:
"Hah! Remember the name – Kevin Chase," Kevin scoffed, mirroring Damon's disdainful tone.
He slowly unfastened his silver cross necklace, holding it between his index and middle fingers. Activating the Rabbit Talisman to its full potential, he shot towards Damon and, with a powerful punch, embedded the cross directly into Damon's forehead. The force of the blow sent Damon crashing against the edge of the rooftop. Kevin had also considered the possibility of them teaming up; it wasn't that he feared he couldn't beat them, but if they split up and ran, he wasn't sure he could catch both. Thus, the sneak attack to incapacitate one first.
"Sorry, Stefan. I presume the recent deaths have all been your brother's doing, right?" Kevin asked, though his unwavering tone made it clear he already believed Damon was responsible.
Before Stefan could answer, Kevin saw Damon, who should have been killed by the cross, rip it out with his bare hands. With no time to think, Kevin had to act while Damon was still reeling. He again used the Rabbit Talisman, kicking Damon hard in the stomach. From his pocket, he whipped out a glass vial of holy water and smashed it directly over Damon's head.
Kevin frowned as he watched the holy water stream down Damon, causing no harm whatsoever. He crouched, grabbed a handful of Damon's hair with one hand, and with the other, pulled out a clove of garlic, shoving it straight into Damon's mouth. After stuffing it in, he even stabbed Damon with his silver knife. Though he'd already seen the silver cross was useless against vampires, Kevin was still exasperated watching Damon's wound heal rapidly. He grabbed Damon by the collar and unceremoniously threw him at Stefan's feet.
(Author's Note: Many might wonder how Kevin, with only the Rabbit Talisman for speed, could have enough strength to overpower Damon. This is an alternative application combining the Rabbit and Horse Talismans. A normal person striking at full speed might injure their hand and instinctively hold back. However, Kevin, with the Horse Talisman, would heal before even feeling the pain. Coupled with the Rabbit Talisman's acceleration, his striking power, while perhaps still not matching Damon's raw strength, would be significantly greater than that of a normal human.)
"What the hell are you, really vampires? Why isn't any of this stuff working on you?" Kevin asked Stefan, his voice laced with irritation.
"Those are just legends. I think they might be rumors spread by ancient vampires," Stefan replied, looking somewhat stunned at the sight of Damon, who had been thoroughly thrashed. It wasn't that he didn't want to save his brother; Kevin was simply too fast – much faster than any vampire he'd known, even those centuries old.
"Bastard! I'm going to kill you!" Damon, helped up by Stefan, spat out the remnants of garlic and cursed.
"He just tried to kill me, and you're not even going to help?" Damon, realizing he probably couldn't match Kevin's speed, appealed to Stefan.
"Kevin, since you can't kill us either, can we sit down and talk properly?" Stefan said, ignoring Damon and addressing Kevin. However, his stance, protectively shielding Damon, clearly indicated his brotherly allegiance.
"Talk? Are you telling me you don't know how many people have died recently because of your brother?" Kevin retorted, simultaneously taking a couple of steps back, protectively positioning himself near Vicki.
"Besides, who says I can't kill you? The legendary weaknesses like sunlight, crosses, holy water, and silver don't work on you. But when I was beating up Damon just now, he was bleeding, wasn't he? If I wasn't worried about it being too gory, I would have chopped off his head and set him on fire. I refuse to believe he could survive that," Kevin said. He knew that killing both vampire brothers together tonight would be difficult. And seeing that Stefan didn't seem inherently evil—at least he hadn't seen him bite anyone or drink human blood—he wasn't particularly keen on killing him. He was saying this primarily to gain more bargaining chips now that they were talking; otherwise, having to protect Vicki would put him at too much of a disadvantage.
"Perhaps. I know my brother has made many mistakes, and I've been running from him. But if you intend to kill him, I can't just stand by. And you wouldn't want word spreading that you're a supernatural being either, right? Just with Vicki alone, without mind control, you can't ensure her silence. And Caroline and the others are about to arrive," Stefan said, pointing towards the street opposite the rooftop.
'Damn it, how could I forget that the excuse I gave Caroline to leave was to go get people? Given how much Matt cares about Vicki, he probably rushed right over,' Kevin thought with a hint of annoyance.
"Letting you off the hook isn't out of the question," Kevin said, pulling Vicki towards Stefan. "First, erase Vicki's memory. Second, if you need to feed, go to a hospital and find a blood bank. If either of you feeds on a human again, I don't care if that person dies or not, you will definitely be dead. You two won't always be together. I won't go easy on murderous vampires. If I catch you, I'll eventually find a way to make you die for good."
Truthfully, Kevin didn't care much about most people in this world, aside from Caroline and the friends he'd just made. But, to put it bluntly, Kevin was still human. Watching what Damon had done to Vicki, he couldn't just stand by. After all, seeing his own kind being treated like livestock, toyed with and slaughtered—if he didn't have the power, he might have cowered. But with the power of the Talismans backing him up, Kevin wasn't afraid to confront them directly.
"If you want to stay here, you'd better keep a tight leash on your brother. Alright, now erase Vicki's memory first," Kevin said, pushing Vicki in front of Stefan, his body tensed, ready to defend against any move from the brothers. After all, he himself wouldn't die, but it would be terrible if Vicki died because he trusted Stefan.
"He doesn't feed on human blood; his abilities have long since degenerated. I'll do it," Damon said, stepping forward.
"It's true. My current abilities are insufficient for this task," Stefan admitted with a nod from the side.
"Then hurry up. They're about to come up," Kevin said, signaling Damon to proceed.
By the time Matt and the others reached the rooftop, Damon had completed the compulsion. The result: it was all a misunderstanding. Vicki had taken drugs, wandered off alone, and ended up standing on the edge of the rooftop. The kind Salvatore brothers, Damon and Stefan, had seen her and pulled her back to safety. Everything was perfectly plausible, and with Kevin and Stefan corroborating the story, Damon received a "good guy card."
"Thank you both so much," Matt said to Stefan and Damon before taking Vicki back to the cafe.
"Hi, excuse me, have you seen Elena?" Stefan asked Caroline and Bonnie.
"I think she had to go home earlier for something," Bonnie replied.
"I'll give you her phone number and email address. She likes texting. You can tell her I gave it to you," Bonnie said, giving Elena's contact information to Stefan, who was looking disappointed.
"Alright, ladies, it's getting late. Shall I drive you home?" Kevin said, still feeling uneasy about leaving Bonnie and Caroline after the Salvatore brothers departed, and offered to see them home.
"Thanks, that would be great," Bonnie replied.
"Okay," Kevin said, giving an OK gesture and leading Bonnie and Caroline to his car. Luckily, it was a four-seater sports car, or it wouldn't have been enough.
"Goodnight, Bonnie. See you tomorrow," Kevin said, after first dropping Bonnie off at her house. Kevin and Caroline waved her goodbye.
"So, are you heading back to your place tonight?" Kevin asked Caroline.
"Not tonight. Let's try your place," Caroline said, giving Kevin a teasing look.
"Absolutely no problem," Kevin replied with a grin, then slammed the accelerator and sped back to his house.
When they entered, he acted normally, fearing Sarah might be in the living room on the first floor. But once they got up to the second floor, the two of them went completely wild. They were up all night, waking up so late the next morning they almost missed class. They quickly grabbed some of the lavish breakfast Sarah had prepared and sped off in the car to get Caroline to school.
In the classroom, Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan had already arrived. Kevin found an empty seat. Stefan and Elena, it seemed, had already made their relationship official; their in-class interactions were becoming increasingly frequent and bold. This, of course, annoyed the teacher, leading to another episode of "Stefan routinely schools the teacher," which, as usual, ended with the teacher defeated and Stefan victorious.