Armin froze in the doorway, pausing his own breathing and listening intently. //Footsteps. Either an animal or a person.//

Sticking close to the wall, he slipped off down the hallway, following the sound he could hear.

{The sound was distant, but it stopped as Armin approached. At the end of the hallway, it opened up into a warehouse, with piles of the barrels all over the floor. The smell was strongest in this room, and it had two floors. The place was very large, but it was quiet now.}

Feeling a twinge of frustration mixed with hope, he began to explore the warehouse. //All those barrels... It stinks worse here than anywhere else, so this would be a good place to hide your scent...//

Trying to move around like a normal rat, he slowly made his way up to the second floor of the area.

{On the second floor, off in the distance was an old vending machine. The front glass was broken. Freshly broken. And it was missing an appreciable amount of snacks.}

Armin quietly approached the smashed vending machine. //Hmm. Personally, I wouldn't eat anything that's been in a place like this... but clearly someone has...//

Scuttling close, he sniffed around the machine and the broken glass pieces. The putrid aroma of chemicals masked any other scent.

{As he sniffed, the sound of the footsteps came back, from the distance. This time, they were headed right for him.}

Armin hesitated, listening to the footsteps without turning to look. Then, as they got nearer, he darted to hide around the side of the vending machine, making himself behave like a normal, frightened rat.

{Once the footsteps got closer, they stopped. Then, there was the sound of someone jumping down from the rafters and speaking.}

Alicia: "Stupid rats...trying to take my food..."

Slowly, Armin stuck his head out from behind the vending machine, peering around. He'd heard her. He recognised her voice. Now he just wanted to see what she was doing. //I'm not sure how strong elf senses are, but with this chemical stench, she'd never be able to sniff out a vampire anyway...//

{Alicia was gathering up armfuls of the expired snacks, not paying any attention to Armin. Her face was bloodied bruised, and the skin looked particularly damaged by Dianne's decay. She also looked morose, as she grabbed what she could.}

Armin bared his teeth at the sight of Alicia. She looked rough. But he couldn't muster up much pity for her. All he could think about was Dianne stumbling through the door to his house, bloodied and in pain, with her powers drained from Alicia's light magic.

//A cowardly, unprovoked attack,// he thought. //And I won't let it happen again.//

He waited until Alicia turned away from the machine. Then, he dashed at her from behind, smoothly shifting to human form and grabbing her in a headlock.

(For some reason, imagining rat-Armin baring his little rat teeth made me laugh. XD)

(Same. XD
Angry rat boi)

{Alicia freaks out, having been caught off guard. She struggles against him, to no avail.}

Alicia: "Stop! Wait! Please!"

Armin kept his arm around her neck, not tight enough to choke her, but enough to keep her from escaping.

'Oh, yeah?' he scoffed. 'Did you offer /Dianne/ any mercy when you assaulted her in the street? I don't think so.'

He started drawing his sword with his free hand.

{Alicia stops when she hears that.}

Alicia: "You're the boyfriend? Gross..."

{Drawing her sickle, she slashes at his legs, trying to get him to let her go.}

Armin had just finished drawing his sword when she slashed at him. He held it low, blocking her sickle with his blade. 'Got any last words that don't involve judging our relationship?' he taunted. 'I'm not planning to draw this out for long.'

Alicia: "Yeah, I do!"

{She then slashes his arm with the back of the blade, trying to get him to release her.}

Alicia: "You bast.ards killed everyone I cared about!"

Armin took the slash, grimacing but not loosening his grip. He swiped at her weapon arm with his sword, giving her a similar gash in return.

''You bast.ards?' Who are you talking about? Dianne? Me? Our friends? Who did we kill? Elaborate.'

{Alicia cries out in response, her arm falling to her side, but not letting go of her weapon.}

Alicia: "All of you! I needed that money! My people are in squalor, and that bounty would have put us back on the map! But instead of lying down and accepting her fate, she kills my best friend! And then my brother! She's a damn monster! How could you possibly defend her, or love that thing?! You're sick! SICK!"

'So, you're upset because we defended ourselves against your clan of money-hungry murderers who were attacking us unprovoked? Who wiped out dragon tribes and countless others? I don't care how poor you are, there are other ways to get money. As for your brother - what did you expect? If you assault people, they fight back. And sometimes they win.'

Alicia: "/We're/ murderers!? Unprovoked?! Didn't you see what that /b!tch/ did to Agamidae?! Don't you know what she's done?! Next time she's finished getting you off, why don't you ask her how she got that power of hers! Why don't you ask her about the nameless /millions/ she's responsible for killing! Don't call /us/ murderers until you've had a good long look at your hyper lethal harlot!"

Armin gave a harsh, humourless chuckle. 'You make it sound like I don't know her backstory... Yes, I know how many she killed. I'm not condoning what she did. But you obviously don't know the full story, or you'd know that she was manipulated into becoming that monster. Sometimes, people can be redeemed. And she never did anything to you or your clan, except defend herself.'

Alicia: "You /knew/? She's undeserving of redemption, manipulated or not! You don't kill that many innocent people and get to walk away happy! And what has she done, to redeem herself? She didn't have to do anything to me! Her crimes are universal! She's an affront to all things good and pure! And to think you could /love/ that...that.....corpse weaving necrophiliac!? You. Disgust. Me!"

Armin tightened his grip on her neck, anger creeping into his frame with every word she spoke.

'Good and pure? Let me tell you something about the kind of people you worked with. There was a vampire who attacked us the other day. Wanna know what he did? He threatened to slaughter a /baby/ to get leverage over us. Not even Dianne at her /worst/ would have done that.'

{Alicia chokes slightly as Armin tightens his grip.}

Alicia: "..Hgkk...You're...lying!...James wouldn't do that!....Besides....She doesn't have any children....She'd be an...unfit mother...."

Armin gave an animalistic, angry snarl.

'I don't have any reason to lie. You just can't accept it. Should I also mention that one of your other clanmates straight-up murdered an innocent guy, just because he was associated with one of Dianne's friends? And you call yourselves the /heroes.'/

Alicia: "...That was Burk....He was an as.s from way back...But...James was my friend!....He was not a baby killer! And....we minimized civilian casulties...We /are/ heroes....You're all the villains!...Oh...Why am I wasting my breath....Just finish it, then!...Stop...gloating..."

'I certainly will,' said Armin. He didn't quite look himself; fangs bared and red eyes gleaming with vengeful fury. 'I'm sure as heII not letting you run free to keep hurting people I care about.'

He shifted his grip, so he was holding her by the waist instead of the neck. Then he pressed his sword blade against her throat.

'Not one more dam.n Bloodrazor is going to threaten my family.'

(So, can I actually do it? XD)

(Yeah, go ahead. She had one good matchup in this whole ordeal. Evereyone else, vampires especially, are kind of an auto loss for her. XD)

{In one last effort to survive, she takes a wild swing with her injured arm, trying to do some damage before she got killed.}

Alicia: "This isn't over! More will find her eventually! More will come!."

Armin was holding his sword to her throat, so he couldn't block. Her sickle-like weapon cut deeply into his side, causing him to let out a surprised choke.

'Forget it. It's over.'

He then swung his blade, quickly and cleanly decapitating her, before letting her fall. Despite his anger, he didn't make her death slow and painful.

Putting a hand to his side in an attempt to stem the blood flow, he began to hobble unsteadily back the way he'd come, intending to find an open window and fly out.

(I'm considering having him pass out in here, to see how Rex and Dianne react when he doesn't come home when expected. XD)

(You can do that if you want. Barnabas will find him later and wake him up with a spider. XD)

{Alicia fell headless, dropping her blade and going still.}

Armin's vision started to blur as he walked through the factory. He was limping more, his wounds becoming painful as the rage and adrenaline wore off. He could feel his body trying to slip into unconsciousness, to give him time to heal.

//...Cra.p...//

Upon reaching a window, he realised he didn't have the strength to shift. Feeling dizzy, he sunk to the floor, clutching his side.

//...At least I did it...//

And then he passed out.

(Do you want to skip back to the house, later on in the evening? Or, if Dianne is still asleep, I can start with Rex?)

(Let's skip back to the house, as you suggest. Start with Rex, a few hours later. I'll wake up Dianne shortly after.)

----

It had been about three hours since Armin first left, and now darkness had fallen over the city. Back at the house, Rex was working hard to control his panic. He sat in his room, clutching his phone, watched curiously by Esme. //Where is he?! He's not answering any calls... he didn't even say where he was going! Gods! He could be...//

He didn't even want to imagine the possibilities.

//How can I even look for him, when I don't have the faintest idea where he went?//

{In the other room, Dianne was asleep, but her growing hunger was begining to wake her. Opening her eyes, she shifts and calls out.}

Dianne: "Armin?.....Armin?..."

Upon hearing Dianne, Rex gritted his teeth. He walked into the living room, fear making his movements stiff.

'He's not here!' he growled. 'He left hours ago!'

{Dianne's demeanor quickly went from tired to mildly alarmed.}

Dianne: "...He left?....Well, where'd he go?"

'I don't /know./ He went out, saying he had to do something, but he never really told me what. It's been three hours. He's not replying to my calls. I don't even know where to look for him. If I had to guess, based on his behaviour... he might have gone after the person who attacked you...'

{At that, Dianne started to panic internally.}

Dianne: "Wha...What?! He...and you didn't stop him?! Or wake me? How could he...just...Damn it....Barnabas!"

Barnabas: "Yo."

Dianne: "Go find Armin and bring him back!"

'Do you think I could have stopped him? When he was that determined? It happened so quickly. He just told me to stay with you and Esme, then took off out the door. ...Gods, I hate when he does things like this...'

Dianne: "If I had known, I would have sent Barnabas, or someone with him!"

{Dianne was very evidently not taking this well.}

Dianne: "Give me your phone, Rex!"

Rex looked at her with disdain. 'Why? Do you think you can call him when I couldn't?' he scoffed. However, he tossed his phone over to her.

Dianne: "No, you bonehead! Fred has probably set up the telepathic relay again, so that's about twenty extra pairs of eyes looking for him."

{She then dials Fred, anxiously waiting for him to pick up.}

Fred answered after two rings. 'Yes?' he said in clipped tones. Apparently, he was still unhappy about sharing a house with Pythia and her patients.

Dianne: "Fred, Armin went out to hunt for Alicia, on his own, without telling anyone, and now, he's been gone for three hours and he's not answering his phone. Can you send your people to look for him?"

Fred was momentarily silent, as if in surprise. 'Yes, of course. I'm a little below strength right now, as I couldn't gather all of my associates at short notice, but I'll send who I do have out to search. We'll keep you updated.'

Dianne: "Thank you, Fred...Sorry to thrust this on you, but we're both kind of freaking out over here..."

'Try not to panic. I'm sure he wouldn't do anything /too/ reckless. Anyway, I'll have Owen keep you updated. She's the relay member usually closest to your house. Usually takes the form of an owl. We'll let you know whatever happens.' He then hung up, hurrying to send orders to his people.

{Dianne puts the phone down. With the initial adrenaline wearing off, coupled with her drained state, she flops onto her side with a tired expression.}

Dianne: "I don't feel so good...."

Rex said nothing. He just stood there, staring blankly into space. He didn't know much about Alicia, so he had no idea if Armin was capable of beating her. Esme jumped onto the couch, peering at Dianne with a concerned expression.

Meanwhile, the fifteen active members of the relay began to spread across the city, most in bird forms, scanning the streets and alleyways for any hint of Armin.

(Maybe we could have one of the relay run into Antonio, to learn from him where Armin headed?)

(Yeah, let's do that.)

{As the members of the relay searched, Antonio was unaware that Armin had found Alicia and killed her, let alone that he was missing. He was flying around the city, still looking for the elf.}

One relay member, in the form of a blue jay, recognised Antonio's bird form and began to approach him. //Antonio,// he called out. //Are you looking for Armin, too? Have any leads?// He didn't realise that Antonio was still looking for Alicia.

{Antonio looks at the blue jay quizzically.}

Antonio: "Armin? I was looking for Alicia. Why, is he alright? Has he gone missing or something?"

//Apparently, Armin went out looking for Alicia this afternoon, and he hasn't been seen since... Are you looking for her, too? Then, do you have any idea where Armin might have gone?//

{Antonio doesn't answer for a moment.}

Antonio: "...Yeah...I gave him one of my leads...the old glass cleaner factory in the industrial zone....I didn't actually think he'd find her there...Oh, I'd better go check on him..."

//The abandoned factory?// the blue jay repeated. //If you think he might be there, I'd better go too... and I'll call for Ryder as backup...//

Sounding concerned, the relay member began to fly off towards the factory.

{Antonio follows him, quietly worried that Armin might have done something stupid.}

Antonio: //...I guess the man needs someone watching him from now on...I honestly thought if he found her, he'd call for backup...//

The blue jay flew down to the factory. He hopped through an open window and began to check around, expecting Antonio to follow.

Meanwhile, back at the house, a female telepathic voice called in. It was Owen, the one Fred had mentioned.

//Situation update: We just ran into Antonio, who apparently saw Armin when he left to look for Alicia. Antonio advised him to check out an abandoned factory in the industrial district, telling him Alicia might be there. We're going to investigate the factory now.//

{Antonio followed, shifting back to human form and ignoring the stench.}

Antonio: "You check that way, I'll go right."

Dianne: "He'd better be ok..."

{She mutters, eyes closed.}

Dianne: "If he's dead, I'm enslaving his soul..."

Again, Rex remained silent, looking sick with fear.

The blue jay vampire shifted to his human form, and began to cautiously explore the building. //Call me immediately if you find anything.//

Meanwhile, not far from the broken vending machine where Alicia's body lay, Armin was still motionless. However, his healing magic had been working rapidly in his unconscious state, so his wounds had stopped bleeding, though he was lying in a small pool of lost blood.

{Antonio swiftly moved through the building, looking for any sign of Armin. He emerges into the warehouse, looking across the building and spotting the broken vending machine.}

Antonio: //I may have found something. Come to the warehouse on the east side.//

Within moments, the other vampire caught up to Antonio. Warily, he approached the broken vending machine and found himself looking down on Alicia's decapitated corpse.

'Well, she's definitely dead... And there are signs of a scuffle. Blood on the floor...' He pointed to a thin line of droplets leading away from Alicia. '...I think we just have to follow the trail.'

Antonio: "Yes...I hope he's ok."

{Following the blood trail, Armin comes into view. Antonio rushes over to him, checking him over.}

Antonio: "He's alive...Call it in, get some transport over here."

The bluejay vampire checked Armin over as well. '...Oh, thank the gods. I expected to find him in a much worse state. He's going to be just fine. Yeah, transport is on its way.'

Shortly afterwards, a car pulled up outside the window, driven by Ryder. 'This place reeks,' he complained. 'OK, get him in.'

{Antonio scoops him up and carries him to Ryder. Sitting him in the car, he turns to the bluejay guy.}

Antonio: "So, to Pythia, I presume?"

(Posting new room)