Story Telling

On a blustery autumn, Sanguinex told his teammates a story, after Lupinex complained about a manga's storyline.

It may or may not be AU for Beyblade, since I did not adhere strictly to the Dark Bladers' background. Just hope I'm at least 60% in-character. It is definitely AU for both Trinity Blood and Underworld, as they are mainly used as reference for Sanguinex's story. Only a slight reference to Gunslinger Girls had been used. Was written under the influence of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi by KOKIA.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, Trnity Blood, Underworld, or Gunslinger Girls. All the aforementioned belonged to their proper authors and owners. I'm merely borrowing for fun.

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"Bah! This is just ridiculous!"

A comic, or more accurately, a graphic novel known as 'manga' in Japanese, flew through the air, finally finding its landing place on a certain mummy's head. A glare as venomous as a snake's bite would have singed fur, if the werewolf was even aware of it at all.

"Lupinex, if you throw another item at me again, I will not hesitate to strangle you."

Apparently, the werewolf was not paying attention to his teammate's warning, as he'd continued his rant.

"—and those three Crusnik characters? They look like Bartez Battalion rip-offs!"

Now, that got Cenotaph curious. Since when had his hot-headed, simple-minded teammate ever care about books? He couldn't even appreciate simple comics, let alone care to criticize any literature piece. And here he is, fussing over a Japanese comic…

Trinity Blood?

The mummy flipped the book over after reading its title. Oh. Another vampire-nun-romance type of story. Of course it'll sound ridiculous for one who'd grown up and lived with a vampire for most of his life. Or for any man in that matter. Cenotaph only shook his head and sighed, with Lupinex continuing his rant about inaccurate, romanticized portrayals of vampires, glorification of priests and nuns with guns, impossible post-Armageddon sci-fi-Gothic settings etc… which was the scene that greeted Sanguinex when he and Zomb joined them at the lounge in the vampire's ancestral mansion.

"What happened to him?"

Cenotaph only shrugged, as he handed the manga to Sanguinex, who raised a curious eyebrow at said book. The vampire just sat down on the couch across his teammate and went on reading the manga. However, the longer Cenotaph observed his captain, the more he realized that Sanguinex was actually quite absorbed with the story. After almost half an hour, the vampire finally looked up from the book, closing its cover and gently placing it on the table.

"It was rather … intriguing."

Cenotaph noticed the look in his captain's eyes—as if he was currently somewhere faraway while his physical body remained here.

"My grandmother, the late Countess of Transylvania, always told us stories when we're young. Fairy tales, myths; some of them are very amusing, and some practically scared us stiff."

A ghost of a smile, a wistful draw of breath. Sanguinex may not have noticed, but his other two teammates—his younger brother Lupinex, and the resident team giant, Zomb, had gathered around him as he continued his story.

"There was this story that I'll never forget. She said it had happened centuries ago, during the time where vampires, lycans and humans are still at war with each other. During that time, a faction of humans, with the support of a few noblemen and desperate, extremist clergy members, had summoned a demon to our world."

Cenotaph was sure the sudden coldness in the old mansion was not caused by the draft on a blustery autumn. Lupinex had kept quiet all the time. The mummy had noticed the changes in both brothers' eyes—they had become as cold as the chilling wind.

"Nobody ever knew where the demons came from. Not even our great ancestor, Lord Alexander Corvinus had any answer to their origin. It might have been a mutated strain of the virus that gave rise to our ancestors; or those were all together alien creatures from the abyss or the stars. They had the strength and speed far superior than any vampire or lycan, but it was their very nature that was the bane of our existence. These demons feed on us, our ancestors; draining dry every drop of vampire blood, devouring flesh and bones of lycans. Our bite would never affect them, our own venom and poison could barely harm them. All of our clan and our human allies against just three demons; and all of them, saved for a few lucky ones, perished upon the encounter. It seemed like we were doomed."

Zomb seemed like he was terrified, which Cenotaph put a calming hand on his shoulder, hoping to give him some comfort. Both brothers, the lycan and the vampire, where somber; their eyes were downcast, their breathing silent.

"However, our ancestors were saved from extinction, by the kindness of a noble lady and her followers. It was said that Lady Sforza and their allies of moderate thinkers, who planned to initiate a truce between the warring factions, had stumbled across the dungeon, where a demon was held. This demon, cruelly chained and locked, deprived off proper nourishment, is the mother of the three other demons sent out to decimate the lycans and vampires, as well as any humans who stood in the extremists' way. The extremists had magically bounded and imprisoned the mother, so that they could use her children. The noble lady, who had a strong sense of justice, rescued the demon. That was all it took to stop the slaughter. With their mother freed, the demons halted their attacks. But they had granted us a last show of their powers, when a foolish man tried to shoot their mother, but had instead mortally wounded a nun, who shielded their weakened mother from the poisonous silver arrow. In mere seconds, their unleashed fury had leveled fortresses and castles; reduced soldiers to ashes and dust. An avenging angel with regal white wings; a reaper of death with dark, black wings; a wrathful fae with prism-like gossamer wings."

The look in the brothers' eyes was indecipherable; as if they were in a trance.

"… That sounds like Claude, Miguel and Mathilda from the Bartez Battalion."

Just like magic, those harmless words uttered from a gentle giant had shattered the trance, freeing the brothers from the spell. For a moment, Cenotaph thought his heart had stopped beating. No one had ever seen their captain in such a concentrated state, what more interrupt him during such a moment. Then, an uncharacteristic chuckle was heard, followed by a heartening laughter.

"Now that you mentioned it, I think they do sound like those three cheating twerps."

At least Lupinex was back to his normal self. Well, almost normal, seeing that he usually sneered snarled and growled, not laughed. Sanguinex had smiled along with his brother and Zomb, who had taken an interest in the story.

"So, what happened to the demons?"

Looking at the curious face of their teammate, Sanguinex continued, now in a much lighter, slightly cheerful tone.

"After they were reunited with their mother, the demons agreed to a truce, and had even helped some of those injured in the battle; human, lycan, vampire alike. After all was over, where the dead and injured were properly taken care of, the four of them left, and was never heard from again."

The captain looked to their giant teammate, who was smiling back at him.

"I'm glad they have a happy ending. It is sad to be separated from family."

Seeing the gentle giant smile, Cenotaph couldn't help but felt the same. Zomb had always viewed them as family, ever since they had found him in a cold winter, huddled inside an abandoned lab in Italy. A lab rumored to be under government funding. Though he wasn't the nicest person around, Ra will damn his soul for eternity if he'd betray his teammate. Just like how they'll back up each other in a Beybattle, they'd stick up for each other in real life as well. Beybladers. Teammates. Family. Yes, that's what they are. No matter what.

"Um, Sanguinex, what are the demons called? Do they have a name?"

Well, up to Zomb to get curious about a fairy tale.

"There was no proper record of their names, but according to grandmother, our great- grandfather had called them Crusniks."

Cenotaph almost fell over in shock.

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At the BBA head office, Mr. Dickinson and Dr. Judy Tate were greeting the arrival of BBA's new permanent team of medics. It is good to know that in case of any serious injury cases, there will always be an experienced doctor and nurses or medics ready at the stadium to minimize damage and prepare the patient for transport to hospital.

"Welcome to the BBA, Dr. Sahl. I hope you'll enjoy your working experience with us."

The red-haired lady doctor shook hands with the chairman and Dr. Judy, as her three assistants arrive with their equipment.

"Mr. Dickinson, Dr. Tate, I'll like you to meet my assistants—Cain, Abel and Seth. I'm sure our experience here will be the most pleasant and valuable."

The BBA chairman smiled in reply, and after exchanging handshakes, had started a light conversation with them.

"Say, Dr. Sahl, I heard that you and your family are the inspiration for the story in a Japanese manga. Is that true?"

Dr. Sahl only gave them a smile.

A/N: This is the equivalent of a salad mix, with added salt and vinegar, so I guess you can say, some will like it, some will not.

For those who are familiar with Trinity Blood, I took the Nightroad siblings and changed a bit of background history, coz I''m a sucker for sibling reunion and family fluffiness.

As for the Underworld reference, I thought it'll bring no harm if I try to have Sanguinex and Lupinex as descendants of the Corvinus line.

The only Gunslinger Girls reference in here is the lab in Italy. Just toyed with the thought that maybe Zomb might be a failed prototype in Section Two's earlier attempt, a predecessor of the current 1st Generation and 2nd Generation cyborgs.

So.... Hope you'll still enjoy my salad mix :)