Chapter Two: Black as Night

[The Mighty Thor]

At Sage’s request, Wong carefully turned the pages of the Darkhold, all the way to the end of the book, where upon he pulled a piece of parchment. He returned the ancient book to the Atlantean spell and sat the newly produced piece of parchment along side it. Looking down at Tessa who was seated beside him, Wong’s eyes were filled with hope. In a whisper of a voice, the Asian man reiterated the spell he had invoked earlier, bringing the nearby candle light back up to full strength. The mystically powered tapers burned brightly now, bathing Tessa’s work area in an arcane yellow light. Reassuringly, Wong placed his hand upon the woman’s shoulder, “This is as much of the translation as we have. It is exactly as I have been using it for months now. The Montesi Formula has proven devastating to any vampiric being that hears it. If you can help to translate the spell fully, it is my hope that it will be far more destructive.” Thinking for a moment upon the woman’s second request, Wong looked about at the devastated ruin that was once Dr. Strange’s library. “I’m afraid that the vile beasts left little of Master Strange’s library intact, although there are a few tomes secreted away in a little pocket dimension upstairs. I am not sure how much help they would be to you, as they are not linguistic books per se, but I could try to retrieve them if you would like.”

From across the room, Dan looked up at Spidey, who clung to the ceiling deep within the shadows that Wong’s magical candle light could not quite reach. In answer to the Spider’s question, Dan smiled, “He was just the most loved friendly neighborhood super hero New York could have ever hoped for. The man was a legend actually. He had been doing the web slinging hero thing longer than most of us. He had become a legend actually: a real symbol for New York. And that was why Logan made a point to kill him. The easiest way to crush a people is to crush their hopes. With the cities greatest champion dead, the people are more frightened than ever. Somehow they find little solace in us, a group of night stalkers that are almost as scarey as the vampires themselves, not that that matters much to us. As long as we do our job, the people stay safe, and we sleep better come dawn.”

As Norrin and Barry sped along atop the Surfer’s chrome-covered board, they casually discussed the amazing speed at which they were traveling, and the nature of Norrin’s amnesia. As they zoomed north, the Surfer looked back over his shoulder to make sure Rogue and Blade were not lagging too far behind. He became a little worried when he looked back to find that they were no where in sight. He didn’t think he had been going that fast, but with the power of his board beneath his feet, he couldn’t be sure. His head spun all around as he looked for his lost teammate and her intimidating companion. Just when he thought he would have to turn back to find them, they appeared from nowhere right beside the speeding alien. With a glint in her eye Rogue laughed, “Don’t worry, I was just testing the limits of these powers.” On an adjoining invisible disc of his own, looking slightly less perturbed than he had previously, Blade nodded his head north. “Keep on this heading. We’ll be there in no time at this pace.”

A couple of miles behind the speeding alien and his three counterparts, Vance looked at Paige and grinned. Playfully he responded, “And if we weren’t on a mission right now, I just might let you kick my ass. Thank god for the mission, eh?” They walked along in silence for a few minutes: each of them lost to their thoughts and inner turmoil. At the lead Frank whispered, “Keep your eyes open. The shadows have eyes. But worse than that, they have fangs, so no daydreaming. And dammit Vance, stop your insufferable flirting! This is serious.” Removing his arm from Husk’s shoulder, he grinned sheepishly at her. Under his breath so only Paige could hear, he replied in a decidedly sarcastic tone, “Yes, dad.” They walked in silence after that, up until Paige inquired about the specific identities of New York’s vampire population. Knowing that Frank wouldn’t waste time answering such questions, Vance knew that it would be up to him to sate the girl’s curiosities. “As long as we have been doing this, I’m sure we haven’t met all of them, but I have had the unfortunate opportunity to run across quite a few of this city’s bloodthirsty brood. Logan took out most of the X-Men first. He picked and chose amongst them, outright killing some, and turning the rest to his demonic side. McCoy, Storm and Archangel are some of the nastier of the bunch. After taking care of business at home, he sent his legions out into the city to wreak havoc on a larger scale. Most of the city’s heros have either died or been turned, but it is so hard to keep track of who is who these days. Besides, it would take me all night to list them all.” Vance looked away, hoping to avoid the question any further. He didn’t want the others to see the emotions that were playing across his face. The young warrior had lost many a good friend to the demons of the city, and it was hard for him to talk about. The night his teammates, the New Warriors, had been attacked was the worst day of his life, and the thought of them being turned into vampires still haunted him. But it did more than haunt him. It drove him to succeed in spite of everything. It drove him to finish the mission he and the rest of the Punishers had made their own.