ic ACAV (IC)

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Dang! Vampires suck!"

 

Rev had heard of Vampires. But seeing one was another matter altogether. I mean... Vampires... Real Vampires... that are real! With fangs and everything!

 

She slapped herself around the face to wake up. Was it the hypnotism, or the shock? It didn't matter in the end, her eyes widened and then closed, turning to slits. What had Pete gotten himslef into? Had he turned into... one of them? Was the Iron Talon all vampires?

 

She didn't have garlic, she didn't have mirrors. But she did have her fists which looked pretty effective. And fire....

 

She held up her hand and fired a jet, spraying the head with fire. 

 

It's and experiment. A totally justifiable experiment...

 

Plus she didn't like a rotting head looking at her. And she was angry, too. 

 

Unfortunately she was no closer to Pete. She flexed both her grinding fists and stomped off, trying to navigate a way to whatever looked most suspicious...

[Avenger Assembled]

An alarm broke out just as Lexa made a rapid exit from the break room and the oily residue left behind by the incinerated vampire; either from the fire, one of the security cameras in the building, or just the continued sound of her grinding metal implants. Luckily it seemed that Iron Talon internal security wasn't all that it should be; either because numbers had dropped recently or because they were too arrogant to expect internal intruders. There was no going back unless she wanted to try breaking through doors that had audibly locked behind her - there was only forward!

 

Iron Talon recruited from the dregs of the military; those completely unable to find their way in the new world. That meant that they had to make their training material easy to read and understand; that meant that Lexa was able to find a map of the building along the wall further down from the breakroom, right between various patriotic and company messaging that seemed a little silly now. 

 

The "holding cells" weren't very far away; down a corridor and through a locked steel door, but she'd have to move quickly - the alarms were blaring loudly now and she could hear movements behind the doors, like heavy machinery being put into place. 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Idiots! But... Idiot's with Guns!

 

And probably grenades, missiles, and... what else do soldiers have... berets?

 

Rev hoped they would be firing berets at her. But they would probably be firing bullets. The layers of alloyed metal under her skin were better than any body armour. But she wasn't completely bullet proof. 

 

She ran towards the holding cells. Maybe she should have flown, but she suspected she might need the hyperrefined fuel in her gut later. Maybe, mayb... maybe I should I have had a plan... any plan... even a stupid one...

 

Rev was by nature reckless. And being a superhero only magnified that occasionally-useful-but-usually-dangerous quality. 

 

"Huh, plans are for chumps anyway" she muttered to herself. A voice in her head told her that was a lie. She told the voice to shove off, go stick its head in a swimming pool three times. 

 

And take it out twice. 

 

She ran as fast as she could, which thanks to her bionic limbs was pretty fast. Internally she started gathering the strength she would need to rip that steel door right off. She hoped it was rusty and weak. She suspected it would be shiny and reinforced...

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Rev tore off the cellblock door and charged inside, finding herself immediately faced with a firing line of uniformed Iron Talon troopers. This was a fully-armed and armored SWAT team, and through their visors she could make out red eyes and sharp teeth that told her that these were no ordinary humans. There were other things to see here too; cells clean and bright and white like hospital rooms, inmates strapped to gurneys, and the smell of blood and cleaner, so much of it, mixing together in an unholy tang of copper and ammonia. 

 

But the leveled rifles of the vampire hit squad were a much more arresting sight than all of that, anyway. A moment later, they opened fire. 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Oh shoot...." muttered Rev as she saw the troopers. This was a bit heavy, even for her. She expected some kind of resistance. Some kind of squad. 

 

Maybe with rifles. 

 

And human. 

 

Now she was facing riot armour, tactical assault rifles, and whatever Vampiric power these goons had. 

 

Where they all vampires? Was Pete one, too...?

 

The bullets clanged against her metal limbs, and her subdermal plates. Skin - both artificial and human, ripped off her body. She could smell both blood and engine oil. Even some ozone from sparking wires. 

 

"Fireball whizz...." she muttered, pulling her hand back to release that very fireball whiz.

 

And the final bullet struck her on the head, clanging againt metal in her skull, and the blackness crash in. She was falling...

 

"Fireball whizz will sort you out..." she mumbled, lying on the floor, dazed and confused, before she fell unconscious...!

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Sometime later: 

 

Rev awoke to a world of pain. She was on her back, strapped tightly to a hospital gurney with leather restraint straps that wouldn't have been out of place in a hospital from the previous century - or maybe even the one before that. There was an IV in her arm, a tube filled with her blood going down somewhere she couldn't see. She could feel pain like the aftereffects of sledgehammer blows in her torso and head, especially the latter, which was still ringing. It made her want to vomit; except somebody else was vomiting? 

 

Turning her head, she could make out two people in the cell she was being held in. There was an Iron Talon guard, bent over a trash can, retching and vomiting like someone who had eaten the wrong thing. Except the vomit stank of blood and motor oil simultaneously, the look of misery on that white fanged face as effluvia dripped down his chin was downright palpable. The other person in the cell with her, looking pale and wan like a Victorian consumptive, was her old boyfriend Pete Moss. 

Pete looked like he'd seen better days; his skin almost white, blood visible in his mouth as well as the IV stand he was also connected to. "hey babe," he said dizzily when he saw her stirring, "you made him blow his guts out...knew I liked you..." 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Rev instantly knew the situation was not good. No, not good at all. 

 

She and Pete were blood bags for a gang of vampires. 

 

Well, it was Bedlam city. Sooner or later some bloodsuckers were going to turn up. In fact, it was probably good they chose Bedlam - at least they would be feeding on the fungating scum and villainy that circulated the streets. But - but that wasn't good enough. There were plenty of good souls trying to shine in the tsunami of silage that was Bedlam city. 

 

"Too much fat is bad for you..." she mumbled. 

 

Fat... oil... it all sounded vaguely biochemically correct. But she was struggling to keep her eyes open. 

 

"Got any asprin, Pete? I got a devil of a headache..."

 

There was at least a glimmer of hope. The guard was occupied.

 

She detatched her arms from her body. They were still connected via electro-radio mechawaves - and she tried to force her detatched arms to crawl out of the leather straps...

[Avenger Assembled]

The arms popped free from their restraints, pulling hard enough to snap the leather with cracking sounds that for the moment were covered by the sound of vomiting from the vampire guard. 

 

"Hey baby," said Pete, sounding unfocused, "they disarmed you..." It was hard to tell if he'd forgotten about her condition or if he was simply getting dizzier and dizzier from blood loss. "they gave me some shots but no aspirin, sorry baby..." While Rev was herself being drained, it was clear that Pete, with normal red blood, was much more the vampire's cup of tea.

If they drank tea. 

Looking over, Rev could see she'd need to work quickly, the vomiting vampire guard was beginning to compose himself, wiping his face where he'd both vomited and wept tears, muttering something about "stupid metas, should just put them all down..." 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Rev shut one eye, put her tongue out, and took careful aim. 

 

Her hand creaked as she move it. Joints still cranking from the wet rain. She needed lubricating oil. And she felt her petrol levels low. 

 

I'm going to soak in a bath of engine oil after this...

 

But she had to survive this, first. 

 

She took a deep breath in. 

 

Fire, vampires are vulnerable to fire, right?

 

She sure hoped so. 

 

"Hey, Vamp! Suck on this!" she shouted, and let loose. A streak of orange fire erupted from her hand - ignited oil that coursed its way to the undead. 

 

Inside, she felt her fuel tanks hit empty. From now on, it was running on fumes - unless the Iron Talon had a few spare petrol tanks somewhere. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Supercape

[Avenger Assembled]

The vampire turned around - and immediately burst into flames! Rev had a good view of fire trailing up the blood and oil around the vampire's mouth and down inside it. Of course, it had just recently voided itself of all the oil-soaked blood it had drunk. Leaving only the fumes behind. 

The flammable fumes. The vampire's upper torso exploded in a shower of fire, ash, and rapidly decomposing flesh, its lower body crumbling to gore as it collapsed entirely. Overhead, Rev could see a fire alarm that hadn't been triggered just yet, but for the moment they were still alone in the cells-turned-feeding chambers.

 

The watching Pete Moss said "mother of-" and fainted briefly, his eyes rolling back in her head. 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Well that worked pretty good, huh?" said Rev. 

 

She sat up, and let her arms slither back onto her shoulders. That done, it was simply a matter of time and effort to repeat the process with her legs. Easy peasy. 

 

But dang, she hurt. Grazes, aches, clotted bulletholes, fleshed bruised black and blue. Her left forehead and swollen up as if someone had inserted a lemon under her skin, so bulbous it threatened to close up one eye. Even her jaw ached. Maybe someone stuck the boot into her face once she had passed out. 

 

"Fire. Vampires. Sounds like a plan. Now, why dont you tell me what the hell you got yourself into whilst I unhook you from the blood bank. And maybe then we can work out how to live to see the sunrise?"

 

Sunrise... yeah. That worked, right? Vampires exploded in sunlight? Or did they melt?

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

Pete, somewhat blearily, told her his tale: 

 

"They all got bit! Got turned," he said, leaning against her as she unstrapped him. "Thought they were stealing time off, taking a week off and going night shift...got nosy. You know me..." He blinked wearily. "They were smart. Never saw 'em bite anybody, but came back here out of the garage and saw this. Thought they didn't see me but they did! Said this is what I deserved for being a drunk. Thought it was just some of them, but it's...everybody. Everybody inside." Freed, trying to gather his thoughts, he said "new guy...new guy Paul, Paul from accounting, he started it." He tried to get up and failed, slumping back into Rev's arms. 

 

"You came to help me. But you should leave me. Can't fight them and carry me." He looked at her closely and said "Oh baby...I hurt you again. You came here for me!" He leaned his forehead against hers and looked like he was about to start crying. Before he could, the fire alarm blared in a symphony of light and noise, triggered by the lingering smoke coming from the rotting ashes of the dead vampire.

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Paul from accounting?" said Rev. "Accounting? Never did like them. All spread sheets this and paper clips that, mainling spreadsheats to get their kicks for the day. I'd shove their paperwork up their backside. Except it's on a computer. Wait. I'd still shove it up their backside!"

 

She unclipped Pete as best she good. Feeling empty. 

 

"And I'm not leaving you. Can't leave you. I'm selfish like that - I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I left you."

 

She took hold of Pete, hopping to drag him out, if she had to. 

 

"I'd like to burn the whole place to the ground. But right now, I gotta get you to a hospital, and I need a drink. No, not that kind of drink. I need fuel. Gotta recharge the tank if I'm going to breathe fire..."

 

She looked around. 

 

"Any suggestions?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Fuel's out in the garage w'the trucks. Oh man it's cold..." He didn't say much after that, but luckily he was light enough for Rev to carry. The fire alarm was going on everywhere in the building, of course; ringing loudly and flashing bright lights as Rev and her cargo made their escape out to the garage where Iron Talon kept their extra vehicles and equipment. There was, perhaps surprisingly, nobody in the room - but one look at the gasoline and other flammable items told her exactly why vampires might be avoiding this space if they thought the building might be on fire. Indeed, she could see figures forming up outside in what looked to be the aftermath of an evacuation. 

 

Then came a voice on the loudspeakers. "Attention please, attention." The voice was cold and nasal, sounding like it belonged to a person younger than Pete or Rev. "This is a message for the cyborg chick. Lexa Venn. Yeah, I know who you are. We took your wallet and we drank your nasty blood! All I have to do is tell the day shift about you being a nasty robot terrorist and they'll send in people to burn your house down and put a bullet in your head! You'll never be safe in this city!" 

 

There was a brief hesitation and then "You-you hit the call button on the intercom to respond. You dumb robot bimbo!" 

[Supercape]

 

Rev

 

Cyborg Chick? Dumbo robot bimbo?

 

Lexa rather fancied being a Dumb robot bimbo. It sounded cooler than a chick. 

 

She didn't really fancy being a terrorist. But on the other hand, turning this place to a smouldering pile of ash sounded good. That... now that was something she wanted. 

 

She took one of the gasoline tanks and started drinking as fast as she could, emitting methane from her neck ports as she started to refine it. In between gulps, she pressed the intercom.

 

"Who are you calling chick? I'm a cyborg bimbo. Get it right! - gulp - so whats your game here? you telling the day shift I'm a terrorist? without - gulp - any evidence? How about I tell the day shift you are bunch of sucking vampires and if the don't believe me, they get to asking you questions at noon, under a blazing sun? How's about that then? gulp gulp..."

 

She flicked the intercom off. "How long till Dawn, Pete?" she asked. "Cos I fancy our chances a lot better with the Sun in the sky...."

 

Right now, beaten up as she was, she would have taken a string of garlic, a holy cross, or a silver mirror. She would have taken pretty much anything. But at least she could feel her fuel tank recharging....

Edited September 1, 2023 by Supercape

[Avenger Assembled]

"...well screw you then!" Paul declared. "I'm going to send my children-in-darkness to kill you, what do you think about that! And then they're gonna take that boyfriend of yours, and then they're going to-" Technically most of what he proceeded to describe was anatomically impossible, but vampires were presumably much stronger and more flexible than humans. 

 

"I dunno," said Pete, "it's pretty dark out." Checking the wall clock revealed that it was 4 AM, which meant probably about two hours until sunrise. "Pretty tired..." He was sitting in a secure spot in what had typically been his office, back to the brick wall and in a corner. Luckily there weren't any windows in here, it wasn't that kind of place.

 

A quick search of the garage revealed little in the way of anti-vampire technology - at least not of the spiritual sort. But between the fully stocked tool kits, the fuel tanks, armor and spare parts for a fleet of overarmored and overengined Iron Talon jeeps and trucks, there was certainly plenty of gear here, if Rev's battered body and the soon-to-be-arriving vampire horde would allow for it... 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"I do like a fight" said Rev. "But do you know what I like even more? Winning a fight. And we are in no shape to win right now. So, we need to.... ah.... perform strategic manuevering to ensure sucessful victorious! Thats what they say, right? Sounds a darn heck a lot better than run away!"

 

She threw away the empty fuel tank and belched methane. She gave a thumbs up and ignited the tip of her thumb, like a little zippo lighter. 

 

"Refuelled, anyway" she said. "Ready to set fire to some vampires if they get in our way. But for now, lets beat it. Gotta get to the Dune Buggy, left it parked outside..."

 

"But first, lets see if we can rig a little surprise for our friends. Muahahahahaha!"

 

It felt good to give an evil laugh. She wished she had an evil, waxed moustache to twirl, but an evil laugh worked fine. Especially when she was being evil. 

 

The plan? Rig up some of the fuel tanks to go boom when someone opened the door....

 

"Stay clear of this, Pete" she said - probably needlessly, but still... With due care she loaded up the open topped fuel tanks by the door, complete with a contraption to spark into the fuel when the door opened. Springs, ignition plugs, and something clever all made up the trap. She was rather proud of it. 

 

But she didn't rely on it. As soon as someone opened the door - and hopefully blew up the tanks (and spilled burning petroleum over the door entrance) she would let loose her very best fireball. 

 

Like a baseball bowler, she peeled back one of her arm and lit an ignition flame, ready to hurl!

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Supercape

[Avenger Assembled]

It was a great plan - except they weren't alone in the garage! 

 

From underneath the closed doors came a hissing cloud of smoke that swooped towards Rev. A shout from Pete gave her just a moment's warning as the cloud resolved itself into a humanoid figure that tried to bite down on her neck! She dodged just in time, giving the vampire time to reform himself nearby. 

 

"Blah! I just couldn't pass up a chance to sink my teeth into this - personally!" hissed a man who must have been Paul from accounting. It was clear where he'd gotten his visual styling; his black suit and cape, sharp features and dark hair, were all designed to look like Dracula. But it was - an unconvincing look. The suit, even to Rev's limited sense of fashion, did not fit, and the cape looked like the product of a cheap Halloween store. His skin was blotchy where it wasn't pale and his hair so dark it was obviously dyed. He must have been in his late twenties when he'd died, with the puffy build and features of someone who'd gotten little of the outdoors before then. 

 

Was this what vampire lords were made of these days? 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Rev kicked herself for missing the window. 

 

The window... right...! Bats flying through windows, creating all sorts of havoc! A bat flying through a window was enough to inspire a young boy to become a superhero... very dramatic! Wings, flappity flap flap, that mousy face...

 

She shook her head, freeing herself from the chaotic thought stream. 

 

"Thats a goddam cheap suit, and I guess that means you are a cheap vampire. You suck!"

 

It wasn't the best taunt, but it was good enough. The guy looked angry enough to be titled, and tilted people made mistakes. 

 

And the bomb was still ready-as was her fireball, the ignition jet still smouldering in her hand. 

 

She would get them all at once! Burn them! Burn those fangs and those silly capes to cinders!

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

The other vampires came through the door like so many undead clowns bursting out of a car. She'd seen them use guns before, and heavy weapons; hell, she still had the marks of that on her body. But there was none of that now; no strategy or technology, just raw animal force. Maybe they were maddened by bloodlust, maybe they were following the commands of their maker, maybe the SWAT team had gone home for the night. Maybe undeath made you stupid, who could say? 

 

The first few bursting in the door got the fireball right in the face and went up, burning like wax figures stuffed with earth as they hissed and growled and fell apart into rotting ash. Another few hit the bomb, an explosion that shook the building and made Pete cover his face with one hand. Only two vampires got through the fire and went for Rev's throat; two uniformed Iron Talon guards who might have been siblings from their similar builds and coloration. 

 

Though with the red eyes, white faces, and bulging fangs, who was to say what they actually looked like? Still smoldering from the flames, it was clear they were not backing down. 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Get a taste of hell, suckers!"

 

She flexed her cyborg fists. 

 

"That's right, isn't it? You go to Hell. Or something. Spawn of satan. Deal with the devil. Umm, wait... is that right? If you are from hell why do you burn up so easy? That doesn't make sense. Maybe its something else. Necromancy? Wait... isn't necromancy a deal with Satan or something?"

 

She tapped her chin with two cyborg fingers, trying to steer her train of thoughts into some form of coherence. Her knowledge was a mish mash of school lectures, comic books, and hammer house of horror films on repeat whilst she was in the chop shop. 

 

"Why can't you just be like machine engines. So much easier to understand. The thingy connects to the other thingy, and you got to make sure the bendy bit isn't attached to the whaddyacall it..."

 

Maybe she was tired. But she was a visual person, and she knew engines from how they looked, not what they were called. 

 

In any case, it was time to step up the heat. 

 

"Bomb voyage, suckers!" she screamed, and threw a stream of fire at her feat, exploding into a fireball. 

 

"Wheeee!" she yelled in delight, as the blast threw her back. She rode the wave and landed on her feet, unharmed bar a few more scorch marks on her t shirt and some smoke. 

[Avenger Assembled]

As the flames exploded around Rev, the vampires who'd been surrounding her finally erupted into licks of flame and rotting, burning flesh. Taking stock of her situation in the smoldering garage, it was abundantly clear that she was the winner. She was battered, bruised, and scorched, but she was certainly in much better shape than they were. Perhaps the rotting, ashy corpses all around the place would cause problems for the morning Iron Talon crew, but that was a problem for later Rev to think about. 

 

The issue now was the would-be vampire lord who had started all this, Paul the accountant in his cheap Dracula getup - who looked like he was beginning to realize he'd made a mistake. "You haven't seen the last of me!" he hissed. "I'll be back; and when I return-" smoke was definitely coming from his robes, and she could see the fire had reddened his eyes even brighter than they were. "You and your friend will pay - with blood!" And with that, he seemed to turn to smoke himself, vanishing in swirling grey mist and floating out the broken window through which he'd entered, out into the Bedlam night. 

 

"We'd better get out," said Pete from where he sat in what was left of his office, "the actual cops will be here soon!" 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Cops, yeah, I mean no... no we don't want the Cops. Arson. Blood sucking. Lots of messy explanations they wont understand."

 

Tucking Pete under one arm, she fired her own jets and followed the vampire out of the window. 

 

A puff of smoke, a misfire, and she landed outside. On one knee. In a rather cool pose, she had to admit. 

 

"Damn, I can't catch him like this," she said. "Too busted up from those bullets."

 

She could fire the turbo-thrusters, but she wasn't entirely sure they would fire. And if the did fire, they would eat up her fuel fast. 

 

Or they might explode and take her legs off. That would really slow them down. 

 

She could see Paul in the night sky. Hot, like a red dot to her infrared vision. Tracking him would be relatively simple even at night... providing he didn't get too far away. She needed to catch up. 

 

She scanned the ground around her. 

 

"Now where did I leave my wheels..."

[Avenger Assembled]

By some fortunate happenstance, the dune buggy was right in the parking lot where Rev had left it. Had the vampires been planning to strip it? Steal it? It was hard to say, but whoever had done this was certainly dead now. There was a boot on the front left tire, though; securely bolted into place and holding the vehicle down in such a way that she'd have to get it free if she wanted to go anywhere. It was of all things a very pleasant night, with a bright three-quarters moon in the sky; the stars swallowed up by all the security lights hereabouts. At least she knew exactly where she needed to go.

 

"Look!" Pete managed to point out across the parking lot where a singed-looking Paul was frantically unlocking the doors of a black Ford F150, a huge pickup truck that made perfect sense if you lived fifty miles out of town in a Wisconsin forest but very little sense indeed if you actually lived in a city of this size. The vampire lord dropped his keys once, looked up and saw Rev, and then grabbed his keys, turned to smoke, and poured inside the vehicle as its engine roared to life. 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Its on!"

 

Rev was battered and bruised, but still, this was a car chase! I mean, killing vampires was all good and groovy, but car chases were a different matter. 

 

"Fun!"

 

There was however the matter of a the bolt on the tyre. That would slow the buggy down. A lot. 

 

She flexed her metal hands, put her boot on the tyre, and pulled, attempting to rip the thing clean off. 

 

"Hey Pete, gimme a hand will ya?" she yelled. Even if he was just about unconscious from blood loss... he could still be handy!

 

"See if you can find a crowbar, or a hacksaw, or some kind of alien disintegrator beam. They are sure you have an alien disintegrator beam, right? I mean they are Vampire soldiers."

 

It was a long shot, but you never knew...