Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It has no intentions of resembling any real persons dead or alive. This is entirely from my imagination, with a little help from already established sources. This story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from Marvel Comics. Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as DC Comics.
Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount Network and Warner Bros. Respectively.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section. Batman may appear in this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". Any comments may be sent to authorjames2002@yahoo.com
Thank you and enjoy.
Author's Note: This storyline will be the final installment for "Marvel Knights". I hope you have enjoyed the run as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Many issues that have come up in the last storyline will be resolved in this story line. Again, I hope you have enjoyed its run. Thank you.
Chapter 3 Coming Darkness
A young girl climbed up the fire escape, tears falling from her eyes. She wiped them as she went, but the tears kept coming. She felt so lost and alone, so afraid of what was to come. Her world seemed to have been turned upside down. And there was nothing she could do to fix things.
Reaching the top, she climbed onto the roof and looked around at the night sky. She walked over to the edge and looked down at the people and cars passing below. She shook her head, wiped her runny nose, and cried even harder. Stepping up onto the ledge, she whispered, "It isn't worth it any more." And she stepped off.
No one saw the dark, psychic energy the girl gave off as she walked down the street, climbed the ladder. No one saw the explosive force which escaped her when she jumped. If they had, they would have seen it flow to one source standing in the alley the girl entered. They would have seen the dark figure standing in the shadows with white skin and empty, black eyes robed in dark blue and black. And they would have heard him chuckle and sigh as he fed off the dark, psychic energy the girl emanated as she took her own life.
Davey pulled over when he saw the ambulance and police cars surrounding a car with a dented rooftop. He climbed out and approached the scene. Then he saw the hand coming over the edge of the dented roof and his eyes widened. Stepping closer, he heard the name of the girl, Janet Riley. Then he headed back to his car.
"Are you sure you heard the name right?" Whistler asked after Davey told him of the earlier events.
"Definitely," he said. "The officer said the girl's name was Janet Riley."
"She committed suicide," Black Widow replied. "We cannot be sure that it has any bearing in our territory."
"If we check her out, we'll know."
"I'd never thought I'd hear you say anything about checking a girl out," Ty said.
Davey threw Ty a look and then focused back on Whistler.
"Get on the computer and do a search. Let us know what you find. This is your baby, Davey. You research it."
Davey nodded and headed off into the bowels of their sanctum.
"Do you think something will come of it?" Ty asked.
"Probably not," Whistler answered. "But Davey needs something to do right now. He was in Columbus. No doubt he was watching Harris."
"More like stalking if you ask me," Tandy answered. "Somebody needs to tell him there's plenty of dick in the sea."
Ty and Whistler instantly became uncomfortable.
"I'm not saying you guys. Look at Punisher. Sure, he's moping around because of Johnny. But he and Blade are fucking their brains out. Maybe that's all Davey needs is a good fuck and he'll get over Harris."
"Who the hell are you?" Ty asked Tandy. "And where did you put our sweet-natured Vampire Slayer?"
Tandy looked over at Black Widow.
"Hardly," Ty replied. "You, of all people, should know about love. It doesn't get cured by a roll in the sack, no matter how much anyone tries. Only time will heal him."
Davey entered the lair and approached the computer chair. He looked at the chair and felt Harris's presence. For a brief instant, he thought he saw Harris, but the shadow quickly faded. He sat at the keyboard and turned on the computer. Once it booted up, he began his search. There were still tons of sites locked into the "Favorites" file.
"These must be the sites Harris visited often when he did computer work."
A few hours later, Davey turned off the computer. The printer had spit out the last bit of information he commanded it to print and he stood up and stretched. Feeling nausea hit his stomach, he rubbed it, hoping it would relax the feeling. However, it only grew worse. He ran toward the men's locker room and vomited in a nearby toilet. Once finished, he flushed, washed his face, and then grabbed the printouts and headed upstairs.
He got to the first floor and found all the lights out. "Everyone must be in bed," he thought. He laid the printouts on the table in the study and headed up to his room. He pulled off his clothes and, as he tossed them in the hamper, sharp pains shot through his stomach. He grabbed his stomach. It lurched and he doubled over, collapsing to the floor. Then he vomited again, only this time it was blood.
Moon Knight ran across the rooftops after seeing the crime scene where the young girl jumped from the rooftop. He had seen Davey as well, but did not think it prudent to be seen talking with the youth. He did not want anyone to be clued into Davey being anything more than he was. It was all about protecting his identity.
As Moon Knight ran, he sensed the presence of the darkness that he was warned of several months ago. Every night he patrolled waiting for the moment when it would arrive. Some of the Marvel Knights were anxious. They did not like having to wait so long for an evil to show itself. Moon Knight, however, had patience, lots and lots of patience. He had never felt the pressure of needing to fight, only fighting when it arose. And he had never gotten to know people who waited anxiously for a fight.
The presence of the darkness grew stronger and he zeroed in on its location.
'Whatever you are,' he said in his mind, 'you will not take this land.'
Something out of nowhere tackled Moon Knight and knocked him to the ground. He rolled with his assailant across the roof and was able to disentangle himself from whoever it was. He got to his feet to find himself facing a vampire. He pulled out a stake and ran at the creature. The creature blocked his attack and he spun around kicking the demon in the stomach. The creature, however, held fast to Moon Knight's foot. Moon Knight swung his other leg up in the air and kicked the vampire in the face. The vampire released its grip on Moon Knight and stumbled backwards. Moon Knight landed on all fours and turned getting into a crouching position. Then he leapt at the vampire and embedded the stake in the vampire's heart as he flipped over the demon and rolled on the roof top. He turned and all that was left was a pile of dust and his stake. Standing, he walked over, picked up the stake and tried to sense the presence of the darkness. But it was gone.
The next morning, Blade woke up, showered, and walked down the hallway. As he walked passed Davey's room he stopped and sniffed. Crinkling his forehead, he turned and went to Davey's door sniffing harder. Then he grabbed the doorknob and turned. Slowly he opened the door and found Davey lying on the floor with blood on his face.
"Davey!" he shouted as he ran over and grabbed the youth checking for a pulse. "Thank God, he's still alive." Blade turned to the door and shouted, "Help!"
Moments later the house was awake and an ambulance was on the way. Ty and Tandy stood in the room to the side of the door and watched as Blade and Whistler cleaned the blood off him. Michael had called Davey's parents but they weren't interested in hearing about their mutant son. As far as they were concerned, he was dead to them.
When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics went in and took Davey out on a stretcher.
"I'll ride with him," Blade said.
Whistler nodded. "We'll follow."
Whistler, Ty, Tandy, and Michael climbed into Michael's Suburban and followed the ambulance.
It seemed like pure hell to everyone as they waited in the Emergency Room waiting room while doctors looked at Davey to find out what was going on. Tandy and Ty paced back and forth while Whistler sat patiently and Blade stood as still as a statue. Michael stood at the window looking outside.
"What could it be?" Tandy asked. "He wasn't doing any drugs, was he? He wouldn't dare kill himself no matter how distraught he was over Harris. Would he?"
"I didn't see any pill containers around his room," Whistler answered.
"His blood smelled different," Blade said.
Everyone turned to him.
"I could smell his blood. That's why I went into his room. It didn't smell like normal blood. It smelled like it was tainted or infected or something like that."
"Could it be a virus?" Ty asked.
"Maybe," Whistler replied. "Which means that any one of us could get it."
"Only if its air born. If that were the case, all of us would have it," Michael answered. "It might be transmitted through contact, possibly fluid contact."
"Then Blade and I better get checked out as well."
The doors opened and the doctor came out. "Is anyone here for Davey Navarre?"
All five turned to the doctor.
"I'm Doctor Brown," he said going over to Whistler. "It appears that Davey has a virus that none of us have ever seen before. We're sending him to quarantine and sending a blood sample to our labs for study."
"Can we see him?" Tandy asked.
"Once he's in quarantine, you can see him through a shield. Right now, we don't want to risk contaminating any of you."
"Do you think this is an air born virus?"
"Chances are that it isn't. But we would like to test all of you just in case."
Whistler nodded and everyone went back to have their blood drawn. They were asked to remain in a quarantined area while their blood was tested.
"Can I use the telephone?" Whistler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir. Not at the moment. Could I make the call for you?"
"No, thanks." Turning to the others, he said, "I guess we just wait. Marc and Natasha are on their own."
To Be Continued...