By midnight, nearly everyone in the office was asleep.
Only Frank, Matt, and Barton—professional night owls—were still awake.
Even Natasha was slumped sideways in her chair.
The computer was still tirelessly comparing Lucas's sketch of the manor to satellite images.
Skye's system had been taken over by JARVIS, whose processing speed outclassed her hardware by several orders of magnitude.
Suddenly—
zzzt—zzzt—
A burst of static crackled through everyone's earpieces, like a scrambled transmission.
"Reporting in, sir! We've spotted the target!"
Instantly, everyone jolted awake—
Except two people.
Lucas and Tony were sound asleep, leaning on each other's shoulders, snoring in perfect synchronized rhythm.
Everyone stared at them in dead silence.
"Go ahead," Coulson responded sharply.
"Sir, we're at the Hell's Kitchen docks. We've encountered a humanoid target—currently in combat!"
Gunfire erupted over the comms; chaos filled the feed.
"Understood. Reinforcements incoming!"
Everyone scrambled to gear up.
Gwen shook Lucas awake.
"Wake up! We've got something!"
Lucas blinked groggily, Tony half-sliding off his shoulder.
Tony jolted up.
"JARVIS, bring up the coordinates. Plot a route."
JARVIS had already calculated the best approach.
Tony snapped his armor on in one fluid movement.
"Lucas and I are the fastest. We'll get there first! Catch up when you can!"
Lucas whistled.
With a beat of wings, Onion burst out of the summon space, fluttering proudly.
Lucas vaulted onto his back, and the two shot into the sky with Tony streaking beside them.
Coulson ushered the others outside where S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles awaited.
Peter and Gwen didn't take the cars—they launched webs and swung between high-rises, scanning the city as they went.
---
At the docks
Lucas and Tony arrived first, hovering above the scene.
Below, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were pinned down.
They were exchanging fire with a single opponent.
A woman.
A woman who moved with astonishing speed and agility—
and shrugged off bullets like raindrops.
"That's the vampire?" Tony asked, incredulous.
"Not sure. But she's definitely not normal."
"Well then, behold the greatness of Tony Sta—"
He activated a dramatic superhero dive, heavy metal screaming through the speakers.
"Hey there, gorgeous—"
Before he could finish—
BAM!
The woman kicked him like a football.
Tony—inside the armor—was booted across the docks and embedded into a concrete wall.
"WHAT THE—? Is she the Hulk's cousin?!"
Tony blasted himself free, shook off the dust, and unleashed a barrage of repulsor shots.
The woman flipped and spun away with inhuman grace, effortlessly dodging every beam.
Bullets didn't bother her; Tony's repulsors she treated like minor inconveniences.
Lucas dropped down.
He raised the Judgement handgun—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots cut off the woman's escape path.
She sensed the danger instantly—THIS was not something she could tank.
The angles were too precise.
She tried to dodge—
but there was nowhere to go.
Thud—
She collapsed as the bullets struck her abdomen and arms.
Lucas had deliberately avoided fatal spots—if she was a vampire, the wounds wouldn't regenerate fully, but they wouldn't kill her either.
He signaled the agents to stop firing.
He and Tony approached—
but then the woman's necklace ignited with a red glow.
Her wounds sealed instantly.
She lurched upward—
Tony reacted fast.
Four metal restraints fired from his suit—
clank—clank—clank—clank—
pinning her limbs to the ground.
Lucas gave Tony a look.
Really? Shackles?
Tony shrugged.
"Relax, they were meant for you."
Lucas took a full step back.
"What the hell kind of implication is that?! I'm a married man!" Tony snapped, offended.
Lucas ignored him and knelt near the captured woman.
His magical senses told him one thing:
She wasn't a vampire.
But she sure wasn't human either.
"Who are you?" Lucas asked.
Tony aimed his repulsors at her.
"You mind answering in your current… decorative state?"
The woman tugged at her restraints, annoyed.
"Seriously? You plan to interrogate me like this? At least let me sit up!"
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, no. Not until I'm sure you won't punt me through another wall. Even if you ARE pretty."
More vehicles arrived.
A red-and-white pair—Peter and Gwen—landed beside Lucas and Tony.
"Whoa! So THIS is a vampire? She looks normal! Aren't they supposed to have freaky fangs or something?"
Peter crouched and circled her curiously.
Gwen yanked him back.
"I promised Felicia I'd keep an eye on you. If you keep circling pretty women, I'm calling her."
Peter instantly shut up and stood straight like a chastised puppy.
Tony whispered to Lucas, "Who's Felicia? His aunt?"
"No. His girlfriend."
Tony froze, then stared at Peter with the pained understanding of a man who knew that fear.
Soon, Coulson and the team rushed over.
One glance at the devastation she had caused told them everything.
This woman was definitely not normal.
"Hey! Stop staring at me like I'm some kind of exhibit!" she snapped.
"Let me go already!"
Frank stepped forward and held up the photos of the victims.
"Seen these? We've been looking for you."
The woman frowned deeply as she examined the images.
"You think I did this? Seriously? I'm not one of those filthy undead freaks."
Her expression twisted with genuine disgust at the wounds shown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~