"Shut up, Venom." Veyric kept his voice low.
Blade sheathed his sword and turned. "You alright?"
Still cold, but something close to concern had crept into his tone.
"I'll live. Thanks." Veyric rolled his shoulder. The Widow's Bite had done a number on him. His muscles still tingled.
"How'd you even find us?"
Silence...
"I've been following you."
"What?!" Veyric stared. "You stalker!"
Blade's expression didn't change.
"I owe you my life."
The words came out flat, but something complicated moved beneath them.
"I was a monster. I nearly killed you both. You brought me back."
A pause.
"So I decided to shadow you until the debt was paid."
Veyric scratched his head. "So you tailed us all the way to Stark Tower?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you jump in sooner?"
"I wanted to see what you were capable of." Blade's tone was indifferent. "If you couldn't handle a threat at this level, I'd overestimated you."
Veyric rolled his eyes. "Sure. You were waiting for a dramatic entrance. King of cool, as always."
Blade didn't deny it.
"But now I'm certain." His gaze settled on Veyric. "You do have the potential to save this world."
Veyric shrugged. "So you're on the team now?"
A beat of silence. Then a nod.
"I am."
[Ding!]
[Blade's attitude toward you updated to: Respect.]
[Blade's affinity toward you +10. Current value: 90.]
Something warm bloomed in Veyric's chest. Looking at that stoic face, it struck him that this lone warrior needed a place to belong more than he'd ever admit.
"Welcome aboard, Blade."
He held out a fist.
Blade blinked. Then he raised his own and bumped it.
From across the vault, Peter's voice rang out.
"Done!"
He'd wrapped Beast and Colossus in layer upon layer of webbing, binding each into an enormous cocoon. Beast thrashed inside his, snarling with rage. Colossus twisted and wrenched at the silk with raw strength, but the tensile resistance held.
"Whew..." Peter landed and bent over, hands on his knees, gulping air. "Those two are no joke."
Veyric walked over and clapped his shoulder. "Nice work. I'll take it from here."
Black Widow trailed behind him, eyes scanning every shadow. Blade stood with arms crossed a short distance away, watching without expression.
Veyric crouched in front of Beast's cocoon.
"Venom, clear his mouth."
A tendril peeled back the webbing over Beast's face. Fangs snapped at the air.
Veyric clenched his fist. Blood welled from the wound on his palm.
"Keep this up and I'm going to need a transfusion..."
A dozen seconds passed.
Beast's body seized. He retched a mouthful of black blood, and the dead film over his eyes dissolved. Blue fur regained its sheen. Rotting skin knit itself whole.
Consciousness returned. Beast blinked, dazed.
"I... where am I? What happened?"
Confusion thick in his voice, edged with fear.
Peter stepped forward and tore the cocoon open.
"Long story short, Hank." Veyric grinned. "You went zombie. I fixed you. Now you owe me one."
Beast sat up and stared at his own hands.
Memory hit in fragments. The outbreak. The fall of the X-Mansion. Endless, gnawing hunger. And that sweet blood, moments ago...
"God..." He covered his face. His voice shook. "What have I done..."
"Don't." Peter's hand found his shoulder. "This wasn't your fault."
[Ding!]
[New hero healed: Beast!]
[Experience gained: +1.]
Veyric nodded to himself and turned to the second cocoon.
Colossus was still fighting the webbing, his silver body twisting against the silk.
"Bigger package, but hopefully the same dose works."
He squeezed fresh blood into the metal giant's mouth. Colossus drank with desperate, animal urgency, like a desert creature that had finally found water.
The healing was fast. Metallic skin regained its luster, the dark fluid seeping from the cracks vanished, and the dead grey receded from his eyes.
Veyric pulled his hand back and let Venom seal the wound.
"Veyric, you're running on empty. You need food." Venom sounded worried.
"Yeah... we'll deal with that back at base."
Peter ripped the cocoon open. Colossus reverted from steel to flesh and knelt on the ground, bewildered.
"...What did I do?"
"You and Beast tag-teamed us pretty good." Veyric shrugged. "No hard feelings. You weren't exactly in the driver's seat."
[Ding!]
[New hero healed: Colossus!]
[Experience gained: +1.]
Beast pulled himself up and approached Veyric.
He leaned in close and fixed him with a stare that could only be described as... unsettling.
The look of a man gazing at the rarest specimen he'd ever encountered.
Or perhaps a prized lab animal.
Goosebumps crawled up Veyric's arms.
"Uh... Dr. McCoy, why are you looking at me like that?"
Beast rubbed his hands together, practically vibrating.
"Veyric, your blood... it's a biological miracle! Could I collect some samples for analysis? Understanding its composition could be critical to humanity's future!"
[Ding!]
[Beast's attitude toward you updated to: Fascinated.]
[Beast's affinity toward you +30. Current value: 80.]
[Bond level: Lv. 0 (Stranger).]
Veyric took half a step back.
"Sure, but can you stop looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a rare lab mouse you're about to dissect."
Beast waved both hands. "No, no, no! You're far more valuable than a lab mouse!"
"..." Veyric pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dr. McCoy, that's somehow worse."
Peter burst out laughing. "Ha! Get used to it, Veyric. This is Hank whenever he finds something interesting to study."
Even Black Widow cracked a faint smile.
Blade's mouth twitched. Almost imperceptibly... Almost.
The tension in the room loosened.
Colossus rose to his feet, walked to Veyric, and bowed, deep and formal.
"Thank you for saving me." Sincere. No pretense. "If not for you, I might never have woken up."
"Don't mention it." Veyric smiled. "All in a day's work."
Peter gave the group a quick rundown of Veyric's healing ability and the situation at Fury's bunker.
Veyric stood to the side and looked around.
Six people now filled the underground vault. Spider-Man, Blade, Black Widow, Beast, Colossus and himself.
In a world overrun by the undead, this was already a force to be reckoned with.
He drew a long breath.
"Everyone." He let the word settle. "You've seen what's out there. Zombies everywhere. The heroes who were supposed to protect this world have become its greatest threat."
"But I can cure them. I want to build a team, save as many people as we can in this apocalypse."
His gaze moved from face to face.
"Are you in?"
Beast spoke first. "Absolutely. I need to study that blood of yours. And as a scientist, I have an obligation to help save lives."
Colossus cracked his knuckles, metal ringing against metal. "I've been cooped up long enough." A wide grin spread across his face. "Let me at those zombies."
Blade was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "I already told you. I owe you my life."
Black Widow met Veyric's eyes. The corner of her mouth curved up, and that was answer enough.
Veyric looked at the five of them, and a rush of something fierce and unnamed surged through his chest.
Six people.
The image of the original Avengers flashed through his mind, and the words left his mouth before he could stop them:
"Avengers Assemble!"
Five heads swiveled toward him in unison.
Peter blinked. "Do we have to pay royalties for that?"
Beast lit up. "We get a battle cry!"
Blade frowned. "Childish."
Black Widow, the only actual Avenger among them, allowed herself a knowing smile.
Veyric rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. "I figured we needed a rallying call. Something to keep morale up."
Peter's eyes widened. "You know what? That is pretty cool."
"Should we pick a team name?" Veyric offered.
"The Hope Alliance!" Peter's hand shot up.
"The Healers' League." Beast stroked his chin.
"Zombie Smashers!" Colossus laughed.
They grabbed the Arc Reactor and headed for the exit, bickering and laughing as they went.
Stark Tower was a wreck. Battle damage scarred every corridor. They picked their way around potential threats and made it outside without incident.
Noon. The empty sprawl of New York stretched before them, still lethal, still haunted. Zombie shrieks echoed from somewhere deep in the ruins.
But the mood among the six of them was unexpectedly light.
Peter even started humming.
High on the exterior wall of Stark Tower, tucked into an unremarkable corner, a surveillance camera sat.
Its lens rotated. A tiny, silent adjustment.
No blinking red light. No sound at all.
It watched the six figures disappear into the city.