"For you, my friend, they are the angels of death."
-Man against monster. Monster against self. The story is as old as time. Living above us, below us, and among us, they assimilate themselves into our culture, and us into theirs. To the common man, they are simply known as night terrors, but to the initiated, they are the Darkstalkers-
EPISODE SIX: SASQUATCH'S LAST STAND
Jon was putting the finishing touches on a new coat of paint for the door to Felicia's apartment when the freezing cold water from a hose sprayed over the buttocks of his tight blue jeans. He jumped with a yelp, and almost lost his balance on the metal stairway before landing a turn to see the perpetrator, "Felicia!"
Felicia giggled, waving the hose, "Sorry. It was open."
Talbain gave her that roguish grin of his, "That's ok. I completely understand." He promptly leapt off the stairway and onto the ground. Felicia screamed with a grin as he chased her around the yard, snatching up the hose she'd dropped and returning fire.
It was a lucky thing that Talbain had left the door open a crack in case of a phone call, because that's exactly what happened. Talbain had just tackled Felicia and she was screeching happily as he wrestled with her when the phone bell sounded.
At first they ignored it, but it continued, and Felicia gently pushed him off her, "Better get that. Might be my agent." Talbain nodded as she went inside and picked up the phone, speaking politely into it, "Hello? Felicia here."
Talbain was just getting up when Felicia came bounding out of the house and stopped in front of him, "It's Aulbath."
Talbain groaned, "Him again? Why do I get the feeling it's bad news?"
Felicia nodded gravely, "Let's pack: we're going to Canada."
Talbain's face was blank, "We're what?"
"C'mon!" Felicia screamed and grabbed him by the arm. Talbain yelped as she yanked him inside and they began packing their suitcases for the trip.
~
~MACKENZIE MOUNTAIN RANGE, YUKON TERRITORY CANADA~
Talbain's mind was swimming over the events, which had occurred in the last day's time. The evening of the call had been a turbulent one; full of hurried packing of any essentials they might need for a backpacking trip to the Canadian Mountains and then a race in a taxi to the city docks, where a private plane licensed to one Al Bath was exclusively landed. It was of the sort that could use the sea for its runway and take off from somewhere out there, but it was also very cramped.
The man who greeted them at the docks had seemed to be a very shady figure, but Talbain recognized that fishy scent and it wasn't long before Aulbath revealed himself from under the trenchcoat and hat. Talbain's mind reflected back to the takeoff:
~
There he sat in a large furry coat typical of those worn in the country, his hair still a mess and a pair of sunglasses over his face to protect his light-sensitive eyes from the snow of the mountains.
Felicia was shivering so he gave her his coat. Underneath he was just wearing a pair of blue slacks, a black muscle shirt, and his leather boots. He could deal with it: his body had been trained from day one to resist the elements.
"What's the meaning of dragging us clear out to Canada, Aulbath", Talbain barked an hour into the journey, breaking his meditation and shivering a bit.
Aulbath looked back to him as he navigated the controls in front, "Just call me Ricky. I have some friends in Canada who are having a real pest control problem in their mountain village. The challenge is right up your alley Jon."
Talbain quirked a brow, "I'm listening."
'Ricky' continued, "They're known as the Sasquatch: relatives of your Bigfoots. They keep to themselves and mind their own business most of the time, and expect others to do the same when at all possible. As a result they put their village high in the mountains so nobody could get to them."
"Then how'd you meet them in the first place", Talbain interrupted.
"It was pretty much an accident", Ricky acknowledged, "I was doing some cliffhanging in the area and I saw the most beautiful peak above the snowy clouds. Somehow it called to me, and I answered. I climbed it, ignoring the danger, and when I got to the top, I found a village full of those guys. I had to challenge their guardsman, a big guy named Quatos, before they would let me stay and warm up."
"They sound like a friendly bunch", Talbain grinned, "What makes you think that Felicia and I will get a warm welcome if you didn't?"
Ricky laughed good-naturedly, "Because you're with me, Amigo."
~
The plane was landing. Talbain startled awake and looked out the tiny window at the mountains all around. It looked treacherous to walk through, much less fly through. Talbain wasn't used to being this high, but aside from panting more, he was ok.
The landing went off without a hitch. Talbain had to admit to himself that, for a guy who was supposed to be ocean bound, Ricky sure could fly like a pro.
There they were, disembarking from their tiny personal jet, now landed in the middle of a circular disc cleared for them like a helicopter pad in the middle of the mountain village, all of whom's buildings resembled a ski lodge.
Several funny looking creatures came out to greet the travelers. Icy white in color, these round, furry apes had HUGE five-toed feet and hands almost as large.
One particularly large guy walked up and embraced them all together in a suffocating bear hug, opening his enormous fanged mouth to grin, "WELCOME!"
~
The four of them (Talbain, Felicia, Ricky, and the large Sasquatch) were sitting around a table in a warm lodge with a map of the area laid out before them.
Felicia was still shivering and Ricky wasn't any better off.
"This is where it strikes every night", the Sasquatch bellowed, "A horrible demon in a suit of armor. It lives to kill and kills to live. Our numbers are falling."
Talbain knew he had recognized a familiar scent. One of his blue eyes widened and twitched as he recalled an event long gone by:
~
Talbain had been a young man, maybe twenty-three, when it happened. He was in England under the full moon, transformed and out of control. His goal was to hunt.
He could see it as if it had happened during the light of day. His nose picked up the stench of blood and he knew food was nearby. He had dashed at full speed toward the source only to find himself face to face with a face so horribly twisted with a mixture of agony and evil that it pulled at the sanity of the beholder.
The figure wore red and gold armor: the armor of the samurai. Something about the armor was different though, and not just that the breastplate resembled a demonic face ready to devour all opponents. The thing, whatever it was, gave off a schizoid aura that showed an obvious conflict between two powerful souls, one good and one evil.
The battle had been intense. The sword did more than its' fair share of damage. In fact, the more it sliced in, the more life force it seemed to drain as well as blood. Eventually, even at his full rage, the werewolf was powerless to fight the evil armor and found himself underfoot: literally.
The samurai-like specter had leaned down over him, its razor sharp teeth gleaming with the blood of its victims. "You have the potential to be a very tasty course, my brother in darkness, but you are wanting in skill to challenge me right now. Give me your name, so we may meet again, and I will spare your life."
At first, the beast was incapable of such a strategically advantageous act as he was in full rage, and he had struggled against the hold, but eventually blood loss and life drain took its toll, forcing him into human form. As he passed out, he groaned, "Jon. It's Jon."
~
Talbain leaned forward in real time, snapping out of it, "I know this creature."
The others looked to him, and he nodded firmly, "I've fought it before. It is an expert tactician, so it will see us coming if we attack head on. We'll have a hard time sneaking up because it has a good sense of smell. However, I have a plan."
Everyone leaned in as the martial artist began to explain his strategy.
~
The Hannya sat quietly in wait upon its' crude throne of various stones, soaked crimson red with the blood of the various bodies littered about. It had sensed the arrival of the four approaching entities and opened its bright red eyes, "Who seeks to die first among you travelers?"
There stood, side by side, Jon Talbain, the werewolf master of martial arts, Felicia, the cat-girl whose high notes could break a skull, Aulbath, a mercreature whose exploits were the stuff of legends, and Quatos, bravest warrior of the Sasquatch.
Quatos stepped forward, "That's enough out of you! You've been killing my brothers and now it's time I killed you!" The Sasquatch inhaled, creating a massive gust of wind, and exhaled with a thunderous roar that shook the mountains. With that breath came an attack, the ice beam, which froze the evil samurai in place on his throne.
Quatos jumped into the air, one hand in a "V" sign for victory, and landed with a thud and a huge smile, "I did it! I stopped the demon!"
He could not have been farther from his goal. Without warning, the ice that entombed the armor shattered, sending shards of sharp ice flying through the air. Previously unmoved from its' current position, the armor decided to stand.
It looked to the Sasquatch, whose jaw was on the floor, and let out a deep, maniacal cackle, dashing forward with superhuman speed and slashing its sword deep into the ape's fur, knocking him onto his back where he bled profusely.
As his friend lay moaning in agony on the icy ground, and the armor began to walk forward to claim its first victim of the night, Aulbath intervened. He gave the armor a sharp kick to the face, but to his surprise, the kick went clear through the horrific, smoky blue face into the back of the helmet and knocked it asunder.
Now headless, the armor began to chop wildly at Aulbath, who did his best to dodge the wanton show of gratuitous violence and bloodshed. The armor simply would nod stop until it had killed everything in sight.
As Aulbath dodged a lightning kick to his forehead, a sneak attack with the razor sharp blade of the Kien sword almost embedded itself in his ribs, but was kicked aside by a second intervening. The headless armor turned to find a white tail swatting it away.
Felicia was stanced, eyes narrowed and all fired up, "Don't hurt my friends you jerk!" She sprang off her strong legs into the air, flipped forward, and came down on the armor, scratching at the face-like breastplate with the full furry of her front claws while holding tightly around its waist with the back claws.
The helmet of the armor animated itself and began flying forward, heading directly for an attack on Felicia from behind, but Talbain used his Beast Cannon to knock it off course and into the side of a large rock.
Talbain stanced with a grin and waved his pointer finger back and forth, "Can't you be a little more creative demon? I thought you'd be ready when the time came, but it seems to haven't gotten any stronger and now I'm going to finish you."
At that moment, the formerly exhausted Aulbath sprang off the ground, grabbing himself around the back of the armor and digging his hands and feet into the plating.
The horrible face appeared inside the now disembodied helmet of The Hannya, "What is this? It's you! Jon! I'll kill you and feast on your innards, hahahahaha!!!"
"Sorry, I don't see it that way", Talbain grinned, beginning to transform and show his razor sharp fangs, "You should've killed me when you had the chance because now I'm not going to return the favor. You've killed too many people."
The armor struggled, but Aulbath and Felicia were holding it fast, doing as much damage as they possibly could to it while keeping it in place.
Talbain looked to Quatos, his lupine eyes narrowed, "That's your cue big guy." The Sasquatch leapt up, puffing out his chest to ignore the wound in it, and swung his fist round and round in the air, creating a massive, typhoon like force.
Quatos beady red eyes flashed, "EVERYBODY MOVE!!!" Felicia and Aulbath did as they were told, and Talbain jumped behind a rock. The mountain behemoth let the Typhoon Fist Attack go, knocking The Hannya over the side of the mountain, helmet and all, and screaming all the way down, down, down through the thick mists below.
Quatos fell over for real, exhaling deep and holding his chest where the cut had gone in, "Leave me behind. I will go back to nature as intended."
Aulbath ran over, slinging his friend over his back with a groan, "No way! I'm going to take you back so you can get the hero's welcome you deserve!"
Before he could protest, Quatos passed out. Aulbath looked to the others, "A little help here?" Talbain and Felicia rushed to his side, helping carry their big friend back to the only home he'd ever known: Sasquatch Village.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching. The medium-sized, lean- built oriental man had short brown hair and wore the trappings of a wandering samurai with no armor, a traveling hat made of bamboo, and carried a walking stick.
His ice blue eyes teared up as a wind whipped around him, "Thank you."
DARKSTALKERS: THE SERIES WRITTEN BY REGIS A WELCH DARKSTALKERS © 2004 CAPCOM
-Man against monster. Monster against self. The story is as old as time. Living above us, below us, and among us, they assimilate themselves into our culture, and us into theirs. To the common man, they are simply known as night terrors, but to the initiated, they are the Darkstalkers-
EPISODE SIX: SASQUATCH'S LAST STAND
Jon was putting the finishing touches on a new coat of paint for the door to Felicia's apartment when the freezing cold water from a hose sprayed over the buttocks of his tight blue jeans. He jumped with a yelp, and almost lost his balance on the metal stairway before landing a turn to see the perpetrator, "Felicia!"
Felicia giggled, waving the hose, "Sorry. It was open."
Talbain gave her that roguish grin of his, "That's ok. I completely understand." He promptly leapt off the stairway and onto the ground. Felicia screamed with a grin as he chased her around the yard, snatching up the hose she'd dropped and returning fire.
It was a lucky thing that Talbain had left the door open a crack in case of a phone call, because that's exactly what happened. Talbain had just tackled Felicia and she was screeching happily as he wrestled with her when the phone bell sounded.
At first they ignored it, but it continued, and Felicia gently pushed him off her, "Better get that. Might be my agent." Talbain nodded as she went inside and picked up the phone, speaking politely into it, "Hello? Felicia here."
Talbain was just getting up when Felicia came bounding out of the house and stopped in front of him, "It's Aulbath."
Talbain groaned, "Him again? Why do I get the feeling it's bad news?"
Felicia nodded gravely, "Let's pack: we're going to Canada."
Talbain's face was blank, "We're what?"
"C'mon!" Felicia screamed and grabbed him by the arm. Talbain yelped as she yanked him inside and they began packing their suitcases for the trip.
~
~MACKENZIE MOUNTAIN RANGE, YUKON TERRITORY CANADA~
Talbain's mind was swimming over the events, which had occurred in the last day's time. The evening of the call had been a turbulent one; full of hurried packing of any essentials they might need for a backpacking trip to the Canadian Mountains and then a race in a taxi to the city docks, where a private plane licensed to one Al Bath was exclusively landed. It was of the sort that could use the sea for its runway and take off from somewhere out there, but it was also very cramped.
The man who greeted them at the docks had seemed to be a very shady figure, but Talbain recognized that fishy scent and it wasn't long before Aulbath revealed himself from under the trenchcoat and hat. Talbain's mind reflected back to the takeoff:
~
There he sat in a large furry coat typical of those worn in the country, his hair still a mess and a pair of sunglasses over his face to protect his light-sensitive eyes from the snow of the mountains.
Felicia was shivering so he gave her his coat. Underneath he was just wearing a pair of blue slacks, a black muscle shirt, and his leather boots. He could deal with it: his body had been trained from day one to resist the elements.
"What's the meaning of dragging us clear out to Canada, Aulbath", Talbain barked an hour into the journey, breaking his meditation and shivering a bit.
Aulbath looked back to him as he navigated the controls in front, "Just call me Ricky. I have some friends in Canada who are having a real pest control problem in their mountain village. The challenge is right up your alley Jon."
Talbain quirked a brow, "I'm listening."
'Ricky' continued, "They're known as the Sasquatch: relatives of your Bigfoots. They keep to themselves and mind their own business most of the time, and expect others to do the same when at all possible. As a result they put their village high in the mountains so nobody could get to them."
"Then how'd you meet them in the first place", Talbain interrupted.
"It was pretty much an accident", Ricky acknowledged, "I was doing some cliffhanging in the area and I saw the most beautiful peak above the snowy clouds. Somehow it called to me, and I answered. I climbed it, ignoring the danger, and when I got to the top, I found a village full of those guys. I had to challenge their guardsman, a big guy named Quatos, before they would let me stay and warm up."
"They sound like a friendly bunch", Talbain grinned, "What makes you think that Felicia and I will get a warm welcome if you didn't?"
Ricky laughed good-naturedly, "Because you're with me, Amigo."
~
The plane was landing. Talbain startled awake and looked out the tiny window at the mountains all around. It looked treacherous to walk through, much less fly through. Talbain wasn't used to being this high, but aside from panting more, he was ok.
The landing went off without a hitch. Talbain had to admit to himself that, for a guy who was supposed to be ocean bound, Ricky sure could fly like a pro.
There they were, disembarking from their tiny personal jet, now landed in the middle of a circular disc cleared for them like a helicopter pad in the middle of the mountain village, all of whom's buildings resembled a ski lodge.
Several funny looking creatures came out to greet the travelers. Icy white in color, these round, furry apes had HUGE five-toed feet and hands almost as large.
One particularly large guy walked up and embraced them all together in a suffocating bear hug, opening his enormous fanged mouth to grin, "WELCOME!"
~
The four of them (Talbain, Felicia, Ricky, and the large Sasquatch) were sitting around a table in a warm lodge with a map of the area laid out before them.
Felicia was still shivering and Ricky wasn't any better off.
"This is where it strikes every night", the Sasquatch bellowed, "A horrible demon in a suit of armor. It lives to kill and kills to live. Our numbers are falling."
Talbain knew he had recognized a familiar scent. One of his blue eyes widened and twitched as he recalled an event long gone by:
~
Talbain had been a young man, maybe twenty-three, when it happened. He was in England under the full moon, transformed and out of control. His goal was to hunt.
He could see it as if it had happened during the light of day. His nose picked up the stench of blood and he knew food was nearby. He had dashed at full speed toward the source only to find himself face to face with a face so horribly twisted with a mixture of agony and evil that it pulled at the sanity of the beholder.
The figure wore red and gold armor: the armor of the samurai. Something about the armor was different though, and not just that the breastplate resembled a demonic face ready to devour all opponents. The thing, whatever it was, gave off a schizoid aura that showed an obvious conflict between two powerful souls, one good and one evil.
The battle had been intense. The sword did more than its' fair share of damage. In fact, the more it sliced in, the more life force it seemed to drain as well as blood. Eventually, even at his full rage, the werewolf was powerless to fight the evil armor and found himself underfoot: literally.
The samurai-like specter had leaned down over him, its razor sharp teeth gleaming with the blood of its victims. "You have the potential to be a very tasty course, my brother in darkness, but you are wanting in skill to challenge me right now. Give me your name, so we may meet again, and I will spare your life."
At first, the beast was incapable of such a strategically advantageous act as he was in full rage, and he had struggled against the hold, but eventually blood loss and life drain took its toll, forcing him into human form. As he passed out, he groaned, "Jon. It's Jon."
~
Talbain leaned forward in real time, snapping out of it, "I know this creature."
The others looked to him, and he nodded firmly, "I've fought it before. It is an expert tactician, so it will see us coming if we attack head on. We'll have a hard time sneaking up because it has a good sense of smell. However, I have a plan."
Everyone leaned in as the martial artist began to explain his strategy.
~
The Hannya sat quietly in wait upon its' crude throne of various stones, soaked crimson red with the blood of the various bodies littered about. It had sensed the arrival of the four approaching entities and opened its bright red eyes, "Who seeks to die first among you travelers?"
There stood, side by side, Jon Talbain, the werewolf master of martial arts, Felicia, the cat-girl whose high notes could break a skull, Aulbath, a mercreature whose exploits were the stuff of legends, and Quatos, bravest warrior of the Sasquatch.
Quatos stepped forward, "That's enough out of you! You've been killing my brothers and now it's time I killed you!" The Sasquatch inhaled, creating a massive gust of wind, and exhaled with a thunderous roar that shook the mountains. With that breath came an attack, the ice beam, which froze the evil samurai in place on his throne.
Quatos jumped into the air, one hand in a "V" sign for victory, and landed with a thud and a huge smile, "I did it! I stopped the demon!"
He could not have been farther from his goal. Without warning, the ice that entombed the armor shattered, sending shards of sharp ice flying through the air. Previously unmoved from its' current position, the armor decided to stand.
It looked to the Sasquatch, whose jaw was on the floor, and let out a deep, maniacal cackle, dashing forward with superhuman speed and slashing its sword deep into the ape's fur, knocking him onto his back where he bled profusely.
As his friend lay moaning in agony on the icy ground, and the armor began to walk forward to claim its first victim of the night, Aulbath intervened. He gave the armor a sharp kick to the face, but to his surprise, the kick went clear through the horrific, smoky blue face into the back of the helmet and knocked it asunder.
Now headless, the armor began to chop wildly at Aulbath, who did his best to dodge the wanton show of gratuitous violence and bloodshed. The armor simply would nod stop until it had killed everything in sight.
As Aulbath dodged a lightning kick to his forehead, a sneak attack with the razor sharp blade of the Kien sword almost embedded itself in his ribs, but was kicked aside by a second intervening. The headless armor turned to find a white tail swatting it away.
Felicia was stanced, eyes narrowed and all fired up, "Don't hurt my friends you jerk!" She sprang off her strong legs into the air, flipped forward, and came down on the armor, scratching at the face-like breastplate with the full furry of her front claws while holding tightly around its waist with the back claws.
The helmet of the armor animated itself and began flying forward, heading directly for an attack on Felicia from behind, but Talbain used his Beast Cannon to knock it off course and into the side of a large rock.
Talbain stanced with a grin and waved his pointer finger back and forth, "Can't you be a little more creative demon? I thought you'd be ready when the time came, but it seems to haven't gotten any stronger and now I'm going to finish you."
At that moment, the formerly exhausted Aulbath sprang off the ground, grabbing himself around the back of the armor and digging his hands and feet into the plating.
The horrible face appeared inside the now disembodied helmet of The Hannya, "What is this? It's you! Jon! I'll kill you and feast on your innards, hahahahaha!!!"
"Sorry, I don't see it that way", Talbain grinned, beginning to transform and show his razor sharp fangs, "You should've killed me when you had the chance because now I'm not going to return the favor. You've killed too many people."
The armor struggled, but Aulbath and Felicia were holding it fast, doing as much damage as they possibly could to it while keeping it in place.
Talbain looked to Quatos, his lupine eyes narrowed, "That's your cue big guy." The Sasquatch leapt up, puffing out his chest to ignore the wound in it, and swung his fist round and round in the air, creating a massive, typhoon like force.
Quatos beady red eyes flashed, "EVERYBODY MOVE!!!" Felicia and Aulbath did as they were told, and Talbain jumped behind a rock. The mountain behemoth let the Typhoon Fist Attack go, knocking The Hannya over the side of the mountain, helmet and all, and screaming all the way down, down, down through the thick mists below.
Quatos fell over for real, exhaling deep and holding his chest where the cut had gone in, "Leave me behind. I will go back to nature as intended."
Aulbath ran over, slinging his friend over his back with a groan, "No way! I'm going to take you back so you can get the hero's welcome you deserve!"
Before he could protest, Quatos passed out. Aulbath looked to the others, "A little help here?" Talbain and Felicia rushed to his side, helping carry their big friend back to the only home he'd ever known: Sasquatch Village.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching. The medium-sized, lean- built oriental man had short brown hair and wore the trappings of a wandering samurai with no armor, a traveling hat made of bamboo, and carried a walking stick.
His ice blue eyes teared up as a wind whipped around him, "Thank you."
DARKSTALKERS: THE SERIES WRITTEN BY REGIS A WELCH DARKSTALKERS © 2004 CAPCOM