Late April...
Palisade didn’t usually spend his early AM hours out on partrol. As finals neared, Steven Chen should be studying late into the night, or in the chemistry lab finishing up an experiment. But he just couldn’t get past the distraction: somewhere out here, his girlfriend Angela, superhero and vampire, was seducing people so she could lure them somewhere safe to drink their blood. So far, no one had died, that he knew of anyway. But that wasn’t the point. She’d become more and more of a loose cannon since their battle with her mentor, Drahomir, known as “Dre”. And it was getting worse.
Palisade felt he needed to talk to her, give her a chance to come back from whereever she was going, before he took this to the others.
A muffled conversation under the gazebo on CIU’s central Quad drew his attention. Palisade landed silently behind a tree, but even so, he was almost detected. Vampires weren’t as perceptive as The American Attitude, but their senses were sharper than most people’s.
Palisade watched with anger burning in his heart as he saw Angela talking to the man in the gazebo. He couldn’t quite see who it was, but he was definitely older. A professor, maybe? That was even worse. If important people around campus started having a problem with her, it could cause a world of trouble for the team. Palisade approached at a glide just a few feet off the ground, so he could not be heard; the camouflage of the biosuit made him difficult to see in the dark.
Suddenly, Angela turned, and Steven recognized her guest. Backing off reflexively, Palisade looked into a face he’d not seen in some time: the face of Drahomir the vampire. Before he could act, Dre had leapt through the air and slashed across Palisade’s face with razor-sharp claws. The biosuit screamed as dark icor seeped forth.
Palisade gave as good as he got, puncturing Dre’s side with a massive bio-spike, but the vampire, though obviously injured by the attack, seemed unphased. “She’s mine now, mortal! Join my, my dear!” he called out to Angela.
Hesitantly, Angela stood, and went over to where the two were wrestling on the ground.
“Angela, what the hell! Get this guy off me!” Palisade cried out. But still she hesitated.
“I...I’m sorry Steven,” she said, and he could have sworn he saw a single tear form, though Steven knew that was impossible. Vampires don’t cry.
Now facing being set upon by two vampires, one of whom he was in love with, Palisade broke free and flew up out of easy reach.
“Come on! Snap out of it!” he shouted, pounding the two of them with a volley of light spikes; they wouldn’t hurt Angela or Dre, but they might just give her something to help her mind break from his control. Instead, Angela just took Dre’s hand. An instant later, a moonbeam broke onto them from the clouds above, and they were gone.
Just like that, Angela was out of his life. Steven had no clue if he’d ever see her again.
The next morning, Triumph arrived at the Infinite Seven HQ via the rear entrance, only to find Steven Chen asleep at the workbench. In front of him was a chemistry text, open to the final pages.
Steel shook Steven awake gently. “Hey, buddy,” he said. “Rough night?”
“Steven’s eyes were blood red as they met Steel’s. “She’s gone, Steel. Gone off with that vampire bastard!”
“Who’s gone?”
Steven just looked at him and waited from Steel to figure it out. “Angela? Gone with Dre? No way! She hated that guy for what he did to her.”
“Things change, Steel. They were together last night. She’s been out drinking human blood. Innocent blood. She’s turned,” Steven said hopelessly.
“Even if that’s true, we can find her. We can get her back,” Steel said supportively.
No hope entered Steven’s eye, but the slightest shadow of a purpose was under his sunken, tired lids. He stood and picked up his books. “I have no idea where they’ve gone. They just turned into moonbeams and disappeared. Since when can she do that?”
“I said we’ll find her, Steven. Look, let’s head over to the computer and get started, right now. The others will join later.”
Steven hesitated. “I can’t. I’ve got a test,” he said, holding up his book.
“Fine. You go. I’ll get started down here. Come back after your test and I’ll try to have something. I’ll get Cazmonster down her to help,” Steel said enthusiastically.
Steven went to the rear exit and carefully opened the door, checking the cameras first to make sure it was safe.
“Okay. I’ll be back in two hours.” With that, Steven walked outside.
The sky was dark, portending a storm. Perfect, Steven thought. Just how I feel. He had walked a block when he decided to head back. He could still pull a “B” out of this class even after failing this test. He needed to go with his heart, and find Angela.
Suddenly, a bright burst of greenish light flew down from the sky. Steven thought at first it was some weird lightning, but it was way too massive. And then he saw it; a large, alien looking object, the size of a battleship, hovered over the headquarters. Or at least, over where the headquarters used to be. There was now a 30’ deep crater. The headquarters was gone. Triumph was dead!
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