Ilikehats2: … just his blood?...

Chapter 24: The Nightstalkers

(At Avengers' Tower)

After Tiger's speech, the heroes got to work, really got to work. Iron Man, Falcon, and Ant-Man were designing new, improved weaponry which would tranquilize and temporarily immobilize the vampire soldiers under Dracula's command. SHIELD was manufacturing these weapons as quickly and efficiently as possible. Fury and Coulson were preparing the squads who were sent to aid the heroes in their fight with the vampires some time ago to now fight alongside them at Dracula's castle. Tiger, Widow, Cap, and Hulk are creating and detailing a plan to assault Dracula's castle. But they couldn't 'finish', Iron-Fist and Doctor Strange are still researching. Danny had informed the group that their search wasn't going well, they guessed the vampire king had hidden is past well. But Strange felt that they were getting close. White Tiger took this as both good and bad news. She had to be patient. However, the reminder of Peter in trouble kept her very agitated. Stark is still healing from his… mistake.

"Tony told me that the weapons have been completely detailed on their blueprints. The prototypes Fury's guys constructed from the first designs work at a high success rate." Cap said.

The four tacticians are in a private room, sitting around a table. They'd been discussing the plan for the past 15 minutes. Stark had informed Cap of the weapons' progression rate. Things had been going well, the designs had been carefully thought out. They were designed for the SHIELD agents and specific heroes who could 'thin the ranks' with non-lethal results. Hulk's blood is the main ingredient for the weapons. But they were able to locate some gamma radiation which Hulk realized would only weaken the vampires, not possibly kill them.

"Glad we found some extra gamma radiation; I'm still a little woozy after all the needles. I hope I don't ever see another needle again." Hulk grunted as he rubbed his left arm. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Widow replied.

Hulk snorted.

"Any news from Iron-Fist and Doctor Strange?" Widow asked. "Danny told me that they hadn't found anything yet, but that Strange felt that they are closing in on something. I just hope they find something soon." Tiger answered. "Dracula will be planning something for Halloween. That's in a week. I really hope we can have everything figured out by that time. We can't let him enact his plans. There's no telling what he plans." Rogers said.

(In the main room)

Blade is on a phone talking to someone. Some of the present heroes including: Nova, Agent Venom, A-Bomb, and Hawkeye are confused by his actions. What is Blade doing? Who is he talking with?

"You brought everyone? Even the recruits?... Good, we'll need the numbers. You're all here right? Good… I'll head down there and bring you all up." The dhampir said, before walking off.

The present heroes had confused looks on their faces.

"Does he have another team or…?" Hawkeye grumbled. "I don't like this guys…" A-Bomb mumbled.

After about 5 minutes Blade walks into the room with about 10 guys. Most of the guys are rather young in age: 20-25 years old. They are wearing regular street clothing; nothing strikes them as out of the ordinary. But one of the men is different. He's looks to be in his mid-30's, but seems to be stronger than the others. He's in street clothes as well, but he has some kind of welted scar on his neck. His dirty blonde hair is short, but thick and styled into a fauxhawk hair-style.

"This is Avengers' Tower… Not terrible…" The older man said. "Not terrible?... You're Mr. Positive aren't you?" Hawkeye chuckled as he walked over to the group. "And you're Mr. Smartass." The man grumbled. "You haven't met Stark yet, he's worse Hannibal." Blade sighed. "Hannibal?" Hawkeye said, confusion in his voice. "Hannibal King." Hannibal replied. "Hey, why do I smell silver?" Jack called as he walked into the room. "Werewolf!" Hannibal bellowed.

Hannibal King and the men with him pulled out M4 carbines, and aimed them at Werewolf by Night. The lycanthrope was both shocked and confused by this. Why would they pull their weapons out as soon as he walked into the room? Hawkeye pulled out his bow and readied 3 arrows. The other present heroes moved to his side, in fighting stances.

"Put down the guns." Hawkeye said. "Step aside and let us kill the monster!" Hannibal growled, not attempting to show his anger.

(In the private room)

White Tiger, Black Widow, Hulk, and Captain America could hear the sounds of angry shouting and screaming.

"What is going on out there?" Hulk gasped. "Come on!" Cap said as he grabbed his shield.

The 4 ran into the main room to find a group of men armed with carbines surrounded by the heroes and their allies. May stood with Coulson from a distance. There was shouting and screaming.

"More monsters! Let's kill them King!" One of the younger guys called out. "Let's give them hell! And send them off to it!" Another cried. "Stand down soldiers! That's an order!" Red-Hulk bellowed, readying his guns. "Say hello to my little friend!" Deadpool laughed as he pulled out a huge rocket launcher out of nowhere.

The men armed with carbines didn't look so 'fearsome' now as Deadpool readied his weapon.

(This is going to be fun!)

The 4 tacticians jumped to the ground.

"Put those weapons down soldiers!" Rogers ordered. "You're outnumbered, surrender." Hulk snorted. "You guys are outmatched." Widow added. "We won't…" Hannibal started to retort when Blade leveled his sword at Hannibal. "Blade?..." The man gasped. "He's a friend… Please Hannibal… They're on our side… mostly…" The vampire killer said calmly. "… Stand down... It's ok…" Hannibal ordered.

Hannibal and the younger men put away their carbines. The heroes and their allies relaxed, mostly.

(Oh Come On! I haven't even got to use this thing yet!)

"Who are you guys?" Hawkeye asked. "We're the Nightstalkers." Hannibal answered. "The what?" Iron Man asked. "Vampire hunters." One of the guys replied. "More like killers." White Tiger snarled. "There's nothing wrong with killing a monster." Hannibal retorted.

White Tiger snarled, she wasn't happy with these guys being here. She didn't need anyone wanting to mercilessly kill any vampires they encountered.

"I'm not even going to explain how stupid you sound right now." Tiger hissed. "Why are they here Blade?" Jack asked. "I asked them to come. We need them to help." Blade answered. "No we don't! They'll just kill all of them without giving a second thought!" White Tiger screeched. "Why would we?" One of the guys snorted.

White Tiger was about to lunge, but Cap stepped forward.

"We're not killing any vampires. We're going to stop Dracula yes, but not kill him or any of his followers." The super-soldier said. "Why would you…" One of them started to growl, but Power Man interjected by saying, "Because our friend has been captured and turned by Dracula." "He's gone. Just put a silver bullet through his brain and be done with it." One of the guys spat. "Say that again, and I'll throw you out the window." Hulk growled as he stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

The vampire killers feel so confident when the green goliath loomed over them. His gaze was like that of a pissed of elephant.

"Are going along with this Blade?" Hannibal said. "I don't like it… but if I don't… I'm a dead man…" Blade nervously laughed. "….. Who the hell can scare you?!" Hannibal shrieked. "Let's just say a mother grizzly protecting her cub… and a… someone close to the newborn…." Blade mumbled.

Both White Tiger and Aunt May grinned with satisfaction at hearing this.

"Are you sure?" Hannibal asked. "Yeah…" The dhampir sighed. "You've saved our lives more times than I can count, and have helped us when we needed it most… Will go along with this… Just make sure we get the beat the hell out of Dracula." Hannibal said as he clapped a hand on Blade's shoulder. "You'll have to get in line." Hulk chuckled. "We're going to have to make more weapons." Fury said. "Well we have enough soldiers now. But we still need the intel, weapons, and plan before we can launch our assault." Red-Hulk said. "I hope Fist and Strange find something." A-Bomb said. 'Don't worry Peter… We're almost ready.' Ava thought to herself.

To be continued…