Chronicles of the Night

When we last left off, Von Drake sent a religious vampire hunter by the name of Father Raphael after Lisa. Raphael has now trapped Lisa and is preparing to kill her much in the same way he has killed other vampires.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.

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Pages of Faith

"I… I don't want to fight him… I… have to get out somehow." Night-princess looked at the perimeter of floating pages around them. She ran for the outer perimeter while Raphael watched. "AH!" Night-princess felt as though she ran in to a steel wall as she tried to run through a gap in the pages. "Wha…"

"I told you vampire, none can enter and none can leave until I bid it to so." Raphael said, holding the book he used for the spell closed in one hand, and his blessed sword in the other. "Now then vampire, come and meet your punishment."

"I… don't want to fight you." Night-princess said again. "How many times do I have to say it?" Night-princess asked.

"Your words will not spare you." Raphael said. He tucked the book under his left arm and held his sword out like a rapier, holding both tightly. "If you will not fight then your punishment shall be dealt swiftly." Raphael sprinted forward, Night-princess leaned backward as he swiped his sword at her head, missing her head and slicing off a single strand of hair.

"He's as fast as I am…" Night-princess thought in amazement. "I'm sorry." Night-princess said. She bent over backwards far enough to where her hands touched ground, she then kicked upwards and caught him between the legs.

"Ugh…" Raphael groaned a bit as she continued to lift him off the ground with that kick and send him flying in to the wall of the barrier. Night-princess jumped back as he slid down and landed on his head.

"Oh… I didn't mean to… do… huh?" Night-princess was at first frightened by what she did, but he soon stood back up and wiped the blood off of the bleeding sore on his forehead that was healing rapidly. "How?"

"This is a gift from God. A sign that I was placed on his earth to hunt your kind." Raphael said, brandishing his sword again.

"…" Night-princess looked at him. "He's… much more dangerous than I thought… I might not make it out of this alive…"

Meanwhile…

"Sigh… I took a dare to fight you guys blindfolded and I still won?" Night-claw asked as he removed a blindfold from around his eyes, standing in the middle of a bunch of beaten up crooks.

"Night-claw!"

"What is it Night-roller?" Night-claw asked.

"Night-princess' signal disappeared!"

"What?! Did she flick off her radio?" Night-claw asked in a worried tone.

"I could still trace the signal if she did that, but it just disappeared."

"Where was it last?" Night-claw asked.

"According to my helmet… in front of the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels was the last place her signal came from. I'm heading there right now." Night-roller said.

"I'm coming too." Night-claw said. "What is going on?"

Back to the Cathedral…

"Hmmmm…" Von Drake was on top of the church building, watching the fight through the column of pages. "You are amazing Lisa… even I can barely stand in the presence of this church, and yet you can fight full strength against him." Von Drake said.

He observed Night-princess duck under and jump over two swings of a sword, she then used one foot to stop Raphael from swinging his sword a third time, and then palm heeled Raphael across the right cheek. "Forgive me for sending him after you Lisa… but I would not do so if I believed there was no chance of you defeating him… if you can kill him… you will most certainly be a worthy successor."

"So… she's here."

"Hm?" Von Drake looked down at the foot of the church and noticed an African American man wearing black and shades walk up next to the column. "What! What is Blade doing here?! Grrrrrrr… even I cannot defeat Blade… I'm sorry for being unable to stay Lisa… but I can't lose my life to him." Von Drake turned around and turned in to a swarm of bats.

"Grrrr… I should have grabbed Drake while I had the chance." Blade thought as he continued to watch the fight inside the pages. "Too bad girl… but Raphael is the second strongest vampire hunter I know… second only to me."

Inside the column…

"Ha! Hiyah!" Night-princess was moving as fast as she could to avoid the sword thrusts and swings from Raphael.

"Be punished!" Raphael thrust his sword forward, it narrowly missed Night-princess' shoulder, and she moved in to deliver a gut punch. Night-princess then jumped up to deliver an uppercut followed by a flying kick under the chin. Raphael fell backwards, but he flipped backwards and landed squarely on his feet. He immediately lunged forward and rapidly thrust his sword forward.

"Ah!" Night-princess sidestepped most of the thrusts while hopping backwards, but she still received a few shallow stabs from the sword. Night-princess caught his arm and again moved in for a punch, but Raphael backhanded her with the hand holding the book. He then kicked her hard enough to send her flying to the left. Raphael lunged forward to stab his sword through her heart.

"Hm?" Night-princess turned in to a swarm of bats and then rematerialized next to the dish fountain, her eyes now changing from purple to red steadily. "Do not deny your destiny. You must be cleansed from the earth." Raphael again ran forward.

"He's as fast as I am, stronger than I am, and he heals almost as fast as I do. How can I win?" Night-princess thought to herself. He swung horizontally, but she flipped over the top of it and landed in the dish of the fountain. Raphael then jumped up and stabbed straight downwards. Night-princess jumped off of the fountain, and Raphael's sword stabbed straight through the dish and touched the pond underneath it.

"What?"

"Hiyah!" Night-princess delivered a solid spinning kick to Raphael's face and sent him flying backwards, forced to let go of his sword. "I really am sorry." Night-princess jumped at him with a fist drawn back, but Raphael caught the fist and stooped low to thrust his knee in to her stomach. Raphael then punched her across the face, only for Night-princess to retaliate with a kick to hi stomach followed by two punches to the chest and face. Raphael then kicked her in the head and jumped all the way back towards his sword.

"Hm!" He drew it out of the fountain and whirled around to face Night-princess, who was flipping towards him. He swung his sword vertically, but Night-princess quickly swiped his hand away with her own hand and punched him in the stomach. Raphael kneed her again and slammed the hilt of the sword on top of her head.

"Ah!" She cried. Raphael spun the sword in his hand and stabbed it downwards. Night-princess dived between his legs, and rolled off of the fountain fairly painfully, summoning a swarm of bats from her shadow.

"Rgh…" Raphael shielded his face as the entire swarm flew straight in to him with enough force to cause him to stumble a little bit. Night-princess took this time to inject herself with a vaccine, restoring her eyes to their blue color. "It seems I have underestimated you."

"Hm?" Night-princess looked at Raphael, who was opening the book again while ignoring the bats fluttering around him.

"¡Los poderes celestiales, me otorgan el poder de golpear a pecadores de lejos, el poder de traérlos a rodillas, para que ellos puedan orar al padre y el hijo¡Amén!" More pages of scripture animated from the book, flew from the book and rolled themselves up in to paper cones. Then they glowed a bright yellow light, now bearing more of a resemblance to spikes before they flew forwards, piercing through the bats and moving towards Night-princess.

"AH!" Night-princess cart wheeled out of the way, but was still struck by a number of them. They stung, but not as badly as his sword would, and they were healing, but not as fast as bullet wounds would. Night-princess then noticed Raphael above her ready to slice her in half with his sword. "!!!" Night-princess then sprang off of her hands and flipped away from Raphael. "AAAHH!!!" But not before the tip of his sword left a scratch down the middle of her torso.

"Again!" Raphael opened the book, and more pages flew out of them and formed the spikes of light, sending them flying after Night-princess.

Meanwhile…

"What the hell is this?" Night-claw asked as he and Night-roller noticed the pages floating in the air.

"I don't know… but look!" Night-roller pointed at the column and saw Night-princess inside fighting Raphael.

"Who is that guy!?" Night-claw demanded. He looked around some more and noticed Blade standing almost right next to the column. "Blade…" Night-claw growled. "Grrrrrrrr… AAAAAAHHH!!!"

"Wait! Night-claw!" Night-roller was unable to stop Night-claw from jumping straight at Blade.

"Hm?" Blade turned to the side to see Night-claw running at him in full sprint. "You!" Night-claw threw a punch that Blade blocked. Blade then started throwing his own punches and kicks that were blocked by Night-claw in turn. The two continued to exchange punches and kicks with each other in succession at a very fast pace, landing only a few blows on each other.

"Cool it!" Night-roller got between the both of them.

"Let me at him Night-roller!" Night-claw shouted.

"Hmph. Don't you think you should be more worried about the girl?" Blade asked. "But then again… it's useless."

"Night-princess!" Night-claw jumped towards one of several gaps in the column of pages and stopped abruptly, rubbing his nose. "Ow… did I hit a steel wall or something…" Night-claw groaned.

"That barrier can only be penetrated by equally strong magic from both the inside and the outside." Blade said.

"But… we have to do something." Night-roller said, watching as Night-princess continued to dodge relentless barrages of light spikes and sword swipes from Raphael. "Who is that guy?"

"Father Raphael… a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and a powerful vampire hunter." Blade answered.

"Night-princess!" Night-claw slammed against the barrier over and over again.

"It's useless, she can't hear anything outside the barrier, and if she looked out, the place would look as it was when the barrier was formed, she won't see us." Blade said.

"Blade…" Night-claw growled, ready to try and throttle him again.

"I have nothing to do with this… I'm just watching the girl." Blade said.

"Blade I swear if you don't tell us what we can do I'm going to…" Night-roller began to threaten.

"There's nothing you can do. Except watch." Blade told him with a growl.

Inside the barrier…

"AH!" Night-princess darted under a bunch of spikes and got closer to Raphael. Raphael swiped his sword at her and she received another cut, only this cut was perpendicular to the vertical cut she received earlier, making the look of a bleeding cross on her body. Raphael then moved in to stab his sword through her heart.

"Hm?" Night-princess clapped her hands on both the broad sides of the sword and stopped it from stabbing in to her. Night-princess then deflected it to the side and moved in to gut-kick him. She then continued to punch him in the face as many times as she could before he knocked her away. "Ha!"

"Whoa!" Night-princess flipped out of the way of several more spikes of light but she accidentally drove herself closer to the wall.

"Be purged!" Raphael called upon several more light spikes that formed around him, all of them aimed at Night-princess.

"I… can't dodge that many…" She thought.

"HA!" Raphael ran forward as the spikes all flew towards Night-princess, if the spikes didn't kill her, Raphael sure would.

"…" Night-princess took a deep breath and turned in to mist, and thusly avoided all of the attacks.

"What? She can perform that feat already?" Night-princess reformed herself yet again and injected herself with her serum.

"Ha!" Night-princess summoned numerous bats to attack Raphael while his back was turned, Raphael fended them off with his sword and opened his book to read from the pages again.

"¡Poderes celestiales¡Otórgueme la protección divina para defender de todo pecado que se acerca¡Protéjame de pecado con su poder¡Amén!" Three pages flew from the book and, one floated in mid-air while the other two sandwiched it in an X-formation. The page in the middle then wrapped itself around Raphael's left arm, then numerous other pages came out from behind it. The pages made a circle that was getting wider and wider until it formed a completely round shield made of scripture on his left arm, giving him a sword and shield combination.

"Hm?" Night-princess looked at Raphael curiously.

"Ha!" Raphael sent more spikes of light at Night-princess, but she got on her hands and twirled around all of them. Night-princess sprang off of her hands as Raphael moved in. She first kicked away his sword and almost kicked his face if he didn't raise the arm that had the paper shield on it.

"Ah!" Night-princess' foot was deflected by the shield and she went twirling backwards through the air. She landed on her back with a thud, and then she felt something stab in to both of her wrists. "AAAAHHH!!!" Two spikes made of light pinned her to the ground by her wrists and Raphael was moving in to stab her heart. Night-princess again sublimated and reformed herself on the fountain.

"Do not delay the inevitable. Your punishment shall come!" Raphael sent more spikes flying at her, But Night-princess ducked behind the fountain and injected herself with another vaccine.

"My vaccines will only last so long, this is the third one I've used tonight." Night-princess thought. She dived out from behind the cover of the fountain and narrowly avoided more spikes. She rolled to a standing position and turned to face Raphael. Night-princess ducked another swing of the sword and kicked at him again, only for him to block her kick with the shield.

"You're mine!" Raphael said. The deflection caused her to lose her balance momentarily, but before Raphael could stab her, her body dissolved in to a swarm of rats that all scurried away from Raphael. Raphael sent spikes raining down on the army of rats, but only a few of them were stabbed, and the rest of them reformed Night-princess's body.

"Augh…" Night-princess groaned when she reformed. "It seems… that if any of the bats or rats I turn in to die I'll get hurt when I reform…" Night-princess thought. "I have to get behind him but… I've got it…" Night-princess summoned Louis from her shadow.

"Hawoooooooooooooooooooooo!!!" Louis howled.

"Louis… I need you to distract him for me…" Night-princess said.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr…" Louis growled at Raphael.

"You can summon a wolf from hell? You truly are not to be underestimated." Raphael said.

"ARF! ARF ARF ARF!" Louis barked with ferocity before sprinting forward to attack Raphael. Louis sidestepped the spikes of light sent flying at him as he ran forward and lunged at Raphael. Raphael swung his sword to meet Louis, but Louis had stopped his jump short and the sword missed, allowing Louis to go for Raphael's throat.

"No use!" Raphael raised his shield and Louis went bouncing off of the shield.

"AR!" Louis whined in pain.

"Now… OOF!" Raphael felt Night-princess backhand him from behind, causing him to stumble forward. Raphael wheeled around and swung his sword, the sword swinging over her head barely. Night-princess threw a punch that bounced off of the shield but…

"ARF!"

"AH!" Raphael felt Louis jump on his back. Louis attempted to bite Raphael's neck, but Raphael spun around quickly, and sent Louis flying away.

"Hmmmm…" Night-princess slid across the ground on her back and… "HA!" Night-princess kicked Raphael in the shin right under the kneecap and caused his leg to bend backwards.

"AUGH!!!" Raphael shouted. He was on the ground in an instant. Raphael swiped Night-princess away with her shield and then sent spikes of light flying at her and Louis, who both avoided them by running to the side quickly. "Urg…" The healing process snapped Raphael's leg back in to place fairly roughly, but Raphael stood up nonetheless.

"Please stop… I don't want to hurt you…" Night-princess said.

Outside…

"The girl's holding out better than I expected." Blade said.

"Night-princess… come on… you can beat this guy." Night-claw said.

"Please let him surrender, Night-princess doesn't even like fighting." Night-roller said.

"Raphael would never surrender to a vampire. Not on his life." Blade said.

"Blade… if you don't shut up I swear I'm going to come over there and plant my foot firmly up your…" Night-claw began to say.

"Night-claw, stay calm." Night-roller said. "I don't like this either but all we can do it watch now."

"…" Night-claw sighed and sat down. "Don't die Lisa…" Night-claw thought.

Inside the barrier…

"You are far more dangerous than I expected… but no more shall you receive mercy." Raphael said, opening the book again. "¡Poderes celestiales¡Otórgueme el regalo de los ángeles, permitió que mi fe se eleve a nuevas alturas para que la gloria del padre pueda ser llevado conmigo¡Amén!"

"What's happening now?" Night-princess asked.

"Grrrrrrrrr…" Louis growled. The pages encircled Raphael, first they formed something of an armor on his upper body, but then pages began to grown from the back of that armor and spread out. When the pages were done fluttering around Raphael, he now not only had his sword and shield, but he also had an armor made of scripture and angelic wings made of the same scripture.

"Aaaaaahhhh…" Night-princess gasped in awe.

"Not your punishment in nigh!" Raphael said as he flew in to the air.

"ARF!!!" Louis ran at Raphael and jumped at him, though he leaped an impressive height, Raphael was still far out of his reach.

"Begone!" The book opened once more and pages began flying all around the entire area, randomly forming spikes made of light and launching themselves at Night-princess and Louis. And as if that wasn't enough, Raphael would swoop in and swing his sword at them.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Louis howled in pain as numerous spikes struck him.

"LOUIS!!! AH!!!" A few spikes struck her legs as she ran for Louis.

"BEGONE!!!" Though the storm of light spikes and pages, Raphael flew low to the ground, his sword leaving a trail of sparks as he flew towards Night-princess.

"!!!" Night-princess transformed in to a swarm of bats and flew up and out of the way of the sword, the bats also swerving out of the way of many spikes. However Raphael continued to fly on and he cut Louis at the abdomen, causing Louis to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"You will not last!" Raphael shouted.

Outside…

"STOP IT YOU BASTARD!!! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU HURT HER ANYMORE!!! YOU HEAR ME!!!" Night-claw shouted furiously, slamming his fists against the barrier.

"Night-claw! Keep it together!" Night-roller shouted, seizing Night-claw under the arms.

"She put up a good fight…" Blade said.

Inside…

"Ugh…" Night-princess reformed high above the ground, Raphael flying up after her. She quickly injected herself and threw the empty vaccine at Raphael, but he deflected it with his shield, not that he needed to.

"You time is nigh!" Raphael held his shield in front of him and his sword outstretched to stab her.

"…" Running out of ideas, Night-princess dissolved in to mist again and let Raphael fly through her. She then reformed, red-eyed and thirsty far below him. She pulled out a vaccine to inject herself again but…

SHING

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Raphael had dive bombed back towards her and stabbed his sword through her. He had missed her heart, instead piercing her left lung. Night-princess pushed his arm away and caused the sword slice its way out below her arm. "AAAAHH!!!" She screamed in pain. She kicked Raphael away and hit the ground with a hard thud, blood coming out of her almost endlessly. "Ugh… guh…" Night-princess could barely move her left arm, but she managed to inject herself in the right arm nonetheless, and she stood up, the bleeding slowing down slightly.

"That wound won't heal in the rapid time you're used to, my sword's many blessings will slow down your healing significantly." Raphael said, the pages still swirling all around them. "You can't win… I will purge you!"

"He's… too powerful… but… wait a minute…" Night-princess looked at the book in Raphael's hand. "That book… I feel it… the magic surrounding it is what's animating all of this… maybe… maybe if I can get that book away from him…" Night-princess looked at Raphael. She stood up from the puddle of blood, and looked at Raphael.

"So… you still will resist… you are perhaps the most foolish out of any vampire I've purged. So be it… then begone now!" Raphael flew low to the ground again.

"Focus… don't just use your eyes… use your senses…" Night-princess looked, listened, and smelled Raphael approaching her, she could feel her heartbeat increasing as he approached, she waited. When he was close enough, she narrowly sidestepped the sword, leaving a fairly deep cut in her cheek. She then jumped slightly, grabbed his sword arm with her left arm, wrapped her legs around his waist, and grabbed the book with her right hand.

"!!!" Raphael took notice of this and attempted to pull the book out of Night-princess' hand, but she would not let go. "Release this book!" Raphael shouted.

"No!" Night-princess shouted, even though the book burnt her hand as she held it tighter.

Outside…

"NIGHT-PRINCESS!!!" Both Night-claw and Night-roller shouted.

"Interesting… most vampires can't even touch the book, and yet she's still fighting it." Blade said.

"Let us in! LET! US! IN!" Night-claw shouted, punching the barrier over and over.

"It's no use! You can't get in!" Blade shouted.

Inside…

"RRRRRRRR…" Night-princess continued to try and wrest the book from Raphael's grip, but he still held tightly.

"Let… go!" Raphael yanked his sword arm out of Night-princess' grip and swung it at her exposed arm.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Night-princess could no longer feel her left arm, she could only feel extreme pain as her left arm fell from her body and hit the ground, leaving a very bloody mess. "RRRRRRAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Night-princess used all of her strength and finally yanked the book out of Raphael's grip.

"!!!" Slowly, Raphael's wings, shield, and armor fell apart in to normal pieces of paper, and not only that, but so did the barrier, and the pages flying around, they all drifted to the ground as limp pieces of paper. "OOF!!!" Raphael felt two feet thrust in to his stomach and he went flying backwards, sprawling across the ground, bleeding slightly from the mouth, and the wind knocked out of him before he lost consciousness.

"Hah… hah… hah…" Night-princess gasped for breath, clutching the book still burning her right hand. She dropped the book to the ground and looked at the pages drifting down to the ground.

"Night-princess!"

"Night-claw… Night-roller…" Night-princess gasped. They both ran up to her, seeing the bloody mess she was in. "Hm?"

"I must say… I didn't think you'd be capable of beating Raphael… so what now girl?" Blade asked, drawing one of his katana.

"You're not going anywhere near her." Night-claw hissed.

"Well Lisa?" Blade asked. "What will you do with Raphael?"

"…" Night-princess looked at Raphael's unconscious body. "What else would I do? I'm just going to leave him be…"

"Even if he came back looking for you?" Blade asked.

"Yes…" Night-princess said. The other two helped her stand up while Blade looked at them. "Even if he does…" Night-princess said.

"…"

"Heh…" Night-claw smiled. "That's our girl…" Night-claw said.

"Well… we'd better get out of here." Night-roller said.

"Hold it…" Blade said.

"What?" Night-claw asked annoyed.

"That arm will heal faster if you take the severed arm with you and hold it close to where it was cut off." Blade said, picking up Raphael's book and walking towards Raphael's unconscious body.

"…" All three of them looked at Blade in surprise. "Uh… thank you." Night-roller said, he went over towards Night-princess' arm and picked it up, even though it grossed him out quite badly. The three turned away from Blade, Night-claw carrying Night-princess on her back and Night-claw carrying her arm, and the two leaped away.

"…" Blade dropped the book on to Raphael's hand, and Raphael began to stir. "¡Levántese!" (Get up!)

"Oooooooohhhhh…" Raphael groaned, standing up and looking at Blade. "¡Usted¡El medio-vampiro¿Dónde está esa chica?" (You! The half-vampire! Where is that girl?)

"Ido." (Gone.) Blade answered. Blade turned his back to Raphael and started to walk away.

"Grrrrrrrr…" Raphael stood up and gripped his sword. He pointed it at Blade and said, "¡Téngalo¡No ande de mí!" (Hold it! Do not walk from me!) Raphael shouted.

"¿Qué negocio tiene usted conmigo?" (What business do you have with me?) Blade asked, turning and holding his katana a little tighter.

"¡Usted no puede estar el vampiro repleto, pero su poder niega todavía a Dios¡Usted no es exento de mi misión santa!" (You may not be full vampire, but your power still denys God! You are not exempt from my holy mission!) Raphael told him. Holding both his book and sword tighter.

"¿Es eso tan?" (Is that so?) Blade asked. He smiled and took a fighting stance, holding his katana in both hands. "No piense para un minuto que soy tan misericordioso como la chica." (Don't think for one minute that I'm as merciful as the girl.)

A week later…

"How's your arm doing?" Joseph asked Lisa as she came downstairs.

"Better…" Lisa felt the part where her arm had been severed and the wound going to her lung, though they were healing slowly, she could still feel where they had been cut.

"Okay, so how are you doing?" Felix asked as he came from the kitchen, holding a newspaper in his hand.

"…" Lisa thought about it for a minute and then smiled. "I… actually think I'll be okay."

"Really?" Joseph asked.

"I… didn't like fighting that man but… still… now that I think about it like that… not liking it is what makes me different from others isn't it?" Lisa asked.

"…" Both of them looked at her a little bit, and then they both smiled. "You bet it does kid. You bet it does." Joseph said smiling.

"Hmmmm…" Felix smiled and read the newspaper. The headline got his attention immediately. "What the… Father Raphael, a native of Spain and a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, was found dead today with what looked to be a stab wound from a sword in his chest. The blood of the attacker was unidentified and whether this had any connection with the mess of scripture and the slight damage found at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels. Roman Catholics across Los Angeles are taking offense to this defacing and this murder, demanding… oy… maybe I'd better not show this to the other two." Night-claw thought.

"Something wrong Felix?" Joseph asked.

"Hm? Well… you know what, if Lisa's happy… then I'm happy." Felix said.

"Thank you." Lisa said smiling.

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Well, that ends this mini-arc, next time, Felix must confront a blast from the past. let me know what you think in a review.