Part ThreeThe door opened and Itachi came back into the living room just as the sun was rising, wincing at the sight of Yuko sitting in the recliner with a blanket over her… apparently she had waited up for him.
“Hey,” he whispered, moving a strand of hair out of her eyes, “You’re lucky you’re not on call today.”
“What took you so long?” she murmured turning towards him.
“Another case… and then another,” he smiled, “They sent me home because the craziness seemed to stop, and we filled out the paperwork. But there aren’t any clues… any that make sense at least.”
“I told you they needed to hire more homicide detectives,” she sighed as she sat up, “Shisui and you are overworked.”
“To be fair… until last night there weren’t very many homicides in this town. We were working on a lot of domestic abuse cases and a few breaking and enterings,” he shook his head, “When it rains it pours I guess.”
“Come on, we’ll have some breakfast and then we can go to bed,” both of them looked up at the creak on the stairs to see Karasu coming down, “What are you doing up? It’s Saturday,” Yuko asked with wide eyes.
“We’re all getting together to make plans for tomorrow night,” he said.
“Alright, but don’t be too late coming home, your grandparents are taking us out for dinner tonight,” she turned to Itachi, after he went out the door, “They called last night, apparently your father has a present for him.”
“Strange, normally they don’t celebrate Halloween,” he narrowed his eyes, “And Father’s not one for unnecessary gifts.”
“Still. You’d think they’d at least give something for their eldest son’s wedding,” Yuko muttered as she went to get together some breakfast, “He’s the only grandson, so he’s bound to get spoiled.”
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“Hey Dad, is it okay if we spend the night at the clubhouse tomorrow night?” Odin asked as he ate a spoonful of cereal, “We’re going to be working on something.”
“Sure,” Shane said, “So which of them do you have a crush on, I can…”
“SHANE!” Naruto yelped, “They’re
ten! They’re not having
that sort of sleepover,” he glanced over at the two boys, “You’re not right?”
“Honestly, you two need help,” Saisei said as he finished his breakfast and went to take the bowl to the sink, “Odin, we’ve got to get going, it’s almost seven.”
He nodded, and gulped up the rest of his cereal, “Thanks Dads,” he said as he scooted down, taking care of the dirty dish and then running upstairs to grab his bag, meeting Saisei by the door, “We’ll see you later.”
The two men waved off the boys, “Can’t believe you’d think…” Naruto muttered.
“Hey, do you remember our first sleepover?” Shane smirked, “That was fun wasn’t it.”
Naruto turned bright red as Shane wrapped his arms around him, “I…it was…” he smiled sheepishly, then sniffed, “Hey, why do I suddenly smell garlic?”
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“Hey dad, know where we can get any holy water?” Haru asked as he looked through his comic, looking up as Mira took it away, “Hey!”
“No comics at the table,” she said gently, passing him a stack of pancakes.
“What do you need holy water for?” Gaara asked quietly as he took bite of his food.
“We just want to know where to get some in case hordes of undead started attacking,” Sora said, “You know, so we can be prepared.”
Their parents exchanged a glance at that, “Probably the church on the square,” Mira suggested, “They have a basin out for baptisms and such.”
“Shame we don’t know any holy men,” Gaara said, “They could bless any water in an instant. Chi, you haven’t eaten much.”
“Not really hungry,” she yawned, “I don’t think the medicine agrees with me much. Hey Mama, can I pack a lunch for later though?”
“Us too,” the twins chorused, “We’re going to get going in a bit.”
“Uh… alright,” she said blinking, “Where are you guys off to?”
“More tutoring,” they said, “And Mr. Mekagami said we could explore the spook house. Chi’s coming too.”
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“Is it not a glorious day!” Kano grinned as he walked next to Frank through the forest, “Daddy and I were up before the sun. How did you sleep in the clubhouse?”
There was a grunt in response, and he nodded, “Haru and Sora called earlier and told me to take you to the back of the spook house, apparently we’re all meeting there to make the weapons and our strategy.”
Bubbles seemed to follow them in the marsh, and Kano stopped, looking back, “Truth be told, all of this happening is frightening,” he said quietly, searching the surface of the water, “But I am ready!” he said happily, “Daddy has thought me a lot!”
Satisfied that there was nothing following them, so far as he could tell at least, he took Frank’s hand, and the two continued on the path.
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Haru and Sora blinked at the recently cleaned sitting room, “Awwww,” they said, “We liked the dust.”
“Sorry, Itsumi’s girlfriend stopped by last night, and she kept sneezing,” Mekagami placed the tea down in front of them, “So I cleaned a little bit. She might even convince him to leave the house again. You said your friends were coming over?”
“How does a recluse get a girlfriend?” Haru asked with wide eyes.
“They met when he was teaching a college course overseas,” the older man sighed, “It seems like an odd match, but hey, they’re happy.”
Chihiro was looking around the house, and she turned as a door opened, and Phoebe walked out, “Ms. Kotori?”
“Oh,” Phoebe blushed bright red, “Chi… what are you doing here?”
“We’re going to be fighting monsters,” she said quietly, “What are you doing here?”
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Phoebe looked at the children and Frankenstein’s Monster gathered in the living room with wide eyes, “So I guess we have until tomorrow night then? Have any of you told your parents about this?”
“And say what?” Saisei crossed his arms, “Dad’s an atheist as it is, so to try and get him to believe in anything is a pain in the a**. And our other dad is afraid of anything even remotely dealing with spooks.”
“My parents have enough problems,” Karasu sighed, “Between the increase of homicides and Mom’s dealings with Dad’s family.”
“Dad believes me,” Kano spoke up, “He says that the fires of our youth are enough to bring down any foe!”
“Yeah, but your dad believes in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus,” Saisei said, “And he’s as big a scaredy-cat as my dad is.”
“What about your parents?” Odin asked Haru and Sora quietly, “Would they believe in anything like this?”
Both shrugged, “They seem to be supportive, but why test it?”
“Love how they dragged random adults into this,” the older Haru sighed as he pinched his nose, “What are we supposed to do now?” he blinked as they piled garlic, wooden stakes, silverware, squirt guns, and crosses onto the table.
“We make weapons,” the twins said grinning.
Behind the house, in the marsh, bubbles formed on the surface again, and a shadow started rising from the water, taking slow sloshing steps towards the house.
“But how are we going to know where the amulet is?” Odin asked, as they went through the maps of the town Itsumi placed for them, while Saisei and Karasu were in the kitchen melting the silverware and garlic into the welding pot that the older Mekagami set up for them.
“Dad says that there are sightings of an unmarked black car running around town at the same time of the cases,” Karasu said, “At least that’s what I heard on the police scanner.”
“Thinking about it,” Saisei said as he put another fork into the welding pot, “Wasn’t there a moving van in front of that house a few streets over from ours the other day? The gothic mansion… remember Odin?”
“Yeah… and there was a black car there too,” he chewed his lip.
“Someone actually bought the murder house?” the twins chorused, “Wow.”
“If it’s Dracula, then he probably doesn’t mind the superstitions there,” Phoebe pointed out, “Do you know if he found the amulet?” she asked Frank.
He nodded, “Bright Light.”
“Well, guess it’s there then. How are we going to get it?” Haru asked, looking at his brother who shrugged.
“We need it by midnight tomorrow right?” Saisei asked, and they nodded, “And vampires can’t come out in daylight right?’
“So we hit that place tomorrow morning?” the twins grinned, “That’s a great idea!”
“I’ll have to pass, I have to go to church with my grandparents,” Karasu blinked as the squirt guns got piled next to him, “Hey, you’re not asking me to…”
“We’ll get some too,” Haru promised, and Sora nodded, “Hey, do you know any one who can bless water?”
“I should go wake up Itsumi,” Phoebe said as she excused herself, “Haru, I guess you should be in charge of transportation tomorrow.”
“Why me?” he blinked his eyes, “I…”
“You’re the only one who owns a car,” the twins pointed out. “So we’ll meet here again, and you can take them over.”
“And I’m sure their parents are perfectly alright with that,” Haru sighed, “Damnit, this is too big for a group of…”
The back door crashed in and a black creature with frog like features burst into the room, hissing at them, as they all jumped.
Karasu was the first to move, inching closer to grab the frying pan he saw hanging on the counter. The creature turned to him, and he tensed, then wondered at the strange sensation he felt in his eyes.
The next thing he knew the lake monster was lying on it’s back with an arrow stuck in it’s gut and the twins were patting his back, “How’d you do that?” they asked grinning, “You made him freeze!”
“I…uh what?” he blinked in confusion, “What happened?”
“You froze the monster in place and Kano and I took care of him,” Saisei said, “He seemed almost hypnotized by you, how’d you do that?”
“He’s an Uchiha,” Itsumi said as he came down the stairs, “He used the sharingan.” he looked down at the creature and turned to his brother, “So, it seems that I might have a reason to leave the house again.”
“Wait,” Karasu rubbed his eyes, trying to ease some of the aches, “I controlled him? And just because of my family?”
“It’s not as common as the legends say it once was,” Itsumi said, handing him a book, “But the Uchiha was once one of the greatest clans of the ninja world. And the ones that brought about the downfall.”
“Considering how much of an a** most of them are, I believe that,” Sora whistled, “Kano, you showed some awesome strength. And Saisei, that was a pretty impressive shot.”
“Not as cool as hypnotizing eyes,” Saisei grumbled, “Everyone oka… Odin… you’re glowing.”
Everyone turned to look at the blond boy who had stepped in front of Phoebe and Chihiro at the creature’s appearance, “I… what?” he blinked, then looked up to notice the bright golden sphere that seemed to surround him and the two women, “Wow…” he whispered, calling the shield down, “That’s really cool.”
“Where’s Frank?” the twins asked, then looked over in the corner, where he was hiding, “Big ole guy like you afraid? No wonder Dracula was bullying you.”
Chihiro went to him, pulling on his hand, “I was scared too,” she whispered, “But we’ve got to fight them.”
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They went back home long before sunset, to try and rest for the battle coming tomorrow, “We’ve got one monster down at least,” the twins chorused.
“Yeah, the
easy one,” Saisei snorted, “Odin and I will try and retrieve the amulet tomorrow. We’ll meet you here after lunch,” they got on their bikes and headed off to their house.
“I better get going, I want Mom to take a look at my eyes before I have dinner with Grandfather and Baa-chan,” Karasu said as he turned down his street, “Don’t let anyone in the house! Remember that’s one way he can get you.”
“Wonder if we’ll get any cool powers,” Haru said as he walked towards the house with his siblings and Kano.
“Probably, Itsumi wanted us to come over first thing, he was going to research some things,” Sora looked up at the sky, “You think anything is going to happen tonight?”
“With the end of the world happening tomorrow and one of his creatures down,” Chihiro looked up at her brothers and Kano, “What do you
think?”
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“I don’t see anything wrong,” Yuko said as she flashed her pen light from one side of Karasu’s face to the other, “You said they were bothering you?”
“Yeah,” he chewed his lip, “Hey, have you ever heard of something called the sharingan?”
“Where did you hear a strange word like that?” she asked, helping him down, “Now you better go comb out your hair and put something nice on, your grandparents will be here any moment.”
He nodded, and left the room, not noticing his father standing at the doorway, and staring after him with a strange look on his face, about to go after him when his cell rang. Cursing he pulled out the phone, “Yes, I’m on my way.”
Vowing to talk with his son later on the subject, he put on his jacket, glancing back to see Yuko, “Sorry.”
She crossed her arms, “You have to go
now?”
“Another case,” he said, “There was a strangulation victim found,” he sighed, “This one may be an all-nighter too.”
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3nodding
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Part Four“So did you guys find anything neat at Mr. Mekagami’s house?” Mira asked as she passed the macaroni and cheese, “You were there all day.”
“Yeah, he had some cool books,” Sora said, taking a spoonful onto his plate, “Hey, Mama, what do you think of Dracula.”
“The undisputed king of vampires?” she asked, “Bela Legosi all the way, though I think Christopher Lee did a good job playing him… Gary Oldman not so much, I don’t like the idea of Mina and Dracula being a pairing.”
“Yet, you still liked the idea of Jonathon and Dracula, and even came up with that weird theory of yours,” Gaara teased, “How he took Mina to get at him.”
“He did!” she exclaimed, “And not just because of the brides, the entire book was Dracula taking revenge on Jonathon,” she took a spoon of the steamed broccoli and spinach, “But the big thing for me shipping Dracula and Jonathon is the book was pretty much a boy’s version of ‘Camilla‘.”
“I still remember you and Temari arguing that with the teacher in drama class,” Gaara had a wry smile on his face, “Remember the play? You two made up a screenplay and got it to double feature with the Dracula play the
rest of us were doing.”
“Oh gosh, remember that party right after, when you and I got together?” she sighed, “That was a great night… has it really been eleven years?”
Chihiro stared at her parents as she chewed thoughtfully on her food.
“So our conception happened at a cast party after you did a lesbian vampire play with Auntie in high school?” the twins chorused, “That explains sooo much…”
“Shush you two. So why did you ask about Dracula? Fighting vampires
and zombies now?” Mira took a bite of her food, “Uh… it’s complicated to kill a vampire, wasn’t it stake through the heart, chop off the head, stuff the mouth with garlic and stitch it close, and then rebury the body upside down or something like that?”
“It’s easier to get the virgin to recite the passage and open up limbo,” Haru sighed under his breath, “Hey, they can’t move around in sunlight right?”
“No, but if they carry their soil with them, they can move around inside. Depending on the vampire,” Gaara looked at his sons, “What
are you two up to?”
“Not much,” they chorused, “Saving the world type stuff. So did you play a vampire in the play?”
Mira giggled, “It was funny, Temari played Carmilla and I played the narrator of that story. And Gaara,” she giggled again, “And this is really how we ended up getting together because he was mad at me… he had to play Lucy because there weren’t enough girls in the class for Dracula after Temari and I made up our play.”
Gaara sighed, “And it didn’t help matters that the lead went to Kankuro.”
“Oh, trust me, it was possibly the greatest double feature of all time,” Mira chuckled, “We got so many nice letters from the G.S.A. because of that. Everyone at school thought that we were being political, when really, Temari and I just plain didn‘t like Dracula as the definitive vampire.”
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Karasu looked at the sheathed katana his grandfather had given him, “First the sharingan and now this,” he muttered, “Something tells me it’s not just monsters that are appearing now.”
“Your great ancestor wielded this blade in battle,” his grandfather had said, “And I meant to give it to you for your birthday, since I know how much you like historical weaponry, but it was stuck in the vault. Luckily my secretary was able to draw it out.”“Well, at least it’s something to fight with,” he muttered, then took the book Itsumi had given him, “
Great Clans of the Five Countries, The Legacy of the Sage of Six Paths… looks like we’re back to ninja for now.”
He turned the first page, looking at the chapter index, “Uchiha… oh, there,” flipping to the page number he started reading, his eyes getting wider and wider until he finally flung the book away, his face pale.
“Why hadn’t anyone talked about it before…” he whispered, remembering the words Itsumi had said as he handed him the book,
“The Uchiha was once one of the greatest clans of the ninja world. And the ones that brought about the downfall.”He turned to stare at the sword again, “That was
his sword,” he whispered, “The Uchiha that Uncle was named after… so why do I have it now?”
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“Mama, did you drop out of high school because you got pregnant?” Chihiro asked as Mira tucked her in.
“Nope,” the fiery haired woman smiled as she kissed her daughter’s forehead, and blew the candle to life, “But that’s why we moved here from Suna. Gaara’s father bought us this house far away from where we would,” she huffed and held her fingers up in quotations, “Embarrass him. But I finished high school, even with two years left and twins. We had a lot of friends to help… even Temari moved here,” she ruffled Chihiro’s hair, “So that’s why you need to make some good friends that will stand by you when times get tough.”
“But you didn’t meet Uncle Lee and Auntie Umbra until after you moved here,” she pointed out, “And do you know the Mekagami brothers down the street?”
“Go to sleep,” the fiery haired woman smiled, “I think you guys have a big day planned for tomorrow.”
She walked out of the room, and Chihiro took the pill out of her mouth, stuffing it in her bear, and then she sat up, crossing her legs as she took out the notes that she was given at the spook house.
“You’ll have to recite the words,” Itsumi said, “You’re the only virgin maid I know. Can you read?”
She nodded, and he wrote out the words that were to be recited, making notes on how to pronounce them, “Say this precisely in this manner while holding the amulet. Don’t worry… we’ll all be guarding you. But this is how we’re going to defeat them. You have to do this exactly right.”
Phoebe had hugged her, “You’re one of my brightest students Chi. This will be easy for you.”Chihiro chewed her lip, slowly sounding out the words before her in a low whisper, “
Diavolul in carne si oa…oase… du-te in..a..poi…inapoi la…”
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As the sun rose on Halloween morning, the town woke to find various accounts of wreckage and mayhem already on the streets.
“
It seems that the tricks are out a little early this year,” one news reporter was saying a few hours later on the television on Shane’s kitchen counter, “
This is the scene outside of the church on second and main, where there is nothing but wreckage and what appears to be blood painted on, in very cryptic words, ‘The End Comes Tonight. Children Give Up.’ Now experts tell us…”
“I’m not sure if I’m alright with you guys staying the night at the clubhouse,” Shane said as he turned off the television, “If Naruto and I weren’t going to that party tonight, I would say that everyone could come here.”
“Well why not?” Naruto said with a mouthful of cereal, “They’re ten. They can take care of themselves, and the security in this neighborhood is pretty good.”
Shane thought it over for a moment, “Alright, fine. Call your friends and tell them what the new plan is, and Saisei, I’m leaving you in charge. Make sure those Sabaku boys don’t wreck the place.”
“Sure Dad,” he jumped down, going to the phone, “Hey, Odin and I were thinking of walking down to the forest to work on my archery for a bit, is that alright?”
“Oh yeah,” Shane said, “This neighborhood seems fine,” he looked up, “Oh, I guess I better call Mira then,” he said as he saw the bikes outside the window, with the twins on them, “You guys sure are hanging out a lot this weekend.”
“Ninja stuff,” Odin smiled as he went to grab his backpack, “Be back in a little bit Dads.”
He and Saisei ran out, grabbing their bikes on the way, and met up with the others, “Chi’s still working on the spell,” Haru said, “And Kano’s getting some more holy water. He said his father knows a priest or something.”
“We haven’t talked to Karasu yet,” Sora mused, “But he’s supposed to be going to church today, so we’ll try and nab him at lunch. Ready to go get the amulet?”
“The vampires are going to be sleeping right?” Odin asked in a small voice.
“Hopefully. Don’t forget the mummy and the wolfman though,” the twins chorused and all four pedaled their bikes down the roads, heading for the imposing black house.”
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“Sure, I don’t mind,” Mira said on the phone, “Lee just left to take his karate class to a tournament, but I’ll call him and clear it for Kano as well,” she pinched her nose, “Shane… they’re
ten. I highly doubt they’re going to be up to anything like that. Besides, I think they were planning a monster movie fest tonight.”
Chihiro glanced over at her mother, then turned to Kano, “Think they got it yet?”
He chewed his lip, “Even if they were using the roads, the mansion is pretty far away. Saisei saw the moving van there because he and Odin were riding with their fathers somewhere and it was along the way. On bikes, it should take a few hours.”
“But we don’t have a lot of time,” she looked up at the clock, “It’s already noon.”
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They pulled their bikes down into the woods surrounding the mansion, “When are your Dads leaving for Kiba’s party?” Haru asked.
Saisei looked at his watch, “In two hours… damn, is it already four?” he turned back, “And your mom’s taking Chi trick or treating around then… Kano should bike over to the Mekagami’s then, same with Karasu.”
“Which would give us six hours before we have to do the ceremony… and
hopefully we can bike back to town in time.” Sora looked over at Odin, “You okay.”
He nodded, breathing heavily, “I didn’t realize how far out this place was…”
“We’ve got to hide the bikes,” Saisei said quietly, “Sasuke’s house is this way and that’s where the party our Dads are going to is, if they see them, we’re busted.”
Nodding the boys got to work, using branches to completely cover the bikes up, then grabbed their makeshift weapons, “We’ve got four hours until the sun sets… then things are going to get a whole lot harder,” Sora said, glancing at his watch.
“Come on. Let‘s hope these are the vampires that sleep during the day,” Haru led the way down through the bushes to the house.
They opened the door to the house, “It’s scarier than the spook house,” Odin whispered.
“Yeah. People were actually killed here,” Haru shot back, “A whole family… about thirteen years ago.”
The smaller blond shivered as he followed the others in.
“Where is the amulet going to be?” Saisei asked, “We’re not seriously going to be searching this whole…”
CREAK!
All four froze as they heard the sound from upstairs, “Someone’s moving up there…” Odin said nervously, “Guys….”
A hand reached down and pulled a lever and the floor below them collapsed and they fell down into the darkness… though there
was a bright light down there as well.
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“Mama, what time is it?” Chihiro asked as Mira placed the candle by her bed.
“Nine-o-clock,” Mira smiled, “Why sweetie?”
“No reason, Night.” her mother kissed her forehead and walked out the door, closing it behind her, and the little girl started moving as soon as she heard the footsteps disappear down the hall, spitting out the pill and stuffing it in her bear and fixing her pillows to look as if someone was in the bed.
She went to the window, opening it to climb out… not noticing that the candle had blown out when she left the room.
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“Nnngh,” Haru moaned as he opened his eyes, “Damnit, what happened.”
“You hit your head,” Sora said, “And were out for a while. The good news is we found the amulet.”
“And the bad news?”
“We’re still in Dracula’s house,” Saisei glanced over at his brother, “Luckily, it seems that Odin’s shield is still up.”
“I think I see a way up,” Sora said as he looked through the rubble, “There’s a path here.”
“Good, cause I don’t think I can hold this much longer,” Odin said quietly.
“Hold it as long as you can,” Saisei notched an arrow, “We’re going to need to get past some monsters.”
“Why leave us down here?” the younger twin wondered, as he pocketed the amulet, “Is he actually waiting until midnight?”
Haru stood up, “Let’s not wait around to find out,” he said as the four of them went through the narrow tunnel.
They found themselves at the edge of the woods, “So glad that you could join us,” the tall dark robed man said, “Now… the amulet?”
The four of them stepped closer together, “You have only one weapon and that silly shield… and once it falls, so will you.”
They heard hissing and they looked to see three girls with sharp teeth growling at them at their left, behind them a howling as the wolfman jumped in front of the tunnel that they had just exited.
“Guys… is there a back-up plan?” whispered Saisei.
“Nope,” the twins chorused, “Dad is so going to get on to us about half-assed planning.”
They looked to see that their final cutoff was taken by the mummy, “Just a few more minutes boys,” Dracula laughed, “Once that light turns purple I win.”
“I thought we had until midnight!” Saisei snapped, “It’s only five til eleven!”
“Daylight savings time?” the twins wondered, as the four backed up, “Hey, can you try shooting ******** it, I’m doing all the work,” he muttered, raising his bow and shooting at one of the vampiresses, hitting her square in the chest, as she crumbled and exploded, “What are you two doing?” he wondered as the twins suddenly kneeled.
“There’s something calling here,” Sora pointed to Haru, “You feel it?”
Saisei took another arrow and shot a second of the brides, “What?”
The mummy lurched forward, and something snagged it’s foot, pulling it away, and the twins smirked as they saw him literally fall apart, leaving nothing but dust.
“Guys,” gasped Odin, “I…” he fell backwards, caught by Saisei as the shield went down and both the wolfman and the last bride lunged forward.
Only to be shot down, the wolfman turning to a regular man who turned back and whispered “Thank you…” before collapsing down. The bride was cut down by a sword as Karasu plunged a stake in her heart, then pointed the katana at Dracula, “Did you guys get it?”
“Hey, it’s the cavalry!” the twins grinned, picking up Saisei and Odin, and running to the truck where the others were waiting, “Here Chi!” they said passing her the amulet, “Start when it turns purple.”
“What? Now?” she asked with wide eyes.
“We’ll protect you!” Kano said as he jumped down, “There’s only one monster now!”
The twins nodded, as they stood next to their friends and the amulet turned colors.
“Now!” Itsumi said to Chihiro and she nodded, “
Diavolul in carne si oase… du-te inapoi la…”
Dracula moved through the boys, “Not going to happen,” he growled, throwing them as they tried to stop him, Karasu was first, his eyes spinning red as he moved in to attack with his sword, Kano tried to kick him… both were flung aside.
Saisei let an arrow fly, Haru and Sora bent to the ground summoning something that seemed to hold him for a brief second before they all three were flung. Odin mustered what strength he could to summon a shield, only to be kicked out of the way.
Itsumi and the older Haru moved forward then, both summoning a scythe as they moved in to the attack, only to be thrown away like the rest. Phoebe wrapped her arms protectively around Chihiro, “Don’t look at him,” she whispered, “He’s…” she was knocked back and Dracula picked the small girl who was still chanting up by the neck.
“Give me the amulet you little b***h,” he growled, not seeing the tall figure that lifted him up, causing him to drop Chihiro.
“Finish it!” Itsumi cried, “Hurry!”
“
Lasati lumina reveni in aceasta lume!” she cried and the amulet started to shake and turn many colors, and she threw it into the air.
Suddenly there was a whirlwind and Frank turned and threw Dracula into the vortex, and he started towards it when Chihiro grabbed his hand as she held onto the truck, “No! Don’t go!” she cried, “You’re not one of them!”
“Good-bye…” he smiled, reaching to ruffle her hair, and moving her small hand out of his, “I have to.”
He let go then, drifting into the whirlwind, “No!” she yelped, trying to catch him, stopped only by two pairs of arms around her waist.
The air suddenly stilled and they all looked around, “Everyone alright?” Sora asked.
“More or less,” Karasu groaned, “Damnit, I was kinda hoping that it would work on him.”
Sirens sounded and police cars pulled into the clearing, “Boys?!” Itachi cried opening the door, then sighed in relief as he saw them, reaching into the car, and opening the back seat, “You guys had us worried disappearing like that,” he turned to Itsumi and Haru, “Not you two again.” he narrowed his eyes, “Didn’t I have enough problems ten years ago?”
“What happened ten years ago?” the twins started, but were stopped when Mira ran over to them, gathering all three of them into a hug, “Oh gods, we were so worried! Shane and Naruto came back from the party and you weren’t there and then I saw Chi gone…” she kissed their foreheads, then glared at them, “Don’t
ever do that again.”
“But Mama, if we didn’t, then who would have?” Chihiro asked, “We just saved the world!”
“Next time, at least ask for help,” Gaara said quietly, handing her bear back to her and picking her up, “Haru. You should have called me.”
“I…” the blue haired man blushed, “There’s not a phone line… and I uh…kinda got caught up in all of it.”
Itsumi was helping Phoebe up, “You alright?”
She nodded, “Hey… with the world just being saved and all… I’ve kinda got something to tell you.”
“Alright, everyone load up, I’ll drop everyone off,” Itachi ushered the other kids back into the car, “And Mekagami… I
really don’t want to hear from you again.”
He looked at Karasu, “Good job,” he said, patting his back, “Come on, let’s go home.”
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Shane and Naruto stared at their sons after they had told them the story, “Yeah… you’re right. I wouldn’t have believed all that.” the older blond finally said, “You sure you didn’t hit your head?”
Naruto was chewing his lip, “Dracula’s gone right? He’s not coming back from there… right?”
“Um… I don’t think so,” Odin said quietly.
“Ugh,” Shane pinched his nose, “If I didn’t see that damn thing myself I wouldn’t have believed it. I
still have problems believing it.”
“I can say the same thing,” Saisei said quietly.
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Mira peeked into the twins room, where they and Kano were all sleeping, “Night boys.”
“So what happened ten years ago?” they asked.
“Not telling you,” she smiled, closing the door, “Well… not
yet at least.”
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