MASK: Fangs

Chapter 1: The Night It Started

AN:Welcome to my new fic. This will be an AU story with supernatural themes for Halloween.
As the title should indicate, this will be a vampire story. Yes, I am subscribing to the tenet of vampire lore that victims of vampires are due to become one themselves. In this story, this will include several notable characters. This is not a reflection on my opinions towards those characters, I just thought they'd be the interesting ones.
The rating is for darker subject matter and religious content.
And so, we begin.

Somewhere in Ireland, 1987...

"There it is." said Miles Mayhem as he piloted Switchblade towards an old castle in the mountains. "There's Riley Castle."

"What is it we're looking for again?" asked Cliff Dagger from the driver's seat of the Jackhammer.

"There's some kind of statuette in there which should prove quite valuable." said Mayhem.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Sly Rax from the Jackhammer's passenger seat. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Every place with poor lighting and cracked masonry gives you the creeps." said Vanessa Warfield from the driver's seat of the Manta.

"No, this is different." said Rax. "I've got a very bad feeling about this. You know, one of those 'This could have serious repercussions' feelings?"

"I've gotta agree with him." said Floyd Malloy from the Manta's passenger seat. "This doesn't feel right."

Mayhem landed the Switchblade in front of the castle. Dagger and Warfield parked their vehicles next to it. All VENOM agents exited their vehicles.

"Now, we can get the statuette and get out as quickly as possible." said Mayhem.

----------

In a village not far away...

"What are you saying?" asked Matt Trakker.

"This statuette that Miles Mayhem and his men are seeking is much more than a valuable artifact." said the woman he was talking to. "I assume you're familiar with the concept of vampires?"

"You assume correctly." said Brad Turner.

"Riley Castle is the home to such a creature." said the woman. "The statuette is the source of the vampires' power. If it is disturbed, the vampires' leader will be seeking revenge. That might cause problems for us all."

"How do you know all this?" asked Hondo MacLean.

"A couple of centuries ago," continued the woman, "the vampire lord, a Celtic warrior known as Feargus Riley, began a rampage in the county we now call Limerick. A small army was assembled and defeated all but Riley himself. The descendants of this army keep a dedicated watch over his castle to prevent a recurrance. My late husband, Noel O'Grady, was one of those descendants."

"How many of these recurrances have they prevented?" asked Jacques LaFleur.

"There's one every couple of decades or so." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Some young lad or lass ventures into the castle."

"I'm willing to bet they emerge with fangs and no reflection." said Dusty Hayes.

"Aye." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Riley uses them to invade the local countryside and potentially conquer the world. The army of descendants have always managed vigilance in keeping these recurrances in check."

"Why hasn't this army tried to terminate Riley?" asked Matt.

"Riley Castle is strongly protected by the statuette's power." explained Mrs. O'Grady. "Anyone who ventures inside is almost certain to fall victim to him."

"Including VENOM." said Hondo. "And their equipment might be more than a match for the army of descendants."

"If this story is true, that's a rather good reason to stop them." said Matt.

"Then, I shall delay you no longer." said Mrs. O'Grady. "Go, and prevent your enemies from unleashing an unspeakable terror on this world."

"Let's go, guys." said Matt.

----------

"The statuette is supposed to be in this room up ahead." said Mayhem.

Dagger walked over to a torch mounted on the wall and touched it. Unfortunately, the mortar was very worn and the torch fell off the wall.

"Watch it!" yelled Rax.

"Quiet!" whispered Mayhem.

"Who are we going to wake? The rats?" asked Malloy.

"All of you, be quiet." said Warfield. "It's like I'm working with a preschool class."

"Now, come with me." said Mayhem.

The group entered the room. The statuette was on a pedestal across the wooden floor from the entrance to the room. The statuette was a griffin with its wings spread and its left front paw raised.

"There it is." said Mayhem. He walked over to pick it up.

"This is a pretty big room for just a statuette." said Warfield.

"What's your point?" asked Rax.

"Does this room look like it's used for anything else than housing the statuette?" asked Warfield.

"Not really." said Malloy.

"And why is the floor made of wood?" asked Rax. "The rest of the floors we saw were stone."

Warfield quickly put two and two together and stepped back into the entrance.

"Here we go." said Mayhem. He grabbed the statuette and lifted it from the pedestal.

The wooden floor split along the center and opened into the room below. Rax and Malloy tried to run for the entrance, but the floor opened too quickly. Within seconds, Mayhem, Dagger, Rax, Malloy, and the statuette were dumped into the lower room.

Warfield had seen the entire thing from the room entrance. "Great, now I have to get you out of there." she groaned.

She walked back down the hallway to the stairs to the lower level.

"Now, let's see if I can figure out this place without a map." she said.

She turned a corner, then froze in fright.

----------

"Mayhem's out of his mind this time." said Matt from behind the wheel of the Thunder Hawk.

"Matt, don't tell me you're buying into that lady's story." said Hondo from the driver's seat of the Hurricane. "We're talking about the potential theft of one of her country's artifacts and she's talking about the bogeyman."

"Don't dismiss the tale just yet." said Brad from the Condor. "We've seen stranger things."

"Yeah, but most of that was a show put on by VENOM." said Dusty from the Thunder Hawk's passenger seat. "This gal was talking about vampires inhabiting the castle."

"I'm just saying it's better to be safe than sorry." said Matt. "Besides, this would be the perfect opportunity to apprehend Mayhem."

The motorcycle and two cars parked in front of the castle, not far from the VENOM vehicles.

"Looks like they found the place." said Brad.

"Let's go in there." said Matt.

The agents entered the main entryway, then looked around.

"Look at the size of this place." said Jacques. "How do you want us to search, Matt?"

"I'll see if there's a lower level." said Matt. "Brad and Hondo, search upstairs. Jacques and Dusty, search on this level. We'll meet back here in an hour. Go."

The agents split up to search.

----------

Mayhem furiously tried to rouse Dagger. "Wake up, you idiot!" he growled.

"Un...what happened?" asked Dagger as he regained conciousness.

"Gravity." said Malloy.

"Where's the statuette?" asked Mayhem.

"Here." said Rax as he picked up the two halves of the now broken statuette. The inside was wood. "It's just a wooden carving coated with gold! We would have been better off knocking over a jewelry store!"

"Where's Warfield?" asked Mayhem.

"I think she managed to avoid falling for the trap." said Malloy. "She's probably looking for a way to get us out of here."

"Knowing her, she's probably cutting her losses and ditching us." said Rax.

"We have to get out of here before MASK shows up." said Mayhem.

Dagger walked over to the lone door in the wall and tried to open it. "Great, it's locked!" he said.

"Stand back." said Mayhem. After Dagger stepped out of the way, Mayhem called "Viper, fire!"

A shot of red acid fired from his mask and hit the lock, dissolving it. Dagger had no trouble opening it now.

"Let's get out of here." said Mayhem.

"Right." said Malloy.

The VENOM agents snuck down the hallway until they reached a bend. Rax was the first around it, then stepped back while signaling his teammates to hide. Matt walked past the hallway a second later and continued down the hallway he was investigating. Rax had the agents proceed when the coast was clear.

They made their way to the main entryway. "Okay, you two get back in the Jackhammer and follow me to the meeting place." said Mayhem. "Malloy, you search for Warfield and meet us there. If you're not back in half an hour, you're finding your own way home."

"You know how to hurt a guy." said Malloy as he walked up the stairs.

After reaching the top floor, Malloy began searching rooms. He pushed open doors and glanced around. He didn't have any luck for a while. A few minutes later, he came upon a larger room and heard a woman's moan.

"Warfield?" he asked. "Warfield?"

"Malloy, is that you?" came the response.

Malloy entered the room and found Warfield sitting on a bench with her mask off. Moonlight shone through the windows above and illuminated the room.

"Are you alright?" asked Malloy.

"I think so." said Warfield. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, but the statuette turned out to be a fake." said Malloy. "Do you need help?"

"Yes." said Warfield. "Come and give me a hand."

----------

Elsewhere on the top floor...

"They're not in this one either." said Hondo as he looked into another room.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been in this one for years." said Brad as he looked into another room.

"For all we know, VENOM's long gone." said Hondo.

"Maybe." said Brad. "We haven't searched the back of the castle yet. They could be there."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to check." said Hondo.

Brad and Hondo made their way to the back of the castle. They heard some strange noises as they approached the room where Malloy had found Warfield. Hondo signaled Brad to use caution.

As they reached the room, they were surprised by what they found. Warfield and Malloy were apparently locked in a passionate embrace kissing. They had their masks off and didn't notice Brad and Hondo.

"Get a load of this." whispered Hondo.

"Hey, does Mayhem know you're doing that on his time?" asked Brad.

Warfield turned to them and scared them witless. Her face was completely devoid of color, the pupils and irises of her eyes were bright red, and a pair of fangs (like a bat's) protruded from her upper jaw.

Malloy looked like he wasn't going to last long. His skin had gotten noticibly paler and he had a pair of puncture wounds in his neck. He was barely able to stand.

"Well, you showed up just in time." said Warfield.

"For what?" asked Hondo.

"The master is searching for new recruits for his army." said Warfield as she let Malloy slump to the ground. "I think that you two will do just nicely."

"Back off, Vanessa." said Brad as he took a defensive stance.

"Don't worry." said Warfield. "I'm not going to do to you what I did to Malloy."

"I mean it." warned Brad.

"I think she's trying to warn about me." said a deeper voice with a slight Irish accent.

Brad and Hondo turned to the source of the voice. They saw a tall, bald man wearing a dark robe. He too had a lack of color to his skin.

"Who are you?" asked Hondo.

"I am the master of this castle." said the man.

"Is your name Riley?" asked Hondo. "Mrs. O'Grady told us about you."

"Ah, Noel's wife." said Riley. "Tell me, how's their boy Liam doing?"

"What did you do to her?" asked Brad as he pointed to Vanessa.

"I merely brought out her true nature." said Riley. "She took to the turning rather well."

"Yeah, she has one of those personalities." said Brad.

"Do you?" asked Warfield. She grabbed him by his arm.

"Hey, let go!" said Brad as he struggled against Warfield. She tried to get his mask off.

Riley approached him with his fangs extending and his eyes turning red.

"Get away from him!" yelled Hondo.

Riley ignored him as Warfield managed to get Brad's mask off.

"I promised Matt I wouldn't use this on humans but...Blaster, fire!" said Hondo.

A yellow disk fired from his mask and hit Riley, knocking him a few steps away. However, he shrugged it off and continued to advance on Brad. Hondo froze in shock.

"Hondo, run." said Brad.

"But..." started Hondo.

"RUN!" yelled Brad.

Hondo ran back to the entrance. He looked back to see Riley digging his fangs into Brad's neck.

In the main entryway, the other agents returned.

"There wasn't much to search down there." said Matt.

"Maybe you can join us when we search the rest of the first floor." said Jacques.

"Matt!" yelled Hondo as he ran into the entryway and zipped down the stairs.

"Hondo, what's wrong?" asked Matt.

Hondo reached the floor and tried to catch his breath. "Mrs. O'Grady's story." he gasped. "It's true. There are vampires here. Warfield. She's one of them now. Maybe Malloy too."

"Where's Brad?" asked Dusty.

Hondo looked back at the door he'd come out of.

"Where's Brad?" repeated Dusty.

Hondo never answered.

He also never forgave himself.

TO BE CONTINUED