35. Smells Blood

"So doc, anything to share yet?" asked Heather McNeil, aka Vindicator, as she entered the room alongside her husband James Hudson, aka Guardian.

Medical bay A1, informally known as "The Madhouse", was where all super-powered beings, be they magical creatures, mutants, or even cyborgs, had their wounds treated and where they could be effectively contained if it was required. This section of Department-H's headquarters was built on top of the greater structure, a place where any surprising arrivals or unexpected fights would not damage the structure. The walls were nonetheless reinforced enough that not even the Juggernaut couldn't easily punch through and besides the many highly educated doctors and engineers, dozens of Department-H soldiers stood guard. It was in this place that a not so regular, yet not unheard of, examination was taking place.

"Almost nothing we didn't already know," answered Shaman, his eyes aglow with power as he called forth the powers of the Earth and the Sky to see into the true nature of what lay on the table. "The creature is certainly from another plane, a being of the unreal, a demon if you prefer. Its foul essence deeply ingrained into the mortal flesh of this Adahm character. I have never seen something like it."

Vindicator frowned at his words, looking at the malformed creature, its body full of bandages, breathing only through the help of a universal respirator, a tool originally designed to deal with mutant and alien physiology´s but which worked on the creature's mutated body all the same. Heather had seen many beings like this before, malformed monsters thirsty for blood and without care of whom they hurt.

"In which way?" she finally asked, deciding not to wait for her husband to continue the inquiry.

"This creature, this demon, it is not strange for beings like this to manifest in our world, especially if they have help doing so. But this creature not only has manifested, it has also possessed the one who called it and that is just..." Shaman paused, trying to think a way for his friend to understand.

"That's just…?" continued Vindicator as Guardian looked thoughtful as he observed the creature.

"There are many planes and realities, our world, the material world, is just one of them and not any more real or important than any other," explained Shaman. "Beings from outside of it, be they mighty gods or stains upon the universe like this one, do not exist in our plane and are subjected to different rules when coming here. Demons like this, for example, cannot be killed outright."

"Ok, so far I'm following but your point is?"

"If you think of the body as a vessel of the material then our souls are in a way closer to their matter. The stuff that a 'demon' is made of is almost indistinguishable from the makeup of a soul." Shaman paused as he put some of his tools back into his bag. "Normally a demon would need to either destroy their possession target's soul to take full control of its body, a very difficult task for most beings and not something most who can would even bother with, or to bind it to their will. Both are limiting to them, as their essences end up trapped inside a flimsy body, at least when compared with what they had before. This creature on the other hand…"

Realization dawned upon Heather as she put two and two together. "You are telling me this thing isn't just occupying its host's body?"

"Not at all. I can find traces of the victim's soul but that's just it, traces. To my Sight it looks as if the demon fused with him, both their souls and the otherworldly matter of the creature mixing into something new. I think the union is not perfect but this is worrying nonetheless as this is like nothing I have seen before." Finished Shaman with a tired sigh.

"But why do this? What do they gain by it?"

"Gain? The human I'd say little," as he spoke he cast another glance at the malformed creature, his face full of pity, "but the demon? That I can answer."

"As I told you before, the demons can't just exist in our world for long, their entire being is just too different to the rules which govern our reality. To stay here means a constant expenditure of power and a never ending effort just to remain, nevermind exerting the full force of their might. This means that either they effectively lose the majority of their power while existing in our plane or that they find a host for them." As he spoke Shaman pointed at the mangled human-demon. "The problem is that the host's flesh limits their own, even if their skin was tougher than adamantium and their muscles able to level mountains, their bodies are now only those of whom they possess. Nevermind that such possession only lessens the price and does not fully erase it, for the body feels the demon's essence as intruding the more the creature draws upon its power and tries to push it out. A being powerful enough can easily resist this but the body degrades as a result."

"But we have seen powerful creatures enter our world, or at least try to, the Great Beasts of the North and Dormammu come to mind," protested Guardian.

"That's true, but they also work under different constraints. Whereas a demon is only limited by how much power they can safely exert on our reality, a god- for that's what those creatures are- isn't, they are instead bound by strict immutable rules. This comes from a difference in their basic natures, a demon destroys and corrupts whereas a god, no matter how dark, can always create. For that reason for a demon it turns into a task of finding an equilibrium between spending power and making use of it, whereas a god needs to comply with the rules that govern them and then they become free to do as they will," finished Shaman.

At her side Guardian nodded, so far the explanation had made sense. "So, in other words, the more a demon tries to do the less it can?"

"Yes, more or less," agreed Shaman. "The problem comes with whatever this thing is, as the way its essence and the soul of the target are entangled means the body is not fighting it and instead accepting what designs the demon's essence holds for it. In other words, what we are seeing is not a human flesh puppet or a magically enhanced marionette, but the demon's true body remade in worldly matter."

The magnitude of the problem finally became clear to them. From what Puck had said (and they could still hardly believe they were taking Puck's 'expertise' on demons seriously) the creature was fairly weak and that 'only' translated to it being a major threat for anything on the weaker side of an MBT. If something really powerful decided to try the same trick…

"Do we have any leads?" finally asked Guardian, his voice steady but his worries clear to Heather.

"None so far," answered Shaman. "Puck said he wanted to look at something on his own and took the new kid with him but besides that? I have no idea where this thing even came from, much less how it managed what it did or why."

"What about the robber? Was he responsible for summoning the demon?" asked Guardian.

"What I have seen so far points at that not being the case. The villain seems to have used some kind of pre-made ritual tablet. A very obscure and very powerful artifact and not something an amateur like him could ever make on his own."

Guardian looked thoughtful for a moment, probably weighing their options as he tried to think of their next course of action.

Heather could already guess what he was thinking. While it was true that the demon was alarming, it was not something that Alpha Flight couldn't deal with if push came to shove. Even if a purpose-made weapon or an exploitable weakness would be a welcome help, neither would be necessary. Of course, that was for individual demons. If more than a few were to appear...

"Then priority number one should be learning where this thing came from. Once we know that we can start looking into figuring out the 'hows' and the 'whys'. We can't allow whatever gave him the tablet to summon something worse or even to make more of them." They all nodded at that,

Happy to see them agreeing, Guardian went back to explaining their plan.

"Well, then let's see about contacting Puck and-" but he didn't get to finish, as a guard came in, his sudden appearance alarming the others, who quickly raised their weapons in response.

The guards in the room had been in a constant state of alert since the mutilated demon had been brought in. Their fingers itching to pull the triggers of their weapons at the barest provocation and it showed by their uncharacteristically aggressive reaction.

The man stopped in his tracks, wide-eyed at the array of weapons pointed at him and the group of superheroes about to strike him down if he made any wrong movement.

The standoff lasted for a second before Vindicator sighed and decided that they had no time to waste.

"What is it officer?" Vindicator asked the man before anyone could do anything foolish.

Happy to see someone offering him a way out the guard answered quickly, "Sir it is urgent, we just got an urgent message ten minutes ago."

"What?" exclaimed Guardian. "And why was I not made aware until now?"

"Sir, the Med bay is shielded and intercoms are down for repair in the area, I had to run all the way from the command center." Quickly explained the trooper, clearly worried about the angry man who could bend steel with his bare hands.

Only then did Vindicator remember that the entirety of the intercom system was down after a number of failures had forced them to revamp the entire system. It would still be another week before it was ready and due to the base's inner shielding, regular radios and phones would not work.

"Just get to the point," Shaman cut in.

"Ah, sorry." The man's face went from worried to sheepish. "Like I was saying, we just received a message from Puck and Steel Talon. They have engaged another of the creatures and are requesting support."

After hearing the news both Guardian and Vindicator cursed, Shaman simply settling for tired acceptance.

"Go get the QRF ready, my team will reinforce them in the meantime," Guardian told the trooper before turning to the Med bay's guards. "The rest of you see that this thing does not escape."

A flash of light enveloped them and a second later the three heroes were gone, leaving behind their surprised mundane subordinates.

"You heard the boss, get going!" ordered one of the senior guards, startling the messenger trooper and prompting him to run back from where he came from.

No one saw the cruel smile that adorned his face as he left.

---​

Gleaming towers of steel and glass, beautiful architecture, from humble houses to glamorous cathedrals. The city of Montreal was the pride of the nation... at least according to the local Montréalaise. It was a cosmopolitan city, with languages and peoples from all over the world, though currently it was host to a pair not-so-of-this-world at all.

"Ah, la ville aux cent clochers, it's been a long time since I last came here," commented the first.

"A great city indeed! But that still does not answer why we are here," answered his companion.

Currently, the strangest pair was walking down the streets of one of the least reputable parts of the city. One was what could charitably be called a 'short man'. With a height of barely one meter and a broad and powerful frame he fit perfectly into the fantasy idea of a 'dwarf', his clothes a no less attention-grabbing colourful 'uniform'. His companion was even stranger, at more than two meters tall, with a similarly powerful frame, covered in feathers and steel and four powerful taloned limbs. His birdman appearance a striking contrast with the normalcy of the city.

These two were no other than Alpha Flight's newest member, Steel Talon, and his self-proclaimed mentor, Puck. Currently on a mission of great importance.

Or so Puck said.

"Ah ye of little faith, have I ever been wrong? Has one of my plans ever failed?"

Steel Talon smiled, or at least Puck though he did. "One could say so. Grand adventures those may have been but fail a lot you did!"

With a barking laugh Puck slapped his companion on the back, nodding at his words. "We all need a little bit of 'unexpected' every once in a while, life wouldn't be as fun otherwise, eh?"

"That I can agree with! My father always says adventure is the most rewarding thing there is, especially if you have good friends alongside you," agreed the birdman.

It was rare for the newest Alphan to speak of his home or family, mostly evading the question whenever it came up, something Puck had already noticed.

"Your old man sounds like a sensible fellow," he agreed. "Did he ever take you on an adventure of your own?"

Guardian had asked Puck to learn as much as he could of their new companion, worrying about what problems he could bring to Earth. So far Puck had learnt little about Steel Talon, but he was sure that the birdman was some kind of alien and that he was a good person. This seemed to satisfy Guardian, who trusted Puck's ability to evaluate someone's character. Even then, Puck was curious about his so-called apprentice and wanted to get to know him better, if for no other reason but that he liked the non-human.

"Not truly, ever since I was born I have tended to our state's treasury. I wasn't even allowed to call him father until a short time ago and only in private," the birdman explained.

"That sounds tough. Were you a bastard or something like that?" While Puck had many praiseworthy qualities, tact was not one of them.

"I do not understand that term but no, I was my lord father's legitime creation. I was given my tasks since I was born and relished in accomplishing them," explained Steel Talon.

"Born for it? That is interesting, you should tell me more about your home one of these days then," suggested Puck.

The birdlike superhero nodded at Puck's words but let the matter drop, like he had done every time his past came up.

They continued walking through the mostly deserted streets, trash and filth growing as they went deeper into what was unofficially known as M-quartier.

Montreal had historically been a city with low crime and poverty, streets were safe and everything, from the appearance to the substance of the city, was something to be proud of. But things had started changing ever since the so-called 'Age of Marvels' started. With constant superfights damaging the economy and the newfound rejection of mutants, a number of ghettos had grown around the once beautiful city, leading to the origin of M-quartier, where most of the city's mutant population resided.

"This place has gotten worse as of late." And Puck meant what he said. He had not been to M-quartier for almost two years, but the houses, mostly prefabs, were in a state of disrepair, cracked paint, and boarded windows. The people looking either frightened or with barely contained aggression. Interestingly Puck could see no obvious mutants, with all visible mutations being of the smaller and less visible types.

As they passed by Puck saw two young children digging through the trash, who quickly noticed him looking and before he could do anything ran away. The short hero could only shake his head at the sight, remembering his own childhood and the many nights he had to spend with an empty belly.

As they went deeper and deeper into the M-quartier the homes changed into small, ugly apartment buildings, not unlike what Puck remembered seeing in former Soviet nations. Once inside they confirmed these buildings solid and liveable but if he were to make a guess Puck would bet no one sane would actually want to live in one. The contrast with the bright and colourful depictions from the propaganda posters lining the hallways making it even worse.

"Are we far?" asked Steel Talon.

Biting back a curse Puck looked at the number of the closest door. "No, we are almost there. We just need to go to the next floor and-" Before either could react the door they were about to pass by exploded outwards, an armoured body being the cause.

Their surprise only lasted for a second, decades of fighting having honed some of the best battle reflexes in the world, Puck was moving before the broken door even touched the ground, Steel Talon close behind him. What they found inside was not what Puck expected.

A woman was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood running from a cut lip and a clear bruise on the side of her face. Her eyes were full of fear as she looked between the barrel of a gun pointed at her forehead and the other two occupants of the room.

One was a young boy, roughly ten years old if Puck were to hazard a guess. He was swaying, his eyes slightly unfocused as he glared at the third person. He was a beast of a man, close to 2 meters tall and bulging with muscle, he wore blue body armour and a black spherical helmet protecting his head, though part of it was cracked. It was easily recognisable garb for Puck, for it was department-H's ground forces uniform.

The man was saying something, but Puck could not understand it, the words barely a murmur when compared to the sound of his boiling blood. He had seen similar sights before and he cared not for a repeat at home.

"What is going on here?" roared the Canadian hero.

Everyone turned to stare at the two new arrivals, the very tall birdman and the world-famous short sized hero. While the woman and the boy were surprised the trooper's face morphed into a rictus of fear.

"T-this is official business, I'm apprehending a criminal and request your help!" spoke the trooper, barely even flinching under Puck's hateful gaze.

"Oh, a criminal eh? Who would that be, this kid who can barely stand?" Puck grabbed the boy by the shoulder, helping him steady himself. "Or maybe the defenseless woman you are pointing a gun at? Of course, you have yet to even say what their crime is."

"Well sir of course! I… they… I was sent to retrieve-" But Puck cut him off before he could say more.

"I don't particularly care what you were 'told' to do. I only care that I see a uniformed man who works for the government pointing a gun at a defenseless civilian's head," he said as he closed to where the man stood. "Last time I saw this I didn't wait for an explanation and just did humanity a favour, I assume you don't want to make me do it again, eh?" Puck finished, standing before the man, his powerful frame tense like a lion about to leap on its prey.

Finally realizing his situation and how utterly outmatched he was, the trooper, ever so slowly, holstered his gun and left the apartment. As he helped his companion get back on his feet, Puck was sure he swore something about revenge and whatnot but did not worry overmuch, knowing their type usually bit more than they could chew. Even if he did come back for revenge Puck would relish the chance to teach some manners to another jackbooted mook.

"Are you ok?" he asked the woman as he offered a calloused hand, which the woman took with a pained smile.

"Yes, it hurts a little but it's not the worse I've suffered," she answered as she moved to where the boy now sat, his eyes slightly less unfocused. "It's ok sweetie, you did well," she said as she hugged the boy.

"What happened?" asked Steel Talon, speaking for the first time since the altercation had started.

"The same as always, these Unity pigs," she spat the word, her contempt clear, "think they can walk over us. They heard my boy had used his powers while playing with other children and came to 'tell' us of how dangerous it was. Leo is psionic but a fairly weak one so when one of those thugs hit me he got angry and..." she gestured to the broken door.

"Yeah, I figured," nodded Puck.

"Unity?" asked Steel Talon.

"A political party, the one with a majority to be precise," explained Puck as he helped the woman move her son to a small bedroom. "They came into power around two years ago with the election of Prime minister Gary Cody and their policies so far have been what I call of a questionable nature, extremely so."

"Gary Cody is a piece of shit and his party a bunch of fucking fascists," supplied the woman.

"I guess that's another way of explaining, eh?" agreed Puck. "Still, these were not regular policemen but H-troopers. They shouldn't be here, much less doing this."

The woman seemed confused for a second as she looked at Puck until realization dawned, "They have been patrolling here for months now, it was a big deal when they first came, talking about how the police was too 'soft' for the task. Are you saying you didn't know?"

Puck frowned. "No, I didn't."

"Yes, the police was bad but at least they treated you like a person, these beasts act as if we were nothing more than criminals," the woman said dejectedly.

Puck's frown lessened, a wry smile coming back to his features. "They shouldn't and they won't. I'll get to the bottom of this when we are back. Nothing like this will happen under my guard, not if I can do anything to prevent it. I swear it."

Puck was dead serious as he spoke. He had faced cruel regimes and violent government thugs before and it would not matter if this time it was his own government doing it, they wouldn't get away with it if he had anything to say.

The woman, while seemingly unconvinced, could feel Puck's sincerity so she just smiled and nodded. "I wish you luck."

They stood there for a second, a moment later Puck's regular carefree smile was back on just as if nothing had happened.

"Anyway we still have to go see our dear friend. Take this and get that door fixed, if these goons come back call me."

Before she could refuse Puck handed the woman a stack of bills and a presentation card with his number written on it.

"I… Just… thank you," she finally managed to say.

"Just doing my job."

As if nothing had happened Puck and Steel Talon were back on their way, the short walk to their target thankfully uneventful.

Set on the third floor, close to the only fire exit and possessing a carefully reinforced security door, the apartment was only notable if you knew where to look. Puck was one such person.

"Privet, druzhishche!" shouted the hero as he violently kicked the door open, steel and reinforced wood snapping like twigs.

"Hallo Kumpel!" exclaimed Steel Talon too, gaining a curious glance from Puck but not caring enough to ask.

Inside the room, sitting on a brown couch was a surprised man dressed only in briefs and a dirty wife-beater, his left arm half extended towards a beer.

"Did you miss me?" smiled Puck before the man jumped, instantly running full tilt towards the semi-open window on the other side of the room at a speed that did not match his unkempt appearance.

Sadly for him Puck was a little faster, a piece of the newly broken door hitting the man square in the back, making him fall to the ground in a heap.

Before the man could react Puck was beside him, lifting him by the arm as Steel Talon moved to block the window.

"Oh Anatoly, didn't I tell you not to run next time we saw each other?" Puck shook his head, "It is regretful that filth like you isn't rotting in jail but at least you could make the effort not to be an annoyance or, if you really have to, then at least make it interesting."

"What do you want karlik?" said the russian man in between gritted teeth as he glared at Puck..

"Bah, not even an insult worth a damn. You truly are a sad piece of trash, to think you wanted to play in the big leagues," answered the hero, ignoring the man's anger.

Anatoly Rasputin, uncle of Piotr and Illyana, better known as Colossus and Magik, was a former member of the Solntsevskaya Bratva and a practitioner of the arcane arts. After a failed attempt at using his niece to bring the brutal criminal Omega Red back to life, he had been imprisoned until his escape and relocation to Canada, where he was granted amnesty as a political refugee much to Puck's surprise.

After that the man had assisted the government in a variety of tasks of whose nature Puck was not very clear but which he now deeply suspected. Eventually he had been 'retired' and was now enjoying, for lack of a better term, his retirement living amongst mutants and other 'undesirables'.

"Fuck you!"

Without saying anything Puck applied more pressure to the man's arm, his superhuman strength enough to make the bone groan.

"Please keep quiet, we shouldn't bother the neighbors."

While Puck did not particularly care if anyone found out where he was, seeing as he hadn't made it a secret, he didn't want to attract undue attention until his questions had been answered. Meaning that it would be better if they didn't make more noise than strictly necessary.

"So I assume this gentleman is the man we came to see?" asked Steel Talon.

Puck was sure Talon found his behaviour strange, while the newbie hero was no stranger to violence Puck was sure Talon was not one for wanton violence. The idea of requiring it to obtain information probably not something he had thought of. Puck liked that kind of innocence.

As if confirming his thoughts the birdman began to fidget as he looked around, clearly uncomfortable with Puck's actions.

Well, I guess he had to learn that this business isn't always as straightforward as we would like.

"Yes, Anatoly Rasputin ex-mafia, ex-cultist and all-around waste of air," said Puck as he dragged the man before roughly throwing him back to the sofa, "but he got his uses."

"Just let me be, I haven't done anything," protested Anatoly as he stood up.

"Maybe, we will see," answered Puck as he pushed the ex-gangster.

"Argh!"

"So anyway, why don't you answer my questions as a good little cultist you are so I can go on my merry way and not bother you anymore, eh?" Puck was smiling, but his smile did not reach his eyes.

"Just say what you want and leave me alone."

"Well, making a long history short, someone is using demons or more likely being used by demons. They got these nifty little tablets they can use for some good ol' instant possession and I would like to know where they come from so I can put a stop to it."

Anatoly's expression, which had remained annoyed but unworried, suddenly changed into fear. His eyes bulging as he tried to push Puck away.

"Idiot! Let me go, let me go! They are going to kill us all!" He thrashed and pushed and bit and clawed, trying to remove Puck's iron grip from his arm.

"Calm down, just tell me what I want to know and I'll be on my way."

"No no, you don't get it if they know you are here if they hear I talked to you-" The man was fighting desperately now, though his human strength was not nearly enough to push back Puck.

"Just calm down, answer my questions and we'll be gone with none the wiser. Quick and painless, like your first prison shower, eh?"

The man ignored Puck's jab but relaxed as asked. "You… you are right, I just need a moment. Just a moment to focus..."

The man relaxed for a second, his breathing calming as he closed his eyes. But when he opened again gone was the fear, now pure animal terror replacing it.

"No no! They are here, I can feel them!" he yelled, spittle flying at every word.

Puck was an old hand on such matters. He had his own encounters with the dark arts and those who practiced them and knew enough to fear whoever was using the demons. So whereas many others would have considered the Russian practitioner's sudden hysteria nothing more than an act, he knew better.

"Careful!" He warned Steel Talon, seeing that the birdman's sword was already half drawn, but before he could do anything else the ground below him exploded, a pair of dark red hands grabbing him by the legs and dragging him and Anatoly down...

---

AN:

I'm baaaaaack baby!

Now you may be thinking "Geez Deatstroke, you promised a chapter like 3 weeks ago" and yes, I did. But I also knew that if I posted it then I woul take too long to post another. So instead I tried to write some more before posting anything else.

If you are curious the stuff about how demons and other extra planar beings interact with the universe is kinda made up. It ahs basis on canon but some stuff which was undefined I changed in a way I felt fit well with the lore. If someone more knowledgable has an issue with this please raise it up and I'll see what I can do to fix it.

Now for this chapter's wiki time:

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Anatoly_Rasputin_(Earth-616)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Solntsevskaya_Bratva_(Earth-616)

[THIS CHAPTER IS SET PRE-CONQUEST]