Chronicles of the Night
Before I do the preview, I made a pretty big setting mistake in chapter 30, however it was surprisingly easy to fix. But other than some slight dialogue change to tell you the different setting, chapter 30 is exactly the same.
When we last left off, the Night Hunters were briefed with the rest of the Ultimates exactly what they will be doing. Felix is to infiltrate a defunct military base with the Black Widow, while Joseph prepares for whenever they actually attack with the rest of the team. What will Felix have to do to earn the trust of Captain Peter Ivan? Can he even do it? And what about Lisa and Joseph?
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel comics, I do own my characters and the plot.
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Mechanical Mind
"Ugh… I'm still not used to this freezing cold weather." Felix complained. Felix was in a heavy brown cut with fur trimmings at the sleeves and collar. He also had a fuzzy hat that concealed a radio, and of course he had mittens.
"Get used to it; you're no longer in America Hell-claw."
"Understood Captain." Felix responded in to the radio. Felix had to keep himself from wincing at the code-name the Captain had assigned him.
"Captain, may we receive the details of our mission now?" The Black Widow asked over the radio.
"Certainly Natalia, your target is Dr. Ivan Petrovitch." Captain Peter said. "Though our plans for the weapon are clear, he is the only scientist in Russia capable of creating it."
"What exactly does he do?" Felix asked.
"Those details are not necessary to your mission." The Captain responded harshly.
"My apologies sir." Felix said. "I really am blowing it here." He thought.
"The man used to work for the Russian government during the cold war, but he quit and went in to hiding, he is somewhere in Moscow right now." The Captain continued. "Your mission is to capture him uninjured, and bring him back here to the base."
"Very well, any leads?" Black Widow asked.
"We know he is very cautious, he never sleeps in the same location twice, however we did ascertain his last place of residence."
"Excellent, all I need is to know where it is and I'll be able to find him." Felix said.
"Good, report in at the first sign of him." The Captain said.
"Yes sir." Felix and Black Widow responded.
"I'm not sure about this… jeez… Joseph, Lisa, I hope you're more confident about this than I am." Felix thought.
Meanwhile…
While it was daytime in Moscow, it was night time now in New York. Lisa was sitting in a very dark room, the room's only lights were four small, dim-bulb lights that were currently switched off. The room itself was fairly large, it had blue carpet and blue walls, a simple dresser next to the bed that was at the corner of the room farthest from the door. It also had a small TV set built in to the wall but it was currently switched off as well.
Lisa was in a pink nightgown, sitting huddled up on her bed as quiet as a mouse. She had let her red hair fall out, and it fell over her blue eyes. It was clear that she was in thought. Lisa turned to the door as if she heard something. "Hm? Joseph?"
"May I come in?" Joseph asked through the door.
"Yes." Lisa answered. Joseph opened the door and walked in. "Hi."
"Hey Lisa." Joseph said, Lisa sat up in her bed as Joseph sat down next to her. "You doing okay kid?"
"…" Lisa turned away slightly at this. "No." She answered sadly.
"What's wrong? You worried about Felix?" Joseph asked.
"Yes, but that's not it." Lisa said, she tried not to cry, but it was hard not to let one or two teardrops streak down her cheek, though she quickly wiped them away on her sleeve.
"What is it?" Joseph asked. "These guys aren't mistreating you are they?"
"No but…" Lisa took a deep breath before continuing. "No, Mr. Fury's been nice, he had this room made for me, and he has different people come by to bring me a bowl of… of…"
"It's alright… it's alright." Joseph said, patting her on the back to comfort her.
It was true, Fury was generous in accommodating Lisa. The room was made to prevent sunlight from entering upon opening the door because the door that leads out of Lisa's room really goes in to a small hallway that leads to the door to the main hall. And Fury also made arrangements to have medical blood delivered to Lisa regularly during the day since the vaccines wouldn't last forever. Though Lisa was ashamed to admit it she liked the way the medical blood tasted.
"So what's wrong?" Joseph asked.
"It's just… even though some of them act polite… I can tell they're afraid of me." Lisa said, tearing up even more. "They know what I am, and their heartbeats give them away, they think I'm a monster." She said, choking up slightly on her words.
"Lisa…" Joseph hugged her gently, a warm fatherly embrace that slowly but surely calmed her down. "It's only because they don't know you. If they had the chance to get to know you Lisa, they would take you the kind and thoughtful girl you really are. Not for a monster." Joseph whispered to her.
"But… but why do they fear me now?" Lisa asked. "I… I won't deny that I'm a vampire anymore… I won't cry about that anymore… but why are they afraid?"
"It's a difficult question to answer Lisa." Joseph said. "The human mind can be like a machine sometimes… sometimes people are set in a way of thinking and in a way of believing that they have a hard time accepting anything otherwise." Joseph said. "It's just like with the mutants, they get discriminated against because people have their minds built on people doing the ordinary, not the extraordinary things that mutants can do."
"…" Lisa let those words sink in for a moment. "Joseph… isn't there some way I can help you guys?"
"I wish there was." Joseph said. "But… don't be afraid for us. We'll be just fine." Joseph said.
"Okay." Lisa said. "Aren't you tired?" Lisa asked, wiping her eyes.
"Yeah… I've been talking to Tony about technology stuff. I just wanted to check on you before I went to bed." Joseph said. "Good night."
"Good night." Lisa said. Joseph walked to the door and opened it to walk out. "Um… Joseph."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." Lisa said.
"You're welcome." Joseph told her with a smile before he closed the door behind him.
"You… really are… more like a dad to me than before…" Lisa thought.
Elsewhere in the base…
Fury was in his office, the paperwork was done and his coffee cup was halfway finished, with his one good eye he looked at a monitor on his desk that had Lisa's room showing from an angle.
"Thank you." Lisa said.
"You're welcome." Joseph told her before he walked out of the room and out of sight of the camera.
"…" Fury sighed and took another sip of his coffee before shutting down the monitors, grabbing his coat and walking out of his office. "Kids like Peter and Lisa are just too young to have to go through this." Fury said to himself with a hint of pity as he locked the door to his office behind him. "Felix… you better get out of this alive… this girl needs you more than you know." Fury thought.
Back in Moscow…
"How's the search coming?" The Black Widow asked Felix over the radio.
"Hold on…" Felix told her before taking a whiff of the air. After about three seconds of sniffing the air, Felix got a certain gleam in his eye. "Found him." Felix said. "He's walking out of that store I'm facing with his groceries right now."
"Affirmative, I see him." The Black Widow said.
The man that they were both looking at was in a red coat. He had a thick black beard that was showing signs of graying, and brown eyes that darted about nervously. He clutched his brown paper bag that had a loaf of bread and a carton of milk sticking out of the top of it and walked through the thin layer of snow on the ground.
"Wait until he's in a more remote area before grabbing him." The Black Widow advised.
"Copy that. I'll stay in pursuit." Felix said as he kept his distance from him and walked in the same direction as the doctor. "The guy must be paranoid or something, his heart could probably chase down a high-speed train."
"I'm telling you, that guy is following the doctor."
"Don't worry, I'm staying close."
"Whoever this guy thinks he is he won't know what hit him if he does try to take the doctor."
Felix kept following the man for several minutes, Doctor Petrovitch kept turning around as if he knew he was being followed. Felix however was always able to avoid the doctor's notice. Finally he and the doctor ended up in a street that was far less busy than previous ones, in fact Felix could only hear maybe ten people outside at most.
"Okay, I'm moving in." Felix said, picking up his pace and heading for the doctor.
"This seems all too easy, keep your guard up." The Black Widow said.
"Sorry, but your appointment with the doctor has been cancelled." Said a man's voice from a nearby alley as the source of the voice held up a gun barrel.
BANG
"…" Felix ducked as the bullet whizzed over his head and knocked off his hat.
"What?" The man stepped out of the shadows to reveal long black hair, close-shaven facial hair, and his left eye having been replaced by what appeared to be a scope, and his right arm having a gun attached to it.
"You covering me?" Felix asked in to the radio.
"Hold tight."
BANG
"Ugh!" The bullet passed through the scope eye and exited through the back of his head, the man fell to the ground with blood coming from his head.
"Ah!" Petrovitch had turned around at the first shot and stood staring at Felix.
"Dr. Petrovitch, you're needed on first floor." Felix said.
"I don't think so." Petrovitch answered bitterly.
"Hm?" Felix back-flipped right as a nightmarishly tall and muscular figure rushed Felix and tried to crush him with his massive fists. Felix landed on top of the figure's head on his hands and then jumped off.
"I'll protect you Doctor." The large man said.
BANG
CHING
The bullet pierced a hole in the large man's chest, but it sounded as though the bullet bounced off of metal. "Black Widow… I don't think sniper bullets are going to help much with this guy. Do you copy?" Felix asked. He ducked under another punch from that guy, and yanked off the giant man's coat.
What Felix saw was rather grotesque, underneath the coat the man was completely in the buff. But his skin was like a torn plastic glove, and underneath it was a body made of metal. The man took off his hat and revealed that the very top of his head had a metal dome. "Like it? A thick steel armor is right under my skin, you can't harm me." The man said with a grin on his face, revealing his teeth to have been replaced by metal as well.
"Hell-claw! The Doctor's on the run now!" Black Widow shouted in to the radio.
"Whoa!" Felix weaved to the side, and then lunged past the man's arm, scratching it as he went by, however the only thing underneath the skin was more metal. "Copy, I'm going in pursuit, as old as he is I can overtake him easily." Felix said. Felix decided to abandon his opponent and just rush after the doctor. "Ah!" Felix slid to a stop, leaning backwards as what looked like spinning drill bits flew by his face, narrowly missing him.
"Hands off the doctor now." A man that was wearing a red coat with white fur trimmings said. He also had black pants, brown boots, spiked black hair, and his sleeves rolled up. The man's arms were completely metallic and had numerous drill bits sticking in to them. His wrist had a small hole in it that was big enough for a drill bit to pass through.
"Black Widow, it seems I'm tied up here."
"Urgh… fine, I'll continue the pursuit." The Black Widow said.
"RAH!" The giant man attempted to jump on top of Felix, but he dived out of the way and avoided being buried under the crater that man created. The small thin man aimed both arms at Felix, pressed his palms as if he were Spider-Man, and then drill bits shot out of the small holes in his wrists.
"Sheesh, they're as fast as bullets." Felix thought as he cart-wheeled from his dive and avoided the drill bits. The second he landed he dived to the side again as the giant man threw a punch at him. Felix landed on the corner of a building and jumped off immediately as more drill bits were shot at him. The giant man also saw it fit to crush Felix at that time and he threw a punch that missed and instead tore a giant chunk out of the building.
"Hold still!" The thin man demanded, firing more drill bits that missed Felix.
"But then I'd die." Felix said, flipping out of the way of more drill bits, and then jumping up on to the giant man's head. As the man tried to grab Felix, got behind the man and threw a spinning aerial kick as he landed to the side of the man's head.
Meanwhile…
"…" The doctor had abandoned his groceries and was running through the streets of Moscow. The moment he turned one corner he abruptly stopped and looked at the woman standing in front of him.
"Hello comrade doctor." The Black Widow said, walking towards him with her hands in her coat pockets.
"Ah… Natasha… I had heard you left the KGB." Petrovitch said calmly.
"Yes… and then I left the American Ultimates and came to Russia to work for another leader. And he has a great interest in your capabilities doctor." The Black Widow continued.
"Ha! You won't be taking me, my bodyguards will be finished with your partner soon, and then they'll come after you Natasha." Petrovitch scoffed.
"I had always thought that you believed I was your best guinea pig." Black Widow told him.
"Hmph… small cybernetic enhancements to your nervous system to improve coordination and reaction time, and not to mention other slight improvements to your physiology to make you the world's deadliest spy… yes you were a fine subject, but these men are far more dangerous than you think." Petrovitch paused for a moment. "You underestimate my creations Natasha."
"And you…" The Black Widow said, pulling out a gun from one of her pockets, holding it to the doctor's stomach at point blank "underestimate Hell-claw."
Back to the fight…
"DIE!!!"
"If I wanted to do that I would have joined a football team." Felix said, avoiding being smashed yet again. This time the big guy picked up a car and hurled it at Felix. Felix got on top of the car, latched on to it by his nails and got a free ride several feet down the street as more drill bits missed him.
"You idiot! I can't hit him if you keep giving him opportunities to escape like that!" The thin one scolded.
"You couldn't hit him if he were standing still!" The large man retorted.
"Perfect." Felix began booking it back towards those two guys. He was coming at them quite fast, they turned around, the thin man firing more drill bits at Felix, but missing him as he ran. Felix dived towards the large guy, landed right in front of him on his hands, and sprang off of his hands and double-kicked him right under the chin.
"Ugh!" The man fell backwards with a great thud as Felix landed right over his head.
"Gotcha!"
WHAM
Before the thin man could fire his drills point blank, Felix wheeled around, kicked his arms away, and then threw a punch that socked the thin man right in the cheek, sending the man sprawling back.
"I don't think so!" Felix said. He heard some slight movement from the big guy and jumped away as he got up. Felix revealed his claws, jumped at the big guy and the moment he got in his face Felix swiped his claws across his face.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! MY EYES!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The large man yelled.
"You…" The thin man turned around and fired several drill bits at Felix, who hopped off of the large man's chest, allowing the drill bits to pierce through his chest in multiple places.
"Urk…" The large man fell backwards, his pulse no longer reaching Felix's ears.
"You'll pay for that!" The man took aim at Felix and fired yet again. Felix ducked behind a car, even though the drill bits passed through the car, narrowly missing him.
"If I pay for anything, it'll be this guy's car insurance agent." Felix said, picking up the car he hid behind and throwing it at the thin man.
"Ah!" The man rolled under the car, narrowly avoiding it. The car made a violent crashing sound as it hit another car, crunching both cars. The thin man stood up only to find Felix right in front of his face, Felix had his claws out, and he first scratched the man across the face, and then dug his claws in to the man's right arm, cutting through the circuitry in the arm as he did so.
"Your metal is far less durable than that guy's." Felix commented as the man clutched the part of his face Felix scratched.
"Agh… you… you mutant freak! How could do this to me?!" The man cried.
"Orders." Felix answered, promptly kicking the man under the chin and knocking him out.
"The doctor is apprehended, I suggest we pull out immediately unless we want a meeting with the authorities." The Black Widow said.
"Right, I'll report in to the Captain as we leave." Felix said. Felix quickly walked down an alleyway, leaving behind the remnants of that battle he had. "Fury… this better be worth it." He thought as he reached for the radio. "This is Hell-claw reporting in, mission accomplished."
Several hours later in New York…
Lisa was fast asleep in her bed, her breathing was slow and steady. A bucket of ice that had a packet of medical blood, B positive, was sitting on the dresser next to a metal bowl. Lisa stayed asleep for about another minute or so until the smell of the blood woke her up. Her eyes were a light purple and turning red. She looked at the blood hesitantly, but she was thirsty, and it smelled good.
"…" Lisa opened the packet of blood, poured it in to the bowl, picked up the spoon and slowly consumed it as it were a soup. As she drank it, she reflected on the first time she became a vampire, how she had instinctively bit Felix's neck. It was traumatizing then, and it still hurt her deeply, but she couldn't help but smile as she remembered how Felix went out of his way to protect her, fine Joseph, and help her find the will to continue on.
Elsewhere in the Triskileon…
"Glad you could make it Joseph." Fury told Joseph as Joseph took a seat down in front of his desk.
"What did you want to see me for General?" Joseph asked.
"It's concerning Lisa. Is she going to be alright here?" Fury asked Joseph.
"Sir?"
"I noticed the moment I met her that Lisa is pretty withdrawn from other people, but given her circumstances I suppose that's natural." Fury said. "Complete strangers deliver blood to her, and she's not allowed to leave that room we made for her. Is she going to be alright with that?"
"Well… you see it's just always been myself, Felix, and Lisa, and now that Felix isn't here she… she feels a lot lonelier." Joseph replied. "I can support her but… with Felix she had some kind of connection since he also lost a lot when he got his powers."
"I see." Fury said. "Well, thank you for your answering."
"That can't be the only thing you wanted to talk to me about is it?" Joseph asked.
"I did want to ask how preparations were coming along." Fury said.
"Coming along fine, he may be a bit of a drunk but Tony's managed to give me some good pointers so far." Joseph said.
"Good, and one more thing… I thought you might like to see how Felix is doing." Fury said, turning a monitor around so Joseph could see it, and showing news feed from Moscow, namely the ruined street that Felix battled on, and the bodies of the three mechanized men Felix and Black Widow dispatched.
"Ugh… the Russian government doesn't know who's behind this do they?" Joseph asked.
"No, which is good news for all who are involved." Fury said. "Well, I'll let you go now, and keep Felix in your thoughts."
"I always do." Joseph said. "If I know Felix, he's going through with this, but he doesn't like it." Joseph thought.
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Now that Dr. Petrovitch is in the hands of Captain Ivan, just what does he intend to do? Can Felix and Natasha continue the charade? And will Lisa be able to wait much longer?
TRIVIA: In the normal Marvel continuity (Not Ultimate.), Ivan Petrovitch wasn't really a tech scientist, but was an important figure in the Black Widow's early history.
