Chronicles of the Night
We last left Dr. Felix Thomas in Los Angeles California, apparently avoiding S.H.I.E.L.D for unknown reasons, picking up an unusually cheap but effective costume. He soon got in to a conflict with a mysterious man that was attempting to kill a little girl. Now Felix looks over this girl who has woken up and stated her thirst.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Comics elements in this story, I do own my characters and the plot.
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The Hunt has begun
"So… thirsty…" The girl moaned as her blue eyes began changing from blue to blood red.
"…" Felix saw her eyes gradually changing colors. "Um… is that supposed to mean something?" He asked himself.
"Ugh… ugh…" The girl kept eyeing Felix's neck, she was thirsty, and she was drawn to his neck. "…"
"Her breathing is… very heavy…" Felix thought. "Come on kid… say something." Felix said.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The girl hissed as she suddenly grabbed Felix around the neck, and pulled herself towards his neck and sunk her fangs in to his neck.
"AUGH!" Felix shouted.
"!!!" The girl's eyes were filled with shock when she withdrew her fangs. "Pbth!" She spit out Felix's blood and caught her breath for a moment.
"Ooooooowwwww…" Felix moaned as he held his neck. "That's gonna leave a mark for a while." Felix groaned.
"No…"
"Hm?" Felix looked at the girl. The girl had her red eyes fixated on the small puddle of blood she just spit out.
"I… I tried to…" The girl started muttering. She slowly brought her trembling hands closer and closer to her mouth. She then touched the tips of her fingers against her canine teeth. The girl's trembling only got worse when she felt just how sharp they were. She then looked at Felix, horror struck when she gazed at the spot on his neck she just bit. "No… no no… no…" The girl began muttering.
"Hm? Hey… hey." Felix tried to talk to her.
"No it… it can't be…" The girl looked around and found a broken piece of glass. She picked it up and looked at her faint reflection cast on it. "Red… eyes… fangs… I… I can't… I just can't…"
"Well… I guess vampires not casting reflections turned out to be a load of bologna." Felix thought. "Wait… what is she…" Felix watched as the girl started clutching the piece of more tightly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" She shouted as the glass shattered in her hands.
"Whoa! Kid!" Felix immediately went over to her and grabbed her. "Kid! Get a grip… just let me see your…"
"No! Stay away from me! I'm a monster! I'm a vampire! Look at what I almost did to you!" The girl shouted hysterically, pointing a bleeding finger at Felix's bite marks on his neck.
"Look at me a moment." Felix said as he grabbed the girl. "This… is nothing." Felix said more calmly, he gazed in to the girl's tear-filled eyes. "This on my neck, it will heal. You didn't hurt me… okay?" Felix asked her.
"But… but…" The girl said. She wrested away from his grip and gazed at the cuts on her hands, which were healing right in front of her eyes. "I'm… a monster…" She said.
"No… no you're not." Felix tried telling her.
"Yes I am!" The girl said between sobs. "I… I can't live… I don't think I'm even alive… I can't see sunlight… I… I can't be with my friends… or family I… I might…"
"…" Felix listened to this as she said this, sadly thinking about all of it.
"… I could bite them… look… look at what I did to you…" She said sadly.
"Listen…" Felix said.
"Hm?" The girl looked at him while trying to hold back her tears.
"I will help you." Felix said with a serious look on his face.
"Huh?"
"Do you think I would get shot in the shoulder, beat up a few thugs, and only go halfway?" Felix asked with a comforting smile. "Don't worry."
"But… but I'm… I can't live normally anymore…" She sobbed.
"She's right you know."
"Gah!" Felix turned around quickly and saw the guy from earlier standing on the roof of the warehouse looking through a large hole in the roof. "You know, you are really really quiet." Felix said trying to keep his cool.
"I warned you… and now here we are. This just makes the job a little bit harder to do." He said as he drew his katana and one of his guns.
"Wait just one moment." Felix said as he stood up and stared at him defiantly.
"No! You listen!" The man said threateningly. "I don't know why, but you're lucky that girl didn't drink your blood and turn you in to one of them! If I don't take care of this now, it will just keep spreading." The man hissed.
"…" Felix paused to think for a second. "I've listened, and now it's my turn to talk." He said calmly. The girl sat on the floor, huddled in a corner as she listened to this, tears still leaking from her eyes.
"Oh?"
"Yes. Number one, my blood is chemically altered, that's probably why she couldn't drink it, it's simply not healthy for a vampire." Felix reasoned.
"That proves nothing."
"Secondly… Blade." Felix said while staring at the man.
"How… did you figure out my name?" Blade asked.
"Oh I listened to what you said, and I learned all kinds of things about vampires on the Internet. I even learned about a vampire hunter that cut down vampires like blades of glass." Felix said. "By the name of Blade."
"Your point?" The man asked.
"Some urban legend websites have gone so far as to say that you're a vampire as well Blade." Felix said.
"…"
"Well Blade?" Felix asked harder.
"Half." Blade said. "I'm as strong as one, I'm as fast as one, and I don't have any of their weaknesses." Blade continued.
"None of them Blade?" Felix asked, confident he was getting somewhere. The girl only looked at the two of them bewildered. "You can walk in sunlight just fine?" He paused. "His heart's normal, guess so." Felix thought. "You aren't harmed by silver?" He asked then paused again.
"Where are you going with this?" Blade asked.
"You don't need to drink blood?" Felix asked.
"…"
"His heart jumped a little… bingo." Felix thought with a smile. "If there's something that's keeping your thirst at bay, then what is it? How can I help this girl?" Felix asked.
"…" Blade looked at the moon above their heads.
"Give me a chance Blade." Felix said.
"…" The girl sniffled a little bit. "Just kill me… I… I couldn't stand to hurt anyone." The girl said.
"Hmph… about time." Blade said as he pointed his gun.
"One more thing Blade." Felix said.
"What?"
"Would a normal monster, or vampire, cry?" Felix asked.
"…" Blade let his gun arm rest at his side. He sheathed his katana and reached under his coat. "What do you think you could do to help her?" He asked.
"I have my powers, and I am a grade A chemist." Felix said.
"Fine then." Blade quickly tossed out something from underneath this coat towards Felix. Felix caught a vial that had a redish-orange substance inside of it. "That serum is what keeps me from needing to drink blood." Blade said.
"Oh?" Felix asked.
"If you're as good as you say you are, then you can make more of that." Blade said as he turned to leave. "But be warned…"
"Hm?" Both Felix and the girl looked at Blade when he said that.
"If I see that girl losing control, if I hear that she's lost herself just once… I will kill you both." Blade threatened before leaving.
"Hmmmm…" Felix looked at this vial while the girl started to leak a few more tears. "Hm? Hey… what's the matter?" Felix asked as he crouched right next to her.
"You… you… you could die…" She sobbed. "I… I…"
"Hey, I won't die that easily." He said. "Listen, I need to figure out the ingredients of this serum, and then… I can help you." Felix said.
"…"
"I promise." Felix said.
"Why?" She asked.
"Excuse me?" Felix asked.
"Why help me? I'm… I'm…"
"Shhhhhhh…" Felix whispered. "Don't say that. You're still you aren't you?" Felix asked. "And… you and I aren't so different." Felix said with a smile.
"…"
"I'm Dr. Felix Thomas." Felix said as he offered his hand to her. She looked at it for a moment, and then reluctantly shook it.
"I'm… Lisa." She said. "My name is Lisa Braveheart."
Lisa huddled in a corner by herself while Felix observed the serum. He opened up his thick metal case, which had a lot of chemistry equipment in it and even a few substances. He took a sample of the serum, he sniffed it, diluted it, and mixed parts of it with other substances to observe the reactions and figure out what it's composed off. Lisa would occasionally take glances over at him to see what he was doing.
"… thank you." Lisa thought.
"I will help you Lisa." Felix thought. "Hmmm… well I must say, kudos to whoever created this serum. It is really ingenious." Felix thought. "This serum has proteins necessary to create specific nutrients that red blood cells carry and even help boost red blood cell production, based off of this it seems that vampire blood would have a condition similar to anemia." Felix continued to think. "That would explain why they constantly need to drink blood but…" Felix looked at the formula and then at his case. "I either have or can make most of the ingredients with what I have but… this does require one thing I can't provide. Fresh human blood."
"Mom… dad…" Lisa muttered. "Can I ever see you again? I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
"Poor kid." Felix thought sadly. "Hmmm…we've already established that my blood is no good. Ugh… it's going to be a pain but… I have to go get blood." He thought. He looked up at the sky through the hole in the roof and noticed the orange sky. "Uh-oh…" Felix said. He looked at Lisa and then sighed.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"Lisa…" Felix said. "I have to go out." He said.
"Out?" Lisa asked.
"Yes, I've figured out the serum, but I'm missing one ingredient." He said.
"Oh…" She said quietly. "How long will you be gone?" She asked.
"I'll try to be back as soon as possible but…"
"But?"
"Stay hidden, and stay out of sunlight." Felix said.
"Oh… okay…" Lisa said.
"Here." Felix pulled out a blanket from his backpack and handed it to Lisa.
"Felix…" She said.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Thank you." She said before covering her head with the blanket.
"Your welcome." He whispered as he pulled out civilian clothes and started slipping them over his costume.
Later…
"We are so dead…" Felix thought as he walked around in the same outfit he wore yesterday. "What was I thinking? What am I going to say? 'Hello, would you like to donate blood to an adolescent vampire?' I am so far out of my mind that I should be wandering around like a chicken with its head cut off." Felix thought.
"Hey, I heard there have been more mutant sightings around here lately." One woman said to another.
"I know… it makes me scared to go out at night." The other woman responded.
"Keep your cool Felix. They're just morons that aren't worth your time…" Felix thought. "Maybe I could… no I couldn't scratch enough blood out of someone needed for that serum. I'd need to use a needle to draw the blood. Doh! I am such an idiot, I have those in my kit, why didn't I bring it with me? Ugh…"
"Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"
VROOM
VROOM
VROOM
"What the…" Felix stared as three convertibles drove down the street going way too fast which were soon followed by two police cars. "Oh… why not?" He asked himself. Felix checked to make sure no one was looking before ducking in to an alley and scaling up to the top of a roof and quickly slipping out of his outer clothing. "I need to remember this rooftop." Felix told himself as he ran full sprint towards the direction the cars drove off in.
"Pull over immediately!" A cop car blared.
"Eat this cop!" A passenger in one of the cars being chased pulled out a gun and shot at the car a few times.
"Son of a…"
SCREEEEEEEECH
CRASH
The police car ran right in to a street post and knocked out the driver inside of it.
"Ha ha!" One of the guys laughed.
"Hm!" Felix jumped over several rooftops at once and was catching up on the speeding cars. On one particularly long rooftop, Felix got down on all fours and picked up speed, running on all fours proved to be no problem due to his flexibility. "Almost got… huh?" Felix looked beside him and saw another figure right beside him even as he ran full speed. "Hey…"
"You new here? Because I have a job to do." The guy had on dark blue and dark green sleeveless tights typical of what roller bladers wear. But his gear was a sight to behold, the one-way visor helmet was completely chrome, as were the gloves that extended up most of his forearms and the roller blades that extended up his shins. The guy was apparently African-American from what Felix saw of his arms.
"Hey! I had this first!" Felix protested. "And what is with all of that? You visit the hardware store one too many times?" Felix asked.
"I don't have time for this." The guy's skates seemed to kick it in to high gear by themselves as he sped ahead of Felix.
"Grrr… just forget about him Felix, just forget about him." He muttered to himself. Felix was now a little ways ahead of the cars as he kept running. Felix neared the edge of the long roof and jumped a tremendous distance at an angle going towards the street.
"Calculate trajectory." The guy said as he stared at Felix leaping. "He's going to… land right on the hood of that car. He's good." The man commented.
"Ha ha! Police scum!"
"Whoa what the hell?" One of the guys noticed Felix and…
BAM
"Boo." Felix said as he crouched on all fours on the hood of one of the convertibles.
"DIE!!!" One of the guys aimed their guns at Felix and began open firing. Felix flipped in to the middle of the seats, easily avoiding the gunfire and knocked out cold all of the guys in the convertible, saving the driver for last as he hit the brakes of the car.
"Yo leave them! They should take care of themselves." One of the guys in the other convertibles said.
"Look out man!"
"Sorry boys, but this is your stop." The man in all of the high-tech gear from earlier said as he skated along-side of the car before getting in front of it, stooping down, and then pushing against the car eventually bringing it to a stop. He then put together two fingers on his right hand and aimed to his right. A small yellow blast of energy flew out from his fingers and struck the front left tire of the last convertible as it drove by.
"Whoa!" The guys in that car screamed as the car spun out of control until it screeched to a stop. Felix then pulled up the other convertible and stood on the side of the car, perfectly keeping his balance.
"Yo! Get these freaks!" One guy shouted.
"You know… just because a guy don't need help, don't mean that he couldn't use the help." The guy in the gear said.
"Hey, the more the merrier they say. But that's not always true…" Felix started to rant.
"Get them!" The guys in one car fired their pistols at Felix. Felix jumped in to the air over the gun fire. All five of them got out of the car and one of the guys pulled out a crowbar. Felix landed between two guys and immediately knocked out the guy in front of him.
"Ha!" The guy with the crowbar tried to hit Felix in the back of the head, but Felix back flipped over that guy's head, and brought down his fists on top of the guy's head.
"Whoa!" Felix ducked under more gunfire and picked up the crowbar of the guy he just knocked out. Felix then threw the crowbar at the guy in the middle of the other two guys.
"Huh?" The other guys looked at the guy who just got knocked out and the second they turned around, Felix was right between them, back-handing them with enough force to knock them out cold.
"Why aren't our bullets doing anything to him?" One guy asked as the bullets bounced off of the high-tech guy's body. A light-blue glow seemed to appear for a split-second wherever the bullets hit him.
"Try these." The man spread out his fingers and the tips of the gloves lit up before firing small yellow blasts of energy from them in rapid succession.
"AAAHHH!!!" The guys shouted as the blasts knocked them out cold after receiving so many of them.
"What are those things?" Felix asked as he got close to him.
"Don't worry, one finger blasts can only knock them out after so many shots. Nothing lethal." The man said.
"Well… hm?" Felix's ears twitched as a sound reached his ears. "Get down!" Felix then tackled that guy just as a rocket from a rocket launcher flew right over their heads and hit a car.
KABOOM
"What the… there!" The man put two fingers together and fired a single shot in to an alleyway and knocked out a guy with an empty rocket launcher. "Man… where do people get those kinds of weapons?"
"Beats me." Felix said as he took off the bandages around his shoulder. "Man, I forget that I heal faster sometimes." He said to himself.
"Well, thanks for the help." The man said as he turned around.
"Hey… I wonder." Felix thought. "Wait! I need to ask you something!" Felix shouted. The man stopped and turned around.
"What's this all of a sudden?" The man asked.
"Look, I need help and you… well you're the only person I can perceive as even being remotely willing to help." Felix sighed. "So?"
"Well…"
"Freeze! We need to bring you in for questioning right now!" An officer shouted as he aimed his gun at the two.
"How about you ask me on a rooftop?" The guy said.
"Gladly." Felix said. Felix jumped for a rooftop while the guy skated in to an alleyway before getting enough momentum to skate up a building and get on top of it.
Later…
"Ah… finally found that rooftop." Felix said as he walked over towards where he left his clothes.
"So… what is this that you need to ask me?" The guy asked.
"…" Felix sighed. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." Felix said. "But… could you come with me?"
"That's an odd question to ask on a first time meeting basis." The guy said.
"I know… I know it's odd but… please, a little girl's life depends on this." Felix said sadly.
"…" The man sighed a bit and then said, "Okay."
Later…
"You don't actually live here do you?" The man asked as they entered the warehouse.
"Just a… temporary station you could say." Felix said as he hopped to a loft. Felix began bringing down his equipment bit by bit, careful not to drop or break anything. Finally, "Lisa, I'm back."
"Uh… Felix?"
"Were you asleep?" Felix asked.
"Yeah but… I'm awake now…" She said weakly. "I'm… still thirsty."
"I know, I'll fix that." Felix said as he jumped down with her still in the blanket. "Lisa, this man might help you."
"…" The cover fell off of Lisa's head, revealing to the man a weak look in her red eyes.
"Whoa… what's wrong?" The man asked.
"She's a vampire." Felix sighed.
"A what now?" The man asked.
"Lisa… I hate to ask but… could you show him?"
"…Okay." She said. She opened her mouth wide, thus showing her fangs to him.
"Oh… my… wait. You aren't…" The man started to ask.
"No. Listen, someone gave me a serum that could keep her from having to drink blood." Felix said as he showed the guy the serum Blade gave him. "And I'm trying to replicate it because…"
"You didn't give that serum to her because you needed the original one to work off of." The man finished.
"Correct." Felix said. "Hm, he's pretty sharp." He thought. "Anyways, I'm missing one crucial ingredient." Felix said. "Blood." He finished as he pulled out a needle used to draw out blood.
"…" The man paused and seemed to look at the needle.
"Man, hard to tell what he's thinking, can't see his face behind that visor." Felix thought.
"Why can't you use your own blood? There has to be a reason for that." The man asked.
"An appropriate question I suppose." Felix said. "My abilities that you witnessed, well the accident that gave me these powers affected my blood. It's unhealthy for her." Felix said.
"Mister… please? I'm thirsty…" Lisa said weakly.
"…" The man seemed to consider it. "Helmet, deactivate force-field." A blue glow appeared over his body momentarily then flicked off like a light being shut off.
"Force-field?" Felix asked.
"That's how I was withstanding the bullets." The man said as he took off the glove on his left arm, revealing a fairly muscular arm. "You wouldn't be able to get a needle through me with the force-field on."
"Thank you." Felix said with a smile.
"Thank… you…" Lisa said.
"Give me a moment Lisa, it won't take long." Felix said as he stuck the needle in the man's arm. "Force-field huh?" Felix asked.
"Yes. And you have one heck of a tackle. The force-field can take an indefinite amount of low-caliber bullets, but your tackle drained off almost a third of my force-field's strength." The man said.
"Oh, so it can only take so much punishment." Felix said as he finished drawing the blood, sprayed the small bleeding spot with some disinfectant, and finally stuck a cotton swab down on it with medical tape.
"Yes." The man said. "You see, other than the brains I used to build this stuff, I am completely normal."
"Hold on please." Felix said. He began mixing together ingredients until the blood turned in to the same orange-red color of the serum. He then carefully poured the serum in to an injection needle. "Okay Lisa, it's ready." Felix said.
"…" Lisa seemed hesitant at first. "Okay." She said quietly. Felix held Lisa's arm, and injected the needle in to her arm. "Heh…" She breathed as the needle entered her body. Felix withdrew the needle, watched as the small hole healed almost instantly.
"Anything?" Felix asked.
"How is she?" The man asked as he put the glove back on and apparently reactivated the force-field since a blue glow appeared briefly.
"Heh…heh…" Lisa breathed heavily for a moment, then her eyes started to fade from red back to her original blue color. "I'm… not thirsty." She said.
"Whew…" Felix sighed in relief. "Thank you so much." Felix said as he turned the guy in the gear. "Do you have a name for yourself at all? this is getting weird." Felix asked.
"Before I answer that question, I have a question for you." The guy said.
"What?" Felix asked.
"What now?" He asked.
"What now?" Lisa echoed.
"Is this thing going to permanently cure her need for blood?"
"No… I need to make more and she need regular doses." Felix said.
"Well, then you two can't very well be separated now can you?"
"…" Felix's eyes clearly showed that he was thinking about this. "Hmm… I guess you're right."
"Yes…" Lisa said quietly.
"And I'm the only willing donor you have." The man said.
"Hm? Wait… are you suggesting, becoming a… team?" Felix asked.
"…" Lisa looked at the man, and exchanged glances with Felix.
"Yes, I am." The man said.
"But… but look at me." Lisa said. She looked at a spot of sunlight shining down through the hole in the roof. She slowly walked towards it, holding a hand out.
"Wait… Lisa…" Felix started. Lisa let the sunlight strike the tip of her finger, immediately smoke started coming from it.
"Ah!" Lisa gasped as she quickly withdrew it. "I still can't go out in daylight, and… I could hurt either of you." She said.
"Lisa…" Felix started. He revealed his claws and showed them to the two of them. "My powers, including these claws, they're great gifts that cost me everything I held near and dear." Felix said. "Lisa, like you I would trade these powers back for everything I lost in a heartbeat. But…" Felix started.
"Like it or not, we all have special powers or abilities." The guy in the gear continued. "Abilities that we can put to use for the good of everyone. Wouldn't you say?"
"…" Felix paused for a moment and thought about this. "He is right… but… I might get found. But… I can't just leave Lisa alone…" Felix thought as he looked at Lisa. He smiled, turned to the man and said, "Count me in."
"I… don't want to hurt anyone… I… I want to help them." Lisa said. "Okay." She said while nodding her head once.
"Okay." The man said. "Now… we need to find a better place to stay than this." The man said, sounding pretty confident.
"Oh, and you do have a better place?" Felix asked.
"As a matter of fact…"
Later…
"Lisa, we're out of the sunlight, you can come out from under there." Felix's voice said. Lisa lifted the blanket off of her head, while Felix set her down from piggyback style.
"Where are we?" Lisa asked.
"Underground." The guy from earlier said. "You see, I have tunnel hidden underground in the sewers in a place I made sure not even a sewer worker would look and built this." The man said. Some lights came on, and the three of them were in some kind of metallic train station of sorts. There was a small car that was on a set of metal rails, the car itself had leather seats and seatbelts.
"And where does it lead?" Felix asked.
"My house." The man said as he took of his helmet. He had shaved his head and a rather strong face. "My name is Joseph, Joseph Brown."
"Joseph Brown… oh wow… you're…" Lisa started.
"You know him?" Felix asked.
"Not personally, but… you don't know him? This is High-Roller! I'm a big fan of his music!" Lisa said a little louder than usual. This was probably the first time that Felix had seen Lisa smile since he met her.
"Music?" Felix asked as he looked at High Roller.
"I'm better known as High-Roller, third most popular Rap performer in the United States." Joseph introduced.
"You're… a rap star? I hate rap music." Felix moaned.
"Well, I could just not take you to my mansion." Joseph said as he got inside the car.
"Well… we need a place to stay so… I suppose." Felix sighed.
"So… you're a super hero?" Lisa asked Joseph.
"Well… quite honestly…" Joseph seemed hesitant to say anything at first. "I started doing this because I was lonely."
"Lonely?" Felix asked.
"Yep." Joseph said as he pressed a button on the car. The doors locked down, and the car rocketed forward. The car protected them from the high speeds and they could talk and sit normally. "My parents died when I was college however briefly I was, and I didn't have any real friends since I became a rap star. Not even any of my managers…"
"Oh so that's why you've fired all of yours?" Lisa asked.
"Yes."
"All? How many have you had?" Felix asked.
"Over the years… about twenty three." Joseph said.
"Wow…" Felix said.
"Yeah, he's famous for that as well." Lisa told him.
"Hey…" Joseph said.
"Hm?" Felix looked at him.
"You have a place to stay and a job?" Joseph asked.
"No." Felix said. "Wait… oh no, oh no no no no no no no no NO." Felix said.
"How would you like to be my manager?" Joseph asked.
"Hold on, I have no sense of management, and a decently bad temper." Felix said.
"You need a job, and an excuse to live with me." Joseph said.
"What will the press say?" Felix asked.
"I know somebody whose manager lives with them." Joseph said.
"Really?" Felix asked, feeling a bit reassured.
"Although they are married…" Joseph said.
"I'm doomed." Felix moaned.
Later…
"You have enough rooms for the three of us?" Felix asked.
"I have plenty of rooms." Joseph said. The three of them were in a long hallway with plush red carpeting. Joseph was in black jeans, a black jersey with a white short-sleeved shirt underneath it, and barefoot. Without the roller blades he appeared to be about 6'0" in height.
"Rooms without windows?" Felix asked. "And that is casual wear…" He thought as he looked at Joseph.
"Why would… oh right." Joseph said as he looked at Lisa, who was frowning at the mention of this. "Well… yeah I do."
"…Thank you…" She said quietly.
"How many windows are going to have to be boarded up and painted?" Felix asked.
"Quite a few…" Joseph said.
"By the way… you have all of that space in your basement and you only use so much of it?" Felix asked.
"Yeah, for my equipment and such." Joseph told him as Lisa entered the room that was to be hers.
"Well, if you don't mind, could I use some of that space? For my chemistry projects? I need a place to make more of the serum." Felix said.
"Not a problem." Joseph said with a smile.
"Great… now I need to go take care of something." Felix said.
"What?" Lisa asked.
"Well first, make more of your serum, then I need to go by the place that made my costume and get my costume fixed…"
"Where did you get your costume anyway?" Joseph asked.
"Some old lady made it for me. I gave her the down payment for it yesterday." Felix said.
"Down payment? How much until it's paid off?" Joseph asked.
"I owe her about… fourteen hundred dollars still." Felix said when Joseph held a wad of Benjamins in front of his face. "You're kidding me." Felix said.
"Hey, this way you don't have to worry about it, and it is for the super-heroics. And I also need you to do something else." Joseph said.
"What exactly?" Felix asked.
"Get Lisa a costume as well." Joseph said.
"Ummm…"
"Yes? Lisa?"
"You could just… get a few things… from Walmart…" She said softly. The two guys looked at each other and shrugged.
"Yeah I can do that." Felix said. "Ah… what about all the stuff I'm going to need for my chemistry work?" Felix asked.
"Well, get what you think you need while your out. There's more in that wad than you might think." Joseph said. "But the chemistry stuff is coming out of your pay."
"Oy… I suppose getting some decent clothes for myself would come out of my pay as well." Felix said.
"At least I won't charge you rent." Joseph said. "Oh, I just got an idea."
Later…
"You guys hear me?" Felix whispered while among the hustle and bustle of the Walmart clothing center. He was wearing his civilian clothing only with a different pair of shades that were more square. "Man, it's been years since I stepped in one of these places."
"We hear you, and why haven't you seen a Walmart in so long?" Joseph's voice said in Felix's ears.
"Ow… when I get back adjust the frequency of these micro-earphones, I have super human hearing you know." Felix whispered.
"Can do, and I guess the micro-microphone is working since we heard you." Joseph said.
"Okay, and I can turn off the microphone… with my tongue?" Felix asked.
"Yep, but the earphones can't be switched off so easily." Joseph said.
"Man, these things are tiny, I can barely feel them in my ears." Felix said. "So… Lisa what kind of outfit are you looking for?"
"…black." She said softly over the earphones.
"I would thought you'd like pink." Felix said.
"Black just… fits my mood right now." She said sadly. "That one could be part of it."
"Huh? Hey did you put cameras in theses shades?" Felix asked.
"How else could Lisa be sure of what she wants?" Joseph asked.
"Oy… how's this?" He asked.
"That's… good." Lisa said a bit more positively. "Oh, can you get some shades to go with that?"
"Sure thing." Felix said comfortingly. "Well, I hope this doesn't take too long, the lady said she'd be done with my costume soon."
And so the three of them got situated, Felix set up a place for his chemistry work and made as many vials of serum as he could without causing too much trouble for Joseph while Lisa became a bit more situated in her room. Joseph also made the call to the record company telling them about his new manager. And soon, the next night came.
"Already? We just formed this team and already something decently big is happening?" Felix asked Joseph, both of them suited up and ready to go.
"Yep, it's pretty big." Joseph answered.
"Say what else does that armor do?" Felix asked.
"Well, the helmet has a communicator, computer, police scanner, and it enhances my coordination. The gloves enhance my arm strength and allow for energy blasts, the roller blades strengthen my legs and allow me to skate at high speeds, and the body armor underneath the outfit enhance my overall strength and is what gives me my force-field." Joseph explained.
"Wow…" Felix said. "Oh, Lisa. You ready?" Felix asked.
"Yes." Lisa said. Her red hair was in a long ponytail going down her back, and visor sunglasses covered her eyes. She wore a black leather jacket and matching leather gloves over the top of a black T-shirt. She was wearing black Addidas pants, and black sneakers. Around her waist was a black belt with nine pouches going around it, one of which she was slipping a vaccine of her formula in to.
"Well guys. You ready?" Joseph asked as he climbed in to the car.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Felix said.
"Yes." Lisa said.
"Then, let's go." Joseph said as he started up the rail car.
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A new team is born, and how shall they fare on their first outing as a team? Find out next chapter.
