Exhausted and triumphant, the team returned to their base. Arthur, the brain of the group secured the doors and re-set perimeter alarms. One government or another was constantly sending him invites, wanting him to work for their defense department. He became a hunter when his family was murdered by vampires while he was away at college. One fall afternoon while exiting class, he found Sara waiting outside; six-pack in one hand and a large pepperoni pizza in the other. “Dude, who’s the babe?” A classmate leered, giving Sara a once-over. “Dude, Art’s my lover. He makes me scream every time every time we fuck. I’m here to collect some." Sara replied.” With a crooked smile, she winked lasciviously while throwing an arm around Arthur and leading him away. She knew the sad news would be better taken coming from her than anyone else.<br/><br/>They had been friends since Arthur’s family moved into the neighborhood back in third grade. Sara, the neighborhood daredevil developed a soft spot for the grave, dark-haired boy. He in turn, was taken by the fearless girl willing to try anything once. On his first day at the new school, Bobby McCallister started bullying Arthur on the playground. Sara pounced on the 130lb third grader from behind like a cat on a mouse and proceeded to pummel his head with her pink converse shoe. When Miss Buckley finally dragged Sara away to the principal’s office, the girl was unrepentant and found creative ways to torment Bobby. A truce was eventually declared and Bobby agreed to leave Arthur in peace. Sara’s passion for justice became a favorite topic of conversation between the boys and the impetus of their friendship.<br/><br/>Bobby was the team enforcer, physically larger than life with a body like The Hulk. His methodical no-nonsense thought process helped to ground them in day-to-day logistics. “Yes, flamethrowers are cool and may win the war with the bloodsuckers, but did anyone remember to put gas in the car?” That was Bobby. On many occasion, his foresight was what saved the team from starvation. This evening after dropping his gear on a bench in the kitchen, he was busy washing his hands before putting the finishing touches on a crockpot concoction he started on low earlier in the day. Sam, the final member of the team, worked nearby tossing a green salad with homemade dressing.<br/><br/>Before joining them, Sam Yamaguchi was working as a waiter, putting himself through school. Between working at the restaurant and studying long hours in the library, he often would return home late in the evening. One night while Sam made his way to the bus stop, a trio of vampires jumped him from behind. Bobby and Sara came upon the group while the vamps argued over who would be the first to rip Sam’s throat out. Bobby made quick work of the miscreants, his weapon of choice a silver-headed sledgehammer. As Sara retold the story, it was love at first sight. Sam and Bobby had been a couple ever since; Bobby looking out for the team and Sam watching out for Bobby.<br/><br/>Sitting down to dinner, they reminisced on the new equipment and group strategies. “Arthur, flamethrowers are working well but can you make something that hits the bloodsuckers from a farther distance?” Sam inquired. “I don’t like how close they need to get before we can fry them. What if there’s a malfunction? We don’t have lot of time to switch weapons.” Sara watched the interaction over another forkful of salad, munching thoughtfully. “I see your point,” Arthur considered “What works faster than fire and can easily be carried by Sara?” She choked a bit before sputtering, “Come on, why am I always the example? I’m as strong as Sam!”<br/><br/>“I’ll think on it and see what I can come up with.” He glanced Sara’s way with a twinkle in his eyes, “You and Sam may be close in strength but you’re by far the one to get into more jams than he is.” She rolled her eyes and continued eating. Bobby interjected, “How about something like a large flashlight?” His hands working to emphasize his idea. “You could even rig a headlamp or like Iron Man, gloves with palms shooting light.” Sara laughed at the imagery, “Gloves with palms shooting light? Really?” Arthur was silent. “You’re not really considering that, are you?” She asked. He shrugged before replying, “Why not, super gloves to combat an enemy most people don’t believe in.” They finished eating and began clearing the table. “We still need to come up with a title for us.” Sam reminded everyone. “A name they’ll remember.”<br/><br/>Sara furrowed her brows as she rinsed dishes in the sink. “Honestly, it’s hard to think of a name without getting campy; Vampire Hunters, Vampire Slayers, Team Hunter, Team Slayer.” Loading the dishwasher, Arthur added, “So, we kill and hunt them. We sniff out their lairs and stab, slay, burn, slash the bloodsuckers. Why not something like Death Squad, Death Hunters, Hounds of Hell, or the Four Horsemen?” Collecting his gear, Bobby suggested they wait to ask Blade. “He may already have a name for us.” Blade was their mentor who came and went as he saw fit. He was, after all, involved with Sara’s father,<i>The</i>Whistler in combating vampires. The two did not often mix - Sara and her father. He wasn’t aware of her existence until the young woman sought him out after her mother’s death. Close to the end, Sara’s mother finally revealed she and Whistler had met at a concert and Sara was conceived unbeknownst to him. Strange twist of fate that his offspring would also be drawn to kill the same enemy.<br/><br/>A few nights later found the team along the waterfront, an old area of the city shadowy and decrepit; with damp alleys and hidey holes. Recent dispatches overheard on a police scanner mentioned a few 10-100s (murdered victims) in the vicinity. Sara was the first to catch movement of a single vampire who was slowly keeping close to the warehouse walls. It seemed the bloodsucker wasn’t really hunting; throwing furtive glances over his shoulders in both directions and literally trying to hunker deeper into his trench coat. Just as they were about to move in, something dropped from above like a bird of prey landing on the vampire. “Holy shit! What the fuck was that?!” Sam exclaimed.<br/><br/>A new predator. Inhuman strength held the struggling vampire as the enemy’s face below the nose blossomed like a flower and attached to the vampire’s throat with loud sucking noises. “We need to kill this bastard and study what the fuck he is.” Arthur whispered furiously. “Stay away from its face, it may have something contagious.” Sam warned. Sara ran in, fine tuning the flamethrower to spew a focused blast to the enemy’s legs. Normally a vampire would panic and attempt to escape but the new enemy was too focused on feeding to react. Bobby swore as his silver sledgehammer was caught mid-swing and he began struggling to regain control of the weapon. Sam’s silver tipped arrows had no effect as well. Arthur yelled to attract attention before turning on his headlamp. Bright UV light made short work of turning the creature and his victim into ash. “Sorry guys,” Arthur said “but I didn’t think anyone would have a problem if we just killed the fucker.” Sara nodded, “I think we all saw what it did and how we really need to work on re-arming ourselves.”