"Bloody hell, I feel like shit..." Joey Chapman, son of a dockworker and current bearer of the Union Jack legacy, opened his eyes with a groan. He was in Romany Wisdom's bed, he noted, though he didn't recall coming here at any point last night. Still, the idea wasn't entirely unappealing to him - he'd shared some very good times with Romany before their break-up. "Romany?" Joey sat up in bed, immediately regretting the action. Pain flared through his entire body, bringing with it a fresh batch of memories...
He'd been in the park, investigating a grisly series of murders... There had a battle with someone...or something...Joey frowned as the finaly memory locked into place. A werewolf. He'd found a werewolf and had managed to kill it, but not before it had scratched him.
Joey was pondering that rather disturbing piece of information when Romany entered the room. She was dressed for work, her hair swept back and her sparse makeup in place. She seemed both amused and worried. "So, sleeping beauty awakens," she murmured. "You know, Joey, I was aware of the fact that you were dying to get back into my bed but I had no idea you were taking the notion so literally."
Joey swung his feet out of bed and noticed that he was stark naked. Rather than allow Romany to see his embarrassment, he stood up and began to look about for his clothes. "Very funny, my love. But I'm afraid that satisfying your rather passionate desires wasn't really on my mind last evening. How did I get here?"
Romany leaned against the wall and made a point of watching the show before her. She would never had dared admit it, but Joey was in terrific shape... "Don't ask me. You collapsed at my front door. Your bike is outside, covered with blood... I treated your scratches as best I could - one of them was particulary nasty. Mind sharing with me what happened?"
Joey found his Union Jack uniform and began sliding it on. "You have any wolfsbane lying about?"
Romany blinked. "Excuse me?"
Joey looked her square in the eyes. "I was scratched by a werewolf last night - now, I'm not as up on my lycanthropy lore as I should be, but I think that sounds pretty bad, don't you?"
Romany pursed her lips, the occultist in her obviously intrigued. "Very. There are differing legends about lycanthropy - but I'd say that the next time a full moon rolls around you could be in for quite a night."
Joey pulled his mask in place. "A whole month, huh? That'll work." He headed for the door, but stopped when Romany touched his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"Well...I have classes this morning and then I'm going to try and find out more about the werewolf I killed last night. If I can find out who infected him, maybe I can keep this from becoming a full-fledged werewolf outbreak in London."
Romany crossed her arms. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about finding a cure for yourself first?"
Union Jack leaned forward and kissed Romany on the forehead, making her gasp in surprise. "That's what you're for, Rom. You're going to look into the old folklore on this and find a way to help me."
"And why would I waste my valuable time doing that for you?!"
Joey headed towards the front door. "Because you're madly in love with me and your life would no meaning without me?"
Romany colored, picking up a small pillow and throwing at Joey's retreating head. It smacked off the door just as he closed it. "Damn you, Joey! I hate you more every day!"
"Terrance Phillips. Aged 22. An economics major." Joey stared at the newspaper before him, his body still tired and full of aches. He set the paper down and closed his eyes. To everyone else in the cafeteria it looked like he was drifting off to sleep - another exhausted student who'd wasted the night before at a pub, no doubt. But in reality, he was trying to blot Terrance's face out of his mind. All he could think about was the fact that he'd killed this Terrance guy... Terrance hadn't been a criminal mastermind, he'd been a victim. Infected with the same disease that was silently ravaging Joey's own body right now...
"You're looking about as happy as I am, Joey." Jacqueline Falsworth's voice shocked Joey out of his reverie. He looked up to see the gorgeous blond sitting across from him, her eyes looking puffy and red - an obvious sign that she'd been crying.
Joey cleared his throat. Jacqueline was the mother of his best friend, Kenneth, and his death had hit them both exceptionally hard. It was even harder to think of Jacqueline as Kenneth's mother at all, these days - given the fact that she now looked as young as Joey himself, thanks to a blood transfusion from the original Human Torch. "Jackie...It's a bit of a surprise seeing you here. Are you enrolling in some classes?"
"No. I wanted to talk to you about Kenneth..."
Joey ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. When it rained, it poured... "Look, I know I haven't been by as much as I promised, but I've been busy. I miss him too, you know."
Jackie smiled softly. "I know you do. I'm not here to complain about your lack of appearances at my recent parties, Joey." Her smile faded suddenly, to be replaced by a look of absolute despair. Joey's heart went out to her immediately.
He reached across the table and took her hand. "Hey, now... What's wrong?"
"I saw him."
Joey frowned. "Saw who? Kenneth? You couldn't have, Jackie...I saw him die myself."*
* (see issue #3 of the Union Jack limited series - Barry)
"He was a vampire, Joey - you should know as well as I do that vampires make a habit of returning from the dead. It was him...he came to me and told me that he...that I was a grandmother now."
"I don't understand."
Jackie shook her head. "I don't pretend to understand either, but he said the whole world would know soon enough."
Joey felt realization dawning over him...the Baroness. She had held Kenneth under her sway in her attempt to capture the Grail. Had she somehow conceived a child with him in the process? "If he's back, Jackie... I'll find him, I promise."
She nodded then, with a certainty that warmed his heart. "I know you will - in your own way, you loved him as much as I did. I know that he resented me towards the end...but I really did love him."
"I know you did - and he knew it, too. Underneath his melancholy exterior, he loved you back."
Jackie smiled then, a big one - it lit up her face and made her look like a pretty young girl all at once. For Joey, it was a bit unsettling - he still wasn't used to ogling Jacqueline Falsworth. "Thank you so much, Joey! You really have made me feel much better. Do you want to share your problems with me in return? You really did look sad when I approached."
Joey considered doing just that, but he decided against it. She obviously had more than enough problems of her own. "Nothing much - things are just going to be getting a bit...hairy...for me soon."
The figure wore a large ebony cloak, his long blonde hair handing down his back like a mane. He was tall - almost seven feet in height - and had a distinguished, classically handsome face. He stepped into the meeting chamber, enjoying the fact that all conversation stopped when he appeared. It was good that his followers showed proper respect.
He moved over to the head of the table, his eyes scanning the faces of the others in the room. Some were very young, others were ancient in years, but all swore absolute fealty to him. He sat down in his throne-like chair and smiled. When he did, it became painfully obvious to all that his canines were elongated. But this was no vampire - in some ways, he was far worse. He was Blaine, leader of the somewhat jokingly named Werewolves of London. "Well...I suppose we've all the paper? One of our newbies was killed last night. Who did it and how? That's what I want to know."
A young woman spoke up. She had short, purple hair and a large number of piercings, including two in her nose and upper lip that were connected by a chain. "According to our sources in the morgue he was killed by a silver bullet - the murderer was a pro."
"A werewolf hunter?" Blaine's eyes narrowed.
"Don't know, sir. But I've heard rumors that Union Jack uses silver bullets - given the impact he had in the recent vampire wars, I'd bet my ass that it was him."
"It might very well be your ass on the line if it's not him, Allie." Blaine stood up and paced. "Our kind die from time to time. That's fine. But it worries me that there's someone out there who knows of our existence... and has proven himself capable of killing us. I want this Union Jack found and brought before me. We have a piece of his costume?"
A thin, American man dressed in a dark suit spoke up. "Yes, m'lord. We found a small piece of his uniform that had been torn in battle. His scent is strong on it - apparently the heathen rarely washes the costume."
Blaine grunted. "Good. Allie - you're in charge of this. Don't fail me."
Allie nodded, her chain jingling. Her heart was pounding at the possibility of a fresh hunt - it was almost a sexual thrill as she said, "I won't let you down, sir. You have my word."
Joey sat in his apartment, several newspaper clippings spread out in front of him. On the table beside the papers was his Webley .445, fully loaded. For some reason, he felt better with it out in the open. He'd been on edge all day.
A sudden knocking at the door made him jump for the gun, but he quickly reigned himself in. He moved to the door cautiously, half expecting a snarling werewolf to be on the other side - or, even worse, Kenneth. "Who's there?"
"It's me, Romany."
Joey smiled smugly to himself as he opened the door. He was dressed in a somewhat dirty t-shirt and shorts, looking for all the world like a bachelor at large. He grinned at Romany, who stood outside holding a large bag of books and other assorted items. "Hi. Couldn't stay away?"
Romany pushed past him and set her back down on the table, knocking his newspapers to the floor. "Please, don't even start. I hardly think my hormonal urges would have compelled me to enter this pig-sty even on my worst days. I came because I might have ideas on how to cure you..."
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Okay. I knew I could count on you, Rom. Want to share a pint with me?"
"No! I certainly remember what happened the last time I let you get me drunk, Mr. Chapman - and that won't happen again, let me assure you."
Joey shrugged. "So what is it that you have for me?"
Romany fished a large, leather-wrapped tome from her bag. "Well, according to The Handbook of Thule, killing the vampire who infected you is supposed to end the curse..."
"Don't think so - I killed him last evening and I still feel an insatiable desire to bite your neck."
Romany frowned, though her eyes twinkled a bit. "I think that's less a werewolf curse and more a product of your overactive sex drive..."
Joey shrugged and took his seat once more. "I don't know... I think it's a real curse if I'm going to be attracted to you for the rest of my life."
"Ha-Ha. Very funny. Do you want my help or not?"
"Of course I do. Go on."
"No more interruptions?"
"None. My word as a gentleman."
Romany rolled her eyes and murmured, "Hmm. We'll see how far that gets us." She opened another book. "Here. According to this, if you manage to ingest wolfsbane for six days and nights consecutively BEFORE you manifest your wolf-form...you'll be cured."
"And, as I asked earlier, do you have any wolfsbane to spare?"
"Honestly, Joey, you said you wouldn't interrupt... Actually, I have contacts who could get us some, I think. It's an extract from Aconitum lycoctonum, but I'm not a botanist so I'm not sure what exactly that is."
Joey rubbed his chin. "Okay, let's try that one first, then. In the meantime, I'm going to keep tracing the activities of my deceased partner-in-wolfdom."
Romany shook her head. "And have you found anything? Honestly, I'd think you'd give up this Union Jack nonsense now that your best friend has died and your own life has been placed into such jeopardy!"
Joey bristled. "If you dislike it so much, you certainly don't have to stay! Kenneth's death had nothing to do with me being Union Jack!"
"Oh please..."
Joey stood up, about to launch into a stinging retort, when he suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A sixth-sense, honed from years of people trying to kill him, kicked in. He grabbed his Webley from the table and turned to the window of his flat just as the glass shattered inward.
Joey fired immediately, the antique weapon discharging into the midst of two snarling werewolves. The bullets hit home, driving one of them back with blood spewing. "Damnit, Romany - I thought these things only came out duuring a full moon!"
Romany shrugged. "How was I to know? I never met one!"
Joey ignored the advancing werewolves, instead grabbing Romany by the arm and shoving her into the bedroom. "Shut the door and lock it!"
Romany's objections were silenced by the roar of the injured werewolf leaping for Joey. Its claws raked across his shoulder, drawing blood.
Union Jack kicked outward, his foot striking the attacking werewolf on the muzzle. He pressed the barrel of his gun against the thing's head but the shot went awry as the second werewolf grabbed Joey from behind. The bullet went straight through Joey's television set.
Union Jack threw his weight forward and down, flipping the werewolf over his shoulder. The beast landed with a thud and a growl.
Joey leapt towards the open window, pausing for a split second to grab his ripped uniform. He threw himself out, landing with a thud on the ground below. Scurrying into the bushes, he began pulling on his costume. As odd as it have seemed, he knew that with the costume on he was different somehow - he wasn't just Joey Chapman, a slacker art student. He was Union Jack - an embodiment of an ideal.
Union Jack waited, panting, for the werewolves to drop down and pursue him. When they didn't immediately do so, he swore under his breath. Romany...He'd assumed they'd come after him and leave her alone - instead, he'd left Romany to face those killers.
They appeared in the window, one of the werewolves now having adopted a semi-human form. It was distinctly female, soft breasts now revealed under the fur. She held Romany in her grip, her claws digging deep into Romany's neck. Blood trickled down the front of Romany's blouse. "Union Jack...The girl will die unless you throw down your weapon. We have orders to take you to our Lord and Master."
Union Jack paused, considering. He could see both terror and strength in Romany's eyes. The girl wouldn't have blamed him if he'd fired, killing her and the beast - Joey saw that in her stare. It was little things like that that made Joey love her so... But in the end, he could never do something like that. Never. With a trembling hand, he let the Webley fall to the ground. "Deal. Now let her go."
The wolf-girl chuckled. "Not yet, hero... she comes with us as insurance. We don't want you acting up now, do we?"
Union Jack gritted his teeth. They had him. It was with a gasp of surprise that he saw Romany drive her elbow back into the werewolf's stomach. The creature roared in shock, losing its grip on her. With a cry of "You damn well better catch me, you bastard!" Romany threw herself out the window.
Jack threw himself under her, catching her but losing his balance. Both hit the ground hard, though it was Joey who absorbed most of the blow.
With a groan, Union Jack rose to his feet, lifting the unconscious Romany in his arms. He carried her into an alley, limping as he did so - his ankle hurt terribly and he knew that it was only going to get worse as the night wore on. Behind him, he could hear sirens - no doubt his neighbors were more than a bit alarmed.
Union Jack swallowed hard. That would mean that the werewolves would have to flee - back to wherever they lived. Joey looked down at Romany and kissed her on the forehead. "Romany? Wake up..."
She stirred slightly, opening her eyes. "Joey...Are we okay? This couldn't be heaven or else you wouldn't be here..."
"Romany...I need you to go to the neighbors. Wait for the police. I'm going after those things."
That bit of news brought her to life with a start. "What?! What am I supposed to tell the police? And what are you going to do chasing after werewolves?!"
With a sigh, Union Jack stepped away. "I'm going to do what needs doing. It's a Union Jack tradition."
Romany watched him stride away, a mixture of admiration and shock in her heart. "Anybody ever remind you, Joey, that dying is a Union Jack tradition, too?"
In Union Jack #3: Union Jack goes into the Werewolf Underground! Plus: a shocking secret may just spell the end of the Falsworth legacy!