Chapter Two: Black as Night

[The Mighty Thor]

Doing his best to inform Tessa of her would be attackers, Wong gave the Watch’s resident genius the information she requested, “Thunderbird is super strong, even for a vampire. He and Husk, whose powers you are already familiar with, can usually be found at the side of the grey-haired monster there. You might be inclined to call him Hank. However, we have simply taken to calling him Mad McCoy. He is one of Logan’s hunters, and he is as bad as they come.” Pausing in his explanation, Wong lifted his hands in front of himself and cast what he hoped would be an adequate barrier spell between the advancing McCoy and themselves. Continuing he added, “And no, you are not the target of their attack. But yes, you are unlucky enough to be in the vicinity of their true targets, namely Dan and myself.”

Halfway between Greenwich Village and Salem Center, a pack of vampires had been following Castle, Beast and the others for some time, watching and surveying their prey. They knew that they had the advantage, with more than a two to one ratio in their favor. But they were wary. Castle and Astrovik they knew well. McCoy and Guthrie were well known to these vampires as well, but they were obviously different from those they had become accustomed to. However, it was the fifth member of their traveling group that kept them at bay for so long. They didn’t know what to make of Victoria Essex. She seemed oddly familiar to many of them, but yet completely different, and extremely dangerous. But the bloodlust could only be held at bay for so long. The dozen vampires that had been secreted away in the underbrush finally made their presence known, as they quickly moved in for the kill. Only Beast’s words gave them pause. With a chilling cackle, one of the hellish group replied. “You do sorta look like McCoy,” she said as she lifted her nose to the air, “You might even smell like him. But you aren’t fooling us for a second. Get ‘em boys!’ And on her command, the five heroes found themselves besieged by blood sucking demons.

Back in Greenwich village, Spider-man and Ghost Rider had their hands full with two very dangerous vampires of their own. With clawed fingers of adamantium, the vampiric Husk tore at Ghost Rider’s face, trying to open him like a can. It was Spider-man’s quick intervention that prevented the slice and dice. The impact webbing momentarily blinded the girl, giving the web slinger enough time to grab her and propel her like a shot at her large Indian friend. With two of the attackers temporarily down, the duo were left to watch as Mad McCoy made his way toward the studious Tessa, who was attempting some heroics of her own.

Within the forest that surrounded what used to be the Xavier Institute, four fantastic heroes readied themselves for the evil that lurked within the trees. With fists of orange stone clenched tightly, Rogue listened as Blade spoke, “I can see seven of them. I can hear even more. They are out there, just waiting for his command.” With a bit of nervousness in his voice, the unwary Norrin asked, “Who’s command?” But the question’s answer would not come from Blade. Instead, the answer came in the form of a short, gruff man who moved from between the shadows. With a heavy Canadian accent, the vampire lord called Logan snarled, “My command, bub.”

In the brownstone on Bleeker Street, Sage moved toward the window, intent on trying out the spell she had been working on. Reluctantly, Wong lowered the barrier, giving the young mutant a clear shot at Mad McCoy for which to try the spell. She recited the spell as perfectly as she had heard Wong do earlier, only this time adding in the new parts that had only recently been translated. As the words rang out into the street, Husk and Thunderbird, having been incapacitated, couldn’t help but to hear the incantation. In a flash they disintegrated, leaving but a large pile of ash that was whisked swiftly away in the night air. But for some reason, the spell did nothing to impede McCoy. With a large, blood stained, tooth filled grin, he planted one large hand on either side of the window frame and leaned in to where his face was inches from the stunned Sage. With an oddly familiar voice that now dripped with cruelty and evil, McCoy growled, “I must apologize my dear, these stupendously effective, and highly fashionable earplugs must have prevented me from ascertaining what it was you said. Would you care to repeat it?”