Lieutenant Aubry barely registered the insane man's words before he simply disappeared from right before her eyes. A large cloud of powdery snow washing over her the next moment- causing her to involuntarily curse as she was forced to duck behind the open drivers-side door. However, because of the relatively clear door window and illumination provided by her car's headlights, she managed to catch glimpses of the two men bodily slamming into one another and crashing to the ground in a cascade of snow- rolling through the street as they hammered fists into one another's faces. A few seconds later and the Asian man who'd spoken to her got the upper hand- sitting astride the younger man's torso and bringing down both his fists onto the downed man's face.

Aubry couldn't help but flinch, eyes wide with disbelief, as the back of the young man's head bounced off of the snow-covered asphalt.

And instead of passing out, or, at the very least, suffering a debilitating concussion, the young man seemingly didn't even register what should have been a fatal injury and viciously drove a fist into the Asian man's stomach- once, twice, three times, his arm moving so fast she swore there were afterimages. The Asian man grunted with the punches, coiling in on himself to absorb as much of the impacts as he could before retaliating with a right-handed jab into the young man's face. The speed and disorientation gave him enough time to grab handfuls of the young man's hair and slam the back of his head into the pavement twice before a heavy right hook caught him in the left side, a dull crack sounding out. The Asian man folded sideways with the blow, unable to prevent the follow-up elbow in the same spot, which caused his grip around the young man's waist to partially loosen. He was then bucked off and sent unceremoniously sprawling through the snow. He braced himself against the ground with an elbow, head hung as he groaned in pain.

A variety of emotions played across her normally cold, stoic expression- she wanted to rush out and stop the fight, at the very least to help alleviate the Asian man's pain seeing as he was seemingly protecting her for some inexplicable reason. She'd never met the man. What she needed was to take a moment to gather her scattered thoughts and regroup- there was nothing about this that made an inkling of rational sense.

But before she could organize any reasonable solution or course of action, the young man rolled onto his side and slowly picked himself off the ground- clumps of snow falling out of his hair as he stalked toward the Asian man, who was now crawling on his knees and elbows towards the rifle. The Asian man managed to brush his fingers against the rifle before the young man stomped on the small of his back- an agonized shout escaping him as he was brutally crushed against the ground. The young man twisted the heel of his shoe- digging deeper, pushing harder. The Asian man howled in pain and tried reaching the rifle one more time- his fingers scraping across the unyielding snow. Realizing there was no way he could reach it, he gave up, instead swinging his left arm out and around- catching the young man's right knee and throwing off his balance.

This gave the Asian man the needed opening to use the wild swing's momentum to flip onto his back and lash out and up with both boots, catching the young man directly in the solar plexus with enough force to launch him off his feet- sending him crashing onto his back.

A woman in wet, shredded clothes stood on the highest roof corner of the police precinct- her beautiful, cold eyes sparkling like emerald chips as she silently observed the altercation. A raven, black as midnight, sat at her side, perched on the edge of the corner. A particularly strong gust of wind blew a thick covering of snowy powder across the precinct's rooftop- obscuring everything behind an opaque haze of pure white and darkness. A couple of seconds later, and the snowy haze was gone- as was the woman. The raven remained where it was- unmoving, silent.

The Asian man wore an expression of profound exhaustion and pain as he stiffly rolled back onto his side and slammed a palm onto the snow- fingers digging shallow divots into the thick-packed snow as he dragged himself the remaining distance to the rifle. Grabbing it directly by the grip, he pulled it from beneath a light covering of snow and pushed himself into a sitting position with a groan, legs splayed out in a 'V' as he shouldered the rifle with a grimace and sighted onto the rising young man.

Aubry was frozen, literally and figuratively, with indecision- either incapable or unwilling to believe what she was witnessing and equally incapable of forcing herself to move, such was her state of mind.

'He wouldn't-'

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!

Aubry's watched in horror as round after round tore into the young man- his torso and limbs sporadically jerking in tandem with the sounds. The final round caught him directly in the cheek- his head whipping to the side as blood sprayed across the snow in an obscene arc. His posture noticeably sagging as he drunkenly staggered in place- barely supporting himself before he heavily fell to his knees, his upper body swaying.

'My god...he killed him...' At this point, Aubry was just a backseat passenger in her own body- she felt like she was standing inside a tiger enclosure while they mauled one another in some kind of primal territorial dispute. She wanted to leave. She needed to get out. But all she did was watch. And then, the impossible happened.

The young man raised his head, revealing a face that belonged on the cover of a horror movie poster. The round had completely shredded everything below the right cheek bone- revealing a mangled mass of muscle, tendon, teeth, and jaw bone oozing blood down the side of his neck.

Aubry couldn't stifle the gasp of horror that escaped her, nor could she stop looking at what was very clearly something impossible.

The young man's head turned toward the sound- the skin and muscle of his ruined face noticeably knitting itself together.

Their eyes met.

Aubry's already frayed mental state utterly crumbled as she felt her vision tunnel- extending into an infinite tube with two glowing eyes at the end as the surrounding world disappeared. There was nothing else aside from those gray eyes and beautiful crimson flashes. Nothing more important... nothing... nothing... nothing.

Lieutenant Aubry ceased to exist.

'Shoot him.' A voiceless command echoed throughout her consciousness.

Click-clack!

Ye Bao racked back the rifle's charging handle, spat bloody phlegm into the snow beside himself and sighted onto the vampire's head.

"Ugly motherfucker." His trigger finger applied pressure-

Bang!

"AH!" Ye Bao shouted in equal measures of surprise and pain as the middle of his left forearm burst apart- spraying blood, skin, and black fabric into the air. He tamped down the fiery agony coursing through his arm and kept a relatively firm grip on the rifle, his extensive training taking over as he swiveled and trained the muzzle onto the newest threat- already tightening his finger on the trigger to fire as soon as he completed the arc.

Only to falter as he saw who had shot him.

That moment cost him everything.

Bang!

A bloody, gaping hole appeared in the center of his forehead. A thick trickle of blood rolled down the bridge of his nose and into his eye, then down his cheek- a single, bloody tear. His head lolled back, and the rest of his body followed- the rifle slipping out of his limp grip.

'Aubry' lowered her sidearm- her lifeless eyes gazing into the distance, past the body as though it didn't exist and nothing had happened.

'Come here.'

The sidearm thudded into the snow.

'Aubry' started walking over to the young man, when suddenly, a tall, humanoid shadow appeared behind her.

"Enough." A low, feminine voice growled- more guttural and animalistic than human.

A shadowy arm wrapped around the top of 'Aubry's' chest- pulling her back toward the indistinct figure until the shadowy arm adjusted so that the forearm was around her neck. 'Aubry' tried putting up some resistance- raising her arms to protect her neck so she could escape and reach those beautiful eyes. It was an utterly futile gesture- with a second shadowy hand snaking in and placing itself against the back of her head, while the other arm's forearm slid under her chin and wrapped tightly around her neck. The other hand pushed 'Aubry's' head forward, tilting her neck towards her chest. A pair of emerald green eyes glowed in the dark over 'Aubry's' right shoulder as she choked- beating at the forearm cutting off her circulation. The beating grew weaker after a few seconds, turning into a pawing, and then finally, she lightly held onto the forearm before her weakened fingers slipped free- her arms loosely dropping to hang at her sides as her head and body went limp. The shadowy forearm vanished from around her neck.

'Aubry' collapsed face-down into the snow like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

The shadowy figure disdainfully sniffed at the unconscious policewoman, then locked eyes with the man standing across the street. The figure stepped out of the swirling snow and darkness and into the dim glow of an overhead streetlight.

"Kneel." Zoé commanded with a snarl, pulling on their first-stage Blood Bond to intimidate her Childer into submission for a simple execution. There was, however, a nagging worry in the back of her mind that this man was much too strong to be hers. But the connection she felt didn't lie- this man was of her blood, of her Clan, and carried her gift. It was an untenable situation.

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides- she was going to finish this tonight. One way, or another. She couldn't afford anything else.

The remaining injuries on the young man's face and body finished regenerating as he slowly got back to his feet- eyes trained on the woman standing across the street.

Crimson flecks flashed in his irises.

The interior of a cavernous, underground modern laboratory.

The woman in the red dress carefully examined the nearly complete specimen- the ordinary man who'd previously been laid out flat across a metallic working table now stood beside it, utterly alien in appearance. The creature stood at over seven feet tall with rippling muscle beneath thick, segmented bone plating covering its torso and limbs. Wicked bone spikes protruded from its elbows and down its spine. All of the exposed skin was layered with extra, callused flesh, that had been displaced from the creation of the bone armor and spikes. Its eyes were currently closed, and its ears were oddly misshapen masses. She was about to work on her creation's hands- debating on the shape and viability of bone-talon fingers versus tapering the entire arm into a bone-bladed sword, when another presence attempted influencing her fledgling's consciousness.

She cocked an eyebrow and hummed- her fragmented consciousness relaying the details of what was occurring.

'Oh...?' The obsidian pools of her eyes slowly turned crimson.

'Oh!' Her unnatural eyes slightly widened as the situation became clearer.

'How fascinating- so this must be mommy dearest!' A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth- how quaint! Another insignificant ant desiring to claim what was hers.

'And dressed like a whore, no less. Hmph.'

She called on the Blood Bond of one of her most trusted, long-standing servants.

"You summoned me, Amantă." Suddenly came a smooth, romantic, masculine voice with a Romanian lilt.

"Ten milliliters of Neurosalifen Dycemorphidrol. Vault one."

The woman commanded without turning, crouching down beside the creature to more closely examine the hand- the fabric of her tight, red dress stretching to the limit as it strained to contain her shapely ass in that position. She tapped the creature's hand. Grotesque, organic noises came from the suddenly convulsing hand as its bone structure and musculature bulged and shifted beneath the skin. The skin at the tips of the fingers split open as the finger bones elongated and slowly extended over three inches past the nails- the finger joints melting into the bone to create stiff, unbendable bone talons. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned closer to the talons, a moment later, her brows beautifully furrowed. She was displeased- not cruel enough, not intimidating enough. Not striking enough! She could rectify this... she would- everything had to be perfect.

She slowly rose and turned as a thin column of pure shadow manifested a few meters behind her- disappearing as quickly as it had come to reveal a tall, moderately built man with blonde, wavy hair stylishly hanging around a chiseled, menacing face. Piercing amber irises sat in almond shaped eyes while a dark-gold, full beard, gorgeously complimented his well-defined nose and full-lips. He held a stoppered glass vial in his right hand, which he silently held up between his thumb and two fingers- its translucent, smooth-textured, vivid lilac colored contents lightly sloshing. He moved his left hand behind his back as he lowered his head to stare at his feet.

The woman walked over and took the vial from his extended hand- her movements smooth, silent and cat-like in their grace.

"Thank you, Tavian." She acknowledged before returning to her workstation beside the creature.

Tavian deepened the bow until his upper body was nearly parallel to the floor before the same column of shadows enveloped him- the woman was once again alone in the laboratory.

She held up the vial to eye level- considering. It was an extraordinarily precious concoction. One that required prohibitively expensive reagents, reaction vessels, and a practiced mastery of Koldunic sorcery and vicissitude that was nearly lost to history.

So, the woman pondered her decision. Was she being unreasonable in her ambitions for a newly risen fledgling? There were dozens of more highly qualified servants and loyal warriors who would willingly- gladly, lay down their lives in service to her wishes and desires. However... there was something that instinctually drew her to this fledgling. Something told her that he was worth her effort- was capable of shouldering her ambitions alongside her. It intrigued her that she could feel this way about anyone, let alone a complete stranger whom she'd never met. And if there was one thing she enjoyed- it was a mystery.

It was simply a bonus that the mystery happened to be a relatively handsome man. She could always mold him to appear more pleasing. It was not an issue.

Her mind made up- the woman unstopped the vial and downed the contents. Placing the empty vial into a test tube rack on the worktable prior to closing her eyes- a sexy, stern expression on her face as she manipulated her internal organs to completely process and absorb the liquid within a matter of seconds. It was an extremely taxing process- no matter how perfect her body was. However, once she'd set her mind on a course of action, not even Caine himself would have been able to dissuade her.

And so, it was with great difficulty and concentration that she used the concoction to 'solidify' the psychic connection tethering herself to her fragmented consciousness within the fledgling.

Her right eye twitched as a brief bolt of pain lanced through her mind.

Her actions were wholly against the natural order of the world- a perversion of sorcery and science, a grueling process of trial and error, one of mistake and destruction, evil and cruelty. A process that had taken centuries of study and practice and longer still to replicate and understand. For it was through this reinforced connection that she transferred her own muscle memory and instincts associated with hundreds of life-or-death situations. In order to preserve the fledgling's life and make sure he stood a fighting chance against the world he'd only just taken his first steps into, she mind grafted a mere fraction of her own combat experiences into his own.

Her fragmented consciousness responded to the transfer and proceeded to comply- entering the fledgling's consciousness and opening his mind to the torrent of information.

The process was complete in under five seconds. The woman opened her eyes to reveal erratic crimson swirls- a small trickle of blood leaked out of her left ear.

"Mm." The woman grunted, a beautifully regal expression on her face- as though she was well and truly above anyone and anything, unfazed by her casual abuse of the world order.

She reached up and used a finger to wipe away the blood, examining it on her index finger. She sniffed.

"Now that, was quite unpleasant." She sucked the blood off her finger and returned to stand beside the creature- which had remained as still as a statue the entire time. Unmoving, unbreathing- simply existing as it was. She looked at the bone-taloned fingers, then at its spikes and armored bone plating.

"Sword-arms, then."

She tapped the creature's hand.