Diego hurried to the ship to offer his assistance. When he reached the area, he noticed a car approaching steadfastly. It couldn't be Tyler's car, someone else's, perhaps.
"Slacovich, are you guys alright?" he asked, standing beside them.
"Yeah. How about the escapee?" Sofie asked while blocking attacks from the enemies.
"I've taken care of it. Also wiped the memories of the witnesses. Sorry, but it already killed six people by the time I caught up to it." His voice saddened at the memory of the victims.
"Don't feel bad about it. You stopped it before it caused more deaths," Li said, tapping his shoulder, then rushing toward an enemy and firing a shot at its heart.
"Li's right. For now, let's focus on exterminating these monsters." Slacovich messed Diego's hair.
They all heard the sound of a car parking near the ship. Footsteps came closer, about five people approaching. Definitely not allies. As the newcomers arrived at the door, two men pushed a man and a woman inside. Then, a woman's voice cut through the fighting.
"If I were you, I'd let President Hellgazer go." She walked straight inside and helped Volton stand.
"It's you!" Sofie exclaimed in annoyance.
"The serum may work perfectly on you, but President Hellgazer's not a failure. The time I spent working at the facility was enough to understand Dr. Brischt's formulation. And all the records he kept were in complete detail. It wasn't hard for me to figure it out."
She unbuttoned a few buttons of her blouse, exposing her neck to Volton. The latter buried his fangs into her neck, sucking her blood until satisfied. Dr. Spencer lost her balance, drained from how much blood President Hellgazer drank this time. The fight was taking a toll on his body. Now refreshed, he intended to get serious about killing them before the night ended.
"Thanks a lot, my dear Theresse. You, take her home. The other one stays," he instructed the two men who came with Dr. Spencer.
"How pathetic. You're keeping her by your side just to feed on her. That doesn't mean we're going to retreat just because your thirst's satisfied," Sofie said in disgust.
"Let's see how you plan to fight your way to survival. Have you forgotten you're still outnumbered? And now that my thirst is quenched, there's no way you're going to beat me."
Volton's speed doubled. Slacovich could barely keep up. His men followed and attacked them all at once.
"Th-this isn't good." Slacovich kept blocking Volton's punches. The speed and strength of his attacker were vastly different from before. He knew he couldn't keep up. He shapeshifted into a bat and flew away to put distance between them. Volton grabbed his foot mid-air and slammed him into the ground. Slacovich shifted back into his human form, breaking his right arm upon impact.
"Damn! He's stronger than before." He coughed up blood.
The other vampires weren't tempted by a fellow vampire's blood, the serum rejected its scent. Little did the Hellgazers know that first-generation blood could stabilize the serum's effects, but it would never satisfy their thirst for human blood.
"What now, President Demonfire? I heard there are six of you. How come only four are here? Trying to plant a spy on me? That won't do. I'm going to kill all of you, one by one. I heard Harry Demonfire was seriously injured. Are you just going to let him suffer until his body deteriorates?"
"He thinks Harry's a vampire," Slacovich thought.
"We're not like you, who depends on human blood. Harry would never hurt humans, even if it was the only way to recover. You lost your humanity when the serum took over. You're just a host now, letting it control you. And that's your weakness!!"
Slacovich rushed forward, slamming Volton against the wall and choking him with his elbows, restraining his movement.
"What makes you think you're superior to me?!" Volton raged and turned into his vampire form. He punched Slacovich in the stomach repeatedly, nearly causing him to collapse.
Sofie attempted a sneak attack but failed. Volton gripped her neck, choking her before letting go and kicking her with full force. She hit the edge of the ship, clearly in pain. Li and Diego kicked Volton simultaneously, but he grabbed and slammed them into each other.
All of them were bleeding, wounded, with broken bones and pain all over.
"You were full of spirit a while ago. Did I scare it all out?" Volton sneered, gripping Slacovich's hair and dragging him to the tied-up man and woman Dr. Spencer had brought.
The two begged for their lives, sobbing.
"Please let us go! We've already paid for our crime!" the woman cried.
"Let's see how you differ from me, President Demonfire." Volton slit a deep wound into the woman's neck. The scent of blood filled the air. His men raged, eager to feed.
Slacovich and the others smelled it too, their blood boiled. They struggled to fight the temptation. Volton watched them suffer and slit the man's wrist as well.
Diego crawled toward the woman, now beside Slacovich. Li took out her gun and aimed at Volton. She fired, hitting his left shoulder, missing the heart. Her aim was off; she was badly beaten. Volton fell to the floor. The silver bullet burned like poison.
Diego took the opportunity and gave Slacovich a red pill. This version was enhanced by Dr. Harry, it calmed the serum, restored some strength, and accelerated healing. After taking it, Slacovich distributed the pills to the others. All four healed and got back on their feet.
"How is this possible?" Volton asked in confusion.
"You thought we'd go insane and drink their blood? No way!"
The group attacked Volton's men. Diego stabbed their hearts, Li fired precise shots, and Sofie pinned enemies for Diego to finish off. Slacovich used his shoes with retractable blades, kicking enemies down as Li finished them. Together, they wiped out every one of Volton's men on the ship.
Volton couldn't believe it. He'd had the upper hand a moment ago, but now they were regenerated and full of strength.
"What did you do? You should've drained those people's blood by now! What did you take? I saw you take something!" Volton shouted, losing patience. His left arm was paralyzed from the silver bullet.
"We can restrain ourselves, even without anything. We accepted who we are. We're not like you. You're a vampire. We're both human and vampire. That's the difference. We still have our human conscience, we eat, drink, and live like humans. We wield not only vampire power but also the heart of a human. If you think that's our weakness, here's proof, it's our greatest strength." Slacovich glared at him, asserting dominance.
"As for these two, we're taking them with us." Diego carried the man and woman, former head nurse and owner of St. Claire Hospital.
"I'll dig out your secrets!" Volton burst out.
"We don't have any. And if we did, you wouldn't live to learn them." Sofie pressed her foot into his wound, deepening the embedded bullet. Volton screamed in agony.
They left him bleeding to death. His men turned to ash. Sunrise was near. The four spread their wings and took flight.
Just a short distance from the ship, reinforcements were arriving. Staying any longer would've meant certain death.
"Hellgazer's men. Good thing we got out in time," Diego said, carrying both captives.
"Yeah, this won't be the last time we see Volton Hellgazer," Slacovich said, grabbing the woman from Diego.
"Let's go before they spot us. I just want to go home and get my beauty sleep. I'm haggard," Sofie complained.
"I'll stop by the hospital first. I want to make sure Harry's okay." Li pulled out her phone and took a mid-air selfie.
"Oh gosh! Why would you take a selfie while exposing our wings?!" Sofie panicked.
"I'm sorry! I'll delete it. I just wanted to see how I looked with wings," Li pouted, about to delete it.
"That's not what I meant! You should've called me for a selfie together," Sofie chuckled, poking Li's nose.
"Girls will always be girls. Why not let us join you?" Diego flew closer.
"Tch. What are you, a child? Let's go!" Slacovich frowned. Sofie grabbed his arm before he could fly away, pulling him into the group. Li snapped the picture and captured his grumpy expression.
"So cute! But bummer… these captives ruined the moment," Sofie said, still giggling as she looked at the photo.
"President Slacovich, I need money." Li smiled sweetly. He knew what that meant.
"Ask Diego. He's in the accounting department, right?" Slacovich flew off quickly, leaving them. Sofie followed.
Diego scratched his head, confused.
"What does he mean by that?" he asked, looking at Li's smiling face. He blushed and smiled back.
"I'll be sending you the proposal for the funds I need," Li said, flying ahead.
"O-okay… as long as President Slacovich approves," he replied, hurrying after her.
Li flew to a dark spot where no one could see her. She couldn't go in looking a mess, so she shapeshifted into a lizard. Before changing, she remembered the cars. She pulled out a remote and pressed a button, activating the self-destruct feature Tyler installed.
The explosion killed Volton's men who were checking the cars. Li then entered the hospital and rushed to Harry's room.