Castlevania: Reunions

30: Hunters

Ruby really enjoys training with the Avengers, although she's still holding back "Guys help!" Natasha yells one evening, entering the room with said dhampir, they had been getting food for everyone. "We ran into a group of people claiming they're vampire hunters, I don't think they meant to kill her instantly, but she got shot a few times during the fight, after which they concluded she's not a vampire, we told them that ourselves" the assassin explains to the others "Adrian, someome has to warn him and Rose" Ruby says, so Jarvis calls the Belmont estate "Ruby you look terrible" Trevor says, quickly hiding his blood covered weapons "Rose and Adrian are fine, Rose is a little devil, who taught her?" "I did" Ruby says "Adrian didn't have time, he was mostly in the lab doing who knows what, I think he was afraid to fail" "Sounds like the bastard" Trevor mumbles earning a painful chuckle "You stay there for tonight" he says "Alright, you stay with them just in case" "Before you go and pass out. They're targeting specific people, Lisa hasn't reported anything, Sypha and I aren't bothered unless it's the Dracula worshiping freak group" "And mom?" "Considering she's still with us in the mansion, switching between there and the castle" "Right, I'll see you tomorrow". Natasha stays with Ruby, who isn't talking "I think I'd rather wait a few weeks" she comments eventually "Stop moving so I can get the bullet out" Natasha says "Trying, did they use silver or something?" "They did, how'd you know?" "Cause they claim to be vampire hunters, seriously". With each bullet being pulled out the wounds starts healing "Weren't you hit in your shoulder?" "Went through, why?", Natasha is inspecting the supposedly injured shoulder, but it's normal, just some blood "I'm glad the bloody jacket covered it though" "You heal amazingly fast" Natasha mumbles "You're also still holding back during training" "They said something about holy water too" "You actually remember that?", Ruby tilts her head at that "I think they KO'ed you for a minute" "Maybe, probably, don't know". The next day Ruby has to hear that Adrian went with Trevor and Rose is staying with her classmate MJ, leaving her stuck there, with the Avengers "What are you doing?" Clint asks when he catches Ruby going through their blood supply "Snooping around" she answers dryly "You don't have to sneak around-" "Where's the sample Bruce took from me?", Clint is surprised by the question "You mean yesterday?" "Where is it?" "Should be near your file, why do you want it?" he asks, but Ruby use her speed to look for it, takes it and leave, so the archer goes to the main room "Hey guys. Did Ruby pass by? She took the blood sample we took yesterday and left incredibly fast" "She does that sometimes" Tony mumbles before the entire sentence registers "She took the blood sample?" "Yeah", Natasha sighs as she closes her book "Her brother said they're targeting specific people, they attacked her family" "Which tells us what exactly?" Steve asks "Come on, are you that stupid? As soon as I pulled those bullets out the wounds healed" Natasha says "During her first training I gave her a small cut, it healed instantly" Clint says "So she heals insanely fast, what of it?" "I don't think her brother meant human" Tony says "He said they're targeting specific people. I think he meant vampires" "Or half vampires" Jarvis says "Is there a right word for?" Thor asks "Not that I know off" Jarvis answers "The correct term would be dhampirs" Ruby says "Thought Tony had been reading the history book?" "I was, haven't gotten that far yet" Tony says "Anyway, sorry I ran off in a hurry" "Are you a dhampir?" Natasha asks "If I was, would I have joined you guys?" "Probably not" Bruce says "That doesn't explain your insane healing factor" "Family trait from my mother's side" "Insane fighting capabilities?" "Training with dad, he did not go easy on me, Trevor's my half brother by the way", this surprises everyone "We had the same father, mom had dumped me in the forest as a baby and Trevor found me" she explains "But what happened happened" "What about your insane speed?" Tony asks "Tons of training" "Is there anything else we need to know?" Natasha asks "Not really", Ruby thinks for a while "Nope nothing I can think off" "Right. So if you and Adrian are married, why don't you have his last name and why doesn't Rose have his last name?" Steve asks earning a confused look "Well Rosemarie Tepes sounded weird, so he decided to leave that Belmont and I guess at the time I wanted to honor my family, on official papers it's Tepes though" "So Peter's history teacher" "Is my father in-law".

Since she's stuck on her own anyway she returns to her house anyway, well aware Natasha's following her "So this again?" she asks seeing the familiar group of hunters "We were hoping you would tell us-" "Not interested, leave. Hector what brings you here?" she asks seeing the forgemaster "Following these guys, they've been sneaking about around my shop for three days" Hector says "How's your security?" "Hm, useless right now" she says "I need my crossbow or sword" "Would a dagger work?" Hector asks earning a nod and as soon as both are armed they attack the group. Natasha shoots one and when they're taken care off Ruby snatches some papers from one of the dead guys "Please take care of this" she mumbles as she reads through it "Shit" she whispers seeing the information on it, so she burns it, not even caring she has to hide her abilities. Inside she contacts Adrian "Guess what bad news I got" she says "Hunters?" Trevor asks from the side "Yeah and not just any, guess some Belmonts didn't get the memo, or at least one didn't, got him exiled from the family, it said he tried to break into the hold, something about, impure beings, this guy also happens to be after vampire blood for his own selfish reasons, I'm not sure what to do about that" she says putting the mirror down and she starts pacing "Go with Tepes now?" Sypha asks "Right, what about Rose?" "Have Rose stay with Stella, she moved to the Belmont area out of town, they'll protect her" Trevor says earning a groan of annoyance "Or... she goes by Tepes too" Adrian says "She already does at school, her idea, not mine, besides, it'd be a pain to explain why she uses your last name when it's Tepes too", Ruby knows he's right, but all the Belmonts knew she and Rose were Belmonts, maybe she could make use of that.