Hibichi:

    Hibichi looked at the passed-out form of Freon. He couldn't blame him, really --
    the first time he'd run into a vampire, he felt like passing out too, and he'd been MUCH better
    prepared than Freon was.

    Freon had been VERY lucky. He and the others had been relatively close to the
    hospitality room when both his and Tomiko's vampire senses went off. Soon after they had
    heard Amano slamming into the Coke machine and had dashed to the scene. If Hibichi had
    gotten there one second later...

    He tried not to think about it.

    Tomiko walked into the room, followed by Nekita. "He's not..."

    Hibichi shook his head. "Just fine. We got there before the creep got his jaws into
    his neck."

    Nekita looked relieved. "Thank God. We haven't had our appointment yet!"

    "NEKITA!"

    "Chill, Tomiko-chan!"
 
    Tomiko gave a sigh of long suffering, then looked at the ashes around Freon. "Damn it,
    if we had just not taken the time to watch that stupid anime, that guy might still be alive..."
 
    "Tomiko, there's no telling how long that guy was like that. For all we know it
    happened a few hours ago," Hibichi said, trying to reassure her.

    "Then we should have been more diligent! Now that Vampire Lord's wandering around
    somewhere feeling smug! It's all my fault..."

    "Now stop that, Tomiko. NONE of this was your fault. It never is. We could no more
    have stopped this from happening than we could have prevented a shoot-out. We'll catch the
    bastard, don't worry."

    "Yeah, Tomiko-chan! We'll even let ya stick the stake in him! Power to the good
    vampires!" Nekita piped in.

    "... Thanks guys. I still feel somewhat guilty, but at least I know that he's here
    somewhere." Tomiko sniffed, then straightened up. "In the meantime, we'd better do something
    about these ashes before anybody finds out about them."

    "What's this about ashes?"

    The trio jumped. A woman dressed as Yurika entered the room. She scanned the environs
    and, upon seeing Freon, gave a gasp. "Oh! Amano!"

    "What, you know this guy?" asked Nekita.

    "We met at last year's convention. Oh, he's not..."

    "Nope, perfectly all right. Just a little out of it," replied Hibichi. "You speak
    Japanese, huh?"

    Yurika nodded. "Took five years of it. I figured it would come in handy." She
    walked over to Freon. "Hmm... did any of you notice this cut?" She indicated a small cut
    on Freon's forehead.

    "Uh, no. We were... um..." Hibichi began.

    "Kicking vampire heinie?" finished Yurika.

    The others gawked. "What... but... how..."

    Yurika winked. "My brother is a good vampire. One of the lucky ones, I've heard. I've
    learned to discern them from the crowds." She looked at the ashes. "So who was this?"
 
    "Some gay looking guy," replied Nekita, earning another glare from Tomiko.

    "I think I know him. Damn, a Canadian Police Officer. That's going to cause problems."

    "He was a POLICE OFFICER? He didn't strike me as being very professional..." said
    Hibichi.

    "I don't think he was. Well, I'll help you clean up, then we'll find a doctor for
    Amano."

    "Thanks," said Tomiko, and they began to clean up the mess.
 

Alexis:

    "Did you follow any of that, Greyforce?"

    "Can't say I did. Damn it, I lose track of him for a few minutes and THAT happens."

    We were listening in on the conversation. Not that it did a hell of a lot of good, since
    neither of us spoke Japanese. But it was enough to gain the impression that the Yurika woman
    was being helpful somehow.

    Greyforce was really kicking himself now. He'd lost Amano in another large crowd, which
    is why we couldn't get there in time. By the time we'd reached the hospitality room, he was
    already unconscious and the Japanese trio and the Yurika look-alike were talking.

    I wasn't concentrating on them myself. I was more curious as to what those ashes were
    and why they were cleaning them up. It seemed vaguely suspicious. An old story from my days
    as a superhero popped into my mind about the time one of the members of the legion had
    encountered a villain so powerful that it took all of his strength just to stand up to it;
    at one point the hero had taken a random piece of wood lying around and had thrust it into
    the heart of the villain, at which point he burst into ashes. Greyforce probably hadn't
    heard it; from what I was led to understand he hadn't stayed in the Legion long enought to
    hear much gossip along these lines.

    Come to think of it, that katana that the boy had on him now was also made of wood. I
    began to wonder if there was a connection. I didn't dare tell Greyforce, though -- the only
    logical conclusion that could be made from these facts was, well, something out of an episode
    of the X-Files.

    Vampires.

    I decided to keep all of this in mind. For all I knew, it could come in handy later.

    The four of them had finished cleaning up and were about to take Amano to someplace
    where he could be looked at. That, of course, was our cue to exit.

    "You don't suppose they're going to take that pop machine out of my heinie, do you?"
    asked Greyforce quietly as we moved to another place where we could keep track of him without
    being spotted.

    "Naw. Just out of your paycheck."

    "Shit."

    "Well, never mind. If we're lucky that's the la--"

    "Don't say it. You'll jinx us. Jeez, no wonder the organizers of the Convention wanted
    us to keep an eye on him."

    The three Japanese people and the Yurika look-alike were hoisting Amano up by the
    shoulders and taking him somewhere; no doubt it was to some nurses station. We followed at a
    discreet distance.
 

Kirin:

    I managed to run into Amy near a room that had been set aside for medical emergencies.
    "Any luck?" I asked her.

    "None at all. Darn it, but you'd think a lizard would be pretty easy to track down in
    a place like this. I guess I'm not cut out to be a field agent," she responded somewhat
    despondently.

    "Never mind. Find out much about this place?"

    "Other than the fact that suddenly there seems to be a conspicuous lack of other races
    around here?"

    "So you've noticed, huh?"

    "Yeah. Once again, as should have been expected, you were right. How the heck
    do you do it?"

    I smiled wryly. "One half open-mindedness, one half elfin insanity."

    Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. We turned and saw the three
    Japanese people, along with some woman dressed in another anime costume, carrying Amano into
    the nurses room. He was unconscious and bleeding from a wound on his head.

    "Oh my gods! What happened to him?" asked Amy, concerned.
 
    "Bit of a scuffle," replied the boy in pretty damn good English. "He should be all
    right just as long as he can get somebody to see to that wound."

    "Well, the doctor still seems to be out. But I've got some medical training -- perhaps
    I can help," replied Amy almost a bit too eagerly.

    "And maybe you oughta mind your own damn--"

    "Nekita, I don't stand up to you often, but could you please shut it? He needs help and
    if she can provide it, I think we oughta take it," replied the boy.

    Nekita seemed to fume for a second, then finally gave in. "Fine. All right, help us
    out." They carried him in.

    Amy began to follow, but I stopped her. "Say Amy, as long as you're doing that, could
    you do something for me?"

    She looked at me dubiously. "What?"
    "Get a blood sample off of Amano."

    "What?! Why, for gods' sake?"

    "Humor me, Amy. I've got a sneaking suspicion that there's something about him that's
    different."

    "Yeah! He's cute and he's charming! What's wrong with that?"

    "Amy, he's TOO cute and charming. You'd think he was James Bond the way everybody
    acts around him. Call me strange, but I think it has something to do with genetics."

    "So you... want me to get some blood..."

    "Yes..."

    "And do... what?"

    "I don't know! A genome test, or something!"

    "Kirin, that's a process that requires a lot of special equipment! I don't think I
    could just whip something up in the lobby! I'd need a lab, or something!"

    "HELLO! CALLING DOCTOR SO-AND-SO!" came a ringing voice from the nurses office.
    Amy looked at me coldly. "Please?" I asked sincerely.

    She continued to stare at me. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. I'll humor you. You've
    got a sick mind, Kirin."

    "Elfin insanity, remember?"

    She grunted and walked into the office.

    "What's this about a lab?" asked a voice behind me.

    I turned. There was Alexis and Greyforce, looking at me.

    "How... much of that did you hear?" I asked.

    "Pretty much the whole kit and caboodle, I'm afraid," replied Greyforce. "So what,
    there's a gene for being charismatic?"

    "Not just being charismatic, being UNNATURALLY charismatic. To the point where events
    seem to revolve around you rather than you stumbling into events," I replied.

    "Odd. I lived with a scientist most of my childhood, and I never ONCE heard about such
    a gene," said Alexis.

    "It's... a relatively new discovery."
 
    "Or maybe it's just otherworldly."

    I jumped. Greyforce was looking strangely at Alexis, who was smirking. "I suspected
    something odd about you. Those ears looked too damn real to me. So are you a Vulcan or what?"

    "Alexis..." began Greyforce.

    I decided there was no point in denying it. Alexis struck me as being a pretty
    intelligent woman and tossing her some lie off the top of my head would only insult her.

    "Elfin, actually. We were chasing some guy in our own dimension. He used some sort of device
    and brought us all here," I explained.

    Greyforce seemed to be having a hard time believing all this. Or at least that's how I
    interpreted the sort of "You're all insane" look that was rapidly growing on his face. Alexis,
    however, seemed to buy into all of this. "Amazing. I was wondering how you guys just appeared
    out of nowhere."

    I shrugged. "Either that or I've flipped out. But I FEEL sane..."

    She laughed. "Hoo hoo, you're nuts, but in a good way. I like that."

    Greyforce shook his head. "Forgive me for saying this, but..."

    "You don't believe me, right? I wouldn't expect you to. But could you please put off
    calling the funny farm until I've gotten a few things straightened out around here first?"

    "Um, sure..." Greyforce seemed to be uncertain. But at least I'd gotten him to listen
    a bit.

    Amy emerged. "All right, Kirin, here's your darned -- oh, hello..."

    Alexis gave a little wave. "Hiya."

    "Kirin, how long..."

    "Long enough. I explained everything to them."
 
    "KIRIN!"

    Greyforce put up his hands. "Relax, we'll help you out. We've been asked to track this
    guy anyway and any extra information can only help us out."

    I smiled at him. Greyforce, for all his doubts, seemed to be a pretty decent guy.

    "Well, here's the sample. I waited until their backs were turned and used one of the
    vials I keep on me in case of situations like these. So now what?"

    "Well, I could take you to my mother. She's got a lab you could use. It's a bit of a
    distance, though..." offered Alexis.

    "I think I can handle it. More than I can handle this guy's wheedling if I don't at
    least give it shot," replied Amy, glaring at me. I put up my hands in mock self-defense.

    "You sure you can handle things without me, Greyforce?" asked Alexis.
 
    He smiled slightly. "Oh, I think I'll live. I don't know how, but I'll manage," he
    replied mock-tragically. He got a shot in the arm for it.

    "Oh hush. I'll see you later." Alexis and Amy walked off.

    Greyforce looked at me. "So what now?"
 
    "Now we wait," I replied.
 

Coming up!!

-- Freon wakes up!
-- Kirin and Greyforce get drafted as bodyguards... (well, not quite)
-- Fun with cameos!
-- And an old friend of Greyforce's appears...