Chapter 3

Dead and Loving It

Dance music blared all across the decadent metropolis that was Madripoor's red light district, inviting people from all around the island-nation to indulge themselves in one of the many nightclubs, brothels, or other businesses of ill repute. Everything except drugs were legal, but so long as they were kept off the streets and away from the innocent, law enforcement mostly turned a blind eye.

The Love Bite was one such unreputable establishment, and mostly catered to those that wore black lipstick and fingernail polish, and too much eyeshadow. Four women had gone missing shortly after entering just within the past few months, but while there had been thorough investigations, it was admittedly par for the course for Low Town as locals called it.

The small club wasn't yet half-full when the front doors opened on their own and the revelry came to a sudden halt, everyone staring at the young woman in a yellow coat as she entered and moved to the rhythm of the music. She glanced around the room, spying thirty or more staring back at her, and waved a hand toward the speakers, causing the music to cease.

"Who's in charge here?" she asked in Cantonese. When nobody responded she switched to English and smiled to herself. "I take it most of you aren't from around here. Good to know."

"What do you want, Chinglish?" asked a man with an Eastern European accent she couldn't quite place.

Jubilee laughed. "Dude, I'm from Beverly Hills, and you can literally smell death on me. I'm like the second to last person you wanna piss off right now, and the last is my BFF waiting outside."

Several dozen men and women suddenly bared their fangs and claws at her, and seeing this, and apparently sensing death better than the vampires could, all the humans sprinted out of the club.

"The name's Jubilee," she said, the lights flickering as her voice echoed throughout the club, "and as if you couldn't tell, I'm a Lord of Vampires. Sired by Xarus, son of Lord Dracula himself. Your nest has been accused of turning humans against their will. Tell your elder that I wish to speak with him, quickly, and I may be merciful."

A dozen or more vampires laughed, and Jubilee couldn't help joining them. She put a hand on her samurai sword however, a gift from her mentor Blade, and all the laughing ceased except her own.

"The master is busy," said the man with the accent. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties, as did most of the vampires in the club, but Jubilee estimated he'd been a vampire for about twenty years or more. Ordinarily that would've made him her superior, but as a Draculina, he should've gotten on one knee or at least bowed his head by now. "I'm in charge while he's away."

Jubilee glanced around the room and saw that she was slowly being surrounded. "What do vampires have to do with Weapon X, and what kind of experiments have they been performing here?"

She saw confusion on several of the faces in the room, both newly turned vampires and those about as old as their second in command, but a few expressions confirmed her suspicions. They didn't know what exactly was going on in the building, but they knew something was, and it scared them.

"Go get your boss," she repeated. "He's broken our laws, and I'm sentencing him to death."

The entire room erupted in laughter despite the hand on her sword, and Jubilee's grin slipped from her face. Whoever their elder was, clearly they thought very highly of him to laugh in the face of a Draculina.

"Alright, I guess that's what I get for trying to be a good girl and playing by the rules. My mistake. Won't happen again." She whistled like she was hailing a cab back in New York City, and two nearly identical-looking young women wearing all black stepped through the front doors.

The crimson eyes throughout the club lit up, and the vampires instinctively licked their lips while Laura and Gabby took their positions on either side of Jubilee, whose own mouth couldn't help watering.

"Trust me," she said to their admirers, "Type E tastes even better than it smells. Problem is that I've already called dibs, and I don't share."

"They don't smell like thralls or ghouls," a young woman said, turned sometime within the past year.

Laura turned and gave her a dirty look. Both terms related to being a vampire's slave, with thralls being completely mindless humans while ghouls were 'lesser vampires' and had freewill only when it suited their master.

She looked around the room and saw that Gabby unsurprisingly held most of everyone's attention, who like her was trying not to shiver from the unnatural chill and overpowering smell of death in the room. Taking a deep breath, she partially extended a single adamantium claw and drew a red line across her forearm. The entire room took a step toward her as if drawn magnetically, all eyes now trained solely on her, and she did her best to suppress a pleasurable sigh from the sudden release due to also feeling Jubilee and Gabby's eyes on her.

The second in command chuckled. "I didn't know Wolverine was a bitch."

Several of the vampires laughed, including Jubilee who shook her head, and Laura turned her full attention to the speaker. "I'm trying to come up with an excuse why I shouldn't kill you. You have less than a minute to convince me otherwise."

He laughed again and took several steps toward her. "If I drink the blood of Chinglish over there, I'll gain some of her powers, but I'd be lying if I said you weren't just as tempting, sweetheart."

"I want the younger," another said, grinning wickedly at Gabby before turning his attention back to Laura. "We can smell it in your blood, you know. You didn't lose your virginity. It was taken from you. Something like that stains the soul. I take it daddy dearest had trouble keeping it in his pants growing up?"

Gabby's claws extended and she tried rushing him but Laura grabbed her by the collar. "They're faster than you, and also a lot stronger," she said calmly. "Control your temper or else it'll control you."

"But-"

"You're a professional. Act like it. Don't get impatient. Dead now or a minute from now doesn't make a difference. All that matters is completing the mission alive."

"Her on the other hand," the other vampire continued, staring straight at Gabby, "she-"

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Laura suddenly cutting his head off, turning his body to dust before he even hit the ground. She watched his remains scatter onto the shocked second in command with more than a little satisfaction, and when he tried stabbing her in the chest with razor sharp fingernails, she cut his hand off followed by his head with a single flourish before moving on to her next target.

"Party time!" Jubilee announced, turning the music back on. She drew her blade and bisected a vampire who thought he'd be clever and attack Gabby from behind while she drew her Desert Eagles and started firing into those closest to her. They all grinned and held still to make themselves easier targets, only to suddenly cry out in agony as the silver hollow point bullets burned like fire within them. She put them out of their misery by cutting their heads off with her bone claws, but quickly retreated back to Jubilee who was effortlessly slaughtering her kin in rhythm with the music.

The fight, if it could even be called that, was over within a couple of minutes. True to their nature, none of the vampires had tried to escape, and while Laura would've preferred leaving one of them alive for questioning, they didn't have the time for an impromptu interrogation with an undead creature of the night.

Once the final vampire turned to dust, Laura and Jubilee cleaned their blades while Gabby reloaded. She hadn't been expecting to kill vampires on the mission, but Laura thankfully and perhaps unsurprisingly was prepared for almost any contingency, and kept a cache of weapons and equipment in the apartment. Apparently this hadn't been the first time Jubilee had taken her on an impromptu vampire hunt.

"That was awesome!" Gabby said, turning to Jubilee. "Killing vampires is just the coolest! Er, no offense."

"Hah! None taken. We also make for easy clean up so long as you bring a broom and dustpan." Jubilee sheathed her sword and glanced at a door that led to the back. "I couldn't smell it before, but there's definitely a centuries old vampire in the building. About four or five hundred years if I had to guess. Not a Vampire Lord though, thankfully."

Laura nodded, kneeling on the ground, and needing a moment to catch her breath unlike Jubilee. She had a few rips in her shirt from claws but they'd long since healed. "I smell it too, along with chemicals. It's coming from below." She glanced around the club, shaking her head in disgust. "I doubt Kimura has anything to do with this. It's too sloppy, and she'd hate vampires on principle."

"They would make pretty good henchmen though," Gabby said, remembering to clean her own claws. "Also, isn't researching immortality one of the things Weapon X was founded for?"

She shook her head. "Vampires become arrogant because they inherit their strength instead of earning it, and they feel invincible due to already being dead. They're highly intelligent but they get bored easily and prefer pursuing their vices instead of bettering themselves. They also don't take orders very well unless it's from another vampire, and when they're sired, there's a chance they'll go insane. It's the kind of immortality the directors of Weapon X would've investigated, but not the kind they would take part in themselves."

Gabby blinked. "Um, don't you think you're being a little rude?" she whispered, gesturing toward Jubilee. "And maybe even a little racist?"

Jubilee laughed. "No, she's right. Most vampires lose their humanity after turning. I almost did, and it's only because of Logan I didn't. As much as I might look human, Gabs, I'm not. Jubilation Lee died four years ago, and all of her inhibitions, insecurities, and worries died with her. I might love being a vampire, but I was turned against my will, and make no mistake, I hate these blood suckers more than you could possibly ever imagine."

She turned the music off again with a wave of her hand and helped herself to a brightly colored bottle of liquor behind the bar.

"Vampires can theoretically live forever," Laura mused to herself, "and yet they live like there's no tomorrow. A part of me envies that."

Jubilee turned to her and smiled. "What's the point in living forever if you're not gonna enjoy it? Anybody want a drink? I make a mean Bloody Mary."

"I prefer occupying my time with work," Laura said quietly, restraining Gabby from accepting the offer. "As well as furthering my education."

She laughed again. "Dude, you're gonna be a hundred and forty year old cat lady at this rate. It won't be long before Scott of all people starts saying you've got a stick up your ass."

Laura sighed and pointed toward the back. "That's enough. Let's find the vampire and get out of here. Gabby and I are supposed to be keeping a low profile."

Jubilee finished her drink and nodded, and with three expert trackers searching the back, it didn't take long to find a hidden door behind a fake wall. Jubilee led the way down a pitch black staircase with Gabby behind her and Laura securing the rear. Although they could all see in the dark, the sisters' night vision wasn't nearly as sharp as a vampire's, and Gabby retrieved a flashlight from her utility belt. Her hand shook slightly much like it had upstairs, and Laura laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing is going to sneak up on all three of us," she said. "The vampire knows we're here, so there's no point trying to sneak up on him either. He's arrogant like the rest of them and wants us to see what he's been working on down here."

"R-right." Gabby swallowed, her hand starting to steady itself. Every instinct told her that Jubilee was dangerous. An apex predator that lurked in the shadows of nightmares, and both the nest of vampires upstairs and the centuries old vampire down there made every hair stand up. A year ago she hadn't feared death, and she still didn't necessarily, but she wasn't quite a child anymore, and some fears seemed to be written in the very DNA of mankind.

"These kinds of people already don't have much if any humanity left," Laura continued. "Mad scientists, I mean. A vampire doing these sorts of experiments is going to be bad, Gabby. If I tell you not to look or to wait outside, I don't want you arguing."

Gabby looked as though she already wanted to argue, but seeing the pained expression on her sister's face, and thinking back to the horrors they had already encountered at other facilities, she nodded and followed along, wielding her flashlight and Desert Eagle like the experienced operator she was. Compared to Laura and Jubilee's blades, her bone claws felt unnecessary and more than a little inadequate, and truth be told, she preferred guns and being their support. As the youngest of ten sisters, some of whom were even more aggressive than Laura, it was the role she had naturally found herself filling all her life.

"You did good, by the way," Laura said suddenly. "Remember, if I didn't trust you to do the job, or have our backs, I wouldn't have let you come."

Gabby grinned ear to ear, and Jubilee smirked at Laura who quickly looked away. She knew she could be difficult to please and nitpicky, but those nitpicks were what separated the best from everyone else, and what kept them alive. Besides, even Kimura knew the importance of positive reinforcement. It had been exceedingly rare of course, but it had only made Laura that much more desperate to please her mentor even if it sometimes meant being 'rewarded' by her.

"Aren't you gonna tell me that I did a good job?" Jubilee asked.

"You didn't die or get me or my sister killed," Laura said bluntly. "Your swordsmanship is sloppy. You waste too much time showing off, and you don't treat threats seriously enough."

"What threats?"

Laura sighed at the futility and shook her head. "A perfectly placed 9mm bullet to the head can still knock me and Gabby unconscious. At that moment we're at the shooter's mercy, and there are much worse fates than dying. Trust me. Any serious threat is to be taken seriously, understand?" She turned to Gabby, knowing her words would fall on deaf ears with Jubilee. "Understand?"

She quickly nodded. "I'm the one who usually wears body armor, remember? You're the one that runs into bullets half-naked. Is that a masochist thing or a 'I'm trying to be macho like Dad' thing?"

"It's more of a 'I wish I was still an only child' thing. A bullet going through me doesn't slow me down nearly as much as it being stopped by a vest, and only hurts a little more. Also, my healing factor is faster than Logan's. Wait another year or two and yours will probably be even faster than mine due to all of the adamantium in my body."

Both Jubilee and Gabby heard the bitterness in her voice, and knew better than to say anything more. Laura had been fully conscious and only seven-years-old when her claws were coated with adamantium, as well as a few strategic bones in the rest of her body. Dr. Zander Rice, the X-23 project lead, had purposefully left her with certain vulnerabilities out of spite, only to be corrected earlier that year by Kimura.

Despite the extra weight, neither Laura's speed nor her balance had been compromised, and her healing factor had only been marginally affected. It came at the cost however of even more discomfort, as well as the knowledge that a part of Kimura was inside of her at all times.

Jubilee cleared her throat. "Be careful when their boss speaks," she reminded Gabby. "A vampire's looks, voice, and even our scent are all used to supernaturally seduce prey. I hypnotize guys all the time without meaning to. Even straight girls occasionally."

"Which means I have to be more careful around male vampires, right? Wait, I never really thought about this. Laura, are you gay? If so, does that mean I'm gay? I am your clone after all, and-"

Laura sighed loudly and Jubilee halted in front of them, doubled over with laughter. "Just because you're my clone doesn't mean you aren't your own person, Gabby," she said patiently. "It doesn't matter the vampire's gender, and there's much more to seduction than just lust. There's also the seduction of power, intimacy, excitement, freedom, nostalgia, attention, and more. It's harder for vampires to hypnotize us because of Weapon X's conditioning, but they can and will hypnotize you if you let your guard down."

"I'll be careful. Just because I'm fourteen doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"You're right. Being fourteen means you're irrational, emotional, and unreasonable. However, thank you for having better fashion sense than I did at fourteen."

"That was during your slutty phase, wasn't it?" She glanced at her sister's tight yoga pants and sports bra disapprovingly. "I mean your slutty-slutty phase."

Jubilee's laughter drowned out whatever response Laura might've had. "God, I've missed you two," she said, wiping away a tear. "Longest three weeks of my life. Missed you almost as much as I miss Laura's leather pants. Speaking of, do you still wear a thong, or are you going commando? If I start taking the mission seriously, will you show me?"

Her voice reverberated throughout the hall as well as their bodies, making them both shudder and giving them goosebumps. "Don't do that again," Laura hissed, adamantium claws poking through her skin.

Jubilee continued laughing. She'd never had much of a filter on her mouth, but it had only gotten worse since she had become undead and lost any sense of shame or self-consciousness.

Without needing an answer or to catch her breath from laughing, Jubilee continued leading the way. It was more of a branching tunnel than an actual facility, and both looked and smelled as though it hadn't been maintained in half a century or more. Its architecture led Laura to believe it predated The Cold War, which was peculiar considering when and why Weapon X had been founded. She didn't care for surprises, and a vampire's nest in Madripoor previously belonging to Weapon X was peculiar enough without considering the implications of its construction.

A few minutes later both she and Jubilee came to a sudden halt outside an innocuous-looking door, and nodded to one another. There had been several doors on their journey, almost all of them empty aside from dusty medical equipment written in a variety of languages much like the rest of Madripoor.

"Gabby," Laura said, "I'm borrowing two of your incendiary grenades. Wait here. Don't worry about the vampire. We'll only be gone for a moment, but have your UV light ready just in case." She plucked the grenades from her sister's utility belt before she could argue, and together with Jubilee, entered a pitch black room that reeked of despair, blood, and waste.

"Oh my God..." Jubilee whispered. Becoming a vampire had mostly desensitized her to bloodshed and horror, both of which she'd seen plenty of even before turning, but she still had to concentrate to keep from dry heaving. "What has he done?"

Inside dozens if not hundreds of small cages sat living nightmares. Some had too many arms and legs, others too many eyes or heads, but all had fangs and blood red eyes. Several screeched at the pair, but most appeared to be hiding their faces and quietly weeping to themselves.

"Mutant vampires," Laura said, also trying not to vomit. "These used to be people. Deep down some of them probably still are..."

"They're ghouls," Jubilee spat. "Their creator can control them like puppets, and yet he leaves them to rot in cages!?"

"My own mother kept me in a cage," Laura reminded her, retrieving a third grenade from her belt. "There's often a thin line between apathy and cruelty. Any objections?"

Jubilee let out a sob. "Laura, look at them! Most of them are children!"

"Used to be children. There's nothing we can do for them. If we don't kill them now, the vampire will use them against us, or they'll go mad once he's dead. You know even better than I do that this is a mercy and what has to be done."

She sighed and nodded, not liking how easy it was for her vampiric nature to push her otherwise human emotions aside, but especially not liking Laura being forced to do the same for the sake of her mission. She knew Laura far too well to be fooled by her cold exterior. "Do you want help?"

"No. You're as allergic to fire as they are. Besides, the next time you drink my blood and regain the rest of your humanity, I don't want this suddenly weighing on your conscience. I'll do it. Wait outside with Gabby. This won't take long."

Jubilee nodded and squeezed her arm. "You're a really good person, Laura, and an even better friend. Don't ever forget that."

Laura looked her in the eye, not a single readable emotion on her face before she suddenly looked away. "If you say so." She walked forward among the screeching and wailing, trying not to look inside the cages. "Please wait outside. I'll only be a moment."

She did as bidden and took Gabby a safe distance down the hall, telling her only what she had already guessed given the sounds and scents inside, and after a somber moment, Gabby responded by saying they should probably move even further away.

None of her or Laura's equipment wasn't exactly 'military grade', which is to say made by the lowest bidder. That was especially true for their thermite grenades. Laura was picky about her equipment, but Gabby was damn near obsessive. She also knew Laura well enough to know that she wanted to be absolutely certain that the experiments inside died instantly without feeling a thing, and that it would come at the expense of her own safety.

Her sister exited a few moments later and tossed what appeared to be an empty bottle of lighter fluid back into the room before lighting a match. "I'm sorry..."

Laura tossed the flame before slamming the door shut and sprinting down the hall and tackling Jubilee and Gabby to the floor when they tried peeking around the corner.

The explosion was deafening and heat radiated down the hall and above their heads, but the walls surprisingly held together as did the ceiling, and not a single night creature was heard from again.

After making sure Jubilee hadn't burst into flames herself, Laura stood up and without another word started walking in the direction she smelled the vampire.

"Sis?" Gabby asked, running to keep up. "Y-you alright?"

She shook her head. "What I'm about to do would make Kimura very proud of me..."

Gabby and Jubilee glanced at one another uneasily but followed closely behind. Eventually they arrived outside what appeared to be the main laboratory, and Laura released her claws. Jubilee followed suit by unsheathing her sword, and Gabby her .50 caliber Desert Eagles.

Laura kicked the door open, and across the surgical room with rusted walls and tables freshly stained with blood stood a tall man with long white hair and skin so pale it was practically translucent. He didn't even attempt to look human like Jubilee or other vampires did, with his skin pulled tight around the bones and his entire mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Perhaps his most striking feature however were his pitch black eyes, a stark contrast to Jubilee's crimson.

"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" he asked in a courtly, if not old-fashioned English accent. Gabby immediately shuddered, and both Laura and Jubilee heard her heart skip several beats just from his voice alone. "It's not every day that I am blessed by the presence of a Draculina, or the spawn of my oldest foe."

"Bloodscream," Laura muttered. "Now it's starting to make sense. You're supposed to be dead."

Jubilee chuckled darkly. "Kitty's gonna love this."

Gabby glanced at them both. "Um, who-"

"Bloodscream, better known as Albert Malik," her sister explained. "Sixteenth century vampire and occult scientist for Hydra back in the thirties and forties, and probably one of Dr. Mengele's biggest inspirations. Logan ran into him a couple times. Apparently he didn't finish the job."

"Wait, Hydra? This guy's a Nazi?" The pair slowly nodded. "Oh my God! We're gonna kill a Nazi vampire! Does this mean we just killed a bunch of Neo Nazi vampires upstairs?"

"It means we killed a bunch of idiots," Laura said, not taking her eyes off Malik.

Jubilee laughed. "Neo Nazis. Idiots. Same difference. All I know is that I call dibs on telling Kitty."

Laura took a cautious step forward, claws fully extended. "Jubilee, watch over Gabby. I'm finishing what Logan started."

Malik chuckled. "You really intend to kill a true vampire like me, child? Not even your father could boast such a feat. The Draculina would at least pose a challenge, but you? I'm going to enjoy drinking you and your sister dry every day for the rest of eternity."

Laura sized him up, her expression grim. He had unknowingly told her everything she needed to know. Malik didn't know that she and Gabby had been created by Weapon X, or that Gabby wasn't even technically her sister, which also meant it wasn't likely that he knew where to find Kimura, or potentially who she even was. Being a vampire, he probably didn't care about anything that didn't concern himself.

"I was put on this Earth to kill monsters like you," she said, taking another step forward. "On behalf of everyone you've made suffer over the course of five centuries, including my friend Kitty's grandfather, when you get to hell, tell them Laura Kinney sent you, and that it's about to get very crowded down there."

"Tell them yourself. You smell as though you've already been there." The vampire tried backhanding her and Laura raised her adamantium claws, but his hand turned to mist before he could be disarmed. The hand reformed and tried grabbing her by the throat but Laura quickly backed away.

Malik cackled watching her retreat. "You're just as arrogant as your father!"

Laura nodded, barely listening, not allowing herself to get distracted or seduced by his melodic voice. Thankfully her sister and friends talked more in a minute than Malik probably did in an hour, and were far, far more annoying to listen to.

She tried decapitating him when he turned to mist and reformed behind her, but Malik caught her wrist in his mouth and bit down. Her entire body convulsed in agony, but it was almost immediately replaced by ecstasy. Pain was only ever temporary for Laura, and little did he know that she was more than accustomed to the euphoria created when a vampire was filling their victim with endorphins to make them less resistant and their blood all the more succulent.

Laura retracted her claws and extended them again, this time through her wrist and through Malik's jaw. He immediately turned to mist again and reappeared across the room, blood pouring from what remained of his mouth but very little of it her own, not having given him time to properly feed on her. She retracted her blades and released them between her knuckles again, wincing slightly. Although she could usually tolerate pain, releasing her claws anywhere but between her knuckles was strictly for emergencies only.

Malik launched at her once more, and this time Laura's retreat wasn't just for show, and she couldn't rely on him biting her again to use as a distraction. He was quickly growing frustrated by his more nimble opponent however, who seemed to slip from his grasp as if able to turn into mist herself.

She had spent half the year training non-stop in the X-Men's infamous Danger Room, and broke her own high score eight more times. Tying it countless more. She had also trained extensively with Jubilee, teaching the vampire to rely less on her vampiric nature and more on skill, while also testing her own against a creature faster than her, far stronger and more durable, and unlike any opponent she had ever faced.

Malik was exactly what she had been expecting. He had all the power in the world but none of the discipline. He fought frantically like a feral animal, clawing at her with every opportunity, but she reacted to the shallow ripping and tearing of her body about as much as he did. If the fight continued without her finding an opening, she would eventually lose, but Laura Kinney's greatest asset wasn't her healing factor or adamantium claws, or even the product of her intense training. It was her intelligence and patience that separated Laura from everyone else.

He growled as once again he failed to get his teeth around her throat despite practically enveloping her in mist, and spying the younger sister watching him with a glazed over look to her eye, dived for her while still in mist form, only to be halted by Jubilee's holy sword.

The vampire cursed and tried reappearing behind them, but Laura finally saw the opportunity she'd been waiting for, and hurled a large silver cross into the mist. Malik immediately reappeared, screaming and writhing in agony on the floor. He tore open his chest trying to rip the cross out, but Laura in a single flourish cut off both his arms above the elbows, followed by his legs above the knees. She then grabbed a canteen from her belt and began pouring holy water down his throat.

Malik's screams intensified, steam rising from his mouth until Laura suddenly taped it shut. With her opponent utterly helpless and thrashing on the ground, unable to even scream, Laura stood up and studied him with the same detached curiosity her mother had while watching her grow up.

"Damn," Jubilee said, grinning ear to ear. "Remind me again to never piss you off. Who would've thought that between a Nazi vampire, a Draculina, and a teenage girl going through puberty, that'd you'd be the scariest person in the room."

"Huh? What happened? Oh! Way to go, Sis!" Gabby slapped her on the back but Laura didn't react, and instead continued watching Malik as if concentrating on something important.

Deciding what needed to be done, she grabbed Malik by the hair and started dragging him into a nearby operating room. "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you, Malik. Japan invaded Madripoor during the Second World War. I'm guessing this was originally either a Unit 731 facility, or Nazi Germany was given permission to have a facility here in Imperial Japan's territory. I want to know which it is, and how it relates to Weapon X, which as far as I'm aware only started experimenting on mutants sometime in the mid-seventies. I'd also like to ask you about any other Nazi vampires you might know of."

"That's not gonna work, Laura," Jubilee said. "No matter how much you torture a vampire like him, he's never gonna talk, and you could never trust what he says anyway."

"Watch me." She dragged him into a room and strapped him onto an operating table which by the looks of it had been recently used. "It's going to feel good to not be the one lying on the table for once..."

"Bye, Mr. Malik!" Gabby said, waving as Laura shut the door. "When you get to hell, tell Hitler that I said hi!"

Jubilee laughed but her smile didn't quite match her eyes, and grabbed Gabby to lead her away. "Yeah, on behalf of the X-Men, and tell him 'Shalom' for us."

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Bloodscream is a pre-existing character in the Marvel universe, and while I don't believe he's technically a Nazi, he does work for Hydra, which is close enough in my opinion. Also, the name "Albert Malik" is actually one of Red Skulls' aliases which I decided to repurpose here. Once I learned that Wolverine fought a "Nazi" vampire on Madripoor, and after I'd made the decision to have the girls fight a nest of vampires, I couldn't resist having their leader be Bloodscream, especially since a (former) scientist/doctor like him would fit pretty well within Weapon X's ranks. In fact, Weapon X having some leftover influences from the Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan would actually make a lot of sense given the horrific nature of the experiments they all conducted, as well as the search for immortality. It's just a connection I thought could be interesting for worldbuilding purposes. Also, who doesn't love to see superheroes fighting Nazis? Make them vampires and you've got a match made in Heaven/hell. And given that Stan Lee created the X-Men, and there having been a lot of Jewish creators in Marvel and DC, it just feels right for Laura to be killing Nazis, and for Jubilee and Gabby to be making fun of them.

As for the fight, I originally outlined it to be a 3v1, but I decided to use it as a showcase of why Laura is NOT to be messed with, particularly in this story. Laura wants to kill Kimura, and as incredible as Laura is as a fighter in the Marvel universe, Kimura's better, and it's not even close. Here however, after about six months of nonstop training, she may very well be better, but we'll have to wait and see. I just felt as though a 3v1 would take away from what Laura's become and her eventual rematch with Kimura. Also, not only had Logan failed to kill him in the past, but Bloodscream is also a Nazi, and Kitty's grandfather was canonically in a concentration camp, and she presumably had other family members suffer during the Holocaust as well. This is what happens when you make it personal with Laura.

Also, I enjoy making light of Laura being various artists' go-to when it comes to fanservice. It oddly fits her character, and it coming at her expense from Kitty, Jubilee, and Gabby just humors me, especially since as her sister/clone, Laura not wanting Gabby to follow her example is rather wholesome in my opinion.

All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and all of you wonderful readers. God bless)