Chapter 73

  Arc 6 - Ch 6: Celebration

  Date: Friday, June 24, 2011.

  Loanhattan, New York

  At the far end of the warehouse loomed a solitary metal door, and beside it, an imposing figure. The man was thickly built, with a shaved head and a coiled wire running from his ear to disappear under his bck t-shirt. His eyes tracked Tyson and Jubilee's approach, flinty and assessing. Tysohe guard's eyes and sehe potential for violence kept firmly in check. As they drew nearer, he detected an unusual st ging to the maallic, with an uone of cedar.

  After a moment, the guard stepped aside and opehe dranting them silent permission to enter. As soon as they crossed the threshold, throbbing bass and strobing lights enveloped them. Tyson blinked against the sudden sensory assault. The warehouse had been transformed into a thriving nightclub, packed with gyrating bodies and awash in vibrant colors. Industrial girders swept overhead while high-tech lighting rigs and speakers studded the walls.

  Jubilee turo Tyson, her eyes sparkling with exhiration. She squeezed his arm excitedly. "Let's go check it out!" Allowing himself to get caught up in her enthusiasm, Tyson followed her into the pulsing crowds.

  With a subtle flexing of his illusion power, he lowered the perceived volume and pounding bass to a dull throb, allowing him and Jubilee to talk without shouting. Though he tried to hide it, his tense posture betrayed his disfort in the club. She eagerly led him to the bar. Her enthusiasm faltered slightly wheiced the tight set of his shoulders. "You look a little tense," she said, her voice tinged with ale encement. "Try to rex a bit."

  Tyson ordered a vodka-Coke for her, and a straight vodka for himself, though the alcohol's effect would be short-lived on him. When he passed one of the gsses to Jubilee, she hesitantly admitted, "I've never drank before."

  He chuckled and advised in a soft tohen take it slow."

  Jubilee sipped tentatively at first, her rea one of mild surprise. "It's not too bad," she admitted. Bolstered by her first taste, she drank more eagerly, feeling the alcohol loosen her inhibitions slightly.

  As they leaned against the bar, Jubilee pced a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "What's got you so tense?"

  Tyson's nose wri the st that permeated the verted warehouse. "This pce reeks of iron. It's like it used to be a gym or something, but way worse," he remarked.

  She looked at him quizzically, taking an exaggerated sniff of the air. "I don't smell anything like that," she responded with a puzzled shake of her head, causing her bck hair to sway. "The rumor on the web was that they set up these raves i-pag factories. Maybe that's what you're pig up? Or maybe it's just the idea of 'meat-pag' that makes you unfortable?" Jubilee teased.

  Tyson raised an eyebrow at her innuendo. "Cute," he said dryly.

  Though Jubilee's pyful banter helped diffuse some of the tension in his shoulders, the persisteallic st still grated at his senses, keeping him on edge. He tried to push past it, fog instead on Jubilee's iious enthusiasm in the pulsing atmosphere of the club. After finishing her drink, she grabbed Tyson's hahusiastically pulling him towards the dance floor. She was determio fully immerse them both into the lively spirit of the club. Surrounded by the pulsing rhythm and movement of the eic crowd, Tyson gradually felt the tension leave his body. His s faded into the background as he and Jubilee lost themselves in the moment.

  Tyson did not sider himself a dancer. However, his initial awkwardness on the dance floor was quickly eclipsed by the martial arts training ingrained in his muscles. It had gifted him an innate sense of rhythm and his enhanced senses granted him awareness. This bined with his superhuman agility lent an ued elegao his motions, allowing him to flow with the music. As Jubilee swayed and dipped to the drivis, Tyson easily synced himself to her rhythms. His ability to adapt so quickly made their motions seem almost chraphed.

  As song after song pulsed through the club, Jubilee slowly closed the distaween them. What had begun as two friends moving to the music subtly shifted into something more intimate. The space between them, once maintained by the casual distance of friends, diminished bit by bit. Jubilee's hands traced the hard tours of Tyson's chest and abdominals. Her touches were feather-light but deliberate. Tyson responded in kind, his motions being more attuo Jubilee's nearness, to the sensation of her fingers brushing his body. Their closeness aowledged the e that had been growiweehe crowd and the throbbis and strobing lights dwindled into a background ambiandersg the personal moment they shared.

  Seeking more privacy, Jubilee retreated from the throbbis of the dance floor to ay booth, dragging Tyson with her. She seated herself on Tyson's p rather than across from him. Her a was fueled partially by tipsiness.

  "Is this you?" she asked him point-bnk. "Or just an illusion?"

  Tysarded Jubilee with a touch of humor. "Yup, this is me, no illusions," he said, gng meaningfully at the leather of her jacket where it met his hands. "I'm being careful where I put my hands. The long sleeves help."

  Jubilee responded by grinding her hips deliberately into Tyson's p in clear invitation. The move was as surprising as it was entig. She was testing the waters of their mutual attra and feeling his growing hardness was all the answer she needed. Her gaze was direct, almost challenging as she asked, "What if I don't want you to be so careful?"

  It was a bold dare.

  The lines between friendship and physical attra blurred as they regarded each other. Jubilee ed her arms tightly around his shoulders as their faces hovered mere inches apart.

  "This is dangerous," Tysohed, though he made no move to withdraw from her tempting proximity.

  Jubilee was uerred by his warning and grew even more forward with his ck of resistance. She leaned in closer, her lips nearly brushing his ear as she whispered daringly, "Illyana told me what it was like to be with you." Her warm breath tickled his ear, and the pause that followed her murmured words was heavy with implication. When she tinued, her question was as ued as it was forward. "If my first time is with illusions… Does it still t as losing my virginity?"

  Tyson sat dumbfounded as Jubilee's ued question huween them. She had caught him pletely off guard. He struggled to gather his scattered thoughts. "You're drunk," he finally managed, "Are you messing with me?"

  Jubilee's light, teasing ughter broke the tense sileween them. Amusement danced in her eyes. "The drinks are just helping me say what I've been thinking," she admitted with a nont shrug. Her cheeks were flushed, whether it was from the alcohol or her fession, Tyson couldn't tell. "That day you fought Azazel, we touched. You know me, you know how I feel." Her words held an undeniable ring of truth, the alcohol loosenioo give voiotions she'd normally keep private.

  Tyson rubbed a hand across his stubbled jaw, sidering her words carefully. "I didn't expect you to be so forward," he ceded.

  "I don't know why you think I'm so shy and i," she said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I'm not Jean." Theone shifted, taking on an unmistakable suggestiveness. Jubilee leaned in. "Thanks for taking me dang tonight," she purred. "I think I'm ready to head out now. Dessert sounds good."

  Her words were simple but the look in her eyes and the curve of her smile implied she was ready for more intimate activities. Tyson uood her meaning clearly. The evening had taken an ued turn, and he was willing to follow wherever it led.

  But then Tyson froze.

  The hauntingly familiar tune of the rack the DJ pyed sent a spike nition through him.

  The pounding bass reverberated through the club as he struggled to pce where he had heard it before. Jubilee's sultry smile shifted into fusion and . "What's wrong?" She asked, worry tingeing her voice.

  Tyson's eyes were drawn to a dark spot on Jubilee's cheek.

  At first, he dismissed it as smudged makeup, but when he grabbed a napkin to wipe it away, he realized…

  It was blood.

  Why was blood on her face? She wasn't hurt and their private booth was away from anyone else.

  The clubgoers who had been dang in a chaotic crowd raised their hands to the beat in eerie unison. Their synized movement was almost cultish and instantly drew Jubilee and Tyson's attention.

  The irohat lingered in his senses sihey arrived suddenly intensified sharply. Its source became horrifyingly clear as the sprinkler system activated, unleashing not the expected rush of water, but a deluge of blood that rained down upon the club.

  Around them, clubgoers were either horrified or basking in the blood rain with an almost euphoric exuberance.

  The sight set off a red alert in Tyson's mind.

  With no time to dwell on the unfolding se, he ed illusory invisibility and silence around himself and Jubilee. Crafting an illusion visible only to her, he projected an image of his heroic identity, Mirage.

  The illusion spoke urgently, anding Jubilee's attention and trying to prevent her from panig. "We're in immense danger."

  All the while, Tyson ook his eyes off the crowd.

  Jubilee's eyes widened as she took in the blood coating her body. Though she tried to suppress it, Tyson sehe rising fear within her. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid.

  Mirage pressed on, his tone urge posed. "Jubilee, please, trust me now, and breathe. Yes, you are covered in blood. This club is filled with vampires, the supernatural kind, not the romanticized fi. They are real and very dangerous."

  Despite the bizarre revetion, the earness in Mirage's voice forced Jubilee to process it all.

  "Your mutant powers should be effective against them in a fight. But do not let them bite you under any circumstances. I am unsure if my illusions will work, but I'm trying to ceal us."

  The crowd of vampires began turning their attention toward the pair.

  "Corre. It seems my illusions don't work on them. Alright, pn B then. Keep your back to the wall, do not let them surround you. I will do everything in my power to hold them off. Remember, while they might look human, these vampires possess supernatural speed and strength." In a reassuriure, Mirage then removed his mask, revealing Tyson's familiar face to Jubilee. "We are going to get through this, Jubes. Have faith in us. We make a great team, you and I.

  The real Tyson risked looking over his shoulder at her and said, "This was not how I envisioned ht going. But I won't let a pack of vampires stop me from getting some. Will you?"

  Despite the harrowing circumstahe pyful challenge in his final question was Tyson's way of affirming his itment to Jubilee, their retionship, and proteg her no matter the cost.

  Before she could respond, his tone shifted to more pyful despite their dire circumstances. "Hey Jubes, it's been too long since we gamed together. Want to go a round?"

  A heads-up dispy materialized before Jubilee's eyes. The familiar gaming interface appeared, plete with a party window listing Tyson's name ah bar. The vampires, who moments earlier had inspired a primal dread in her, now bore floating names like 'a rave vampire' and 'a blood-soaked vampire'. Health bars appeared above each foe.

  Their grim reality now seemed transformed into a challehey could tackle side-by-side. Her spirit lifted as Tyson turheir situation into a game.

  "Now this is what I call fore-py," Jubilee joked in a whisper.

  The first vampire charged with supernatural speed. Tyson's response was swift ahal. Adamantium cws slid from his fingernails with a soft snikt. Grasping the vampire's arm in an iron grip, Tyson unleashed a devastating straight-finger jab. The adamantium cws sliced ly through the creature's neck causing the vampire's body to disie into glowing ash.

  His swift dispatg of the first vampire shook the predatory fidence of the remaining creatures. They hesitated.

  But then another vampire emerged from the crowd, her appearance was strikie the macabre text. Blood soaked through the thin white shirt she wore, rendering the material nearly transparent as it g to her. It was obvious she wore no bra, as her nipples were visible, pokiedly against the wet fabric.

  Jubilee took in the se with a hint of disdain, muttering, "Ugh, it's one of those kinds of games," as she reized the overly sexualized tropes ofteo appeal to male fantasies.

  The vampire woman inhaled deeply, her senses honing in on the st of the humans before her. She looked directly at Tyson. "You smell so fug good," she purred, her voice a disturbing mix of wonder and hunger. "Why does your blood smell so delicious?"

  Jubilee rolled her eyes and sighed, resignation and annoyance evident ione. She mumbled, "Definitely one of those kinds of games... If she doesn't have good boob physics, I'm going to be disappointed."

  The female vampire uoward Tyson, her arms outstretched and fangs bared. Tyson responded with the posure of a seasoned fighter. Shifting his weight onto his back leg, he braced for impact.

  The vampire's supernatural leap became her downfall. Already itted, she could not adjust her course. Suspended helplessly in mid-air, she made an easy target. With a powerful thrust of his froyson unched a massive kick to her chest. His foot ected solidly, stopping her momentum and reversing it entirely. The vampire woman flew backward, smming full forto the crowd. They went down in a heap, her body bowling them over like pins.

  Tyson watched dispassionately as the creatures untahemselves, hissing and snarling in rage. The rain from the sprinklers had tapered off, but the tension within the club remaiyson, Jubilee, and the vampires were locked in a standoff, though it was clear the vamps hesitated to re-eer witnessing Tyson's dispy of power.

  The break in the fight was shattered when a shout rose from elsewhere in the club.

  "It's the Daywalker!"

  The excmatiinated from another part of the warehouse, rippling through the crowd, carrying equal parts fear and awe. The term brave meaning to the vampiric horde but brought a smile to Tyson's face.

  They weren't alone here.

  Ued reinforts had arrived.

  Despite this distra, the female vampire Tyson had sent flying through the air remained fixated upon him and Jubilee. She extricated herself from the tangle of allies, hissing ands to rally them. Her once-alluring appearance was now marred by violence as she shrieked, "What are you waiting fet them!"

  The horde surged forward at her and in a wave of hunger. A rge portion broke off in pursuit of the procimed Daywalker, but the rest desded upon Tyson and Jubilee. Tyson pnted himself before the onrushing tide. He struck out, cws fshing as he sought to keep the predators at bay. But despite his formidable martial prowess, the vampires' unnatural speed and strength allowed them to dart and weave through his defenses with arming agility. Their attacks came in a blur that tested Tyson's reflexes. Though his powerful blows staggered the bloodsuckers briefly, they failed to do sting harm. Only when he unleashed his adamantium cws, severing heads, did he achieve definitive results. Each beheading was followed by the vampire's body disiing into motes of glowing ash.

  The gashes and bruises that marred Tyson's body went ignored as he focused his efforts on proteg Jubilee. Though the wounds stitched themselves closed as quickly as they were inflicted, by his mutant healing factor.

  Jubilee tapped into the explosive powers that were her uant gift. The air crackled with gathering energy as she jured her signature psmoids ience. Spheres of destructive force, glowing hot and angry, were hurled with unerring aim into the thickest tration of vampires. The psmoids detonated upon impact, tearing through the bloodsucker ranks with each bst. Direct hits to undead chests resulted in the vampires violently bursting apart in swirling ash.

  Emboldened by her dispy of power, Tyson fought the vampiric horde with reckless abandon, his adamantium cws shredding any bloodsucker unfortunate enough to e within reach. Abandoning his defenses, he was a whirlwind of lethality, i on inflig maximum harm to the releide of fanged fury. Jubilee provided cover fire for the berserker mutant, her psmoids ing oer another in a relentless barrage. She targeted any vampire that slipped past Tyson's whirling guard, then cleared those attempting to surround and fnk them.

  In the chaos, two opportunistic vampires spied an opening and unched a coordita the preoccupied Tyson. As his cws sank satisfyingly deep into the chest of another bloodsucker, one grabbed his arm. Sensing opportunity, a sed vampire seized Tyson's other arm as he reflexively stabbed forward, stretg his arms wide aralizing his strength. The female vampire who rallied the horde earlier saw his momentary vulnerability. Before he could summorength to break free of the vampires' grasp, she sank her fangs triumphantly into his flesh.

  Tyson struggled against the vampires holding his arms. His muscles strained and bulged, but with each restraining one arm, they kept him at bay, if only just. The blonde female vampire threw her head back, her eyes rolling iasy as she savored the taste of his blood.

  "Oh god, you taste so good," she moaned, her voice thick with pleasure and hunger. Her lips were stained crimson with Tyson's blood. She licked them with relish. "I'm going to take you as my familiar." Her eyes locked with his, and he felt a strange pull as if she were trying to reato his soul. "You're special," she purred, her words dripping with dark promise. "When fed on, you'll feel the pleasure that I feel." The sounds of the battle around them seemed to fade into the background, leaving only the pounding of his heart and the wet sounds of the vampire feeding.

  Jubilee's voice cut through the fog in Tyson's mind. "Tyson!" she screamed, her voice ced with panic.

  Witnessing his peril, Jubilee hurled psmoids at the vampire holding his right arm, the bursts of indest light reduced it to disiing ash but also badly buryson's arm, exposing the metallic skeletoh. It was a brutal attack.

  But Jubilee kyson would heal, the vampire wouldn't.

  Plus it freed his arm.

  Any sense of triumph faded as the horde seized the opportunity and streamed past Tyson, breaking through the protective line he had fought so fiercely to maintain in front of Jubilee. She responded with a sweeping barrage of psmoids, the indest energy iing many and halting the rest. It was an impressive dispy of her abilities, a fiery barrier holding back the tide.

  But one vampire vaulted over the bst, its predatory focus i on Jubilee. She pivoted and raised her hand to unleash a targeted burst. Too te. With supernatural quiess the vampire seized her arm, halting her terattack. Fangs sank into her wrist before she could react.

  Defiance fshed in Jubilee's eyes. Her free haed with psmic fury, redug her attacker to ash. But the brief victory faded as two more vampires emerged from the crowd. Ravenous hunger burned in their gaze. Jubilee raised her hands and annihited the vampires attag her. Meanwhile, Tyson reasserted his presen the fight. The female vampire retreated as he separated atacker's head from its body.

  For a brief moment, the chaos and fury of battle subsided. Tyson stood, clothes ripped, the vampires giving him a wide berth. Jubilee had a ce to catch her breath and regroup. She pulled her sleeve down and tighte, hiding her bite mark.

  The fleetie shattered with the sudden, jarring staccato of automatifire. The bullets effitly mowed down several vampires in rapid succession, their forms disiing into dust as the rounds found their marks. One impacted Tyson's head with a loud, metallig, briefly staggering him before the bullet fell ftteo the ground.

  As the echo of the final gunshot faded, the source of the guepped into view. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a distinctive ft-top haircut. Dressed in bck leather and tactical gear, he carried a firearm but also a silver sword. This ued ally's dramatitrance shifted the tide of battle.

  The remaining vampires scattered in a desperate bid to escape the threat posed by the newer. All except for that blonde female vampire. Whether fueled by rage, stubborn pride, or a blood frenzy brought on by drinking from Tyson, she charged headlong toward the man heedless of the danger.

  The ma her reckless attack with calm readiness. With an underhanded flick, he hurled the empty firearm at the onrushing vampire. She ducked reflexively to avoid it, falling perfectly into his trap. In that brief instant when her vision was obscured, the man exploded into motion. His sword thrust forward, finding its mark deep in the vampire's chest. The female vampire's body crumbled into fine ash that drifted away into the air as the st remnants of her essence scattered to nothingness.

  Tysohis man, thanks to his meta-knowledge.

  Bde.

  A vampire hunter, who was a dhampir himself, a half-vampire.

  Bde turned, shifting his focus and his sword toward Tyson. The tension that permeated the warehouse was almost a tangible thing.

  "Thanks for the assist," Tyson said, but his gratitude died on his lips.

  Bde's sword remained poised, ready to strike. His cold eyes held no hint of warmth or trust. "ry," he bit out. "You blend in well. I almost thought you were human for a sed."

  Tyson blinked, fusion furrowing his brow.

  "You seemed vingly protective of your familiar there." Bde barked a harsh ugh. "But you, suck-head, you're not going anywhere. While you fought, your fangs and cws were clear as day." prehension dawned on Tyson a beat too te. The dhampir had mistaken him for a vampire. Before he could utter a denial, the man tinued, his tone edged with steel. "Since you cared so much about your 'familiar,' I'll make you a deal. Tell me where I find Frost, and I'll let her leave..." His eyes narrowed, cold and calg. "If she wasn't bitten."

  The impcable determination on Bde's face suggested that he wouldn't accept Tyson's expnations. He watched the vampire hunter warily, his muscles coiled and ready to strike. And now, Bde's cold gaze was fixed on Jubilee with lethal i.

  Tyson cleared his throat, hoping to draw Bde's attention. "Alright, I'll tell you where Frost is. Let her go."

  Bde's eyes narrowed, "That wasn't the deal," he said, his voice sharp as the sword in his hands.

  Jubilee shrank back against the wall, her yellow jacket scuffed and torn from their earlier skirmish. Tyson's protective instincts surged. He couldn't let Bde near her.

  Tyson exploded into motion. His cws erupted from his fiips as he unched himself at Bde. The vampire hunter spun away with supernatural speed, Tyson's swipe cutting only air. In the same motion, Bde drew his silver sword and sshed at Tyson's arm. The bde cut through Tyson's skin and muscle but skittered off Tyson's adamantium-ced bones.

  As he exged blows with Bde, Tyson summoned his powers. An illusion of himself appeared beside Jubilee.

  "Time to go, Jubes," the Mirage urged.

  Jubilee hesitated, her eyes dartiween the real Tyson and the illusion.

  The Mirage gave her a gentle push toward the exit. "Don't worry about me. I hahis guy."

  Tyson nded a bruising ki Bde's torso, demonstrating his point and buying them a few precious seds.

  "His sword 't kill me. But it's time for you to get to safety."

  Jubilee still wavered, torween fleeing and staying to help.

  The Mirage pced its hands on her shoulders, meeting her eyes early. "I promise it'll be okay. Watch out for vamps as you go. I'll keep him distracted long enough for you to get away."

  At st, Jubilee nodded and slipped away, the sounds of bat fading behind her. He had bought Jubilee's escape. Now he just had to survive Bde, disengage, and escape to reuh Jubilee.

  Bde spun and dodged, seeking an opening to drive home a killing blow. For his part, Tyson relied on his mutant abilities and adamantium-ced skeleton to withstand the assault. Bde was fast, but Tyson was durable. The vampire hunter dropped low and thrust his sword toward Tyson's chest with viper-like quiess. Despite the precision of the strike, the silvered steel bde was turned aside by the iructible metal beh Tyson's skin. Reizing the futility of tinuing his attack, Bde disengaged, rolling away to gain distance as he reassessed this ued oppo.

  "What are you?" Bde demanded, his voice a mix of frustration and curiosity.

  "Not a vamp. A mutant," Tyson replied.

  Bde's eyes narrowed, flig between Tyson and the doorway Jubilee had just slipped through. Bde o end this, now, before the girl got away. The vampire hunter snatched a silver dagger from his belt and whipped it towards Tyson's chest, aiming for his heart.

  Tyson's hand snapped up. His fingers closed around the spinning knife mere inches from his chest, the bde biting into his palm. Blood welled around the embedded on, but to Bde's astonishment, instead of dripping to the floor, the crimson liquid solidified and reshaped into a butterfly that took wing, fluttering away.

  The wound sealed shut, leaving unmarred skin behind. He met Bde's gaze steadily. "I already told you, I'm not like the bloodsuckers you hunt," he said with a note of atience.

  Bde's eyes narrowed, uainty flickering across his stony expression for the first time.

  This was no vampire.

  In the distance, sirens wailed. The authorities were responding. Bde tensed, his enhanced hearing pig up the sounds of squealing tires and doors smming. He had mere moments before the police swarmed this pce.

  With a scowl, the vampire huurned and vanished, supernatural speed carrying him away. Tyson watched him go, shoulders slumping in relief. Now he just had to get out and find Jubes. The cops would have questions he didn't io answer. Pocketing the silver knife, he ran out of the warehouse and into the night to find her, i oing with his friend.

  — Rogue Rept —

  Felicia Hardy slipped quietly into the loading bay of House of M, her eyes sing the spatil they settled on an old, beat-up cargo van tucked away in the back er. She had used Tyson's moo purchase the van fht thousand dolrs cash from a retiring plumber, ensuring the transa remained off the books and untraceable. Felicia slid into the driver's seat of the unassuming vehicle, its engine rumbled to life with a raspy growl that stood in trast to the luxury cars she had grown aced to siarting at House of M. For her current needs, reliability mattered more than luxury.

  Guiding the van through the bustling streets of Manhattan, Felicia wove a winding path downtown towards the isnd's west side. The van carried her through the Holnd Tunnel and off the isnd, blending seamlessly into the traffi Iate 78 before switg over to Iate 95 South. The nondescript van was the perfespicuous getaway car to take her far from the city. After about an hour's drive, Felicia arrived in Wharton, New Jersey. But before reag her final destination, she pulled onto a deserted stretch of road and stopped. Quickly sing the van's lise ptes for a fake "I Heart NY" y pte they had acquired just for this purpose, Felicia took o precaution to cover her tracks.

  Climbing into the rear, she was greeted by the sight of an exosuit waiting for her. Methodically, Felicia began donning the high-tech suit, preparing for the mission ahead.

  For weeks Ivan Vanko had immersed himself in this test project, one personally issioned by Tyson. Vanko was charged with strug a suit for the lithe Felicia. Inspiration for her suit came from the armored exoskeleton he had worn during the frontation with Tony Stark on the Monaco racetrack. This new creation would not encapsute its wearer in a full-body Iron Man-style shell. Instead, Vanko streamlihe design to a minimalist framework tered on key reinforced joints and strategic prote pads. The inclusion of a pact Arc reactor as the power sranted Felicia immerength, allowio lift weights hundreds of pounds beyond her natural capacity. Assembling su exosuit would ordinarily have been simple for Vanko. However, the true challenge y not in the stru itself, but in the required refis.

  Tyson's specifications had been explicit. The suit o blend seamlessly into Felicia's attire, avoidiion at a cursnce by any unaware observer. Meeting these design requirements forced Vanko to trate intensely on streamlining eapo and meism while retaining full funality. He'd mahat the suit could not impede Felicia's movements. Tyson even mandated Vanko to prioritize Felicia's suit over his own undersg the critical importance of her impending task.

  The final preparation for Felicia's mission was a gift from Natalie, Natasha the SHIELD agent who'd posed as their teacher to iigate Tyson. It histicated piece of espioeology known as a photostatic veil. This ingenious device, an innovation from SHIELD's engineers, could fwlessly disguise its wearer. For this operation, Felicia had programmed the veil to dispy the image of a generian, pletely maskirue identity.

  For this operation, Felicia forewent her signature skintight catsuit, opting for a snug grey outfit per Tyson's instrus to eliminate any potential es between themselves and the impendi. As she finished suiting up, Felicia couldn't help but refle the immerust pced in her, as evidenced by the cutting-edge resources provided. The exosuit and the photostatic veil bio form an outfit worth tens of millions on the bck market.

  Meanwhile, Tyson was occupied for the evening, apanying Jubilee on a dinner date. Felicia pted how she might properly express her gratitude to Tyson ter. Perhaps she would surprise him with new lingerie if his date with Jubilee didn't go well. Felicia mused, that maybe Natasha would enjoy the lingerie too. Felicia wasn't certain when she might see the agent again or if Natasha was attracted to women, but she remained open to finding out someday.

  The van's engine rumbled as Felicia guided the vehicle down the lonely road. She could hardly feel the exoskeleton ing to her frame, its teology so advanced as to be nearly unnoticeable. With a destination in mind, she tinued onward through the night. Before long, her destination emerged from the darkness.

  Camp Lehigh.

  Ohriving Army training ground, Camp Lehigh now sat deg, abao time. It was here, within these grounds, that the super soldier program first took root. From its facilities came Captain America, the nation's first superhuman and bea of hope.

  While Camp Lehigh's tributions could never be fotten, newer, more advanced bases eventually re obsolete. As modern warfare evolved, the camp was slowly stripped of its purpose, left to nguish as a relic of a past era. Nature had begun to recim the base. Wild vines aation cracked through the pavement, crawling up the weathered walls of barracks once filled with soldiers. The fences surrounding the camp had rusted away, no longer electrified or even a minor deterrent. The front gate creaked on aging hinges, its insignia barely legible. Camp Lehigh had bee a ghost, its past glory haunting its present decay.

  As the van approached, its headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the pathetic gate that stood as the st barrier proteg Camp Lehigh's secrets. The corroded lock remained fastened, providing st security. To Felicia, the gate was a minor obstacle.

  With an expert's eye, Felicia studied the gate. Retrieving her kit, she selected the proper tension wrend pick. The loly posed a challenge because of its corrosion. Felicia precisely used the pid wren tao manipute the lock's inner meisms. Moments ter, a soft clinounced her success. Stowiools, Felicia pushed open the creaking gate before slipping back behind the wheel and easing the van through the narrow opening.

  The training grounds where soldiers once honed deadly skills now surreo the patient siege of weeds and brambles. Raood silent, their targets in tatters, obstacle courses were lost beh tangles of undergrowth. Smashed windoed in the barracks, doors hung from rust-pitted hihe elements reg all. Despite its derelict state, an air of solemnity hung over the abandoned camp. To those who ks legacy, this pce remained hallowed ground.

  Felicia recalled Tyson's instrus.

  Search for a munitio. It should be visible from the tral fg pole, he barracks.

  She wondered how Tyson could know the details of a pce he had never visited. However, as Felicia Hardy now stood before the munitio he had described, she realized his instrus were unnecessary. A fresh trail of tire tracks led directly to her objective, proving she was not the first to visit this 'abandoned' relic.

  fronted by the depot's heavy metal doors, Felicia once again relied on her expertise as a lockpick. The padlock offered little challeo her deft maniputions and soon yielded. However, the true test y in breag the solid, imposing doors.

  Now Felicia uood Tyson's insistehat she be the first to receive an exosuit. It was not merely a matter of prefere a strategic decision critical to her mission's success. Without the enharength the exosuit granted, she would never have been able to move such heavy doors. As she positioned herself to opehe exosuit's servos hummed. With surprising ease, the heavy metal doors swung open uhe force amplified by the suit's capabilities. They moved as if they were made of plywood rather than reinforced steel, leaving Felicia in silent awe of the teology that encased her. The exosuit was an engineering marvel, granting Felicia superhuman strength while still allowing the delicate precision required for tasks like lockpig.

  Felicia proceeded cautiously into the area, unsure of what to expect. Tyson had given her little guidance for this part of the mission, only a cryptic warning that set her nerves on edge.

  Do not move any bookshelves or ste racks under any circumstances.

  She puzzled over his insisten this strange directive. What could prompt such a peculiar limitation? She had questioyson further, but he remained adamant, instrug her to avoid any locked doors or elevators hidden behind shelving, and even abort the entire mission if she entered such a thing.

  Tyson's ominous caution uled Felicia, though his for her safety was evident. He had made it clear that while he offered her this heist, knowing her fondness for such things, her well-being was his top priority. She had explicit orders to abort the operation areat immediately if anything seemed amiss. W what could be behind the bookshelves, or lower, deeper in the base that had him so unnerved, Felicia pressed onward, following the trail of muddy bootprints left by the soldiers who had retly visited. They led her ever deeper into the shadowy recesses of the building.

  The trail of bootprints ended abruptly at an imposing steel vault door embedded into the depot's crete wall. The vault was a minor test that would have halted most intruders' progress, but not Felicia Hardy. Vaults, after all, were her specialty.

  With the self-assurance of a seasoned professional, Felicia approached the vault and sed its intricate log meism, noting the older model yet timeless design. She sank to one khe exosuit adjusting fluidly to support her movements. She retrieved a pact set of locksmith's tools from her utility belt. Felicia pressed her ear to the cold steel surface, using a stethoscope to amplify the soft clicks and whirs of the lock's inner ws. With a delicate touch honed by years of experience, she began maniputing the dial, her fingers guided by an innate uanding of the device's meiguage. Each faint sound and every subtle movement of the tumblers provided clues guiding her closer to unraveling the bination. Her foarrowed, dedicated solely to the puzzle. After several careful adjustments and precise movements, Felicia felt the internal meism yield with a soft click.

  She bested the vault lock.

  With a gentle push, the heavy door swung inward, granting access to its secrets. Felicia's breath caught ihroat as her gaze fell upon the discovery within the vault.

  A colle of six tall metal isters beled "Erskine" followed by a batumber.

  Each had the potential to reshape history. The unassuming ders tained Dr. Abraham Erskine's preliminary formutions of the super soldier serum, the groundwork for the project that had birthed Captain America.

  Felicia's pulse quied as the magnitude of her find sank in. Throughout her career as a thief, she had stolen tless treasures, yet none could pare to the significe of these isters and their tents. The realization that she now held an item of truly immeasurable worth both exhirated and overwhelmed her. On the bck market, the serum could and any price; a faot lost on the ing thief. anizations and nations across the globe, allies and enemies alike would move heaven ah to obtain even a single ister. The possibilities brang before her were endless.

  Yet, as Felicia stood alone in the dim vault, her thoughts turned not to the wealth the serum could bring, but to Tyson and the task he had entrusted her with. Refleg upon her journey, she aowledged the transformation in her life; from a solitary thief to a vital pyer in House of M's operations. Tyson had given her freedom from Kingpin and offered her purpose in his employ. The wealth accumuted through her art galleries, and the occasional mission like this exceeded her wildest dreams. Just hours after high school graduation, she was a multimillionaire.

  And Felicia kyson was just getting started.

  Moreover, she grasped the serum's i danger. It andora's box, powerful yet unfihe Green Goblin was an example of the hazards of inplete Super Soldier Serums. Possessing Erskine's formus would make her a target, drawing dangerous enemies she, and even Tyson, might not be ready for. That potential threat led them to take so many precautions to avoid dete.

  At that moment, Felicia made her choice.

  She would not be tempted by short-term wealth or power. She itted herself to Tyson and what he was building with House of M, and soon with Trask. She would return the early super soldier serums to him, affirming her loyalty and belief in their shared path. She began carefully seg the isters. Her mission wasn’t over, but as she prepared to leave the vault, she did so knowing she pyed a vital part in something great.

  — Rogue Rept —

  Peter Parker arrived at the gss doors of the Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street in atown, just as the clock tower down the block chimed eight times to mark the hour. Punctuality had bee a rarity for Peter these days, ed as he was by the relentless pursuit of the doppelganger who sowed chaos aru through the city while wearier's guise as Spider-Man. The loss of Gwen Stacy's father at the hands of the fraud magnified Peter's guilt tenfold. It hounded him, c his every iion with Gwen and her family.

  Peering through the restaurant's front window, Peter saw Gweed at a round table he back with her mother and two brathered together to celebrate their graduation. The sight evoked a swell of emotion ier's chest.

  For a fleeting moment, the bitter taste of guilt took shape.

  A vivid halluation of Gwen's father stood disapprovingly over his family, his pierg gaze set oer, cutting through his soul.

  Peter shook his head sharply, dispelling the haunting vision, but its shadow lihe judgmeer felt radiating from Gwen's te father, imagined or not, was a maion of the flict that defined his existehe impossible struggle to bance his responsibilities as Spider-Man with his desires for e, fiveness, and some sembnce of a normal life.

  Gwen's eyes drifted toward the front of the restaurant as she awaited Peter's arrival. Through the gss she caught sight of him, his shoulders hunched and tense as he hovered uainly outside. With a murmured excuse to her family, she rose from the table and threaded her way betweeher patrons to the entrance. Pushing through the door, she stepped out into the cool evening air to joier where he lingered uhe awning. His eyes flickered to her face briefly before skittering away, his disfort with the situation evident in every line of his body. creased her brow as she took ier's obvious distress.

  "Peter," she said softly. Though a simple greeting, her voice carried the weight of shared sorrow and unspoken uanding. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

  He struggled to meet her eyes, shifting uneasily beh her g scrutiny. "I don't know what I'm doing," he fessed finally the doubt and uainty clear in his voice.

  Gwen's eyes softened with sympathy. Her question cut straight to the heart of his iurmoil. "It's my father, isn't it?"

  Peter ran a weary hand through his tousled hair, his hunched shoulders betraying the burden he carried. "Yeah," he admitted heavily. "I see him everywhere I go. I 't... I don't know what to do. And I 't get him out of my head."

  "Yeah, but we've talked about this," Gwen reminded gently. They had held long talks attempting to navigate the plex tangle of grief and guilt that g to them both. But she could see pain a still lingered behier's eyes.

  Her tone grew firm, her words a reminder and a reprimand. "It's not his choice, Peter."

  Gwen knew Peter still struggled uhe perceived judgment of her departed father. But the path they walked now, the choices ahead, did not belong to the dead. Those decisioheirs to make.

  Peter's tone was heavy with self-reproach, "You promised him that you would stay away from me. And now I'm gonna e a dinner with your family. How I do this? What does this make me?" he asked, questioning his as.

  Gwe his turmoil with steadfast passion, "I don't know, what does that make you?" she asked, hoping to prompt Peter to articute the true source of his guilt.

  "It makes me uo live with myself," he fessed.

  But Gwen refused to let Peter spiral into despair. "He made me promise to stay away from Spider-Man. Not Peter Parker. I thought you were supp me. That being here meant you loved me." Gwen asserted. "Why isn't that enough?"

  "I do love you. I love you," Peter decred fervently, "What if something happens to you just like it happeo him because of me?"

  Gwe his fear with uanding. "Listen to me. You're Spider-Man... and I love that. But I love Peter Parker more. That's worth it to me," she affirmed, remindier that she had made her choice with full knowledge of the risks.

  Peter's mumbled words revealed the heart of his dilemma, "I 't lose you too."

  Gwen challenged him to sider the implications of his choices, "If because you 't lose me, we 't be together, who does that work out for, Peter? Besides, who am I safer with than you? Who protect me from him better than you?"

  Peter turned away, the weight of his words evident in his pained expression and leaden tone. "I 't. I'm swen. That imposter is still out there, he could e for you, and it would be my fault. I shouldn't be near you."

  Gwen reeled as the impact of Peter's words sank in. Her voice was thick with emotion when she responded, "Wow. I'm strong too, you know? But you 't see it, all you see is the ghost of my dead father. You missed my graduation speech, and don't know what I said about everything we've been through. I 't even talk to you anymore. I'm trying to tell you and you aren't listening. But if you ’t stand being around me and my family… Then I’m breaking up with you." Peter stood paralyzed, wanting to speak but uo find the words.

  His silenly affirmed Gwen's resolve. With a crity born of heartache, she left no room for doubt.

  "I. Break up. With you." The finality of her statement rang with her vi.

  Gwen turned and walked away, her hurried steps carrying her back to the warmth and light of the restaurant, back to her family, leavier alone.

  Through the restaurant's front windows, Peter watched Gwen rejoin her family at their table, their lives tinuing normally while his crumbled around him. Their eyes met o time through the gss, a silent exge freighted with meaning.

  In Gwen's watery gaze, Peter saw hurt, a refle of the pain his as, or ina, had caused.

  Ier's eyes, Gwen saw profound sadness a for all that had been lost, for the love he had sacrificed because of his fears.

  Uo bear the sorrow in that final shared gnce, Peter turned and walked away dowreet, each step taking him further from Gwen. He moved faster, walking being a jog and jogging being a run. Almost as if he could outrun the pain and guilt that g to him now like a sed skin. He was running away from Gwen and the possibilities of love, and running toward the only identity he had left.

  Behind The Ses

  - Did you think this would be a e Wars, Iors, or Spider-verse arc? Shout out in the ents if you saw the Bde story ing, or noticed the hints before the blood rained from the sprinklers. Or ent if you didn't know who Bde was until the more ret Marvel movies.

  - I started dropping hints about this Chapter ba Monaco (Chapter 50, Arc 5 Ch. 3). The biggest hint that something wasn't quite right was in Chapter 69 (Arc 6 Ch. 2)

  "I told her we could hit up any club iy. I'd use my abilities to bypass the lines and slide right into the VIP se if that's what she was after. I even told her we could meet Jay-Z at the 40/40 club." He shook his head. "But no, she has her heart set on this rave. Wao pn the whole night herself..."

  Admittedly, it was not the best foreshadowing, but there were several more hints in this chapter before the reveal.

  - Jubilee being bitten by a vampire is ion, she's bitten by Xarus, Dracu's son. This takes pce during X-Men #1-6.

  - The Nom Wah Tea Parlor is a real p Doyers Street in atowhat se was filmed in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

  - It may seem like I'm chasing popurity by introdug characters seen in more ret Marvel produs over the course of Arcs 6 and 7, but keep in mind, I try to stay 5-6 months ahead in my drafts. This chapter was started on 2/28/24, well before the release of the most ret show and movie.

  - This chapter has a few unanswered questions, but most of the answers be inferred from the narrative. More direswers are introduced over the several chapters.

  Support Plug

  For those of you ied in supp my writing.

  patreon./Steatoda

  For Arc 5, every chapter had its own cover image.

  One buck membership gets you access to the galleries (Chapters 15, 28, 42, 44, 47, 50, and 53)

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