Bonus Chapter
"Haa... Well... This has certainly been one memorable way to spend a summer evening."
No one answered.
Blade slowly pushed himself back onto his feet, brushing loose dust from the sleeves of his long coat with deliberate movements.
Despite standing again, his gaze never left the empty stretch of pavement.
His expression remained unreadable before he said, "Too bad..."
Alexander raised an eyebrow as Blade finally looked at him and added, "...Your memorable evening is far from over."
The words settled heavily over the street.
Roland frowned, and without saying anything, he stepped a little closer to Alexander while still keeping Big Shield Gardna between them and the two strangers.
It wasn't an overtly hostile gesture but simply a cautious one, as years of experience had taught him that conversations often became dangerous before weapons ever appeared.
Then Roland asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Before Blade could respond, the detective-looking man quietly lowered the pistol that had remained loosely aimed toward where the clone had fallen and said, "The thing we just killed isn't the only one we have to worry about."
His voice stayed calm, though exhaustion lingered beneath every syllable, "There are more."
His eyes briefly drifted toward the scattered ashes as he added, "And someone is controlling them."
Alexander remained silent while the detective continued, "Unfortunately, the moment you got involved in this situation and survived, you also attracted the wrong kind of attention."
He met Alexander's eyes directly and said, "If the one behind this learns about what you did, and he likely already has, don't expect to be ignored."
Alexander quietly sighed through his nose while thinking, 'Honestly... This is more or less what I already expected. Marvel rarely allows for such coincidences to stay simple. Especially not when vampires, secret conspiracies, and supernatural events become involved. If someone possessed the capacity and resources to create clones of Blade... then that person is hardly the sort to overlook unexpected interference. If that is true, then helping Blade deal with his clone has likely already painted a target on my back.'
At this point, Alexander reached a simple conclusion, 'Damn it... The only way to get out of this situation is to ensure that whoever is behind this can't act against us... Permanently.'
Shortly after Alexander thought that, Roland looked as though he intended to ask another question, but Blade spoke first, "We need to move."
His eyes swept across the rooftops surrounding the intersection, apartment buildings, office windows and dark alleys, and it was clear that there were too many places for unseen eyes to watch from, even more so when he directly said, "This road is too exposed. If they're watching... Then we're making their job easy."
Alexander instinctively followed Blade's gaze.
Now that the adrenaline of the high-paced battle had faded, the street seemed very different.
Every rooftop looked like a potential sniper's perch; every darkened window seemed capable of concealing a pair of eyes. Perhaps nothing was there, perhaps someone had been observing the entire fight.
There was no way to know, but he trusted Blade's judgement as the memories of his other self told him that when it comes to Vampire-related situations, Blade was one of the best.
After only a moment's consideration, he nodded and said, "I agree."
Turning toward the towering knight still standing protectively beside him, Alexander smiled faintly while calling him out, "Big Shield Gardna."
The armoured warrior immediately shifted his attention toward its summoner. Even standing perfectly still, the knight projected an almost immovable presence as Alexander added, "Thank you."
For a brief second, nothing happened, then the massive warrior planted its enormous shield upright against the ground before bringing a clenched fist to the centre of its breastplate.
The gesture was simple but respectful, like an ancient knight acknowledging the command of the lord he had sworn to protect.
Alexander returned the nod almost instinctively.
The next moment, the knight's body started to dissolve. Countless motes of pale Spirit Energy drifted free from the armour, rising gently into the air like glowing fireflies before converging and forming the card in Alexander's hand, leaving nothing else behind.
The light faded, and the street became quiet once more.
Blade watched the entire process without visible surprise, likely because years spent hunting monsters had clearly broadened his definition of impossible.
The detective-looking man, however, wasn't nearly as successful at hiding his curiosity as his eyes lingered on the card several seconds longer than necessary.
Alexander simply stored the card back into the YGO System's Card Database, then he gestured toward the nearby sedan and said, "If we're heading somewhere safer, we may as well use the car."
Blade exchanged a brief look with the detective-looking man as Alexander and Roland got into the car's front seats.
Nothing needed to be said as a silent agreement passed between them before both men climbed into the rear seats without objection.
Roland started the engine, and the sedan quietly pulled away from the deserted street.
~~~▽~~~
For several minutes, only the steady hum of the engine accompanied them.
Streetlights flowed past outside the windows in slow, repeating patterns. The city continued on as though nothing extraordinary had happened.
Cars crossed intersections. Restaurants remained open. Pedestrians laughed together on sidewalks completely unaware that, only a few streets away, two versions of the world's most dangerous vampire hunter had fought to the death.
Alexander found himself glancing toward Blade through the rearview mirror.
The blood staining the hunter's coat remained.
It was dark and fresh, the evidence of wounds that should have been almost fatal to anyone else if left untreated, yet the injuries themselves had vanished completely; not even scars remained.
Alexander found himself oddly relieved while thinking, 'At least cleaning blood out of leather seats should be considerably easier...'
At the same time, Roland kept his attention on the road while he asked, "Do either of you have somewhere in mind?"
Blade answered immediately, "We've been using an abandoned warehouse as a temporary hideout..."
Without hesitation, he recited the address from memory.
Roland gave a single nod and said, "I know the area."
The sedan smoothly changed direction while the silence returned.
Each of them was replaying the evening in their own thoughts, but eventually, Alexander broke it by saying, "I suppose introductions are in order."
A polite smile crossed his face, "My name is Alexander Jones. The charming visionary who created the Duel Monsters card game and owner of Industrial Illusion."
He gestured toward Roland, "And this is Roland Cooper. My trusted guardian and butler..."
He paused for the briefest moment before adding with a small smirk, "...And the man responsible for making sure I don't accidentally get myself killed or, God forbid, miss my meals."
Roland allowed himself the faintest hint of amusement as he said, "It isn't always easy, as it seems that Master Alexander has the propensity to attract all kinds of trouble."
Alexander ignored the comment with practised familiarity.
Turning slightly toward the back seats, he continued, "I'd appreciate knowing who we're helping."
His expression became noticeably more serious as he added, "And... I'd also appreciate understanding exactly what we've become involved in."
Hannibal nodded slowly and said, "Fair enough. My name is Hannibal King. I'm a private investigator."
There was an easy confidence to the introduction.
It was professional, almost rehearsed, but beneath that calm exterior lingered something heavier; it seemed a mix of regret and weariness.
"A few years ago... I was working a case in London. It eventually led me to a man named Deacon Frost. A Vampire."
Alexander didn't recognise the name, but if he was involved with Blade's clone, then he surely wasn't someone he should ignore.
"He bit me." Hannibal's jaw tightened as he continued, "But I survived..."
A bitter smile appeared before he added, "...If you can call it that. I became one of them."
The disgust in his own voice was impossible to miss.
Alexander remained quiet, and neither sympathy nor judgment crossed his face, only understanding. Roland's expression reflected much the same.
Hannibal looked out the side window, "I spent months trying to find Frost, and that's how I met Blade."
A faint laugh escaped him, "Our first meeting didn't go particularly well."
Blade grunted in agreement but didn't say anything else.
"He thought I was another vampire. I thought he was a lunatic carrying a sword. We ended up fighting..."
Alexander couldn't quite suppress a smile as this was such a clichè encounter between future partners that made him truly consider that some first impressions were universal laws.
"But eventually," Hannibal continued, "we realised we were hunting the same man. Deacon Frost. The vampire who not only bit and turned me, but also the one responsible for killing Blade's mother."
"So you joined forces," Alexander said.
Blade answered with a single nod.
"Not long after that... We waited inside one of Frost's apartments. We were expecting one of his latest victims to rise, and he did. But before we put him down, he managed to tell us something."
Alexander quietly listened.
"He'd unearthed an old coffin. Inside... there was someone identical to Blade."
Alexander blinked once and almost rolled his eyes while thinking, 'Of course. Marvel and its fucking clones... I'm starting to understand why those who read the comics complained so much. Not even a year has passed since I've "stepped" into the more special side of this world, and I'm already dealing with a clone issue, and from what little I understood, they are also quite common too... Damn...'
"We thought it sounded insane, but it wasn't. Our search eventually led us here, to Los Angeles, where we finally found the duplicate, and it told us exactly why it existed."
Blade's voice remained flat as he finally spoke in a gruff tone, "It was created to kill me."
Silence settled over the vehicle once again before Blade continued, "We fought. We won... Almost. But then it escaped by jumping out of the window before I could impale it with a stake."
Hannibal nodded and said, "You already know the rest."
Alexander certainly did.
The clone's escape. The desperate chase. Its strange fusion with Blade when they got in direct contact, which was likely the proper way that Deacon Frost planned to kill Blade. The final strike.
Everything after that all four of them had lived through together.
Suddenly, Hannibal frowned and said, "Actually..."
His eyes narrowed slightly before he said with confidence, "You weren't nearly as surprised as most people would've been."
Alexander met his gaze.
Hannibal leaned back against the seat and continued, "The knight. The cards. The way you reacted after seeing Blade's duplicate... You knew vampires existed before tonight, didn't you?"
Silence lingered for a moment as Alexander considered how much he wanted to reveal.
"Let's just say," he answered carefully, "This wasn't my first encounter with the supernatural."
Blade finally spoke again, "But it was your first vampire."
Alexander gave a small nod and admitted honestly, "Yes."
Blade studied him for another second before asking the question that actually interested him, "That knight."
His eyes briefly flicked toward Alexander's coat pocket where the card had disappeared, "Can you summon more?"
Alexander smiled faintly, "The same one? No, I have to wait 24 hours before I can summon it again. But I can summon other creatures, not limited to knights, and some are much stronger..."
"How many?"
"Enough..."
~~~▽~~~
Nearly twenty minutes later, Roland guided the sedan into the cracked parking lot of an abandoned warehouse.
The building looked completely forgettable.
Weathered concrete. Broken windows covered from the inside. Rust spreading across old loading doors. Exactly the sort of place no one paid attention to.
Inside, the impression changed immediately. The warehouse had been transformed into something resembling a temporary command centre. Large maps of Los Angeles covered an entire wall.
Coloured pins connected by handwritten notes marked dozens of locations across the city. Red. Blue. Yellow. Each colour clearly meant something.
Several folding tables overflowed with reports, surveillance photographs, newspaper clippings, and notebooks filled with hurried handwriting.
Coffee cups stood abandoned beside stacks of paperwork. An old radio quietly hissed with intermittent static from one corner. A lone freezer connected to an industrial port. And two plain camp beds.
Another table had become an improvised armoury filled with wooden stakes, silver knives, crossbows, boxes of bolts, guns, wooden bullets, containers labelled as holy water.
Several unfamiliar weapons Alexander couldn't immediately identify.
Everything had a place, and nothing looked decorative. This wasn't a collection, but it was equipment that was meant to be used. Again and again.
Alexander slowly walked between the tables.
His eyes lingered over the maps, the reports, the sheer amount of investigation spread across the room.
Blade and Hannibal hadn't stumbled into this mystery.
They had been chasing it for months, maybe years.
Every pin represented another lead, every photograph represented another victim or target.
Stopping before the largest map, Alexander quietly traced the spread of colored markers across Los Angeles.
Whoever they were hunting, their influence extended far beyond a single neighbourhood.
He slowly folded his arms.
Then turned back toward the two vampire hunters.
"So..." His voice remained calm as he asked, "...What's the next move?"
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