Chapter 17: The Blood Hunters

Death goes to the old human bunker to discuss the state of the new project created by the mad scientist, Doc.

Death storms to the human bunker still in a rage from his argument with Toxic. He’s so furious that just the stress of it has drained his energy. The skin of his face just can’t seem to hold to his bones anymore. His eye sockets sag down by his nose giving the appearance of a melting wax dummy. Of course he’s using one of his stolen powers to create an illusion around him. He’s completely sure he left the NGP base undetected. He can’t let go that his emotions are still steaming that Toxic could even talk to him like that. Not only the insolence, but the blatant threat that he will try to get others involved. He can’t afford an uprising, not now that he’s so close to launching his plan. He needs to maintain his deathly grip on the NGP.

He enters inside the seemingly empty vault. He has purposefully left the main parts of the bunker the same as the day he massacred the humans, to allow just a bit of deception if anyone did ever wander inside. He made sure there would be no bodies, no blood, no evidence to show the struggle. Just an empty bunker full of questions.

After navigating a few long hallways he arrives at a wall. A laser scanner ejects from the ceiling. It’s similar to the one at the NGP military base. It scans him revealing the wall is actually a secret door. It slides aside divulging a much larger section to the bunker. Inside, rows upon rows of glass cylinders stand tall filled with a green liquid. The LED lights in the cylinders produce a creepy glow throughout the room. One by one Death marches past these cylinders without a second glance. They are filled with terrible biological experiments. With each passing row they grow more extreme in their evolution.

The first row, humans, preserved humans floating in a pickle jar. Second, what once were humans, surgically combined with animal parts. Next, stolen drones with the continuation of the animal features and additional integrated tech. This evolutionary model has taken a considerable jump towards its creator’s goal. They appear wolf-like but much larger. Their skin is black, no fur. Their body is agile and muscular. Their hind legs are much smaller compared to their front legs. They have hands with long fingers and sharp claws rather than paws. Technology has been integrated into every fiber of their being. A curved piece of metal covers the head doubling as a helmet and an integrated visual enhancer.

Death climbs the short stairs approaching the creator of these monstrosities. He’s a human, wearing a white science coat, and thick glasses.

“I need another hit, Doc.” grumbles Death to the mad scientist.

“Ashtaroth! What took you so long? I was starting to wonder when you’d be back. I’m excited to show you my newest creation.” responds Doc, turning from his chair.

“I don’t care about your creations right now! I didn’t spare your life so you could spend all your free time on these projects. I need crystals, now!”

“I think you’ll find my new discoveries quite pleasing, Master Death.”

“The deal was I would keep you alive as long as you charged my crystals. What do you have ready?! Look at me, my skin is coming off!”

“Of course of course.”

Doc reaches under his desk pulling out a small lockbox. He presses his finger to the biometric reader. The box opens exposing a full box of black osmosis crystals. Death greedily submerges his hands. His skin aggressively latches onto his bones. His skin smooths over so any wrinkles or signs of weariness have faded away.

Death questions in a surprised tone, “These are from the haul I gave you? All of these have been filled?”

“Everything in this box has been filled. It was good you were able to find so many. I’m still working on filling the rest. The process is slow right now, but I have full confidence that I’ll be able to do so.”

“Really now? You’ll be able to fill all the ones I’ve given you?”

“Yes, in fact, I’ve been pondering what I can make for you with the abundance I've been given. A full necklace, or maybe a crown and scepter might be more fitting for the, King of Death? For now I’ll give you this bracelet.”

Death replies in a greedily surprised tone while putting on the bracelet, “Royalty? I do like the way that sounds, but how is this possible? Where are you getting the energy to fill this many dark crystals?”

“I knew you’d be interested. It seems freeing me from the jail of these pitiful humans is finally going to pay off for you.” says the mad scientist with a smirk. He walks over caressing the closest cylinder as though he’s done it a hundred times, “You just can’t rush these things. After all those years experimenting on these humans and drones. I told you our interests would align. My Blood Hunters allow for such a huge area of experimentation. Sure at first it was all about keeping them alive and controlling them, but now you have brought me Gemming! Oh how much more I’ve been able to uncover! Just the study of energy regeneration alone has brought us out of the dark ages!”

Death looks up at the creature floating in the cylinder, “You mean this is Gemming?”

“What’s the matter, don’t you recognize him? You should, with this evolution I found that keeping the body type closer to their original biped state enables them to use their power better than if they were enhanced into the animal form.”

Death summons a swirling ball of water in his hand before speaking, “Yessss, his power is still intact. The tattoo still works!”

“He has fully integrated with the tech. His body has not rejected the changes. His ability is fully available to him, and you. Not only that, but just like any Blood Hunter he’s fully under the control of the commands the computer gives him, that we give him.”

“So you’ve perfected it. The Ultra Blood Hunter.”

“Turns out as a side effect I’ve been able to siphon the power from Gemming. I can take his energy, filtering it through the drones to turn it into dark energy. That’s how I’ve been able to fill these crystals for you. That’s how I’m going to fill all of them for you. This way is much faster than what I’ve been doing with the drones before.”

“I didn’t realize you were so far along. If you perfected the Ultra Blood Hunter, then it's time to carry out the next phase.”

“I wouldn’t be too hasty now. We have to be sure I can duplicate the process with others. If they died… Well, I wouldn’t dare rob you of one of the powers you collected. I still have more experiments to carry out. I would love it if I could have a few more Ultras to experiment on. I’m so tired of humans and drones.”

“It just so happens that was one of the reasons why I’m here. I have another target for your Blood Hunters.”

“Ohhh who is it?!”

“Two targets actually.”

Death reaches in his pocket pulling out two small microscope slides with a drop of blood on each, “He’s driven me to the edge. He’s causing unrest at the NGP. He has to be removed, now. This is the blood of Toxic.”

“Yes! The poison Ultra. How did you get it?!”

“You don’t know? I have the blood of everyone I’ve given my tattoo to. At the first pinprick, I take my trophy.”

“Who’s the second slide?”

“This is the blood of Thunder.”

“The stone man! His body will be a perfect edition. Think of the possibilities!”

“I can’t have Toxic be the lone disappearance after an argument with me. They would start to ask questions.”

“You know what this means?!”

“It means soon we’ll be able to take every Ultra at the NGP. They will become Blood Hunters. They will power my dark crystals. All of them will come under my control. All of their powers will be mine to keep, forever. I’ll capture every Ultra that comes across my path. I’ll have an army and finally be powerful enough to kill that demon!”

Death hands Doc the blood samples, “Wait till tomorrow night. I want to be back at the base before activation. That way it’ll stomp out any suspicion. I need everyone to see that it wasn’t me that took Toxic. More importantly I want to be there to watch his terror as he’s taken.”

Doc takes the blood to a machine to analyze. He speaks before activating the machine, “We won’t send out Gemming just yet. We’ll keep him here to charge your crystals. Two of the last-gen Blood Hunters are more than enough to handle this task without killing anyone and summoning that demon.”

Without a goodbye Death storms out of the bunker as fast as he entered. He activates the illusion power concealing his return to the NGP. Doc sighs from the excitement. He finds his way over to his first creation. He whispers, pressed up to the glass, “Soon I’ll be able to save you, my son. I don’t care how many lives it takes. I’ll find a way to bring you back.”