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Infinity Verse Spotlights
Valerie Gray: California Nightmares
The Bloody Stain was a small dive bar in Burbank, and as one would imagine from the name alone, it was a rather rough and tumble place to visit. Only the bravest souls would go there to get a drink. The bar was a nest for scum ranging from small-time hoods to biker gangs with rap sheets as long as a freeway. It was such a hotbed of violence that the police stop taking calls regarding the bar for their own safety. However, despite its nasty reputation, the stranger who now stood before the Bloody Stain was undeterred from entering it for a drink and bit more. The woman hadn't come to this bloody building just for a shot of whisky, but for something more valuable: Information.
The second the newcomer stepped through the batwing doors, all eyes from within the bar laid upon her. The woman could sense the instant hostility from the Bloody Stain's patrons from their gaze alone, but she ignored their glares as she made her way to the bar table. After taking a seat on a nearby stool, the bartender approached the stranger, carefully eyeing the woman up and down as he did. The woman was dark-skinned and dressed in a black overcoat and a black-rimmed hat that covered her lowered face.
"So, what can I do you for, miss?" the bartender inquired, trying to hide the suspicion in his voice as he did.
"Whisky. On the rocks," the woman answered as she put a $20 bill on the table. "And keep them coming."
The bartender, still unsure of the woman's intentions, took her money before pouring her a drink. As he did, he glanced over to one of the bikers that was sitting at a table before gesturing with a quick nod to move a little closer to where the woman was sitting. As he did, a few other of the bar's patrons moved in a little closer to the stranger as well, all the while the bartender tried to strike up a conversation.
"You know, we don't get a lot of your kind in here," he said.
"You mean blacks?" the woman surmised firmly. "Sorry, but I didn't see a 'whites-only' sign on the door."
"I meant women," the bartender clarified. "In case you ain't noticed, it's kinda a sausage fest in here. And the ones who do show up in here are ugly as shit."
"I wasn't aware women were a different species," the woman noted before gulping down her drink.
"If you met my ex-wife, you'd think differently," the bartender joked as he poured her another round before asking. "So, what's a pretty little gal like you doing in a shit hole like this?"
As the stranger knocked back another shot, more of the bar patrons were starting to move in closer to the woman, who, despite no doubt hearing them at this point, remained calm.
"I'm looking for someone," she began. "Her name is Rosa Perez. She was last seen coming in here a few days ago."
"You a cop or something?" the bartender questioned sharply. "We don't like cops around here!"
"No, I'm just a concerned citizen," the woman assured. "I'm an exterminator by trade."
"Well, cop or not, you outta scram!" the bartender ordered. "I don't like snoops in my bar!"
"Well, see, that's gonna be a problem. Because I got some questions that need answering," the stranger replied as she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Besides, it wasn't like your boys were gonna let me leave anytime soon."
"You got that right, bitch," the biker from earlier growled.
"Face it, lady, you're fucked," the bartender informed her. "It's best to surrender and do what the boys tell you to do and swallow whatever they put in your mouth."
"Sorry, I'm gonna have to pass that," the woman casually dismissed. "And I'm sure that I wouldn't have much to swallow anyway."
"Why you-" the biker snarled.
As he attempted to throw a punch, the woman quickly spun around to face him. As she did, she reached into her coat's pocket and pulled out not a gun or a knife to defend herself, but a crucifix. The biker and the other bar patrons that were with him recoiled at the sight of the cross, hissing as they did. The bartender gasped at the sight before trying to reach under the table to grab his shotgun, only to be stopped when the woman raised her other arm towards him, revealing a surprise underneath the sleeve: A wrist-mounted laser. The bartender backed away from the gun with his arms raised over his head.
"You know, it's funny," the woman began. "When I walked in here, I noticed that this place doesn't have a single reflective surface here. It's almost like you guys don't wanna see yourselves. Or rather, you CAN'T see yourselves."
"Who the fuck are you?!" one of the patrons demanded.
From under her hat, the woman smirked before reaching up and removing it from her head. Upon revealing herself, the undead patrons gasped in horror. There, standing before them, was a creature of the night's worst nightmare. She was the killer of all monsters, the boogeyman's boogeyman, and the thing that bumped back in the night. The woman was named Valerie Gray, but to the monsters who haunted the dark corners of the world, she went by another name that struck hear in their undead hearts.
"Oh shit!" another vampire yelped in fear. "It's the Nightstalker!"
In a flash, Valerie threw off her coat just as the nano-tech in her armor covered her body in a matter of seconds. With the vampires still in a panic, she swung the laser that was aimed at the bartender at the vampires in front of her and opened fire upon them as they began to scatter, blowing a hole through one of them and killing him instantly in the ensuing chaos. With their prey now running wildly throughout the bar, Valerie began to pick her targets. One of the vamps lunged at her with his claws at the ready. The monster hunter moved quickly as she dodged and evaded the oncoming claws of the undead creature before reaching out and spraying out a stream of holy water in the bloodsucker's face from a small compartment from under her wrist, making his skin melt as it ate away his flesh.
As the vampire writhed in pain, Valerie vaporized his head into ash with a blast from her laser. She was then struck in the back by a barstool, knocking her off her balance in the process. Before the vamp who hit her could go in for another attack, she spun around with a high kick that made impact with her enemy's jaw, breaking it thanks to her suit's enhanced strength. The vampire fell to the floor and quickly tried to get up, but before he could, Valerie took the now broken barstool she had been hit with and impaled her prey through the chest with one of its legs, setting him ablaze in an unholy fire as he died.
Another vampire came up behind the Nightstalker again, this time wrapping his arms around her in a chokehold, but he had no intention of strangling the woman. With his fangs out, he attempted to sink them into her neck, but the monster hunter's suit not only protected her from the bite, but it also sent a painful shock through his body that forced him to release his hold on her. Valerie turned around and stuck her wrist cannon under the vamp's chin before firing it, blasting off most of his face and letting his corpse hit the floor. Another pair of vampires rushed toward her with their claws and fangs at the ready. But were both quickly dispatched when the Nightstalker activated a pair of shoulder cannons that cleaved holes through their chest, killing them instantly. Valerie then noticed another bloodsucker who was cowering in fear of her behind a table. But before she could end him, the biker who started this mess cracked her across the face with a devastating punch that knocked her into the wall, allowing the coward to race off out of the bar and into the night.
The biker roared at Valerie as she tried to pick herself back up, only for her opponent to kick her across the bar and into some chairs. The monster hunter unleashed a barrage of laser blasts at the burly vampire, but he dodged the onslaught of laser's with his superhuman speed so he could get in close enough to grab the woman by the throat and chokeslam her through a nearby table. Valerie gasped for air as she tried to struggle out of his steel-like grasp, but she could not get him to let go. She tried to use her wrist cannon, but the biker quickly tore that off. She then reactivated her shoulder cannons and aimed them at his head, vaporizing it in a second.
With the last vampire in the room officially killed, Valerie picked herself up from the floor and turn her attention toward the bartender, who was currently trying to crawl over to the backdoor exit. But before he could make his clean getaway, the Nightstalker's heel went through his hand, making the vampire yowl in pain.
"Let's talk," the monster hunter said before reaching down and grabbing him.
Valerie lit a cigarette as she turned toward the horizon. After capturing the bartender, she had bound and gagged him before carrying him off to the tallest tower she could find via her glider and tying him to the antenna, all the while she could hear him let out muffled pleas for his undead life. Valerie shrugged off the cries for mercy, for she knew that monstrous scum like him gave none to their victims. This was the part she loved most. Making them feel the fear their kind had projected onto humans for centuries and subjecting them to the terror they had long since forgotten for themselves because they had thought themselves immune to fear. It was always this way with every type of monster she hunted, whether they be ghosts, vampires, or some other creature of the night.
"So, here's the deal," she informed him with a puff of her cigarette. "You're either going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to kill you. And it's not going to be quick. It'll be slow, and by the end of it, you'll be begging to the God that you turned your back on to kill you after I'm done."
She then removed the gag from her captive's mouth to allow him to speak.
"I-I'll tell you anything!" he blurted out. "Just don't hurt me! Please!"
"There, was that so hard?" the monster hunter said in fake kindness before asking "So, as I said before, where is Rosa Perez?"
"You mean that girl you talking about? Sh-She's dead!" the bartender answered.
Valerie said nothing about that and instead only gave him a scowl that would've made any trace of warm blood he had left in him run colder than it already was.
"I-I swear! It's the truth!" he affirmed in a panic. "That girl was a part of the haul we got from over the border. We-We call them Spanish Lambs because we use those people for food!"
The Nightstalker clenched her fists in anger as her scowl grew deeper. A part of her wished that she could've had a chance to save not only Rosa, but the other people who had gone missing from the border crossings that brought her to California in the first place. Several weeks ago, Valerie had heard over the news of a series of brutal slayings of Hispanic families who were trying to cross the border. Upon hearing more details about how the victims were being slain, she instantly recognized it as all the trademark killings of a vampire clan. Hoping to get a lead, Valerie had been pursuing Rosa, a young girl who had gone missing after her family had been killed at the border. Though the girl may be dead, she would not go unavenged.
"If she's dead, then what do I need you for?" she asked her undead hostage as she raised her wrist cannon toward his face.
"Wait! Wait! I know something else that you'll wanna hear!" her captive tried to reason. "I know where the other missing people are!"
Valerie paused for several seconds before pulling her weapon away.
"Go on," she said.
"I-It's like this, you see, some of the people that get taken get used as food for the vampire roosts throughout California, but the other half of them are brought to a club called 'The Lunar House,'" the bartender explained. "I don't know why, but from what I hear, they don't just feed on them. I heard rumors that they're using some of them for something else."
"This club. It's got an owner, right?" his captor reasoned. "I want a name."
"I don't know his name! I swear it!" the vampire answered. "All I know is that he was some bigshot vamp a long while ago who came back into the limelight after going off the radar for a bit. That's all I know!"
Valerie could tell by the sheer fear in the bloodsucker's eyes that he was telling her the truth. She didn't know what exactly was going on, but she was going to find out. With her new objective at hand, she summoned her suit's glider and prepared to take off.
"W-Wait a minute! You said you wouldn't kill me!" the bartender shouted.
"And I'm not," the monster hunter confirmed. "The sun is."
No sooner had she sad that did the mourning sun begin to peek over the horizon, burning the vampire's skin as he screamed in agony, his body starting to erupt in flames. As her latest undead victim slowly died, the Nightstalker took off, ready to add to her list of monstrous victims.
Valerie flew out of the city and out into the limits where she had set up a make-shift base. In actuality, it was her high-tech combat van she used as a mobile command post. The van was jet black with a dark crimson line across the sides of it, matching with the colors of the monster hunter's suit that she was gifted by Technus years ago. Those days of hunting just ghosts seemed so long ago now for Valerie. Back then, she was a struggling high school student, living with her single dad while at the same time waging a one-woman war on the ghosts that haunted Amity Park. While every spectral being was on her hit list, there was one above all that she sought to kill the most: Danny Phantom.
Driven by revenge for Danny's hand in costing her father his job, Valerie and the ghost boy clash several times. During that time, she was being backed by Vlad Masters. A person she once thought that she could trust. However, she later discovered that the very person she assumed was her friend turned out to be a half-ghost and a villain who had been manipulating her. She had attempted to oust Masters to the public, but before she could do so, she was run out of town by Vlad's new team of ghost hunters called Master's Blasters. However, in a strange twist of fate, Vlad outed himself during what was known as the Phantom Planet affair in a failed attempt to take over the world. After Danny Phantom had saved the planet, he and Valerie made peace now that she knew that was someone she could truly trust.
For a time, Valerie hung up her suit and renounced ghost hunting to focus on finishing high school. But once she graduated, her true calling came back when she came across a group of men trying to force themselves on a woman in a back ally. When Valerie stepped in to save the woman, she discovered that the men were really monsters in human clothing. They would've torn her limb from limb had she not had a few of her weapons on her. After killing the creatures, she realized that there were evils other than ghosts in the night, and if no one was going to stop them, then she would. So, after leaving her hometown, she set out into the world to slay the monsters that haunted the dark corners of the world. Vampires, werewolves, demons, sirens, zombies, and more fell by her hand. Though her weapons were built to fight ghosts, they could be easily transitioned to combat other monsters as well. Not only that, but she learned to use other methods of killing different monsters during her time as a slayer in the night.
In due time, she became the thing the monsters had nightmares about. Her reputation as the Nightstalker not only made her a force to be feared among those who walked the path of the undead and beyond, but also estranged her from her father. Valerie's dad, concerned for his daughter's safety, had tried several times to talk his child out of her crusade and come back home, but Valerie refused, saying that she was the only line of defense mankind had against the monsters the hunted them from the shadows. Danny Phantom, shortly after he became a leader in the Infinity League, reached out to her to try to convince her to join the team of international heroes, but she declined the offer, preferring to work alone. However, though Valerie claimed to be a loner, that wasn't entirely true.
Just as she was about to open the door to her battle van, the side door slide open to reveal an older man dressed in a white suit with a black tie and a tan fedora atop his head. This was Valerie's only ally in her war against the darkness, Carl Kolchak. And judging by the annoyed look on his face, Val already knew that she was going to get an earful.
"What was that?" Carl questioned.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Valerie refuted casually as she entered the high-tech van.
Carl grimaced at the girl as she went over to the van's computer. Ever since he met her, he couldn't dissuade her from her aggressive nature. Kolchak, like Valerie, was a monster hunter in his heyday, but unlike her, he didn't start out as a hunter by trade. Carl was once a journalist. One who put his life on the line time and again to get the story. Back then, the monsters he chased were human. That all changed when he was working a series of brutal killing on the Las Vegas strip that were being done by a serial killer by the name of Janos Skorzeny. However, during his investigation, Kolchak discovered that Skorzeny was, in fact, a vampire. Despite his disbelief, Carl tried to run the story, but his boss refused to release it for obvious reasons. Forced to go it alone, Kolchak later found and killed Skorzeny, though he couldn't run what he hoped would be an award-winning story.
After killing the vampire, Carl seemed to be a magnet for all sorts of paranormal activity. From aliens to headless bikers to even Satan himself, Carl was forced to face off with all sorts of monsters in his search for the truth he could not print. Eventually, Kolchak soon found himself becoming less of a journalist and more of a warrior against the darkness. Soon, his reputation as a monster hunter earned him the name the Nightstalker among the creatures he fought. Years of fighting the hordes of evil were soon starting taking a toll on the mortal man, but he fought on, knowing that he was alone in his private war. However, one night, when he was hunting a gang of harpies who were running a brothel, Carl came across Valerie, who had also on the trail of the bird-women. Valerie was a novice monster hunter at the time, but as Kolchak watched as the young woman tear through the harpies, he saw her raw, untapped potential.
When the battle was done, Carl offered to teach Valerie how to properly hunt down and slay other monsters outside of ghosts. In due time, he shaped Valerie into a proficient monster slayer, even taking on his title of Nightstalker. Now no longer on the field, Carl instead regulated himself as his protege's watcher, monitoring her from the van and following any leads on the internet to their next case. However, while there was no question that Valerie was a skilled fighter, she was headstrong and tended to bullhorn into a situation that required a bit more tact.
"You know what I mean, Val," Carl persisted. "You were only supposed to go into the bar to get information and then leave. Not turn the place into a goddamn slaughterhouse!"
"And that's what I was trying to do," his student defended. "But they started it, and I finished it."
"You know, one of these days, you're going to stampede into a situation that you can't shoot your way out of," her mentor warned her. "And I won't be able to save you."
"Well, it's a good thing I can get myself out of these situations with some really big guns," Valerie said slyly.
Carl could only groan and roll his eyes at that remark.
"Did you find that club that bartender was talking about?" his student inquired.
"Yeah, I did," her teacher confirmed. "It's on the southside of town. There's been at least seventeen reported missing person cases connected to that place."
"Why haven't the police shut the place down?" Valerie asked.
"No idea," Kolchak admitted. "Either they're being paid to look the other way, or they're too scared to do anything about it."
"What about the club's owner?" the Nightstalker questioned. "Did you find anything on him?"
"Not a damn thing," Carl answered dejectedly. "All I could find is that the club's ownership switched hands about five years ago. Since then, there's been nothing but nasty stories coming out of that place."
"Well, we need to move on that place now while we still have the sunlight," Valerie stated. "You uploaded the club's location to my P.D.F., right?"
"Yeah, but think we need to think this out a bit," Carl advised. "I mean, yeah, we got the sunlight now, but we don't know what we'll be getting ourselves into. And need I remind you that one of those vampires from the bar you lit up managed to get away and has, no doubt, told them that you're on your way?"
"That's why we need to hit them now before they have a chance to do that," Valerie argued. "The longer we stand around here, the longer they get to better prepare for us. And who knows what they'll do to the hostages in that time!"
"I'm not disagreeing with you," Kolchak assured. "I'm just saying that we can't run in guns blazing is all."
Valerie scowled at her mentor. She knew that Carl wanted to play it safe, but for the sake of the humans that were at the mercy of these vampires who held them captive, she couldn't afford to just wait around.
"I'm sorry, Carl, but it's my call," she stated firmly. "I'm going now while I still have the light."
Carl could only sigh in defeat, knowing that he wasn't going to change his protégé's mind anytime soon.
"Alright, fine," Carl finally relented. "I'll follow you from the van to stay close, but the moment things get too hot, you get the hell out of there. Understand?"
Valerie nodded in agreement before stepping out of the van. The young monster hunter then reactivated her glider and shot off into the skies once more, all the while her mentor prayed that she'd be okay.
Bennie Benson was a two-bit hood in life as much as he was in the afterlife. After being drained of his blood and subsequently being turned into one of the undead, he still amounted to very little in his undead life. Bennie was by no means a brave sort, so when he saw the legendary Nightstalker tearing her way through his friends, or better put, people who didn't punch him in the face, he did the smart thing and ran for his un-life. Even with his inhuman speed, the vampire barely reached the Lunar House before the sun rose over the horizon. The vamp controlled nightclub was closed off to the public during the daylight hours so that the club's staff, and more importantly, it's owner, could get some rest before another long night of carrying out their plans for the mortals they ensnared during the night.
"Boss!" he cried out as he threw open the front door. "We got a problem!"
As Bennie ran into the club, shouting for his boss as he did, he was greeted by a pair of fellow vampires dressed in black suits. And judging by their irate expressions on their faces, they were not very happy to see the coward.
"The hell are you doing here, Bennie?" one of the security guard's demanded. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"I gotta talk to the boss!" Bennie pleaded. "It's important!"
"The boss is asleep right now," the other guard gruffly informed him. "And even if he wasn't, he still wouldn't bother with you!"
"Too late," came a voice from the second level. "I'm up."
The three vampires collectively looked up to see that their boss was up from his coffin and was now looking down upon them with an annoyed look in his eyes. He had the appearance of a young man, but he was much older than that. He was dressed in black with a matching black coat that covered him. His hair was blonde, and he had a pair of Ankh earrings. In his clawed hands were a pair of chopsticks in one and a box of noodles in the other as he casually ate his non-bloody food. A feat only a few vampires could do after being turned. Years ago, he was the apex predator of a small California town which he ran from the shadows alongside his gang of fellow vamps. That was until a pair of brothers and their friends killed him and his brood. But since then, he had been brought to the land of the un-living thanks to his new boss.
His name was David Powers. And right now, he was unhappy at the thought of being woken up this early from Bennie's shouting.
"So tell me, Bennie, why the fuck are you barging into my club at 7:30 in the morning?" he inquired, hiding his irritation in his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Bloody Stain right now?"
"The bar got jumped, boss!" Bennie called up to him in a panic. "Rudy, Joey, Carson, everyone got wasted!"
"By who?" David questioned, now taking an interest.
"It was the Nightstalker!" Bennie shouted.
David and the security guards were taken aback by that revelation. Now fully invested in what the little coward had to say, David tossed his Chinese food away before leaping down to the ground floor and approaching Bennie, who cowered before him.
"If you're lying to me..." he warned fiercely.
"I-I swear it's the truth!" Bennie defended. "She tore through everyone else like tissue paper! I never seen anything like that in my life!"
"I see..." was all his master said before asking "And you didn't try to stop her because...?"
"B-Because I had to warn you about her! Yeah, that's it!" Bennie stammered out.
"So, let me get this straight..." David started off in a dark voice. "One of my establishments got torn to shreds by a woman in a robo-suit where she butchered some of my best guys and is no doubt on her way here as we speak, and you thought it was a good idea to just run off like a coward?"
"I was trying to warn you, boss!" Bennie defended. "I just wanted to show that I was worth being part of the crew!"
"Sorry, Bennie..." his master began.
Suddenly, David plunged his claws into Bennie's chest before tearing out his still beating out in less than a second.
"But you should've put a little more heart into it," he finished with a smirk.
Bennie stared at his heart for several seconds before falling back toward the ground. As he did, his body burst into flames that turned him into a pile of ash before he hit the floor. David then crushed the heart in his hand, a clear sign to the other vampires who had watched the bloody act that they would do well not to try and anger their boss.
"Go. Wake up of the others," David ordered. "It looks like we're going to be getting some company soon."
It was around 11:30 in the morning when Valerie arrived at the night club, giving her plenty of sunlight to keep her prey still in their coffins. When the monster hunter threw open the door with one of her guns at the ready, she found an empty club, but she remained on guard, knowing that things could change at the drop of a hat. She began to carefully search the ground floor, checking every inch of the area for any trace of the undead or those who protected them. It was common for some vampires, especially the wealthy ones, to employ humans to guard them during the day as they slept in exchange for riches or the promise of becoming one of the immortal undead.
Just then, Valerie heard the sound of slow clapping above her. The Nightstalker looked up to see a vampire, dressed in black like most of the vamps she killed, standing on the club's second level, looking down at her with amassment in his eyes. It didn't take long for the monster hunter to know that this was no doubt the club's owner and leader of this vampire nest.
"So, you're the Nightstalker, huh?" the vamp said as he looked her over. "Gotta say, I'm a fan of your work."
"I'm touched," Valerie sarcastically replied as she aimed her gun up at him. "You got a name, fanboy?"
"Name's David," the vampire introduced. "But you'll be calling me 'master' after I'm done with you."
"Okay, ignoring the blatantly racist joke you just made, that's not going to happen," Valerie refuted. "Because I'm going to turn you to ash before the sun goes down!"
"Really? And just how are you going to do that with a handful of spiders?" David playfully inquired.
Valerie was puzzled by that odd question. That was until she looked at the gun she had pointed up at David. In place of the laser was a handful of tarantulas that were crawling up her arm. Valerie shirked in fright as she threw the fistful of arachnids to the ground, frantically swiping the spiders off of her arms. However, when she looked at the pile of spiders again, she realized that she had thrown her gun on the floor. Valerie mentally cursed herself for falling for one of the oldest tricks in the vampire books. Some stronger level bloodsuckers had the ability to put illusions into people's minds that felt so real that they were capable of tricking one's mind into believing that the illusion was reality.
But just as Valerie was going to grab her gun off the ground, she was suddenly tackled by one of the club's security guards, who pinned her to the floor with his fangs at the ready to end this fight. But his head was quickly blown apart by Valerie's shoulder cannon. After throwing the corpse off her person, the monster hunter threw on her helmet in order to prevent herself from being mentally manipulated by David's illusions again. Just as she had done that, another one of David's guards leaped down from above with his claws at the ready, only to have a hole blown through his chest thanks to Valerie's excellent marksmanship. More vamps were getting ready to take on the slayer, but rather than throw more guards at her, David decided it was time to get his hands dirty.
So, with a wicked smile, the head vampire jumped down to the ground floor to face the Nightstalker head-on. Valerie opened fire with her laser, but David easily evaded the laser fire and darted toward the monster hunter. Once he was close enough, he snatched the gun out of her hand with one hand and sent her flying into a nearby wall with an open-palm strike to the chest before crushing the gun like a tin can. Valerie tried to pick herself up from the hit, only to be slammed and pinned to the wall by an elbow to the throat. She tried to use her shoulder cannons on the head vampire, but her enemy tore them off her armor with a swipe of his claws.
"Come on, 'Nightstalker,' I thought you'd put up more of a fight than this!" David mocked.
"Oh, I'm just getting started!" Valerie wheezed out defiantly.
She then reached up toward David's face and sprayed him with her holy water, making him cry out in agony as he let her go, clutching his now scarred face as he slunk back away from her. Not wanting to let up for a second, the monster hunter delivered a round-house kick to the vamp's face the second her feet touch the ground. But before she could land the hit on him, David caught her by the ankle. Snarling in anger from being hit by the holy water, he threw the Nightstalker over his head and back first into the ground. The suit managed to take the brunt of the blow from the hit, but Valerie could still feel the pain surge through her back. She quickly rolled out of the way of David's claws. Jumping back to her feet, she quickly held out her wrist-mounted cannon and opened fire, only David to yet again dodge attacks and slash the weapons to pieces.
Thinking quickly, Valerie activated another weapon she had installed in her suit. A silver stake shot out from under her armor's wrist before she reached out and fired it like a spear gun at the vampire. The stake did strike David, and though it missed his heart, the silver metal still burned him none the less. As David struggled to pull the stake out of his body, Valerie lunged at him with another stake, this time ready to plunge it through his heart. But just before she could impale him through the chest, David managed to not only yank the stake out of his body, but stab it through Valerie's suit and right through her heart.
The monster hunter's facemask was covered in the blood she spat out as she stumbled back from David, dropping the stake she intended to kill him with as she looked in total disbelief at one of her own weapons lodged in her chest. As she fell backward to the ground, she cursed herself for being so stupid and ignoring her mentor's advice. Sadly, as she looked up and saw David standing over her with a fanged smile on his lips, she knew that death would not save from the horror that was to come next. She wanted to keep fighting, but darkness slowly covered her vision as David knelt down toward her neck.
When Valerie opened her eyes, she already knew what had happened but refused to believe it. As she looked around the darkened room, she saw that her armor was still intact, giving her some hope that perhaps Carl managed to find her and bring her to a hospital to receive medical attention. But that was a long shot at best, for she knew that the stake pierced her heart and there was no way that, at his age, Carl could've fought his way through David and his brood to save her. Still clinging onto false hope, she then reached up and touched to the side of her neck, praying that her armor managed to keep David's fangs back like they had done so many times before.
But to her dismay, she felt two small puncture wounds on her neck. She leaped up from the operating table she was laying on as her now long longer beating heart shattered from the despair she fell into. She retracted her the armor around her wrist to feel for a pulse, to which there was none. The monster hunter then pulled away her helmet to feel a pair of newly formed fangs in her mouth. Then, in a final curl joke played on her, the monster hunter turned around to see a mirror hanging from the wall, and even though she was standing right in front of it, her reflection was nowhere to be seen within it. Valerie, now drowning in her own sadness and angry, let out a scream of rage as she shattered the mirror.
"Now that was just rude," David's said as he stepped out of the shadows. "That mirror was an antique."
"You..." Valerie snarled.
With a hiss, the newly sired vampire leaped at the one who had made her undead. But with a mere backhand, David sent Valerie to the ground while only using hardly a fraction of his true strength.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," he advised. "Your mind and body still aren't used to being undead, and you haven't fed on any blood. So, if you get hurt now, it'll be a real death sentence for you this time."
"I'd rather die than be like you!" the monster hunter spat defiantly.
"Oh, Jesus Christ, lady, do you even hear yourself right now?" David groaned. "I gave you something that most people would, and have, killed for over all these centuries: Eternal life."
"Is this the part where you break out the old 'we're not so different' speech?" the newly turned vampire questioned dryly. "Because that shit is so cliché."
"It's more like a 'you don't have much of a choice' speech," David coolly corrected. "See, you're like a newborn calf right now. And in about an hour or so, you're going to want to feed."
"I will never feed on blood!" Valerie refused.
"Is that right?" David asked with a smirk. "Well, then...I'd rather not let this go to waste."
The vampire then reached into his coat and pulled out an IV bag full of blood. Like a shark smelling a wounded seal in the open ocean, Valerie's newly heightened sense of smell instinctively kicked in. The thick, irony scent of blood was arousing for Valerie as her mouth began to water, her gaze focused solely on the bag of blood in David's hand, who now was dangling it out to her like a dog treat. But just as Valerie's new bloodlust overcame her senses, she managed to resist her animalistic urges and pull away from the blood, but the hunger was still there. Valerie felt nothing but shame for herself for so easily falling for her hunger, and more at the fact that she fell into this situation. David, knowing that he had her right where he wanted her, put the blood away and spoke up again.
"So, here's the deal," he told her. "You're going to stop your little 'war on all monsters' crusade and join me and my crew, or I'm going to leave you in this cell to starve to death. Which, in case you didn't know, might take a good hundred years to do."
"What are you even doing here?" the Nightstalker questioned.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," the vampire answered simply. "So, what's it going to be? Freedom or prison?"
"I just have one thing to say to you," the monster hunter said. "You should've checked me better."
Before David could understand what she meant by that, Valerie pulled out a handful of small, silver orbs from her pocket. In a single movement, the Nightstalker threw down the orbs at the ground in the space between them. The second the orbs his the floor, they erupted into a flash of ultraviolet light that engulfed the two vampires in a burning embrace. A part of Valerie had wanted to stay and let the light of her 'sun bombs,' as she called, kill her, but she fought through the pain as she darted toward the cell's door that David had left open when he entered. Monster or not, she needed to find and save those David and his clan had imprisoned.
However, when she stepped out into the hallway, she found herself staring at cell after cell of the missing immigrants. Sadly, they too had been changed into the undead. Due to their current, darkened living conditions, their skin had become almost translucent when the light was shined on them, making them hiss and try to crawl away. Their eyes were large, and their claws were overgrown. The monster hunter had no idea as to why David's clan was turning these people and not using them to spread throughout the rest of the area, but she didn't have time to investigate right now. For Valerie, it broke her un-beating heart, not only because she was unable to save them, but also because it held up a possible future for her now that she too had become one of the undead. She wanted to put them out of their misery, but without her weapons or time, she had to leave them. So, with a heavy heart, she activated her glider and flew out of the underground part of the club and back out into the city above.
As Valerie blasted out of the club, the fading sunlight from the California dusk burned her skin. She didn't know how long she was trapped in the bowels of the nightclub, but she was thankful that it wasn't high noon, or she would've burst into flames the second she stepped outside. As she flew through the skies, she watched what might be the last time she would be able to see the sun for the rest of her immortal days. Soon, between her wounds and her burning skin, Valerie lost all consciousness as she fell from the sky like an angel being cast out of Heaven. After Valerie fell to the ground, the last thing she saw was a figure standing over, already fearing that David had caught up with her.
When Valerie opened her eyes again, she found herself not back in the nightclub but within the confines of the battle van. Sitting by the van's computers was Carl, who had a forlorn look in his eyes. His student's red eyes looked away in sadness, already knowing that Carl had no doubt already figured out what she had become.
"I lost your signal in the club," he began. "I was about to go in there until I picked it back up shooting out of there like a bat out-uh, well, you know."
He then slammed his fist on the consoles in anger, making the monster hunter jump.
"I should've been there for you, Val!" he stated in anger at himself. "Maybe if I had gone in there...then maybe-"
"What happened to me wasn't your fault," Valerie assured him sadly. "I'm the only one to blame for this. If I had listened to you in the first place, then I'd still be human."
Valerie felt nothing but shame at herself. She ignored her teacher's words, and because of her arrogance, she had become the very thing she sought to eradicate off the face of this earth. However, the way Valerie saw it, she had a choice: She could either give up now and wait for tomorrow's dawn take her away or continue her quest to destroy all monsters across the globe. After all, if she was going to be immortal, she may as well live for something. And if she could learn to use her new abilities, then she would be able to turn the tables on those that had cursed her with this unnatural life.
"So, what happens now?" her teacher asked, totally unsure what to do next.
"Well, for starters, we raid the nearest blood bank," Valerie replied. "If I'm going to be drinking blood for the rest of my life, then I need to get used to it now and fast. Because honestly, Carl, it's taking a hell'uva lot of willpower not to drain you dry you right now."
"Uh, duly noted," her teacher agreed. "But what about those vamps at the club?"
"There's nothing we can do about them now," Valerie sadly answered. "If we go at them again, then we'll both be killed. And there's nothing we can do for the people they stole. They've all been turned. Not only that, they'll probably be packing up and be in the wind by tomorrow night."
"Well, when they do poke their heads out of their coffins, we'll be ready for them," Kolchak declared.
"Listen, Carl," his student spoke up. "If I lose control...if I let this hunger take over-"
"I'll make it quick," her mentor promised, though it was clear by the tone in his voice that he did not like the idea of carrying the deed out if the moment arose.
Valerie smiled at the gesture, still happy that her teacher wanted to stay by her side despite her transformation.
"Now, let's get you that blood," Carl stated as he climbed over to the driver seat. "Then, we gotta make a stop at the Amity Park graveyard. You need a coffin from your own home soil to sleep in during the day."
Valerie only nodded at that. And with that, the monster hunter and her mentor drove off into the night. The Nightstalker was unsure what this new road would lead her, but one thing was certain: She was going to remain a nightmare for the world of monsters. And one day, she was going to get her revenge on David.
David growled in pain as he dragged himself into his office. The bombs that had struck him and nearly ended his undead life left him severely wounded. He was going to need to feed around the clock for the next few nights to heal from the blast. But he had other problems at the moment. For now, he would have to close down his entire operation here in California and move it somewhere else. Of course, he'd need to report all of this to his boss, who was not going to take this news lightly. He took out his cellphone and made the call, hoping that they wouldn't end his life.
"Sir, it's me," he greeted. "I have some bad news."
"Bad news, you say?" came a voice on the other end of the line. "Are you referring to the Nightstalker attacking your little club?"
"Wait, how did you-" David tried to ask.
"We have our ways, David," the voice cut him off. "Just like we had our ways of bringing you back."
David knew all too well about that. The organization that brought him back used a mixture of the occult and science to bring him back to life, only for him to become their humble servant in America. As their point man in the States, David was given the task to find test subjects for the organization's vampiric serum, which he found in the immigrants who tried to cross the border. Ever since he was brought back, David had his own vendettas, but his new master kept him focused solely on his objectives, least he sent back to Hell.
"What are your orders, sir?" he inquired.
"Destroy all the evidence and return to home base. We'll relocate you to somewhere else," his master informed him. "After you are dealt your punishment, of course."
"Y-yes, sir," David stammered out before asking "What about the Nightstalker?"
"She is of no concern to us, but I'm quite certain that she'll wish to put a stake through your heart," his boss answered. "But do not worry about that now. You have your orders, solider."
"Yes, Major," David compiled before hanging up.
