The familiar warping of space and pop of Ms. Popper's teleportation along with the presence of four additional people awoke Leon. But it seemed she didn't stick around this time, vanishing the moment her passengers had their feet under them.
"Midnight City's curse really is broken!"
"To no longer see that red dome is a first for me."
"Really? Oh, right. You've only been on Earth for how long now? 16 years?"
Feeling that he had returned to peak condition, Leon opened his eyes and watched them approach. Lily did the same. Nyx... didn't bother waking up.
He let her get more sleep. An enclosed space like the sewers was the worst place for a crow to be in, anyway.
The Immortal took the lead. Being 6'4", he was taller than Leon by an inch. The man made of muscle strode with confidence, displaying a stern gaze and holding himself in a regal, imposing manner. If he really had been Abrahalm Lincoln in the past, Leon couldn't see the resemblance.
His costume was a blue jumpsuit. White and yellow stripes covered it, several of which ended in circular patterns that encircled his knees and shoulders. Yellow and white gloves covered his hands, with boots of the same colors covering his feet. A single yellow stripe ran vertically up the center of his chest, while a solid yellow circle surrounded his neck, creating the illusion of an "I".
Behind him followed War Woman, the de-facto co-leader of the Guardians, with her azure cape billowing at her back.
Armor covered her muscular frame from neck-to-toe except for her shoulders and arms above the elbow. Her gauntlets, greaves, breastplate, and belt were primarily gold with brown trim, while the armor surrounding her thighs and abdomen were white.
Martian Man walked beside her, possessing light olive skin, purely yellow eyes, and a head that resembled a rectangular shape long in height. He was the first alien Leon ever laid eyes on. He wore a suit that was colored light yellow on his chest and middle arms while his upper and lower body was colored light purple, with the edge of each part sporting white outlines.
But the one that took Leon by surprise was Green Ghost.
The Green Ghost that stood at the very back was not a woman. It was a man whose muscular frame was enveloped by an entirely green, skin-tight suit.
Although a more minor alteration that he doubted made much of a difference to this world's "plot", it was another one he hadn't known about. Leon added it to the growing list.
Their deaths flashed through his mind. Darkwing's skull, splattered across the floor. Green Ghost's face, pierced clean through. War Woman's neck, twisted until she choked on her own blood. Martian Man's core, ripped out while he held on to his enemy. The Immortal, decapitated by one swipe of a hand.
Here they were, alive, without the faintest clue that a man in a cape with a mustache was going to try to murder all of them.
Leon swallowed the thought and walked over as space warped once more. Now familiar with the way it distorted, he immediately knew it was Ms. Popper.
Cecil, Ms. Popper, and Darkwing appeared between their two groups. In Darkwings and Ms. Popper's hands were metal suitcases.
"Guardians, this is Wild Card," Cecil introduced. "The one who broke the curse on the city and identified the potential threat below the city. He'll be providing tactical intelligence throughout the operation."
"The curse breaker." The Immortal extended a hand. His grip was firm. "I heard about it on the way here. That curse lasted twenty long years and you cracked it in under an hour."
"Took a little longer than that, but I appreciate it."
"Let me introduce the team. I am the Immortal." The Immortal tapped his own chest, then gestured behind him. "War Woman. Green Ghost. Martian Man. We look forward to working with you."
War Woman stepped forward and offered her hand as well, her blue eyes gazing at his mask. "Cecil speaks well of you. That's rare enough to be noteworthy."
"He's being generous," Leon said. "I just break things and occasionally put them back together."
She smiled. "Then we should get along fine."
Green Ghost waved and Martian Man offered a smile. Leon guessed they were the introverts of the team.
"Now," the Immortal said, crossing his arms. "Vampires."
Everyone looked at him.
"I've dealt with them before, though not recently. The last time was..." He paused, eyes narrowing in thought. "Three centuries ago? Give or take a decade. Nasty business. They overran a village in the Carpathians."
"You've fought these... vampires?" Martian Man asked.
"Fought. Killed. Burned the nest." The Immortal's expression darkened. "The important thing is that these people are likely thralls, so killing the vampires responsible for turning them is the fastest way to revert them back to normal. The master's connection breaks and the turned ones become human again."
Leon's fantasies of storming through the sewers throwing Sunlight Spears at everything that moved turned to smoke.
There goes my vampire hunter arc.
"Problem is," the Immortal continued, "identifying which vampire turned which thrall is damn near impossible in the middle of a fight. Especially with numbers like these. Could be one master, could be dozens. Best we can do is stay mindful of any particularly strong vampires we encounter and prioritize them as targets."
"I can actually help narrow that down," Leon said. "But I need to show you something first."
He crouched and pressed his bare palm to the earth. Seismic Sense reached downward, mapping the full underground network in his mind. Tunnels, chambers, carved-out halls, the junction, the deeper levels, and what looked like a throne room at the bottom. But that wasn't all.
There were people trapped in isolated rooms. Dozens of them, clustered in two chambers on the second sub-level. Leon sensed their weak heartbeats and shallow breathing. It was varied as well. Children. Adults. Elderly. All of them were stationary and packed together.
Leon could only think of one reason why vampires would need a large amount of people imprisoned.
Leon's jaw tightened. He took a breath, held the complete map in his mind, and earthbent. The ground beside him rippled and rose.
Soil and stone shaped themselves under his will, forming a detailed, three-dimensional model of the entire sewer system. Every tunnel, every chamber, every carved passage reproduced in miniature at waist height with their ceilings removed for visibility. The scale was roughly one to a hundred.
Small raised bumps dotted the model, each one representing a living entity. The vampire clusters were denser, concentrated in the lower levels and around the junction. The human captives showed as a separate grouping on the second sub-level, clearly distinct from the vampires by their position and density.
And at the very bottom, in the largest chamber, two figures sat apart from everything else, surrounded by twelve coffins lining the walls.
The Guardians gathered around the model in silence.
Darkwing looked closer. "A model of the sewer system..."
"This is everything underneath Midnight City right now," Leon said. "Every tunnel, every room, every body. The raised bumps are living entities. These clusters here," he pointed to the lower levels, "are vampires. These two groups here," he pointed to the second sub-level, "are likely human captives. I'm reading somewhere between forty and fifty of them."
"Captives," War Woman repeated. Her warmth was gone, replaced by something colder.
"Blood bags," The Immortal corrected. He didn't sugarcoat it. "They're being kept alive for feeding. And these?" The Immortal pointed at the bottom chamber. The two figures in the center and the twelve coffins around the perimeter.
"My best guess?" Leon shrugged. "The leaders, because the room has a throne."
"A throne room for a vampire lord," Darkwing said. "How cliche."
The Immortal studied the model for a long moment. His eyes moved between the captive chambers, the thrall clusters, and the throne room before he looked at Leon.
"Can you dig us a tunnel? Straight to the throne room, bypassing the main sewer system entirely?"
Leon traced the path in his head. Solid bedrock between the surface and the bottom chamber, roughly eighty meters of vertical descent plus lateral distance. There would only be dense stone and little to no existing infrastructure in the way.
"Yeah. I can do that."
"Then here's what I'm thinking." The Immortal pointed at the model. "We split into two teams. War Woman and I take the main sewer entrance and hit the thrall population head-on. We're the least likely to be affected by vampire attacks." He glanced at his own arms. "I literally can't be bit, and War Woman..." He looked at War Woman, who simply raised an eyebrow. "She'll be fine."
Leon spoke up. "Lily should join you."
"Lily? Ah." The Immortal looked at the exceed, who stood with arms crossed and the Musica Sword on his back. "Him?"
"Lily's strong, fast, and durable, like you and War Woman, but to a lesser extent. His sword can also wrap itself in lightning. If you guys encounter any of the stronger vampires, he can kill them with one swing. Cecil," Leon said. "Can you confirm for the Immortal that Lily is capable?"
Cecil nodded. "Lily went against the Walking Dread's mercenary squad on a Norway op not too long ago and didn't take a scratch. He's more than capable."
The Immortal considered it, then nodded. "Alright, Lily's in. The three of us take the tunnels, draw the thrall army toward us, and keep them busy. That's Team One."
He pointed at the captive chambers on the model. "Team Two handles the civilians. Green Ghost, Martian Man, Wild Card, and Darkwing. Green Ghost can phase through walls to help scout ahead. Martian Man can handle heavy lifting if the captives can't walk. Wild Card, Cecil once mentioned you have a portal device. Is it true?"
"Yeah. I can open a portal from the captive chambers to the surface."
"I'll have medical and transport ready to receive them," Cecil said.
"Once the captives are evacuated," the Immortal continued, "Team Two moves to the throne room. That's where the leadership is, and that's where this ends."
"One more thing," Leon said. He pointed at the model's tunnel network. "Before we start, I can seal every entrance and exit in the system except the one you three are using. I'll lock the tunnels at the access points and reinforce the blockages. Nothing should get past them. If any vampires try to run, they'll hit a wall. The only way out will be through you."
The Immortal stared at him aa grin spread across his face.
"I had forgotten about that. Good thinking, young man. Cecil," he said, turning to the director. "Where the hell have you been hiding this kid?"
"He's not mine to hide." Cecil shrugged. "But expect to see more of him from now on. Darkwing and Ms. Popper, please open the suitcases."
They set the four suitcases down and opened them. Inside, nestled in foam, were what appeared to be high-tech gas masks that came straight out of a sci-fi show. There was even one that looked like it would fit Lily specifically.
"Gas masks," Cecil explained. "They'll filter the noxious gases and neutralize the smell. Since Team One is the only group going through the actual sewer system, the rest of you can take or leave them."
The Immortal picked one up, turned it over, and set it back down. "I've smelled worse."
War Woman took one and clipped it to her belt. "I'll decide when we're inside."
"Much appreciated," Lily said, taking the one for him.
-x-
The plan went into motion. Each team went to their positions, with Team One waiting at their designated access point and most of Team Two standing on top of the optimal location to make their tunnel entrance.
Leon first placed a portal in the nearby park, on an earthbent wall. He'd woken Nyx up and told her what the entire plan was. She would be waiting at the surface for any captives that needed healing.
Sealing off all the exits and entrances came after. He activated Voltaic Reinforcement, running to each spot and building the seals. A vampire could probably claw at the walls for years and not break through.
One entrance remained open, the access point where the Immortal, War Woman, and Lily stood shoulder to shoulder.
"Tunnels are sealed," Leon reported, landing next to Team One.
The Immortal rolled his neck until it cracked. War Woman hefted her mace. Lily drew the Musica Sword, and lightning crawled down the blade in crackling arcs.
"Have fun," Leon said.
"We'll try," Immortal replied. "Focus on your task and let us know of any complications."
They went in. With his job done, Leon ran and met with Team Two.
"Are they in?" Darkwing asked.
"They've gone in. Now it's our turn," Leon said. "Give me a minute."
Leon looked down at his boots. Seismic Sense needed skin contact for full effectiveness. Through shoes, it was like looking through frosted glass. Functional, but imprecise. For what they were about to do, he needed perfect clarity.
He was about to walk barefoot through a sewer system. He could only hope the vampires did some renovations for the new areas they added.
The things I do for gacha points.
The materials shifted and reshaped, the foot sections reforming as the boots shortened into shin guards that ended above the ankle. His bare feet touched the grass, and the Seismic Sense snapped into razor-sharp focus.
He looked at one of the sewer entrances through Seismic Sense and his stomach turned. He could already smell it from here.
"Is there a problem?" Martian Man asked, looking down at his feet. "Where'd your shoes go?"
"I have to go barefoot if I want to keep sensing things through the ground."
"...Sucks to be you," Darkwing said.
I've got the Iron Man trait and Intermediate Discipline skill. I can do disgusting things. I can endure discomfort. I am a disciplined and capable fighter who will not be defeated by sewage!
Leon turned to his team. "Let's move."
Green Ghost sank through the floor.
Leon began carving. Stone parted ahead of him, a tunnel forming in real time, angled downward toward the captive chambers on the second sub-level. The walls were smooth and the ceiling was high enough for all of them to go through.
Green Ghost's voice came through the earpiece. "I'm at the captive chamber. Two guards outside. Both vampires. The captives are..." He paused. "...It's bad in there."
"Define bad," Darkwing said.
"Just get here."
Leon worked faster.
They broke through into the second sub-level a few minutes later, emerging into a carved stone corridor that smelled like iron and rot. The two guards Green Ghost had flagged were already down, phased halfway into the floor and unconscious.
The chamber door was heavy wood reinforced with iron bands. Leon ripped the door off with one motion and gently laid it on the ground.
The smell hit first.
Blood. Old blood, new blood, and dried blood coated the floor in patches. They stained the walls in smeared handprints and pooled beneath the crude cots lining the chamber. The captives, or what was left of them, lay or sat on those cots in various states of consciousness. They were pale and emaciated. Puncture wounds were visible on their necks and arms. Some had IVs rigged to their veins, crude tubes draining into glass containers on the floor.
In the far corner, three small shapes huddled together under a blanket that was more stain than fabric.
Beside him, Darkwing's fists clenched. Ten years of investigating disappearances, and this was happening to them right beneath his feet the entire time.
Leon's hands curled into fists as well. His jaw locked so tight his teeth creaked.
This ends today.
A man in rags leaning against a wall rose to his feet. "D-Darkwing? Martian Man? Green Ghost? The Guardians... E-Everyone, the Guardians of the Globe are here! We're saved!"
The effect of his words was immediate. Heads rose from cots. Eyes that had gone dull with resignation found focus. A woman near the center clutched the arm of the man beside her, her cracked lips moving without sound. One of the children peeked out from under the stained blanket.
Leon didn't let the moment linger. These people needed urgent help.
"Everyone stay still," he said, raising both hands. "This might feel warm."
He reached for the ones with IV drips first. His fingers twitched and the needles slid out of their veins in unison, metalbending pulling each one free with surgical care. A few of the captives flinched. Most were too weak to react.
Then Healing Light flooded the room.
Warmth radiated from his palms and washed over every body in the chamber. Puncture wounds sealed. Bruises faded. The sickly pallor in their skin receded by a shade. It wasn't a full restoration. It couldn't be at this scale and spread out across this many people, but the worst of the damage closed and their vitals strengthened.
The woman who'd been clutching the man's arm looked at her own wrist, where a ring of puncture scars had been weeping blood ten seconds ago. Clean skin stared back at her.
Her tears flowed.
Green Ghost materialized beside the children. He crouched in front of them, hands raised, voice soft. "Hey, kids. It's okay. Don't be scared. We're getting you all out of here safe and sound."
Martian Man began carefully lifting the ones who couldn't stand. His arms reshaped into wide, supportive cradles that held each person without jostling them.
Leon fired the Portal Gun at the far wall. Orange light bloomed, and through the opening, the grass and moonlight of the surface were visible. Nyx was already waiting on the other side, her rings glowing faintly. The GDA medical team was assembling behind her.
"Go," he told Darkwing. "Get them through. I'll check the second chamber."
Darkwing moved to the portal and started guiding the captives through, one arm supporting an elderly man whose legs kept buckling, his voice low and steady. It was nothing like the gruff, clipped tone he used before.
Leon crossed the corridor to the second chamber. The door was identical to the first. He ripped it off the same way and found the worst sight he'd ever laid eyes on. The smell hit him right after.
Death and rot.
The chamber was smaller, having fewer cots. The ones that were occupied held people in worse condition than the first room. They were skeletal and barely conscious. Leon counted eleven survivors. He healed them on the spot and started moving them toward the portal.
But it was the back wall that made him stop.
Corpses stacked on more corpses, drained so thoroughly they looked like leather stretched over bone. Some of them had been there long enough that the skin had started to peel away from the muscle beneath. Others were fresher, their faces still recognizable, frozen in expressions Leon didn't want to study for longer than he had to.
These were the ones who hadn't survived the feeding cycle. These were the ones discarded when they had nothing left to give.
Darkwing appeared in the doorway behind him. Leon heard his breathing change.
Neither of them said anything. There was nothing to say that the room didn't already scream on its own.
Leon closed his eyes for two seconds and moved on. He could mourn the dead later. Right now, the living needed them.
He portaled the eleven survivors out, sealed both chambers behind him with earthbending, and turned to his team.
"Captives are evacuated," Darkwing reported. "All survivors have gone through the portal."
"Confirmed," Cecil said. "Medical is receiving them now."
"We're moving to the throne room."
"Be careful down there."
Leon made another tunnel at the end of the corridor, its smooth walls angling steeply downward into the bedrock. Leon's bare feet read the stone beneath him with perfect clarity, the 3D map in his mind updating in real time.
The twelve coffins were still in position along the walls of the bottom chamber. The two figures in the center hadn't moved.
The tunnel opened into a wide, carved corridor that ended at a set of ornate double doors of iron-banded oak, inscribed with symbols that Leon's Seismic Sense read as shallow grooves in the metal.
Green Ghost, Martian Man, and Darkwing gathered behind him.
"It's the same as before. Two contacts behind the door," Leon said. "One on the throne, one standing beside it, and twelve occupied coffins along the walls. I think the vampires inside the coffins are either asleep or waiting. Ready?"
Green Ghost cracked his knuckles. Martian Man's form rippled. Darkwing brandished throwing weapons in the shape of a four-pointed star.
Leon placed both hands on the doors and pushed them open.
The throne room was vast, carved from rock and lit by hundreds of candles mounted on iron sconces lining the walls. The floor was polished stone, and at the far end, a raised platform held a high-backed chair of black iron and bone.
The vampire seated on it was pale and still. He wore an elegant purple vest with silver buttons over a crisp white shirt, accented by a flowing red-magenta cape that draped across his shoulders and lap. White gloves covered his hands, and a gleaming golden medallion rested on his chest. His features were sharp and aristocratic, with dark hair swept back from a widow's peak.
The figure's deep red eyes settled on Leon just as something else caught Leon's attention.
The hum from Curse Breaker stirred in Leon's mind the moment he stepped into the room. It was the same hum he'd felt when he touched the cursed dome, but deeper and heavier. Whatever curse or magic that lived in this room was old and concentrated, and he sensed most of it pouring off the figure beside the throne.
Leon's eyes found the source. Tattered robes hung off the hunched figure. The skin beneath was a patchwork of decay, both grey and cracked. Their eyes glowed a faint, sickly violet as they stared at him with hatred.
Darkwing went rigid behind him.
"...I think the smaller one's the Midnight Magician," he muttered. "Fuck. That son of a bitch was never confirmed dead."
Well, wasn't this just wonderful? The twelve coffins lining the walls were still closed, but Leon half-expected the vampires inside to pop out any second now.
The vampire on the throne narrowed his eyes.
"At last, we meet," the vampire lord said, his voice smooth and unhurried. "You have given me much trouble, curse breaker."