Industrious: Engineering Marvels - Chapter 20 (Patreon)

'I feel like I live in a world of cardboard.'

The thought passed through my head as I landed on a wall, my senses heightened to the point that I could feel the vibrations of the impact rebound back to me. It was a primitive and archaic form of what panzer kunst was meant to utilize. But I had no advanced cybernetic sensory suite to send and receive high-energy acoustic feedback, no compact supercomputer plugged into my brain to interpret those signals, and no complex series of actuators and pneumatics to serve both as replacement for flesh and bone and simultaneously so much more...

I tapped my knuckles against the hard stone even as the fading momentum of my impact began to lose out to gravity's vertical pull on me. In response to my gentle strike, hundred-year-old rock set in multi-ton walls shattered like glass and exploded like a fragmentation grenade.

Mentally, I tracked Morita and Dougan, reassuring myself that I'd dragged my fight far enough away to not catch them in the crossfire, but kept myself close enough I could still reach them if the need was dire enough.

Reaffirming that my comrades were safe, I launched myself off the wall in the wake of my hail of stone projectiles.

Baron Blood, whoever he really was, could take a lot of punishment.

Jagged spikes of rock speared him through in a dozen places, smaller and sharper razor-like fragments slicing open wounds that would have bled a normal man out in seconds.

The monster in front of me simply howled in rage, pain, and offense as he threw his head back and showed off the gaping maw full of fangs, somehow nearly overshadowing the rumble of bone-jarring rumble of collapsing stonework around us.

Part of me was glad this state would only be temporary.

That same part of me was afraid of what would happen when I recovered completely.

Within the world of the Elemental Nations, I'd stood among the most exalted of the combatants and world-shaking threats. I'd been the right hand of the Hokage Uchiha Satsuki, herself casting a very long shadow indeed.

No.

No, I'd been-

Baron Blood slammed a hand towards me in an animalistic slash that I slid around. The technical term for the maneuver was 'schatten forgen' or 'shadow tracking.' A technique with no formal application in real combat except to dodge... at least, that was true against an opponent of any level of real skill. Against a creature that ran on violence, instinct, and hunger?

I fled into the blind spot created by his own strike, flowing around the attack and tracking the shadow his extended arm created. I could see from the microexpressions playing across his face as he lost track of me for a split second, his black eyes roving as he tried to reacquire me in his field of view. Of course, those tells also allowed me to see his nostrils flaring, and I knew it'd be a matter of fractions of a second before his other senses informed on me.

So I hit his center mass full-force.

His torso exploded, sending arms, legs, and his head shooting off in a spray of bloody mist that I had to flex wind-chakra to deflect the shower.

Even as his body parts began to twist and reform in a controlled river of blood, his head screeching a foul sound, I allowed myself the slightest of smirks.

“You utter trash! I'll tear you apart for this insult, you pathetic oriental!” The quickly-regenerating vampire screamed at me.

“I have no words for a man who has lowered himself to the status of a glorified mosquito,” I replied bluntly, my vocal cords thrumming in a way I normally flinched from touching. “DIE.”

For a timeless moment as I landed on the banister of a stone staircase, I watched the order rebound in the vampire's mind, his half-formed body falling to the floor even as one of the stone columns nearby finished collapsing with a burst of sound I felt deep in my gut as it rang through me.

My fingers itched for a third chakra tag, but I resisted the urge as I felt my pool of energy ebb a bit more. Time was of the essence, yes, but my very soul was already feeling taxed by what I'd done so far. The extra energy would salve the damage, not unlike the flood of adrenaline I'd used when arriving on this world, but there was no denying I was already worsening my injury.

The vampire's face contorted in some combination of agony and stupefaction, his barely-connected arms reaching up to claw at his head. “Get it out! Get it out! Getitoutgetitoutgetitout!”

Absently, I rolled a chair leg onto the tip of my boot and launched it into the air before catching it. I bent down, suddenly, steadying the piece of wood over my shoulder as the fledgling impacted my back, piercing himself on the stake.

I turned as the ash flaked off my back, watching as about two dozen more vampires crawled out of the darkness of the now-destroyed castle floor. I cast a glance towards Baron Blood, still writhing on the ground as my command echoed through him. “I'll be with you in just a minute.”

Then I threw the chair leg and pierced another vampire tensing to charge, forcing them all to hesitate.

Just for a moment.

While my fingers wove the necessary signs.

“Personal Technique: Oil Flame Dragon!”

It was only after the technique's name was completed, after the last word had left my lips, after the chakra was formed, after I was on the edge of releasing it...

It wasn't until that moment that I remembered-

It wasn't a real technique.

Still, habits ingrained from a life I'd dreamed over three decades long of living as a soldier in the great shadow wars that spanned an entire continent... those long, bloody rituals forced me to push through.

-and a creature with dagger-like fangs burst into existence, its body made of chakra-enhanced napalm as it swept through the remainder of the building.

It... had all been a dream, hadn't it?

Then I was flying through the air after Baron Blood, and I had to push the impossible out of my mind for the sake of dealing with reality.

…

“By the Power of God Almighty! I Banish You!”

 Steve's voice brought me out of my fugue and I shook myself as the deep, visceral soreness came over me. Blinking, I looked up to see Captain America in all of his costumed glory, holding up a rosary with a small cross and gesturing towards a screaming vampire.

Oh, right. This is my life now.

Eh, fuck it. Back on the clock, soldier.

I overrode the pain as much as I could, tampering with my neurochemistry to allow myself to ignore it, and worked my hand to grab one of the many knives I carried on my person. Flipping it out, I was gratified that my aim was every bit as sharp as it always was.

As the creature of the night clutched his ruined eye and began to shatter into motes of dust, Steve looked down at me in surprise. “Ray! You're up!”

I slowly got myself vertical, popping my neck and feeling out my balance as I did so. “For a given meaning of the word, at least. Probably don't have much fight left in me, but...”

I shrugged.

Steve barked a short laugh and clapped me on the back, though more gently than he usually would have. “Don't worry about it, we're just cleaning up. One of them just managed to sneak up on me while I was reloading. I'm just glad you're awake. You seemed pretty out of it after...”

Steve stumbled with his words for a moment when someone else spoke up with a cough. “When you did whatever you did to make that great putain dragon!”

I chuckled as I noticed the man with the bandaged-wrapped leg. It didn't seem to be a bad one, given both his spirits and the lack of more blood. “Just don't expect an encore anytime soon, okay?”

Frenchie grinned around the cigarette in his mouth, picking up another handful of bullets and reloading his own rifle. “Don't sweat it, Snake Eyes. You're just taking a breather here in the resort with me and the Captain. We'll both be fighting fit in no time at all.”

Absently, I noticed him favoring his right side and wincing as he moved his left arm, but not badly enough to denote a break. In all likelihood, it was just a bad fall after getting shot, or perhaps a cracked rib at worst.

I looked around. The makeshift medical area I'd been dragged to was behind one of the columns I'd knocked down in my fight with Baron Blood, creating a relatively protected corner bracketed on the other sides by collapsing walls.

“How are Dumdum and Morita?” I asked, still surveying our surroundings, both for the sake of my own awareness of potential threats and in low key admiration of my handiwork.

“We met up with them about ten minutes after you two tried to kill the master vampire,” Steve stated, sliding home a newly-loaded magazine with a satisfying click. If he decided to keep his rosary in hand, I didn't make an issue of it.

“Baron Blood,” I replied absently, deciding that we were safe enough, even if I could still hear gunshots in the distance. “That's what he said his name was, at least. No idea what his real one was.”

Which wasn't entirely true. I remembered something about the character, distantly. I think he was supposed to fight the WWI analogue of Captain America? I think that was Union Jack or something? Sounds right. I wonder if he's 'canon' to this timeline?

I hadn't actually read up on much of the Great War, but if this world has mutants, vampires, and supersoldiers already... odds are that something or someone was running around back then.

“Merde,” Frenchie spat, looking at me with new eyes. “I heard legends about him. You sure-no, he looked the part.”

“Who was he?” Steve asked, a little more 'business' as he slowly and carefully climbed over fallen stonework to get a better view on things.

“Some monster from the Great War,” Dernier replied. “Thought he was a myth some of the old-timers dreamed up to explain why people went missing in the trenches when it got dark.”

Steve grimaced, shook his head, and went back to watching for danger.

Belatedly, I realized I hadn't done a gear-check and got to that. Although I'd need to reclaim my bag at some point, everything else I had been carrying seemed to be still on my person, though. Someone had even been thoughtful enough to wrap a few of the cuts and bruises I'd earned in my fight. They would fade soon, unlike the wounds on my soul. Though, thoughts of injuries brought another consideration to mind. “So why are you here with the wounded, Cap? Thought you'd be tip of the spear, like always.”

Steve cleared his throat and his posture was such that I believed I would see his ears turning red were it not for his mask.

That was only confirmed by Frenchie's chortle. “Oh, the Good Captain got himself in a little spot of trouble, trapped between a few of the beasts when they tried to come for you when you passed out. Our second-in-command was quite firm that he take a rest from combat and guard us instead.”

I gave Steve a once over. “How bad was it that Bucky had to go all 'mother-hen' on you?”

Steve coughed again and, as he turned back to give me a mild glare, I could see the fringe of a flush around his eyes and lips. “Look, it's already closed up and it was just a lucky strike. Vic and Logan got them off me before they could do any real damage. Speaking of which...”

There was a speculative silence following the trail of the half-finished sentence, but I could put the pieces together. Logan, Victor, and close quarters with a trio of vampires...

“I owe Logan big for taking a claw that was meant for me,” Steve stated pointedly, not quite staring at me, but coming close. “They got his brother, too. Looked a lot worse than it was with all that blood.”

“S'alright if you don't know anything about it, took a bunch of us fellows by surprise, too. Especially the claws,” Frenchie chimed in.

I shrugged and turned away. “I just figured another man's secrets were another man's secrets. I've got plenty of them myself.”

Steve kept eyes on me for a moment, before nodding. “Just wanted to make sure you knew everyone was going to write their reports a certain way, make sure there weren't any misunderstandings with the higher-ups.”

“I'll keep it in mind,” I replied, giving the man a firm nod of my own.

“Hey!” All three of our heads snapped up at the call from beyond a pile of rubble. “Friendlies incoming! Don't shoot!”

“All clear,” Steve shouted back, keeping his rifle in his hands even if it was pointed towards the ground now.

Around the corner Bucky led the remainder of the Commandos. Tellingly, I saw that Logan and Victor were wearing utterly shredded shirts that were caked in drying blood. Their eyes met mine and, as the group started setting down gear, I shrugged. “Nice fashion statement. I hear the pulp-fiction barbarian look is in this year.”

The half-brothers blinked, then snorted, Victor rolling his eyes. “At least we've been awake, you little shit. All done with naptime?”

Around us, various members of the team began to subtly relax.

Just as cake.

“Lay off Snake Eyes,” Dumdum unexpectedly grunted, setting down a heavy weapon he'd picked up from somewhere. Looked German, so it was probably a prize of war. “He earned that damn nap.”

Victor grinned, showing off a bit more tooth than he usually did as he sat down. “Never said he didn't. Blowin' through a few walls and whippin' up a dragon takes it outta' you, I guess.”

“Like I told Bucky back when we ran into each other, don't expect many more dragons or rabbits out of hats anytime soon. Those are for special occasions,” I replied.

“Speakin' a' weird ninja shit,” Logan growled, reaching over his shoulder and grabbing the handle-no, the hilt sticking out of it. “Vic n' I managed to pull it outta' the damn wall it was stuck in. Found the sheathe stuck in a pile of rubble.”

I caught the lazily thrown blade with a grin and a nod. “Thanks. I'm glad the wall didn't collapse on it.”

Logan grunted, taking a seat next to his brother.

“We've been tryin' to decide which one of 'em is the king of England now,” Dino Manelli smirked, adding to the banter as the rest of the Commandos began reloading and pulling out parts of rations or bottles of water and liquor.

“And I grabbed the rest of your shit,” Morita stated, walking over with a tired expression on his face as he dropped my backpack.

I cocked an eyebrow, opening it up. “Thanks. Got some shit in there that'd be hard to replace. Your leg okay?”

Morita shrugged, looking embarrassed. “Nothing bad. Just a pulled muscle or somethin'.”

“He tripped,” Dumdum grinned behind his bushy mustache as he lit up a cigar.

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Morita grumbled, making his way over to a good batch of rubble for seating.

“So, what are we looking at?” Steve asked, tilting his chin up as he glanced towards Bucky.

“Nothing good,” the other supersoldier replied with a sudden scowl. “We're setting the rest of the bombs, just have the basement to go, but the bloodsuckers have stopped crawling out of there, so it's probably safe enough. There might be some experiment stuff the eggheads would want, though, so we should sweep it.”

Steve nodded. “Any sign of the prisoners those records Ray found showed?”

Pointedly, none of us looked very hopeful for any positive response. In fact, most of us looked rather grim. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, after all.

Bucky shook his head. “Nothing yet. We might find... something in the basement.”

There were shaking heads and shots of alcohol all around, quiet sounds of regret and dismay mixed in.

“Alright, take ten to finish eating and reloading,” Steve stated. “I'll be on watch with-”

“Me,” I stated, jerking my head as I shoved some jerky into my mouth and took a long pull of whiskey. I wasn't really much of a drinker, but if I killed my sense of taste alcohol was good enough fuel once my body got done with it. That and a bit of water had me feeling more alive than dead.

“You sure?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I'm not physically injured, just spiritually exhausted. It doesn't mean I can't swing a sword or shoot an arrow,” I replied firmly, fastening my sword to my back and unfurling my bow.

Steve nodded. “Ray and I are on watch. You've got ten, but make sure your weapons are nearby. Had one of those monsters sneak up on us earlier.”

Serious looks were traded around as Steven and I made our way to an easy chokepoint. On the way, Dumdum and Morita caught my eye, the former tilting his head in a silent call. Stepping over, I leaned against the collapsed pillar for a brief moment. “What's up?”

“Thanks,” Morita said bluntly, reaching out his hand to give mine a firm clasp. “We were fucked, pure and simple.”

“Yeah,” Dumdum nodded. “Fucked right and proper before you started punched through the walls and tearing those vamps apart like that.”

I shrugged, slightly awkward about the praise. “I do what I can, you do what you can. We fight the good fight and try to come home in one piece. That's all anyone can ask of us and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.”

I paused. “I'd probably try to kill that fucker and make sure it took, though.”

Both men snorted and cracked grins at that. I sighed and pulled my mask out before slipping it back on. My slightly-distorted voice spoke up again. “Anyway, back on the clock. You two take a load off. Even if you puny mortals can't punch apart castle walls, you're probably pretty tired yourselves.”

“Hey, fuck you Snake Eyes. Talk shit when you can hit the broad side of a barn with something made for this century,” Dumdum replied, chuckling.

Morita just laughed.

A moment later, I was taking a post opposite Steve as we stood watch over a mostly-uneventful shift. Mostly because we did have one of the straggler vamps show up. Thankfully, we weren't quite at the point in time where my arrows would be cast from some unpronounceable twenty-syllable kind of plastic and a wooden shaft through the heart was just as good as a stake.

Then we were in the basement and...

It was bad.

It was... really just awful.

There were... a lot of bodies.

There were also plenty of more in-depth records that we boxed up and carted off with us out of the grotesque laboratory we'd found. The final room had been an obvious storage area for 'food,' but was empty at this point. It was a bitter reminder that sometimes we just got there too late to save anyone-

I stopped, looking around.

Logan and Victor noticed me, their nostrils flaring as they took in scents.

“Someone else is here,” I stated, looking around the damp and dank dungeon and counting lungs and feet. “I hear breathing and pacing.”

“Hmm... woman,” Logan nodded, audibly snorting and gaining a few raised eyebrows at the act. “Adult, but young.”

Victor turned towards a corner of the laboratory, which was really just a more well-lit section of the basement. There were few doors or walls down here, the space having obviously been kept largely as it was, save for the power and gas lines running through it.

“Here,” Victor growled, pushing away a medical cart to reveal a large stone door with a thick plank of wood across it. “Hey, who's in there!?”

There was a moment of silence where I heard the footsteps stop, before a woman's voice rang out. “Help, Please! They've been holding me captive down here for months!”

Dino stilled abruptly, his eyes widening in shock. “Nina! Nina, is that you!?”

A half-hysterical laugh was his reply. “Oh my god! Dino?! Please tell me that's you and I haven't finally gone crazy?”

“Jesus Christ! I thought you went down on that ship back in June!” Dino yelled, storming forward to pull the bar free as the rest of us traded cautionary glances between ourselves. Guns discreetly came up, I collapsed my bow and stowed it for my sword, and Victor and Logan flexed muscles as if ready to pounce.

Steve, always the one to take up a new burden, stepped forward as Dino began trying to pull the heavy door free. “Nina? Can I ask what you're doing here? You're Nina Price, right? The socialite?”

“I was on a Liberty Ship that sank and was picked up by a German U-Boat. They had some insignia I'd never seen. They said they were an organization called Hydra.” She replied through the stone.

Steve put his hand up just as Dino got the door to move an inch, holding it in place to the other man's obvious surprise. “Ms. Price, I'll apologize for being blunt, but I've just fought through an entire castle full of vampires. Did they turn you into one?”

There was a lengthy, damning pause.

Perhaps Steve's hearing was good enough that he caught the despondent sigh through the thick material. “No. No, they didn't. I was born with a family curse that made me one. Hydra realized what I was and wanted to use me for their research. I... haven't been exactly cooperative. Hence the door.”

“Nina, what-?” Dino asked, jerking back in shock. “I've seen you in the sun! We went to that beach together in Cali!”

“But you remember when we were children?” Nina asked, and I saw Dino's eyes widen. “I... learned how to manage it, but when I was younger I had that 'skin disease' that wouldn't let me play outside?”

Dino cursed quietly under his breath.

Then I jerked, my head joining Logan, Victor, Bucky, and Steve's as we heard engines.

Steve looked around and grimaced before grasping the thick steel ring attached to the door. “Ms. Price, we need to leave right now. Don't make me regret trusting you, for Dino's sake if nothing else.”

The woman on the other side was wearing tattered clothing and obviously hadn't bathed in quite a while, but was pretty almost despite that. Long blonde hair trailed down her back and over a pair of pointed ears. Large black tattoo-like slashes ran up and down her cheeks and forehead, framing eyes that dimly glowed with a light of their own accord.

Nina gave a shuddering laugh through the inner door of thick iron bars. “Now you know why I always refused those invitations to nightclubs, Dino.” She smiled sadly. “Sorry you had to find out like this.”

“You two can catch up later,” Bucky stated, shaking his head as he and Steve jointly grabbed at the locked door. “We need to get out of here. One, two, thr-”

Nina obviously realized what they were doing as she grabbed onto her side. With a screech of tortured metal, the door came free.

Everyone tensed as the vampire walked free from her cell, taking a shuddering breath and wiping away water from her eyes. “Not that I'm not grateful, but I think you're right. We should leave, now.”

And we did.

With only a bit more violence along the way.

~~~

Okay, I'm a little late on this one, yes. However, you get extra length for your troubles. The chapter just needed to be longer, so that ate up some time. Also, my sister unexpectedly asked me to assemble some furniture for her. At any rate, I'm only a few hours later for my 'weekend' deadline and I hope you can forgive me on that.

This chapter closes out the Vampire Castle Arc and the next will tie up loose ends. Short time skip back to Britain to refuel and, likely, a Red Skull interlude as well. So look forward to that.

Next up... Hmm, <checks list>... will either be Industrious OG Timeline or Where Your God Is, I think. I should have that update out before the month is done with a final Winning Peace update out for either Halloween Night or November First. That chapter will go out along with the new poll, as usual.

Until then, hope everyone is enjoying Spooky Season and is planning on having a safe and fun Halloween!