Chapter Two: Black as Night

[The Mighty Thor]

Realizing the truth of her words, Castle was forced to agree with the pale, vampire like woman that had just crawled her way back into the Sanctorum. As he began to give his men their orders, his attention was drawn to the alien that was hovering a few meters above the building. The leader of the Punishers narrowed his eyes at Norrin’s odd choice of words and then replied, “For your sake Surfer boy, I hope you are aren’t. Because I doubt that all of you are as bullet proof as McCoy here. But the lady is right boys, we have made enough of a spectacle of ourselves tonight. Move it inside!” Without question or hesitation, Castle’s men jumped at his orders and made their way toward the run down brownstone, with the members of the Watch following suit. Almost forgotten, the invisible Rogue was the last one to enter. She hung back in order to keep an eye on the pack of vampire hunters. But before she could follow the last of them inside, she heard screams and howls coming from up the street. From just inside the broken window in a deep foreboding voice, the dark-skinned hunter known as Blade looked back at the invisible form of Rogue and said, “You better get inside. Vampires don’t need to see you to hunt you.”

Once the Watch and the Punishers were safely inside, they gathered in a large library on the ground floor. They stood amongst tattered tomes and vandalized volumes that once belonged to the great Stephen Strange. But the Sorcerer Supreme was no more. In his place the Earth now found its mystical defense in the form of a hard worn vigilante turned vampire hunter, and his four less than friendly companions. With eyes the color of cold blue steel, Frank Castle stood staring at the Watch. Behind him, utterly bored with the whole situation, the Punishers quietly spoke amongst themselves. With an accusatory tone, Castle interrogated the members of the Watch, “Ok, I’m looking at you, and you know what I see? I see two people that I know to be god damned vampires. Two chicks that look a hell of a lot like vampires. A guy who I saw die three weeks ago. Two punk kids that might as well be meat. And a chrome plated weirdo. So I better hear a f@%!ing good story here, or I break out the stakes and holy water.”