Chronicles of the Night
When we last left off, Dr. Thomas found himself going through many a strange change. His senses were sharper, his body much stronger, and claws having replaced his nails. But with the price of this power has cost him a good friend, his girlfriend, and now even his mother. We now pick up our story three weeks after his capture.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Comics elements present in this story, I do own my original characters and the plot.
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New City, new start
The time was 11:00 PM; an eighteen-wheeler was driving through the streets of Los Angeles California for some unimportant destination. As it passed by all of the tall buildings and all of the pedestrians still out late at night, a shadow leaped from the top of the eighteen-wheeler and landed on one of the rooftops, unnoticed to any of the people in the streets.
At that top of said roof, a figure that was 5'11 in height with blonde hair, wearing shades, a light brown vest, brown gloves, somewhat loose black pants and black shirt was putting sneakers over his feet, the toes of which had no nails. "Hmmm… I wonder if S.H.I.E.L.D managed to follow me this far." Felix said to himself. He finished tying his sneakers, and picked up the fairly large backpack sitting next to him before he hopped down and landed in the alley beside the building.
Felix walked along the streets for about half an hour, looking around at the people around him. Thinking comments to himself as he looked at each individual person and taking a whiff around him. "Smoker… heavy drinker… someone in desperate need of tic-tacs… and someone who has been working in the sewers all day… ugh… I'm not sure I want to know what else I smell on him." Felix thought to himself as he passed by some middle-aged man.
"Leave me alone you creep!"
"Hm?" Felix's ears picked up a young girl yelling. "Hmmmm… she's decently far down this alley. Stupid girl should know never to run in to an alley where no one can see her." Felix said as he put the back-pack all the way on and walked down the alleyway in a hurry.
"Come on baby… why don't you show me some action huh?" A punk wearing a cap on backwards and wearing really baggy clothes said to a girl in a blue mini-skirt.
"No way you sicko!"
"Yo man, you just been dissed." An African-American teenager wearing similar clothes said to the other guy.
"Yo whatever man, why don't you just help me out wit this little…"
"She asked you to leave her alone."
"Hm?" Both of the guys turned down the alley and saw Felix standing there putting his backpack down on the ground.
"What it is wit you man? You got a problem?" The first punk asked him while cracking his knuckles.
"Yeah man… if you got a problem you don't want to take it here." The second punk told him.
"Actually, I do have a problem…" Felix said as he adjusted his sunglasses. "I have a problem with punks who have nothing better to do on a Saturday night."
"Oh you're asking for it now." The first guy said as he ran forward and threw his fist. Felix easily sidestepped that punch, and then the next punch, and was right behind the guy right after he threw a third punch. "Huh?"
"Up high…" Felix said as he kicked the guy across the face and sent him sprawling to the ground.
"OW!"
"Why you…" the second guy ran at Felix and tried to hit him from behind.
"Down low…" Felix crouched and caused the guy to trip over top of him. "Too slow…" Felix said as he jumped up and caused that guy to go flying through the air a few feet before landing on his back.
"Aaaaaaahhhh… oof!"
"Oh you are dead!" The first guy said as he drew a knife and ran for Felix.
"Look out!" The girl screamed.
"Too bad…" Felix said as he jumped clear over the top of that guy and kicking him in the back of the head. "…so sad." Felix said as he leaped towards the last guy and gut-punched him.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The guy said before collapsing on the ground.
"…" The girl stared wide-eyed at Felix as he picked up his backpack and started walking out of the alleyway. "Um… wait! What's your name?"
"I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you that. But could you be so kind as to tell me where I can get something to drink? I'm parched." Felix said.
"Umm… well…" The girl walked closer to Felix to get a better look at this stranger. "There is a place a few blocks from here across the street to your left as you leave the alley." She said.
"Thanks." Felix said. "Hey is that yours?" Felix asked as he pointed to where the girl was previously standing.
"Is what mine?" She asked as she turned around and looked. "I don't see any…" She paused when she realized that he wasn't there anymore. "Huh? Where'd he go?"
A few minutes later…
"Why would a teenager younger than me send me to a bar? I'm not even drinking age." He said as he looked at the bar in front of him. He sighed and went inside anyways, he ignored the big guys playing pool and taking drinking breaks in between their turns and just went to the counter. "I'll just have a water." Felix said as he sat down.
"Hey guys, those Ultimates are still on the news." One of the guys said while pointing at the small TV mounted on the wall near the tables.
"Captain America and Mister Stark, also known as Iron Man, gave the press a field day with more information regarding the alien attacks on the United States…"
"Heh…" Felix smiled as he sipped his water while listening further to the news. "Let them deal with the media, the more time they spend with the media, the less time Fury spends on me."
"Man, aliens. Yeah right." One of the guys at the tables said. Felix continued to sip his water when the biggest guy there walked up behind him.
"Hey."
"Hm?" Felix turned his head to that guy.
"What's in the backpack?"
"For me to know, and for you to never find out." Felix said nonchalantly.
"Listen here pal!" The guy demanded as he slammed a fist down on the bar counter. "Here's how it works around here, I ask you a question, and you answer." He said threateningly.
"Does it say when I have answer? I could get back to you in two weeks." Felix remarked with a smile.
"Grrrrrr…" The guy grabbed a cue-stick and swung it at Felix's head full-force. Felix ducked under it and while that guy was off-balance, Felix kicked him in the waist, got up and punched him in the cheek and knocked him to the ground with ease.
"Ow! How could such a skinny guy pack such a punch?"
"How'd he move that fast?"
"He wasn't even looking and he avoided the cue stick."
"This guy must be some kind of mutant or something."
"Yeah! That's got to be it."
"Oh gee whiz… why does everyone automatically assume I'm a mutant?" Felix asked out loud as he grabbed his backpack.
"Let's get him!"
"Yeah!"
"Oh damn it all…" Felix sighed. He jumped from where he was standing and got all the way to the door and rushed out of it. The second those other guys came out, Felix was gone.
"Hey what the hell?"
"Where'd he go?"
"Morons…" Felix sighed as he looked at them from the edge of the roof. He sighed, turned around and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. "I need to catch some sleep." Felix thought. Felix kept jumping until he reached a particular rooftop that was apparently a hotel rooftop due to the many lounge chairs around the swimming pool. "Well… I guess this will do." Felix grabbed one of the lounge chairs and jumped to the top of the roof that couldn't be reached by guests, set up the chair, laid down, and closed his eyes.
In his dreams…Felix woke up in a hospital bed. "Huh? Whoa… where the heck am I?" He thought. "Was it… all a dream?" Felix pulled his hands out from under the covers and noticed that his fingers lacked nails. "No… no… it was all real…" He thought despairingly. "But that brings me back to my last question… where am I?"
"He's finally awake sir."
"Hm?" Felix turned to the door of his room. An African-American man wearing a general's uniform adorned with many medals, the most striking feature was an eye patch over his left eye. "Who… are you?"
"So, you don't remember anything that happened do you?" The man asked.
"What?"
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"Again… what? Where are you going with this? What is going on?!" Felix started demanding.
"The sooner you answer my question the sooner you find out!" The man told him forcefully.
"…" Felix took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Some… man pulled a shotgun and… MOM! What happened to my mom!?" Felix asked.
"She's dead son. The bullet killed her instantly."
"…no…no…" Felix moaned while shaking his head. "Everyone…"
"If it's any consolation, the man who shot your mom is in custody right now for attempt at murder and 2nd degree murder."
"Who are you?" Felix asked.
"General Nicholas Fury."
"Oh, you're that guy who commissioned our project." Felix said.
"Yes. Now, a few more things I need to tell you."
"What?"
"You tried to kill that man who killed your mom."
"What? No… I couldn't possibly. I have no recollection, and… I couldn't if I tried."
"Have you noticed anything odd about yourself?"
"Excuse me?"
"You were discharged from the hospital days earlier than expected, and your hands… take another good look at your fingers."
"…" Felix lifted his hand, he studied it for a moment and then, some kind of reflex told him to flex some muscle, a muscle he wasn't sure he had. Felix's hand twitched only slightly, and sharp claws came from the tips of his fingers. "Sweet mother of… oh my god… what in the world…" Felix started stuttering.
"Here's your medical examination." Fury said as he handed him some folder. Felix sat upright and opened the folder and looked at the papers inside of it.
"According to our own Janet Pym's examination, your joints and skeletal structure allow for above normal flexibility, not only that but examinations of your eyesight and ears have determined that your hearing and sight, and I'm willing to bet your other senses are more comparable to a cat's. And considering the lack of cat blood that should have been on the scene that could only mean…" Fury started.
"That blood I swallowed bonded to my DNA." Felix finished.
"Now you have a few options."
"Options?"
"As a super human that is a legal adult in the United States, you fall under my jurisdiction." Fury said as he got a serious look on his face.
"Jurisdiction? What are you talking about?"
"Like it or not kid, you have powers, and now I'm going to give you a few choices." Fury said. "One, we can hold you in a cell until we have a way to permanently remove your powers. Two, we let you out and keep constant surveillance on you to make sure you don't hurt anyone."
"I'm not liking any of these…" Felix said.
"Three, work here in our labs, continue your project and work until I say you're done."
"This… sucks…" Felix thought.
"Or four, do something useful with those powers." Fury said.
"…" Felix thought for a moment, he picked up a mirror and looked at himself. Now that he looked at his eyes, he noticed that while they weren't as narrow as a cat's would be in a bright room like this, they were a bit more narrow than a normal human's would be. "Could I even live a normal life?"
"Hm!?" Felix woke up with a start. "Whoa… man. Why did I dream about that?" Felix thought. He looked up and noticed it was daytime now.
"Hey! We're missing a chair up here."
"Uh-oh." Felix said. He grabbed his backpack and jumped off the roof to the next roof.
Later…
"Hey! Could you tell me where this is?" Felix asked a random pedestrian while showing him a small slip of paper.
"Uh… yeah. It's around the corner and then go across the street after going a few blocks down. But that place is closed on Sundays." The man said.
"Thanks." Felix said as he turned to walk away. "Oh and by that way…"
"Yeah?"
"The meat on that sandwich in your bad is about a week over the expiration date." Felix said as he walked off.
"Huh?" The man looked in his bag and took a whiff. "Whoa…"
"Yeah, here it is." Felix said. He walked up to a clothing store that read "Personal Touch." Felix rang the doorbell and waited before ringing again.
"We're closed on Sundays." A woman with a British Accent said from the other side of the door.
"I'm the guy who called you a week ago." Felix said.
"What's the password you gave me?" The woman asked curiously.
"The hunter stalks in the night." Felix said.
"Oh, why it really is you isn't it? Come in come in." She said opening the door for him. The woman was rather small, had wrinkles and curly gray hair. "You know, I don't normally do business like this."
"Well, it interested you didn't it?" Felix asked.
"Oh yes quite." She said. "This place doesn't get a lot of business, and I do enjoy making clothes for people. And I do need the money. It's in the back." She said as he led him behind the small desk and through a small door. The room they were in looked like a small storage room, she led him to a small wardrobe closet in the back of the room. "Based on the measurements, design and color scheme you gave me, I managed to make this!" She said.
"I like." Felix said. He was looking at a tight spandex costume that was handing from a hanger. The lower portion was primarily black down the legs, and there were also dark blue boots that were part of the legs as well, but they also lacked toes. The upper body was also primarily black, but the area around the shoulders was dark blue and going from that was a dark blue vertical stripe going down to the lower waist where a blue ring circled the outfit. The arms were primarily black and, like the boots, the gloves were part of the outfit and fingerless. Finally the black neck of the costume led up to a black mask that had holes for the ears, mouth, eyes, and very top of the hair.
"The material is tight, but very flexible and unlikely to tear at best even if the wearer was a contortionist." The lady said. "As you requested, there are no fingers or toes on the costume, and the mouth, nose, ears, and eyes are in no way restricted. If you would like you may try it on and let me know if you like it. If not you may keep your money and I'll make you another one."
"That would be very nice." Felix said as he grabbed the upper body of the costume in his right hand and the lower half in his right hand.
A few minutes later…
"Well? How is it?" The lady asked.
"Just perfect." Felix said. The costume fit like a glove, he was stretching out his legs to see just how flexible the material was, and found it to be as flexible as he had hoped.
"You know, you look just like a super hero." The lady said. "Oh is this why you wanted a confidentiality agreement?"
"Yes." Felix said simply as he revealed and retracted his claws on both his fingers and toes.
"Oh my, that's rather shocking." She said as she observed the claw trick. "Well, your secret is safe with me. I don't even know your name after all." She said.
"Well, here's your money." Felix said.
"Oh my…" She said as she counted the two hundred dollars. "But it wasn't that much."
"Keep the change, you've earned it." He said as he stuffed his clothes in his backpack and put it on. "Oh! Do you have a backdoor?"
"Yes." She said.
"Thanks." He said as he left.
Later that night…
"YAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOO!!!" Felix shouted as he jumped over the street below him to another skyscraper rooftop. "Most people vent their frustration through violence, or sitting their butts in front of a computer and writing completely unreal junk that nobody reads. While I jump over buildings." He thought. "Hmmm… I need to find a place to stay and a job sooner or later… later would be fine." He thought. He landed on a roof and looked down below, and then looked up at the sky. "Hopefully S.H.I.E.L.D will have a harder time recognizing me with this costume."
"…"
"?" Felix's ears twitched a little bit as a sound reached his ears. "…" Felix's face had a clear look of thought in his face. "Heavy breathing… someone's breathing very heavily." Felix thought. He immediately jumped to the next building and started running for wear he heard the breathing. "Female… young… probably early teens. Where there's heavy breathing, there is more often than not trouble close behind." Felix thought as he kept moving.
"Heh…heh…ugh…"
"Just one more street." Felix thought. He landed on a rooftop and was looking over the edge down an alley. "There she is…" Felix thought. He looked a young girl, no older than twelve or thirteen, running down the alley weakly, clutching her neck. "Blood? I smell blood."
The girl herself had long red hair, blue eyes, 4'11" in height, and a rather small frame. She was wearing white blue jeans, white sneakers, and a pink happy bunny T-shirt. She was clearly getting weaker by the second, she looked desperate, as if being hunted. She looked at a nearby dumpster, and noticed some trash bags next to it. She hobbled over there, laid down, and pulled a few bags over the top of herself.
"She's hiding… but from what if anything was chasing her I would have noticed by… what the…?" Felix looked from where the girl came from and noticed another figure. "Okay… that guy… is really really quiet." Felix said.
The guy Felix was talking about was an African-American, but just looking at this guy, he just spelled badass. He had a flattop cut, sunglasses, a look on his face that could mean he'd just as soon fire one of the two guns in his hands as say hi. He was wearing a long black coat, a black vest underneath it, a black belt and black pants leading down to fairly large black boots. The man looked around the alley for a moment, looked at the trash bags and aimed both of his guns at them.
"Careful where you point those things!" Felix shouted as he jumped down, spun around and kicked both guns out of his hands right before he landed. "You could put someone's eye out."
"What the… get out of my way…" The man growled.
"Not a chance. Some guy with guns, aiming at something random, never a good sign." Felix said to him as he flexed his fingers before making fists.
"Where is the girl?" He asked.
"Girl?"
"Don't play dumb with me. I know why you're attacking me." The man said.
"Oh really?" Felix asked.
"Things will be a whole lot easier on everyone if I just take care of that girl here and now." The man said with a scowl.
"I'm not about to let you kill an innocent little girl. You got that?" Felix said as he pointed his finger at the man.
"Do you believe in vampires?" The man asked.
"Vampires? I've seen some strange things, but give me a break." Felix said.
"Then you better start believing." The man said as he hand slid in to his coat slowly.
"Get… lost… now…" Felix said slowly.
"This is your last warning." The man said. "Get out of my way…"
"Or?" Felix asked.
"Or I'll eat your heart out!" The man yelled as he drew a silver katana from underneath his coat and rushed Felix.
"Whoa!" Felix ducked backwards and narrowly avoided a horizontal slash from the man. "Whoa… he's fast. That nearly hit me." Felix thought. Felix quickly snapped up and threw a fist that the man ducked under and threw an elbow at Felix's stomach. Felix dove above the man's back and sank his claws on both his hands and feet in to the man's back before jumping off.
"Ah!" The man shouted as Felix scratched off some of his skin. "Grrrr…" Felix landed and lunged back at the guy with a fist drawn back. But the man caught the fist, and slammed the handle of the sword on top of Felix's head.
"Gah!" Felix shouted as he fell to the ground. The man twirled the sword until he held it back-handed and was about to stab it in to Felix's back. Felix rolled out of the way, and spun around on his back and kicked the man behind the knee before getting on his hands and mule-kicking the man in to the wall of the building. "Take that you son of a… oh crap." Felix said as he heard him pick up one of his guns.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" The gun was apparently an automatic gun as bullets were flying out of it rapidly as he held the trigger. Felix cart-wheeled out of the way, then sprang up on to the nearby wall, then jumped to the other wall, bounded back to the street, and then tackled the man while avoiding the gunfire. "Oof!"
"RAH!" Felix stabbed his claws in to the man's stomach. "Hmph… that ought to keep you out of commission for a while." Felix sighed as he punched the guy to the ground.
"Not quite." The man said.
"Hm?" Felix looked at the area of the stomach he just stabbed and watched the holes in the stomach slowly shrink away and close themselves. "Oh my… that's disgusting."
"RAH!" The man thrust his sword forward and nicked him in the shoulder. "Ah!"
"Hah!" The man gut-kicked Felix and sent him sprawling backwards. The man quickly aimed his gun while Felix was sprawling and held down the trigger. Felix however quickly regained his balance and jumped out of the way of the many bullets flying at him. Felix noticed the other gun and managed to reach it while avoiding the bullets and took aim.
"I don't like using these but…" Felix pulled on the trigger and let loose a flurry of bullets on the man.
"Ah!" He shouted as the bullets bombarded him before he ducked out of the way while firing his own gun. Felix dropped the gun and jumped towards the man and kicked the man in the head. The man however was still holding down the trigger of his gun and one bullet managed to make its way in to Felix's shoulder.
"ARGH! Daaaamn… that hurts." Felix moaned. "Hang on… now that I think about it, these bullets smell odd. Whoa!" Felix avoided a vertical slash from the man's katana, but received a punch to the face, an elbow thrust to the chest, and was nearly sliced open at the gut but he jumped back to the where the katana only left a slight scratch. "Gah!" Felix then got kicked in the chest and was sent skidding backwards. "Ooogh… at this rate I just might lose this one." Felix said. The man aimed his gun at Felix.
"Now die." The man hissed. Right before the man pulled the trigger, Felix ducked for the trash bags, pulled the girl out, and then jumped from wall to wall up to the top of the roof he was on previously. "Get back here!" The man said. Though not as agile as Felix, he too began wall-jumping his way up to the roof.
"Move it move it move it…" Felix said to himself in a hurried fashion as he also grabbed his backpack. He then leaped as far as he could, barely paying attention to the bullets whizzing by his head.
Later…
"Whew… I think I finally lost that lunatic." Felix sighed as he stopped to catch his breath. "Hm? No." Felix pressed his ear against the girl's chest. "Her heart… it's not beating… did he… no, she wasn't already dead… and I don't smell any of those odd bullets in her body anywhere." Felix thought. "Speaking of which…" Felix flexed the shoulder of his that got shot, ignored the bleeding coming from it and reached in to is with two fingers with the claws out. He managed to pull the bullet out rather painfully, put it down, and then reached in to his backpack.
After bandaging up the wound using the bandages in the backpack, he sniffed the bullet. "Yeah, definitely silver… but the tip… this is a hollow point bullet. And it… smells like there's garlic inside of it. Garlic extract? Silver?" Felix thought out loud. "Hmmm… that katana smelled like silver and iron… no… more like refined iron. Either steel or titanium." Felix looked at the girl, and noticed her bleeding neck. Felix looked closer at her neck, and noticed two holes there, as if something had bitten her there.
"Do you believe in vampires?"The man's words rang in his head. "Hmmm… I better get situated elsewhere." Felix said.
Elsewhere…
"I'm telling you… this guy was psycho." The first punk from earlier in this chapter was telling this gang in an abandoned warehouse.
"Yeah, he beat us down man…" The second punk said.
"By jumpin over the top o yo head?" Another guy asked.
"And by flippin you through de air man?" Another one asked.
"That's whack." A fifth one said.
"It's true!" The first guy protested.
"True dat! True dat!" The second guy agreed.
"Prove it." One of them asked. Suddenly the door burst open, and there stood Felix, holding the girl in both of his arms. "Whoa whoa whoa man… you can't just barge in here."
"Yo! What's wit dat get up?"
"Yo! What's wit dat girl?"
"Leave… right… now." Felix said in a low voice.
"You gonna make us?" One of the guys threatened.
"Hmmmmm…" Felix growled.
A minute later…
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" All five of those guys went flying out of the warehouse. "Oof!"
"Come back and I'll break both of your arms!" Felix shouted.
"He's more psycho than that first guy from last night!" The first guy said as he scrambled to his feet.
"I'm out man!" The fourth guy said as he ran away with the rest of them.
"Now then…" Felix turned back to the warehouse. He hopped up to a loft above the rest of the room. He checked if it was stable, and then gently lay the girl down. He set down his backpack, and pulled out a laptop computer with a wireless Internet card, and a thick metal case. For the first time in a while, the backpack actually looked halfway empty. "No way…" Felix turned back to the girl. "Her heartbeat… started up again?"
"…" The girl started to breathe very very lightly, barely audible to most ears.
"Hmmm…" Felix pulled the mask down and let it hang around his neck and turned on his computer, and after several attempts, he finally managed to find an Internet connection. "Geez, eight years in the Baxter Building and it takes me this long to enhance the connection." Felix grumbled. He began checking through google, wikipedia, and various urban legend websites for information. All of his searches had one thing in common. Vampires. "Hmmm… I must be out of mind… I'm actually listening to some psychopath and… hey… that's kind of interesting."
"Huh… huh…"
"Hm?" Felix turned around and looked at the girl. "She's waking up…" He whispered. He crawled over and was crouching over her as her eyes opened. "Hey… are you alright?" He asked.
"It… hurts…" She muttered.
"Are you alright?" Felix asked again.
"So… thirsty…" The girl moaned as her blue eyes began changing from blue to blood red.
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P.S. I'm sure you Marvel Comic fans know who Felix battled in this chapter. But if you don't, trust me, you'll know next chapter.
