Chapter 1 : Midnight Bliss
Iori Yagami leaned against the lamppost outside of the club he had just performed at. He looked at his watch : it was almost 12 midnight. He leaned his head back against the post and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to be here. The band meant almost nothing to him. They had just gained a new drummer… what was his name? Iori didn’t remember, he didn’t really care, either. He was really the only member of the band that stayed. The rest came and went, they didn’t like working with Yagami. He was always either too indifferent about the band, or there was something about his personality that they couldn’t stand… there was always something. The lead bass stuck his head out the door and looked at Iori from the building.
“Hey, Yagami! Come on, the rest of the guys are partying in here! What’re you doing out here?”
Iori didn’t move. He didn’t even open his eyes.
“I’m going home… I feel like taking a walk.”
The bass player shrugged and walked back inside. Iori lowered his head and opened his eyes finally. He was going to go home, but not right away. He just wanted to walk, to be alone. He liked performing, but he couldn’t stand the clubs. Too many people. He put his hands into his coat pockets and picked a direction. North…? No, too many lights, he didn’t want to be in the busy part of the city. South would have him going back around to the front of the club, which he didn’t want either. He looked to the east. No lights that way, none that he could see, at least. He started off in that direction.
He walked for a while, not noticing or not caring about the increasing amount of fog that seemed to be materializing out of nowhere. Probably the latter. He was about to pass an old man in old shrine style clothes and a large straw hat when the man suddenly spoke up.
“Where’re ya off to tonight, young man?”
Iori stopped and looked at the man. He was short, nearly half the size of Yagami. He was sitting on a rock smoking a large pipe, leaning against a staff that was longer than he was tall. He had a pale white goatee-like beard, but otherwise was completely bald.
“Why do you want to know, old man?” Iori asked. Normally he might have been annoyed, but for some reason he didn’t seem to mind.
“You might want to turn around,” the man continued. “Going into the cemetary at this time of night isn’t wise.” He pointed with his staff in the direction that Iori had been walking.
Iori raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “Evil spirits, huh?” He said sarcastically. The man looked up at him, put away his pipe and hopped up with surprising agility for his age and frail appearance. He looked straight into Iori’s eyes, with a look of seriousness on his face.
“This cemetary is more than just a gathering place for spirits,” he replied, “Creatures of darkness, from other worlds and times, have been known to enter into this world from there. Goblins, unrestful spirits, and even…” his eyes narrowed and his voice took on a hushed, yet serious tone. “…vampires…”
Iori couldn’t help but laugh. “I think I’ll be safe from Nosferatu, thanks…” He continued walking in the same direction he had been. The man shook his head, sat down again and pulled out his pipe. He took a long puff of it and chuckled to himself.
The fog was now very thick, so much so that Iori was having trouble seeing anything that wasn’t directly in front of him. He was now well into the cemetary, and so far hadn’t seen any of the so-called “creatures of darkness”. The old man was obviously either senile or simply trying to give Yagami a scare. As he kept walking, Iori suddenly was able to make out a form standing in front of a grave. Obviously he wasn’t the only person to ignore the man and walk through here. As he got closer, he was able to make out the figure to be a man in a long cloak. The man turned to face Iori, and looked at him curiously. He was very well-dressed, but there was something odd about him. There almost seemed to be a powerful aura eminating from his body. Iori stopped in front of him and they faced each other. The man in front of him took a long breath through his nose.
“Aaah…” he sighed, “I can smell quite an interesting combination to you…”
Iori raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“Your blood… there’s an ancient line to it, but it’s tinged with something else… something interesting…” the man replied.
Iori looked slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. “Just who the hell are you?”
The man laughed quietly to himself, and bowed deeply. “My deepest apologies, how rude of me. I am Dimitri Maximov. This is a fortunate night for you… I have decided to make you one of my select servants!”
Iori smirked. “Hah… really… And if I refuse?”
Demitri smiled. “You would pass up eternal life? Perhaps you need some convincing… although in the end, I fear it’s not your choice to make.
Iori’s eyes narrowed. He got into his fighting stance, the stance of the Yagami family martial arts style.
“Resistance?” Demitri chuckled, “Very well, I can entertain you for a while…”
Iori didn’t wait for Demitri to finish talking. He formed a ball of purple flame in his hand and and quickly threw it at Demitri. Demitri effortlessly blocked the attack with a flap of his cape.
“Now, now… no need to be so feisty,” Demitri said, amused. Iori looked annoyed, and charged towards him in an attempt to pin him to the ground. Demitri stepped out of the way at the last moment, grabbing Iori’s arm.
“Are you finished now?” he asked Iori. “I do have other engagements to attend to before the night is over.” Iori scowled and broke away from Demitri’s grasp. Demitri laughed quietly and pulled a rose out of his jacket. “Come on, baby…” He coaxed, suddenly moving forward at Yagami. There was a large puff of fog, and Iori couldn’t see anything. His body was suddenly jerked by a strange sensation. It wasn’t pain, it didn’t hurt… it was an unknown feeling to him. The fog parted, and he saw the man bowing once again. Iori felt disorented at first, he was unable to move at all. Demitri suddenly lunged towards him, grabbing for his throat. Iori was able to snap out of it at the last moment.
“I’m through playing around!” Iori yelled, enraged. Dashing towards Demitri, who was completely taken by surprise, Iori grabbed him by the shirt. Iori quickly struck him multiple times in a blindingly fast attack, ending it by grabbing ahold of him and creating flames directly on Demitri. The man fell back, unconcious, both of shock and from Iori’s attack. The aura that Iori had felt from him had gone, and he lay motionless on the ground. Iori was panting, out of breath, but managed to mutter, “Just… die there…”
Iori continued walking, tired but unhurt. The fog quickly seemed to dissolve, and he was able to see clearly again. The sun had started it’s slow ascention into the sky. Iori walked slowly into a more populated part of the city, and was ready to head home. He tugged at his clothes, which for some reason felt unusually loose. That idiot must have torn something during that fight, Iori thought. Passing in front of the window of a store, Iori glanced at the reflection shown in it. He stopped. Blinking, he looked again, more closely. A familiar looking girl, wearing the same clothes that he was, was staring back at him. He stood there, staring for a moment, before realizing…. it was him.
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Ok, I think the ending of that was a bit weak…. but whatever. Basically, for anyone confused out of their minds right now, I’ll help explain. Demitri is a vampire (he’s from the Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers series) but he only drinks female blood. He gets around this slight technicality with the ability to turn his victims female. In the game, he’ll transform his opponents (making them female if they’re male, or more cute/feminine if they’re already female), then drain them. After he’s done, he tosses them aside, and they change back. The joke here is that Iori beats the crap out of him before Demitri’s able to do anything, effectively screwing him(her)self over by missing the part where (s)he’ll get changed back.
Also, in case anyone was curious, the old man that tried to stop Iori was Caffine Nicotine from the Samurai Showdown series.