Part Five
Illya awoke to pain. He felt something hot pushing into his side. He cried out and opening his eyes saw that he was chained to a wall. The room was spacious and to his left he saw a thick metal cage. Within he saw LaCroix, who was still on the ground, cataleptic.
Focusing on his attacker, Illya felt his blood go cold at the familiar face. A face he had prayed never to see again in his lifetime. Illya stood staring at him. In Sergei�s hand he held a cold metal prod.
�Sergei?�
�That is General Sergei to you little one.�
Behind him, Illya could see several others. One was of a woman who seemed to be busy looking over several blood samples in a microscope. Glancing at his arm, Illya saw he was bandaged where the samples had been taken.
The woman looked up in astonishment.
�Sergei, you are correct. His blood is fantastic. It has special properties that I have never seen before. I checked that one�s blood, glancing at the caged LaCroix, and that of other humans and neither match and yet...some similarities.� She looked up and moving towards the blond, she spoke to him personally.
�So you are Doctor Kempacuff �s legacy. I have followed his work and his daughter�s work for some time. Several of my colleagues joined her, but they died mysteriously. (*Sins of the father affair- When Helen entered the tomb with her two helpers). I was enlisted by THRUSH to continue her work. That is my project. At the time however I did not know about you. Thank you General Sergei.�
Sergei bowed and glanced back at Illya and then placed the electric prod up against his side and set the charge. Illya cried out in agony!
The Doctor turned to Sergei in annoyance. �Enough, he is no good to me dead.�
�The deal, my dear, was that you get your project under way. Which you now have. You have this!� He pointed to the cage where even now LaCroix was slowly but painfully coming to. �This is the one that brought Kuryakin into being. You may have the original and as a bonus I will see to it that Nicholas Knight is captured and given to you. These two prime specimens will be all yours to do with as you please. Experiment to your heart�s content. But this one, Illya Kuryakin. This one is mine.�
He placed the prod on Illya�s chest and set another charge into his flesh. Illya cried out again as the electricity shot into his body.
This can�t be happening. Thought Illya, It just can�t be happening. Not again!
�Why is this one so important to you General? After all, Thrush would be more then willing to pay a great deal for this specimen on top of the others. Besides, I would love to be able to work on him personally?�
Sergei only glared at her. �What I want with him is none of your business.�
Illlya opened his eyes and, taking a breath, spoke.
�I was to be the ultimate weapon for Russia. You know the Cold War Doctor. If we don�t blow ourselves up with nuclear bombs, it was still possible the Americans might invade and so I was to be set loose. They wanted an army of me of course. But first Sergei had to make my beast come forth. That is why you beat and tortured me so long ago. All of it was an attempt to see if my vampire blood would overcome my human blood and therefore become your new trained weapon. That is what I was to be...a weapon and nothing more.�
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. �But he is mortal still, it appears his vampire side is just not strong enough. So why would you want him back now?�
�I don�t my dear. That is to say, I am no longer interested in a weapon for mother Russia. I have made a deal with someone. Someone that will grant me more power then you or THRUSH could ever dream about. All I have to do, is deliver one Illya Kuryakin to him.�
Rising to his feet and ignoring the pain and blood loss, LaCroix hissed at his enemies in the cage.
�Let me guess, he wouldn�t happen to go by the name of Nemor would he?�
Sergei moved his eyes to the ancient vampire but kept his place in front of Kuryakin.
�I want to become a vampire. I want to be immortal.�
LaCroix smirked at the General. �Come over here, and I�ll give you a little taste of my immortality.�
The Doctor backed away, not sure what was going on. For a moment she was caught by his eyes. She wanted to free him. She shook her head, and back away further from the creature.
Sergei moved the prod towards Kuryakin and LaCroix�s voice snapped.
�Touch him again with that prod and I will shove that poker stick down your throat!�
Illya flinched as the prod came towards his neck. He waited for the impact but it didn�t come. General Sergei had finally turned to face LaCroix.
�For almost thirty years you have wanted nothing to do with this one and now all of a sudden it�s time to play daddy. Lucien LaCroix. The famous LaCroix, I heard of you. Your reputation is quite legendary. I have always been fascinated with vampires. Since the day my own mother became one. I was only ten, and she never came back. She dumped me so she could be immortal. I eventually found her, and put a stake through her heart. But even then that didn�t quench my own thirst, my own wish. To be immortal. Now I shall have it.�
He turned to Illya and grinned. �But before I hand you over, I am going to make you regret making a fool out of me. Escaping and running off and then, then you leave Russia and join the UNCLE. Oh yes, you have it all now don�t you.�
Putting the prod down, he used his free hand to reach for Illya�s face and hair. He stroked the flesh gently enjoying the touch of the soft, warm, youthful, unmarred skin. He then moved his hand away and back handed Illya across the face, followed by a punch in Illya�s stomach.
Illya gasped at the unexpected pain, but gritted his teeth waiting for the next touch.
It was a touch he didn�t expect. General Sergei reached down and yanked Illya�s jeans down exposing the genitals to the air. Illya bit down and closed his eyes as the hands began their caressing.
He suddenly felt sick. Where is Napoleon? Almost in despair Illya paused and could sense a familiar tingling feeling in the back of his brain. Napoleon was coming. He could feel it.
�I intend to take my pound of flesh. You may leave now Doctor. Take your men with you.�
The Doctor watched as Sergei slowly began to undo his buckle. With a glance she could see he was fully erect.
�General, I do not think this is the time for such things. It is hardly tasteful.�
�No more then you intend for him my dear. Yes, this one would be quite useful to you. You could mate with him, and see what his offspring would create. Well, that is not going to happen. You may continue your work with the other two specimens.� He started to unbutton his jeans.
She was about to argue about not having her other specimen when she stopped in mid sentence.
All movement and speech ceased when a low sound started to grow in the room. The tone grew intense and even Sergei�s own hair started to stand on end. Turning, they saw where the sound was coming from.
In the cage, LaCroix�s eyes were almost blood red. His fangs fell into place and the savage predator look was there, and something else. Something out of nightmares and horror stories. A blood lust that would only be satisfied by one thing, killing.
The Doctor now backed further away, fear clearly written on her face. It was as if she finally realized what she had gotten herself involved in. Perhaps she was about to meet her fellow colleague�s fate.
LaCroix�s hands were on the bars and before their eyes they were starting to bend.
Sergei moved quickly, forgetting his intended target and hurried to the nearby draw. He pulled out the large Crucifix and pointed it directly in front of LaCroix�s face.
LaCroix, for the first time, did not feel the pain of the cross. For some unknown reason it seemed to show no effect. Later, LaCroix would say it was his blood lust that prevented it from working, but in Illya�s mind, he knew the real reason it had not worked. The Crucifix was a symbol of protection for the innocent from a Vampire�s blood thirst. It was not intended to stop a vampire from killing the guilty, deserving of death.
LaCroix bent the bars in half and slammed his hand against Sergei�s wrist that held the crucifix. It flew across the room, landing at the Doctor�s feet. She picked it up and as she watched LaCroix step out of the cage, she turned and fled.
Sergei, was frightened, more frightened than he had ever been before, but he had not lost his wits. Whipping out his gun, he moved to Kuryakin and pointed it at his head. He clicked the hammer back.
�One more move and I will kill him.�
LaCroix only hissed loudly, his eyes no longer registering intellect. When he spoke it was almost primitive and animal like.
�Do what ever you wish, I will still kill you.�
Fear now gripped him and Sergei knew he was in danger. His mortality was about to come to an end.
Grabbing his last line of defense he picked up the prod and with his free hand struck full voltage against LaCroix�s chest. The still open wound from the stake had not fully healed and that was what sent LaCroix withering in pain, stumbling backwards, and falling to his knees.
Taking the given seconds to escape, Sergei dropped the prod, grabbed the keys and freed Illya�s hands from the chains. The loss of movement and the pain had sapped him of his strength and Illya dropped to his knees, still dazed from the torture. Getting Illya to his feet, Sergei got the blond Russian into an arm lock with the gun still at Illya�s throat.
Helpless, Illya felt himself being dragged out the door.
Getting to his feet, and ignoring the pain in his chest LaCroix narrowed his murderous eyes and set after them.
***
Nicholas Knight was just entering the compound with Aristotle when he felt the presence of two other vampires. Not surprised, Nick saw Napoleon and Waverly land at his side.
Together and without a word spoken, they turned and made their way into the compound.
***
High above a nearby tower a dark shadow watched the four vampires enter the THRUSH base. Smiling, it waited to see what would be the outcome.
***
Doctor Welsh returned to the lab. As she started to collect her blood samples, the alarm sounded throughout the base. Doctor Welsh suddenly wondered if UNCLE had arrived or more vampires. It was a shame of course- she had actually only wanted one specimen. The Male blond vampire she had seen at her project base. She had wanted him for more reasons than just as an experiment. Well, tomorrow was another day. With what she had and the knowledge Kempacuff�s work, it wouldn�t be hard to convince THRUSH to give her more money for her project, and with that money she could hirer a team to capture this Nicholas Knight.
She could still win.
She started out the door just in time to come face to face with four angry looking vampires. One of them was the blond she had so wanted to meet-but under different circumstances. Not as her captive but as her capture.
Nicholas sniffed at the blood vials in her hands. He knew at once by scent it was the blood from Illya and his Master. With one sweep of his hand, he knocked them onto the floor, smashing them into pieces. Seeing the fangs and glowing eyes Doctor Welsh fell back in terror.
Leaving her with Aristotle and Waverly, Nicholas and Napoleon headed out, intending to find their other missing comrades.
Alone with the two older vampires, the woman tried her last hand with the crucifix. Aristotle smiled and took it from her hands without being burned and laid it on a nearby table. Then he looked back at her playfully, with a fang like smile on his lips. He even added a low growl for effect. It was enough to send the woman into terror and take to hiding in the corner.
As for Waverly, if the circumstances had been different, he would have been laughing at Aristotle�s pathetic attempt at a growl. It sounded more like the purring of a cat.
Aristotle made such a poor vampire nowadays. But Waverly had to grin. He was so darn likeable.
Facing Waverly, Aristotle continued to grin like a happy schoolboy at play. �See, I can still do a workable growl. Right, scary huh?�
Waverly only rolled his eyes.
***
He was almost free. His men were entering the compound with guns in their hands. They would deal with LaCroix, buying him enough time to get away. Pushing Illya into a jeep, he started to the drivers seat to make his escape when Illya managed to recover enough to try to hit his captor with a right cross. Sergei ducked the swipe and then slammed a knock out blow across the back of Illya�s neck. Illya slumped over in the seat as blackness overtook him.
Starting up the engine, he slowly backed up and started for the gates.
***
LaCroix was moving fast but not fast enough. The THRUSH men were coming at him, trying their best to take him out. But LaCroix struck back, knocking them down like pins in a bowling alley. His rage was in full throttle but was still weak and his thirst for blood was overwhelming him. He bit into the flesh of one of the THRUSH men who came at him and drained him of his life blood in seconds. Dropping the dead body at his feet, LaCroix stepped over it and continued down the hallway.
Regaining some control, LaCroix watched as a guard came running up towards him. He knocked the last guard into a wall, snapping his neck in the process with a sickening crunch. Reaching the door, he headed outside ready to meet Sergei head on.
He spotted the jeep and took to the air.
***
Napoleon and Nicholas reached outside just in time to see LaCroix descend from the sky and onto a moving jeep. LaCroix reached in with one hand and threw Sergei out of the drivers seat and out into the road.
Getting into the drivers seat, he stopped the jeep and giving Illya a brief glance and seeing that he was still breathing, leaped from the jeep and moved towards Sergei, his intent quite clear. Sergei was not going to live much longer.
Nicholas and Napoleon flew to the scene and landed behind Sergei, blocking him from any escape.
Getting to his feet, Sergei realized he had lost. He briefly looked up at the sky, towards a nearby tower, and seemed to be asking some silent form of help, but none was forth coming. Sergei refused to die at the hands of vampires. Smiling, he pulled out his gun.
LaCroix was about to scoff at this puny mortal weapon when Sergei brought it up to his own head and shot himself.
�What a waste of human blood.� was all LaCroix could murmur.
Napoleon stared at the dead body only for a moment and then headed to the jeep where a heard groaning.
�Illya!� Pulling Illya out of the jeep, he began to examine his partner for any new injuries and saw several dark spots on his body. As usual, his blond partner, wound up with the most injuries and bruises.
Looking up, Illya smiled vaguely at Napoleon.
�You�re late! Again!�
Napoleon shrugged and then pulled Illya protectively in his arms giving him a soft kiss.
�I�ll make it up to you.�
�You had better.�
�How absolutely pathetic!�
The voice caught them all unaware. Looking up, they saw a lone figure standing on the tower top.
He leapt from the tower, and touched the ground lightly with his feet. Standing before the four of them he paced slowly around them. LaCroix, was just starting to come back to full awareness as the blood lust faded and looked annoyed at the appearance of Nemor.
�You are all really a sorry lot. Hello Nicholas!� Nemor stopped just a few inches from the Knight and reached to touch his hair when a Nicholas�s hand snapped out and prevented the touch with a firm grip to Nemor�s wrist. Nemor grinned into the angry face of the Knight.
Pulling away, Nemor took a few steps away and glanced at the blond mortal, who looked as if he was going to need a few days of rest before he would be fully recovered.
�Well, at any rate, it is over. Come along Illya Kuryakin. You and I have date.�
Illya looked up in surprise at this and stared at the known vampire.
�I don�t know you, what are you talking about? What date?�
�It�s quite simple, The council has ruled that I am to be the one to bring you across. Immediately. Tonight.� Nemor watched as the fellow vampire�s faces changed to sudden protectiveness, ready to protect Illya to the death if need be.
�Oh now let�s not be difficult. We must after all obey the council. Other wise...well, the penalty is death...�
Crossing his arms, Illya refused to move, and put on his most irate expression at Nemor.
Undaunted, Nemor started to move towards Illya, but before anyone else could move, two vampires dropped in front of Nemor, blocking his way.
�Oh this is growing really tiresome Alex. Aristotle...how wonderful to see you again. Read any good books lately? Dracula I hear is making a come back, perhaps you should read it and maybe you will remember what its like to be a real vampire!�
Aristotle would not be goaded and simply crossed his arms around his chest and sighed. Unlike his own kind, he didn�t give in to his temper so easily.
�Enough!� Waverly cut in, his eyes glaring daggers at Nemor.
�I thought we had discussed this. The death match, remember?�
�I changed my mind. Alexander. I am going to grant you leniency and forget this whole incident. Provided you get the hell out of my way.�
�No, I�ll not move out of the way, it will be over my dead body before I allow you to take Kuryakin.�
Lacroix joined Waverly and nodded. �And I.�
Nicholas moved to his master�s side and nodded. �And me.�
Aristotle then nodded in turn. �and me...�
Napoleon stepped forward matching his ability. �Me to.�
Nemor stared at them and then laughed.
�You really think any of you can stand up to me? I am stronger then all of you?�
�Against all of us Nemor? I doubt that.�
They stepped forward in unison. Nemor, for a moment, was startled by this unexpected union.
�The council must be obeyed.� He replied. �They will kill you if you disobey their orders.�
Out of the air rose a noise. All turned in time to feel the presence of many vampires approaching. In moments the ground was surrounded by at least several dozen vampires. Twleve stood out from the others. They were robed in silver and gold. The council had arrived.
Nemor smiled at the sight of them as they stood in the field a few hundred feet away.
Looking back at Waverly, he grinned. �You see, now. Stand aside, Kuryakin is mine.�
One of the female arrivals moved, coming forth, she walked straight towards Nemor. She did not stop until she was face to face with him. She stood about the same height as him and had long red curly hair that fell to the ground at her feet.
�Nemor.�
�Lady Ardell. I am so glad you came to watch the defiance to the council�s orders. Waverly himself is ignoring the decree.�
She glanced at Waverly and then her eyes returned to Nemor.
�I am not here on your behalf Nemor.�
Taken aback, Nemor turned to the lady vampire. She didn�t even blink.
�The council has decided to appoint a new council head. You are hereby henceforth stripped of your title of Head councilmen.�
Nemor swallowed in surprise. �What?�
�The council has decided for a change. Beginning with you. Naturally you have the right to appeal.�
�I do INDEED!�
�And we have taken this into consideration and rejected it.� She smugly grinned and then, seeing Aristotle, she gave him a wink. �Hi Dad!�
Aristotle turned to Waverly and the others and smiled at them.
�That�s my baby!� He then added. �Well one of them.�
Nemor shrieked with outrage. �You cannot do this.�
�We can, we have and we did.� Her reply was more then smug, it held a hint of total joy.
Nemor raised his hand and prepared to strike her when a field full of growls erupted causing him to stop the retaliation.
He turned to glare at Waverly and LaCroix. �You haven�t seen the last of me! I will get you for this!�
As he prepared to fly away however, something went flying forward and slammed deep into his chest. A large wooden stake protruded from his body. Gasping in shock, he turned to see the one that had done this. Illya Kuryakin. He stared at him with triumph.
Nemor backed away then, his hands trying helplessly to pull the stake out. But it wouldn�t budge. The vampires and Illya watched as he fell to his knees with the blood coming to his lips.
A few minutes later he lay dead in a pool of his own blood. It was finally over
***
(TBC)