Reticence Saga
Severed Web
Chapter 33: New Night City (Part 2)
"Explain to me why we're doing this," said Blood Spider.
"Well, we do need to save Chloe. Dracula has his mental hooks in her and is currently using her as a bloodhound. And he's already powerful enough as it is, considering he's the ruler of New York City, or New Night City as you call it," said Spider-Man.
Blood Spider glared before saying, "I wanted to know why I'm bait, not a recap."
"Learn to deal with it. He can't help himself, though we've been persuading him to stop," said NegaMorph, holding up his Lockblade for emphasis.
"Er...well, Matt's the only one who's strong enough to hold Chloe and NegaMorph has to coordinate. And that leaves the only one who can hold your nerve long enough," said Spider-Man.
Blood Spider said, "Yeah...why am I not buying that?"
Matt called, "Also I hate you," from where he was setting up and covering a large disc from the orbiting splitter ship.
"Well pardon me if my life experience makes me divide people in the categories of 'who to protect' and 'who wants to eat me'," said Blood Spider dryly.
"I really hope she bites you." snapped Matt.
"How long have they been acting up like this?" asked Tiger Queen, rubbing her forehead.
"We only got here yesterday," said Megan.
"His first idea was a silver knife," snapped Matt, pointing accusingly.
"You know, if you keep bickering like that, Chloe will never come," said NegaMorph.
"I thought the idea was to lure her here with the sound of our bickering," said Matt sincerely.
NegaMorph twitched before muttering in a strained voice, "Just trip him at the wrong moment...nobody'd blame me if Chloe ate him...nobody at all."
Just then, Spider-Man shot small web balls at their foreheads. "If you two aren't going to take this seriously, you shouldn't be involved," he said.
"Hey, I don't trust Mr. Slayer there near my sister," snapped Matt.
"Then you stand in the trap," said Spider-Man.
"No, this stuff's advanced even for Nullspace tech. I'm setting it off," snapped Matt, glaring at Spider-Man.
"Fine, but I hope you can be professional about it," said Spider-Man.
"What about him?" said Matt darkly, pointing at Blood Spider.
"You could have-" started Spider-Man before a howl was heard. "Oh, it's about time," he said in exasperation.
The group scattered into their hiding places, except Blood Spider who stood in front of the concealed disc before a half dozen werewolves ran into view. Chloe was seen at the head of the pack. She was still the red-eyed black anthro wolf from before. And her status in Dracula's order was quite evident with what she was wearing: a torn tunic with a rope belt. Her fellows had more normal clothing, mostly torn civilian clothing, some holding pistols. "Blood Spider," she sneered as her pack spread out.
"I see you've gone down in the world," said Blood Spider.
Chloe snarled at that before nodding to her fellows. "I do not see why the master's so worried about you. All alone," she sneered, taking a step forward with her fellows before pausing, sniffing the air.
"Well, I did take out the Lizard King," said Blood Spider, "Dracula may have good reason to fear me."
Chloe glared, before nodding, her fellows charging him. There were a few 'twangs' as wolves suddenly found themselves being lurched upwards by an ankle.
Chloe just glared. "A trap...clever little spider," she sneered, raising a paw which began to glow.
"Oh, that's just the opener," said Blood Spider.
An ice spike shot from Chloe's paw at that, naturally missing before Chloe and the few of her pack still on their feet charged with a snarl, one yelping as he suddenly fell into his shadow, another being webbed up from the shadows, mumbling angrily.
"It's only her we're after," called Blood Spider, "Everyone else can go while they still have their dignity."
Chloe sneered before howling, her packmates howling with her before they charged, two yelping as a blue-scaled dragon landed on them, Chloe turning her head and as such, blundered onto the concealed disk, the air rippling and getting a faint blue shimmer around her before solidifying into an orange crystal, Chloe's moving eyes indicating she was still alive, though restrained. The rest of her pack backed up.
"Oh, and while you're running with your tails between your legs, you can tell Jameson that he should reconsider his alliance with Dracula," said Blood Spider.
Matt shifted back, the ones he'd landed on getting up unsteadily and staggering after their friends, supporting each other before he walked up to the crystal. "Nullspace tech, finest in the verse.," he muttered, tapping it before looking at Chloe. "We'll get you fixed up." he sighed.
"Any ideas how?" asked Spider-Man, landing next to Matt.
"That's the hard part," sighed Matt, pressing a button on a remote and the disc hovering up a few inches, carrying the crystal.
"You sure you can't get out of that carbonite?" asked Spider-Man.
"This stuff's vorxite. Makes diamond look like rice paper. You know...it's formed in neutron sta-" said Matt cheerfully.
NegaMorph butted in to say, "No chance of her getting out till we let her out."
"Then let's take her someplace where she can't escape," said Blood Spider.
"Like where?" asked Matt.
"How about the secure spaceship that you let her escape from?" asked NegaMorph dryly.
"Oh, don't you blame that on me," snapped Matt.
Matt's wristcomp buzzed at that. "I am not having a hellhound werewolf hybrid on me. Anyway, the teleporters don't work on vorxite," said the ship's AI.
"Ok, someplace else then?" asked Matt.
"I might have found a place, but you won't like it," said Spider-Man.
"Ok...let's hear it again. You lost her how?" said a dark gray, almost blue-furred werewolf darkly to the subordinate cowering.
"The enemy had clever traps..." whimpered the subordinate.
"Urgh...Drac'll hit the fucking roof," muttered the alpha, before Lady NegaMorph's voice said from nowhere, "And why would that be, Jameson?" Lady NegaMorph appeared from the shadows.
The wolves snarled. None of them liked Dracula's new witch. She was arrogant and she smelled wrong. "Call your pets off, Jameson." snapped Lady Nega.
"You're not the boss here," growled Jameson.
"No, but my boss is," sneered Lady Nega.
Jameson reduced his snarl and said, "Any particular reason he sent you with the message?"
"He wishes to know when his new hound will return," said Lady NegaMorph with a smirk, noticing the look. "Oh dear, you didn't take the mercenary seriously, did you. I warned the master, I warned the gargoyles...and I even warned you," she mocked.
"What good are those gargoyles?" scoffed Jameson, "All they do is sit on the rooftops and watch."
"And yet none of the rebels have even gotten close to them," said Lady NegaMorph, saying, "The master will be unhappy if he hears you lost his new toy."
"We've got more than enough werewolves to make up for her," said Jameson.
"You really think Dracula will accept that? Especially when half your number went off with that other wolf?" laughed Lady NegaMorph, before saying, "If I were you, and I'd like not being a rug and a head on the wall, I'd get her back."
The other wolves growled at her. "Anyone tell you not to kill the messenger?" asked Lady NegaMorph, "Because this messenger is definitely more than you can handle."
Jameson glared before he said to his pack, "Head out, comb our territory, turn the city upside down. Find her." He turned back to where Lady NegaMorph had been. "I really hate that bitch," he muttered.
Matt peered round the corner at the lit building. "City power plant, makes sense. Roomy, warm, and secure," he muttered.
"The last of your spaceman friends are holed up there too," Blood Spider said darkly.
"I doubt I could call them friends," said Matt.
NegaMorph rolled his eyes. "The kids probably told them how we saved em," he said before he walked into view. Both Spider-Man's and Blood Spider's spider-sense went nuts, Spider-Man pulling NegaMorph back just before a hail of energy bolts from the roof of the power plant rained down.
"Yup, splitters. Shoot first, don't bother with questions," snapped Matt, flicking a switch on his rifle, which whirred into a wide-muzzled weapon. "And I'm past being in the mood," he snapped, aiming and firing an energy orb, which slammed into the source of the shots and caused a wide fireball.
"Always the diplomat," said Megan, rolling her eyes.
"You are in no position to talk, young lady," said Matt.
The explosion seemed to have kicked over the ants nest, a dozen or so lizards of varying shapes and styles running out, weapons or claws out. Matt, however, noticed a winged lizard using a piece of wood as a cane.
"Do you think they'd respect a white flag?" asked Gary.
"Figures the Frenchie would want to surrender," said NegaMorph derisively.
"I was going to call a ceasefire!" snapped Gary.
"They try anything, they join those splitters," snapped Matt.
He aimed before the limping splitter snapped something, the lizards yelling back, pointing at them before the splitter proved that, injured he was, defenseless he wasn't when he backhanded the lizard flying. "It's safe to come over..." he called in a rasping voice.
"I bet it is," muttered Matt.
"Their leader is currently out, the so-called King. I assume you aren't a rescue team, are you?" the splitter asked with a sigh.
"Can't really call ourselves that," called Megan, "Considering how the ship we came here on blew up."
"Are you trying to tell everyone about it?" snapped Matt.
"I saw the explosion. Who are you? Darkrift?, Section 31?" the splitter asked.
One of the lizards snapped, "They killed three of us. They're probably from Blade's group."
"Don't suppose you know the name Matthew Lynch," called Megan.
"Oh no," muttered the splitter into his palm, before taking a deep breath and extending a hand. "Captain La'Char, Order of Lasar. I believe you locked claws with several of our operatives during the Aquila Corp incident," he said calmly.
"Huh, that was a long time ago," said Matt, "My memory's fuzzy on some parts."
"We had the contract to kill you," said La'Char calmly as if it was nothing.
Matt gulped, remembering his run-in with the assassins. "Oh yeah, it's all coming back to me," said Matt weakly.
"You're currently off the register, don't worry," said La'Char, in an amused tone.
"Well, that's...good," said Matt.
Several of the lizards glared at that before there was a cry of 'Matt'. Jim and Sarah rushed out and hugged Matt's legs.
"I see you got home okay," said Matt.
"Yeah, Mr Connors scolded us but apart from that. We told him all about the spaceship," said Sarah.
La'Char cleared his throat and said, "We should not speak so openly about the ship."
"That's an Akarev-45 plasma carbine...and you're wearing Mk-12 combat armor," said Matt in amusement.
La'Char glared and said, "I mean we shouldn't let the vampires know that there is advanced technology within reach of them."
"Fine, but but I don't see any vampires," said Matt.
"But they have many spies and agents," said La'Char, looking at the captive Chloe pointedly. Chloe snarled through the muzzle she'd been made to wear.
Matt said in a warning tone, "She's my sister."
"That is unfortunate, but you realize she's very clearly in Dracula's thrall," said La'Char.
"It also means that if there'd been a breach, we'd already be in trouble. In fact, she's why we're here. I wanna talk to Connors," said Matt.
"For what reason?" asked La'Char suspiciously.
"Is there a reason you don't want me to see him?" asked Matt.
La'Char glared. "Let's see. Your people created the Sy-Yong plague. You were a victim not once, on Sy-Yong but twice when there was another outbreak in Dimension D-53's New York," he sneered.
"How common is this knowledge?" asked Matt.
"The Black Order kept detailed records," sneered La'Char.
Matt glared and switched to splitter, "I beat you and your idiots once. I'm more than happy to repeat it."
"You do not have the advantages you had then," said La'Char pointedly.
"Perhaps I got more," said Matt.
"Uh, I think we're getting off track here," said Spider-Man, "We need to see Connors."
"So he can murder him in cold blood?" asked La'Char, glaring at Matt.
"How long have you been waiting to use that line?" asked Matt dryly, "I want his help."
"With what?" asked La'Char.
"Overthrowing Dracula," said Spider-Man.
La'Char laughed at that. "The Consortium sent their best and even we couldn't stop them," he said in splitter, adding in the same language, "These backwards humans don't have a chance."
"You know, it's rude to not speak the same language during a conversation," said Spider-Man.
La'Char smirked before saying, "Sergeant...go find Connors..." One of the remaining 2 splitters nodded and headed for the power station.
"But for right now, there's a leak that needs plugging," said La'Char, looking at Chloe.
"Chloe's not going anywhere and if Dracula could see through her eyes, don't you think he'd already be upon us?" asked Matt pointedly.
"I'm not taking that-" La'Char said, before pausing as Matt pointed his blaster. "Be reasonable, captain. She's a danger," he said to Matt calmly.
"Well, that's too bad, unless you know a way of snapping her out of Dracula's control," said Matt.
La'Char looked thoughtful before saying, "There is one way, but you won't like it."
Chloe snarled as she was pulled along, Matt glaring at the lizards' leader. Despite what he'd said, he was feeling a little twitchy, looking at one of the Lizards.
To Spider-Man, the Lizard looked rather similar to when he was last here, dressed in Victorian-style clothes. Though his scales were a nice healthy green and he had no bat wings.
"Spider-Man," said the lizard with a polite nod of his head.
"Connors, I hope that's you in control," said Spider-Man.
"My mind is still Connors," said the Lizard, "This reptilian form was necessary to resist Dracula."
"You still got some of the Lizard serum?" asked Matt.
"Yes, I keep some for any humans who wish to join," said Connors, "I've noticed that Dracula's control covers many mammals and some birds, but no reptiles. Not even snakes. My theory is that Dracula cannot control creatures of day and reptiles require the sun to function."
"I need a full dose," said Matt sternly.
"Well, we ought to try for a more measured dose. I'll have to know your body weight to make sure," said Connors.
"Not for me, my sister," said Matt.
"Your sister...the werewolf?" asked Connors uncertainly.
"Yeah. It'll work...it has to," said Matt darkly.
"But werewolves and vampires reject the serum," said Connors.
"That's because it's not strong enough," said Matt, "But I know...something from back home that'll give it the boost it needs."
"Not a chance in hell!" snapped La'Char angrily, glaring at Matt.
"It's the only way. We can do it under controlled circumstances," said Matt.
La'Char glared, "No! There's a reason there's a law around that sort of genetic technology."
"You think I don't know that? I know the risk better than anyone here," said Matt.
"Then you'd better find another way," snarled La'Char.
Chloe smirked at the lizards guarding her, one of the splitter troopers with them. "All this for little me," she taunted.
"I'd hardly call you little," said the splitter.
Chloe gave him an annoyed look and said, "I'm going to assume you meant that in a flattering way."
"Not really," sneered the splitter.
Chloe snarled before saying, "Ok, you should have run, alien. Lord Dracula has no need for you."
"And I don't see him sending out anyone to rescue you," said the splitter.
"You'd be surprised," Chloe laughed.
"You're just fooling yourself," said the splitter, "Dracula only cares for vampires. Werewolves are useful, but disposable for him."
Chloe started laughing at that. "I like you. I'll kill you first," she said, finishing the last part darkly.
"Those bars are silver and steel," said one of the lizards, "You're not getting out of there."
"Am I?" asked Chloe before grasping two bars. She winced a bit at the burning cold, but she was able to bend open the bars like they were made of wire.
The splitter ran forward, arcing hand lunging forward only for Chloe to grab his wrist, pull him forward, before snapping his neck, grabbing the key as his body disintegrated.
The two lizards tried to open the locked door out as Chloe unlocked the cell and walked towards them. "Oh look...lunch," she sneered before lunging at them.
Matt ran into the corridor, as the alarm bell rang, several of Connors's people at the smashed open door, what was left of two lizards in the room. "NegaMorph. She's loose. Try local comms," he said into his comm.
"Dammit, does she always have to cause a scene?" snapped NegaMorph.
"The guards in her cell are dead. If you sense her, keep her sense of direction scrambled," Matt snapped.
"You know she's not easy to pen," said NegaMorph, "And she's gotten a hellhound boost too."
"Just do it!" snapped Matt, turning to see La'Char arriving. "One of your men dead, two civilians, gimme the damn clearance to the ship biolab," Matt snapped angrily.
La'Char gave a curt nod before saying, "If it doesn't work, we're putting her down."
Matt glared before vanishing in a flash of teleport.
Chloe dropped a dead lizard to the ground, his neck snapped before glaring. Something was throwing her off, probably that black blob. Every time she got close to an exit, she'd fall into a shadow portal and would be spat out somewhere else.
"This is really getting annoying," growled Chloe. She turned and ducked to the side, several fangs embedding into a doorframe. "My little jailer," she sneered, straightening up, her eyes glowing red.
"Chloe, how many times do we have to go through this?" asked NegaMorph in annoyance.
"That depends. I suppose I can still have some fun. There's still prey in here," she sneered, before saying, "Then again...I could always kill you."
"With what? Your fangs and claws?" asked NegaMorph, unimpressed. The reply was a blast of red energy from her thrust palm, knocking NegaMorph off his feet. "Ok, what was that?" asked NegaMorph.
"Something other than fangs and claws," sneered Chloe, the same energy encompassing her claws.
"Ok, you never did that before," said NegaMorph.
"It's amazing what hellhound energy can do for a body," sneered Chloe before lunging.
However, her lunge was cut comically short when someone grabbed her tail. Chloe glared back at Gary, who was holding her tail in his stone form. "Er, pardon moi," said Gary.
Chloe's eyes glowed, the pupils turning to slits before she turned and lunged, slashing at Gary's face. Gary quickly ducked and curled up. Chloe's claws left noticeable scratches in his stone skin.
She pulled her tail back, before grabbing Gary and throwing him at NegaMorph. "Weaklings. You think you're anything more than bugs?" she roared.
Just then, her feet got covered in webs. "Actually, that would be us," said Spider-Man as he and Blood Spider dropped from the ceiling and kept shooting webs at Chloe.
Chloe struggled before getting a hand free. "DIE!" she roared in an echoing voice, the same beam lancing out from her hand and narrowly missing them, blowing a hole in the wall.
"Since when could she do that?" asked Spider-Man.
"Since Simeria, apparently," said NegaMorph.
Chloe managed to rip the webbing off before seeing open sky through the hole and running for it. However, Gary tackled her to the ground. "Just for the record, I normally don't do this to ladies," said Gary.
"Stop apologizing!" snapped NegaMorph.
Chloe snarled before driving her elbow into Gary's ribs and pulling herself free and continuing before a blue continuous bolt of electricity hit her in the back, Chloe giving a mix of a scream and howl, her back arched, Matt in the doorway, holding a splitter rifle.
As soon as the bolt stopped, Chloe spun and snarled, charging him, her eyes almost feral before Matt fired again. Chloe's body lit up with electricity before she collapsed to the ground. "Wait a minute, she's an electric elemental," said NegaMorph, "She should have absorbed that."
"Unless her hellhound side was suppressing it," said Matt.
Chloe was trying to pull herself up. "You...weak...huuuuman…" she began as Matt drew a dart pistol, a gray liquid in it. "Not even that, you're a genetic FREAK. You've spent more time with scales than skin," she sneered weakly.
"Rubber, glue, back to you," said Matt before firing.
"That's the worst comeback-" started Chloe before the dart hit her. Chloe pulled the dart out before her eyes got unfocused and she seemed to start having a seizure, shaking on the ground as Matt upped the charge on the arc rifle to lethal and aimed.
"What did you just put in her?" asked NegaMorph.
"Wait for it..." said Matt. Chloe's shaking got worse, to the point that they could see the fur being shaken off her skin. And there were scales left exposed underneath.
NegaMorph stared. "No...you didn't...ARE YOU INSANE?" he snapped, rounding on Matt.
"It was the only thing strong enough to overcome her werewolf side," said Matt.
"So you infected her with the one virus that even Emperor Hamsterface didn't want to use?" snarled NegaMorph.
"You think I wanted this for her?" snapped Matt, "This is my most desperate measure."
A whimper got their attention, turning to look at the charcoal-scaled lizard Chloe had turned into, hugging her legs and whimpering to herself.
There was a long pause before Spider-Man said, "Uh, the drama's a little lost on me."
"So she changed from one type of monster to another. What's the big deal?" asked Blood Spider.
Matt glared. "The Sy-Yong colony, an Executive Genetics research colony. They tried to use the basic tech behind the Lizard serum to make medical nanites redundant. The result was anthropomorphic lizards that you needed to blow apart that overwhelmed the colony to the point it had to be destroyed from orbit," he said darkly, adding, "Oh...and please don't accuse me of blowing this out of proportion. I was part of the recon team sent in. 2 of my friends died down there and I had to take genetic therapy for a month to recover from being infected."
"Uh..." started Spider-Man.
"You remember how there was a Lizard epidemic on the Triskelion?" asked NegaMorph, having read the incident report.
"Yes," said Spider-Man.
"Think that, only covering a whole city, even more vicious Lizards, and they were bound by a hive mind," said NegaMorph.
"Let's get her to a cell," said Matt calmly, walking cautiously towards Chloe who was whimpering 'Alone' over and over.
Megan frowned as she looked at the shivering lizard in the cell. "Ok, I know drastic intervention was needed, but isn't this too drastic?" she asked.
"No, there wasn't any other way I could think of. La'Char would have probably convinced the locals to shoot her before we could get her somewhere she could get help," sighed Matt.
"Well, let's hope that we can get her treated for this soon," said Gary.
Just then, Megan looked at the scanner built into her wrist, "Uh, that may not be necessary. According to this, her werewolf DNA is reasserting itself...at an aggressive rate."
"How aggressively?" asked Matt.
Just then, they heard a whine from the cell. Chloe had stopped her whimpering and was now frantically scratching herself. Apparently she was itchy like crazy, given the way she was clawing at herself. Just then, she sank her claws into her upper arm and pulled. There was a loud wet rip and a moan of satisfaction from Chloe. A huge hunk of scaly skin came off in her fingers. It was still loosely connected to her arm by tendrils of green slime. And now there was a large glistening patch of black fur on her arm.
Matt and Gary stared open-mouthed, Matt saying weakly, "I think my lunch wants to come out the same way it came in."
Megan said weakly, "It's alright for you. You can actually throw up."
It didn't stop there as Chloe kept loudly and wetly removing more chunks of scaly hide to reveal more black fur. "I think we should let Chloe have her privacy," said Gary, who was turning a bit green.
"Agreed, Megan. Monitor the situation," said Matt, turning to leave.
Megan snapped, "Not a chance you-"
Matt said, "Override code Omega 332."
Megan's eyes turned blue as she said robotically, "Override accepted." Her eyes turned back to normal and she snapped, "Smeg you."
"You've gone native. You used that insult all wrong," said Matt cheerfully, pushing Gary out before shutting the door.
Megan grimaced as Chloe started peeling her back. "I really hope I can delete this memory later," she said.
One of her sub-VIs said, "Warning, all AI memories are read-only." A lizard guard outside the room jumped as he heard Megan start yelling swears.
A little later, Matt came in to check on Chloe. At the front of her cell, he saw the tattered remains of her lizard skin and her tunic on the floor. Huddled in the back corner of the cell was Chloe herself. "So, how are we feeling?" asked Matt.
"Well, I went from an evil minion nightmare to an isolation nightmare. I suffered from the worst itch of my entire life. I'm in desperate need of new clothes and a ba... a shower. But other than that, I'm just peachy," said Chloe.
Matt noticed her eyes were still the hellhound style of white irises and colored sclera, though the colored part was blue now. That said he was keeping a hand on his blaster. He wasn't taking chances.
"On a side note, I'll probably not make fun of you being scared of Infected anymore," said Chloe.
"Yeah. You seen a reflection yet?" asked Matt carefully.
"So I'm a werewolf again. Big deal," said Chloe.
Matt looked around before picking up some metal from the corner and tossing it over.
Chloe picked it up before looking at herself. She didn't seem phased until she got a good look at her eyes. She pulled the eyelid back to show more of the inverted colors. "Huh, that's unconventional," she commented.
"I don't think Miss Hellhound's going away any time soon," said Matt.
Chloe shrugged and said, "Honestly, not much of a difference for me. Unless I get an urge to hunt people at crossroads."
"You had the ability to fire doom beams from your hand," said Matt skeptically.
"Is that what they were?" asked Chloe.
"Yeah. You melted a hole in the wall," said Matt.
"Hmm..." said Chloe before looking at her fingers. Electric sparks shot out of them. "Seems to be working now," said Chloe.
"Just...stay in the cell for now. La'Char's twitchy as hell and just looking for an excuse," warned Matt.
"Can I at least get some clean clothes?" asked Chloe.
Matt walked back to the door and hammered on it till the guard came. "Can my sister get a little decency?" he asked in an annoyed tone.
"She had fur, doesn't she?" asked the guard.
Matt grabbed the guard by the head and slammed the door a few times on his neck. "Wanna try that again?" asked Matt.
"I'll get some clothes," gibbered the guard.
"Good gecko, now snap to it," Matt snapped.
Chloe was both pleased and displeased with her new clothes. She had forgotten that this world was closer to Victorian times, so women's pants are considerably rarer. As such, she was handed a dress, thankfully not too long to cause her to trip on. On the other hand, she did like the purple fabric with gold trim. It managed to fit her easily enough, even if did leave her lower legs exposed. She left the corset unfastened though. The dress was tight enough around the chest as it is.
Matt, checking his rifle, said "As soon as we get a chance, I'll take you to the ship. AI can't object to customizing some gear for you."
"I think I'll keep it though," said Chloe as she looked at herself in the mirror, "I'm sure Chris will like this."
"You aren't even going to have any occasions to wear it. It's not like we get invited to- STOP TWIRLING!" snapped Matt.
"Hey!" snapped Chloe, before pausing, her eyes narrowing just before there was a knock.
"What now?" asked Matt in annoyance.
La'Char walked in at that, smirking. "I came to check on the patient," he said smugly.
"You can look, but don't touch," said Chloe flatly.
"I came to take a genetic scan. As your brother can attest, the Sy-Yong virus, even if it's modified, can be...resistant and given there isn't a gene therapy facility in 3000 lightyears..." La'Char said smugly.
"He has a point," said Matt, "Better safe than sorry."
La'Char smirked at Chloe at that, taking out a handheld blood-sampling device.
Chloe just grumbled before taking the sampler. "You better destroy this sample when you're done," said Chloe.
"I'm afraid those are beyond me," said La'Char, adding, "Sy-Yong treaty protocols and all that." Chloe handed back the sample. "This could take a bit," said La'Char, "We do need to be thorough."
Matt glared as La'Char left. "He doesn't need to test..." he muttered darkly.
"He might have a reason to," said Chloe, "I shouldn't have been cured that easily."
"You're a half-demon werewolf now with extra demon. I'm surprised you were a lizard that long," said Matt jokingly.
"How much demon am I?" asked Chloe with concern.
"Well, if you start sizzling if you go into a church, might be a little too much," joked Matt.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" snarled Chloe, her eyes blazing for a second.
"Ok, ok, don't get your tail in a twist," said Matt, "You've still got your dragon form, right?"
There was a brief flash of lightning before Chloe was in her anthro dragon form. But she frowned before changing back to werewolf form. "It just...feels wrong for some reason," said Chloe, "Like I'm wearing a shirt backwards or something."
Matt decided not to comment that her eyes had remained the same before saying, "Could be worse. You coulda been the pterodactyl lady still."
Chloe glared before pausing, "Ok, I'll give you that."
"You still got gamma power?" asked Matt.
"Keep pushing me and you'll find out," growled Chloe, "And I still don't know how to become human again. This could be a big problem." Just then, an ethereal flame went up around Chloe before it went out, revealing human Chloe, the dress covering up her legs more.
"Oh...problem solved," said Matt cheerfully.
Chloe looked at herself and said, "Ok, that's a little too convenient."
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," said Matt.
"Fine..." muttered Chloe.
La'Char meanwhile had found a little hide away, before activating his comm. Several shadowed figures appeared, one saying in a elderly female voice, "There had better be a good reason for this."
"I have very interesting news," said La'Char, "One of our old marks has resurfaced, quite different from how she last appeared."
"This is interesting news. Which one?" asked another, male figure.
"General Silvia," said La'Char, "Though she's going by 'Chloe Lynch' now."
"Interesting… The NSC recently declared her and her brother's team criminals. I assume you have a plan in place?" said the female.
"Well, right now, they're trying to pit themselves against the local vampire overlord," said La'Char.
"The current contract," said the male voice.
"It was not an official contract. Ignore it at your leisure," said the female voice, "The Lynches embarrassed the order once before. They won't again."
But then a polite cough caused a pause, the third voice speaking up in a rasping voice, "The brother is not to be harmed. You know he earnt his...immunity."
"And you must consider his wrath should you eliminate his sister," said the first male voice.
"If he attacks La'Char, he is fair game," said the female harshly.
"That may be, but we'd rather not see him lost to us so soon," said the raspy voice.
"Fear not, I have a plan," said La'Char, "Her brother can't retaliate if I prove that Chloe is still unstable and needs to be put down."
There was a pause, the shadows muttering with each other before the female voice said coldly, "You have permission to proceed. You have your chances."
"I shall make the most of them," said La'Char.
Now that the issue of Chloe has been dealt with, there were other matters to attend to. Namely of the fanged, cape-wearing kind.
"Ok...so, have we tried just setting him on fire?" asked Matt, before noticing the looks. "I'm serious, alot of people overlook it," he said defensively.
"If being exposed to sunlight doesn't permanently kill him, I don't think regular fire's gonna cut it," said Spider-Man.
"That's the crux of it," said Megan, "This is the Immortal Dracula. The one back in Spidey's dimension has been killed hundreds of times, but he keeps coming back."
"Great, worse than Ghoulwyrm," muttered Matt gloomily.
Chloe said, "When I was there, I could sense alot of magic in the bottom of his hideout. It could be what's generating the cloud cover."
"For all we know, it's powered by the souls of children," said Megan. The others gave her a horrified look. "I'm just speculating," said Megan, "He's probably got something more efficient."
"It...wasn't necromancy, but it's powerful. If we had the Bladestorm, I'd say drop a MAC round on it, but we'll need something else," said Chloe.
"This sounds like an infiltration job," said NegaMorph, "Fortunately, you happen to have one of the best sneaks in the cosmos here."
Chloe shook her head, "Lady Nega spilled all the beans. He's probably prepared for you."
"Oh, right," said Megan, "She'd know everything I know."
"But not everything you currently know," said Spider-Man, "For example, I doubt she'd know that Chloe is no longer on Dracula's leash."
Matt paused before he said in a level voice, "Are you suggesting sending my sister back into the vampire's den?" A crack heard and everyone looking to see Matt's grip on the table they were at had torn a small bit off, his claws grinding it to splinters.
"Well, the floor's open for debate," said Spider-Man, "Anyone else have a better idea?"
There was a pause before Chloe asked, "Anyone got a better idea?"
There was a long pause before Matt snapped, "Well, someone must be stealthier!"
The silence got worse at that before Chloe said, "It's gotta be me."
"I want a second opinion," snapped Matt.
"Ok, you've got bad breath too," said NegaMorph.
Matt glared at that, Chloe sighing before saying, "Ok, we'll try and come up with something else."
"Right, find an alternate means of getting into Dracula's basement," said Matt, "At least it'd be far from his chambers."
"Uh, don't vampires keep their chambers as far underground as possible?" asked Gary.
"Of course they would," muttered Matt.
La'Char would have tried to take Chloe down right then, but he was aware that she wouldn't be easy to kill, especially when he only had himself and one other splitter left. But he could appeal to the locals' superstitions and paranoia.
To this end, he was walking towards Connors's lab, where he produced the serum for any newcomers who wanted to join. The serum was mostly effective against infection from lesser monsters, though he was pretty sure a more powerful monster could turn a lizard.
A couple of lizards with grease guns glared at him as he walked past, seeing Connors working on something. La'Char paused before giving his best diplomatic smile. "Is this a bad time?" he asked.
"There's never a good time," hissed Connors. It was amazing how even a humanoid reptile could get baggy eyes.
"I have...concerns about Miss Lynch. I fear she may be having an adverse reaction," said La'Char smoothly.
"You mean the way she reverted back to werewolf form so rapidly?" asked Connors.
"Yes, I fear that this could end rather badly. My own blood tests seem to suggest she could be dangerous," said La'Char.
"Dangerous how?" asked Connors.
"She might be turning feral. Surely you noticed her short temper...or worse, she might be still under Dracula's control," said La'Char
"Hmm...the lizard serum should have severed it," said Connors.
"And she shouldn't have turned back that fast either," pointed out La'Char, "Without the facilities for a blood test, we may have to...deal with her. Me and my remaining staff can do it quite cleanly."
Connors raised an eyeridge. "Your remaining staff?" he asked dubiously.
"There may just be me and the sergeant, but I assure you we are quite capable," said La'Char in a voice full of professional pride.
"And what do you intend to do with her?" asked Connors, "She sounds like more than 10 men can deal with."
"I assure you, we can handle her. As for what we should do, she already knows your location. If she passes that onto Dracula...well, there's a saying about loose ends..." said La'Char.
"Then if you're going to do something, shouldn't you do it?" asked Connors.
"Well, we might require some aid in restraining her brother," said La'Char.
"Yes, I would see why he would object," said Connors.
La'Char nodded, adding, "We'll move in an hour." before walking out.
Connors glared. Something about this didn't smell right. Well, there was one thing he could do to determine it. He had taken a sample of Chloe's blood when she was a lizard. That at least should tell him something about her physiology.
Chloe sighed, looking out a window at the clouds before looking at Matt. "This place is a mess," she sighed.
Matt, behind her, nodded. "Hey, you upset cause Mr. Pointy Dentistry mind-whammied you?" he asked.
"He wasn't the first," said Chloe in a sour tone, "Honestly, it's happened to me so many times, I think I'm becoming a liability."
"No, no, you're not a liability. You're unstoppable when you aren't-" said Matt, pausing before Chloe growled "-Brainwashed?"
"Hey, it's not like you're controlled every time," said Matt.
"Right, only about 75% of the time," snapped Chloe.
"I wouldn't say that," said Matt diplomatically.
"Easy for you to say," snapped Chloe, "You're the one who's got an immunity to mind manipulation while I'm damaged goods."
"Ah...musta been someone else who was whammied by Taelina," said Matt icily.
"Honestly, it was your glands she was controlling more than your brain," said Chloe dryly.
Matt glared. "And the Infected...oh god, the Infected," he said, his voice trailing off.
Chloe frowned and said, "You're sure there's nothing left of that in my head?"
"No, that wasn't the virus. You're fine," said Matt.
"But-" started Chloe.
"Your werewolf side took that lizard, chewed it up, and spat it back out," said Matt, "I don't think you have to worry."
"Well, I won't stop until I see a real doctor," said Chloe.
"Then we'll get one. We'll head to Avalar after this. If spyro and the Council don't like it, they can shove it!" snapped Matt.
"I think we need to take care of our more immediate problem first," said Chloe, pointing out the window.
"Yeah...those clouds. Good part is we got a ride. La'Char's ship's in orbit. He'll probably drop us off at a station and we can buy another ship there," said Matt, adding, "But we're not going till Dracula's at least on the back foot...and I got his ship's starter chit." He held up what looked like a gray credit card.
"When did you get that?" asked Chloe.
"Ah, ah, trade secret," said Matt. Chloe glared, Matt relented. "Ok, you chased us onto the ship and I stole the chit from their flight console before we ported back down."
"You know...I have a vague recollection of that..." said Chloe uncertainly, "I mostly remember food..."
"Yeah, you tried to munch us," said Matt.
"No, no, there was that other food..." said Chloe.
"Oh, you mean how you ate your own weight in the food storage?" asked Matt.
Chloe burped at that before nodding. "I think so," she said.
Matt winced before waving the air in front of him. "Ok, you need some mouthwash, badly," said Matt.
There was a knock at the door at that, Matt and Chloe looking up. "Were you expecting anyone?" asked Matt carefully.
"Not unless Megan has found something more practical for me to wear," said Chloe.
Matt looked at the door before a click was heard, Matt going for his pistol before a stunner shot came through the door and nailed him, the door kicked open to reveal two splitters in power armor.
"Oh no, the sudden but inevitable betrayal," said Chloe in a deadpan tone.
One of the splitter's helmets segmented to reveal La'Char, the other aiming at Chloe's face before he walked over and scratched Matt's face. "Really? You went feral and attacked him," he sneered.
"That's the best you can come up with?" asked Chloe.
"Well, you won't be in any state to object," said La'Car before putting an electrified claw on her shoulder.
Chloe didn't even twitch as she soaked up the electricity. "Oh please," she said, "If someone is going to assassinate me, they have to at least be professionals."
La'Char smirked knowingly, Chloe barely managing to move before the other trooper jabbed a syringe in her neck. "Makes a good distraction though," he taunted as the sedative kicked in. As Chloe dropped, La'Char said, "Hurry. I doubt that sedative will keep her down for long."
The two managed to make it as far as the street outside. "What do you mean you cannot get a lock?" snapped La'Char.
The ship's AI said, "The launch chit is missing and I can't tell where it is. Most of security was wrecked when the hellhound went on a bender."
"Of course it would be her fault," said La'Char's trooper, giving Chloe a kick.
"Stop, you'll wake her up faster. Urgh...and she would have made such a nice replacement for the one her brother cost us all those years ago. Shoot them both," said La'Char, the trooper aiming before a shot of webbing pulled his gun out of his hands.
"Now, that's hardly what I'd call proper host behavior," said Spider-Man, tossing the gun away.
La'Char glared. "I'm getting rid of two dangers," he snapped, aiming his own blaster.
Another web blast covered La'Char's hand at that. "I don't recall you being made judge around here," said Blood Spider.
La'Char glared at that. "Really? Good coming from someone who was so ready to give up on his friends," he sneered, before he snapped, "Miss Lynch is a danger to you all. She needs to be restrained-"
"I'm here to give a second opinion on that," said Connors, coming around the corner.
"Was everyone waiting for us?" asked La'Char's trooper in exasperation.
NegaMorph stepped out of the shadows at that. "Maybe next time, put silencers on your blasters," he taunted.
"I'd say we should collect on his bounty too, but how are we supposed to pick it up?" asked La'Char's trooper.
La'Char glared, before noticing the glares of the lizards who had wandered over at the commotion. "Her bloodwork is fine. There's no trace of the serum in her blood," Connors said in a cold voice.
"Chloe will be relieved hear that when she wakes up," said NegaMorph before pulling out his pocketwatch, "Which if I know here, ought to be around..."
La'Char glared before he snapped at his fellow. "Lets go," he snapped, dropping Chloe.
"We aren't about to let them just walk away, are we?" asked Blood Spider.
"Oh, by all means, try to stop us," said La'Char.
Chloe's voice said, "Let em run." Chloe winced as she tried to get up.
"There we are," said NegaMorph, clicking his pocketwatch shut.
"We got their ship. They won't last a day," snarled Chloe.
La'Char glared at Chloe and said, "This is not the end of this. The Black Order still remembers General Silvia."
Chloe stared with a horrified look as the two splitters took off and into the maze of buildings. "Who's General Silvia?" asked Blood Spider suspiciously.
"Someone from a past life," said Chloe.
Blood Spider opened his mouth to push it before his spider-sense went nuts, focussed on NegaMorph, who was giving him a look a bird of prey might give an uppity mouse. Usually, his spider-sense didn't warn him about asking questions, but if it was doing so, it was wise to pay attention.
NegaMorph seemed to sense that decision, saying coldly, "So you do have people skills...listen to them."
Just then, Matt started getting up. "Ow...cheap shot..." he muttered, "Whose cat scratched me?"
"La'Char...tried to frame me," said Chloe darkly, saying quietly, "His bosses want Silvia."
"Black Order?" asked Matt.
"How did you know?" asked Chloe.
"Met them...before with that little...fun with the Warwolf program. Nasty bastards...use some sort of tech called gene-morphing to increase their number," shuddered Matt at the memories, before saying, "Me and some friends I was with took em down a notch."
Chloe processed and was about to open her mouth before Matt said, "Doesn't matter right now. They're not going to try again so soon."
Just then, there was a bright flash from outside. "Uh, does lighting fireworks count as trying again?" asked Spider-Man.
Matt pulled down his helmet's optics and squinted at the sky. "It's a shuttle...splitter one..." he said.
Chloe joined him, her eyes almost closed. "They're dropping flares. Any vamp and Drac minion for 50 blocks will know where we are."
"Oh, great, I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyways," said NegaMorph dryly.
"This is bad. There's no way we can evacuate in time," snapped Connors.
"Then we'll have to stand our ground," said Blood Spider.
"No, we aren't all fighters here. We-" began Connors before howls were heard in the darkened streets, Chloe twitching.
"Chloe..." said Matt in a warning tone.
"Oh please, I have self-control," said Chloe, "Just because I'm a wolf doesn't mean I have join in every-" Then there was another group howling outside. Chloe lifted her head and let out a loud howl of her own.
Matt sighed, facepalming. "We really are professionals...honest," he moaned through his hand.
Jameson couldn't believe his luck. He wasn't really sure what that bright flash was, but his pack soon found something interesting in the area it went off. This power plant was apparently the rock those lizards had been hiding under. And judging by the scents in the air, the newcomers were here, along with Dracula's newest pet.
He turned to his pack. "Ok, guys and gals. Dracula wants his toy back, so we're gonna go get him...and to make things more fun, he don't want any other prisoners," he called with bloodthirsty glee, the pack howling and cheering.
"The lizards will be easy pickings. Those coldblooded worms are probably all asleep," said Jameson, "Just look out for the intruders."
There was murmurs, before Jameson yelled, "NOW LET'S GO HUNTING!"
Just because this Lizard was a lot smarter and more self-controlled than the one back home didn't mean he didn't have a nasty temper when he was provoked. And La'Char had definitely provoked him.
"I should have never taken them in. We've survived by staying hidden and now that's all over," snapped Connors, hissing angrily at the group.
"It's not over yet," said Blood Spider, "This place is still defendable."
"Most of my people came to me to hide from Dracula, not fight him," snapped Connors.
"I thought you were lizards, not rats," said Blood Spider.
"Uh, I think what he means is that, uh, rats will always try to run first, but if they're backed into a corner, they're very vicious fighters," said Spider-Man.
"Plus, you got us," said Matt, picking up the rifle that had been pulled from La'Char's partner.
"Yeah, werewolves may work in packs, but get them alone, they're dumb, easily-confused animals," said Megan. Chloe growled at her. "I mean, some are obviously superior to the rest," added Megan.
"We'll still need to abandon this hideout," said Connors.
Matt shrugged, "Anyone up for buying some time?"
Jameson's pack moved cautiously towards the old power plant. The lizards were no slouches and their regeneration meant they were tough to take down. "I can smell em, boss," sneered one of them, before he and two others stalked forward, only for a hail of blue bolts to drop them.
"Careful, this is a hazardous work environment," called Matt's voice.
"You the outsider who's got my new girl?" called back Jameson, before ducking as another laser bolt almost hit him in the face.
"Don't shoot your mouth off or I'll do it for you," said Matt's voice, sounding irritated.
Jameson smirked, before silently nodding to several of his pack who slipped off to the side. "We just want Dracula's attack dog back," he called.
"Did you check the dog pound?" asked Matt's voice.
There was a beat before Jameson said flatly, "You'll pay for that eventually."
"I know," said Matt, "Sounded better in my head."
There was a noise that sounded like a slap before Matt's voice, quieter, said, "I didn't mean you..." followed by another slap and a sullen "Ow."
"This is going to be too easy," muttered Jameson.
"You know he's stalling you. I've fought Man-Wolf and he's no idiot," whispered Blood Spider.
"Trust me, the vaudeville act's a ruse too," said NegaMorph.
"Think it's a distraction?" asked Matt.
Blood Spider nodded. "And stay away from that gem around his neck. He doesn't need to bite you to turn you with that," he said,
"Take the gem from him, got it," said NegaMorph.
"That's not what I-" started Blood Spider before NegaMorph disappeared into the shadows.
There was a clink above, the Spiders getting a dose of spider-sense as Matt looked up and swore, just before Jameson's wolves smashed down through the glass ceiling.
"We've got this," said Spider-Man before shooting some web blasts at the wolves' muzzles.
Some however managed to dodge, one landing in front of Matt, grabbing his rifle and getting a particle blast that evaporated it. Matt turned to aim at another only for it to be swatted aside. Matt snarled and shifted to anthro dragon form before tackling.
"His scales are too thick for the wolves to get through, right?" asked Blood Spider.
"No idea," snapped Chloe, struggling with an opponent before her eyes glowed red, turning slitted briefly before she snapped the wolf's neck.
"You know, it's not as strictly 'them-or-us' as with vampires," said Spider-Man.
"I'm sure the wolves disagree on that," said Blood Spider dryly.
Matt spat a burst of blue flame into his opponent's face, before, as the wolf clutched his face, grabbed said wolf and caused him to headbutt a wall hard enough to crack it. "I gotta side with Spider-Grump. These guys wanna eat our faces," he said.
"If they were human sympathizers, they wouldn't be working for Dracula," observed Chloe.
The last wolf was backing up, yelping as his back bumped into a corner. "Erm...parley?" he asked before Matt hit him over the head with his recovered rifle.
"Idiots, they had the element of surprise and still lost," Jameson muttered, his remaining pack's spirits down. They always took a failed raid badly.
"What now, boss?" asked a female, nobody noticing a shadow apparently moving by itself among the group.
"If nothing else, we can clear out those lizards," said Jameson, "These so-called heroes can't be guarding them all here."
"Lizards are probably long gone," snapped one of his betas angrily.
Another snapped, "You led us 'ere for nothin'."
"High reward and high risk are part of the job," snapped Jameson.
"Some alpha you are," snapped a third before one said "Maybe we need a new alph-" before Jameson pulled out a revolver and shot the dissenter between the eyes.
"Anyone else?" he snapped.
There were no immediate replies, but there were plenty of glares. "C'mon, let's have it then. May as well get this out the- ACK!" snapped Jameson only to be suddenly yanked down when someone grabbed at his amulet.
The rest of the pack jumped back as some sort of shadow demon emerged, an arm around the clasp, before Jameson steadied himself and pulled, the demon dragged fully out the shadows before Jameson spun on his feet, the demon being thrown off. "Little shit!" snapped Jameson.
"Well, that was embarrassing," said the demon, "Usually those necklaces just slip off."
"This is mine! I found it long before Dracula allied with us!" snapped Jameson, the gem starting to glow, NegaMorph backing up. "Even Dracula can't take it from me. And I've shown him what happens to those who try to take it," said Jameson before a beam shot from the gem and hit NegaMorph.
NegaMorph blinked before feeling himself over. "Ha! Nothing doing! I'm far too messed up for your wolf stone to do anything with me," he boasted. But then he started scratching himself, lightly at first before doing it more vigorously.
"Bugger...ok, lads...consolation prize..." Jameson sneered.
NegaMorph stopped his scratching to notice the rest of the pack grinning toothily, some drawing rather large blades. "Erm...can I have any last words?" he asked.
Jameson shrugged. "Ok...what are they?" he said.
NegaMorph waved and said "Bye bye," before falling into a shadow.
"Smarmy demon," muttered a werewolf.
"I'M NOT A DEMON!" snapped a voice from the shadows.
NegaMorph emerged back in the power plant. "Ok...gem's kinda stuck on there," he said before noticing the looks, Chloe starting to make 'arf' noises as she clutched her chest and laughed.
"What? What's so funny?" asked NegaMorph, unaware of how hairier his ears are. But then again, his attention was more preoccupied with scratching himself.
"So, Blood Spider, the gem turns their targets into carpets?" asked Matt, chuckling.
A yell from outside said, "Oi! I 'eard that!" Matt fired a shot and a yelp heard before the same voice said in a hurt voice, "It was just some feedback."
"Hmm...maybe he's just too much of an abomination to make into a werewolf," said Blood Spider.
"I'd be offended if the description didn't fit," said NegaMorph, "But I think that jerk gave me fleas."
"More like a case of wolfpox," said Blood Spider.
"That's a thing?" asked Spider-Man.
"Pretty rare. Something that people who don't turn get instead," said Blood Spider.
"Your dimension's screwed up, man," said Matt, before taking a photo of NegaMorph.
"Uh, you really don't have fleas, do you?" asked Chloe, taking a step back, "I'd really not have to deal with any."
"Well, I'm sure both itch and fleas can be treated with a bath," said Spider-Man.
Chloe snarled, before catching herself and storming off.
Connors found her storming along a corridor as he was helping to organize the escape route into the sewer and subway systems. "Is there something we can help you with?" asked Connors.
"No, it seems I can't help but make more trouble for you," said Chloe.
Connors sighed before saying, "Buy as much time as you can. Man-Wolf isn't on Dracula's best terms but he never gives up. We need more time to get my people out."
"And Man-Wolf's come for me," grumbled Chloe, "Yet another problem I've brought here..."
"Do not blame yourself. It was only a matter of time. This is the 4th time we have been forced to relocate," said Connors kindly.
"Well, Man-Wolf's not gonna stop until he catches me," said Chloe before pausing, "But what if I let him?"
Connors paused, before asking, "What do you have in mind?" Chloe grinned.
Matt kept an eye on Man-Wolf and his pack through the window, taking half-hearted blaster shots at his pack when they popped up.
He heard a slam before turning to see Chloe come in. It was just the two of them here, the others watching other areas Jameson's dogs could get in.
"Chloe, feeling better?" asked Matt.
"Do I look ok?" snarled Chloe.
Matt noticed her eyes were in hellhound mode. "Hey, this isn't your fault. It's that La'Char jerk's fault," he said cheerfully.
Chloe snapped, "No, it's yours! I've never felt so weak. If I still had the power you took away, I could have minced those wolves."
"Excuse me?" asked Matt.
"With the sort of power I had, I could destroy McNiel, force Lady Nega to give up..." she snarled, getting a grin that made Matt tighten his grip on his rifle a bit.
"Uh, Chloe, that's starting to sound like crazy talk," said Matt with worry.
"Is it crazy to want to have enough power to make a difference?" sneered Chloe, adding "I'm going for that gem."
Matt aimed, the rifle clicked into stun, his mind thinking if La'Char had been right after all. "Chloe, I think you need a timeout to think things over," said Matt.
Chloe's eyes glowed demon red at that, energy lines in her fur also lighting up before she said, "Make me."
Jameson and his pack had been trying to plan a new plan of attack when the sound of weapon fire made them jump, before a black-furred blur smashed out the door and began running towards them, dirt being kicked up as one of the outsiders opened fire from the doorway.
The pack quickly scattered or found places to hide. Jameson meanwhile spotted this was their target, running towards them. "Shoot back, you pups!" he snapped, firing his revolver at the outsider who was forced to duck into cover before the bitch cleared their cover, panting.
The she-wolf sniffed around before her focus set on Jameson. "I assume you're the rescue party Lord Dracula sent," she said, standing up and walking over, Jameson noting her look and for some reason finding himself a little nervous. "I didn't get a good chance to look at you earlier. But I can see why you're the alpha here," said Chloe with appreciation.
Jameson paused before managing to say, "Erm...thanks. Lord Dracula wanted you back. What he says goes." before he snapped at the pack, "Ok...we got what we came for. No point in wasting more warm bodies trying to get through that firepower."
"Let's hurry," said Chloe, "I need to wash the stench of lizard off me."
Jameson grinned. Maybe he could get her transferred to his pack as a representative.
The others arrived to see Matt swearing quite colorfully...well, probably swearing given he was speaking in an alien language. The rifle had been smashed against the far wall and outside, there was no sign of the pack. He also had what was clearly a genuine werewolf scratch on the face and a black eye.
"You and Chloe have another fight?" asked Megan.
"No, Chloe just went dark side again...willingly! She thinks she can use that power to deal with McNeil and Lady Nega!" snapped Matt, Megan backing up.
"Uh, there has to be an explanation," said Megan.
"She punched me out and ran for them...and they left. I saw her chat up their boss," snapped Matt, his eyes glowing and the room warming a little.
"Wait! Wait a moment!" called a voice. Connors came into the room, panting a bit. "Did she...leave already?" he asked.
"How the fuck did you know she's gone mental?" snarled Matt, advancing on Connors angrily.
"She hasn't, she's acting," said Connors.
"What?" snapped Matt.
"In case you won't take my word, take hers," said Connors, handing Matt a piece of paper with Chloe's handwriting on it.
Matt paused, opening the letter and starting to read.
Matt,
If you're reading this, it means I've already started my infiltration plan. We both know it's the only way to get inside Dracula's castle. I didn't tell you I was going to go because of two reasons.
First, you were going to stop me. We've already argued about it and you're so set on finding another way. But I know what I'm doing. You're the demo expert, I'm the espionage expert.
Second, it had to look convincing. Those wolves need to think I really was joining the dark side. And you would have been obviously trying to miss me if you were in on it. The last I need to look like is a wolf in sheep's clothing. A sheep in wolf's clothing? Whatever, you know what I mean.
I'll contact you later when I've found a means of shutting down Dracula's cloud cover. We might not be able to take him down, but we can at least set him back. But we're at least getting Lady NegaMorph.
Chloe
Matt looked at the note before saying "As soon as Dracula realizes, he'll fry her brain..." in a small voice.
"Which is why we need to be ready to infiltrate his castle the instant Chloe gives us the signal," said Megan.
"If she can send it," said Matt, walking off, his head hung low.
Chloe meanwhile had been taken with Jameson to Dracula's castle, and was facing the man himself. Only years of practice, and maybe tapping into her old Silvia persona was stopping her from looking nervous. Most importantly, she was trying to avoid directly looking at Dracula's eyes.
"Is there a problem, my dear?" sneered Dracula, Chloe noting a smirking Lady Nega.
"Just...feels a little stuffy in here. You need to ventilate this room. Add some windows," said Chloe.
"In your...unfortunate detention, Lady NegaMorph told me many things about you," Dracula said smoothly, Jameson recognizing that tone and slowly stepping away.
"Oh...really?" said Chloe, swearing mentally and wondering if she could make it to the door in time.
"She's told me you have been in service to numerous would-be overlords," said Dracula, "Each has found you a willing servant, and yet you've always slipped away from them before their downfall."
"Coincidence, I'm sure," said Chloe, reaching slowly to her side and realizing she'd left her gear back at the power plant.
"Even so, you've slipped away from me once already," said Dracula, "Perhaps I should tighten the leash."
Chloe glared at Lady NegaMorph who just smirked and waved before Chloe was grabbed by the neck, listed up and turned to face her. 'Great work. Now I'm gonna be his attack dog again,' she thought bitterly.
Dracula's eyes glowed a sinister red. Chloe could feel his dark influence creeping into her head. But oddly enough, instead of sinking into her brain, it seemed to slide over it, like there was a barrier.
Luckily she had the presence of mind to make the slack=jawed expression of someone getting a good mind whammy. Fortunately, Dracula didn't seem to notice any opposition. "There now. The pact has been resealed," he said.
Chloe winced as she felt something clicked round her neck before she was tossed back, landing at Jameson's feet. "She is your responsibility now, Man-Wolf. Consider her a reward for carrying out your orders."
Jameson glared, getting the feeling the unsaid part was 'and to spy on you'. "Well, that's more like it," said Jameson before reaching down and grabbing Chloe by her new collar.
A second later, his eyes crossed and he made a pained 'yip' before keeling over, Chloe dusting herself down. Lady NegaMorph laughed, "I told you she was fun, even under mind control."
Dracula let out a laugh at that, which somehow darkened the atmosphere in the room. "She will be an amusing one," said Dracula.
Chloe just gulped inwardly before saying smoothly, "By your command, my lord." This was not gonna be easy.
There's another chapter. Part of this chapter refers to a GOTG fic that hasn't been written yet but will be later. Another part of this chapter refers to one of largefish8's stories way back when. And both of these add a little bit of intrigue to this chapter. Of course, this dimension's version of the Man-Wolf is a lot less friendlier than the one back in Spider-Man's dimension.
The last part of this arc will be up before long. Keep an eye out for it and please review.