Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Disclaimer:Dude, I still live with my mom of course I don't own The Avengers! I do however own plot and its original characters.

Antonius

Year 3000 b.c.e

He was born Kael Antonius Salenyme, prince of the world's last Dampyre coven.

His race was a benevolent one, a hybrid breed that was born from the union of a fallen angel named Azrael and a vampyre named Ataullaha. From Azrael they gained their dark hair and eyes and fair flawless skin. From Ataullaha they gained their hyperintelligence, their benevolence, and their love of knowledge. They were a gorgeous race, envied by humans due to their beauty and immortality.

Over time the humans jealousy grew to a deadly level and they began to hunt the Dampyres down coven by coven until the Salenyme were the only ones left. That's not to say that the humans hadn't tried to eliminate them but the House of Salenyme was the oldest and strongest of their kind. They were Azrael and Ataullaha's direct descendants and as such some possessed certain talents and they all had an affliction that they kept secret even from their own kind; The Sanguis Ira or Blood rage.

Blood rage was what made the Salenyme house so dangerous and difficult to get rid of. Inherited from Ataullaha, it caused them to suffer from temporary insanity every time their negative emotions grew to a certain point. As such, every member of the family was trained in emotional control. The humans did not know of this however and in a fatal error stormed the Salenyme compound in what is now know as Siberia on the Eve of Kael's tenth summer.

It was a massacre. Upon the humans arrival the entire family flew into a blood rage fear and pain escalating. to a need for revenge and the decimation of the enemy. Even Kael was affected, slaughtering the invaders alongside his brothers. Left and right friend and foe fell and in only a few hours it was over... only three survived the destruction.

Of the entire family only three were left, yet while grief ridden at the thought they were satisfied with the fact that the took each and every one of their attackers with them. Unfortunately of the three survivors two were fatally injured... Kael was not one of them.

Kael,and his big brothers, Jeice and Silas, were all that were left of their family and soon it would only be him. Jeice had been stabbed through the stomach and was slowly bleeding out where he lay while Silas had a suffered broken ribs and was currently drowning on his own blood as it flooded his weakened lungs. The young prince sat vigilant between the two, speaking softly in a language long since forgotten, soothing them best he could. Jeice with his long sable hair and vivid ice blue eyes. Who held him as the humans tortured their mother and beheaded their father. Silas with his short black hair and poisonous green eyes. Who took care of him and Jeice after their parents death and ruled their race with firm actions and gentle words. Both of them were dying, leaving him alone in the world all because of the ignorance and jealousy of humans. A snarl curled his lips but a weak hand on his thigh stopped him from completing his angry thoughts. "Do not...hate... them... brother. " Silas choked out softly and Kael scowled, tears filling his eyes even as anger surged in his very blood.

"Why? It is due to their ignorance and their jealousy that I am losing my family!"

Jeice sighed painfully resting his head on his baby brother's other leg. " S-sy is right, Toni. H-hating th-them s-shall o-only m-make y-you m-more l-like th-them. H-hate o- only c-causes more p- pain, m-more v-violence. " He gasped out, agony coating his every word.

Kael nodded running his delicate fingers through each of his brother's hair, feeling Silas shudder, then jerk vomiting blood onto the snow.

" Live... live on for us, baby... brother. Don't let our deaths break... you. Let... them empower...you. I love... you... both... " The king trailed off with a shuddering. breath before falling still.

"Y-you h-heard h-him, Toni. W-we love y-you and we're s-so p-proud of you." Jeice rasped weakly before following Silas into the afterlife. As his brother fell limp something inside Kael broke and he let out a blood chilling wail of grief.

They were all... They were all gone... and he was... he was alone.

Centuries passed, millennia even, unoticed by the prince. He dropped his first and last name, instead introducing himself as Antonius. The story of his race faded from the minds of humans into fairytales then into rarely told legends. Humans grew more advanced and he allowed himself to fade into the shadows, hiding his intellect, changing as the humans did. He took it upon himself to learn different languages and cultures, slowly healing from the pain left by the eradication of his family. He was cold but not cruel, closing his heart off to all around him... until he met him.

Brooklyn, New York 1942

Antonius smiled to himself as he analyzed the ' hovercar' being presented by Howard Stark, the world's leading weapon's developer. Over the passed three centuries science and philosophy had become his passions and he had made several groundbreaking discoveries under many different aliases. Even now he as he was sketching a diagram of the car he had already figured out how it worked and how it could be improved. As the expo ended he turned to leave only to run face first into something hard covered by something soft. Gasping in surprise , he flinched yet instead of hitting the ground he was steadied by large callous hands.

" Sorry 'bout that, darlin'. Didn't see you there." Came a smooth velvety voice and the prince looked up to find himself looking into cool blue eyes.

The stranger was a tall broad shouldered man with short brown hair and silky lightly tanned skin that stretched perfectly over his thick muscles. He wore a neatly pressed army uniform with a sergent ensignia on both the collar and the sleeves.

Blushing, the dampyre gave the soldier a shy smile. " No problem, I wasn't watching where I was going. "

With a carefree grin the soldier released him and bent down, gathering the smaller male's belongings from where they had landed on the floor.

" You alright? " He asked placing the Sketchbook and the notepad back into his hands. Antonius nodded clutching the book to his chest, then with a soft 'thank you' to the man he turned to leave only to bump into another person.

Wincing as he hit the ground he looked up at the man he bumped into, only to wince once more as he found himself looking into Howard Stark's curious dark eyes. Stark was notorious for his short temper after all.

" Sorry, Mr. Stark. " He apologized biting his lip as the inventor helped him to his feet and picked up his Sketchbook. Spotting the diagram of the car and the notes the inventor smiled slowly, his eyes glittering with a strange glint.

"What is your name?"

" Antonius, sir."

Stark raised an eyebrow. " No last name?"

Antonius shook his head ducking his head to hide his face beneath a curtain of his hair, absently noticing that the soldier from before had vanished into the crowd. Blinking at the gesture, the inventor's smile grew.

"You have the talent I have been looking for, for a long time. Would you be interested in joining me for a project? You will be well compensated I assure you."

Curious the dampyre nodded only to gasp as the man slid a syringe into his wrist and injected him with a dark green substance that made him feel faint. Before he could question the man his knees buckled and he collapsed into his arm unconcious.

When he awaked he found himself strapped inside a strange body shaped contraption with several needles piercing his slim delicate frame. Whimpering he tried to struggle only to find he was still weak from the drug Stark had injected him with. Whining in distress he closed his eyes feeling the familiar sparks of a blood rage working it's way up his spine. Just as he began to give over to the madness, Stark's voice rang out around him.

" Experiment 1: Commence. "

Pain.

Soul consuming agony raced through his very being as the needles injected him with a thick cyan serum. His nerves screamed as if alight with the flames of hell. His blood boiling, muscles tearing, skin melting and by the blades of Azrael when would it end! He could feel the madness he been about to give into only moments before growing worse with every seceond and not for the first time he prayed for dead.

Keening he arched against his restraints thanking The Father as the pain was suddenly replaced by a cooling sensation that sent his senses into overload and forced him into blessed unconsciousness. Somehow he knew that when he awakened his life wouldn't ever be the same...

Tbc...