sweat jeans and a sweater. His head hangs down, clearly focused on his exercise. Miguel looks up towards the second floor, finding a large window indicative of an office. The blinds were shut, but there was a shadow of a person against it. The figure leans forward and back a few times before getting up and vanishing from sight.

Once the coast was clear, they quickly sprint across the street and into the alley in the back of the Silvernote. Outside of a dumpster near the back door, the alleyway looked empty. Sakura jerks her thumb towards a drainage pipe that looked quite sturdy that lead to the roof of the Jazz club. Giving her a thumbs up, Miguel begins his climb while Luna and Sakura wait at the back door, both of them pressed to the wall just outside of it. Sakura presses a finger to her lips before leaning over and knocking at the back door. The sounds on the inside of the kitchen sounded as if there was at least one person there, likely cleaning up.

As soon as Sakura knocked, a sigh is heard through the door, and the shuffling of footsteps draw nearer. The voice is muffled but still audible. “Oh my god Vanille, did you forget your keys again?”

The heavy metal door opens, revealing a woman in her late twenties, wearing a casual chef attire. She looks confused as the door contained no one.

“...Vanille?”

Sakura strikes quickly, spinning around the door frame and grabbing the chef by the shoulder. Just before the woman could yell, Sakura clasps a hand over her mouth and presses her against the wall. The vampire stares into the woman’s eyes, and after a few seconds, the woman goes limp, her eyes closing as if she were asleep. Sakura slowly looks inside of the door before shutting it just so.

As soon as the door was closed, Luna rushes over to Sakura looking concerned. Her voice is a whisper but heightened in tone. “Hey! We can’t go about knocking her out, she might freeze out here!”

Sakura turns quickly, her fangs prominently displayed in her mouth, but a sudden scent catches her off guard. She sniffs at the chef’s neck and a smile forms on the vampire’s lips. “Don’t worry about it, she’s a font, she’s used to it. I’ll knock her out for two minutes and then she can toddle on home without knowing a thing. Do me a solid and watch the door for me.”

Sakura leans into the woman’s neck and sticks her fangs in, prompting Luna to turn away squeamishly and look towards the door. It took a moment or two before Sakura withdrew, holding the woman up and again staring intensely into her eyes. The leans in close towards the chef’s ear and whispers to her.

“Go home.”

After that, Sakura slides her gently towards the ground and leaves her sitting against the wall. The vampire steps around Luna and opens the door to the kitchen and after checking inside, beckons her forward. The kitchen is rectangular in shape, with white walls and black and white checkerboard floors. The center contained several stoves and ovens, and on the outer walls were various preparation stations and a fairly large sink. Kitchen utensils, pots, and pans hang from easy to reach spots for use. The room is devoid of people for now, but there was the hustle of movement out in the main room.

After locking the door behind them, Luna and Sakura sneak in, keeping their heads down. They lean against the middle island of the kitchen, obstructing their view from the door to the ballroom. . She turns around towards Luna and speaks quietly.

“Hey. You are going to need to go backstage and find the breaker box. You know what it looks like right?”

Luna nods, her ears standing at full alert. “Yeah. It’s a grey box on the wall right?”

Sakura thumbs up. “Yeah. It should be just outside this door. I want you to hit the lever, wait about two minutes, and then turn it back. After that, come on upstairs. Okay?”

Luna’s ears perk as the sound of someone approaching, the werewolf crouching down a little lower in response. The swinging doors of the kitchen fly open, where a large man speaks from it. He’s dressed nicely, in a pair of khakis and a dress shirt and coat. His shoes reflect the light diffusely.

“Melanie! Boss says he needs ya to...huh?”

The man pauses for a moment, scratching his head. He peers around the kitchen, seeing no one. Luna’s heart takes up permanent residence in her tonsils.

“Huh. Did she lock up?”

The male walks forward, prompting both Luna and Sakura to move. If they stayed where they were, they’d both be within plain sight. As soon the man makes it to the back door, he checks it, wriggling the doorknob. The door remains locked as it had been before. The sound of a soft click on the floor catches his attention, forcing him to look down the kitchen island. He reaches threateningly into his coat.

Luna holds the offending foot claw off of the floor, both of her hands clasped over her muzzle. She and Sakura had moved just in the nick of time, hiding from the man by shuffling around to the far end of the kitchen island. Sakura looks practiced and calm, but her hand rests upon the hilt of her sword, threatening to draw it. The vampire’s other hand joins Luna’s in holding her muzzle shut.

After a tense moment, the male lowers his hand and makes his way out of the kitchen, hitting the lights. Now drenched in darkness, both girls finally relax, with Sakura pointing a finger into Luna’s nose and frowning.

“After this, we are getting your toenails clipped. Count on it.” Sakura whispers.

Luna smiles nervously. “Did I mention they were retractable?”

Sakura rolls her eyes and starts to get up, reaching down a hand to pull up the werewolf, who reluctantly accepts. “You aren’t helping your case you know.”

Luna feels much better when she’s on her feet, exhaling a small sigh of relief at the close call that just passed. Sakura sneaks over towards the ballroom door and peers through the circular window. After a few seconds, she beckons Luna to the door to peer through it. Luna keeps herself to the side of the door, side-eying it.

The ballroom of the Silvernote looked ornate in a timeless way. It was the kind of place Luna had only seen in movies. It was mostly square, with luxurious wine-red walls and several crystal chandeliers. The floors were carpeted and short with card suits lining them. There were some dealing tables out towards the further edges of the room, along with a few booths for exchanging currency. The stage looked rather old but well kept, complete with an art deco wall design that ran predominantly through the building itself. Near the front door, a set of stairs could be seen going up. There were also about six men in there, most of which were putting up tables or cleaning the floor.

“See the stairs?” Sakura whispers, keeping most of her head out of the window.

“Yeah?”

“Good. Now get going. I want you to head up right after me.”

Luna nods. “Got it.”

Sakura whispers. “And if you see anybody, take them out.”

Luna salutes semi-officially before sneaking forward. She moves up to a half standing position as she very slowly leans into the door, peeking through the small window in it. Sure enough, the circuit breaker was right there. Beyond that was the stage, wreathed in darkness thanks to the closed curtains. Luna turns back towards Sakura for a second, who had unsheathed her sword and stood at the ready.

Luna slides through the door silently and creeps up to the fuse box. She opens it up and inspects the various switches and levers. They were all flipped to multiple stages of off and on, though the largest of them was at the top and was labeled ‘POWER.' Tensely shrugging, she pulls the switch down. It moves with a shockingly loud *CHIK* and in that same moment, the entire building went dark.

“What the hell?” A voice calls out from the ballroom from beyond. Multiple sounds of scuffling could be heard as Sakura went to work, the guttural sounds of men being slain and light gunfire filtering through the theatrical curtain. Luna remains tense as she waits, her thoughts idly drifting to Miguel and his position on the roof.

“Wish I could be up there rather than down here.” She mutters, keeping herself pressed near the wall as a bullet rips through the curtain and ricochets off of something backstage.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miguel’s climb up the pipe wasn’t terribly hard, he was in good shape, and his cybernetics increased his strength a little bit. It takes a few moments of uninterrupted climbing, but he eventually swings up on top of the Silvernote Jazz Club. A harsh wind greets him as soon as he swings his legs over, his feet impacting the cold stone of the roof.

The wind bites harder as a familiar figure clad in a white suit, a fedora and a pair of thin, black-rimmed glasses stands on the roof, his head pressed into a cell phone. Scar’s brow raises as he stares back at the bewildered Miguel, a grin slowly crossing it. He turns towards his phone, the glee in his voice all but barely contained.

“Alu? Let me call you back...I have a funeral arrangement to make.”

Scar clicks off his phone before bringing it down into his hands. He starts dialing a number with a white-gloved hand, working calmly. Miguel wastes little time, pulling his magnum from his holster and firing a few shots at Scar. The bullets bounce off, impacting his shield with an explosive series of orange sparks. Scar holds up a finger towards Miguel, waving it disapprovingly.

“Now now...I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Scar presses several more keys before putting his phone away, meticulously running his hands over one another. By that time Miguel’s resolve had hardened, his fists curled as tight as he could manage.

“There. Now we’ll have no more distractions.”

Miguel speaks coldly. “You don’t have any guards to call this time.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about them tin man. I’m talking about the police.”

Miguel’s expression remains stoic, but it did visibly give him pause. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that unlike the last time in which you destroyed property that belongs to the good people of this city, this time, I have made some extra precautions to ensure that this party is enjoyed by me and you alone. Think of it as a gift. From me to you. Speaking of gifts, how did you like the one I sent you last night? I see it failed to have the desired effect.”

Miguel’s grip on his gun tightens. “How did you find my address?”

“Your dear friend Carl was...most cooperative in that endeavor. He does a fine job, protecting this city from the confines of his desk, wouldn’t you agree?”

Miguel hisses with disappointment. “I figured as much. So...inquiring minds want to know, why’d you hit me and not him? Why didn’t you try to kill Carl?”

Scar snickers as he starts to slowly walk closer to Miguel, pulling his hands behind his back. “Because I read you, Mr. Morales. I know your type. The valiant hero, the duty-bound soldier, the man who fights for peace on his shoulders and justice as his weapon. Five years ago, I merely avoided the law. I paid off who I needed to when I needed to and that was that. But that day you walked into my club and tried to tell me what to do? I knew that avoiding the law was only going to become more and more of a hassle. “ Scar laments quietly. His footsteps still drawing closer still to Miguel.

“So I had a brilliant thought. Why not control the law? Make it do what I say? When I say jump, it jumps. When I say heel, it rolls over to see me. When I say bow, it bows so damn hard that I can step over it without lifting a foot. But to do that, I needed an example. I needed a threat. I needed…you.” Scar finally reaches him and sweetly grins at Miguel’s frozen expression. A few beads of sweat travel down Miguel’s face as he listens to him, the man looking too shocked to move.

Scar reaches up with a hand and clasps it over the top of Miguel’s gun. His sinister voice sliding into Miguel’s ear with a knife buried in it’s meaning.

“It was easy. For what is an adored man without his people? He is nothing. And the people who once adored them shuffle their feet back to their miserable lives, working jobs they don’t care about and back with the family who don’t love them. When Carl approached me after your family died...Oh, Mr. Morales, you would have been so proud. The things he said to me that night would have made a sailor blush. But once I showed him the error of his arrogance, he begged me to spare his life.”

Miguel bites his lip as tears stream down his closed eyes. His head turned to brace the truth for himself. Scar walks around to the side of Miguel, still speaking in that sweet dulcet tone.

“And as soon as I heard that, I knew exactly what I could do with him. A few strings pulled, some deaths here, a few forced retirements there and just like that...law controlled.” Scar walks around back to the front of Miguel, seeming wholly content. His hand remains on the gun but he doesn’t force it to move just yet. Miguel’s body quakes with barely controlled grief, his teeth clenched and his facial muscles tight.

“So just put the gun down Mr. Morales. Give up. Everyone else has.”

Miguel’s gun doesn’t move. It’s shuddering and shaking, but it remains pointed at Scar. The vampire’s brow raises in annoyance.

“Mr. Morales-”

“SHUT UP!”

Miguel fires his gun directly into Scar’s hand, the bullet burning a hole into Scar’s glove but bouncing off when it hits his skin. Scar staggers back a foot or two, angrily looking into his hand to see that his glove had been ruined. A pool of reddish black liquid emanates out from Scar’s feet, a slick tentacle forming out of it. With a mere thought, the shadowy arm reaches up and slaps Miguel across the face, sending him spiraling through the air. Miguel’s magnum flies out of his hand, the weapon skittering across the roof and coming to a stop in the corner.

As Miguel rises, his resolve strengthens, standing with a renewed will. His eyes burn with courage as he wipes away a small bit of blood from his nose with his sleeve.

“I’ll spare you the stupid speech and just tell you that you picked the wrong hombre to cross. If you have a problem with me, you take it up with me. You do NOT run after their family, you pathetic coward. I’ve looked death in the face with a smile and a medkit. Compared to the shit I saw in that war, you are nothing but a sadist in a cheap suit.”

Scar sighs with great disappointment, tugging off his burnt glove and reaching inside of his pocket to pull out another one. “You know, my generosity has it's limits. I was offering for you to simply leave, but if you want to press the issue, by all means. This time, I’ll pull you apart in so many pieces that nobody will be able to put you back together again.”

Scar turns back towards Miguel and raises his hands, two tentacles growing from the pool at his feet. The first one swings at Miguel from above, prompting him to sidestep it. The second swings at his head horizontally, the man bringing both of his arms to his side to block it. The impact sends the former cop flying, but he takes it in stride, rolling back to his feet. Miguel quickly surveys his surroundings. The roof was mostly bare except for the occasional patio set and air conditioner unit. The cover provided wasn’t much, but it’d have to do.

Miguel starts to advance on Scar, but as he does, the first tentacle swoops back around at him. He ducks underneath it and feels it scrape on his back. The second shadow appendage retracts into the pool and fires itself like an arrow, straight towards Miguel’s head. He leans to the side just in time, blocking it with his metallic arm, ripping the sleeve off of his jacket entirely.

When Miguel finally gets into melee range, he throws some quick punches of his own. Scar deflects them with a smile and one hand, batting away each blow. Miguel opts to start hitting harder, throwing an elbow into a backhand and following up with a cross from his other fist. The first two hits he blocks with the same hand, while the heavy cross forces him to lean back. Just as Miguel goes for a powerful roundhouse kick, one of Scar’s tentacles shoot up, grabbing Miguel by the leg and flinging him into one of the air conditioner units.

Miguel’s back rattles the old machine hard enough to dent it, sending a resonant *CLONG!* throughout the quiet neighborhood. Miguel lands on his side and winces, holding his chest. As he stands back up, Scar sprints over to him, a tentacle arcing over one of his shoulders. Miguel raises his metallic arm to throw another punch, but Scar wraps a tentacle around it, locking the entire limb's movement. The shadow seems to melt slightly, running up Miguel’s arm and seeping into the joint that held it locked to Miguel’s shoulder. The human’s eyes widen with fear as he looks back up towards the gleeful Scar, his tentacle applying pressure to the prosthetic limb.

“Piece by piece.”

Miguel tries to pull his arm back, but the force of the slimy appendage was too much. It refused to budge, no matter the struggle. Miguel looks back up towards the Vampire with a weathered grin of his own.

“...I’ve still got one trick left up my sleeve.”

Arcing bolts of electricity fly through the arm as the tentacle makes a handy conduit of travel back to Scar. The vampire convulses in his impeccable boots as the lightning rips through him, his teeth clenching with pain. The tentacle tries to slither away from Miguel, but he grabs it with his electrified arm, keeping it close. Incoherent gibberish spills from Scar’s mouth as more and more electricity pumps into him. Smoke starts to rise from the vampire’s clothing.

A small beeping pulses from Miguel’s prosthetic arm as the battery runs low, it’s mere presence being enough to rouse Scar from his stunned jittering. A toothy grin starts to form on the vampire's face as patiently waits for the attack to be over. Miguel redoubles his efforts, forcing through the last of his power reserves to fire off a massive shock of electricity that sends Scar flying several dozen feet. His fedora and his glasses fly off of his face while is airborne, the former sliding onto the ground softly while the latter shatters against it. Scar lands on his back and skids for a second before coming to rest.

Miguel’s mechanical arm slumps, the feeling from it drained out entirely. He tries to command it to move once again, but it dangles uselessly at his side. Looking over towards Scar, Miguel watches him for a moment, hopeful that Scar died in that last attack. Just as Miguel starts to lean up from the wall to take a close look, his dreams are dashed as the vampire raises his legs into the air and flips himself back onto his feet, pulling his heavily scuffed jacket back onto his shoulders.

Miguel nearly double takes as he sees Scar’s face. A disfiguring burn carved it’s way into his face, starting at the side of his chin and crawling up diagonally, passing over his nose and disappearing into his hairline. Scar eyes looked wild, his pupils small and shuddering every now and again. The vampire raises a finger to his face and feels the new trench scorched into it by Miguel. Just as suddenly as he got up, Scar starts to laugh, forcefully clapping his gloved hands together. The clapping increased as he chuckles to himself like he’d just seen something outrageously hilarious.

“Well well well, ladies and gentlemen!” Scar’s derangement becoming vocal. “Now, I’m invested! I was going to just murder you quickly, but I’ve changed my mind. Slow and painful is on the menu today, so strap in tin man. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

With a mighty yell, Scar expands the shadowblood pool at his feet, creating six more tentacles for a total of eight slick, reddish black appendages. Unlike before, Scar starts making hand gestures to control his tentacles, starting by throwing two of them straight at Miguel’s chest. The human dodge rolls to the side, the shadowblood arms piercing through the heavy metal of the air conditioning unit effortlessly.

Miguel runs behind the AC units just as another tentacle tries to slam down upon him, cracking the roof beneath its force. Miguel stops running after a few units, pressing his back to it and panting loudly from the effort of fighting, his heart racing laps in his chest. Scar calls from his position, his tentacles undulating wildly to his sides.

“We were having such fun! Don’t leave now. I still have so much more planned! Why don’t you come out where I can see you? Or better yet… Maybe I’ll come find you.”

Scar concentrates for a moment and then slams all eight of his tentacles into the ground, melting several of them into one large puddle of inky ooze. They start to flood outwards and seep around to the back the AC units. Miguel panics when he sees this, rolling up onto the top of the unit just as the ink covers the ground where he once stood. Scar smiles delightedly.

“Oh, there you are! Come here, would you?”

Multiple tiny tentacles start arcing out of the ink pool towards Miguel who leaps from the AC unit as far as he can, landing just outside of the pool with unsteady footing. He starts to sprint as fast as he can, but the edge of the pool reforms into a tentacle and chases after him. In a matter of seconds it catches Miguel, wraps around his midsection multiple times and yanks him off of the ground in one fluid motion. It coils around him several times and yanks him back towards Scar. Just as Miguel starts to grab the tentacle with his one good arm, the appendage uncoils him, sending him spinning rapidly in the air. The pool reforms into one massive shadowblood arm again and slams into Miguel from above, smashing him to the ground hard enough to cause him to bounce back several feet back into the air. Miguel groans in pain as he lays on the ground a second time, his legs feeling out of alignment and his midsection bruised to the point of being bloody.

Through sheer willpower, Miguel winces as he pulls himself up on his side to look at Scar, who slowly approaches him. The tentacles split into pairs of two, each set sliding around Miguel’s limbs. They tug him into the air and start to pull, stretching Miguel into a spread eagle position. Miguel grits his teeth as he resists being pulled taut, fighting the will of the shadow arms. Scar’s silver eyes glisten with sadistic elation.

“Piece by piece, Mr. Morales."