Reticence Saga
Severed Web
Chapter 32: New Night City (Part I)
"Well, I have my freedom again. Hopefully, it's to stay. But things are different for me now than the last time. Megan is also freed, though not in the way I had hoped. She has finally been separated from her evil half, but her darkness took the body. So now she is currently the mind of Matt's ship. I'm very certain this is not considered a trade-up. But we're in pursuit of her evil twin now. Is that the right term to use? What do you think, NegaMorph? Why are you glaring at me like that?"
NegaMorph asked darkly, "Is that...narrating?"
"I'm recording," said Gary, "Megan kept a video journal since we started on that ill-fated mission. I took it up after she...abandoned it."
NegaMorph's anger drained a little at that, "Hey, she's still around."
Megan's image appeared on a monitor and she said grumpily, "Yes, but I don't intend to spend the rest of my life as a screensaver."
"At least you are safe...and when we get your body back, I will get you back in it," said Gary calmly, though there was a steel edge to the voice.
"Do you actually know how you'll pull that off?" asked NegaMorph.
"Uh...can't we just switch their places?" asked Gary.
"Yeah...but that'd leave evil Megan in charge of a spaceship that's heavily-armed...even if it's way past its last oil change date," said NegaMorph.
Megan rolled her eyes, before vanishing from the screen, a holo-emitter in the roof projecting Megan into the room. "That's the least of this poor ship's troubles," she muttered.
"What's it like in there?" asked Gary.
"You know how annoying it is when your computer is constantly asking you to do some updates and you don't have the time to deal with them?" asked Megan.
"Yes," said NegaMorph.
"Imagine that, only the alerts are in your head. That said, I know exactly where that bodysnatcher is," Megan added smugly, before the ship shook.
Matt's voice yelled over the intercom, "Eyes on the road, Megan."
"Sorry," said Megan, "I'm not used to flying a ship from the ship's point of view."
"Just be careful. We can't get your body if we're spread over several dimensions," said Matt's voice, the line going dead.
"I'd better get back to it," said Megan sheepishly, the hologram vanishing.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man was trying to figure out what their route back home was. He would have thought that the ship's computer would be able to chart the multiverse as it went. While it could, understanding the charts was very challenging.
It seemed the NSC had documented a lot of dimensions, thousands of them, all documented with letters and numbers. Finding home would be like finding a needle in a haystack...made of needles.
The search system was also one of the systems suffering under Megan's learning. "I'm sorry. Key-mango not recognised. Please play banana and try again...prawns," the VI said in a dazed voice.
"I thought multiversal travel would be more sophisticated in a ship," said Spider-Man.
"It would be, if it were a sophisticated ship," said Chloe.
The two looked at the VI, which was repeating the word 'Prawns' over and over, before starting to sing the nursery rhyme, 'Daisy'.
Megan's holo appeared at that, "Sorry about that...let's see here… Doing a cross-reference of the path we took and detected dimensional crossing from before and..." The screen displayed a web-like pattern, nodes apparently representing dimensions with threads connecting to other nodes. One particular was highlighted with a 'start'. A single thread went completely off the map before coming back from a different direction.
A blip showed where the ship currently was now. And it looked like the node they were going to was one thread away from the start.
"There...almost home," said Megan cheerfully.
Chloe asked, "And where's the fake?" Megan paused before a dot appeared on the final stop before home.
"Well, at least we're on the right trail," said Spider-Man, "I wonder which dimension that is?"
"Portal identified...dimension X-475-3. Warning: This dimension has been declared quarantined," said the VI calmly.
"Dimensions can be quarantined?" asked Spider-Man.
"Usually those that have come to a bad end," said Chloe, "Like a zombie apocalypse."
"Why would I...she stopped in zombie central?" snapped Megan.
The VI said, "Dimension X-475-3 was quarantined recently by order of Splitter high command. No further information available. Approaching exit."
"Whatever it is, we better get ready for it," said Spider-Man before muttering, "Please don't be the Dark Dimension."
"Dimension Z-773 is not near this exit," said the VI calmly.
The Skyraid shot out into real space to a sea of white...clouds as far as could be seen.
"This...doesn't seem so bad," said Matt.
"Uh-huh, scan for radiation," said Chloe.
"Ok...ok...nope...nothing. No advanced energy grids, no satellites other than the standard Nullspace monitoring systems...wow, Nullspace likes to spy alot," muttered Megan.
"Another fantasy world?" asked Chloe.
"No, there's technology, pretty primitive. Most advanced power generation seems to be a few dams..." said Megan thoughtfully.
"Ok, not very advanced, but not another barbarian world," said Chloe with a sigh of relief.
"Wait...this can't be right. The human population is about...half what it should be," muttered Megan.
"Uh-oh. A plague world?" asked Matt, activating his armor's helmet.
The VI said calmly, "No unusual viral or bacterial cultures detected. Matches indicate a turn of the century 20th century atmosphere."
"So...a lot of smog then?" asked Chloe.
"Unknown..." said the VI.
Megan shrugged, "Reads like normal clouds to me. We could descend to look."
"Ok, but keep a cloak up," said Matt, "I doubt these people are ready to know about aliens yet."
"I'll try," said Megan, the ship descending down the cloud and into what almost seemed like dusk, the bottom of the clouds almost black.
A coast could be seen below, several quaint villages seen...well...almost quaint, one of the villages apparently blackened. "Where on Earth are we?" asked Chloe.
"Location...east coast...United States. On course for Manhattan," said the VI calmly.
"Ah, of course," said Matt a little dryly.
"It's where I landed by the look of things," said Megan calmly, the HUD on the cockpit's windscreen putting a green dot over the distant city, a line going to a rotating wire model of Lady NegaMorph's ship.
"Makes sense," said Chloe, "But what would she want in an early 20th century New York?"
A buzzer on the dashboard began to beep at that. "Warning...arial contacts approaching rapidly," said the VI.
"In this era, they'd probably be biplanes," said Matt.
NegaMorph squinted before saying, "Erm...I dunno...they don't look like biplanes."
Matt looked out to see what looked like a cloud of bats...very, very big bats… "What the hell? Megan, shields up," he said in confusion.
"Just a second," said Megan.
"Erm...any time," said Matt.
The bats flew straight at them...wait, over them. The sheer number of them cast a pretty big shadow. NegaMorph glared as it happened before turning to aim at a corner as a humanoid shape emerged, one Spider-Man recognized.
"Who let the ghoul in here?" asked Chloe.
"Ghoul?" asked Matt, his eye twitching.
"My lord bids you greetingssss…" hissed the creature.
Megan whispered over Spider-Man's comm, "You know what this is, don't you?"
"Yeah, it's a vampire," muttered Spider-Man.
"Vu-vu-vu-vu…" gibbered Matt, shaking.
"You will now surrender your ship or surrender your livesss," hissed the vampire.
NegaMorph meanwhile was looking over to see Matt twitching violently before he said casually, "So...this one of those 'surrender or die' things?"
"Ssstupid mortalsss..." hissed the vampire before lunging at Spider-Man.
A blue scaled hand shot out at that, grabbing the vampire by the neck, dragging him in to face the dragoned-up Matt, his left eye practically blurred from the twitch. "Hi...are you the punching bag I ORDERED?" he giggled insanely, eyes glowing blue.
"Let's hope this guy ashes quickly or there's going to be a big mess to clean up," said Chloe.
"Release your better, you-" began the vampire. Whatever Matt was would remain a mystery as Matt breathed blue flame down the vampire's throat, turning him to ash.
"Bet his master's not going to be happy," said NegaMorph.
"And I have a bad hunch who that master is," said Spider-Man.
The ship shook from an impact at that. "I finally got the shields up. I...Matt, did you roast someone?" asked Megan accusingly.
"Only if a vampire counts as someone," said Matt.
"You're going to get particles in the instruments," said Megan.
The ship shook again. "That wasn't a fist," said NegaMorph, the bats parting to see muzzle flashes from the incoming city, an explosion of black cloud in front of them.
"Flak cannons?" scoffed Matt.
"Uh, just a second," said Megan.
The ship shook again, several shadow vamps appearing on the hull outside, some being picked off by defense turrets while others tore at the armor. "MY SHIP!" screamed Matt before grabbing the controls and pulling to the left, the ship doing a roll and sending many of the vamps staggering, one falling with a cut off scream into an engine intake.
"Megan, could you please fly more evenly?" asked Gary.
"This is not easy!" snapped Megan.
"Then let me fly!" snapped Matt, getting into the pilot's seat and turning the autopilot off. "Just keep them off us!" snapped Matt.
Lady NegaMorph meanwhile was watching the events via a mirror. It was a little tacky in her opinion, to be watching via magic mirror, but if it worked. She knew coming here would be a huge gamble. She could have easily been made a slave or dinner. What she didn't expect was an express ticket to the upper elite.
"Your pursuers?" said a cultured voice, Lady NegaMorph yelping and turning to see Lord Dracula.
"Doesn't anybody knock in this damn place?" she snapped aimlessly, before taking a few breaths. "Yeah...it's those do-gooders following me," she added calmly.
"It's just as well that we have prepared," said Dracula.
"Hardly, that device proves to be as stubborn as ever...and nobody can be prepared for these lunatics," said Lady NegaMorph icily.
"I have faced the greatest this world has produced," said Dracula, "They have either fallen under my thrall or to my power. These newcomers shall be no different."
"That's the problem. They're not from this world," said Lady NegaMorph.
Megan meanwhile had her own problems. Most AI were actually memory engrams of their organic selves and as such had the mental training or the vast multi-tasking needed...
Megan was not in that group and was struggling to juggle all the systems needed...so it was only inevitable she would fail to keep the shields up.
Gary was tossed off his feet as a flak shell hit the Skyraid, the overload blowing out consoles beside him as the hit engine burst into flame.
"MEGAN!" yelled Matt, trying to keep the ship straight, the buildings of Manhattan seen far closer now. There was a distinct lack of skyscrapers and modern buildings there. Most of the houses were just made with brick and mortar. That might not be a softer landing.
"Great, try to avoid the historic site!" snapped Matt, another hit felt.
"Caution...reactor shell damage...auxiliary power only," said the VI.
"Ok, sending one last boost to the thrusters," said Megan. The ship surged forward, clearing over Manhattan.
"Good work, but I think we're about to go into the East River," said Spider-Man.
"Just a little more..." said Megan, static buzzing around her voice.
"Warning...emergency cells depleted in 10...9...8...7..." counted down the VI, the fog clearly to see a bronze globe ahead.
"OH SHIT!" snapped Matt, before the Skyraid plowed through it and into the ground, everyone thrown off their feet. The ship itself continued for a dozen more feet, plowing and shattering abandoned stalls before sliding up against a solid building.
"Alert...core casing has shattered...breach imminent…" said the VI's voice to Gary's ears, Megan's voice saying, "Gary...Gary, come on."
"We have to abandon ship!" yelled Chloe.
Gary looked around blearily to see Spider-Man helping an unconscious NegaMorph, Matt pressing several switches before he looked where Megan's voice had come from and paused.
It looked a lot like an LMD, though light was flickering around. "We need to get moving," said Megan's voice from the robot.
"Everyone to the cargo bay!" called Matt, the VI saying "Alert...intruders on decks 3 and 5...class V lifeforms confirmed."
"Too bad for them," said Chloe.
The run to the cargo bay didn't take long, arriving in time to see the CSUV waiting. "All aboard!" snapped Matt, jumping in the driver's seat.
"Uh, this car has a flight mode, right?" asked Gary.
"No, it has these," said Matt, pressing a button, hatches on the front of the vehicle opening to reveal a laser drill that spat an orange beam into the cargo bay doors. Several surprised, rather pale-looking men holding rifles stared before they took aim. "Sunburn." said Matt, flicking a switch and the vehicles lamps kicking in, a blue light illuminating the group which immediately exploded into dust.
"Outta here!" snapped Matt, flooring the accelerator and Gary yelping as he was thrown over his seat into the back, the CSUV shooting out of the hole.
Krukov had followed his Lord Dracula for over 100 years and had prided himself on helping to rout the German army when his lord had risen and aided in covering their retreat from Latvia during the failed invasion attempt.
It was only natural he'd been sent to kill any survivors. Now he had to report that all they had was the mortals' vessel. "I can only apologize, my lord," he said into a glowing image, he and his vampires ignoring the speaking machine, its language unknown. Most screens seemed to be blown out.
"This city has more than enough rat holes as it is," said Dracula in annoyance, "I'm sure these outsiders will crawl down into that labyrinth. But at least they cannot leave."
"Lord Krukov," called one of Krukov's underlings, Krukov glaring and looking over to see one of his minions had gotten one of the screens working, the words 'Core Detonation in' seen followed by a countdown ticking down from 5 seconds...
The night sky quickly turned to day as a blue flash emitted from the fair the Skyraid had crashed in, a whirling cyclone dome of energy rising and growing, ripping up lamps and dragging abandoned motorcars and carriages into it, smashing buildings, a 3 story house near the edge shuddering before the wall facing the dome was torn clean off, its rubble adding to the mess.
So powerful was the suction that the CSUV was slowly being dragged backwards, before the dome glowed and with a final boom, vanished, leaving a glowing half dome of ground missing to mark the skyraids final landing place.
Matt was first out, staring numbly, muttering "Muh...muh...muh...muh..." over and over, the others joining him.
"Oh, please tell me that we didn't blow up something important," said Gary.
Spider-Man looked around at the nearby buildings and checked out a scan he got from the ship. "If I'm guessing right, that was where the 1964 World's Fair was held. Or would have been held," he said.
"And nothing of value was lost," said NegaMorph under his breath.
"Th...they broke my ship," Matt finally managed in a whimper, Chloe nodding, putting a kindly arm around his shoulder.
"Yes, I know, we know, but knowing our luck, we'll get to attack whoever ordered it," she said, humoring him.
Matt said, with a hopeful voice, "You mean it?"
"We'll make the vampires regret the day they were turned," said Chloe soothingly. Then she turned to Spider-Man and asked, "So, who do you think is behind this?"
"Well, I'm not absolutely certain yet, but top of the list is Dracula," said Spider-Man. There was a pause before Spider-Man, "The real Dracula, he is real, I met him."
"You know...a few years ago I'd have laughed," sighed Chloe, looking around, noticing some signs of battle, "We need to get off the streets."
"Ok, Spidey, you know Queens better, lead the way," said NegaMorph.
"I'd need to get up high..." said Spider-Man.
Chloe snapped, "Look, we need to get somewhere safe before my brother's blood pressure gets higher. The last time this happened, he went postal and it doesn't take much to trigger him."
NegaMorph rolled his eyes before proving his brain was still regenerating as he said "It was just some old junker." before noticing everyone taking a few steps away from him. "Crap...ok...just not the face...OHGODISAIDNOTTHE-" he managed in terror as Matt lunged at him with a scream.
Two vamps were indeed watching, the last survivors from Krukov's troop. They'd only survived cause they'd been guarding the perimeter and had hid from the flash. They'd planned to jump the gang while they were getting their act together and now, watching one of the humans turn into some dragonoid and proceed to pound the demon of the gang, were considering the pros and cons of instead going back to report to Lord Dracula.
As Spider-Man swung through the neighborhood, he was getting a stronger feeling of familiarity. He was all but certain he had been in this particular city before. But there was only one way to be certain.
He could hear several crashes and some clouds of dust from where the gang was...NegaMorph had probably said something to set Matt off. He knew where he was headed though.
Soon enough, Spider-Man swung around an apartment building to see a cathedral, one that had been heavily damaged. It made sense: if vampires were dominant here, the last thing they would want is people finding sanctuary. But Spider-Man knew this cathedral. It was very unlikely two cathedrals could have been damaged in the exact same way. "So, I guess we're closer to home than I thought," said Spider-Man, "I just hope that Blood Spider's ok."
"I'm just fine, thanks," said a voice behind Spider-Man, making him jump "What are you doing back here?"
"Very long story," said Spider-Man.
"Siege Perilous?" asked Blood Spider.
"No," said Spider-Man.
"Wolf Spider?" asked Blood Spider.
"No, but someone kinda similar," said Spider-Man.
"Ah," said Blood Spider, "Where's the other guy?"
"Oh? Miles? He didn't come with me this time. I'm traveling with another group," said Spider-Man.
"That have anything to do with the explosion earlier?" asked Blood Spider.
"Yeah. I thought all the vampires were dealt with after we cured your Connors?" said Spider-Man. Blood Spider looked over at the puffs of dust still rising, "And that?"
Spider-Man said, "One of my friends really needed to get some stress relief in after we crashed."
"Well, the answer to your question is a story I don't want to tell more than once," said Blood Spider, "Let's get your friends somewhere quiet before the packs start showing up."
The two vamps meanwhile had settled in for just predicting how long it would take for the dragon to get bored, the drake jumping up and down while its fellows watched. "Two blood packs says he keeps going for another ten minutes," said the first.
"Three says he'll start shaking him like a rat," said the second.
"No bet, he did that first," said the first, before yelping and ducking down, pulling his partner down and pointing, Blood Spider and the remaining member of the gang arriving. "Ok...deal's off. Let's get outta here," the first gulped, the two running for it.
Spider-Man winced as he landed. Matt seemed to have settled for jumping up and down on NegaMorph in full dragon form, a sizable pothole having formed, faint 'ows' heard from the bottom of the hole with each landing.
"Hey, guys? GUYS!" yelled Spider-Man. It took some yelling to be heard over Matt's tantrum.
Matt turned to snarl. "WHAT? I'm busy explaining to NegaMorph why the Skyraid was not a junker," he snarled, looking down at Spider-Man.
NegaMorph rasped from the hole, "I've taken on board his detailed argument. Has anyone seen my arm? Oh...there it is..."
"Uh, guys, this is the local Spider-Man. He goes by Blood Spider," said Spider-Man, waving towards his alternate.
Blood Spider took in the group before narrowing his eyes at Chloe and Gary. "You're traveling with a werewolf and a gargoyle?" he asked incredulously.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" snarled Matt, shifting down to his anthro form, the Wakandan armor re-forming around him.
NegaMorph rasped "I wish you were...you might have been lighter..."
"You some kind of monster hunter?" asked Chloe with a growl.
"Lady, if I weren't, I wouldn't still be alive," said Blood Spider.
Chloe's eyes narrowed. It was understandable, any werewolf from Nirn had it hammered into their subconscious that monster hunters were bad.
Matt walked into her path though. "We're off to a great start, aren't we? We're not bad guys. If we were, those vamps wouldn't have wr...wrrrr..." he said, twitching, before Chloe said in a dull voice "Forced down and blew up our ship..."
"Right, so, vampires. Why are they still here? I thought they were all cured with the Lizard King," said Spider-Man.
"Yeah, they were cured. But the Lizard King was the one holding the factions together. And not every vampire was there for the cure. And they weren't the only vampires in the world either," said Blood Spider.
"Let me guess, by curing him, you've created a void for a new, stronger evil to fill," said Megan.
"Yeah...Lord Dracula. We were just starting to get things in order. City was coming together...then he turned up with his own army. Used some sort of magic to create that," said Blood Spider, pointing up at the clouds.
"Ah, cover the sun and let the vampires rule," said Gary.
"If only it were only the vampires," said Blood Spider, "Dracula brought a lot of monsters here with him and turned them loose. He sees this city as some sort of experiment of who's the strongest."
"Explains why you know what a werewolf and gargoyle are," said Matt calmly.
"The only real question is why you have an automaton," said Blood Spider.
"Hey!" snapped NegaMorph as he started reforming.
"Oh, and some sort of mutant." said Blood Spider off handedly.
Matt snapped, "Hey...am I invisible?"
Blood Spider just gave him a brief look before continuing, "The vampires were hard enough without having to deal with werewolves and werelizards."
"Werelizards?" asked Spider-Man.
"Yeah, Connors became one of Dracula's experiments. Nearly took us all out when they first showed up," said Blood Spider.
Spider-Man's tone became more somber, "And what happened to your team?"
"White Tiger became another experiment," said Blood Spider darkly, "I tried to get through to her, but the tiger only wants to hunt."
Matt glared before he heard Ion say, "Boss, I calibrated my sensors to look for those fang faces. Cluster of movement heading for us...5...maybe 6."
"I think we need to keep moving," said Chloe.
"Ion agrees, 5 goons headed for us at..." said Matt, pausing as he listened before saying "about 5 minutes out at current speed."
"And it won't be just five for long," said Blood Spider.
"I assume you have somewhere we can go?" said Chloe.
"Of course I do," said Blood Spider.
"Then please lead us there?" said Chloe, getting an annoyed tone.
"As soon as we've masked your scent," said Blood Spider.
"I'm a royal werewolf. It'll take more than some pointy toothed asshole to find me," snarled Chloe.
"I'm more worried about the other wolves following you," said Blood Spider.
"Royal...werewolf. I could make 'em dance a jig if I wanted to," said Chloe smugly.
"Fine, but I've got my eye on you," said Blood Spider.
"Just...lead us..." snarled Matt.
The route to Blood Spider's lab was a bit more roundabout than Spider-Man remembered. He supposed it was to throw any pursuers off their trail. Though the downside is when they got there, there was much complaining about sore feet.
Matt looked around, noting some of the gear. "Well...you're geared up for vamp hunting," he muttered, before noticing Chloe's discomfort, looking at some silver knives.
"Had to be. I was the only hero left in New Night City," said Blood Spider.
"Don't you mean New York?" asked Spider-Man.
"It hasn't been New York ever since Dracula came to town," said Blood Spider.
"How far did he get? We saw burnt-out towns on the flight in." said Matt.
"But surely you're not the last human again," said Spider-Man.
"Fortunately, we've had time to shore up before Dracula let the monsters loose," said Blood Spider, "We may have lost some, but there are still others out there."
Matt glared daggers at that, before Chloe said, "You said there were other groups."
"Would you mind telling me about the gargoyles here?" asked Gary.
"Depends on the clan, some of them are working with Dracula still but the ones that aren't are decent enough," said Blood Spider before pausing hearing a low rumble from the still-dragonic Matt.
"Buddy, I think you've been forgetting certain hospitality regulations," said Megan.
Blood Spider didn't seem too bothered before having to dodge as Matt lunged. "You little stuck-up shit," snarled Matt.
"Mind your language. There are ladies present," admonished Gary.
"Gary, drop the chivalry before I stuff your foot in your mouth for you," said Chloe in an annoyed tone.
Blood Spider jumped back before Matt pinned him to the wall on his drop. "We've only been here an hour at most. Not long enough to ruin anything so I definitely know you have no reason to be a git. My sister's had a pretty bad trip so far so you got 10 seconds to apologize to my sister before I play a game called 'pull the leg off the bug'," he snarled, eyes glowing red.
"I'd do what he says," said Megan, "He definitely hasn't blown off enough steam after the ship went down."
Blood Spider glared back before Chloe said, "Bro...it's fine...it really is."
"Guys, this is not a good time to be fighting among ourselves," said Spider-Man, "If we're going to keep vampires from our throats, we can't be at each other's."
Matt glared at Blood Spider before letting him drop and stalking back over to Chloe. "There's two major werewolf clans in the city. Jameson Jr's the problem one. He controls most of the docks. On the plus side, it completely cut off most of Dracula's supplies from Europe," Blood Spider said darkly.
"Oh, Jameson's not that bad. Not compared to his dad," said Spider-Man.
"That might not apply to this dimension," said NegaMorph pointedly.
"Don't underestimate the Man-Wolf. He controls his pack with an iron claw and any human who wanders into his territory either ends up as a meal, sport or another packmate." said Blood Spider darkly
"Ok, maybe not as agreeable as the one back home," said Chloe, "Who leads the other wolf pack?"
"Jack Russel," said Blood Spider. Matt and Chloe both snorted with laughter at that.
"Werewolf by Night? Makes sense," said Spider-Man.
Blood Spider said, "He's got control of Central Park and the tunnels underneath. He's been giving shelter to civilians in the area and apparently trying to free any werewolves still under Dracula's command."
"Ok, sounds like someone we can work with," said Gary.
"Especially if there are other Howling Commandos here," said Spider-Man, "I don't suppose you've heard of a daywalker named Blade?"
"Huh...him and his tame vampires," muttered Blood Spider darkly.
"I'm sure he's got a heart in the right place," said Spider-Man, "I don't suppose Frankenstein's Monster is here."
"Frankenstein's Monster?" asked NegaMorph incredulously, "What do you think this is? Transylvania?"
"That? Only heard rumors but there's no set place where he appears," said Blood Spider.
"And I suppose we won't find N'Kantu the Living Mummy and the Man-Thing here," said Spider-Man.
"Never heard of them," said Blood Spider.
"Yeah, that might be expecting too much," said Spider-Man, "Still, I think we might have enough to work with, provided we can get through to White Tiger."
"If anything's in there, it's not human. We'd need Power Man but he's back west helping the resistance there," said Blood Spider, adding, "Their bites are as infectious as werewolves'."
"I don't believe that, and I think you don't really believe it either," said Spider-Man, "I've seen Ava conquer the worst of herself before. I'm sure this Ava can do the same thing."
"Give me five minutes. My old inhibitor collar would have her at her senses before you can say-" began Matt.
"Not a chance!" snapped Blood Spider.
"That's not what I was going to say, but it would be well before you said it," said Matt.
"The last thing I want is any help from any of your kind!" snapped Blood Spider.
"My kind?" growled Matt.
"Yes, you've already done more than enough damage the last time you were here," snapped Blood Spider.
"Wait a second," said NegaMorph, "What do you mean 'last time'?"
"There's been NSC mercs here?" snapped Matt, pushing NegaMorph aside. "Where's their camp? They'll have a ship. We could call in the Bladestorm..." snapped Matt, glaring daggers.
"Trust me, those space dragons are not going to be of any help to anyone except Dracula," snapped Blood Spider.
"Space dra...splitters. Fucking Consortium," muttered Chloe, before snapping, "We don't have jack to do with them."
"Would you please not-" started Gary before Chloe grabbed him in a headlock.
"I warned you," said Chloe before grabbing Gary's foot and trying to force it into his mouth.
NegaMorph snapped, "Look, we can't go anywhere while the sun's down, I assume. Let's calm down and pick this up in the morning." Everyone stared at him.
"Wow, is it really that bad when Uncle Nega is the peacemaker?" asked Megan.
"More than you know," said Chloe, before Megan's robotic body began to flicker.
"Oh, what do you know? My hologram projector has finished loading," said Megan. Her feet blurred before they were covered in black boots. The effect continued up her body, giving her green jeans and a black shirt. It finally ended as her head rezzed up a copy of her human head. However, Megan's form looked more college-aged compared to the teenager she had been before. Megan looked at herself in a mirror that Blood Spider probably used to test if any visitors were actually vampires. "Huh, not bad, what do you guys think?" asked Megan.
"That outfit seems a bit out of place here," said NegaMorph, indicating the turn-of-the-century decor.
"Hey, this is the best I can do," snapped Megan.
"I think we have bigger issues than fashion," said Chloe flatly.
"Whatever you say, stretchpants," said NegaMorph. Chloe snarled, Matt sighing before wandering off to look for somewhere to sleep.
"This is going to be a long night," sighed Gary.
Chloe sighed, staring at the ceiling from a sofa she'd found to sleep on, before hearing a knock, looking over to see Gary and Matt. "You ok?" Matt asked.
"I've got enough of an identity crisis on my own without others prejudging what I am," said Chloe.
"Don't let that jerk get to you. You could snap him in half. What we do know is there might be another ship here," said Matt.
"A splitter ship," said Chloe, "I doubt it'll let NSC mercs on it."
Matt grinned, "Then we'll say...please. We can nick their ship and dump 'em in an escape pod. What they're up to is definitely against Nullspace law."
"And yet they wouldn't be here without reason," said Chloe.
"Then we'll go looking when we have a chance. First thing's first, regardless of Blood's views, we can help with White Tiger," said Gary.
Matt turned to Gary. "No, we go for the ship. The CSUV can find it. We raid it for weapons, medical and communication supplies. We get the Bladestorm here and this occupation's over," he said sternly. Chloe looked surprised...for a Matt idea, it was pretty good.
"No disrespect, but even you can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers," said Gary, "I'm not liking our chances without allies."
"If they'd breached the ship, those vamps woulda hit our ship with worse than old World War I flak," said Matt pointedly.
"I'm more concerned about reaching the ship in one piece," said Gary.
"That's why we go at sun up, less chance of pointy teeths," said Matt.
"Werebeasts aren't deterred by the sun," said Gary pointedly.
"But they will be deterred by me," said Chloe, "I'm a royal werewolf. I'm top of the werebeast foodchain."
"Only if they recognize your authority," said Gary.
Chloe just raised an eyebrow at that. "Say...you're mostly a werebeast, right?" said Chloe pleasantly, before her eyes glowed demonic red and she said in an echoing voice "Sit!" Gary twitching.
Gary's legs buckled at that, but he still remained standing. "Ok, I'm sure that's more effective against a more garden-variety werebeast," said Gary.
"Exactly...like every damn werebeast in the city," said Chloe smugly.
"That said, I think an alpha would have the right to challenge you for dominance," said Gary.
"Let them try," said Chloe smugly.
"But..." began Gary. Chloe put a claw on his lips before looking around, grabbing a solid metal pole laying in the dust before, in one hand, using her thumb to bend it at a right angle...it was a thick pole. "Withdrawn," said Gary weakly.
"I'm telling you, there's nothing to save," said Blood Spider.
"And I don't think you really believe that either," said Spider-Man, "You wouldn't have given up on them that easily."
"It wasn't easy," said Blood Spider, "I've been trying to make a cure for months. And I don't have a piece of Siege Perilous to help me this time."
Megan, sitting in the corner, said, "You didn't have us. Chloe and Matt turn into something at least once a month and I was making alot of potions as Lady NegaMorph. Bet I could cook up a cure."
"Would be easier to make one if you didn't have lamp oil and rat droppings to work with," said NegaMorph dryly.
"Gary told me Matt and Chloe and him are going looking for the other ship. As long as it has a replimat on board, I can get whatever I need for one anti-tiger serum," said Megan smugly.
"At the very least, we'll need some anti-vampire serum," said Spider-Man, "There aren't as many pro-human vampires like Blade."
"If he really is pro-human," said Blood Spider.
"You've got trust issues," said NegaMorph, "And that's a lot coming from me."
Matt and Chloe came in at that, both with their rifles. "Gary, we gotta go, sun up in 30 minutes," Matt said.
"But shouldn't we..." started Gary before yawning, "Get a bit of shut-eye first?"
"Don't worry, I've got a little 'get-up-and-go' for this," said Matt.
"What?" said Gary, before Chloe grabbed him and poured a blue liquid in his mouth.
"Wait a second, that wasn't what I thought it was, was it?" asked NegaMorph.
"Which is?" asked Spider-Man.
"Wake-up juice," said Chloe, "It makes Turkish coffee look like weak tea."
Gary paused. "I feel fine. I don't feel any-" he said before the world exploded for him. It was almost as if he could see everything on Earth. His view encompassed the entire globe before shrinking back down to his immediate area. Well, probably nothing like that actually happened, but it sure felt like that.
"Heylet'sgocheckouttheshipandthewolvesandtigersandlizardsandvampiresandgargoylesand-" gibbered Gary before Megan put a hand over his mouth.
"Hmm...musta gone off...not as bad as it should be," commented NegaMorph, he and Chloe getting some worried looks. "I don't think he's in a good state for a stealth mission," said NegaMorph.
"You don't say," said Spider-Man carefully, Gary shooting around in a blur.
"Maybe you should send him to be your diplomat," said Blood Spider sarcastically.
Megan glared daggers at that. "He can still help..." she said icily.
"Sounds like a good idea, being a diplomat. I've always had a knack for being reasonable and insightful. I'm sure I'll be able to talk the other factions around. We better get going before the vampires come out," said Gary rapidly before running out the door. There was a chorus of hands hitting foreheads.
Megan sighed. "I'll go after him...anyone else coming?" she said.
"If he's going to see the tigers, I'm coming too," said Spider-Man, "Blood Spider?"
Blood Spider sighed and said, "Someone needs to keep you out-of-towners breathing."
"And me, Nega, and Chloe'll hit the ship," said Matt.
Castle Dracula is actually a rather comfortable and charming place...if you're a creature of the night. Lady NegaMorph considered herself to be one, though the interior grotesques on the walls were starting to get to her.
She paused, looking out of a window at the nearby New York. Impressive that this world's Dracula had a stranglehold on most of the world, picking up the pieces after some villain called the Lizard King had been vanquished. Normally she'd have stayed out of sight. Sadly her ship had crashed in the Hudson, skipped across the water and embedded itself in the castle courtyard.
Fortunately, Dracula was intrigued with her and wanted to learn more about other worlds. Lady NegaMorph knew she was skimming luck. Dracula could have easily mesmerized her and made her a puppet. At least women don't become Renfields. That said, she'd seen some of the 'women' the jerk had mesmerized...his so-called brides.
She'd managed to make herself useful. When she'd arrived, a splitter team from Nullspace had been making his occupation rather...untenable. Luckily for Lady NegaMorph, they hadn't expected her.
She could have sided with the splitters, but considering how her relationship with her suppliers had soured, she'd rather not take the chance that the team were somehow connected to them. Besides, Dracula had something to offer Lady Nega that the splitters couldn't hope to match.
She walked into her 'reward' at that moment, Castle Dracula's substantial library of magical tomes. One did not live for centuries without accumulating a lot of knowledge. After all, knowledge is power and Dracula thirsts for power almost as much as blood.
The Lynches were here, if the energy explosion in the city had been any indication. But this time she'd be ready for them.
Of course, this city was full of nasty surprises. It would be premature to assume that one of them would take down the Lynches, but they might hinder them. A vampire walked up to her at that, hissing "Lord Dracula commands your presence." Lady Nega rolling her eyes...always when she'd sit down to read.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt him to come to me for once," said Lady Nega. The vampire glared at that, Lady Nega snapping "Fine, I'm going."
As Spider-Man had found out, Gary, as a gargoyle, couldn't truly fly, only glide. Though really, the only differences were that Gary required a high enough place to jump from and there was a limit to how fast he could go through the air. But it turned out that while fueled on wake-up juice, Gary could cover a lot of ground pretty fast.
"Ok, remind me to hit NegaMorph. He's making a racket," snapped Megan as Gary zoomed back and forth, talking at an extreme pace,
"Just be glad it's too bright out for vampires," said Blood Spider. There wasn't a lot of difference, considering it was an overcast day. But apparently vampires are still UV sensitive enough to not want to linger too long out of the shadows.
"So...how will we know when the tigers are near-" began Megan, pausing as her mech body began sending various warnings. Mostly of...something watching the group from the darkened buildings.
The Spiders' were also sensing a coming danger. "Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought only lions hunted in groups," said Spider-Man.
"Try to convince them that," said Blood Spider.
On cue, several big cat anthros wearing ragged clothing began to come out, snarling. One lunging only for a blur to knock it flying, Gary skidding to a halt. "You'reallbadkitties!" he yelled, the others looking at one another in confusion.
"Uh, Gary, keep hitting them," said Megan. Gary shrugged before shooting off into a blur again, the various cats being knocked over and out, or into each other.
"Ok, that's impressive," said Blood Spider.
"Yes, but soon enough, it's going to wear off," said Megan.
Gary shot to a halt in front of him at that. "Sowherestheotherkitties?IWANNAPETTHEMALL!" he said, his eye twitching.
"How often do the Lynches use that wake-up juice?" asked Spider-Man.
"I didn't even know Chloe had it." said Megan with a gulp.
One important thing about predators is that they never deal with prey that's too much trouble to be worth taking down. That mostly applies to natural predators, but even werebeasts knew this law of nature and when to obey it. Gary's takedown of the first attackers had put the gang under this and they were getting a wide berth as they headed deeper into the tigers' territory. But Megan knew this wouldn't last. Gary was an effective battering ram, but the rush would end eventually.
Finally they arrived in what would probably have been Times Square, and the few tigers here seemed to be giving them a wider berth than the others. "Huh, I half-expected Chinatown, but I can work with this," said Spider-Man, "So where's the Tiger Queen?"
A loud roar rent through the air at that. "Ask and ye shall receive," said Blood Spider grimly.
From one of the buildings, White Tiger emerged. She was still wearing the torn remains of the clothes Spider-Man had seen her wearing before on his last visit to this world. But her form was that of the tigress that Spider-Man had become familiar with by now.
Following behind her was Iron Fist. His clothes were in a better state than Ava's. Quite noticeably, he was the only other white tiger that Spider-Man had seen so far here.
Megan grinned before saying to Gary, "Look, kitties to pet." Gary blinked a little before looking at the tigers.
"Uh, Megan, shouldn't we try talking to them first?" asked Spider-Man.
"I've still got scratches from the last time I tried talking," said Blood Spider dryly.
"Fine...Gary? Get em," said Megan.
Gary looked at the two white tigers before screaming "Chatons!" and shooting at them, kicking up a trail of dirt, the two tigers jumping before Gary sent Tiger Fist flying before shooting at White Tiger.
"Oh, come on, you guys aren't even trying," said Spider-Man.
"Gary is moving pretty fast." said Megan, before saying, "This is gonna be easy." Everyone paused as a faint roll of thunder was heard. "Aw no..." muttered Megan, realizing the cardinal rule she'd broken.
Gary rushed around before going at the tigers again. But as he got closer, he was noticeably slowing down. Super-speed went down to regular running, then stride, then walking, then stumbling…
He threw one final punch, which slowed to a stop an inch from White Tiger's face. The anthro cat blinked before pushing him. Gary rocked on his feet before falling sideways, still in the lunging pose. The two tigers looked at each other before shrugging and turning slowly to snarl at the remaining three.
"Uh, Ava, Danny, we just came to talk," said Spider-Man.
"They can't hear you." snapped Blood Spider, as the two tigers advanced, Tiger Fist's fists starting to glow.
"They're still your friends," said Spider-Man.
"If they didn't listen to me as vampires, why would they listen to me as weretigers?" snapped Blood Spider.
Megan glared. "Did you even try to talk to them? You seem the 'shoot first' type," she snapped, before a blaster folded out of her wrist.
Ava snarled out for distinct words, "Meat...talk...too...much..."
"I withdraw my complaint." gulped Megan.
"See? Once you're not human, everyone else is food," said Blood Spider, "And there's no Siege Perilous to bring them back."
Megan paused, looking around. "I don't think they're eating anyone..." she said finally before the tigers lost what little patience they had and charged the trio.
The Tiger Queen charged at Megan and clamped her jaws around her arm. Megan yelled, more out of habit as the Tiger Queen released her grip with a yowl, a paw at her jaw. Megan looked down at her arm, the metal revealed. "Oh yeah..." she said cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Tiger Fist was going for the easier prey: the immobile Gary. Clearly his vegetarianism didn't carry over to his weretiger form. Tiger Fist licked his jaws before chomping down on Gary's leg.
Gary's eye twitched. On a wake-up juice crash or not, when your leg's bitten, you bloody noticed. "YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!" yelled Gary. The Tiger Fist backed up at that, wiping his mouth before aiming a punch that Gary barely avoided and left a crater in the ground.
Before Tiger Fist could swing another punch, Megan suddenly barreled into him at surprising speed. "YOU! BIT! MY! BOYFRIEND!" she yelled, punching Tiger Fist with each word.
"Remind me not to get her mad," said Blood Spider.
"You should see her evil twin," said Spider-Man.
Tiger Fist glared, readying his claws before he began to feel a little dizzy, a faint buzzing in his ears. Tiger Fist started drooling rather heavily as he staggered. "Uh...is gargoyle blood poisonous to weretigers?" asked Spider-Man.
"Well, Gary's a weregoyle, one who's made from a unique blend of spells that's blended together with time," said Megan.
Tiger Queen looked at Tiger Fist before snarling and charging Gary, who also looked a little punch drunk. "I think there's...a goose in my pants," slurred Gary as he rubbed his bitten leg.
Tiger Queen just snarled, closing the distance, even knocking Megan and Spider-Man aside as they tried to stop her before tackling Gary. This meat was going to pay for poisoning Tiger Fist. "Bad kitty," said Gary as he tried to swat away Tiger Queen.
Tiger Queen's response was, as anyone would expect, was to clamp her jaw, now with a chipped tooth from earlier, over Gary's wrist. "YOOOOWWWW!" yelled Gary, but maybe not as bad as last time. Tiger Queen snarled, biting harder before letting go as her own head started to buzz too.
Megan knocked Tiger Queen away before tending to Gary, "Are you okay?"
"Uh...I smell fish..." said Gary a bit dizzily.
Blood Spider meanwhile was noticing that the 'reaction' seemed to be spreading, the watching werecats all yowling and clutching their heads like their leaders. "Interesting..." he said.
"Uh, I think Gary may need some bandages," said Spider-Man.
"It's just a little blood loss. I'm ferfectly pine," said Gary dizzily.
"You have no idea what's in those tigers' mouths," said Megan.
"Magic?" asked Gary.
"Bacteria," said Megan flatly. Gary just stared at Megan, who noted one of his eyes was slowly wandering to the right. "Ok, you're going to the medical bay when the Lynches find that damn ship," she said, Gary giggling faintly.
"And we might wanna do that before whatever's going on wears off," said Blood Spider.
"If it wears off. This is mixing magics. Who knows what'll happen?" said Megan with concern.
Lady NegaMorph rolled her eyes as she walked into the castle's throne room...throne room, really? "Yes, Lord Dracula?" she said to the throne's occupant, with a bow and a slight hint of sarcasm.
Dracula was rubbing his forehead and was looking discomforted. Was the King of All Vampires having...a headache? "There have been...disturbances lately," said Dracula, wincing as he spoke.
"Yes, that'll be the Lynches and heroes they dragged along. They're not that special but they're lucky..." said Lady NegaMorph with a little sympathy.
"Perhaps, but they're an unknown element. And I don't want them to remain unknown," said Dracula.
"Good luck with that. Better villains have tried," said Lady NegaMorph before yelping as she was pinned to the wall.
"Do not forget your place here, witch," snarled Dracula, "My hospitality is the only reason you are still breathing. Do not make me revoke it."
"Noted," rasped Lady NegaMorph before she was released, "It's true though. The Lynches are nuts...and they love their overkill. My advice is to keep out of their way and hope they leave."
"Leave? When their ship has been destroyed?" asked Dracula.
"We never found the other ship." said Lady NegaMorph pointedly.
"Which makes it all the more important to find it," said Dracula, "Nothing in this world has been able to stop me. But other worlds may be another matter."
"The Lynches won't be connected to the others. If we're smart, they'll take the ship and go," said Lady NegaMorph.
"As I recall, you mentioned you were being hunted when you arrived here," said Dracula, "Are these not the same hunters who were pursuing you? Perhaps the end of their disturbance can be brought about by simply handing you over to them."
Lady NegaMorph gulped. "I know...a few things about them. The brother's part dragon...subject of a genetic program. Don't ask, I think even immortals like you don't have enough time for it. The sister is a different story. She's a breed of werewolf called a 'royal'. Powerful...can cast spells..." she said nervously.
"The werewolves mean little to me. There has never been any beast of the moon who would not bow to my power. The dragon is another matter. I am the only Dragon in this city and I intend for it to stay that way," said Dracula.
Lady NegaMorph paused as she envisioned a mushroom cloud over the city. "Please don't fight him. There won't be a city left," she whimpered.
"He will not be the first dragon I have slain," said Dracula, "But he shall be the last."
Lady NegaMorph thought 'You have no idea how true that might be' before speaking out loud. "He's faced far worse and...well I read about the dragons here. Their leader prefers a lack of collateral damage. Mr. Lynch doesn't subscribe to that train of thought. Maybe a less...overt approach?" she said carefully.
"Such as?" asked Dracula.
Lady NegaMorph grinned evilly as she got an idea. "His sister, it's his achilles heel. He once spent 2 years wandering the multiverse looking for her when her death was faked. He'd bend over backwards to keep her safe...far past the breaking point," she cackled.
"I was almost hoping for a challenge," said Dracula with a wicked grin.
"Ok...let's see...if I was a splitter, where would I hide my ship?" muttered Matt sulkily, Chloe having insisted on driving the CSUV. Of course, in a city where automobiles hadn't developed much further than the Model T, the CSUV stood out like an infected thumb.
"You had to buy this thing..." snapped Chloe.
Matt said sulkily, "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry at the time and it didn't stand out in Tokyo."
NegaMorph said "You know it's just-"
"It so stood out in Tokyo," snapped Chloe, "You know what the Japanese drive? Compact cars. They don't drive ex-military gas guzzlers."
"We don't-" started NegaMorph.
"Hey, this isn't a gas guzzler. It's an ion engine and you know it. Never had to refuel this once. So no insulting my truck," snapped Matt.
"We're-" started NegaMorph.
"Right, it's a fuel-efficient eyesore," snapped Chloe.
"It is not an eyesore!" snapped Matt.
NegaMorph glared before pulling out a dog whistle and blowing on it. Chloe yelped, clutching her ears. Matt yelped as the CSUV swerved till Matt grabbed the wheel, bringing them to a stop. "NegaMorph!" he yelled.
"Now that I have your attention, we've been driving over where we need to go for the last minute," said NegaMorph.
The Lynches blinked before saying in unison, "What?"
NegaMorph snapped, "There's a signal coming from under the street, probably a subway."
"Did they have subways in the early 20th century?" asked Chloe.
"If it's anything like Earth, it should be," said Matt, pointing down a side alley. Chloe turned the truck to the side, a ramp rolling down to some train tracks, a vast tunnel leading under the city.
"It's in there...about a 5 minute walk," said NegaMorph, Chloe turning their vehicle into the tunnel.
The drive, as said, didn't take long, nor was the camp hard to spot, several deployable barriers set up on the tracks, one with a mounted particle beam cannon.
"Well, we're on the right track," said Chloe.
"I don't see a ship," muttered Matt, readying his omni-rifle and getting out.
"Yeah, not sure how it could get down here," said Chloe, "Unless it was a pretty small ship." She stepped out of the truck and sniffed the air.
NegaMorph was last out, his eyes glowing green as he looked around. "Looks like a major fight here," he muttered, noticing some burn marks on the ground. "Splitters alright...and it looks like they lost," he muttered, holding up a damaged solarite rifle.
"But they weren't the last people here," said Chloe as she sniffed around.
Matt nodded, noticing some fresh footprints in the dirt...clawed ones. "Ok, let's sweep the place for any leftover goodies. I don't see any harm in handing over some medical kits if we find them," he said loudly, motioning to the others to play along.
"Yeah, they're probably hungry too," said NegaMorph loudly, "Good thing we brought extra garlic along."
There was a shuffling in the dark at that, Matt noticing a scaled muzzle ducking out of sight. "Yeah..." he said, pointing faintly. Chloe nodded and headed forward as if to pass, before spinning and lunging, several yells heard before she pulled up, judging from the size, two kids,
What they also had was tails and scales and saurian muzzles. "Lemme go, ya fleabag," snapped one of them in an angry Brooklyn accent.
Chloe and NegaMorph looked expectantly at Matt. There was no denying to what sort of creature these kids resembled, something that Matt had a very bad history with. He looked at them then at the ration pack sticking out of the pack the other one was wearing. "What are you two doing out here?" he asked in a level voice, his eyes narrowed.
"We found it first!" snapped the other kid, "Finders keepers!"
"We don't want the rations. Splitter rations are only good for reptilians anyway," snapped Matt.
"What's a splitter?" asked the second kid.
"It's what's gonna happen to this mutt's lip if she don't put us down," snapped the first kid.
NegaMorph grinned, "I like this kid."
Chloe shook them. "Was anyone else here? Brother, the demonstration, please," she snapped. Matt rolling his eyes and shifting to anthro dragon form. "Any winged reptiles like him?" she snarled.
"Those guys? I thought they were all gone," said the second kid.
"Sarah, shut up. Boss Connors said not to tell outsiders," snapped the first kid.
Matt leaned down to snarl. "There's still some splitters? Yes...or no?" he growled.
"The vamps took 'em," said the second kid, Sarah apparently.
Matt snarled, eyes glowing before he said "Is that the truth?"
The other kid finally snapped, "Ok, ok, there's a few livin' with us. You their friends or somethin'?"
Matt, Chloe, and NegaMorph exchanged looks. There was no straight answer to that. "Let's just say we have some commonality with them," said Matt.
"Not that much," smirked NegaMorph.
Just then, an eerie mist started coming down the tunnel. Everyone felt a cold chill going up their spines. Matt and Chloe's nanites began screaming warnings about Z class lifeforms at that, Chloe dropping the kids who ran deeper into the tunnel.
"I hope you guys have wooden stakes on you," said NegaMorph.
"No...got a solarite setting," said Matt, aiming down the tunnel where the mist had come from.
"You enter my domain quite recklessly," said a voice that sounded just like it came from a cold, dark grave. It sounded more British than Transylvanian though.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have shot my ship down!" snapped Matt, looking around, before spinning and firing, a yellow bolt shooting out and hitting a lunging vampire who vanished in a flash of yellow with a cut-off scream.
"I have put a lot of work into building my undead empire," said the voice, "I'm not about to have interlopers bring it down."
"Are you even actually here or are you using some voice projection?" asked NegaMorph.
Chloe sniffed before growling "Oh, he's here...if that stink's him."
From out of the darkness, a figure manifested. Everyone has a certain mental image for Dracula. Most often, it was the classic Bela Lugosi look. This Dracula looked nothing close to that. The red and black armor, the pale blue skin, the pointed ears, the long white hair in a ponytail, it made him resemble a dark elf more than a vampire. Pretty much the only thing that met their expectations were the cape, the fangs, and the blood red eyes.
"Oooh...never bagged a Dracula before," said Matt happily, NegaMorph noticing the familiar eye twitch.
"Matt, that's a bad idea," said Chloe. She had tangled with the occasional vampire back on Nirn. The common vampires weren't so tough, but vampire lords were a different class entirely. And she could feel that Dracula put those vampire lords to shame.
"I WANNA SEE IF HE EXPLODES!" screamed Matt, NegaMorph tackling him. Chloe decided to take over.
"Lady NegaMorph did warn me that your brother is quite insane..." Dracula said, smoothly.
Chloe said, "Look, she's all we want. We're not even on good terms with the people who'd want you. Give us Lady Nega, let us find the splitter ship, and we're gone."
"A tempting offer, but why should Dracula bargain with his inferiors?" asked Dracula.
"Mostly cause it's the only way we'll leave without wrecking everything you ever built on the way out," said Chloe smugly.
Dracula's eyes glowed as he glared straight at Chloe. "Ha, that trick won't work on-" started Chloe before she felt a dark presence in her head. Her face slackened a little at that.
NegaMorph felt Matt go slack, and realising he was probably staring...before realising he, NegaMorph, was currently sitting on a ticking bomb. "Uh, she's faking obviously. Everyone knows werewolves don't take orders from vampires," said NegaMorph a little nervously.
"I am sovereign over all creatures of the night. The werewolves are my attack dogs when I wish it," said Dracula before he snapped his fingers.
Chloe twitched, falling to her hands and knees, hands and feet shifting into paws and her size growing. Her Shar armor shifted to pendant mode at the last second as her muzzle grew slightly more feral, before, in her place, a horse-sized wolf looked up, eyes glowing red.
"I did not know she could do that," said NegaMorph.
"Kill them," sneered Dracula, before seeing NegaMorph was already running deeper into the tunnel. Chloe gave what sounded more like a bear roar then anything else before pursuing.
Truthfully, NegaMorph wasn't fleeing from the giant wolf Chloe had become, though that added extra motivation. Actually, the real danger was Matt's very short fuse that Dracula had unknowingly lit. And that fuse was connected to something much more destructive than a powder keg.
Said fuse was standing up behind Dracula, a feral shape that was alot larger than Matt and somehow silent, glowing blue reptilian slits the only visible thing before a tail whipped out at snake speed and sent Dracula flying into the tunnel wall.
The remaining vampire minions turned in shock before a solid beam of yellow light incinerated them before they could even scream, lighting up the tunnel to reveal a sky blue-scaled dragon as the source.
Dracula removed himself from the wall, not showing any damage at all. He took one look at the dragon and said, "Smaller than I expected." The dragon turned to look, eyes narrowed before spitting the same beam, Dracula just avoiding it. Dracula hissed, his face looking a little sunburned before it healed. "So, you carry the light of the sun in your gullet," said Dracula.
"I've never had Lynch give over control so...willingly," said the dragon smugly, taking a step forward. "And now I see why. A vampire lord of all things. I might actually exert myself," he sneered.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing," said Dracula before materializing a shadow sword in his hand.
The dragon raised an eye ridge. "A sword? We've been hit with far worse," he sneered, before spitting several solar bolts. Dracula seemed to disappear into mist before reappearing closer to the dragon and slashing as his chest.
The dragon jumped back, before looking down to see a cut in his scutes. "Well...you really WILL give me a workout," he said smugly, before roaring and charging.
NegaMorph meanwhile had come to a dead end, more splitter tech laying around, his vision picking out the kids hiding. "Great, Chloe's gone full wolf and wants a snack and this is a dead end," he muttered darkly, another roar from Chloe echoing down the tunnels. Somehow, he doubted an infusion of sloth energy was going to make Chloe stop. Dracula would probably make her keep hunting even while she was asleep.
"Hey...bugger off! This is our hiding place!" snapped Sarah.
"Yeah, like it's gonna keep her from finding you," said NegaMorph dryly, "Wolves have sharp smelling, remember?"
"She won't find us," smirked the brother.
Sarah said, "Jim, that was meant to be a secret."
"Yeah, you guys better have a backdoor," said NegaMorph. The two lizards looked at one another as a louder roar was heard, different in tone. "And that's Matt," NegaMorph said, adding, "Any minute now, one explosion and he'll strut in..." He paused before frowning. No explosion.
"Uh...any minute..." said NegaMorph, a little worried. There were footsteps at that. "Here he comes," he muttered before Matt was tossed at NegaMorph's feet, his anthro form cut up pretty bad. "Kids, this is now an ideal time for panic," said NegaMorph.
Chloe walked into view at that, next to Dracula as NegaMorph pulled Matt back. "You may take comfort that your dragon gave me a good fight, however brief," said Dracula, "I am the Immortal Dracula. No mortal from any world can ever vanquish me."
"So...what now? You gonna eat us? I don't have blood and I bet Lynch's element makes him quite inedible," snapped NegaMorph.
"Perhaps not. But that is not my only form of execution. For instance, this beast looks like it could finish him off quite easily," said Dracula, patting Chloe's side.
Chloe took a step forward before pausing, whining causing Dracula to glare. The kids helped pull Matt back with NegaMorph. "That's right, Chloe. No eating your brother," NegaMorph snapped.
"I've made family members do far worse to each other," said Dracula, "This wolf will be no different."
"The Lynches are stubborn," sneered NegaMorph, Chloe twitching before her eyes glowed red again and she began to stomp forward again. NegaMorph stepped onto the pad with the kids, a row of lights turning on around the edge.
"Transmat charged in 5...4...3..." said a voice.
Dracula snapped, "KILL THEM!" Chloe leaping just as the countdown finished. Matt, the kids, and NegaMorph were consumed in a shimmering light and vanishing.
Dracula hissed before lowering his hand. While it wasn't sunlight, bright lights did hurt his eyes. He looked around to see where his beast was. All he saw was her severed tail. "It looks like she'll be able to finish the job after all," said Dracula.
The room was definitely out of place, wherever it was, shining chrome and lighting that powered up. A console beeped before the pad in the middle of the room lit up, NegaMorph, the unconscious Matt, and the lizards, Jim and Sarah falling in a heap. "Unauthorized transmat...code red emergency," said a disembodied voice before it said, "Boy did you guys choose the wrong ship."
"Apparently went with an old-school sci-fi motif," said NegaMorph dryly.
The voice commented, "Where the hell's security? Oh yeah, they're all dead on that mudball. Well, guess I need to do it MYSELF!" Several turrets folded down, only for NegaMorph to vaporize them with a gesture. "Well...that happened...let's try again...welcome aboard," said the voice calmly.
"There is something creepily familiar about that tone," said NegaMorph.
"I was made by a holding of the Romanov family. They based me on some merc who plagued them," said the voice conversationally.
NegaMorph paused, his eye twitching. "No...no, why would someone do that?" he gibbered.
"Hey, where's the doc?" asked Jim.
"Doc? Oh, you mean your leader. Mr. Connors isn't on board. Probably still planetside," said the voice.
Sarah looked at NegaMorph. "Mister, you ok? You look like you're ready for the funny farm," she asked.
"Yeah, sure, I feel like I'm in the most twisted version of Oliver Twist," said NegaMorph, twitching a bit.
"Hey, you wanna get that guy to the medibay before he dies and combusts?" said the voice, a small spotlight on Matt.
"Oh, yeah, guess going solo on Dracula was a bad idea," said NegaMorph, picking Matt up.
The pad lit up again, Chloe appearing with a 'you're dead' half-lidded look. "Oh, and take your murder puppy with you," said the voice.
NegaMorph picked up a singed, blood smell and noticed Chloe's tail was not thrashing behind her. "Uh-oh," said NegaMorph.
Chloe followed his gaze before seemingly going stiff, slowly turning back to look, snarling louder. "Kids? We should run. But first...a distraction," he said, whispering something in Matt's ear that made his eyes shoot open.
"Undead? UNDEAD?!" snapped Matt. NegaMorph pointed at Chloe, mouthing 'Sorry' at her, Matt turning to look with such a mad look that, even under Dracula's control, Chloe took a step back with a yelp.
Matt's brain buffered as he looked around for a suitable target. Werewolves are not undead, are they? In some old legends, the dead can rise again as wolves. Eventually, his brain decided 'close enough'.
In response, Chloe snarled, though she still backed up, shifting to her anthro form, her eyes still glowing red. "Back...Back!" she snapped.
Matt snarled. "DIE, SPAWN OF EVIL!" yelled Matt before leaping at Chloe.
NegaMorph winced at the crash, before looking back to see a dragon and wolf roll out of the room snapping at each other...well the wolf was, the dragon was laughing hysterically.
"That should hold her," he muttered before seeing the kids staring out a porthole, the moon seen below the ship, the distant orb of Earth seen.
"You know, I wonder what would happen if a werewolf were on the moon itself," muttered NegaMorph, "I wonder if they've got a Blue Area in this universe too."
"Oh, you mean sector 402? Has a weird bald guy there?" said the voice.
"Yeah, might be a good place for those two to cool their heels," said NegaMorph.
"Sure...just show your ident chip and I'll unlock the advanced systems," said the voice.
NegaMorph glared. "Ok, does this place have a brig?" asked NegaMorph.
"Of course...this is an 'order of slayers' ship. Nothing's getting outta my brig," said the voice cheerfully.
Jim asked "Where is that guy talking from?"
The voice laughed, "Oh I love locals. I am the ship, kid."
"You're the ship?" asked Sarah before poking at the wall.
"You bet, Mk 41 security AI, codename 'Trickster'," said the voice cheerfully, before adding, "Oh, General, don't look now but I think the fight's heading this way." An arrow appeared in the lights.
NegaMorph spun in time to be knocked over as Matt and Chloes fight rolled over him. "Did someone get the number of that dogcatcher's van?" asked NegaMorph dizzily.
Chloe finally threw Matt at the kids before snarling, "You'll all pay for this indignity."
"Yeah, I know, but that'll be later," said NegaMorph before slamming a door button.
A blastdoor shot down at that, knocking Chloe down and pinning her, Chloe snarling ferally and clawing at the ground. "That ought to give us a few minutes," said NegaMorph, "Let's find someplace we can secure."
"There's a secure genetic lab 20 feet down this corridor," said Trickster.
"Uh, sure, I'm hoping the needles are on the high shelves," said NegaMorph.
The blastdoor bent in from a blow at that. "You got a better idea, blobby?" said Trickster.
"As long as you don't stick the kids with anything," said NegaMorph, "Almost makes me wish that webhead were here."
Chloe's paw burst through the door at that, Sarah screaming. NegaMorph grabbed the kids before bolting. He needed a plan now. A second later, Chloe, back in wolf form, tore the door aside, padding forward and pausing at the unconscious Matt, sniffing him before snorting and continuing after the others.
But then a more appealing scent caught her attention. One that went from her nose all the way down to her stomach. She looked to the side and padded towards a door marked as 'ration storage'.
NegaMorph stared at the lab's contents and winced. It made sense that the order had similar views on cryptids as Darkrift, autopsy arms around, and devices beeping away. Several sample cases could also be seen, one marked as 'Connors sample'. He almost wanted to cover the kids' eyes, but apparently they were well used to this stuff by now.
"Good news, intruders, the big bad wolf's having dinner," said Trickster.
Jim gulped and Sarah said weakly, "Your poor friend." only for Trickster to laugh.
"Nah, she's in ration storage downing enough beef to supply a platoon."
"Yes, Chloe does work up an appetite during a fight," said NegaMorph.
"Actually, V-class werewolves like her use food to fuel their regeneration. She's just regrowing her tail," said Trickster.
"Well, that too," said NegaMorph.
"Now if you wanna get rid of her, there should be some deathstone rifles in the main cabinet," began Trickster.
"Not an option," said NegaMorph flatly.
"I didn't know werewolves could grow their tails back," said Sarah.
"I thought only lizards do that," said Jim.
"She's a special case. There's gotta be something," snapped Nega.
Trickster said, "I got an idea; she wants food, we could lure her into the brig."
"Ok, not a bad idea, a bit short-term though," said NegaMorph.
"Well, you're not willing to obey protocol and kill her so containment's all that's left," said Trickster.
"Yeah, yeah, need to find something that'll make her more agreeable," said NegaMorph.
"Well...the crew noticed that the lizard serum seems to interfere with the alpha vamp's control." said Trickster.
Meanwhile...
Megan was peering at the unconscious Tiger Fist. "Out like a light. Gary must have not agreed with him," she said after a minute of scanning. Tiger Queen was halfway better. She seemed to be in a hallucinogenic stupor.
Gary had recovered by now but was looking worried. "I didn't mean to," before looking around at all the other unconscious werecats, before one, a panther, began to stir with a groan.
"We should go," said Blood Spider.
"But you don't feel it either," said Spider-Man.
"Feel what?" asked Blood Spider. "Your spider-sense, unless we don't react to the same kinds of danger."
Another werecat began to stir next, grumbling about a hangover. "Megan? What's going on?" asked Gary.
"Hard to say," said Megan, "This robot body doesn't have any way to sense magic."
Gary paused, before saying, "I think their minds have returned."
Tiger Queen's eyes seemed to clear. The green glow was dimming as her amulet stopped shining so brightly. "Spider?" she asked.
"Ava?" said Blood Spider in surprise as the anthro tigress pushed herself up.
The other werecats growled as Blood Spider got close. "Keep...back..." said Tiger Queen as she got shakily back to her feet.
The cats exchanged looks before bowing and backing up, except for a lion morph who snarled, "Why not? They're intruders."
"They're our friends," growled Tiger Queen.
"Your friends, maybe. But I have my brain back. I don't have to kowtow to you. So I think a real king should be ruling," growled the werelion. He began to charge only for a white blur to knock him flying, Tiger Fist in a crouch, fist still outstretched from the punch.
"I think you should keep the receipt for your brain," said Megan dryly. The werelion, still dazed, glared before throwing a punch at her. Megan grabbed the fist and the werelion struggled to get his fist back, pulling hard until Megan smirked, wriggled her eyebrows at the others before letting go, physics doing the rest, which was to have the werelion knock himself out with his own fist.
Megan looked at the other werecats and asked, "Anyone else want to challenge the leadership?"
There were a few mutters but nobody else stepped forward, Blood Spider in front of Tiger Queen. "Ava..." he said calmly.
"Blood Spider, how long has it been?" asked Tiger Queen.
"Been a few years since you and Iron fist were snatched." said Blood Spider, a little coldly.
"Huh, guess time moves faster for you than it does for me," said Spider-Man.
"Probably Lady NegaMorph's unstable wormhole," said Megan.
Tiger Fist was looking at his fur-covered arms. "It has been an interesting few years," he remarked.
Megan paused, her eyes glowing for a second. "Ok...I got good and bad news," she said, "The good news is, Gary's blood musta passed on a few of the wards on him. Neither Dracula or anyone else is getting in your heads ever again."
"And the bad news?" asked Spider-Man.
"Do I have to give more blood?" asked Gary with a bit of a whimper.
"The bad news is that the genetic changes are baked in. Nothing survivable will reverse it," said Megan gloomily.
"So we're stuck like this," said Tiger Queen.
"Physically, yes," said Megan.
"On the bright side, you have your minds back," said Spider-Man.
"All things considered, I can live with that," said Tiger Queen.
Blood Spider snapped, "No! There's got to be a cure!"
"Even a desolate land can be settled and made livable," said Tiger Fist.
"Well, he's certainly got his mind back," said Spider-Man, "Just as sage and cryptic as the one back home."
"What about the others?" said Gary, looking nervously at the growing crowd of werecats, all of them glaring.
Tiger Queen let out a roar at that, all the werecats backing up. "Under control," said Tiger Queen.
The werecats looked at each other before snapped angrily, "You did this to us!"
"I think Dracula was more responsible," said Spider-Man.
Just then, Tiger Fist's fist lit up, filling the square with blinding golden light for a moment. "Hold your tempers," called Tiger Fist, "It may be true that we are confined to the shapes we now wear. But consider what the alternatives might have been. We could have easily been made Dracula's slaves, his fodder, perhaps his more mindless vampire soldiers. We have our freedom and our minds again. And if we have to live as cats for that, that is a price I'm willing to pay."
His 'audience' made grumbling noises, a few walking off into the darkness, but most stayed, though a few of the younger ones just sobbed. Megan said darkly, "This world's Dracula's got alot to answer for."
"The whole list could wrap around this entire city," said Blood Spider dryly.
Megan sighed at that. "We'd need a battlecruiser though and the Bladestorm's back home," she said.
"We'll have to make due with the liberated people of this city," said Spider-Man.
"I hope they don't all need my blood," said Gary, "I kinda need it myself."
"I wonder how Matt's getting on?" muttered Megan, calling him on his com.
Chloe padded out of the mess hall before giving a loud lupine belch. That certainly took the edge off her appetite. She was almost more inclined to sleep off her meal, but she still had her order from her master. Perhaps she'll refrain from eating her prey right away.
She paused, before settling down, a lupine smirk on her muzzle. They were actually trying to sneak up on her, her hearing picking up NegaMorph whispering, "See? She's in a food coma. You go up, stick her with the tranquilizer, and we roll her butt into a containment cell."
She also heard her brother snap, "Bullshit, she's clearly faking it."
"She's not Morph. Her stomach does have a bottom," said NegaMorph, "Predators don't hunt if they're not hungry."
"Yeah, that's what makes the kind who don't hunt for food so much worse," said Matt flatly.
Chloe smirked wider as NegaMorph said, "Fine, I'll jab her just to show there's nothing to worry about."
"Sure, your arm grows back," said Matt.
"No wonder you don't have your own pet," grumbled NegaMorph.
Chloe grinned, hearing the tink of a needle before she span and snapped up NegaMorph, chewing for a minute before spitting him at the wall.
"You're only paranoid if you're wrong!" crowed Matt. Then he noticed the big bad wolf looking at him. "Uh, you've got no room for dessert, right?" he asked.
Chloe snarled before lunging at Matt who ran for it with a scream, his comm buzzing, Matt screaming "NOT NOW!" before hanging up.
Megan looked at her comm before muttering, "Huh...guess I caught him at a bad time."
"SHITSHITSHITSHIT!" screamed Matt, Chloe running after him and barking angrily. Matt tried to think of any possible plan. But it was a bit hard to think straight when you're being chased by a predator wanting dessert.
"Chloe, stop this right now! You know perfectly well I'll give you a bad stomach!" he screamed over his shoulder in desperation.
Chloe's teeth gnashed a little too close to Matt's posterior for his comfort. "You shouldn't run with a full stomach either!" screamed Matt, "Shouldn't you find a comfy place to sleep it off?"
He tossed a small disk down in desperation, turning to the side as the disk exploded, spreading ice over the floor, Chloe yelping and being sent skidding, though she was on her feet fast.
"Ok, follow the leader, fine. Let's go someplace sturdy," said Matt as he got a more coherent plan in mind. "Hey, cheeky computer, gimme a lit path to heavy containment!" he snapped.
The AI said, "Ok, cheeky, follow the nice blood red lit path. It's not like it's a sign of what's coming." A row of red lights led off to the right.
"That would be funny if it were anyone else being chased," muttered Matt.
"I'd run...she's getting uuuuup…" sang the AI.
Matt looking back to see Chloe padding round the corner before shifting to her anthro form, her eyes still red. "Yeah, like two legs are gonna make her faster," muttered Matt.
Chloe pulled out a blaster at that. "Well, that could work," yelped Matt, dodging several shots. "Feet, don't fail me now!" yelped Matt as he ran. He better be close. Chloe is probably going to use his bones for toothpicks.
He turned to see the lights ending at what looked like a cargo bay. "Hey, Chloe, that fur makes you look fat!" he called, making a note to apologize later.
A small part of the free Chloe paused before she yelled "YOU'RE DEAD!"
"Amazing how that works every time," muttered Matt.
He ran into the room. Chloe, back in her full wolf form, ran in, snarling. Matt jumped to the side before seeing NegaMorph and the kids apparently waiting. "These aren't front row seats! Get them out of here!" snapped Matt.
Jim pulled out a small device at that. "Don't worry, the voice had a plan," he called, pressing a button and a shimmering beam hitting Chjloe who blinked before vanishing.
"Hostile creature teleported off-ship," said the AI cheerfully.
"Teleported?" asked Matt.
"Yeah, would have done it sooner, but she just moves too fast," said Jim.
Matt stared before saying icily, "If I see her floating outside, necks will be snapped."
The AI said, "What am I? An NSC AI? Nah, I sent her back to her master...abouuut...3 feet over his head."
The trajectory was a little off. But at least Chloe still had a soft land. Lady Nega drummed her fingers in annoyance as she glared at the she-wolf parked on top of her.
"It seems dragons are still as cunning as the old days...and annoying," muttered Dracula darkly.
"You haven't seen annoyance yet," said Lady Nega darkly.
NegaMorph and Sarah watched as Matt invented the Bart strangle about 90 years early. "I'LL SHOW YOU SAVING THE DAY!" Matt screamed.
"Should we do something?" said Sarah with concern.
"Don't worry, he always stops before he does permanent damage," said NegaMorph, "Meanwhile, I better check on my niece."
Megan walked over to Blood Spider, the others working out the 'logistics' of a civilization of anthro big cats. "Hey...what's up? You got two of your friends back," she asked.
"Not the way I wanted them back," said Blood Spider.
"Trust me, humanity isn't about what you look like. It's about how you act," said Megan.
"Coming from the automatron," said Blood Spider icily.
"This body is only temporary until I get my old body back," said Megan flatly, "And before you ask, it's not fully human. Spider-Man isn't fully human either. And I don't think you can even call yourself completely human. And what is being human? Being without fur or fangs? Being made of living flesh and blood? Don't you think the human spirit is more important than the human body?"
Blood Spider sighed before Megan juddered. "What? Are you low on fuel?" asked Blood Spider dryly.
"No, but the vibrate in this body is less subtle than I expected," said Megan.
She turned on her comm. "Matt? Did you find the ship? You did? Wait, stop swearing for a second...Chloe what?" she asked. After a little bit, Megan sighed, "Again? How many times has that happened since you first came to New York? No, they were not my fault. Geeze, you kiss Kala with that mouth?"
She paused before snapping, "Fine, if you're gonna be like that, I'm not gonna tell you about the cure for his control..." She waited a little longer before saying, "You can say it more politely."
This time Blood Spider heard muffled faint yells, Megan wincing. "Fine..." she muttered.
Considering they didn't want to freak out the locals even more, Megan found an empty yard for Matt's group to teleport to. There was a shimmering light before Matt and NegaMorph appeared, along with two young lizards.
"I see you've made progress with the lizards," said Megan.
Blood Spider glared as one of the lizards, rubbing his neck, said, "He's just mad cause we saved him from the werewolf."
"Oh, she turned on you?" asked Blood Spider dryly.
"Kid, don't be stupid," said NegaMorph, "You don't want to insulting while Matt's in this mood."
Blood Spider turned to see Matt was aiming his blaster at him. "Don't...even think...about continuing that train of thought," he snarled.
There was a long awkward silence before Spider-Man said, "So...turns out Gary's blood is a useful cure." Matt just slightly lifted one eyebrow. "Well, a mental cure. It might not change them back to humans, but at least their minds are back."
"How's Gary feeling about it?" asked Matt.
Gary snapped, "I want an alternative cure."
"Sure. We can just give them little bits of your flesh," said NegaMorph with a nasty grin. Gary's eyes rolled back before he fell over in a faint. "And that's my biggest win for today," said NegaMorph smugly.
And there's the start of our Halloween arc. This is yet another chapter where the plot ran away with us. It's set in the New York that Peter and Miles first visited during their second Spider-Verse adventure. We've struggled with this concept, part of it splitting off into what became the Bah'feliz chapter. Even with this one, it was not easy to keep the plot small.
There's going to be two more parts to this arc which will be posted later this week. Keep an eye out for them and please review.