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Division Base: Meeting Room
Everyone exchanged glances, a wave of laughter rippling through the room. They all knew the Murciélagos, the bat-like creatures whose shrieks could inflict excruciating pain on those with sensitive hearing or sometimes even incapacitate a human. But a Murciélago couldn't possibly have killed an entire station with a single shriek. It was absurd, and absolutely impossible.
Yet, some remained silent, their faces etched with a sober understanding. The old and wise, those who had lived through centuries knew some of the vampires secrets like their experiments on the Murciélagos.
Marie rose from her seat, her steps were slow but deliberate as she moved closer to the wall, her gaze fixed on the Murciélagos in the video, a sense of recognition dawning on her face. 'So that's why they are familiar to me,' she thought, her realization dawning upon her. Her features hardened, her face turning cold as she remembered their origins, their transformation from once an intelligent creature with lives of their own, with families and friends and they had turned into something worse than a beast.
"What did you do?" Marie whispered, her voice barely a murmur, but her eyes held a fierce intensity as she turned to face Amelia. She knew even her voice was low Amelia can very much hear her.
"Oh, now that's interesting. I thought you guys stopped experimenting on them years ago," Lestat said, his eyebrows raised, a smirk playing on his lips. He had a keen interest in the history of the supernatural, a hunger for knowledge and interesting things.
"I think everyone here demands an explanation, am I right?" Eric Renard stated, his gaze sweeping across the room, met with nods of agreement. He then turned his attention to Amelia, his expression intent.
Amelia sneered at Eric. His family, once a powerful force in the supernatural world, were the ones who had supplied the Murciélagos to the Corvinus lineage, their greed for power and wealth overshadowing any sense of morality.
Eric saw her sneer, but he just lowered his head. Their family's days as royalty were long gone, their influence waning. They had chosen to build alliances with the vampires, supplying them with whatever they needed, a dangerous game that had now backfired. The loss of a few Murciélagos lives had seemed a small price to pay for their alliances.
'I hope she won't say anything,' Eric thought to himself, his head still bowed. Though he knew about the vampires' experiments, he hadn't felt any guilt. But this time it was different. He didn't know that the vampires could create Murciélagos as powerful as these, capable of wreaking such havoc. If people discovered his family's role in supplying them, the consequences would be dire.
Amelia paid no heed to Eric's silent plea. She knew that her vampire lineage had been in the wrong, continuing their experiments despite the ethical implications.
"Like I said, I don't know anything. When I got to the old coven's den, it was already destroyed," Amelia said calmly, shaking her head slightly. "And you all know that you can't control every single one of your people," Amelia said, telling everyone in the room that those who experimented weren't following the orders on their own, and it was not their whole vampire lineage decision. "We were even attacked when I got out of the train station," she added, releasing a tired sigh, closing her eyes, indifferent to their reactions.
Though Amelia suspected that Marcus had become a hybrid and infected the Murciélagos, similar to the Lycans' plans, she wasn't planning on revealing that to them.
"She's hiding something," Marie whispered, her gaze fixed on Amelia as she settled back into her seat.
"And now how did you figure that out?" Scarlett asked, whispering to Marie. She had observed Amelia's every move, but she couldn't pinpoint the lie.
Marie turned around, facing Scarlett, her eyes locking with hers. "My guts," she said with a grin. "I felt it in my guts that she's hiding something, but she ain't lying," she added, her face turning serious.
"Your guts? That's it?" Scarlett asked, her eyes wide in disbelief. She had expected another lesson from Marie, a deeper insight into the world of the supernatural.
"You better listen to her. A Grimm's instinct is more trustworthy than any information you can get face-to-face," Abraham said, his voice gruff, his gaze towards Scarlett as he overheard their conversation. He had a deep respect for the Grimms, their connection to the supernatural world, and their unwavering instincts, they aren't called the perfect hunter with no reason.
"Grimm huh," Scarlett muttered, shaking her head slightly. She continued to listen to the discussion, but a nagging question lingered in the back of her mind. 'Could i awaken Would I ever?' Though she was comfortable being human, she couldn't help but ponder the possibilities of gaining the abilities of awakened humans.
While some, like Marie, knew Amelia was hiding something but were hesitant to force her hand, Henry Carver also frowned. He couldn't use his power on Amelia. It would be inappropriate and likely make him crazy, as Amelia possessed a mental strength honed over centuries. However, he could confirm whether her words were true or not.
Henry looked towards Victor, who stood beside him, and nodded slightly.
Victor, sensing the unspoken request, stood up from his seat and left the room. He was going to order the Division agents to confirm Amelia's statement, sending agents to the train station site where Amelia and Lena were attacked.
"Why did they even go there?" Syrena said, her voice cutting through the tension, making everyone turn to her. Some looked at her with fascination, others with disgust.
"I meant why did they even go into the station?" Syrena remained unfazed by their reactions, calmly pointing at the Murciélagos on the screen. She was bored with the endless cycle of accusations and justifications.
Her question, seemingly simple, struck a chord. It was a question that resonated with everyone present.
They all turned around to focus on Henry as they knew that Division had already been in the scene. Henry nodded towards them before turning around and continuing to play the video. The footage had changed from the subway station to show the Lycans' Den, depicting the Lycans naked bodies transformed back into humans and the Murciélagos. Henry paused the video.
"We have found Marcus target was the Lycans Den," Henry introduced, the Lycans' transformation back into humans making it difficult for those in the room to identify the deceased.
"Looks like you guys, hatred from your fellow lineage is the same as ever, Amelia. Don't you say so?" Lestat remarked, his eyebrows raised, amusement laced in his tone.
"I think you should shut up, Lestat, or do you think because you can fly, you can win against me?" Amelia retorted, her eyes narrowed as she glared at Lestat, her warning clear. She was tired of hearing his irritating voice.
Lestat sighed. He knew Amelia was stronger than him. Though they were different kinds of vampires, their species both grew stronger with age. Centuries had allowed Lestat to fly, but Amelia was older, and therefore more powerful. But that didn't mean he would stop provoking her.
"Easy to anger as always, Amelia. That's why, even after centuries, you're still single," he said, a smirk spreading across his face. He let out a small laugh.
SMACK
A palm hit the table, the force of the impact making cracks appear on the surface. Splinters flew out as everyone turned their heads towards Amelia, who stood up, her eyes blazing with anger. She glared at Lestat, like flames were about to burst through her eyes.
"If you may, Elder Amelia, forgive Lestat for his words. He hasn't fed in days," A black vampire beside Lestat intervened, bowing slightly towards Amelia as he pulled Lestat's arm. "Keep quiet. This isn't why we are here," Louis whispered to Lestat.
"Whatever you say, my Loui," Lestat said with a smile before bowing at Amelia.
"Calm down," Lena said, pulling Amelia's right arm down, helping her to sit back down. However, she couldn't control the smile that played on her lips.
"Not a word," Amelia warned, pointing at Lena, seeing her unnatural expression. She sat back down, her anger barely contained.
"Looks like that hit a nerve," Scarlett whispered, observing the scene, knowing Marie was right.
Amelia glared at Scarlett, hearing her whisper.
Marie pulled Scarlett's sleeve, her gaze focused on Henry.
"How did they die? I believe even the Lycans would have a hard time taking them down," Marie asked, pointing at the Murciélagos, who were cut in half, before crossing her arms.
Henry released a tired sigh. He hated being interrupted by petty arguments, but he knew he couldn't afford to offend either party.
Hnery nodded at Marie, before continuing his report.
"No, the Lycans didn't kill them. Something else did. We caught some of the Lycans who survived the attack," Henry said, before switching the video to a picture with his remote. The picture showed two Lycans kneeling.
"When we tried to ask them, they killed themselves," Henry continued, silencing the mouths of those who wanted to question where the Lycans were being kept.
"How are you sure that it wasn't a Lycan who did it?" Marie asked, her frown deepening. She felt there was so much missing information.
"Because, when we caught them, they were running for their lives, and we found this," Henry said, taking a bullet from inside his suit pocket and laying it on the table.
"But unfortunately, we couldn't find who made it. So we think it was custom-made. Pass it around, see if you can recognize it," Henry said, looking towards the hunters who took the bullet from the table, examining it closely.
The hunter's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the bullet, shaking his head. He passed it on to other hunters, who also shook their heads.
The bullet was passed to awakened humans, and then to some supernatural creatures. However, when someone from the supernatural side attempted to take a look, the hunter took the bullet back, shaking his head.
"You guys don't use this. After all, you're all confident with your claws," the hunter said with a sneer, making the supernatural creature snarl.
The hunter didn't care and passed the bullet to Chris.
"Something was in it, some liquid," Chris said, shaking his head slightly. It was the only thing he could observe, as the bullet was passed around between the hunters and awakened humans.
It landed in Abraham's hand, who shook his head. In his long life, he hadn't seen a bullet like this. He passed it to Marie.
Marie took a quick glance and passed it to Scarlett. She knew that if all the hunters hadn't seen anything, she probably wouldn't either. She just passed it to Scarlett without even observing it.
Scarlett, who held the bullet, was looking at it with interest, like she had found a new toy.
"Are there other bullets like this?" Scarlett asked, raising the bullet in her hand to Henry.
Henry raised an eyebrow, sensing Scarlett had figured out something. He pressed the remote, switching the pictures. It showed bullets identical to the one in Scarlett's hand lying on the floor.
Scarlett frowned, seeing it was the same bullet. She didn't need that. She wanted to find something else, something that could show what liquid was inside the bullet.
"Are there other pictures?" she asked with disappointment, as Henry kept changing the pictures. Yet, it only showed the bullets without any liquid inside.
Then, Scarlett noticed something else from one of the pictures.
"Stop!" Scarlett exclaimed as she looked at one picture that showed a purple liquid stain on the ground.
"Interesting!" Scarlett said, figuring out what the liquid inside the bullet was. She turned away from the picture, focusing on the bullet in her hand. "Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?" she whispered, almost to herself.
"I hate to interrupt, but I think you better share your findings with everyone, don't you think so?" Marie said, her voice a low reminder beside Scarlett. Scarlett looked at Marie, who gestured for her to look around the room.
"Ahem," Scarlett coughed, feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on her, a mixture of eagerness and skepticism. She took a deep breath.
"UV liquid," Scarlett introduced calmly, unfazed by their scrutiny. She knew her next words had to be carefully chosen, lest she be dismissed as a naive amateur.
"UV liquid, and the bullets were designed to release the UV liquid inside the body, spreading into the bloodstream, killing it efficiently. A genius idea," she said, placing the bullet back on the table with a sigh. She didn't notice the darkening faces of some vampires, realizing the bullets were meant to kill them easily.
Jane, however, remained emotionless. Their species of vampire wasn't afraid of bullets, nor even sunlight as they simply glowed.
"I haven't seen any bullets like this, but I can imagine what impact it could have today, if we just change the liquid inside the bullet from wolfsbane or even mountain ash. The damage it could do..." Scarlett trailed off, another sigh escaping her lips as she couldn't help but be amazed by the lethal design of the bullet. She felt a nudge on her foot, making her look down.
She noticed it was Marie's foot. She turned her head and saw Marie and Abraham glaring at her. 'Shut the fuck up,' Marie mouthed, a silent advice and command.
Scarlett slowly turned her head away. She saw some hunters nod in agreement, realizing the usefulness of the bullets. But the supernatural creatures in the room all darkened their faces, knowing the bullet structure could kill them all with the right liquid. They couldn't help but want to kill whoever invented it.
"Ahem, what about the sniffs and watchers? Did they pick up anything from the bullet?" Marie asked, drawing everyone's attention back to her as they all wanted to catch the one who made it.
"That's the problem. They only saw a silver fog," Henry said, looking at Amelia, who showed an appropriate look of shock.
Amelia and Lena both already knew it was the same person, from Lena's visions.
"So, you mean, whoever is targeting these vampires is targeting the Lycans as well?" Eric asked, confused. He couldn't figure out what was so special about the vampires and Lycans.
"That's what we hope to figure out," Henry said, sharing the goal with everyone. "Because, although there is a silver fog that blocks the visions of the watchers and sniffs, the silver fog didn't block the items connected to the Lycans."
"Since Marcus's target was the Lycans, wherever he may be, he will come for them again," Henry stated seriously, knowing their priority was to stop Marcus from making any more trouble in public, and to punish him for breaking the rules.
"So, find the Lycans. You find them all? Is that your plan?" Marie asked with a frown, feeling it was hopeful thinking, as they didn't even know if the one targeting the vampires and Lycans would be coming back.
"Yes, that's what we hope for. If you have other great plans in mind, please do share it," Henry said, looking at everyone.
"I think we could try if the sniffs and watchers can look for Marcus, as he is the priority," Chris said, standing up. People started standing up from their seats, as the meeting was about to be finished. "But, if not, ambushing him is the great choice as well," Chris added, nodding towards Henry.
Henry bowed slightly before looking around the room. "Then, ladies and gentlemen, I'll inform you after either Marcus's location or the Lycans' location is found," he said as people started to leave the room.
"Are you sure it's a supernatural creature though?" Scarlett asked, walking in front of the wall, observing the dead Murciélagos.
"Although the Murciélagos were killed by the bullets, I think it's still a supernatural creature, as that's the only explanation that can block the watchers," Henry said, raising an eyebrow. He suspected that Scarlett had figured out another piece of information.
Some of the people who hadn't left the room stopped in their tracks, listening to their conversation.
'That's not how they died,' Scarlett thought to herself, observing the Murciélagos that were cut in half. She focused on the scorched yet cleanly severed body of the Murciélago. 'No flames can do that. A laser?' Scarlett thought before shaking her head. 'Or a hot blade? Hot enough to scorch the inside while slicing cleanly, and fast. An energy blade?' She asked herself before shaking her head in denial.
'No, that's impossible with today's technology,' Scarlett thought. Joe's was the most advanced organization, with cutting-edge technology, yet even they didn't have something like that.
"Do you have some idea? Spit it out, kid," Marie said, putting her hand on Scarlett's shoulder.
"Hmm," Scarlett turned around, facing Marie, before shaking her head. She knew saying something would most likely make them think it was someone from a human organization. After all, the only ones who could build something like that were them.
"Do you have any names of Murciélagos in Hungary?" Scarlett asked, looking at Henry, changing the subject.
"Why? Do you think Marcus will come after them?" Henry asked with a frown.
"Possible. We can send some surveillance to them. Since he can't beat the one targeting them right, he needs more army," Scarlett suggested calmly. But her suggestion meant more trouble was about to come.
"I'll inform Joe's if we find the Murciélagos," Henry said, nodding at Scarlett with understanding and now a bit of respect.
"I can help," Eric Renard said, walking towards them, showing his goodwill. Henry looked at him, frowning, before nodding. He knew this wasn't the time to be picky.
"Royals," Marie said, her voice laced with disgust as she looked at Eric with disdain.
"Then we will monitor the Hungarian skies. If they fly, I bet the satellites can see them," Scarlett said, nodding slightly towards Henry before turning towards Marie and Abraham.
"I'm going first," Scarlett said, walking towards the door, exiting the room.
Marie and Abraham shared a look. They both felt Scarlett had figured something out, but was just hiding it.
"Let's go, old man. I'm getting sick of the air in here," Marie said towards Abraham, shooting a look of disgust at Eric before leading Abraham out of the room.
"Who is she?" William Lennox asked, his voice laced with curiosity. He turned to the other US Army representative beside him, his gaze fixed on Scarlett. He was intrigued by her, particularly her age. She was younger than him, yet already participating in this high-level meeting.
"A member of Joe's," the representative said, a hint of envy in his voice.
"Joe's?" William Lennox asked, confused. He knew Scarlett was a human representative, but he had never heard of this organization. He was surprised she was treated differently than the rest of them.
"It's a special organization. Composed of the best agents, soldiers from 23 different nations," the representative said with a sigh. It was the only organization where every human was united, a force to be reckoned with.
"What about me?" William asked, pointing at himself. Hearing about this organization, composed of the best agents and soldiers, he couldn't help but compare himself.
The representative tapped him on the shoulder, a gesture of comfort and dismissal. "Don't think about it," he said before walking towards the door.
"Oh come on!" William shouted, following behind.
•-----•-----•-----•-----•
Division Base: Corridor
Scarlett, having exited the meeting, pulled an earpiece from her pocket and tapped her watch.
"Breaker, can you hear me?" she asked into the comms, her voice a hushed whisper as she continued walking.
[I hear you loud and clear. How's the meeting?]
"I'll tell you about it later. Can you find out anyone who got in and out of Hungary, starting from Budapest from the airport, traffic cameras, or even toll gates a month ago?" Scarlett ordered, feeling that whoever could build something like an energy blade would be famous.
[What now? I can get you the list of people who got in and out of the airport a month ago, but traffic cameras and toll gates will take more time,] Breaker said hurriedly.
Scarlett nodded slightly. It was already impressive to get the airport list from a month ago with short notice.
[Oh, your acquaintance is here.]
"Who?" Scarlett asked with a frown, stopping in her tracks. Then, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and pulled it out.
[I've sent it to you,] Breaker said into her earpiece. Scarlett opened her phone, showing a video of Jinx and another woman getting out of a private plane, before other members of the Arashikage clan followed out.
[Looks like they're here to participate,] Breaker said. There were some people who hadn't attended the meeting because of time constraints or other obligations. Breaker didn't think much of it, as the Arashikage clan was an ally of Joe's, and he assumed they were there to participate in the hunt.
Scarlett didn't say anything. She zoomed in on the video, focusing on the woman beside Jinx. 'She's here, meaning her boss is here. And wherever her boss may go, that means only one thing. He's here,' she thought, her mind racing to the monster-like kid who should have grown up a bit right now.
Then Scarlett's eyes widened as she remembered what Akiko had told her: he was the one who had made the weapon. A news that no one in Joe's believed, even her. 'But if it's true...' she stopped thinking, closing her phone and putting it back in her pocket.
"Breaker, I need you to do me a favor," Scarlett said, starting to walk again.
[Already on it] Breaker said, as he deleted the videos and digital evidence of the Arashikage clan landing at the airport.
"Thanks. And Breaker, one more thing. Send me the location where Jinx would go to my phone. I want to surprise them," Scarlett said before taking off her earpiece and putting it back in her pocket. Her face showed no emotion, but her hurried steps said otherwise.
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END OF CHAPTER
Extra Chapter for 200 Power Stones
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UPCOMING CHAPTERS SPOILERS:
Chapter 96: The Deal, Chapter 97: Sexual Tension, Chapter 98: Resigning & Joining, Chapter 99: Arrivals, Chapter 100: Introduction, Chapter 101: Information, Chapter 102: Temptations, Chapter 103: A intense bath R18, Chapter 104: Wryness R18, Chapter 105: Mitsuki's Powers, Chapter 106: Getting Ready, Chapter 107: Getting Ready(2), Chapter 108: Corvinus Castle, Chapter 109: Corvinus Castle, Chapter 110: A Hybrids Fall, Chapter 111: I told you so, Chapter 112: It's You, Chapter 113: Continuation, Chapter 114: William's Prison, Chapter 115: William's Prison(2), Chapter 116: William's Prison(3), Chapter 117: Death of the Twins, Chapter 118: I Fucking Knew It, Chapter 119: I Fucking Knew It(2), Chapter 120: The Last Fight, Chapter 121: The Last Fight(2), Chapter 122: A Swear to a God, Chapter 123: The end of William Corvinus
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