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~God...I should've followed my original plan,~ Gino Gambino silently berated himself as he half-stood, half-hung in the Von Helsons' dungeon. ~I should not have accepted Liam's offer to hang out at the bar. I should've gone off to find Jasette, even after I had found her place to be empty. Why didn't I check with any of Father's lady friends? Miss Zinnia has a hotel with a bar; why didn't I go there first?~

"Oh, c'mon, bro! Lighten up! Sure, we might not get to be on top, but--"

"You still don't get it, do you?!" Gino snapped at his cellmate. "They're vampires--undead whou would drain you dry of blood, and then make you one of their pawns; you'll end up as a slave for the rest of eternity. And that...makes this situation bad. This is very bad, Liam!"

"What, the chains and fangs are a lil too kinky for ya, G?" Liam quipped with a wicked leer. "Just relax. This is gonna be awesome..."

"No, it's not!" The younger man shot back. "Gods above; are you that stupid?! How in the Heavens did you get away with not only stealing MY girl, but tricking two other girls as well?!"

"Your girl? News flash, G--she wasn't interested in ya in the first place!"

"Yes, she was!" Gino growled, clenching his fists. "I wouldn't have kissed her if she wasn't interested me in the slightest!"

"You sure she was interested in you, or in your f"

*ke-klick!* The door swung open, and Gino winced at the sudden influx of light for a moment or two. When his sight cleared, he saw not only the Von Helson Twins, whom had dragged the two men to this cursed place, but also an older, graying man standing between the deadly twins. A cruel smile twisted the newcomer's lips, and the look in his eyes--that hungry look of a predator--sent chills down young Gambino's spine.

"Gino Gambino," the graying man purred as he stepped forward. "How delightful to see you! I don't believe we've been introduced...I am Count Vladimir Von Helson," he proclaimed with a sweeping bow. "You've met my twin daughters, Marie and Anna Corinne..."

The twin girls giggled wickedly, baring their fangs as they grinned evilly.

"I know that we've had hardly any contact between us before. But rest assured that we'll get to know each other quite well..."

The poor lad suddenly felt like a huge chunk of meat under the count's gaze--meat that was about to be served on a silver platter. Now, ever since his personal crisis from last Halloween, Gino had entertained the thought of having a boyfriend instead. However, hooking up with a man old enough to be his own father--and a vampire, to boot--was not what he had in mind.

And the next spoken words--from Liam, of all people--did nothing to help at all: "Oh, man...he likes you, dude."

Surprisingly, the vampire master laughed. "You are as lewd as many paint you to be, young Liam! Perhaps I might let you live--if you prove to be fertile..."

The shopkeeper's grin suddenly vanished. "F-F-fertile? You mean...makin' babies?!"

"Of course, dear Liam," Marie quipped.

"We still need heirs of our own," Anna pointed out.

"And we also need men..."

"...who can keep up with us."

"Lucky for us two..."

"You can fill in both roles..."

"That is..."

"If you really can..."

"Keep up with both of us..."

Liam choked, the color draining from his face. "Y-Y'know, I-I-I dun mind having both of ya. I m-mean, what guy w-wouldn't want a couple of hot ch-chicks like you two? B-b-but, ah...I'm not q-quite r-r-ready for that next step, yknow? I mean...isn't that k-kinda rushin' things a bit?"

"Aww, poor baby..." Marie cuddled the man's left side, toying with his necklace. "Don't worry, though..."

"We'll take good care of you," Anna added, standing on his right side as she cupped his chin.

"Just so long..." A hand slipped beneath the shirt.

"As you behave..." Long fingernails caressed the cheeks.

Gino made himself look away from the scene, squeezing his eyes shut as he shuddered. From the look on the twins' faces, Liam was as good as...

"Gino," Vlad spoke up; he sounded closer than he did before. "Look at me."

The lad started to lift his head up, at first, but then he jerked his head back down and away, keeping his eyes closed. "No."

A low growl silenced the sounds of the twins' joint seduction effort. "Look at me!" Vladimir commanded loudly.

The young man cringed as he felt the force of the command upon his own body. He fought against it as best as he could, gritting his teeth and digging his nails into his palms. But his head was already starting to lift up and turn towards the handsome vampire--

~NO! I WILL not give in!!~ Gino thought as he turned his head away yet again. He thought some of his teeth would crack from grinding into each other so hard. His body shook from the war between his will and that of the commanding count. ~I cannot give in! I cannot! I'll betray Father if I do! I cannot--WILL NOT--~

"Hey, Dracula!" A young, sorta rough male voice shouted from the doorway. "Why don't you just go step into sunlight, you out-dated b*****d?"

"WHAT?! Who are--"

*Sllluish!*

"Urk! Urrgghhh..."

Gino slowly opened one eye, and gasped in horrified shock. The count had turned to face the intruder, who--if Gino wan't just imagining things--was a human-turtle hybrid. The turtle-being's only pieces of clothing was a red bandana around the eyes, and a leather belt around its waist; the shell, apparently, covered certain "equipment". It held two fork-like weapons in its hands--and one was sunk into Count Von Helson's heart, all the way up to the hilt. The other one smoothly slit the man's throat, cutting open both the windpipe and the jugular vein. The turtle-man stepped back, withdrawing both weapons from the falling body as blood splattered all over the dungeon floor, into the green-skinned being, and even on the opposite wall.

"FATHER!!!" Both blonde sisters shrieked in horrified rage as they began moving towards their sire's murderer.

"Yo, head's up!" Shouted another voice from the doorway. As if on instinct, the turtle hit the floor just as two long daggers went flying into the room and embedded themselves into the foreheads of the Von Helson Twins, whose bodies immediately crumpled to the stone floor.

"Wha-wha...what the...?" Liam mumbled, slowly coming out from under the seductive hypnosis put on him.

"Ye're lucky I spotted ya being herded outta the bar by the b***h twins and their lil horde," the turtle told Gino as he hunted for keys on the count's body. "Otherwise, they'd probably turn ya and your friend into dinner--or worse. A-ha!" One three-fingered hand pulled out a key ring from underneath the bloodied cloak. "Here we go..."

Gino blinked, trying to get a better look at this...reptile? Humanoid? "Umm...who exactly are you? Wh-What are you?" he inquired as his apparent rescuer began to unlock his shackles.

"Name's Raph--Raphael the Red. And I assume you're the famous son of Gambino--and your friend's one of the shopkeepers, right?"

"We--we're not exactly friends..." Gino sighed in relief as he leaned against the wall, rubbing his now-freed wrists. His arms ached a bit from being held up for so long.

"That's right; rumor has it that he snitched your girl," Raphael quipped, stepping over Marie to unlock Liam's bonds.

"Hey, hey! She said nothin' 'bout already having a boyfriend!" The shop owner protested.

"Oh, and I suppose having TWO girlfriends didn't stop you from stealin' someone else's?" The turtle warrior snapped back as he freed the human.

"Raaaaaph!" The unknown male whined from the doorway's shadow. "The whole place might be crawlin' with vamps, and those wounds won't keep 'em down forever!"

"Shaddap, Mikey," "Raph" growled. "I'm workin' as fast as I can." He grunted as he finally released the older blonde from his bonds. "There. Now, c'mon, you two; let's get outta here!"

"How?" Gino asked softly as he moved towards the doorway, carefully staying away from the fallen bodies. "They're vampires; they have heightened senses, and super strength and speed. How are we going to leave this place?"

"The same way we came in--thru the sewers," Raph replied gruffly as he pulled Liam away from where the twins laid.

"...the sewers?"

"Ironic, huh?" "Mikey poked his head into the light, revealing himself to be another human-turtle hybrid. The only difference was that his bandana was orange. "All the villians think that their attacks will come from above ground, but never from below!" the turtle quipped with a wide, though a touch nervous, grin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah--let's just get a move-on before yer big mouth gives us away."

"Hey, I'm not the one doin' all the talkin' this time!"

Gino shook his head in amazement. While it was wonderful that he was being rescued...this wasn't exactly what he had expected.