08-07-2004, 10:44 PM
Hank sighed quietly to himself as he crouched down on his haunches, gleaning what he could from the little information with which they were being provided.. "I don't know. Dropped smack bang in the middle of what so far would make for a third rate horror movie, and the natives are tetchy because we want to get straight what we are fighting before we go blindly heading out into the dark?" he thought angrily, although his outward demeanour showed no signs of change. When he had spoken earlier of his own realities experience of Nosferatu he had left out one tiny detail. They weren't strictly restricted to works of fiction despite what the general public were allowed to believe but given their present company's less than welcoming demeanour he had felt it wise not to mention that one of his friends was for all intents and purposes one of the creatures they were now here to destroy.
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"And you are sure he's going to be out here tonight?" Hank peered into the darkness below. The wind which blew across their lofty perch caused ruffled his exposed fur silently, but brought no unfamiliar scents to him, only the fresh smell of wet leaves and grass from the park below mingling with the other smells of the city. The sounds of the restless city beyond drifted up towards their perch, the constant thrum of engines punctuated by the occasional stacatto insistance of an emergency siren, sounding almost surreal with no visual reference point to go with them. This was one of the things Hank had always loved about New York - day or night there was always something going on - although the people on the streets had been less inclined to dawdle of late. He ran his tongue over his lips, almost tasting the flavour of the city around them. There was an almost imperceptible scuffing sound up behind him as his companion for the evening adjusted his footing on the rough stone wall. "It follows the pattern Dr McCoy. The last attack was almost exactly seventy hours ago. Another three nights before that." Spiderman looked down at the crouched form below him as he spoke, trusting his spider-sense to alert them to any danger. He was still amazed that a being a large as this 'Beast' could move on and hang onto walls almost as easily as he could himself. "This has been going on almost a month now. If it wasn't so serious I could almost thank whoever is doing this. Jamieson over at the Bugle hasn't had a bad word to say about me in a few weeks. I was surprised, he would usually try and blame this sort of thing on me. I tell you the guy is obsessed."
Hank chuckled despite himself. The X-Men had never been media darlings themselves, but even they didn't justify the kind of negative attention the Bugle seemed to reserve for Spiderman. He arched his neck to look upwards as Spiderman continued, his voice tickling some memory in the recesses of Hank's mind. "Anyway, I did some investigating after the first couple of attacks. Assaults following the same pattern have also occured in Denver, Chicago and Detroit, stopping in one city as they began in another. Whoever is doing this has been working his way across the country. And now he is here in my city. I can't let these attacks go on Dr McCoy." Hank nodded. "That's why I'm here. The package you had sent to me certainly bear with your hypothesis. The wounds in the photographs are consistent with bite marks produced by enlarged incisors and canines. The blood sample contained some sort of natural anti-coagulent similar to that found in Desmodus Rotundus, dare I say it - the 'vampire bat'." Hank rolled his shoulders a little as he spoke, working out some of the kinks his prolongued hang from the wall were creating. "The bat is on average two to three inches long and weigh about an ounce. They only need a couple of tablespoons of blood a day. Scale that up and it certainly fits the modus operandi of these assaults. We could be looking at some sort of mutant here, although I have yet to encounter one who has to go to these levels to survive." Despite all the evidence they were building up Hank was still not ready to say out loud that they were possibly dealing with an honest to goodness vampire. Spiderman however voiced what they were both thinking. "Some sort of vampire then? Like in the movies, with a cape and a fear of crosses and sunlight?" Hank looked up at him once more, his golden eyes shining beneath his furrowed brow. "We can only hope it will be that simple." he said
The two men were silent for several moments each lost in their own thoughts as they waited for something to happen."I'm just glad that Aunt May is in Queens!" thought Spiderman, glad that so far the majority of the attacks had occured in or near parks in Manhattan and the Bronx. That had made their plan a relatively simple one. Given the spread of the crime scenes they assumed their prey was not wholly unintelligent. With that assumption in place they decided to avoid parks where assaults had occured most recently, instead concentrating on areas which still attracted people and hence potential targets. If they didn't pick the right one, they would have to wait another three days for a second chance. Unless of course the attaker moved on to yet another city.
Their silence was broken by a piercing scream from somewhere on the other side of the park. "Damn. I hate it when I'm right. I'll take the high way..." Spiderman grimaced beneath his mask, his voice trailing off as he pushed himself off the wall. A silken strand leapt upwards from his outstretched arm and he was away swinging gracefully from building to building. "Kid's got some moves." thought Hank as he leapt skywards, his powerful legs pushing him up and away towards the roof of next building. Landing easily he immediately bounced backwards in the direction he had come flipping over into the darkness of the alleyway below. Somewhere off to his right he knew there should be a fire escape. Now all he had to do was catch it before me became a large green hairy smear on the concrete below. The air rushed past him as he dropped, outstretched fingers searching for a handhold. There was a sudden screech of tortured metal almost as piercing as the scream from the park as his 300 pound plus frame hooked onto the rusted framework of the steps. Twisting his body around, Hank threw himself at the opposite building, bouncing off it onto the trash strewn ground below. "Well, that was naughty!" he said to himself as he raced over the street and into the park beyond.
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Hank was shaken from his reverie by the unholy wailing from upstairs. "What now?" he thought, but he was already moving towards the door. "Paige. Do you think you can manage a change? I think you would look mighty swell in silver. If so they can probably use you upstairs." Hank didn't pause as he spoke. He trusted his young team mate to do what was needed. She had proven herself able to come up with the goods in tight situations before, why should now be any different. As he barrelled past Wong he cast a curious eye at him. "Montesi Formula? I think that's what they put in the 'new taste' Coke wasn't it?" he asked as he ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And you are sure he's going to be out here tonight?" Hank peered into the darkness below. The wind which blew across their lofty perch caused ruffled his exposed fur silently, but brought no unfamiliar scents to him, only the fresh smell of wet leaves and grass from the park below mingling with the other smells of the city. The sounds of the restless city beyond drifted up towards their perch, the constant thrum of engines punctuated by the occasional stacatto insistance of an emergency siren, sounding almost surreal with no visual reference point to go with them. This was one of the things Hank had always loved about New York - day or night there was always something going on - although the people on the streets had been less inclined to dawdle of late. He ran his tongue over his lips, almost tasting the flavour of the city around them. There was an almost imperceptible scuffing sound up behind him as his companion for the evening adjusted his footing on the rough stone wall. "It follows the pattern Dr McCoy. The last attack was almost exactly seventy hours ago. Another three nights before that." Spiderman looked down at the crouched form below him as he spoke, trusting his spider-sense to alert them to any danger. He was still amazed that a being a large as this 'Beast' could move on and hang onto walls almost as easily as he could himself. "This has been going on almost a month now. If it wasn't so serious I could almost thank whoever is doing this. Jamieson over at the Bugle hasn't had a bad word to say about me in a few weeks. I was surprised, he would usually try and blame this sort of thing on me. I tell you the guy is obsessed."
Hank chuckled despite himself. The X-Men had never been media darlings themselves, but even they didn't justify the kind of negative attention the Bugle seemed to reserve for Spiderman. He arched his neck to look upwards as Spiderman continued, his voice tickling some memory in the recesses of Hank's mind. "Anyway, I did some investigating after the first couple of attacks. Assaults following the same pattern have also occured in Denver, Chicago and Detroit, stopping in one city as they began in another. Whoever is doing this has been working his way across the country. And now he is here in my city. I can't let these attacks go on Dr McCoy." Hank nodded. "That's why I'm here. The package you had sent to me certainly bear with your hypothesis. The wounds in the photographs are consistent with bite marks produced by enlarged incisors and canines. The blood sample contained some sort of natural anti-coagulent similar to that found in Desmodus Rotundus, dare I say it - the 'vampire bat'." Hank rolled his shoulders a little as he spoke, working out some of the kinks his prolongued hang from the wall were creating. "The bat is on average two to three inches long and weigh about an ounce. They only need a couple of tablespoons of blood a day. Scale that up and it certainly fits the modus operandi of these assaults. We could be looking at some sort of mutant here, although I have yet to encounter one who has to go to these levels to survive." Despite all the evidence they were building up Hank was still not ready to say out loud that they were possibly dealing with an honest to goodness vampire. Spiderman however voiced what they were both thinking. "Some sort of vampire then? Like in the movies, with a cape and a fear of crosses and sunlight?" Hank looked up at him once more, his golden eyes shining beneath his furrowed brow. "We can only hope it will be that simple." he said
The two men were silent for several moments each lost in their own thoughts as they waited for something to happen."I'm just glad that Aunt May is in Queens!" thought Spiderman, glad that so far the majority of the attacks had occured in or near parks in Manhattan and the Bronx. That had made their plan a relatively simple one. Given the spread of the crime scenes they assumed their prey was not wholly unintelligent. With that assumption in place they decided to avoid parks where assaults had occured most recently, instead concentrating on areas which still attracted people and hence potential targets. If they didn't pick the right one, they would have to wait another three days for a second chance. Unless of course the attaker moved on to yet another city.
Their silence was broken by a piercing scream from somewhere on the other side of the park. "Damn. I hate it when I'm right. I'll take the high way..." Spiderman grimaced beneath his mask, his voice trailing off as he pushed himself off the wall. A silken strand leapt upwards from his outstretched arm and he was away swinging gracefully from building to building. "Kid's got some moves." thought Hank as he leapt skywards, his powerful legs pushing him up and away towards the roof of next building. Landing easily he immediately bounced backwards in the direction he had come flipping over into the darkness of the alleyway below. Somewhere off to his right he knew there should be a fire escape. Now all he had to do was catch it before me became a large green hairy smear on the concrete below. The air rushed past him as he dropped, outstretched fingers searching for a handhold. There was a sudden screech of tortured metal almost as piercing as the scream from the park as his 300 pound plus frame hooked onto the rusted framework of the steps. Twisting his body around, Hank threw himself at the opposite building, bouncing off it onto the trash strewn ground below. "Well, that was naughty!" he said to himself as he raced over the street and into the park beyond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hank was shaken from his reverie by the unholy wailing from upstairs. "What now?" he thought, but he was already moving towards the door. "Paige. Do you think you can manage a change? I think you would look mighty swell in silver. If so they can probably use you upstairs." Hank didn't pause as he spoke. He trusted his young team mate to do what was needed. She had proven herself able to come up with the goods in tight situations before, why should now be any different. As he barrelled past Wong he cast a curious eye at him. "Montesi Formula? I think that's what they put in the 'new taste' Coke wasn't it?" he asked as he ran.
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