Play Testers Wanted Pt. 02

All characters are 18 years old or older.

*****

Aftermath of the Storm Sisters:

I'd never experienced a cut scene before. How cool is that? I was naked and poised between Jennifer on my left and Susan to my right. When I peeked beneath the fireproof sheets, I discovered they were naked too. I checked my HUD briefly and discovered I had leveled up and picked up a new default skill called sex history. I wonder if it would help locate the female vampires. I toggled it on and looked at Jennifer. A small green number appeared above her head and it was a zero. What the hell did that mean? Susan also had a zero over her head as well. I guess I was going to have to play around with it and see what use it was. I kept it on and hit the bathroom. As I took a piss, I downloaded a small upgrade to the game.

A small bubble appeared in the mirror when I regarded my reflection. As a sensuous female voice read the text the words turned from black to a bright blue.

'Your double dragon skill has been modified to deliver a critical hit against women whose history score is above thirty. Good luck and happy hunting Ghost Fire.'

"Double dragon...?" I muttered when a flash of last night popped into my head. "Oh! Right." I chuckled remembering manifesting a second cock for twenty minutes and putting it to good use. "I broke the storm... ha-ha." I laughed.

I dressed and found a flashing yellow icon visible through the walls of the Baxter Building. I followed the icon to a sleeping Reed Richards. I walked around so I could look over his shoulder and the hand scrawled note on the surface of his workstation.

'Dear Susan, I am so sorry for dropping the ball last night. To make it up to you I've fixed the new uniforms, but I won't test it out until you give your approval. It is in my secondary lab. The code to unlock the stasis cube is 6589. All my love Reed.'

For a moment there I felt like shit for pounding the hell out of the Invisible Woman. No, I didn't. She was a freak and loved my double dragon as much as I had. Archimedes showed me where the secondary lab was located. I walked down the hall and stepped into the lab. This must be where he does all his biological research.

"What's the history with these new uniforms?" I asked the A.I.

"Are you familiar with the superhero Spiderman?" It asked and I laughed. "Of course, you have. That was stupid of me. I am still recovering from last night. My neural receptors are still offline. I apologize about my comment about copulation. Forgive me?"

"Sure. How could you possibly know or understand?" I said and a shimmering icon appeared marked 'Archimedes Regret'. "What is this?" I said as I touched the icon.

"It is my way of apologizing. You gave me a glimpse into human interaction. Look at this as the machine equivalent."

"Thanks Archimedes... can you tell me about the uniform?" I asked.

"Where was I? Ah yes, Spiderman, there was an unusual event classified by Reed Richards as the Secret War. An entity of near infinite power calling itself the Beyonder kidnapped heroes and villains alike to study the concept of good and evil. During the contest Spiderman received a new shiny black uniform."

"You are talking about the Venom symbiote." I exclaimed excitedly.

"Just so. Reed helped Spiderman remove the unwanted organism and took samples for study. He has spent the last few years improving the lifeform. He believed he had removed the negative aspects, namely its dark personality. He blended individual DNA of the members of the team with the symbiote to correct that aspect." Archimedes explained.

"Oh shit, now it all makes sense. Reed's intelligence was heightened, and he became cold and aloof. Susan's sexual hunger overwhelmed her. I get it. So, what makes him think he's corrected it this time?" I asked.

"I tailored a chip and inserted it into the biomass of the lifeform so that I would be the alternative personality. I calculate a high probability of success."

I looked at the sealed organism through the transparent walls of the containment unit. The swirling translucent mass of the symbiote seemed agitated. I was about to ask Archimedes why it was upset when I heard four musical notes chime and the biomass lunged at me.

"You fucked my wife!" A voice growled. "You wrecked her ass! Test drive that asshole!"

It all went black after that. I woke on the roof of the Baxter Building. Bright green letters were the first thing I saw. Bonding complete. I felt hungover while my throat and ass were sore. Bonding my ass, I thought and chuckled. I stood and looked out over New York City. It was one hell of a view. I gazed down and saw I was wearing a new uniform. This one was nonreflective material and skintight. There were no logos or designs to affiliate it with me. The surface of the uniform rippled and displayed an interconnected patter of dark hexagons. I pulled up my HUD and it showed that symbiote armor was selected and active. I tried to activate my assassin armor, but it was grayed out. I had no choice but to wear the symbiote. It was time to, as Reed had screamed at me, test drive it. I must have hit a glitch in the game. I was about to look for Susan or Jenny when I heard a scream below. I never hesitated. My hood and mask initiated automatically as I raced for the nearest edge of the roof. With a howl of joy, I launched myself off the building. There was a rush of fear mixed with excitement. I brought my arms flat against the sides of my body and closed my legs. I activated the gliding membranes and thrust my arms out as far as they could go and forced my ankles as wide apart as I could manage.

Snap! Crack!

The rushing air caught the translucent material and my body was caught up and I began gliding. Another scream from below gave me a target. I pitched my body's angle and raced down towards the ground. I had trained with the suit, but I had never jumped off anything as high as the Baxter Building before. I saw someone on the ground and a figure sprinting into a nearby alley. There was also a flash of amethyst light near the prone figure. What the hell was that? I pulled up and landed lightly near the source of illumination. The guy took one look at me and bolted. I raced after him and caught him a few seconds later.

"I surrender!" He cried out throwing his hands up in the air. "I didn't do anything!"

"If you didn't do anything why did you run?" I growled as his gaze moved downward. "What is this?" I asked as I cupped the shimmering purple crystal in his grasp. "Well?!"

"I just found it... I swear! I didn't know it was illegal!" He shouted as I snatched it from him breaking the flimsy silver chain. "Fine! Good! Take it... I don't want it!"

"Go. I have a real crime to investigate." I said placing the 'strange alien crystal' in my inventory and turning my attention to the body on the ground. "Hey, are you... okay?"

'No life signs detected.' Archimedes whispered in my head.

'Oh hey,' I sent back. 'I forgot all about the brain machine thingy.'

'Interface.' It corrected me in an annoyed tone of voice. 'Her throat has been torn out.'

"Vampire." I muttered and the gathering crowd took up the word. "Shit!"

There was a small crowd forming nearby and each person had a different number ranging from zero to a few into three digits. What the hell is that? A loud crash from the alley reminded me I had a vampire on the loose. I sprinted into the alley and looked for the monster that had done this. She attacked from her perch eight feet up a sheer concrete wall. I was knocked to the ground as her fangs snapped at my neck. My armored hood thwarted her initial attempt. I charged up a telekinetic push and launched her twenty feet straight up. I was able to get into a squatting position, draw my weapon, and attack. The shadowy black blade sliced her in two killing her instantly. No not killed, destroyed. She was undead after all and beyond help. Her empty garment fluttered to the ground along with a single photograph. I picked up the photo and stood. The image was an old black and white photo that looked to have been taken at the turn of the last century or perhaps even earlier. It depicted six figures in miner's garb and behind them the opening of a cave or mine and something else... close to the ground.

"What is that?" I whispered as the first police car arrived. "Time to dash."

I slipped unseen into the shadows and removed myself from the crime scene. I watched the investigation unfold from a nearby rooftop. I almost cried out when a figure appeared out of thin air. It was none other than Doctor Stephen Strange. He gestured over the body of the victim and mystical energy manifested in the shape of arcane runes. He spoke with the detective in charge and vanished just as quickly as he appeared.

"Greetings." He said forcing me to spin around and take a step back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it is an honor to meet you in person." I replied trying my best not to fan boy all over the place.

"What happened in the alley?" He asked smiling and observing me intently.

"A female vampire ambushed me. She had been hiding about ten feet up on the left wall." I said and he nodded. "My armor protected me from her bite. I shoved her up into the air and... destroyed her."

"Nice work to kill a vampire with one clean attack. Is there anything else?" He asked and I nodded. "Well?!" I reluctantly showed him the photo. "Hmm! It is old. It looks like mid-19th century or later."

"There are six of them." I said and he shook his head. "No."

"No. There are seven, someone is taking the picture." He corrected me and I winced at my amateurish deduction. "It is okay. We all learn as we get into this line of work. What is that?" He asked pointing to the thing behind the posing figures.

"I noticed that too. I was going to take it and let Mr. Fantastic look at it... oh right... shit!" I said as I remembered the last memory in the lab. You fucked my wife! You broke her ass! "Maybe not."

"I know someone." Dr. Strange offered as he gestured forming a mystic portal atop the roof. "Follow me."

How fucking cool was this?! I was working on a case with Doctor Strange! Sweet! I entered the portal and heard Stephen calling out to someone.

"Hey! Sorry to drop in unannounced... Bryce? Are you home?"

"I'm in the bathroom." A woman called out. "Stephen is that you?"

"Yeah, I brought a friend." He said and then spun to face me. "What is your name? I got so caught up in finding the vampires that I didn't even ask. My apologies."

"I go by Ghost Fire." I said pulling down my hood.

"Yowzah!" The curvy brunette said as she sauntered over to Stephen. "Where did you find him?"

"Six." I said reading the number above her head and then Doctor Strange's. "Two hundred and thirty-three? I don't get it."

"What's going on Strange?" Bryce asked ignoring me entirely. Stephen handed over the photograph. "Ooh, I love old photos. Wow! This is an original Daguerreotype but in amazing good condition. Where did you get it?"

"Off a vampire." I said when Stephen looked at me.

"Let's get a better look shall we." Bryce purred. "Stick close sweet thing."

I saw why Stephen brought us here. The photo lab was cutting edge and the walls covered in images that ranged from landscapes to gorgeous celebrity photographs many of which were autographed by the subject. One jumped out right away and got my undivided attention.

"That's Marilyn Monroe!" I exclaimed in shock. "To Bryce, all my love Marilyn... January 1960."

"They always notice Marilyn." Bryce murmured as she slipped the photo into a scanner. "This won't take long. So... say it."

"Good genetics or magic?" I asked and she laughed.

"A bit of both actually. I was exposed to some serious mystical radiation a very long time ago. I've spent the last century or so as a photographer. I like capturing people in that ah-ha moment. You have an interesting face. Okay... let's see what we can see." She said her attention returning to the computer.

A holographic display of the photo hung in the air. Bryce reached out and pulled and pinched as she searched for details. There was a definite shape behind the standing men. They were dressed in heavy cloth shirts and while their clothing was clean their faces and hands were smeared with dirt of some kind. The mining tools in the peripheral portions of the photo marked them as miners. After some highlighting Bryce was able to define the shape behind them.

"A coffin?" Bryce pondered. "A fallen miner?"

"No." Stephen said his voice cold with threat. "It is far too extravagant for a mere miner. Look at the ends there, that is too ornate for a poor digger. Look at how shiny the wood is."

"Holy shit! That's not wood... it is glass. The homeless guy had a chunk of strange glass in his grip."

"You've been holding back details," Stephen said narrowing his eyes.

I filled them in on my arrival at the Baxter Building and following the vampire into the sewers and making my way into the basement and encountering Susan Storm. I left out the fucking part and kept them into the loop about the homeless man and the piece of glass he had been clutching. I told them about the analysis Reed had performed on them and the unidentified element.

"So, the Master Vampire was in that coffin." Bryce said and worked on isolating as much of the coffin as she could. "Extrapolating..."

"Mistress Vampire." Stephen corrected her. "All the vampires are female. This new virus attacks some aspect of the male physiology." He thought aloud.

"Well, that is interesting." Bryce halted her work as a flashing red icon catches her attention. "Let's see what's going on." She said as a second screen popped into existence. "Trouble in Central Park."

I watched the breaking news report as the reporter excitedly described the situation.

"As we reported over the last few weeks... packs of wild dogs have been terrorizing the citizens of New York City. The largest pack appeared to be congregating in and around the park. That was until last night when competitors of last night's moonlit marathon discovered the remains of several of the wild animals. According to crime scene investigators a larger predator appears to have taken refuge within the confines of the park. The odd markings on the bones leads a top zoologist to determine a potential alien maybe responsible. Ten years ago, the words like alien or invader would have been written off as the ravings of a madman but we all know how much things have changed since then..."

"Great!" Stephen growled. "Last night was a convergence between Mars and the Ethereal Plane. Perhaps something slipped through. What do you think Ghost? Ghost?! What's wrong?"

"Aw hell!" I cursed when I heard the words alien and predator. "It might not be her."

"It might not be who?" Bryce giggled. "An old girlfriend."

"An Exomorph." I said and Bryce didn't recognize the word but Strange did. "You know what they are?"

"I ran into the aftermath of an Exomorph invasion of the Dark Dimension. It was horrible. I never saw one but matched the paw print left behind to a reference in the Book of the Vishanti. I better go."

"No. If it is her, I don't want you to frighten her. She might do something unexpected." I warned. "I'll go while it is still dark."

"I can't let you put your life on the line." He said and I laughed. "What's so fucking funny?!"

"If it is her, she won't hurt me. She's... well... she's my friend." I explained.

"Hold the fuck on! You... you tamed an Exomorph?!" The Sorcerer Supreme looked pale. "Alright Ghost, you find out if it really is her. This goes in my thousand-year journal for sure."

"Right next to the curse..." Bryce said and instantly regretted it. "Sorry! Slip of the tongue."

"I won't pry." I said respecting his privacy. "You will or won't share and that is okay. I got to go."

Stephen clutched the famed Eye of Agamotto and remotely viewed the park. Sweat broke out on his brow until he isolated the beast. With an effort he opened a portal and urged me to hurry through it. I thanked him and stepped through to the middle of Central Park. I had one brief glance back and what I saw made me suspect the nature of Stephen's affliction. For just the faintest of moments I would have sworn it was a woman standing where Stephan had. A gorgeous raven-haired beauty who blushed and slammed shut the portal.

"Some curse!" I muttered. "Time to track you down."

I pulled up my hood and vanished from sight. I tapped into the light warping talent Susan had passed onto me. I saw the flashing lights of the police cars and crouched behind a tree looking over the situation. Whatever had happened was knee deep in police and investigators. If this was my Exomorph then she'd be watching from above them. I needed to get to her before she stirred up too much chaos and hurt innocents. If it wasn't her, I'd be happy dispatching it for the very same reasons. I entered the overgrown portion of the park and began tracking this beast. If it was her, I'd know her prints anywhere. I stopped and recognized the perfect silence that often accompanied her presence. If that was true, she was using the trees to negotiate the park.

"Is it you?" I whispered. "I didn't mean to leave you. If I knew you could come with me... I'm sorry."

The blow came from behind. I managed to roll onto my back and look up at the vicious killing jaws of an Exomorph, but was it my Exomorph? She rubbed her massive head against my cheek with a gentleness that belied her size and strength. I placed my hand against the side of her face, and she leaned against it.

"I wish you could understand me." I whispered again.

'I would suggest telepathy young master.' Archimedes offered silently.

"Let's start with the gentlest of touches then." I said as soothingly as I could muster.

I closed my eyes and imagined just the very tips of my fingers touching her mind. What I found was surprisingly simple and yet highly efficient. She was born to hunt and kill. Her senses were refined and honed to a razor's edge.

'Not alone.' She thought in her primitive way.

Without warning she vanished from sight and I knew another predator was nearby. I followed suit and listened. The voice was soft and seductive. I moved closer just in time to see the cop drop to the ground. The vampire turned away to leave before I could see her face. I did see the long strands of crimson locks tumbling down her naked back. I got a brief but pleasant look at her bare ass just before she ran off. I checked the fallen police officer and she was still alive.

"I'll get an ambulance." I said but she shook her head as she gestured for me to come closer. "What? You want to tell me something." I knelt close while she whispered in my ear. "Whoa!"

"Step aside." A deep voice said behind me.

"Blade!" I said as I turned to face the speaker.

"Stand aside, she's already beginning to change." He growled as he drew his weapon.

"I'm sorry." I said to the dying officer.

Blade plucked a gas-powered syringe from his jacket. He thrust the business end of it against the cop's neck. A soft hiss and a sample of the woman's blood filled the sterilized cartridge. He placed it carefully into his pocket and then adjusted his grip on his sword. The vampire hunter never hesitated to cut her down even as she rose from the ground snarling. Her body burst into flames and turned to ash before our eyes. The light drew attention to our position. The sound of people moving our way forced us to retreat to a location where we could speak without interruption. We looked each other over and he seemed satisfied with me.

"What did she say?" Blade asked gruffly and impatiently waited for my reply.

"She said she think she recognized the girl that bit her." I said and paused firing off a question of my own. "How did you know where I was?"