Chronicles of the Night
And so another week has past for the trio. Things are beginning to look up for the whole team as they learn to lean on each other more for support and realize the good things they have now and forget their past burdens. And yet still Felix bears one burden that will come back to haunt him in the story arc…
Beasts of War
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my original characters and the plot.
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Hello Dr. Thomas
In the busy streets among the skyscrapers of Downtown Los Angeles, there was a slight commotion.
CRASH
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Oh my god!"
"My car!"
"What is that thing!"
"Oooooooooooooohhhhhh…" Night-princess crawled out of the humongous dent left in the car she was just thrown in to. The glass fell out of Night-princess' hair, which was in a bun style this time. Night-princess looked at her attacker.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" If a Polar bear and a wolf could have children together, this is what this would be. It was tall as a polar bear with white fur all over. Its very muscular arms ended in a five-fingered, clawed hand. Its wolf like tail lashed while it was bent on its large wolf like legs and the wolf like head snarled fiercely at Night-princess.
"Guys… give me a little more time." Night-princess said.
"You sure you don't want me to come down their Night-princess, both Night-roller and I are standing by." Night-claw said over the radio.
"I'm the one with the lowest odds of dying… I should find out more about it." Night-princess said.
"Okay… but don't push yourself if you can avoid it." Night-roller said.
"I'll try not to." Night-princess said. Night-princess ran full sprint towards the wolf/bear monster as the monster hunched over to welcome her in to its jaws.
"AR!" The monster pounced at Night-princess and snapped its jaws while Night-princess flipped over the jaws and sprang off of its head.
"Ha!" Night-princess then ran underneath it between the legs and jumped upward, causing the beast to fall on its back with a tremendous thud. "Rrrrrrah!" Night-princess then jumped above the beast and was preparing to slam her elbow in to its abdomen when the beast rolled over and caused her to hit cement instead.
"GRRRRROOAAARRR!!!" The monster then backhanded Night-princess and sent her flying in to a motorcycle that was next to three others.
"Dude! My bike!" One guy shouted.
"Dude… bummer." One of them responded.
"Never fear!"
"Hm?" Everyone turned to the side to see someone in what looked like a badly sewn together green costume with antennae on it.
"The Grasshopper shall put a stop to this fiend!" The man that was apparently the Grasshopper said. The monster ran over to the man, and ate him alive in two bites of his jaws.
"Oh my god!"
"RAH!" Night-roller came skating up and he tackled the monster in the abdomen before throwing him as far as he could.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… RAH!" The monster ran back towards Night-roller. Night-roller skated backwards while firing three-fingered shots at it, though they seemed to be having little effect.
"I'm… going to need to borrow this…" Night-princess said to one of the bikers.
"Huh?"
"…" Night-princess bent over and lifted the bike she was thrown in to and then, "Hrrrah!" Night-princess hurled the bike at the monster and hit the beast in the head as it was running by.
"HAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" It yelled in agony.
"Dude… that little girl just trashed your bike."
"That is just not right." One of them said.
"Ha!" Night-princess hung from the beast's neck and kicked it in the chest.
"ARF!" The monster then grabbed Night-princess and bit down over her head.
"AH!" Night-princess groaned.
"Oh no you don't!" Night-roller moved in to point-blank range, and fired two four-fingered blasts in to its stomach.
"ARRRRRRRRR!" The beast flew backwards, dropping Night-princess, and it hit the pavement hard.
"That should… oh man." Night-roller lost a bit of confidence right when the beast stood back up.
"Grrrrrrrrr…AR!"
"Down boy!" Night-claw told the beast after he landed on and jumped off of its head. Night-claw landed low to the ground in front of the beast and darted to the side the moment the beast brought its fist down. Night-claw then jumped at and kicked off of the beast's side and caused it to fall over.
"ROOOOOOAAAARRR!!!" The beast lunged at Night-claw. Night-claw jumped on to its massive back and landed with his claws out. It was only more painful for the beast when Night-claw jumped off. "AR!"
"WHOA!" The monster wheeled around quickly and smacked in through a window of a restaurant.
"Ah! Mutant!"
"Get out of here!"
"I'm going to feel this in the morning." Night-claw grunted.
"Grrrrrrrrr…" The beast was making its way to the restaurant when Night-roller skated up and then did a jumping uppercut to its chin. "AR!"
"Get away from the restaurant WHOA!" The wolf then smacked Night-roller through the wall of the same restaurant.
"Dude… that's the last time I'm eating there." One of the bikers from before said. They were for some reason still standing there.
"Let's go Louis!" Night-princess shouted.
"ARF!" Louis barked as it ran with Night-princess on his back.
"Grrrrrrrrr… AR!" The monster barked at Louis. Louis jumped at the beast while Night-princess jumped off of Louis' back. Louis got caught in the beast's massive hands, but Night-princess kicked both of her feet downward on to the monster's head, causing it to let go.
"AH!" The beast then grabbed Night-princess and slammed her in to the cement.
"ARF ARF!" Louis then bit down as hard as he could on to the monster's leg.
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!" The beast bellowed as Louis sank his fangs in to him.
"Sorry guys, but we really need to borrow these." Night-claw said, landing right next to one of the bikers covered in cuts from the glass. Night-claw picked up one of the bikes and hurled it at the monster.
CRASH
"MY BIKE!!!"
"AR!" This caused the monster to let go of Night-princess at the same time that Louis released its leg.
"HA!" Night-claw and Night-princess jumped at the monster's chest and kicked off of it.
"Sorry guys." Night-roller said, picking up the remaining two motorcycles and hurling them at the beast as the other two flipped over them.
"Dude… this is not our night." One of the bikers said.
"ROAR!!!" The monster kicked Night-princess in the gut and sent her flying in to the side of a building, leaving unsightly cracks in it. Night-claw ducked between its legs as the monster grabbed Louis and hurled him in to Night-roller.
"OOF!"
"This thing is tough…" Night-claw panted. He landed next to a small spill of blood from where the beast bled after Louis bit his leg and his attention was immediately drawn to the blood. "That smell… the blood smells like… impossible…"
"ROAR!!!"
"WHOA!!!" Night-claw back-flipped away from the monster. Night-claw moved in and slammed both of his palms against the beast's stomach. "Ah!" The beast grabbed Night-claw and was ready to bring its jaws down on top of Night-claw's head. "No way…" Night-claw grabbed the beast's upper and lower jaw with his claws revealed and tried to push the jaws away from him.
"HA!" Night-roller skated up and grabbed the monster's tail. The beast dropped Night-claw, who landed perfectly on his feet. "Time to go for a spin!" Night-roller spun around and around multiple times while holding the monster's tail before hurling him down the street.
"ARF!" The beast howled when it ate the pavement. Night-princess and Louis ran at it again. The beast stood up and turned around just in time to get a kick in the face from Night-princess.
"HAWOO!!!" However Louis was caught in the beast's massive hand before he slammed Louis in to the ground and caused him to disappear in to a cloud of smoke. He then head butt Night-princess and caused her to tumble down the street.
"Oooooogh…" Night-princess' scratches and bruises were healing quickly. And the monster was preparing to eat her alive when a four-fingered blast hit the monster followed by a red car that sent it tumbling backwards.
"The car was courtesy of yours truly!" Night-claw shouted as he sprinted at the beast. The beast picked up the car and threw it at Night-claw, only for Night-claw to jump on to the roof of it and then jump off of it.
"ROAR!" The beast also jumped at Night-claw, ready to eat him alive. However Night-claw grabbed its nose, flipped behind its head and dug his claws in to the side of the beast's head. "HAWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"Ha!" When the beast landed, Night-claw jumped off of it, allowed it to turn around so he could move in and punch it in the stomach rapidly before jumping up and kicking it under the chin, causing it to fall on its back. "And stay down…" Night-claw told it.
"Wait… something's happening here." Night-roller said as he and Night-princess moved closer to it. The beast was shrinking in size rapidly and its fur and bestial features were receding as well.
"AH!" Night-princess turned away and covered her eyes when the beast was no longer there, but instead it was a small, skinny man with only tufts of brown hair left on his head.
"Uh… go take your serum and… we'll just go home for the night." Night-roller told Night-princess. Night-princess quickly leaped at one of the buildings and climbed up to the top of it.
"It was… just a man?" Night-princess wondered as she walked away, pulling out a vaccine and injecting herself.
"Oooooogghh… where am I?" The man asked groggily and weakly.
"Well… you might want to put some pants on first." Night-claw said while he and Night-roller winced.
"Huh? Oh no… no no no… I thought I was…"
"POLICE!!! FREEZE!!!"
"Uh-oh, we better go Night-claw." Night-roller told him.
"Right…" Night-claw said.
"No!" The man shouted before he passed out. The police threw a blanket over him and called for an ambulance pick up as the other two Night Hunters left.
"There's… no mistaking it." Night-claw thought as he looked at the man. "It's in him."
The next day…
"Okay, good I'll let him know." Felix said over the phone as he stood outside the door to the rehearsal studio, wearing his shades and gloves, a light blue dress shirt with brown pants and shoes. Felix was also carrying a clipboard with a bunch of papers on it. Felix hung up and walked in to the studio while Joseph was sitting at his computer, writing a song on it.
"Oh hey Felix, did you…"
"Yes, the meeting is at three o'clock today and my presence won't be needed." Felix answered, thumbing through the clipboard to make sure everything was there.
"Okay…" Joseph said, a little surprised by Felix's quick answer. "Well then did you…"
"Yes, I told Mr. Roberts that all of the songs are compiled for your next album." Felix answered.
"How about…"
"Your new wardrobe will be here within the week." Felix answered.
"And…"
"Your personal order for new computer equipment has been ordered." Felix said.
"What about the…" Joseph started again.
"The plane tickets to the North Carolinian City closest to your mountain house are reserved for the next week." Felix told him.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Joseph asked Felix.
"Hm?"
"You've taken care of everything. Something's up and you don't want work getting in the way of it." Joseph told him.
"Not everything…" Felix said. He then set the clipboard down next to Joseph.
"What's this?" Joseph asked.
"I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head a bit. That's… just stuff." Felix said.
"You sure that's all?" Joseph asked. Felix took his shades off and the two looked at each other in the eye for a little bit.
"Yeah, that's all." Felix said before turning towards the door. "Hmmm… Lisa is sleeping soundly just so you know. I can hear her well enough from up here." Felix said.
"That's good." Joseph said before turning back to the computer.
"Sorry Joseph, Lisa. But this is something I have to do myself." Felix thought.
Later…
"He's still barely conscious chief." A nurse at the desk told the chief of police. The police Chief had a black goatee, a full uniform, and a hard stare in his brown eyes that look like they could pierce several feet of granite. "I'm sorry but right now he is in no condition for questioning." The nurse said.
"Hmmm… very well, I'll wait." The man said.
Up in a hospital room…
The man that the Night Hunters battled as the beast last night was lying in a bed with many wires measuring his heart rate and fluid being injected in to his system. The man was fast asleep and looking worse than he did last night.
Click…
"Hmmm…" He looked at the window where the noise came from, but he saw nothing there. He looked at the front of the bed, and his eyes popped open.
"Hello." Night-claw said sternly.
"No… no no… don't kill me. Yo…yo… you were sent t…t…to kill me. Don't kill me!" The man shouted in panic.
"Settle down. I'm not here to kill you." Night-claw said. "But tell me… who are 'they.'"
"I…I can't tell you that… th…th…they'll kill me." The man stuttered.
"Okay, better question then. What is your connection to project Warbeast!?" Night-claw demanded.
"!!!" The man obviously did not expect Night-claw to know that name.
"Tell me now… everything you know." Night-claw hissed.
Meanwhile…
"Hmmm… Felix sure is taking one long walk." Joseph said.
"He'll be back soon though. Won't he?" Lisa asked while sitting on the couch. "I mean… I wanted him to teach me some chemistry stuff."
"Ah, he wouldn't miss that." Joseph said while looking at the clipboard. "Hm? Uh-oh…"
"What?" Lisa asked.
"This paper says… 'Here is Lisa's next chemistry lesson, don't misread any of this.'" Joseph read out loud.
"Wha… but… is he not going to be back?" Lisa asked sadly.
"He better come back, I can't understand any of this." Joseph said as he thumbed through all of it.
"Hm?"
"What?"
"Why is it that the first word of every sheet of paper has a letter in caps when it shouldn't be?" Lisa asked.
"What?" Joseph looked back at other sheets and Lisa was right. "You're right, this word reads… 'WoulD'. And the one on the next sheet reads 'PleAse…"
"Is it some kind of code?" Lisa asked. Immediately the two of them began tearing through the papers.
Sometime at dusk…
"Man, this job sometimes gets so dull." One of two guys in an eighteen-wheeler truck said.
"I know, having to listen to that old man day in and day out… seven days a week. I mean, I've got kids at home." One of them added.
"I hear you, I mean…"
Thump
"Did you hear something?" One of them asked.
"No." The other responded.
"Must've been my imagination then."
"Well… this should be heading to the right place." Night-claw thought while standing on top of the truck.
The truck drove on for quite a while as Night-claw kept to his thoughts. He was thinking about his next move whenever he got to wherever this truck was heading. Finally the truck was pulling up to a fairly large factory like building a fair ways away from LA itself. The building had both a large section with a slanted roof, and another section of building that was almost completely square.
"So… this is it huh?" Night-claw thought. He ducked lower to the top of the truck as it pulled up.
"Just need to do a security check." A guy in a brown uniform that had a pistol and a flashlight at his belt in addition to seemingly a fair number of gadgets. One of them pulled out a ladder and climbed to the top of the truck, when he got up there, nothing was in sight. The other guy checked underneath the truck, and as he came around back, Night-claw slipped under the truck.
"All clear!" That one guy said after checking inside. The truck pulled in and Night-claw waited until the many pairs of feet had finished carrying in whatever was in the truck. The packages had to be pretty thick since even Night-claw couldn't smell what was in them.
"Hmmmm… only two remaining heartbeats… on the right side of this truck." Night-claw said. He quietly crawled out from under the truck on the left side and snuck around the corner. Night-claw revealed two claws and rapidly scratched the ground rapidly.
"Hm? Go check it out." One of the guards said.
"Why me? It sounds like a rat." The guard sighed as he went around the truck. "Wh… MMPH!"
"Sorry, but this is necessary." Night-claw whispered to the guard that he had just seized. Night-claw then slammed the man's head against the ground hard enough to knock him out.
"Hey, what's taking so long?" One guy whispered. Night-claw then slid out from behind cover and sprinted at that guy. "What the… OOF!" That guy was knocked out in an instant.
"Better hide you guys… and I'll need to borrow one of your uniforms in case they actually bothered to put cameras on the inside." Night-claw said, picking up the one guy he just knocked out and headed for the other guy.
Back at Joseph's home…
"Sheesh, this is taking hours." Joseph sighed.
"…" Lisa kept putting together the letters that she and Joseph found were incorrectly capitalized. "Oh no…" Lisa said suddenly.
"What?"
"I've… figured it out." Lisa said.
"What do you have?" Joseph asked, leaning over Lisa's shoulder. "Oh…"
The two of them read 'Don't try and come after me. I don't know if I'll make it back or not, but whatever happens don't follow me. I have some personal business to take care of.'
"Grrrrr…" Joseph ran downstairs, and after a few minutes. "Felix… he didn't take his radio with him so I couldn't trace him." Joseph said while coming back upstairs.
"I… know his scent by now." Lisa said.
"You do?" Joseph asked.
"I'm… not as good at it as Felix is, but I think I can still find him." Lisa said.
"Okay." Joseph said, relieved at hearing this. "Let's go then."
Meanwhile…
"These security key cards are pretty convenient." Felix thought as he patrolled down the hallways, passing people in lab coats and other security guards. They paid no attention to him since he wore the uniform of one of the guys he took care of earlier. Saw a door labeled 'SECURITY ROOM' and walked in. In the room were multiple monitors and buttons in front of them.
"Hey, are you supposed to be in here right now?" The one guard that was in there asked.
"No." Felix said as he closed the door and socked that guy in the face.
"Augh. Hey what are you…" Felix then grabbed him by the uniform collar.
"Where can I find the room where the most top-secret experiments are?" Felix asked forcefully.
"What… I… I can't tell you that. We aren't even allowed in there, there aren't even any cameras in that room." The guard said.
"You will tell me!" Felix demanded as he lifted the man higher in to the air and thrust him against the wall.
"Ow! Okay okay okay…" The man breathed. "Here…" The man began to tell Felix the whereabouts of the lab he was looking for. After he was finished, Felix knocked him out and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Felix walked down many hallways and turned many corners, passing by people working busily, and eventually he found the door he was looking for. Felix looked around and listened around. He didn't feel anything that would make it seem like a camera was nearby. And he didn't hear anybody coming close, so Felix took off one of his gloves and dismantled the card reader. Felix messed with the wires a bit, and soon the door opened. He managed to put the card reader back together, and he slipped in to the door. The room was pitch dark, but that posed absolutely no problem for Felix.
"Now let's see what… oh my god…" At that point, Felix wished he couldn't see in the dark, all around him, there were gigantic canisters that had people inside of them, unconscious, with masks over their mouths and noses, and several tubes connected to them. Some of them were past recognition, while others had distinct animal-like features to them while still retaining some human appearance. "Who… who would do this?" Felix asked out loud.
"…ore, most of the subjects are going through a state of advanced cellular degeneration."
"!!!" Felix heard voices coming in to proximity, and he looked around the room frantically for a place to hide.
"That's because the dosage just isn't right." A door opened to allow two people inside, one was apparently in his thirties, but the one talking must have been older.
"No… it can't be…" Felix thought as he stared at the middle-aged man that was talking. The man was very short, probably only about 5'4" in height, in a lab coat, and he also had a brown comb-over.
"But sir, the animal DNA integrating in to their systems also isn't bonding properly."
"Look, I don't care how you do it, just make sure that animal DNA bonds. We can't have a subject get out of control like that last one or this project is back to square one!" The short man scolded.
"Shut the hell up bastard."
"What? Wait… that voice… it couldn't be…" The middle-aged man said. Felix hopped down from the corner of the ceiling he propped himself up against, and removed the security guard uniform he was wearing, now down to his tights with the mask hanging around his neck.
"Long time no see Dr. Moore." Felix hissed, giving Dr. Moore an evil glare.
"Why hello there Dr. Thomas." Dr. Moore said with an insincere smile.
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Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think of this latest development.
TRIVIA: The Grasshopper identity has been used by three super heroes in the Marvel Comics line, and all three of them were killed in the same issue they were introduced in.
