Chapter 212: Daywalker

From the shadows, Spider-Man surveyed the interior of NightClub. People danced, drank, used drugs, and committed acts that would have gotten any normal establishment shut down in minutes.

None of these people were normal.

He launched four Spiderangs in different directions from his belt. Moving through the shadows, he rigged every exit with UV devices. He could have ended this in seconds.....but tonight, he planned to loosen the leash.

Why not just deploy UV grenades and finish this quickly? Karen asked through the comms.

Spider-Man paused.

Karen.....I am going to tell you something important, he said.

His voice carried no inflection. No anger. No sadness. Nothing.

For a long time, I have kept my demons under control. But every day, they tear at the door. Screaming for me to let them out. I hear them howling, growling.....and every day that passes is worse than the last.

Karen tensed as she listened to the flat, emotionless delivery.

Do you know what I see right now?

She shook her head through the HUD.

Bags of flesh that will turn to dust in the next few minutes. Power.....true power does not come to those born stronger, or faster, or smarter. It comes to those who are willing to take it. To face the consequences and responsibilities that come with possessing it.

He drew his katana.

It is time.

A muscular vampire stood directly ahead, the scent of fresh human blood oozing from his body. Spider-Man conjured a ball of fire in his palm, illuminating his corner of the club.

Every head in the building turned.

He hurled the fireball directly into the vampire’s chest.

The creature never saw it coming. The flame punched clean through his torso, leaving a smoldering hole with charred edges and a still-beating heart dangling grotesquely from the cavity.

Before the body hit the ground, Spider-Man was already moving. He gripped the katana with both hands and brought it down in a single devastating arc, splitting the vampire’s skull in two. The body crumbled to ash. The bloodstain remained.

He activated the Spiderangs.

A fine mist descended from the ceiling.....UV-laced gas that flooded every duct, every crack, and every corner of the building.

Screams erupted.

Vampires in close proximity to humans suffered severe chemical burns across their exposed skin. Some who had been feeding dissolved entirely. Spider-Man hijacked the club’s speaker system.

"EVERYONE WHO IS HUMAN.....GET TO ME NOW! OR YOU END UP LIKE HIM!"

Stunned civilians snapped out of their paralysis and scrambled toward his voice.

Several vampires attempted to take hostages, only to discover that prolonged contact with the UV-treated humans burned them on contact. Others rushed the exits and disintegrated against the UV laser barriers Peter had installed.....barriers that let the humans pass through unharmed.

"Stop panicking, you idiots!" a large vampire bellowed. "He is just a man in latex! We outnumber him and we are stronger!"

As if a switch had been flipped, every remaining vampire in the club turned to face Spider-Man with hunger burning in their eyes.

"You little rat," the vampire snarled. "You were an idiot for confronting us. You are trapped in here with us now. We will feast on your body and blood until your last heartbeat."

Spider-Man stepped out of the shadows. His boots echoed across the blood-slicked floor.

"That is where you are wrong."

He stopped centimeters from the vampire’s face and looked him directly in the eyes.

"I am not trapped in here with you. You are trapped in here with me."

He unleashed every ounce of killing intent he had been suppressing.

The atmosphere in the club shifted instantly. The air turned thick with the stench of decay and iron. Several vampires staggered, overwhelmed by the sheer predatory aura radiating from the masked figure. Even Karen, watching remotely, detected the environment shift to something primal and grotesque.

Spider-Man moved.

He struck the lead vampire’s knee, buckling the leg sideways. He seized the creature under the arm, wrenched upward, and shattered the shoulder joint. Then he locked his forearm behind the vampire’s neck, applied a single sharp upward pull, and ripped the spine free.....skull still attached.

The body dissolved to ash. The blood did not.

The remaining vampires charged.

What followed was not a fight. It was an extermination.

Spider-Man employed every technique Raizō had ever taught him.....close-quarters brutality stripped of all elegance, designed purely to kill as efficiently and as violently as possible.

He cut, dismembered, and destroyed every vampire that came within reach. At some point, conscious strategy gave way to pure instinct. He stopped thinking. He only saw red.

He grabbed two vampires by the throat and crushed their windpipes in his fists. He used the Venom Blast to electrocute one until its eyes burst from the sockets. He ignited his fist with fire and punched through another’s chest, ripping out its heart.

When it was over, he holstered his weapon and used echolocation to sweep the building for survivors. His neck cracked as he rolled it.

One heartbeat. Hidden beneath a shattered table.

He split the table with a single blow and found a young vampire cowering underneath, eyes streaming with tears.

"Listen carefully," Spider-Man said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You are alive because I have decided you are alive. Understand?"

The boy nodded frantically, snot running down his face.

"I am letting you live so you can tell the tale. Now.....run."

He deactivated the UV barriers. The boy scrambled to his feet and bolted for the exit. As he reached the door, he heard a low, melodic whistle behind him. He made the mistake of looking back.

All he saw was a towering shadow with glowing white eyes.....watching him as if it were reading his soul.

He blinked, and the shadow was gone. He ran faster.

Spider-Man examined his reflection in a blood-streaked mirror. The suit’s colors were completely indistinguishable beneath the crimson coating.

"How long?" he asked.

One hour, fifteen minutes, and thirteen seconds, Karen reported, her voice unusually subdued.

You eliminated approximately one hundred and thirty-two vampires.

He turned toward the HUD feed. Karen looked away.

Before he could respond, the club’s front doors exploded inward, crashing against the walls. Three figures stepped through.

Spider-Man recognized all of them instantly.

"God! Is this the Saw room?" the first man exclaimed, taking in the walls, floor, and ceiling.....all painted in blood. "It looks like a bizarre crime scene."

"Hey, you! Stay still!" a woman ordered, drawing a compound bow and aiming directly at Spider-Man’s chest.

Peter ignored both of them. His attention was fixed entirely on the third figure.....the African American man clad in black tactical gear, carrying knives, pistols, and a katana across his back. Every muscle in the man’s body was coiled, ready to strike. This was someone who commanded genuine respect.

Spider-Man picked up a broken chair leg, drew a playing card from his belt, and flicked it toward the first man.

"If you are going to attack someone, make it something dange.....AHHHHH!" Hannibal screamed as the electrified card wrapped him in a web cocoon.

Abigail immediately loosed an arrow. Spider-Man tilted his head, letting it pass by his ear, and began walking toward her.

"That speed is mediocre for killing a vampire." She fired again. He batted the arrow aside with the chair leg.

"Too slow. You are already dead."

Another arrow deflected.

"Again. Faster."

She nocked a specialized arrow.....the tip embedded itself in the wooden shaft. Spider-Man launched it back at her. The arrowhead blinked twice and released a cloud of sleeping gas.

"Not bad."

He brought the gas cloud to his face, inhaled deliberately, then exhaled a thin wisp of vapor. "Insignificant."

Abigail’s composure cracked.

She reached for another arrow, but Spider-Man was already in front of her. He snapped the arrowhead off and held the broken tip near her eye.

"Very slow."

He dropped the shard and turned to Blade¹. In one fluid motion, he extended his claws and slashed. Blade pivoted 180 degrees and threw a kick that Spider-Man evaded by stepping backward.

"I already did all your work for you, Eric ’Blade’ Brooks," Spider-Man said calmly. "Or do you prefer Daywalker? Either way.....I already got what I came for."

He raised one claw. A single drop of dark blood glistened on the tip.

"All of this for a drop of blood?" Blade growled.

"Blood of the Dhampir."

Blade’s eyes narrowed. He let out a low growl and lunged.....but Spider-Man melted into the shadows and vanished.

"We will meet again, Blade. Hannibal. Abigail."

Blade scanned the room. Abigail moved to his side, bow drawn, sweeping every corner.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

Blade inhaled deeply. "Gone."

"That fast?"

"His stealth is superior to anything I have encountered. I could not detect his scent. His heartbeat was controlled to the point where it blended with the rats in the walls." Blade paused.

"He is dangerous because of the control he possesses. Free Hannibal. We are leaving."

Behind them, the web cocoon dissolved to dust.....leaving no sample to analyze.