“The master…is he…”

“Of course he is, you buffoon!”

One man slapped the other, punishing him for his stupidity. In the den of their laboratory, shrouded under darkness set purposely in place, their eyes met with fury. Had they not shared a common goal they surely would have killed each other by now. Their bloodlust, while not nearly as impressive as their master’s, was still great enough to tug at them by way of their irritation with one another.

“I did not question the integrity of the spell, brother,” the first man said, his face now red from being struck. “Even though I easily could.”

The other man snarled. “Please. You have always sought to undermine me. Were you not my twin I would disembowel you without thinking twice.”

“I still contend that we should never have substituted the dragon’s blood for—”

A murmur from the casket perched on the table in front of them silenced the middle-aged man. Their argument forgotten, they both stared in awe as lid of the casket shook slightly, and then began to open with a creek.

Exaltation filled them as their master, a man they had studied and admired for years, began to rise out of the coffin. His flesh, having only just began regenerating moments ago once the incantation was complete, barely covered his faded bones. Strips of tissue hung from his partial organs, flapping as he flipped the lid open with one final shove. Soon the muscle fibers would fill in and the veins would creep along through his body, making him whole once more.

However, the veins would be hollow, empty of the nourishing blood he so desired. They would remain so, until he fed.

“Master!” they said in unison. Both twins bowed and then kneeled before the rising vampire lord.

As the vampire’s jaw began to reform, he sat up and allowed his newly grown tongue to articulate his speech. It was an odd sensation, speaking. After all, he had been locked in the final death for decades.

“Where… How…”

“Master, hearing you breathe is a welcomed sound.”

“Even more so than seeing you arise!” the other twin quickly added. “The spell has not only rebound your spirit to this world, but it has animated you successfully!”

The vampire slipped one leg out of the coffin and then the other, placing his feet firmly on the ground as his naked body came fully into itself. Skin as black as the night formed over his body, slowly turning color until it matched the pale moon. He took in a sharp breath as the cold air in the laboratory swept over him, wrapping around his stark form like a blanket.

“I am…reborn?” he inquired as he stared at his hands, watching the dead skin regain a semblance of life.

“Yes, master. We brought you back.”

The vampire looked over the twins kneeling before him. They looked at him expectantly, as if they were holding their breath for him to do something specific.

“Do I…know of you?” the vampire asked. “Are you my servants?”

“Servants we are, master, but we have never had the fortune to be in your presence.”

“We have studied you,” the other man said. “Learned about you. Discovered your greatness. We know of your defeat by the Invaders during World War II. We know of your rebirth and second death at the hands of the despised Sub-Mariner.”

The vampire’s face twisted at the mention of his enemies. “Yes. I remember. And again by his ally, Captain America. But this does not explain how I am standing here once more.”

“Recently the Lord of Vampires, Dracula, was involved in a plot of great consequence that involved the so-called great heroes of this age.”

“Dracül.” The vampire sneered, but instead disgust it was a sign of respect. “A monster so impressive even I had to call him Lord.”

“My brother and I used to work for an organization called AIM,” the nearly giddy servant said. “The science we were involved in was on the level of sorcery. During Dracula’s return, we found an opportunity to claim a sample of his blood just after a fight he had with the heroes. An arrow from the one called Hawkeye had pierced a part of Dracula and been forgotten at the scene. We claimed it.”

“And we used it!” the other servant said. “Along with a spell that we uncovered through our division at AIM. We acquired the ingredients and waited to the chosen night. Master, you are alive once more!”

The vampire smiled. His nostrils had finished reconstituting and he pulled in a drag of air through them. His heightened senses picked up the still semi-rotted flesh that hung from his bones, as well as the chemicals scattered throughout the room.

But there was one other thing that he inhaled. Something he hadn’t been privy to for a long, long time.

He looked down at his waiting servants and his smile broadened. “Tell me,” he said. “Tell me why.”

The twins traded a glance before one of them answered, “Virtually all the vampires left in this world after your demise were either inferior or quickly hunted down. We knew that if we could somehow find a way to resurrect you that you would be able to lead us into a new age of vampires.”

“Turn us, master!” the other pleaded. “Make us like you! Make us your generals and together, with your strength and wisdom, and our genius and loyalty, there could be nothing to stand in our way!”

The twins looked into the vampire’s eyes and saw a twinkle there. It could have been a reflection of the light, or perhaps a trick that their own eager senses played on them. Perhaps it was an inner look at the vampire’s appreciation, or even a sign of gratitude.

The reality of the small twist of light was something much more sinister.

The vampire reached out with both hands, grasping the twins’ necks in his clawed fingers. The speed with which he moved was inhuman and there were few left in this world that could have even been aware of it.

He picked them up from the floor as easily as a child would his toys. The tips of his claws dug into their necks and the sight of blood trickling down their throats elated him. It had been so long, so very long, since he had tasted it. It was the only scent that filled his nose now, all he could focus on.

“I am not interested in amassing followers like Dracül,” the vampire said over the choking sounds of the twins. “And I am certainly not interested in being sought out as a last resort by a pair of rodents because bigger fish was unavailable. I have better things to do.”

He squeezed and sliced open their tracheas, spilling the worm blood over his hands. His mouth opened and his fangs nearly sweated at the promise of such bounty. His tongue ravaged the fountains of wealth, slurping it down before a single drop could hit the floor.

The purging of their lives was as sweet as it ever had been. He not only enjoyed the taste of the sweet nectar, but he relished it. He suspected that others of his ilk craved blood as a mere necessity, whereas he desired it for its flavor.

It was because of this that he had taken the moniker of Baron Blood.

He dropped the empty vessels on the floor, having drained them up and saw no further use for them. He never had much use for servants. He preferred to do his own work with his own hands.

And there was work to be done. Very specific work.

Baron Blood licked his lips, enjoying the remnants of his meal. Before he had taken their lives, he had felt the pull of the night. He knew when it was according to the solstice and he knew why tonight had been their “chosen night.”

There was only one night in the entire year that could pull at him like this. It was something he found strength in. He mulled over the thought of this particular night having some sort of cosmic convergence associated with it, but decided that things like that didn’t much concern him.

In the end, all he wanted was another source of life to drain. There were certain lives he wished to drain first, and he soon would. Now that he had returned, his enemies would be beneath his fangs within time.

He looked to the table beside him, glancing over his casket that the resurrection spell had coalesced over. Draped across the end of the casket was a fabric of black and purple, a familiar garb he had once worn with empowerment.

As Baron Blood slipped into his old costume and he smiled at what was to come, the night of All Hollow’s Eve treaded on in the darkness.

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END

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- Author’s Notes -

Obviously there is more story to be told here. While I would have loved to devote an entire arc in an anthology title to this character, time was against me. Halloween was coming up and I had dedicated myself to writing a portion of the special.

Originally this story was supposed to more deeply involve Devil Dinosaur, but due to time and general plotting for future stories, I had to cut him. He was not forgotten, however! See that one line in the sixth paragraph about substituting dragon’s blood? Yeah. They used Devil’s blood. Won’t say how they got it, but they used it. Imagine how pissed he must be!

So, about there being more story. Yes, I have something developing that will come along soon enough. One glance at this story I wrote awhile ago about Agent Axis may give you more clues as to what is coming. Suffice it to say, for now, I firmly believe that M2K needs some kickass villains to return to the surface to cause some trouble.

I wonder who else will be brought back into the spotlight…

-D. Golightly