WAR: WIIGF 12 (Patreon)

The night was dark and full of terror.

He knew that well enough.

The man ran through the back streets of Bludhaven like he had done dozens of times before, only now the stench of fear was his and his alone.

Shoes slapped the wet alley floor, puddles splashing behind him as he did nothing but sprint as fast as he could manage, lungs pounding uselessly. Don’t… don’t look back.

He wasn’t.

He knew well enough to know that was the way you got caught; the slow-down, the slip-up, the stupid mistake of wanting to know how close they were.

He kept his eyes firm on the chain-link fence at the end of the alleyway as he juked around the corner, nearly skidding on the ground as his pinwheeling arms kept him upright. He hit the fence face-first and with both hands, cold diamond holes biting at his fingers as he shook. 

A dead end. Blüdhaven was full of ‘em. Little concrete graves tucked between buildings, waiting for someone to make a wrong turn.

“C’mon,” he told the ladder that wasn’t a ladder, sneakers sliding and squealing on the rungs still wet from the rain of this evening. The fence rattled off as laughter went off behind him; a lazy sound stretched thin as it echoed off the alley walls.

He made it three whole feet up the chain-links before something closed in on the middle of his back.

Fingers.

Not even hard, barely any pressure; just enough for him to feel it.No.

Pressure spiked as his skin parted like a wet zipper unzipping, sharp nails pushing through cold meat and his spine went pop.

All feeling vanished below his shoulder blades.

The fence held him because he could no longer hold himself; jacket and fingers caught in the links. Oh…

A hand tore him off the fence, his eyes wide as the alley floor rushed up to meet him. The cold cold man hit wet concrete and didn’t stop as he slid on the floor, trash and broken bottle glass introducing itself to his body.

Vision spun, pinwheeling as he looked up into the alley’s sky, as a face stared back down at him.

Ash-pale, with eyes like a burning ember staring back down at him.

“Broooo… am I gonna have to do all the work on this one?” The face spoke to no one at all, no one he could see. “You been slacking for the last three leeches. It’s mad lazy. Finish him; he’s all yours.”All whose.The paralyzed man cut his gaze sideways, the only direction he could turn, eyes going wide as he caught the shadow leaning off the wall like it owned the brick.

Young. Dark skin caught the stray bit of shine from outside the alley; hair tied back in a messy ponytail.

He tried to crawl, elbows biting and roughened palms sliding on messy, garbage-laden puddles of water. A foot landed in front of him, thick black boots blocking his way. “Nah.”

The man glanced back, the sight of the dark-skinned kid in all black all he could track. Fingers flicked into place, three different positions in less than three different seconds.

“Katon: Enshō.” The boy exhaled and the world narrowed to the size of that breath.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"Wow, another one tonight. Lucky us." Luigi half-giggled as he rubbed under his nose with a single knuckle, smile on his face as he stood unbothered after running a couple miles faster than a school zone limit.

Lucky.

The laugh slid way into something that could only be Italian, Luigi’s eyes glowing a brighter red for a few seconds. As he finished incanting whatever it is he was saying, the pile of smoldering vampire ash swirled up into a neat little cyclone before getting sucked into a glass vial. Grin splitting his mouth even wider, Luigi dropped the thing into a worn leather pouch he wore at his waist. "That makes nine now. My best night ever."

Nine. Ken could feel it in the low lagging hum of chakra in his gut, that energy sitting heavy and tired. Thirteen times. He'd used his Fireball jutsu thirteen fucking times in the last hour and it was pushing it. Hard.

Yeah, he missed a few. Sue me, I've had the damn thing for two days.

Two days since that impossible download of knowledge left him with a brand-new jutsu downloaded into his head, something that should have been a simple Fireball spell somehow perfectly translated for what he could use. 

Lucky, sure, but it wasn’t the Great Fireball he expected it would be. This was more Baby’s First Fireball, smaller than a Molotov even.

He wasn’t gonna complain or nothing but he knew damn well that Sasuke outdid him by like ten times at least when the kid was barely seven. Fugaku wouldn’t even spit on me.

Granted, he’d only had chakra for less than a week now, but he still wanted to be as strong as he could, especially when the city was full of leeches the way the Church and Luigi had told him all about.

Need to get stronger. Speaking of stronger, he still didn't know how deep his chakra tank went but this felt close to halfway. Maybe less. The whole thing felt... shallow. Am I… Sakura?He almost shuddered at the thought, Sharingan flicking on for a second as fear ran down his spine.

"Yeah... nine," Ken answered back, breathing heavier than he wanted. The sixteen-year-old adjusted his crossbow, the thing slung over his back doing absolutely nothing but making his shoulders ache. Fifty bucks says I never even get to use this piece of shit. "What's the deal with these ones anyway?"

"Whaddya mean?" Luigi asked, lighting his third cig of the night with another snap; perfect little orange flame flickering to life on his thumb. My boy out here doing Human Torch shit and I'm the one with ninja powers.

Ken frowned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black jeans. "I fought two…” he twitched all of a sudden, pulling a face as the truth popped him on the back of the head. “Well, two fucked me up before they died. Either way, those were way stronger and faster than these."

Like, throw him across the room and jump twenty fucking feet easy stronger. 

He didn’t know much about the greaser or goth girl, but he knew they wouldn’t be held up by a chain link. Ken’s eyes flicked over to it a half-second later. ‘Specially not one I’m pretty sure I could jump now.

"I mean, 'cause... like, these are newborns, man," Luigi said around smoke. "Newborns are brand-new, maybe two years old tops. They can't do shit but be farmed. Regular people could hunt these fuckers down long as they hit the gym, my guy."

Ken's eyes narrowed. This motherfucker... "...I feel like you fuckin' with me right now, bruh."

"Lil bit," Luigi admitted, grin spreading wide enough to show those silver fang grillz. "They still tough as fuck, though. Bullets hurt 'em bad enough, but a piece won't put 'em down 'less you completely wreck their heart or head. They’re babies, bro."

Ken nodded slow. 

He'd noticed that, honestly. He’d been about twice as fast as all five they'd hunted tonight, and judging from the one whose arm he broke… I’m way stronger too. 

Well, at least with chakra flowing through him as strongly as he could manage it. "So newborns are easy. Gotchu."

"Yeaaaahhh..." Luigi stretched the word into three over-long syllables, smoke sliding out of his mouth like he was a dragon. "Neonates, those are… uh, well, still pretty easy for me... you get me? Those get up to like seven or nine years old, I think. It's the Fledgelings that are a fuckin' bitch. Teenage vamps are about as strong as me, and I ain't tryin' to get in a fight I might lose, y'know? Just not worth it."

Ken’s eyes narrowed. I… I don’t like the sound of that. Luigi had explained his magecraft thing on the rooftop on Monday, two days back, telling him pretty well how his family had a spell that was permanent on him for some reason; a spell that made him at least three times stronger and he could double that pretty easily any time he felt like it. Six times stronger than normal and still doesn't wanna risk it. 

This vampire world went deeper and darker than he thought. Way deeper. "What comes after the teenagers? What's an adult vamp look like?"

"Look like? Man, they can look like anything," Luigi shook his head, taking another drag. "Squires, basically young adults... strong as fuck though. They get up to like seventy-five years old and I hear they can be like twenty times as strong as a person. That's like straight flippin' a car over, not-to-be-fucked-with territory. They not as scary as Knights, though. And Knights ain't got shit on vampire Lords. Lords are like... well, they're monster monsters, feel me?"

Well... fuck.

Luigi looked back at him, copper eyes catching the dim shitty light from a streetlamp half a block down. "Enough 'bout that, though. I'm surprised you ain't down already, man. Those are pretty strong spells, especially for someone who just started magecraft."

"They're called jutsu," Ken corrected automatic, the word feeling right in his mouth where 'spell' never would. Not gonna lie, he was still tripping on how the Fireball spell (D-Rank Katon: Enshō, Fire Style: Flame Shot) had shifted the way it did; the whole thing reworking itself, twisting into new shape that fit the stolen Uchiha framework. Naruto ninja were basically wizards anyway, just with cooler hand signs.

"Yeah, you mentioned that like six times, but I still don't get why."

"And I don't get why I know Japanese now, but I'm not questioning it." 

Luigi clicked his tongue. "Fair. You wanna go huntin' for more or you wanna call it?"

Ken stayed quiet, arms and legs already feeling the burn, and tried to give it some thought. Both eyes flicked down to the small little blue pouch at his waist, the one that showed up out of nowhere after Bella dusted in his mom’s living room. 

The one with endless Cheesy Poofs. Magic fanny pack full of junk food. Still the stupidest thing in his stupid life, and that was saying something. But what if...

His hand went in. Fingers brushed past the crinkly plastic of the Poofs bag, and went deeper; just a bit, until they felt something else. Something rectangular, cool, and small.

Luigi watched him, confusion clear on his face, as Ken stared at the kiddy juice pouch in his hand, the thing with a cartoon star on the front. 

“...the fuck?”Ken ignored him as he popped the tiny plastic straw through and slurped it down, artificial apple and sugar tasting wrong against the copper smell of old blood still hanging in the alley.

It didn’t take long at all for him to feel it, green eyes going wide as his Sharingan spiked to life at the sudden feeling of refilling. 

That slow but steady trickle of energy seeping back into the shallow well of his chakra in his gut, way faster than normal. Way faster. Not his energy either, something else feeding into him, filling up the tank like premium gas.

A few seconds later, he squeezed the box down his throat, one hand crushing the juice box and tossing it over his shoulder.

Ken flexed his fists, exhaustion bleeding out of him as the magic juice box did its thing to his system. Yeah… makes sense, he nodded slowly. If the food heals, then the drinks…

He looked at Luigi, grin spreading sharp and real across his face as he felt the best type of ready; the kind of ready that could turn bloodsuckers to kitty litter.

"Alright, let's get active."– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –Newborn Reaper – 50 NP

Kill five vampire Newborns (0–2 years turned) in one night.“Five fresh bloods gone to dust before they even learned how to stalk. Quick math, quicker death.”

ROLL: [CHAAAAAARGING STAR!!! – Generic Fantasy] – 0

You ever watch those anime or magical girl shows where someone screams the name of their attack “Super Ultra Nova Slash of Eternal Light!” and thought, that’s so dumb? Well, guess what? You’re now contractually obligated to join the club.

By yelling out the name of your attack before launching it, you boost its damage by 10–20%, depending on the volume, drama, and sheer cringe of the name. The more ludicrously long, absurdly dramatic, and emotionally overwrought the name, the stronger the buff. No name? Better make one up. Bonus points for unnecessary adjectives and shouting it to the heavens like you're on stage in a school play.

Sure, your enemies will laugh. Your allies might disown you. But you’ll be the one laughing when “SCREAMING VOID DEATH-FIST EXCALIPUNCH ZERO FINAL” knocks a dragon into orbit.

Free, because no one should have to pay to lose this much dignity.Nexus Points: 250