Chapter 82

  Arc 6 - Ch 15: La Magra

  Date: Tuesday, June 28, 2011.

  Location: House of M, Manhattan, New York

  Bde had just left the House of M. Tyson had ihe dhampir inside and listeo his proposal for a temporary team-up. Of course, Tyson agreed. Bde knew Frost needed his blood, and the hunter had a pn.

  A forward assault on Frost's penthouse.

  If Bde could take out the vampire, that would be great. If not, when Bde was captured, Tyson would be the cavalry.

  After Bde's departure, Tyso his own pns in motiohered the members of the House of M in the executive lounge. ors, Jubilee, Felicia, and Vanko all turheir attention to their leader, noting his grave expression.

  "Bde informed me of the location of his previous headquarters," Tyson expined. "It was overrun by vampires earlier."

  He turned first to Jubilee and Vanko. "I he two of you to head there right away. Salvage anything and everything that wasn't destroyed iack." His gaze lingered on Jubilee. "Bde's mentor, an older man named Whistler with white hair, was bitten during the raid. Bde presumes he is dead, but I am not so sure. If you find him, bring him back here immediately." Vanko grunted in acquiesext, Tyson addressed ors and Felicia. "Doc, I'll need you to draw a substantial amount of my blood. Stockpile it for Whistler in case he has turned, as well as reserves for Jubilee and possibly even Bde himself."

  Finally, he regarded Felicia. "I know you already have your hands full, but I'll need you to coordinate everyone's efforts. After Bde's base is stripped, anonymously call the cops ahem deal with the bodies of the familiars."

  "sider it done," Felicia assured.

  Jubilee's expression turned indignant, her lips pursing into a slight pout. "Are you sure you don't want me for backup as well?" she asked. He could tell from her tohat she wao participate more actively in the impending a.

  "I need someoo tain Whistler, just in case things go awry," he replied, "You're the only one who could go toe to toe with a vampire. Plus, once Bde starts flinging silver around, I don't want you anywhere he area. We also 't risk the vampires realizing there's a sed 'daywalker' in py."

  Jubilee crossed her arms, looking mildly miffed. Her expression was one of relut acceptance. "Fine," she muttered after a moment, the word emerging almost as a grumble.

  "I will e ba one piece. You have my word," he promised, infusing his voice with utter siy. "The pn is solid, and I see everything w out."

  Jubilee's frustration evaporated slowly in the face of Tyson's fidence. She uood the hidden meaning in his words, being the only one privy to his vision of the future. She knew when he said he'd 'see' everything w, he meant it, literally, referring to his visions.

  "But if I'm supposed to pull Bde's ass out of the fire, there's no harm in having you as backup to pull out mine," he acquiesced. "Just in case."

  Jubilee's eyes lit up at his words.

  "When Whistler is secured in the vault, leave some of my blood with him and a note expining the situation," he instructed. "Then you e back me up." Tyson addressed the others who had gathered. "Once Jubilee leaves, the rest of you suit up, just in case. Vamps are sneaky and fast. Everyone o stay on guard until I return. Got it?"

  Everyone murmured their agreement and uanding.

  "Alright!" Jubilee excimed, practically boung on her heels iement. "Let's get to work."

  Tyson sat still as ors drew bag after bag of his blood. The mutant was an endless font, his veins supplying an impossible volume that left the doctor bewildered. No matter how much blood ors siphoned away, more tio flow freely from his arteries.

  ors pohe medical impossibility as he worked. Where was all this blood ing from? Tyson was a big man, but he didn't have vast stores of fat to vert to resources. His physique was all muscle and sinew, with barely any excess. Yet the bags kept filling, Tyson's pallor never faded, and his pulse remaieady. It made his mutant ability seem almost mystical in in, as if some supernatural force was fueling the neverending blood supply.

  Tyson observed the doctor's deepening frown, the fusion in his eyes as he sought a stific expnation. But the ws of Tyson's mutant gift were beyond ventional uanding. His biology seemed to operate by different rules, defying rational bounds.

  Oisfied with the amount collected, ors nodded and stepped back.

  "That should be suffit for now," he said.

  Tyson rolled down his sleeve and stood up from the exam table. "Appreciate it, doc."

  Jubilee and Vanko had already departed, heading to Bde's base. Tyson headed in a different dire, intending to follow Bde at a distand serve as overwatch.

  Tyson parked his motorcycle a block away from Edgewood Towers, keeping a cautious distance as he observed the imposing high-rise. The Tower, otherwise known as The Edge, was on the west side of Manhattan, in Hudson Yards, only about 2 miles from House of M.

  Pulling out his phoyson tapped into the live feed from the bodycam they had outfitted on Bde's armored vest. Tyson watched the feed with grudging admiration. Not only was the dhampir an engine of destru, with his skills honed by decades of hunting the vampires, but his dramatitry had left Tyson taking notes.

  Bde had already breached the building's defenses. Subtlety was not the dhampir's style. As Tyson approached, he couldn't help but admire the se.

  The vampire hunter had burst through the window, shattering the gss by swinging from an adjat building on a makeshift zipline.

  Tyson watched as Bde fronted what he expected to be Dea Frost. Instead, the dhampir found his mother, Vanessa. The revetion caught Bde off guard, and before he could react, he was ambushed from behind, quickly overwhelmed and captured by Frost's minions. Tyson remained in his position, not moving to help but stig to their agreed-upon pn. If Bde was unsuccessful in taking down Frost, Tyson would wait and track their location, ensuring they could still stop the ritual to raise La Magra, the Blood God.

  Tyson watched as Bde was dragged out unscious, along with a human woman, and carelessly tossed into the back of a van. He wao leap into a, but he held baow was not the right time to strike. Patience was needed if they hoped to prevent La Magra from being unleashed.

  As the van pulled away, Tyson inhaled deeply, catg its st. He ko follow from a distance, maintaining a safe buffer between them. Calling upon his heightened seyson stalked the van through the city streets. He abandoned his motorcycle in favor of running on foot. It was far more stealthy than the loud vehicle, and in city traffic, he was easily able to keep pace while maintaining an illusion that allowed him to go unnoticed by the civilians. Tyson never allowed the vehicle out of his sight e of smell. Keeping his distance, he tracked the van's path through Manhattan. His senses locked onto the vehicle like a predator after prey.

  Tyson listehrough his earpiece to the versation from Bde's hidden camera as he pursued the van on foot. The woman, Karen, sounded ed as she asked, "Are you all right?"

  "I've beeer," came Bde's weak reply, pain evident even through the tiny speaker.

  Tyson slipped between honking taxis, focused wholly on the white van ahead. He tuned out the sounds of the city, listening only to the versation within the vehicle.

  "How long have we been driving?" Bde asked.

  Karen's reply was tinged with fusion. "I don't know. I woke up just before you did." She crossed the van, her pretty face creased with worry as she evaluated the dhampir's dition. "Is it bad?" she asked softly.

  Bde said, "I'm healing, but it's been too long since I had my serum. The hunger is beginning to set in." He grit his teeth, trying to ignore Karen's closeness and her st. "If we get out of this alive, maybe I'll take that miracle cure of yours."

  Tyson halted his pursuit as he processed Bde's words. He'd fotten this part of the movie. Karen was a doctor. He remembered that she'd been the oo determihat EDTA, an anticoagunt, would pop vampires like balloons if they were ied with it. But she'd also somehow developed a cure for vampirism.

  Kareated at Bde's admittance. Her expression was flicted as she looked away as if wrestling with an awful truth.

  "It won't work on you," she finally admitted.

  Bde's sharp frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"

  Karen forced herself to meet his gaze. Her lovely eyes swam with grief. "Your dition’s genital. The geic mutations occurred in utero. All the other victims tracted vampirism after birth." Bde stared, stunned by the cruel irony. "I 't cure you, Bde. I cured myself, but I 't cure you. I'm so sorry."

  Tyson mulled over this new information. Once Bde dealt with Dea Frost, perhaps the doctor Karen could be persuaded to share her cure. If it worked on those turned after birth, there was a ce it could help Jubilee.

  He would have to ensure Karen survived this ordeal.

  Finally, the van rolled to a stop at the interse of Beaver and Broad streets in the Financial District. Broad Street erpetually blocked against traffic, but there were men dressed as police who waved the van past the barrier. They must be vamps because they lifted the crete barricades out of the way by hand and repced them after the vaered. Broad Street was closed to traffic but open to pedestrians. But Tyson didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he remai the interse. Even from the er, he could see Bde and Karen being forcibly dragged out of the van by their captors. He watched them hauled towards a dark hole in the ground where Broad Street had been excavated.

  Instead of following, Tyson walked into the Starbucks at the er and grabbed a seat. He pulled out his cell phone, i on watg Bde's bodycam footage. On the small s, he saw Bde and Karen being pushed down into the hole. The name of the adjat building came into focus in the video.

  The Bank of Erebus.

  Now underground, Bde and Karen were forcibly dragged through a series of a-looking tunnels by their vampire captors. The walls were structed of marble-like stohe tunnels were lit with strings of stru lights and bare hanging bulbs, all liogether by exposed wiring. The vampires must have set up this makeshift lighting system themselves. The walls were adorned with intricate, illegible symbols and runes.

  Bde and Karen were forced ever deeper into the bowels of the a bank, heading straight towards the heart of the structure where Frost and his vampire minions awaited their arrival.

  Frost turo Karen and Bde with a serious look. He stood at the entrao a vast chamber, one haended in a grand, weliure. "On the surface, this venerable building houses one of the city's oldest financial institutions," he said, his voice smooth and self-assured. "For over two turies, it has served our corporate needs admirably. But look below the fa?ade, and you'll uncover a very different truth."

  They were forcibly marched forward until they stood at the precipice, peering down into the expansive space. A colossal, barrel-vaulted cathedral crafted from abaster and marble stretched below them. The grandeur was undeniable.

  Frost's smile turned smug as he watched Bde and Karen's awestruck rea. "Wele to our hall of as," he purred, his voice swollen with pride. "We call it the Temple of Eternal Night."

  Despite the s arches and intricate carvings ad its walls, the cathedral's beauty was marred by the addition of recessed tombs lining its circumferehese ominous alcoves lent an eerie quality to the already imposing space.

  Bde and Karen were surrounded by the vampire elders, each a leader from their respective tribe, but they were also held captive by Frost and his minions. Dea Frost looked around the space with an air of triumph, smugly smiling as he spoke.

  "Nice, isn't it? Apparently, those geniuses up top fot this pce ever existed. Fortunately for us. I'm what you might call a student of history." Frost slowly strode over to Bde, "Why are we here, you ask?" He tinued, anticipation dripping from every word. "This temple was built for one glorious moment. For tonight. For the Blood God."

  Without warning, one of Frost's vampire hen approached Bde and punched him hard across the face. The forceful blow made Bde stagger, dropping him to his knees with a grunt of pain. He remained kneeling before Frost, seemingly dazed.

  Frost turo the minion and said, "Thanks. He does look better on his knees."

  Tyson, sitting in a booth in Starbucks watg the feed, muttered, "Pause."

  The minion who held Bde's sheathed sword in his hand passed it to Dea. "Let's see this sword of his," he said, a swisting his pale features.

  The man dutifully drew the sword from its scabbard and ha over. Frost grasped the hilt and sighted down the length of the gleaming silver bde, testing its band weight. Then, l it so the tip hovered at eye level with the kneeling Bde, he flicked his thumb over the sword's security meism, disabling it.

  "I told you, Bde," Frost mocked. I know everything about you, down to the security measures on your sword."

  "Bde!" Karen cried out, her voice shrill with fear as she took an involuntary step forward.

  Frost cut her off, his voice dripping with disdain. "Look at his face. He 't hear you, honey. It's the Thirst, you see? It already has him firmly in its grip."

  Reag down, Frost grabbed a fistful of Bde's hair and wrenched his head up, elig a grunt of pain. Karen could only wat horror as Frost tio taunt the weakened vampire hunter.

  "How long has it been since you've had your serum, Bde?" Frost ed. His words were soft yet barbed. "Twelve hours? More? You must be quite thirsty by now."

  Frost crouched down so he was at eye level with Bde, his pale face just inches away. "What does it feel like? Is your blood on fire? Are you burning up from the i? Give in to the Thirst, Bde. Embrace your true nature."

  One of the minions stepped forward and handed Frost the arm holster taining Bde's vials of EDTA.

  "And what's this we have here?" Frost held up one of the vials, the blue liquid glinting in the dim light. "Your precious serum?" He let out a mog ugh, tossing the vial casually from hand to hand. "I don't think you'll be needing this anymore."

  "You should try it," Bde weakly goaded defiantly in his strained voice. "You might like it."

  Frost's face twisted in disgust. "I prefer the real thing. In any case, I don't think you'll be needing these anymore." And with that, he callously tossed the vials over the edge into the yawning abyss below.

  Bde gritted his teeth, murderously gring as he watched the st of his serum plummet into the darkness. Too bad. If Frost had takeA, Bde's problems would've been solved. The vampire minions hauled Bde to his feet, holding him upright before their master.

  "It's a shame, you know," Frost tinued versationally. "When I think about what you could have bee. What you should have bee. It's the human side of you that's made you weak. You should have listeo your blood."

  "Say what you want," Bde responded coldly, "but I promise you'll be dead by dawn."

  The minion who had punched Bde earlier let out a mog "Oooh," followed by raucous ughter. "He's beaten, aill talks like he's the fug boogieman."

  Bde was dragged forcibly from the chamber by Frost's vampire minions, his feet scraping along the floor as he struggled against their grip.

  "Get all these fucks downstairs," Frost ordered, referring to the vampire elders with pt. Then he approached Karen. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We haven't fotten about you," Frost said in a sione.

  Iarbucks at the er, Tyson stood from his table. The situation had reached a critical point, and he k was time to act. The chatter and aroma of the coffee shop seemed utterly ingruous with the dark supernatural events unfolding just down the block. As Tyson strode toward the door, a bright figure appeared just outside.

  Jubilee stood there in her signature vivid yellow jacket, "Am I te?" she asked.

  Tyson gnced up at the brightly-cd figure boung ooes outside the coffee shop, a wry smile toug his lips. "Right on time, Jubilee. But we're going to have to ditch the neon jacket for this mission - ly stealthy."

  "No problem!" Jubilee chirped, already shrugging out of the garish yellow coat to reveal darker clothes underh. She held up the pair of blood bags clutched in her hand. "I came prepared for sneaky vamp mode."

  Tyson chuckled as he pulled two fox half-masks from his pocket. He tossed oo Jubilee, who caught it deftly. Her deep brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she secured it to her face.

  "Does this make me your trusty sidekiow?" she asked, an impish grin curving her lips. "Ooh, I'll need a code name!"

  Tyson snorted, "You could be... Sparkles, the vampire." She dissolved into giggles at his joke. "Let's get moving, Twilight. We've got work to do." With a jerk of his , Tyso off down the sidewalk.

  "Wait, seriously, Ty, I kinda like the wilight,'" Jubilee said as she skipped to keep pace beside him.

  — Rogue Rept —

  A cold, oppressive atmosphere permeated the room. Bde stood helpless and weakened, strapped into a stone sarcophagus in the ter of the chamber ringed by a stone walls. Around him stood a half dozen vampiric familiars. They watched the unfolding se with ft expressions. Vanessa, Bde's mother, approached. She stroked his cheek with a geouch.

  "You poor child," she whispered. "You're so sick. So thirsty."

  Bde grimaced and jerked his face away from her caress. "Don't touch me," he muttered through gritted teeth.

  "Eric, look at me," Vanessa anded, her voice soft yet pelling. "Vampires are my people now. I'm one of them."

  Bde's expression hardehe lines of his face etg deep with despair. "That 't be," he whispered.

  "Yes, it ," Vanessa said firmly. "Try to uand, Eriother died a long time ago. I've hunted. I've killed. And I've e. Haven't you? I know you have." As she spoke, she leaned closer until her face was mere inches from his. Close enough that Bde could see the dark truth of her words reflected in her eyes.

  "Sooner or ter, the thirst always wins." She held Bde's gaze, challenging him to deny what they both ko be true.

  Tyson and Jubilee observed the teera between Vanessa and Bdeat from the side entrao the chamber. Tyson whispered loudly enough for Vanessa to hear, "This whole situation feels strange, don't you think? They're supposed to be mother and son. But she's far too intimate, almost seductive. The way she touches and caresses him while he's strapped down and helpless." Tyson paused, shaking his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if she leaned in to kiss him at any moment. And not in a way a mother should kiss her child." He gestured towards Bde's mother. "Plus, look at her. She looks youhan he does despite supposedly being his mother. Admittedly, she's kinda hot, but it's just not natural."

  Jubilee gave a nonittal shrug, seemingly unbothered by Tyson's observations. "Maybe it's a cultural thiween vampires," she replied casually. "In anime, you often see forbiddeionships between siblings. This could be something like that."

  "I suppose if you didn't age, it would cause all kinds of weird taboos to bee normalized over time." Tyson nodded sagely, satisfied with Jubilee's rationalization. "Even so, should we sider calling Child Protective Services? Or the cops? I'm pretty sure i is illegal in New York."

  Vanessa bristled in a the ents from the unfamiliar pair, their flippant tones grating on her nerves. She whirled to face the assembled familiars, rage t her beautiful features as she anded, "Kill them!"

  But the familiars did not move, oblivious to her words. They were locked in Tyson's illusion, unaware of any ges to the se before them. Her order went unheeded as they tio see only her and Bde versing.

  Tyson smirked, clig his tongue in mock dismay. "Humans," he tutted desdingly. "So unreliable. Damned difficult to find good help these days."

  Still bound within the sarcophagus, Bde began ughing. The sound started low and grew to echh the chamber.

  His backup had arrived.

  Vanessa gred at the newers. Seeing that he wore a mask, seemed utterly unworried at fag a vampire, and that the familiars were unresponsive, she finally realized something was very wrong.

  She made a desperate dash for the exit, but before she could escape the fines of the chamber, Jubilee intercepted, hitting her with a powerful blow that knocked Vanessa stumbling bato the roaining her bance, she gred venomously at Jubilee. She turo attack the masked man. But Tyson was already waiting to pounce. As Vanessa luowards him, fangs bared, and hands outstretched, he effortlessly blocked her wild attack. Using his superihting skills and greater strength, he quickly overpowered the enraged vampire. Twisted Vanessa's arm sharply behind her back, Tyson pinned her face down against the cold floor.

  "You should have stuaternal advice. Fighting is clearly not your forte," Tyson tutted desdingly, keeping the struggling vampire immobilized beh him. "How is your son such a badass when you 't even throroper punch?"

  Vanessa tio writhe and hiss beh him, ed by impotent rage. "Get off me!" she spat venomously.

  But Tyson's grip remained unbreakable. "Not happening," he calmly replied, unfazed by her fury. "You're staying right here."

  Jubilee moved to unstrap Bde from the stone sarcophagus where Vanessa had cruelly bound him. As the st strap fell free, Bde nearly colpsed, his legs bug weakly beh him. Jubilee caught the faltering vampire hunter under his arms, supp his weight as she helped ease him down to sit on the dusty floor. Wordlessly, she pressed a blood bag into his hands.

  Bde's dark eyes narrowed suspiciously at the . "What's this?" he rasped, his voice still weak and ragged.

  "It's the good stuff," Tyson replied, not taking his eyes off of Vanessa as he kept the vampire pinned facedown against the unfiving stone. His knee ground sharply into her back while he wrenched her arm up at a painful angle. Vanessa tile and spit curses beh him.

  Bde's suspicious gaze flicked to Tyson briefly before returning to scrutihe blood bag in his hands.

  "It's my blood, freely given," Tyson expined. "Drink up. It will restore your strength so we finish this fight."

  For a long moment, Bde hesitated, his expression unreadable. Then, finally, he drank deeply from the bag. The effect of Tyson's powerful blood was immediate. Bde could feel strength and vitality rushing bato his limbs, energizing his weakened body. By the time he draihe st drop, the vampire hunter was restored.

  "Damn. That's a rush," he said, ready to unleash vengeance upon his captors.

  As Bde regained his strength, Tyson ruthlessly delivered two heavy puo Vanessa's face, stunning the vampire into momentary stillness. Seizing the opportunity, he and Jubilee dragged Vanessa's limp form over to the open sarcophagus. Vanessa recovered her wits and began tle wildly, but everength was no match for their efforts. W quickly, they forced her in and secured the thick leather straps over her arms, torso, and legs.

  "You'll regret this," Vanessa hissed venomously, straining against her bonds as Tyson tightehe st strap.

  Tyson's expression remained cool aached as he stepped back. "I doubt that," he replied as he brought the open end of the sarcophagus forward, enclosing her.

  With Vanessa fully subdued, Tyson and Jubilee stood by Bde. The vampire hunter rose smoothly to his feet, steady and strong once more.

  "Let's end this," Bde decred, his deep voice resonating with ruthless purpose.

  Jubilee's eyes shoh excitement and vi. "Hell yeah, let's do it!" she excimed eagerly, practically vibrating with enthusiasm for the fight ahead.

  Tyson's expression turned roguishly cheeky as he boldly added, "I'm not going to lie. If we don't have to face the Blood God, this mission might prove disappointingly easy."

  Bde raised a skeptical eyebrow at the young mutant's brash overfidence while Jubilee gaped at Tyson, aghast. "Damn it, Ty," she excimed, smag his arm reproachfully. "Why'd you have to go and jinx us like that?"

  Tyson raised his hands in mock trition, though his eyes still glinted with mischief. "My bad, my bad," he replied, his tourated with sarcasm.

  Jubilee huffed in exasperation, pnting her fists on her slim hips as she gred up at him. "Oh sure, no big deal," she said, her voice dripping with equal parts sarcasm and real as her eyes flicked around the shadowy tomb. "I mean, it's not like we're trying to stop a freaking vampire apocalypse or anything!"

  Before Tyson could toss off another flippant remark, Bde intervened, his deep voice resonating with impatience. "Enough," he rasped. "Save the bickering for ter. We o take out these familiars and keep moving."

  With a casual wave of his hand, mimig Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tyson flexed his ability and said, "Sleep." The familiars crumpled limply to the ground.

  Jubilee turned widened eyes on Mirage. "Since when you do that?" she asked, clearly impressed.

  Tyson just shrugged nontly. "Didn't think it would actually work."

  As they spoke, one of the slumbering vampires pitched forward, actally triggering a hidden swit the floor. A loud click rang through the tomb, followed by Vanessa's panicked screams from withiony prison. The switch caused the sarcophagus bdes to slito her immobilized body, releasing thin rivulets of her blood to trickle down the sarcophagus in crimson trails.

  Tysed. "Ah, shit. My bad," was all he said, as if he'd merely spilled his drink at happy hour rather than actally t their hostage.

  At this, Jubilee smacked her palm against her forehead in sheer frustration. Bde, uo believe these two irreverent teenagers were his only backup, simply scowled in wordless irritation.

  "It's fihough, right? She's not the daywalker. Her blood won't plete the ritual. It'll ruin it… Right?" he asked, tinuing to grin uantly. Jubilee rolled her eyes with a groan and smacked his muscur arm in reprimand.

  "Pytime's over," Bde bit out gruffly. Shaking his head in disbelief that fate had saddled him with suprofessional partners. The vampire hunter swept his loher coat behind him and strode toward the tomb's entrahout b to check if the others followed. Tyson and Jubilee quickly moved to keep up. As the group reached the entryway, Bde paused and gnced back at his entombed mother. For a fleeting moment, his stony expression softened into something almost like sorrow. Then he hardened his resolve, turning his ba her to face the battle that y ahead.

  — Rogue Rept —

  The vast, barrel-vaulted ceiling of the temple's main chamber loomed high above the gathered vampires. Its rune-carved stone seemed to pulse with a dark energy. Blood began to stream from the ceiling in fat, crimson droplets, falling onto the pale foreheads of the pureblood vampires held captive below. They recoiled in disgust as the viscous fluid spshed onto their pale foreheads, staining them a vivid red. The purebloods struggled fiercely against the grips of their captors, their effrowing increasingly frantic as they tried in vain to avoid the steady rain of blood. Their eyes widened in horror, their features twisting in expressions of fear and desperation. But the other vampires, those loyal to Dea Frost, held the purebloods firmly in pce, f them to accept the sanguine baptism.

  In the ter of the chamber stood Frost alone. His icy blue eyes gleamed with dark triumph as he observed the se unfolding before him. "Is everybody thirsty?" his shout echoed through the vaulted space. "I hope you're all fug thirsty!" the excmation was met with raucous cheers from his loyal followers, interspersed with cries of e from the unwilling purebloods.

  Dea Frost stood tall as the streams of blood verged above him, his icy blue eyes fixed on the swelling crimson droplet. He had torn his shirt open, baring his pale chest with his arms outstretched. Blood flowed steadily from the intricate circle carved into the vaulted ceiling, trag the runic els down the a sto g in viscous trails as it crept toward the ter. Whereams verged in a single pendulous bead, it would drop into the depths of the ritual chamber, where he waited.

  It would be the moment of his assion.

  He would bee La Magra, the Blood God.

  The ritual was interrupted by the sharp retort of a gunshot, the smell of ash raining down as one of the vampire guards above met their end. All eyes turned upward in time to see a dark figure unch himself from the upper level of the chamber. He nded in a crouch at the ground level with a resounding boom that echoed through the vaulted space. Slowly, the figure rose to his full imposi, his features unmistakable despite the ck of his signature leather coat.

  Bde.

  "Frost!" The dhampir's shout reverberated through the chamber, his gaze fixed on the vampire with fiery iy. Devoid of his usual sword, which still y with Frost, Bde's posture heless radiated coiled dahe other vampires shifted uneasily, startled by the sudden and dramatic appearance of their dreaded enemy.

  Tyson's heart raced as he nded beside Bde, the impact of his first superhero nding reverberating through his bones. He rose to his full height, his imposing figure a stark trast to the lithe form of Jubilee beside him. Despite the gravity of the situation, a small part of him couldn't help but feel a thrill at the dramatitrance.

  "That might have been my first superhero nding," he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. But in a room full of vampires with enhanced hearing, his words carried farther than intended.

  Frost's icy eyes narrowed as he took in the new arrivals. His lip curled in a sneer, his voice dripping with disdain as he addressed Bde. "Who the hell are you two? You lost Whistler and had to pick up the B-squad?"

  Tyso a surge of indignation at being dismissed so easily. He pointed dramatically at Frost. "Your time's running out, Edward Cullen," he decred, his voice ringing through the chamber. "I'm Van Helsing, and this is my spunky, attractive protégé, Buffy."

  Beside him, Jubilee let out an exasperated sigh, her haing her forehead again in a facepalm. But Tyson could see her shoulders shaking with barely suppressed ughter.

  The tension in the room shifted, and the vampires were unsure how to react to this ued turn of events. Some looked fused, others amused, while a few seemed to bristle at the newer's audacity.

  Bde, for his part, remaioic. But there was a slight twitch at the er of his mouth that might have been the ghost of a smile.

  Frost's amusement quickly turo anger. "Are you mog me?" he snarled, his eyes fshing dangerously. "I'm about to bee a god." But his face twisted in annoyance as he was interrupted.

  "Wouldn't be the first god I've fought."

  It wasn't just Frost who'd had enough. His most loyal minion, the same one who had punched Bde earlier, charged at the dhampir with a menag snarl. The chamber filled with the sounds of the approag vampire, his footsteps eg off the a stone walls. Bde’s eyes narrowed as he k down, grabbing a line of silver wire attached to his vest.

  The minion charged. But as he neared, Bde drew the silver wire taut, stood, and spun with his arm outstretched. The silver wire caught the minion's neck, and Bde pleted his spin. The vamp's head separated from his body, and he burst into ash and sparks, disiing, its remains scattered into the air, leaving only a faint shimmer where he had stood.

  Frost’s eyes narrowed as he watched his minion fall, his expression darkening with anger. "Impressive," he sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But you're too te, Bde. The ritual has already begun."

  "We’ll see about that," he replied.

  The remaining vampires closed ranks, encirg Bde, Tyson, and Jubilee. More of Frost's minions emerged from the shadows, their eyes glowing red with bloodlust as they stalked toward the outnumbered heroes.

  Tyson fshed a roguish grin at Jubilee, unfazed by the odds. "Just like the club, eh? You're ed damage, and I'll tank?"

  Jubilee returned his fident smile, hands aglow with building psmiergy. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

  The standoff shattered as one vampire lu Jubilee, fangs bared for the kill. With practiced ease, Jubilee's haed in a dazzling dispy of colorful fireworks. But before her psmoids could fly, Tyson's dagger whistled through the air, plunging hilt-deep into the attag vampire's chest.

  The creature staggered, surprise widening its glowing eyes. Tysorieved his bde in one smooth motion and decapitated the vampire. The headless body crumbled into ash and embers, scattered by an u wind.

  Ehe remaining vampires teo attack. One broke ranks, barreling at Tyson with preternatural speed. "You smell so fug delicious," it rasped, bloody spittle flying from its maw.

  Jubilee was faster. Her psmoids ied the vampire mid-leap in a blinding pyroteifgration, redug it to swirling ash. "You're like vampire ip, Vampnip, no… bloodsucker bait? Fang food?" she quipped.

  The vampires regrouped, hissing and spitting in aheir circle tightening like a noose around the outnumbered heroes.

  Tyson and Jubilee ehe hissing vampires, their ons fshing as they battled the undead horde. Tyson's Uru daggers sliced through the air, each throw finding its mark in a vampire's heart or neck. Ashen remains crumbled to the stone floor with every lethal strike.

  Jubilee was a blur of motion, pirouetting and dartiween vampires as she unleashed brilliant psmoid bursts. The chamber echoed with sizzling explosions of light as her attacks reduced the vampires to swirling piles of ash. "Hope you bloodsuckers brought your suns!" she quipped, blowing imaginary smoke from her finger guns.

  They worked in perfect sync, whirling around each other. Tyson would ssh at a vampire while Jubilee's psmoids ied ahe two seamlessly c each other's backs. Despite being outnumbered, their teamwork evehe odds.

  As Tyson and Jubilee hahe lesser vampires, Bde and Frost battled with urained ferocity. Frost's eyes gleamed with malevolent glee as he flourished Bde's sword, mog the dhampir before attag.

  Bde fought with the desperation of a ered wolf, unarmed, against Frost, wielding his own on. They cshed in a blur of steel and fury, Frost's cruel ughter g against Bde's wordless snarls. her gave any quarter as they sought advantage over the other, their bitter rivalry fueling the lethal strikes. Around them swirled the battle between Tyson, Jubilee, and the remaining vampires. He wielded Muse and adamantium cws while Jubilee's psmoids left trails of glittering ash in their wake. The two whittled down the enemy ranks, their teamwork allowing Bde to focus pletely on his frontation with Frost.

  Tyson gnced upward, his enhanced vision drawn to the rivulets of blood ging ominously to the cavern's ceiling. He knew a single drop of that blood, when it touched the chosen vessel, would begin La Magra's dark transformatioe not having the blood of the daywalker iual, Tyson wasn't going to let that happen. He could see the blood pooling, ready to fall. There were only seds left before the droplet would desd, sealing the ritual vessel's fate.

  For a breath, everything seemed to slow as Tyson focused.

  Both Bde and Frost were ed with their duel, fighting directly under where the blood droplet would nd. His eyes widened as he realized the worst potential oute of this fight. Why he blood of the daywalker if he was the target to be possessed by La Magra?

  Bde the Blood God? He couldn't let that happen.

  He could see the droplet f into a ripe teardrop, ready to drop. Shouting to Jubilee, Tyson broke into a run toward the fighting vampires. "Jubes, Cover me!" he called. Jubilee stayed close, firing psmoids to cover their rush toward Bde and Frost at the chamber's ter.

  There was no time left.

  He had to reach them before the blood could fall.

  Tyson nded amidst the melee between Frost and Bde just as the blood droplet formed and fell from the ceiling high above. Instantly, he summoned Muse into each hand and spun in a whirlwind turn with the twin Uru bdes extended. Both Bde and Frost leapt back, avoiding the reckless attack. The spin had left him exposed, defenseless, but it served its purpose.

  Everyone was forced clear of the falling droplet's path…

  Everyone except Tyson.

  He stood alone uhe plummeting ritual blood. The droplet desded straight toward him. Tysohe sequences would be dire if the blood touched him, yet he had iionally pced himself in its path.

  He did not seek to bee La Magra's vessel. His psyche was already crowded, already occupied by Rogue, Sabertooth, and Jason. No, Tyson's pn didn't involve being possessed by the blood god.

  With eyes fixed on the falling blood, he threw Muse straight up, directly into the path of the ritual drop.

  Frost's eyes widened as he realized Tyson's i. "No!" he shouted in arm.

  Muse tumbled end over end as Tyson threw it skyward, the ented Uru metal glinting as the bde spun upward through the chamber. The ft end of the dagger struck the plummeting droplet halfway through its dest.

  Unlike an ordinary drop of liquid, the blood did not spsh or spray upon impact. Instead, the sanguine bead seemed to vanish, absorbed into the very heart of the bde, as if being oh its entment.

  A brilliant bolt of lightning split the chamber, thunder booming as it shook the cold stone walls. The air filled with the sharp, tangy st of ozone as forks of electricity danced across the surfaces. A runes carved along the walls began to glow, illuminated from within by the c lightning. Each of the twelve archaic symbols pulsated, thrumming with resonant power that echoed down through the runies toward the chamber floor.

  When the lightning reached the ring of pureblood vampires below, it streaked from the runes into the foreheads of the captured vampires. Their bodies vulsed, thrashing violently as electricity assaulted them. Foam frothed from their gaping mouths, and their eyes rolled back to show only whites. Their twisted faces took on a haunting, grotesque appearahen, in horrifying unison, they threw back their heads and screeched. From their mouths burst translut, bat-like specters with glowing crimson eyes.

  The ghostly bats unleashed blood-curdling screeches as they took flight, their translut wings fluttering through the electrified air. They left the hollow skinsuits that were ohe pureblood vampires discarded below. As the spectral swarm filled the space, what remained of the purebloods faded to ash, mere husks devoid of any soul or vitality.

  Muse tumbled earthward, its trajectory suddenly arrested as one of the bats collided with the mystical bde. Where o had shoh a brilliant silver sheen, the Uru metal now pulsed with a deep gual hue mixed with crimson as if it had been tempered in blood. Intricate ruched along the dagger fred an eerie red, abs the spectral bat on impact.

  With this first ption, Muse bzed brighter and flung higher once more. The bde volleyed between the remaining bats as they flew heedlessly into it. Each collision elicited a violent fsh of light, the on ing their ghostly undead forms. The golden ruched into the metal seemed to e alive, mixing with the crimson glow as Muse drank in the vampire spirits' power as if it was being infused with the very essence of the blood god himself.

  The chamber echoed with screeches from ghostly bats and aric hum as the spectacle unfolded. Muse pulsed with energy, highlighted by its own radiance as it ed the st of the bats in a final burst of light. The bde floated weightlessly for a moment before dropping. The runes along its length still faintly glowed blood red, resonating with power as it hit the ground with a resounding thud. An ominous hush fell over the ritual space as the energized on y pulsing on the floor.

  Dea Frost, who had been standing closest to where it fell, lunged greedily for the on.

  Tyson was unsure exactly how the on had ged after being the target of the ritual, but he knew Muse could not be allowed to fall into Frost's hands. The vampire was closer and faster, his fingers outstretched, nearly upon the pulsing bde.

  But Muse beloo Tyson.

  He had bled for that on and ear from his frontation with Loki. He had been the oo hurl it into the air. He would not give it up. Fog ily, Tyson thrust out his hand. Just as Frost's grasping fingers were about to close around the hilt, the bde vanished, disappearing from sight in a blur before reappearing firmly in Tyson's grip.

  Frost stumbled forward, his cw-like hands clutg at empty air where the dagger had been only a moment before. He spun around, his features t in fury as he saw Muse now ba the hands of its rightful owner.

  The moment Muse materialized in Tyson's grasp, he khe a Uru bde was different. Though it did not speak in words, he could sense an indecipherable unianating from the dagger that reached his mind on a primal level. What he uood immediately was the all-ing hunger radiating from Muse. The a bde thirsted for blood. But the enha upon it felt corrupted… No, that wasn't right.

  It felt inplete.

  Tyson remembered Amora's words. "It's an Uru on. Like Mjolnir, it was fed in the heart of a dying star. Though it rapped a powerful soul like Thor's hammer, it could have."

  He'd trapped La Magra inside Muse. But sihe ritual hadn't used the Bde's blood, the binding was inplete. Now Muse hungered for blood. Blood of the Daywalker… Blood that would make it plete.

  A heavy silence fell over the room as all eyes turo Tyson, waiting for his move. His head tilted slowly bad forth. His eyes were distant and unfocused as if his sciousness was turned inward, uning with the dagger on a deeper, primal level.

  Jubilee's brow furrowed as she studied Tyson's face. A growing sense of unease crept through her. His eyes, normally a strikieroatic green and blue, slowly ged. Being a lurid yellow and deep purple. She sidered the unnatural shift in color. Then it hit her like a blow, her stomach dropping.

  Green bees yellow. Blue bees purple...

  When mixed with red.

  Hripped her as the implication sank in. Before she could cry out, Tyson gripped the magic dagger tightly and drew it across his throat in one smooth, terrible motion.

  The bde sliced deep, bright crimson blood spurting from the gaping wound.

  Jubilee's hands flew to her mouth, barely stifling a gasp. The sight of her friend inflig such violen himself was shog.

  Yet not a single drop trickled down his chest or reached the floor. Instead, the sanguine flow was absorbed into the metal of the dagger as if sking some unholy thirst. The unnatural way Muse drank his blood was chilling to watch, the metal glowing red as it ed the vital fluid.

  Tyson stood motionless, the dagger still clutched in his hand. Rivulets of blood tio flow from the gruesome neck wound directly into the on. Muse seemed to hum and vibrate in his grip, energized by the .

  Frost's harsh ughter broke the heavy silence. "Oh, that's just perfect. You actually thought you could trol the power of the blood god? How utterly foolish. Now you've bee La Magra's first sacrifice."

  Frost's mog words echoed off the cold stone walls, but Tyson seemed unaware. He made no move to stop the steady flow of blood that tio spill from the deep gash across his throat. Yet his face betrayed no hint of fear or pain. His gaze was distant, focused inwards as he uned with the dagger in his hand on a deeper, primal level.

  The other vampires gathered in the dimly lit chamber watched the disturbing se unfold with morbid fasation as Tyson willingly sacrificed his life's esseo the insatiable bde.

  Slowly, Frost's smug expression shifted to one of fusion as Tyson showed no signs of colpsing from blood loss. Any normal human would have perished many times over. Finally, Tyson pulled the bde away. The gaping wound sealed itself unnaturally quickly, smooth skin knitting together seamlessly until not even a trace of the injury remained.

  "Blood that alloires to walk during the day. The ritual is plete, " Tyson whispered softly to the sated bde. There is plenty more where that came from." Though spoken quietly, his ominous promise was clear to every vampire gathered in the chamber.

  Frost's smug grin faltered, shifting to an expression of fusion and unease as he took an involuntary step backward. "What?" he muttered under his breath, uain. He exged an apprehensive look with his fellow acolytes as his bravado drained.

  Bde, who had been silently the disturbing se unfold, now took a deliberate step forward. "What's going on?" he asked Tyson.

  Tyson gave no indication he had heard, his attention still ed by the vampiric dagger. Muse pulsed with ahly energy, its archaies glowing with an intense, crimson light. Nearby, Jubilee watched with growing arm. She remained unsure whether to intervene. A worried frown tugged at her lips as she wondered whether Tyson was still fully in trol of himself. Was the spirit of La Magra within the on? Had he been possessed?

  Tyson opened his hand, allowing Muse to hover unsupported in the air before him. Beads of blood still g to the razes, defying gravity.

  As the vampires watched, the sanguine droplets swelled, running together into a liquid limb that mirrored the position of Tyson's outstretched arm. In moments, the form resembled a grotesque, three-dimensional silhouette, shifting and gealing until a duplicate of Tyson himself stood fag them.

  Its body appeared carved from clotted blood, prised of crimson sinews. The blood elemental creation clutched Muse, the bde's hungry aura reflected in its empty eyes. With deliberate steps, it approached Dea Frost. The vampire's apprehensive look melted into unease uhat unblinking gaze. The thing's movements echoed Tyson's posture and subtle gestures.

  Bde shifted, muscles tensing, but he held back, watg the unfolding se with guarded iy. Frost watched the dispy with a mixture of fasation and wariness, his eyes dartiween the blood strud Tyson, who observed the se impassively. A tense hush fell over the chamber as all preseheir breath, transfixed by the bizarre sight unfolding before them. When the elemental came within arm's reach of Frost, it stopped.

  Then, it struck without warning.

  The blood duplicate sshed with its bde and severed Dea Frost's head with a siion.

  Uypical vampire, Frost's decapitated form did into ash. Instead, the sanguine doppelganger of Tyson held out Muse to drink in Frost's spilled blood, abs the vital fluid as if the se on were a parched desert wahat had just discovered an oasis.

  Shortly thereafter, a sed blood elemental took shape. This one molded into the likeness of the now-headless Dea Frost.

  The first struct extes hand and jured another exact copy of Muse, which it passed to its new crimson panion. Meanwhile, the real Tyson lifted his palm and maed yet another Muse, the bde materializing in his grip with a soft whisper.

  Gunshots cracked through the underground chamber like thuhe reports eg off the cold stone walls as the vampires and familiars broke from their daze aaliated. Shards of crimson exploded outward as bullets tore through the advang blood elementals molded into twisted doppelgangers of Tyson and Dea Frost. The structs did not slow, crimson ichor spttering the floor with each hit as they bore down upon the vampires.

  The stench of burnt gunpowder now mingled with the coppery tang of blood, the air thick with the fury of battle. Jubilee's eyes were wide with arm. Sparks of prismatic light danced between her spyed fingers should she o unleash them to drive back her possessed friend. But as she gazed upward into Tyson's face, she saw the familiar glint of warmth still shining in his eyes.

  "It's me, Jubes," he said, "Promise."

  At his words, Jubilee's stance eased. She let out a slow breath and lowered her hands, the deadly radiance fading from her fiips. Though the situation still seemed dire, for now, she chose to trust him.

  The vampires focused their assault upon the advang elementals, leaving Tyson and Jubilee in the eye of the storm. Around them raged a maelstrom of shrieks and snarls, the staccato rhythm of gunshots underscored by the wet, meaty sounds of violence. With each vampire felled by the structs, another crimson duplicate sprang forth, wielding a copy of the se bde, Muse. The duplicates bore down upon the vampires, swelling in number with each fresh kill.

  Bde moved closer to the pair as Jubilee asked, ed, "Is this okay? Did we just kick off the vampire... err... blood apocalypse?"

  Tyson shook his head. "No. We stopped them. It's over." His gaze drifted to the blood duplicates still locked in mortal bat with the vampires. "The duplicates are only temporary, as are the copies of Muse."

  "How do we know you're right?" Bde pressed, his skepticism evident.

  Tyson's attention shifted to the se on in his hand. "I don't know everything this do," he admitted, "but I feel it a little." He leveled Muse at one of the blood duplicates. As he did so, the duplicate's copy of Muse dissolved instantly. Then the elemental itself broke apart, its form streaming bato the inal bde in a scarlet torrent.

  Muse's runes fred dimly as if abs sustenance from the returned blood. Tyso Bde's gaze, a hint of challenge glinting in his own eyes. "Good enough?"

  Bde's only response was a deliberate crack of his neck. "For now," he rasped after a pause. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, he darted off to find Karen.

  Jubilee gnced around uainly at the blood duplicates and fallen vampires. The battle was winding down, but she still felt on edge.

  "You're sure this is over?" she asked, turning to Tyson with a furrowed brow. Though his words had reassured her earlier, doubts were creeping ba.

  He put a broad, steadying hand on her slender shoulder. "It's just up now, Jubes," he said.

  Jubilee searched his face, taking irength aainty she found there. She let out a slow breath, feeling some of the nervous energy leave her small frame. If Tyson said it was handled, she believed him. Still, her mind spun with the implications of what they'd managed here today.

  "If we stop a god..." she wondered aloud, "what stop us?"

  One er of Tyson's mouth quirked up. "Nothing," he replied, a note of humor undersg his fidence.

  Despite herself, Jubilee huffed a small ugh. "Except maybe Mago," she joked, elbowing Tyson in the ribs.

  He barked out a ugh at that, the sound rumbling up from his broad chest. "Ha Ha! Oh My God. You're so funny… Twilight," Tyson shot back sarcastically, ruffliyled bck hair.

  Jubilee swatted his massive hand away with a scowl, though her eyes glinted pyfully. "Hands off the hair." Then she excimed in mock affront. "And don't you dare take my vampire name in vain!"

  Author's Note

  The chapter is the st in this Ard we'll get the 'epilogue' setting up future arcs, as I've taken to doing since Arc 4.

  Behind the Ses

  - Bde (1998) takes p New York, but was filmed in Los Angeles. I tried to find appropriate pces in NYC to repce the LA locales.

  - I did some foreshadowing that the Uru Bde, Muse, would be getting a powerup. During Arc 5, there assage describing the being trapped in Mjolnir. I included this expination for those unfamiliar with the ic version of its in. (Chapter 58: Worthy?)

  The Entress khe legends surrounding the hammer better than most. The on's true power came from the God Tempest. The stories say that the God Tempest was an elder god that took the form of a great i. When it threateo destroy Asgard, Odin battled the God Tempest for days, and o was weakened, Odin trapped it in a block ranted by the dwarves of Nidavellir. Then, the dwarves fed the uru into Mjolnir in the heart of a dying star. Even her vast mastery of Asgardian magic paled in parison to the primordial forces tained within Thor's hammer.

  Then, of course, Amora's description, which was referenced in this chapter. (Chapter 62: Hallway of Possibilities)

  It's an Uru on. Like Mjolnir, it was fed in the heart of a dying star. Though it rapped a powerful soul like Thor's hammer, it could have. A powerful sorcerer imbued it with the power of the Infinite Bde entment.

  We'll see more of Muse and what the on is capable of during the arc.

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