"Vampire Drive."

-----

-----

"I still don't think robbing people is a good idea," Kurim muttered on the way back.

"Why not? They were interstellar bandits. I was doing a good deed," Dan replied with a smile, glancing at the box in the passenger seat.

"Besides, you've never met my teacher. If it were him, he probably would've blown up the entire planet."

Kurim blinked. He was seriously curious now—just who the hell was this teacher Dan kept talking about?

"Man, it's a shame your body can't handle the full power of the Drive armor yet. If you could, this would've been way easier."

Full power, huh... Dan thought of the Drive armor's time-freeze-like acceleration ability. That power was practically cheating.

"Alright, enough of that. Let's head back. With this metal, we can finally start work on the IXA project."

Stark Tower

Inside the lab, J.A.R.V.I.S. suddenly pinged with an alert.

"Sir, the signal we detected five days ago has appeared again."

Tony Stark, sitting at the workbench, immediately perked up.

"Oh yeah? J.A.R.V.I.S., locate the source—I wanna see who's been messing around."

But before J.A.R.V.I.S. could finish the trace, another alert popped up.

"Sir, a call from Mr. Happy."

"Hello? What's up, Happy?"

"Tony, it's bad—Pepper's been attacked!"

"What?! J.A.R.V.I.S., get my car ready. I'm heading to Pepper right now!"

Stark jumped up, completely abandoning the signal trace.

"Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, back in the car, Kurim suddenly frowned.

"That's weird…"

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"I just picked up a trace of something trying to lock onto our location. But it disappeared really fast."

Dan frowned too. "Looks like our little trip off-world drew more attention than we thought. We'd better be extra careful from now on."

Kurim didn't reply, silently agreeing. The fact that someone had detected his cloaking tech irritated him.

Dan wasn't all that surprised, though. This was the Marvel Universe—where the tech trees were ridiculously advanced. Forget just detecting Kurim's belt, it wouldn't even be surprising if someone managed to copy it and make their own version.

Under cover of night, the red car quietly rolled back into the garage.

"Whew! Nothing beats the feel of solid ground."

Dan opened the door and stepped out, stretching and sighing in relief—when suddenly, a shadow emerged from the darkness.

"Dan!"

"Sh*t!"

He blurted out a string of colorful Chinese curses before realizing who it was—and finally let out a breath of relief.

"Erik! Dude, you scared the hell out of me! Can you not sneak up on people like that? My heart can't take it."

Erik gave him a confused look.

"Sneak up? This is a standalone house. What neighbors?"

Dan waved it off. There were no Batman comics in this world, and he wasn't about to explain the joke.

"Forget it. So what's up? I already told you I was taking time off."

Erik's face turned serious.

"They've started moving."

Dan immediately went serious too.

"It's started already?"

Erik nodded and plugged a USB stick into the computer. Images began flashing on-screen.

Under the cover of night, the vampires had begun a full-scale hunt.

"It's not just Hell's Kitchen anymore—they've been showing up all over New York."

"And there are two new Bloodfangs."

The screen switched again, showing two creatures—one looked just like the bat-monster Dan had fought before, while the other looked like a spider-monster.

Dan couldn't help thinking to himself:"Great... bats and spiders? Classic horror starter pack."

But he kept a straight face.

"So what do you need me to do?"

Erik looked conflicted. After a long pause, he said, "I hate to say it, but I can't handle these two by myself. I need your help."

Dan could see it—Erik had trained him hard, but even now he still hesitated to put this kind of danger on his shoulders. If he had a choice, he'd take it all on himself.

"Happy to help."

"Oh, right—there's one more thing."

Erik switched the display again. This time, a bunch of ridiculously rich businessmen popped up on the screen.

"What about these guys?"

Erik's eyes filled with a hint of killing intent.

"They've all been turned by the vampires. And all the assets they controlled are now in vampire hands."

Dan was shocked.

"Vampires… need money?"

"It's not just about money. These people control energy resources and weapons, too."

That got Dan thinking. Maybe the creation of Bloodfangs needed a ton of energy...

"I get it. I'll use my own ways to look into this."

Erik didn't say anything else. He knew the kid in front of him wasn't as simple as he looked—but still, to him, Dan was just a kid. If he had the choice, he'd never let a child face this kind of danger.

He sighed.

"Well then, kid… wanna come on a little hunt with me?"

Dan blinked. Erik, inviting him to strike first?

He patted Kurim at his waist and smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, sir."

Meanwhile, at Stark Industries…

"Pepper, are you okay?!"

Tony burst into the lounge, where he found Pepper Potts sitting pale and shivering under a blanket.

"Tony, she's alright—just a little shaken," said Happy, breathing a sigh of relief as Tony arrived. He might act like a playboy, but when it came to Pepper, Tony really did care… not that he'd ever admit it.

"Tony, I'm so glad you're here… I thought I'd never see you again," Pepper said, almost in tears as she threw her arms around him.

Tony was caught off guard, completely unsure what to do with his hands. With any other girl, he'd know how to handle it—but this was Pepper Potts.

He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and tried to calm her.

"It's okay, Pepper. I'm here now. Tell me what happened."

Pepper looked into his eyes, her voice shaking.

"Tony… you're not gonna believe this—but vampires. Vampires are real!"

"....."