Chapter 8
Blood Bath
Jubilee was leaping out the back of The Blackbird and gracefully gliding through the night sky with Gabby in her arms the moment they received Nightcrawler's message. Jean Grey had given the team fair warning a few minutes earlier when she lost contact with him and Kitty but could still sense their presences, and after checking over their gear one final time and telling Meg everything would be alright, Jubilee and Gabby were the first ones out the door despite neither being able to fly.
Rogue and Storm joined them a moment later, carrying Colossus and Cyclops respectively while Gambit waited behind. According to the plan, Rogue and Colossus would be searching for Kimura while Cyclops and Storm attracted as much attention as possible outside the base and kept the communications and escape routes clear.
If Kitty couldn't subdue Laura, which nobody was really expecting her to, she'd instead lead her to the Eastern entrance before gathering as much information from the facility's computers as possible while Nightcrawler and Gambit took out guards and searched for any wanted criminals on their list. Meg meanwhile would be staying behind in The Blackbird, monitoring their communications as well as the radar, and praying for their success.
Flying high above Siberia in the middle of winter, Gabby barely felt the slightest chill despite wearing little more than black yoga pants and a matching long sleeve shirt. She'd decided to forego her usual body armor on account of it being useless against Laura, and also needing to be as light on her feet as possible. She also decided not to wear her Honey Badger mask in hopes that Laura might recognize a familiar face, though that hadn't exactly done her any favors last time.
The others didn't say it, but they couldn't help seeing her out of the corner of their eyes and briefly thinking she was Laura. Even some of her mannerisms were beginning to resemble her sister's, and they wondered amongst themselves if this was purposeful or subconscious, or simply due to them sharing the exact same DNA.
Jubilee felt Gabby shivering but didn't say anything since they'd be inside soon enough. Vampires preferred colder weather, their bodies unable to produce heat like a human's and generally remaining room temperature, and Gabby while she could feel uncomfortable, couldn't necessarily feel the effects of being hot or cold, and without Laura watching out for her, someone had to occasionally remind her to eat and drink since she didn't always notice such things on her own.
The pair fell short of the facility by a couple of miles just as planned while Storm, Cyclops, Rogue, and Colossus dropped practically on top of it, with machine gun fire immediately greeting them.
"Remind me again, why are the immortals hanging back while the squishy mutants get shot at?" Gabby asked, her trigger fingers starting to itch. "I kinda wasn't paying attention, or maybe I was and just forgot. I do that sometimes."
"Rogue and Colossus can handle just about anything Kimura throws at them," Jubilee explained. "They're gonna draw the guards' attention while they're inside so that we can head directly for Laura. Cyclops and Storm on the other hand will draw attention out here and provide cover when it's time to leave."
"Okay, but how are we supposed to-"
*bamf*
"Sorry I'm late," Nightcrawler said, appearing out of thin air, "but I had to make a pit stop and scare Meg for good luck."
Gambit coughed and waved his hand to try and dissipate the noxious smoke created by Nightcrawler's teleportation. "Next time I'm riding in the loving arms of my wife, and Colossus' is taking the scenic route through hell."
"We're gonna teleport inside?" Gabby cried. "Awesome! I've never teleported before!"
Nightcrawler nodded. "Not quite, but close. Just give me a moment to catch my breath." He gave Gabby a grim smile and squeezed her shoulder. "Kitty is leading Laura toward the Eastern entrance. Unfortunately, I cannot teleport where I have not been and cannot see, not safely anyway, so I am going to leave the both of you at the front door. I will then return for Gambit, and we will continue searching where Kitty and I left off."
He took another deep breath and placed Gabby and Jubilee's hands on his shoulders. "Hold on tightly to me, and be sure to hold your breath. It can be very disorienting the first time."
Gabby was just starting to speak when her mouth and nostrils were suddenly filled with sulfur and brimstone, and she briefly saw a dark world filled with smoke and ash. A moment later she reappeared a few miles from where she previously stood, in front of a massive metal structure that might've been a hangar door with sirens blaring within, coughing and gagging but also doubled over with laughter.
"That was awesome!" she choked. "Let's do it again!"
"You alright, Kurt?" Jubilee asked, catching him as he stumbled.
He nodded. "Just tired is all. I can teleport myself easily enough, but having passengers takes a lot out of me. Go, I shall return to Gambit momentarily, but our mission is inconsequential compared to yours. Please be careful, and please bring Laura back safely with you."
Gabby didn't waste any time releasing her bone claws and digging them into the metal door, creating several gashes that Jubilee effortlessly tore apart. Her claws weren't meant to cut through durable metals however, and she needed a moment to straighten them and the bones they were attached to, and checked to make sure they were still sharp.
"I'm getting adamantium claws for my eighteenth birthday," Gabby said, stepping inside after Jubilee. "Actually, do you think Laura would let me borrow hers? She's already got four. Six if you include her feet."
"You'll never know unless you ask," she said, keeping to herself that Gabby shouldn't count on it, and that her healing factor might not be able to handle the constant strain of adamantium poisoning. If they couldn't save Laura however, her adamantium claws would need to be kept somewhere safe as they were too dangerous to let fall into the wrong hands, and Gabby as her clone and Logan's biological daughter was the only logical choice to inherit them.
'It won't come to that,' Jubilee told herself. 'That's why they chose you for the mission. You're the only one who can make sure she comes back alive.' She didn't bother reminding herself that she was also the only one who could make sure Laura didn't make it back alive, and that it had even been Laura's wish. Jubilee wasn't much a fan of breaking promises to friends, especially to Laura, but she hoped she'd be breaking one tonight.
The hangar turned out to be empty of both aircraft and soldiers, which by the sounds of it, currently had their hands full outside the facility and deeper within. Entering the building proper however, Jubilee paused, smelling a peculiar chemical smell, the components of which she didn't recognize, and saw Gabby frowning.
"I think it's trigger scent," she said. "Even the slightest whiff is enough to make Laura go crazy. Kimura must have flooded the entire facility. That way she doesn't snap out of it like she did last time."
"Guess we'll just have to knock Laura back to her senses the old fashion way." Jubilee forced a weary grin and was rewarded by a genuine smile from Gabby. If Laura was the worst pessimist she had ever met, then Gabby was without a doubt the world's greatest optimist in spite of everything.
Jubilee led the way, but as she was prone to do, was distracted by several trains of thought and barely noticed the rapid heartbeats down the hall in time to grab Gabby and take cover around a corner before a dozen or more guards opened fire on them.
"Thanks," Gabby said. She removed a glove and held her hand out. Gunshots immediately rang out, and she withdrew her hand a moment later, studying the bullet holes.
"7.62 millimeter," she said, confirming what she'd already guessed, and slipped the glove back on. "I don't recognize the guns they're shooting, and I know a LOT of guns, but I'm guessing it's some kind of AK variant. One or two bullets to the head and I'm probably unconscious, and since I'm not wearing my body armor, the rest of me wouldn't like it very much either."
Jubilee nodded. "So long as they're not incendiary or made of silver, they won't even tickle. I'll handle this."
With a wink the vampire stepped into a hail of bullets which passed through her body as she seemed to dissolve into mist. Gabby's mouth fell open and she risked getting shot in the head to watch as the fog filled the entire hallway, and Jubilee's body reassembled behind the guards who either passed out breathing it or were rendered unconscious with backhands to the back of the head.
"God, I love being a vampire," she said with a wide grin.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" Gabby cried, running down the hall. "You can turn into mist? What about a bat? A wolf?"
Jubilee chuckled. "I can't turn into a bat, but I'm working on growing bat wings, and I'm getting close to being able to turn into a wolf."
"When I'm eighteen, will you bite my neck and make me a vampire? I'm already sorta-kinda immortal, what's the difference?"
"Only if Laura says it's alright. I don't want her going all Van Helsing on my ass. Speaking of, let's go find hers." She didn't bother telling Gabby all of the downsides of being a vampire, or the fact that due to her healing factor, Jubilee highly doubted it was possible for either her or Laura to become vampires. Laura had never been even the slightest bit hypnotized whenever she bit her back in Paris, and Jubilee was certain some of her own blood must have gotten mixed with Laura's at some point, but she had yet to start drinking any of the blood she regularly spilled.
They turned several corners when static crackled in their transceivers and they came to a halt.
"...to Jubilee and... Badger," Kitty said. "If you can... me, I think Laura senses Gabby... I've done... I just hope... make things even worse..."
"Kitty, can you hear me?" Jubilee asked. "Kitty?" She sighed and shook her head. "At least she's still alive, for now."
A demonic roar from a lower level responded, and after a deep breath, Jubilee took off running in its general direction, with Gabby doing her best to keep up.
"I take it your sister doesn't take kindly to you when she's high on trigger scent, huh?"
Gabby nodded, a grim expression on her face. "I think it's because I look and smell just like her. Laura has some serious self-esteem issues in case you've never noticed." A thin smile suddenly tugged on her lip. "Then again she could also be smelling the scary vampire lady. No offense, but you smell like a predator. A very, very scary and dangerous predator."
Jubilee flashed a grin as well as her fangs. "Thanks, Gabs. I do my best. And just so you know, you don't smell just like your sister. You also smell like candy, wet wolverine, and gunpowder too."
"Yeah, I probably don't shower as much as I should. Laura on the other hand usually showers at least twice a day, sometimes as much as four. I think she's a germaphobe or something. I-"
"-Hold that thought, Gabs, and I wouldn't mention your sister's shower habits to anyone else."
"Why? Is it-"
They heard and smelled each other before ever seeing one another, and there wasn't any hesitation when Laura suddenly rounded a corner, covered in blood and looking as though she'd just crawled out of a concrete grave.
Gabby had little desire to fight her sister claw-to-claw, and instead retrieved her twin Desert Eagles with extended magazines. Her role in the fight wasn't to be all that different from fighting alongside her sister. She'd be backing up Jubilee, being her support and creating distractions, and doing her best to stay out of the way.
She fired and caught Laura in the side of the head, causing her to trip and fall but she immediately rolled back to her feet without losing momentum. Gabby continued firing but Laura fanned her claws in front of her face, and instead settled for putting a few rounds into her kneecaps before she and Jubilee launched themselves into the air, ripping and tearing into each other like animals.
Gabby quickly reloaded and could only watch from afar, knowing better than to get in between them, but also unable to fire her weapons without fear of accidentally hitting Jubilee.
From her perspective, it appeared that Jubilee was slightly faster but also far stronger, slamming Laura's head against the tiles walls and onto the concrete, and seemed to notice the adamantium claws tearing into her flesh even less than Laura noticed the knife-like fingernails ripping into her own.
Despite her incredible power and durability however, Laura was still the better fighter, and pinned her to the wall with her claws but Jubilee immediately turned into a mist and reappeared behind her, grabbing her wrists and sinking her fangs into her neck. Just as the first trickle of lifeforce drained from her body however, Laura's foot spun, claw extended, just as Jubilee was expecting, and slammed Laura hard on the ground face first.
Once again Laura barely reacted, and rather than her claws extending from between her knuckles, they instead protruded from her wrists and sliced through Jubilee's hands, freeing herself, and climbed on top of the vampire, stabbing and slicing wildly.
Her head snapped forward as several .50 caliber bullets blew chunks out of her head, but Laura continued attacking while Jubilee fought hard to keep the claws from tearing into her face.
Gabby holstered her pistols in favor of her trusty grenade launcher. She didn't bring any incendiary grenades with her on account of Jubilee's severe allergy to fire, but even if they were all just fragmentation, she was afraid there might be just enough fire in the explosion to seriously injure her.
"Laura, stop!" she cried, taking careful aim. "Fine! I guess it's true then! You really are just Kimura's bitch!"
Laura's head spun and immediately halted the gory assault, and Gabby took several steps back. In the blink of an eye, Laura was roaring and leaping toward her, and Gabby pulled the trigger, already reloading and running when the grenade exploded in her sister's face.
She dropped to her knees, chunks of her body flying across the hall and splattering against the walls, but her limbs and torso remained mostly intact due to curling up into a ball and using her claws as a shield, and took off running on all fours to make up for her missing muscles and bones.
Gabby fired again, but this time Laura sliced through the grenade and it exploded around her, filling her body with even more shrapnel which she mostly ignored.
"CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!" Gabby prepared another grenade already knowing she was out of time. "I didn't mean it, Laura! I swear I didn't mean it! I was just trying to get your attention!"
She fired up at the ceiling when Laura leaped toward, engulfing her sister in fire and shrapnel, and catching some herself. Laura sliced through the grenade launcher when Gabby threw it at her in desperation, and once again took out her Desert Eagles.
"I really liked that grenade launcher by the way!" Gabby rolled under adamantium claws and continued firing into her sister's body until both magazines were spent. She tossed them both aside, quietly apologizing to her Uncle Wade, and as a last resort, extended her bone claws.
She had fought her sister countless times in close quarters, usually for training, but occasionally when an argument escalated into stabbing one another. Except, now that Gabby saw her sister move, she got the distinct impression that she might've been going easy on her all this time, and couldn't remember the last time her sister had actually ever stabbed her.
Rather than run away again, she instead threw herself into Laura's chest, stabbing her heart and spinal column in hopes of momentarily paralyzing her, but Laura barely hesitated cutting off her claws and hands, and lifted her into the air with all four claws before pinning her to the wall.
Gabby yelped as the air was driven from her lungs, and tried squirming free but found herself utterly helpless. Face to face with her sister, Laura's glowing red eyes glared at her, and she bared her teeth, showing a smoking 50. caliber bullet which she spat in Gabby's face.
"That is so cool," she said, blood trickling from her mouth. "You've gotta teach me how you do that sometime."
Laura roared and began stabbing and cutting, but unlike Jubilee who easily ignored pain, Gabby only felt mild discomfort with her intestines and other internal organs spilling onto the floor, as well as a tad sleepy. Her nose twitched however, and she suddenly found herself enraged, angrier than she'd ever been in all her life. Kimura's scent was all over her sister...
When she looked Laura in the eyes however, her own rage subsided, and her eyes began to water. "It's alright, Laura," she whispered, feeling herself losing consciousness. "It's okay. I understand. I-I love you..."
It might've been her tears or her voice that caused Laura to hesitate from butchering her further, or perhaps she sensed the vampire flying toward her. She barely had time to raise her claws before Jubilee pinned her to the ground and ripped her throat out with her bare teeth. Gone was Laura Kinney, in her place was X-23, and gone was Jubilation Lee, replaced by the daughter of Dracula.
She wasn't some pissant vampire accidently sired in a back alley. She was a Draculina. One of the most powerful vampires stalking the nights, and still decades away from reaching her true potential.
Laura wasn't her friend. She wasn't even her enemy. She was her prey. She was her food. The vampire was hungry, always hungry and never satisfied, and it was finally time to feast.
Laura gave a gurgled cry, blood pouring from her neck while the vampire drank greedily. So consumed was she that the vampire stopped mauling her, and didn't seem to care that more blood than usual was spilling from her victim with no stoppage in sight.
A foot claw disemboweled her but the vampire only noticed enough to slam the back of her head on the concrete until she stopped flailing. It was a mild inconvenience at best, and just meant she'd have to keep drinking to make up for it.
"Hey, Jubilee?" Gabby asked sleepily. "Do you remember if you make an L with your right hand or left? Never mind, I figured it out. Wait, no, something feels weird. I think I put my wrists on backwards. Also, do you know which way your heart's supposed to go? I always forget, and usually I just cram everything back inside and hope for the best."
Jubilee was gone, and the vampire did not like there being a second creature with the same scent standing behind her making noise. What did please her however was her young age and the fact she was a virgin. Her blood would be even purer. Her soul more innocent, and the corruption that much more satisfying.
The vampire threw Laura's limp body aside and turned toward Gabby, busily shoving her intestines back in when she saw the ghostly pale and demonic face staring back at her, its large crimson eyes and hungry expression wanting more than just temporary satisfaction.
"Oh shit..." Gabby took a step back, eyes wide, her fingers fumbling with her utility belt. "Y-you know, on second thought, maybe I don't wanna be a vampire after all. Red's really not my color."
The vampire took a step toward her, savoring the peculiar scent of her fear. Gabby fumbled with the top of her canteen, her fingers numb and clumsy. "Fun fact, but I like to stay up late watching old horror movies. I actually marathoned a bunch with Meg just the other night." She took another cautious step backward. "Laura doesn't like them. Says everyone's stupid in horror movies, but I like to think of them as cautionary tales. That's why I asked Kurt to bless my canteen before the mission."
She finished unscrewing the cap and stole a glance at Laura, violently convulsing on the ground. "To be honest, Christianity still confuses me, and being a clone, I don't really know if I have a soul or not. Laura tells me that I do, but a part of me can't help but wonder if our souls are somehow intertwined. I heard somewhere that it takes faith to be able to use holy weapons, so I guess it's time to find out if I actually have a soul or not."
Gabby cautiously raised the canteen to her lips and took a much needed sip before hurling the contents at Jubilee. The vampire however expected the futile attempt, and used Jubilee's yellow coat to shield itself. Gabby then tried spitting the water directly in the vampire's face, but the creature slammed her against the wall and spun her head until it faced the wrong direction. Holding her close, she sank her fangs deep into the girl's neck, happy memories pouring into the vampire's mind just like the precious blood that poured into her mouth.
The girl however didn't react to the broken neck or the bite, which depending on the vampire's mood could cause ecstasy like no other, or unimaginable torment. Whichever she chose, the girl seemed more disturbed at another girl sucking on her neck than anything else, and after a final warning, Gabby pressed the silver cross hanging around her neck against the vampire's cheek, who immediately screamed and threw herself off, slamming against the walls and rolling on the ground.
The vampire continued screaming, an inhuman, demonic sound that hurt Gabby's ears. Her entire face caught fire, as well as whatever abomination constituted for a vampire's soul. She removed her gloves and wrenched free from around her neck and folds of clothes a gold cross which burned and sizzled in her hands, but only seemed to make her hold onto it that much tighter.
A few moments later and the screaming stopped and the fire extinguished, and Jubilee looked up with tears in her bloodshot eyes at Gabby, currently trying to straighten her neck. "Oh my God. Gabby, I-I'm so sorry. I-"
"-couldn't control yourself?" She waved her off. "I'm getting used to it, and don't worry, I won't tell anybody about you sucking on my neck. You alright?" Jubilee nodded, the burns quickly healing, and after helping her up, hugged her tightly. She let out a quiet sob however when she realized Gabby was purposefully keeping her neck far away from her mouth.
"I'm so sorry, Gabby," she sobbed. "I never meant to hurt you. Please, please forgive me..."
A furious roar down the hall however signaled that Laura had awaked and recovered, and was already leaping toward the vampire that had her arms around her sister.
Jubilee pushed Gabby aside, and Laura buried her claws into her heart and stomach. She turned into a mist again and reappeared behind her once more, but Laura spun and Jubilee reformed around her adamantium claws. She grabbed hold of Laura's forearms to keep her from ripping and tearing further, and sank her fangs deep into her neck, draining her of blood faster than it could regenerate, but refusing to give in to her primal urges again.
From behind, a pair of broken bone claws dug into Laura's spinal cord, but with another roar, she spun her foot and sheared through Jubilee's ankles, and retracted and released her claws repeatedly into the vampire's chest until her grip finally weakened.
Laura then punched Gabby in the back of the head and released her claws straight through her skull, immediately dropping her to the floor. Jubilee however continued drinking Laura's blood, gorging herself, and the two fell to the ground, fighting for position when Laura drove a single claw into Jubilee's jaw through the top of her skull. She only bit down harder however, a vampire needing their brain even less than X-23 did.
In a final act of desperation, Laura drove an adamantium claw through her own throat, coming close to decapitating herself and very nearly removing the vampire's jaws in the process.
Jubilee fell to the ground, her feet sheared off at the ankles, a gaping hole in her head, dozens where her heart and stomach used to be, and both her lower and upper jaws hanging by threads. She was already recovering however, her vampiric healing boosted by Laura's despite much of that blood spilling back out of her body.
Her pupils returned as did her usual skin color, the vampire within her satisfied with more blood than she'd ever fantasized about drinking before, and looked up at the young woman driving adamantium claws into her chest over and over again. She tried grabbing Laura's wrists but she sheared those off as well, and continued ripping and tearing for what felt like several long minutes until an explosion went off above her head.
When the smoke finally cleared, Laura slowly rose to her feet, half her face burned away but already regenerating. Standing at the end of the hall was a tall man in a brown trench coat, shuffling a deck of cards.
"Sorry, Petite," Gambit said, "but I believe there's enough blood on your hands already."
Laura glared at him with a sideways expression, the flesh missing around her mouth, making it look as though she were grinning when Gambit suddenly took off running in the opposite direction, throwing explosive cards behind him to try and slow her down in hopes of staying alive a few seconds longer.
"Rogue, Chère," he called on his transceiver. "Your husband is a very brave but also very stupid man, and he loves you very much. If you don't save his derrière in the next minute, I'm afraid he will be having a funeral with a closed casket."
He disappeared down the hall with Laura in hot pursuit, explosions following them, and Jubilee slumped against the wall, sitting in a large puddle of crimson belonging to all three of them. A part of her wanted to cry for failing Laura, Gabby, and all their friends, and breaking several promises, but she found it difficult staring at a reflection of herself in the blood, seeing it for the first time in over three years.
"Hey, Dude," she said to herself. "Long time no see. You look like shit." Jubilee had to run her tongue along her fangs just to make sure she hadn't changed back, and smiled at what it felt like to be alive again yet with all the power and confidence a vampire possessed.
She chuckled softly to herself, her wounds already nearly finished healing, and all it took was one glance at her severed hands and feet for them to return to their master, smoke beginning to rise from her countless wounds. Wiggling her fingers, her grin widened, having almost forgotten the power they once possessed.
A nearby groan got her attention however, and she tried to stand but immediately slid back down. "You alright, Gabs?"
"Brain's a little scrambled," she groaned, crawling over to her. "And leaking from my head, but other than that I feel great. Just a little tired is all. Did we win? We were fighting Laura, right? I didn't make that up? What about you sucking on my neck? Actually, don't answer that, and forget I said anything. I don't know what's worse. Having another girl suck on my neck, or me fantasizing about another girl sucking on my neck."
Jubilee nodded. "We didn't win, but we're still alive, so I'll call it a win."
Gabby cheered weakly and collapsed next to her, using her shoulder as a pillow which elicited a quiet sob from Jubilee, who hugged her close. "I've been run over with a bulldozer and had my head burst like a tube of toothpaste, but I've never been this tired in all my life."
"Tell me about it. I haven't gone full Draculina in months, and I haven't lost control like that since I first turned. I gave her just about everything I had, but I'm pretty sure Laura was holding back." She didn't bother mentioning that she'd been holding back as well. Face to face with one of her best friends, she hadn't been able to bring herself to try and kill Laura, and the vampire within her had simply wanted to drink her dry and steal every precious memory from her.
"What makes you say that? Sure seems like she was trying to kill us."
Jubilee half-chuckled, realizing the absurdity of what she just said considering all of the blood and gaping holes in their bodies. "Laura never once tried decapitating either of us. You might survive if your head is reattached quick enough, but I'd immediately turn to dust. Laura knows that, and she's pretty good at it too. Also, after I-" She swallowed, suddenly unable to look at Gabby. "After I lost control like I did, I think Laura might've been trying to protect you from me."
"You think Laura's still in there? Fighting?"
She nodded. "I've never met anyone with a stronger will than your sister, Gabby. I know you're scared that she won't be the same after everything Kimura's done to her, but she'll be alright once we get her home. She'll need our help, especially yours, and time to heal, but trust me. Laura's gonna be alright."
"What about Uncle Remy? Will he be alright?"
"Don't underestimate Gambit, and don't underestimate Rogue either. With that said, I'll be back on my feet in a minute or two." Jubilee laughed and licked the blood off her hands, sucking on her fingers. "I wonder if I could get your sister to bottle this stuff."
Gabby held out her wrist. "You've lost a lot of blood. Do you need any more?"
Jubilee shook her head and quickly pushed her hand away, not wanting to be tempted even for a moment. "Your blood's too good for me, Gabs, but thank you." She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "I-I'm really sorry about what happened. I tried to stop, b-but I couldn't. I was just so hungry..."
"It's not your fault, and I forgive you." She grabbed Jubilee's hand and squeezed. "Laura loses control of herself when she smells trigger scent, and you lose control around blood. Drinking Laura's blood while she's high on trigger scent after she's stabbed you a million times probably didn't help either. You know, I'm starting to think maybe I don't have the best role models."
She half-laughed, half-sobbed and squeezed back. "I'm still really, really sorry, and thank you for snapping me out of it, and forgiving me. Being a vampire has its perks, but isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The person I was before isn't the person I am now, and some days I really miss being her." Even as she spoke however, she could feel the living Jubilee resurfacing, mixing with the dead, becoming something entirely new.
"By the way," Gabby said, "while we wait, vampires can relive the memories of people they drink from, right?" She nodded. "Did you see anything interesting in Laura's memories?"
Jubilee sighed. "Nothing you want to know, Gabs, and nothing Laura would be happy with me sharing. Right now she's reliving the worst of the worst. Back when we were living in Paris together, she'd have to concentrate before I drank from her so that it'd be a little less unpleasant for me. Even then, her happiest memories were always more bittersweet than actually happy. Yours were like a trip to Disneyland in comparison."
Gabby gave her a sideways look. "Just how many times have you drank my sister's blood?"
Jubilee grinned back at her, licking her lips, and decided it was past time to look semi-respectable again. After telling Gabby to drink from her canteen, Jubilee washed her face, no longer harmed by the holy water or her own cross necklace now that her humanity had returned, and told her to do the same. Now if they could just do something about their clothes...
Jubilee hadn't known when they first met that Laura was a cutter, only that a vampire's bite could cause extreme pleasure or pain depending on which they chose. A newly turned vampire and a compulsive cutter with blood more addictive than crack might not have been the healthiest relationship for either of them, but she'd stopped drinking her blood immediately after learning Laura's secret, angry with her at first before accepting that Laura hadn't meant any harm and hadn't known any better, and more importantly, needed her help.
Type E made Jubilee feel stronger than any other blood type, and even allowed her to walk into sunlight without her amulet with minimal discomfort. She supposed both she and Laura had been in the wrong, but Jubilee felt that she should've known better, and that she'd been taking advantage of a vulnerable teenage girl with barely three years of real world experience. Not only that, but when they first met, Laura hadn't even been able to pick out clothes for herself, and had a strong need if not a compulsion to please others and follow orders. Something she still struggled with years later.
"When this is over," she said, "your sister and I are gonna have a long overdue talk. We've both been really busy the past year, and-"
"HOLY SHIT!" The girls looked up and saw Kitty's head poking out of the wall, staring down at them, or more specifically, the gallons of spilled blood, chunks of flesh, and internal organs littering the hallway. "Are you two alright?"
They both nodded, confused at what she was so upset about. "Hey, Kitty?" Gabby asked. "You're not gonna suddenly go crazy and try to kill me, are you?"
Kitty blinked. "No, at least I don't think so. Why? Did Kurt say something? Is this another 'girl's time of the month' question, Gabs? If so, I only tried killing him once, and he deserved it."
Jubilee shook her head, laughing. "Don't worry about it, Dude. Gabby's developing some trust issues is all. I'll take her out for ice cream when this is over. She'll get over it."
Kitty skirted around the blood and human debris, keeping her feet well within the walls. "I heard the explosion. Was that Gambit? Where's Laura now? I'm not looking at what's left of her, am I?"
"She's chasing Uncle Remy," Gabby said.
"Shouldn't we-"
"Help him?" Jubilee nodded and got back to her feet, helping Gabby to hers and holding her steady. "Can you walk, Gabs?"
She nodded. "I think so. I would tell you to go without me, but-"
"-but leaving you alone in a Weapon X facility where Kimura might be running loose is a very bad idea," Jubilee finished. "Evil scientists look at you like a fat kid looks at a buffet. Kitty, sorry to ask, but do you mind helping Gabby? I'm gonna try catching up to Gambit before Laura kills him. Try finding her a shirt or something to wear while you're at it. We're pretty much wearing blood for body paint at this point."
"Yeah sure, no problem." Kitty didn't exactly look or sound thrilled about getting blood all over her uniform, but grabbed hold of Gabby while Jubilee fixed a few displaced bones she'd been neglecting and zipped up her jacket. "Hey, since when do you have a tan?" Kitty asked. "And since when do you have a reflection!?"
Jubilee chuckled, and grinned wide when she slipped her gloves back on and snapped her fingers, sparks appearing accompanied by the smell of fireworks. "Looks like The Fourth of July came early this year..."
(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. The fight between Laura, Jubilee, and Gabby was one of my earliest inspirations for "Killers By Trade", with them just ripping and tearing into each other without a care in the world. Laura while under the influence of trigger scent versus vampiric Jubilee was teased in the 2010-12 series, but it barely lasted a full page before it was broken up, and Jubilee barely did anything. I've always been a fan of hers since the 90s animated series, but "Killers By Trade" has really made me appreciate her character more, and I had a lot of fun with her going full vampire here, especially when the idea of her turning on Gabby came to fruition.
Canonically, by drinking Logan's blood, Jubilee was able to walk into sunlight and control her vampiric urges better than most other vampires. I liked the idea of this continuing with Laura, and after literally drinking a gallon or more of her blood, Jubilee was brought closer to being human, not unlike Blade (except he's a Dhampir). It sounds as though Jubilee got her mutant powers back, but we'll see if they stick around or if it's just while Laura's blood is flowing through her veins. I've always been very fond of characters that I believe are neglected by their creators, which is a recurring theme in my fanfics, and that's definitely the case with Laura, Gabby, and Jubilee with this story, and X-Men as a whole if I'm being honest. I hope that I'm doing them justice in your eyes, and I hope you enjoy the coming chapters.
All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and all of you. God bless)