Ollie placed his folders upon the podium and made a quick glance towards each of his agents. Roy Harper is sitting at the farthest top level of the seats, with headphones on and his feet dangling over the chairs in front of him. Ollie sighed and wished that, if not for himself then for his young daughter Lian's sake, he would start acting more responsible. Ollie knew better, Roy was Roy. A few rows in front of him sits John Henry, picking his teeth with a knife while humming ‘Mack The Knife'. A crude man, to be sure, but his near invulnerability and high endurance made his ‘borrowing' from delta-level imperative. Sasha Martens and Rachel Leighton sat together in the front row, talking in whispered conversation and giggling like schoolgirls. Finally Ollie turned towards the far exit and noticed Duchess standing against the wall, seemingly annoyed having to wait for the meeting to begin. She perplexed Ollie. She had come over with Karin Grace and Ben from Suicide Squad. She seems to be suffering from amnesia. He is also super-strong, near impossible to hurt, and build some of the meanest firearms Ollie has ever seen.

Ollie decided it was time to start the show, "Okay Roy, take off your headset and join the world please. As you all can see we are a little under-staffed at the moment, so John Henry has joined us from Delta. We have a mission, kids, and you are just going to LOVE it. This one is strictly a CLASS 4."

At the mention of Class 4, groans and moans elevated from both Sasha and Roy. Class 4 missions, by definition, are the ones where the enemy is an unknown, and strange phenomenon is usually involved. There are no simple terrorists, evil dictators, or even villainous super-groups as your enemies. Class 4 means stuff like alien sightings, ghosts, killer jumbo frogs, and other similar troubles best left to super-hero types.

"Alright children, control your enthusiasm, it is gonna get worse before it gets better", Oliver declared as he picked up his clicker and a picture of Eastern Europe appeared on the screen. " This is Bulgaria, and its northern cousin, the recently independent Republic of Vlatavia. I am sure, either thanks to briefings or to our trip there last year, that both these countries are entrenched in civil unrest and poverty. Well, something worse is now going on there as well."

"This was the village of Pleven over a month ago. The village was home to about a hundred pheasants, a small poverty-stricken farm community." Ollie showed several slides of men, women, and children wandered through dirt streets, in front of poorly created hovels. The people carried fruits and vegetables, or walked goats and cows along the main road.

Ollie presented the next slide, "…and this was Pleven two weeks ago." The slide showed the same main road and homes in the other slides, with one notable exception. No animals were in these pictures. No people were in them either. "The entire village of Pleven has disappeared. No men, no women, and no children could be found. All disappeared completely off the face of the planet."

Agent Martens looked at the slides puzzled, "They move?"

"That is a negative, Sasha. No neighboring villages with relatives reported any visitors. These people seem to have disappeared. Vlatavian soldiers reported that it appears that there were some signs of struggle in homes, but all personal belongings appeared to still be in homes. The United Nations sent in a special team from Disease Control, but no unordinary contagens or viruses were detected."

Agent Harper saw this as his opportunity to chime in, "was it aliens abduction there sir?"

"Not very likely. Seven nights ago, the neighboring village of Koslov suffered a similar fate. This time we had the SHIELD Satellite focused on the area. This is what we found when we watched the infra-red cameras.." The Agents watched as the satellite focused on several homes bunched tightly together. Inside each home was between three and six ‘red dots', each indicating a lifeform, probably human. The agents watched as the dots began to move about in commotion in their homes, then some disappeared while others appeared to literally fly out of their homes and away.

Ollie then switched to a different screen and turned once more to his agents. "Strange right? Well, we also filmed the same every using several different cameras, and this is what the motion cameras detected…" the agents watched in disbelief as a wide-angle shot of the full village filled the screen. Suddenly, large numbers of blips appeared on the screen, seeming to surround the city, then moving in rapidly. The same homes as before were shown, but this time the motion cameras showed additional presences. They seemed to be relatively similar in size to the human occupants, but they moved at super speeds. They were upon the occupants instantly. Some of the occupants appeared to be killed, while others were left alive. All occupants were whisked away, somewhere off the screens, at very high speeds.

Agent Martens crinkled her nose in astonishment, "what the hell were those?"

Ollie continued with his briefing, "Good question Sasha. At first we thought they were robots, but the tech-boys informed me that any known robots would have given off enough heat to show up on infra red. Same with any alien races we know of. We also considered humans with anti-infra red detectors, but humans don't move that fast, and any technology should have given off heat."

Agent Harper began to form an idea about where this might be heading, "Uh, Ollie…you are not going where I think you are, are you? This is Eastern Europe, not that far from historic Transalvania. These attacks taking place at night? We aren't talking blood-suckers are we?"

The rest of the group eyed Ollie cautiously. Ollie seemed to roll his eyes and bite his lip, a sign most of the team knew as a preliminary to Ollie annoyance.

"That is exactly what both the Romanian and Vlatavian governments seem to think. They have instituted martial law in both countries, and a curfew pre-sundown. We have been asked to go and investigate. Whatever they are, they seem to be moving in a pattern, and if the boys in Data Analysis are correct, this little village of Vasui is next. So, we are all going to go investigate."

John Henry let out a large laugh that seemed to come straight from his belly, and pull all the other operatives from their own awe, "You mean we are gonna go out with stakes and mallets and until down Dracula an' all his brothers?"

Ollie smiled and looked around to each off his operatives, "Oh, I think we have some hardware a little more powerful in mind…"

Ollie then turned to his operatives and spoke, "okay boys and girls, Ben is gonna explain some new gadgets that we are taking into the field with us on this mission. Pay attention, ‘cause afterwards we are gonna test these babies."

Ben then took off his glasses and placed them in his lab pocket. He then pushed a button on a small clicker in his left hand, and a door slid open in the far wall. Assistants wheeled out a suit of armor, blue and silver in color, and very sleek, and high-tech looking.

Ben smiled as he addressed the agents, "This is the Guardian Mark 5 battle suit. The back jets enable the user flight at speeds of up to 20 mph. Graviton boots, backed by the rear propulsion system allow for hover capabilities, and compensate for the suit's heaviness. The suits are adamantium shells on the head and chest pieces, with steel and kevlar mesh reinforcement everywhere else. All suits have universal translators, relay radios, and sight capabilities that include infra red, ultraviolet, and heat-sensing. All suits provide medical readouts visible to both the wearer and viewers aboard whatever vessel you are using. The suits utilize stealth technology and are invisible to infra red screening. In order to keep the suits lightweight; weaponry has been kept to a minimum. There are three powerful mini-rockets on the right-arm and a small laser on the left. There is a built-in targeter, which are voice-activated and usable with nearly all-available SHIELD firearms. Now when you are out in the field in these, be careful please, each suit cost ten times more than any of us make in a year."

Both Duchess and John Henry seem to turn to Ollie in unison, but he beat them to the punch, "Everybody is gonna wear these suits on this mission…EXCEPT Duchess and Agent Henry. I know that I would never get either of you to stay in those suits. You will both be equipped with flight packs to keep up with the team though, and I expect them to be worn and used properly. As for weaponry, due to out relative lack of knowledge regarding our enemies, we are gonna use flame throwers, incendiary grenades, and some nasty little guns that Duchess and the boys at Tech created just for this occasion. Plus, all of you will carry standard SHIELD narco-jet pistols, though the tips will be acid-laced. This isn't a peace-keeping mission here, kids, if these are blood suckers, then we need to kill them good. Okay, everybody head down the exercise room on level 3, we have some new toys to learn to play with."

Senator Cray pulled the keys from his pocket and opened the door to his personal office. As the door creak, he looked around the hall, something that was completely unnecessary considering he knew no one except him would still be here this late at night. Cray shut the door behind him, locking it, and moved to the bar to pour himself a stiff drink. Seeking out his personal favorite, Crown Royale, he poured himself a double and gulped it down quickly, savoring the elixir as it slid down his throat. Then he slowly slipped into his leather chair and pulled his computer close to him. He slowly began to tap a special program, which he had been taught that would, with the help of some special devices placed around the office, stop any surveillance equipment from listening to his conversation. He then dialed the number of his "friends", and waited for a response.

Her image appeared on the screen. At first, Senator Cray had found her a very striking young woman. Those gorgeous, green eyes. That long black hair. The slightly yellowed skin that betrayed her oriental blood that flowed through her veins. But now, Joseph Cray knew better. Masked under that outer beauty was one evil woman, who will do anything to achieve her goals. She is Cheshire, head of one of the world's most malicious criminal organizations, Hydra.

She spoke in a slow, seductive drawl that made Cray feel like he was standing in a pit of vipers, "I watched your speech on CNN today Senator, you seem to have them eating out of your palms. Your end of the bargain is progressing well I assume."

Senator Cray attempted to look undaunted by Cheshire's presence, but beads of sweat started to trickle down his brow, "Indeed, it goes very well, Madam Hydra. It seems I have the support of many hard-line right-wingers and my aggressive tactic and ability to bargain has started to chip away at the middle-roaders. I believe that when the time come next year, I should have no problems getting the republican nomination for the United States Presidency. Our objectives should prove fairly easy to accomplish."

Cheshire smiled momentarily, but it seemed more an evil sneer than genuine amusement, "See to it that this continues down that road. You and Hydra have had a long, prosperous relationship. Our aid has helped you achieve many of your life's goals. Now, you have a chance to not only achieve your biggest yet, but also put Hydra in the position of holding power over the most powerful nation in the world. You have my full support do not fail me, Senator"

"I will not Lady Hydra. Our goals are mutually compatible. I will become President, and from there we will destroy SHIELD, take over this country, and then the world. You have my word Lady, we will not fail."

"Excellent, senator. Then our conversation is finished. All Hail Hydra!"

"All Hail Hydra!"

Raven bit her lip as she wondered quite how she had gotten herself into this mess. She was happy maintaining her position as a middle-level bureaucrat in Washington DC, it allowed her access to valuable information without placing herself at any great deal of risk. She was well liked at her job, and was respected by her bosses for her hard work and low complaint factor. They didn't need to know she was the mutant Mystique, former member of Suicide Squad and Freedom Force. They didn't need to know that her true form was midnight blue skin and she had the ability to change her shape into anything she chooses.

Then it happened. Someone within the government discovered her secret. She couldn't understand how, because only a couple of people knew, and they could be trusted. Some mistake had been made, and now Raven would have to pay for it. She had been contacted by Sarge Steel. He told her that her secret would remain safe with him…as long as she did him a favor. Steel explained to her his suspicions about a certain Senator with aspiration of the oval office, and a possible connection to one of the world's more sinister organizations, Hydra. Steel said she had to infiltrate Senator Joseph Cray's staff, and discover the truth. Tonight, after six months within his circle, she had found what she needed. She discovered that Senator Joseph Cray of New York, beloved father and respected businessman, was little more than a puppet for the sinister workings of Cheshire and her Hydra.

Not that Raven would normally care about such things. If the Senator wished to cavort with criminal organizations, more power to him. It is not as though she hadn't spent some time on the wrong side of the law. But this was Hydra. This was Cheshire. Raven hated them both for crimes they had committed on her in the past. They had abducted her, experimented on her, and had it not been for a rescue by SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter, Green Arrow, and Bronze Tiger, they probably would have done far worse. Raven had acquired more than a few enemies in her lifetime, but none caused her blood to boil more than the present Lady Hydra and her cronies.

Raven decided that she was far enough away from Senator Cray's office, and made her way to a dimly lit phone booth. Eyeing the vacant streets cautiously, she quickly pulled a device from her belt and placed it onto the phone box, thereby securing the line for her conversation. She then dialed a special number, which immediately patched her, regardless of night or day, to her current supervisor, Sarge Steel. As a groggy, sleep-laden voice answered the phone, Raven relayed her message.

"Your suspicions were correct, there is a viper in the hen house…."

SHIELD Field Director Oliver Queen, one of the three armored individuals, was the first to speak. "Okay agents, it is almost sunset, so lets get all the yakking done, and get ourselves it battle positions. Right now, we are a couple of miles outside of the village of Vasui. Word is that these people have heard the rumors, are refuse to come out at night, so we should be able to freely arrange our equipment and selves throughout the city with little or no interference. I want everybody to check all med-boards and com-links before we leave this sight, because I ain't losing none of ya to a bunch of ugly neck-bitters."

Ollie turned his attention to each of his agents, from the armored Roy Harper and Sasha Martens, to the unarmored John Henry and Duchess, "I don't want any solo grandstanding. We aren't sure how powerful our enemy is, and they seem to move at speeds beyond human levels. Lets deal with any surprises together, stay as a tight-knit group, and don't fly off to engage in separate contact. Since we aren't sure what we are dealing with, this is gonna start as a "ask questions first" mission. No attacking our targets unless they attack us first. Of course, if they do that, feel free to blast away."

Ollie turned his head from his agents to the light transport and began to speak again. "Rachel, everything working right in there?"

From inside the transport, agent Rachel Leighton adjusted her headset, then took a brief scan of all the screens and flashing lights before her. "Everything looks in order here, Oliver. All the bio-scanners are working normally, although the neck-units on John and Duchess are really gonna be susceptible to the enemy's attack. Motion trackers are uplinked from the satellite and the whole area is on scanning right now. All we need now is an explanation as to why I am stuck in here and…"

Oliver quickly interrupted Rachel, as he knew where the conversation was headed, "Somebody has to keep the pilot awake. Seriously Rachel, you have the best head for all those computers and gadgets out of this lot. Besides, if things get bad, somebody has to be there to call in the cavalry, then run that transport in with guns ablasting. Also, you know what happened the last time I left Sasha in the transport…"

Agent Martens turned from checking her wrist rocket to protest, "Hey, at least I took out a platoon of Hydra operatives when I crashed that hoverjet…"

"Anyway…," Oliver interrupted, "We need to get underway kids, so fire up those backpacks and grab the equipment. We have some bloodsuckers to stop and some lives to save. Lets get crackin''.."

With that said, the five SHIELD agents readied themselves for battle, grab the necessary equipment, took to the skies, and headed off into the twilight.

It was around midnight when they finally arrived. I had been watching the small huts, all the inhabitants long ago retired to their homes in fear of the "demons" that had devastated their friends and family in the villages of Koslov and Pleven. Roy, who had been standing next to me, nudged me and nodded his head towards the sky. As I watched with my night-vision, I was treated to a most bizarre sight. At first it appeared as though humans, numbering at about a dozen or so, were floating quickly down in the moon-lit sky. But as I appeared closer, thanks to my suit's magnifiers, I saw them for the horrors that they were. Sprouting from their back were quickly flapping black, leathery wings. Their skin was wrinkled and drawn tightly across their skinny bodies. Their mouths were agape, filled with drool and two sharp fangs. The most alarming sight were the creatures' eyes. Those eyes showed no sign of life at all, just a hollow empty existence. It was then that any vision conjured up by such romantic and tragic films such as Bram Stoker's Dracula were washed from me. This wasn't a tragic, cursed man, his humanity taken from him. This was an abomination that needed to be exterminated from this Earth.

As the group seemed to land in a unified circle in the center of the village, Ollie gave his silent signal, and strategically placed floodlights filled the entire area with bright light. As the creatures recoiled in shock and surprise, Ollie stepped forth. Roy and I came in from the opposite side, with Duchess and Henry coming from the sides, forming a rough circle.

Ollie began to speak. "We are the agents of the Strategic Hazardous International Elite Law Division, SHIELD. You are all under arrest for suspicion of the genocidal attacks on the Bulgarian villages of Pleven and Koslov. Now please…"

Before Ollie could utter another word, the creatures sprang to action in every direction. Some headed straight for us agents, while others seem to leap straight into the air. Luckily, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the satellite hovering high in the sky above easily transmitted the location of each creature to the transport, where Rachel could relay it to us. None would be allowed to escape.

One of the creatures, once a woman, leaped for me at an alarming speed. I quickly fired one of the wrist-rockets. At first I considered aiming for the heart, thinking of the traditional horror film, but hoped a blow to the head would be better. The rocket hit the creature's head with precise accuracy, exploding in a bright flash, leaving nothing above the shoulders but a billowing puff of smoke. I watched in awe as the creature's remains quickly disintegrated into nothing more than ash, then regained my composure and looked around at the others battling around me.

Duchess was standing to the left, and grabbed my attention as the large rifle she was carrying went off with a loud crash, and a sizeable blast of energy crackled through the air. The blast pushed a huge hole through the middle of a vampire flying towards her, and blew off the head of another directly behind, Both turned to ashes before they hit the ground.

Amazingly, John Henry, was seeming to take a much more direct approach. Having seen his assailants, he threw down his firearm and instead let the closest one actually swoop upon his person. First he yelled something about how strong the little buggers were, then the creature attempted to sink it's fangs into his hide. As the teeth struck his skin and shattered, John quickly grabbed the creature by it's head and ripped the appendage clean off, spewing dark blood across his entire body, before the creature fell to the ground and disintegrated into a pile of ash. Henry simply yelped in glee and screamed at the creatures to come take him on.

Sasha fired another rocket at another vampire, and this one struck her target right in the groin. The explosion ripped the creature apart, spewing two legs in opposite directions and the upper torso flailing through the air. She turned to see Roy a narco-jet pistol in each hand, firing acid-tipped "needles" into the eyes and hearts of his targets. She turned to see Ollie firing his own wrist rockets, destroying several vampires in the process.

Then it happened, as we looked around to see how many remained, we noticed that the original twelve have blossomed into another twenty. They seemed to have been late to the original "party". Despite the relative quickness with which the first dozen were dispatched, a great deal of ammo had been used and I could tell Ollie wasn't please with the idea of fighting at least twenty more. Ollie quickly barked orders through the com-links and the group pulled together into a tight-knit circle in the village's center, and prepared to battle a second round.

It appeared as though the creatures were preparing to launch themselves to attack, when the something occurred. I felt suddenly colder and considerably more uncomfortable. Something different was in the air, something was happening that wasn't there moments before. We stared in awe as the creatures turned to face some new attacker. As I adjusted my magnifiers, I saw the most bizarre sight. Something was attacking the vampires. I briefly looked around to see the other agents watching the battle as stunned as I was. Ollie barked a ‘Hold fire' order as we watched the drama unfold. Whoever this attacker was he was no human, and amazingly enough there was only one of him. He savagely ripped through the vampire's ranks as though they were nothing more than pieces of paper. He ripped heads off with the slightest movement, then turned with blinding speed to push his hand, with his victim's heart, clean through the chest to the other side. In less than ten minutes, none of the twenty remained, all had been dispersed in a timely and gruesome fashion, and nothing remained but ashes.

The creature then turned towards us, and in the blink of an eye seemed to stand right before us. I tried to lift my arms and weapons to him, but found I could not. I shifted my sight to the other around me, and noticed that they seemed to be in the same predicament. I was scared. Scared stiff. I felt the power of whoever this was in front of me. His very presence was enough to overwhelm my senses and make he paralyzed with fear, and I wasn't alone.

I almost began to cry as I stared at the creature. He was tall, thin, and wore clothing that seemed belie a royal lineage. His skin was deathly pale, his hair was short, black, and well-trimmed, and his eyes a deep, piercing black. When he spoke it evoked strange reactions. At once I was both seduced by his eloquent voice, and frightened by his sheer power.

"I am Vladameir Tepes Dracul, and these are my ancestral lands. These abominations are the products of rebellious children that believed they had the power to overthrow me and take these lands for themselves. They were wrong, and all the children have been eliminated. Your presence here is not necessary. Begone, before I grow tired of your presence and eliminate you as well."

While myself and the others seemed to simply agree with his assessment, and turned to walk away. Duchess instead seemed to be infuriated by the creature's arrogance, and lacking the fear which seemed to grip all of us, leaped upon the creature. Shocked at first, Dracul mumbled something about her being something completely different from us "sheep".

Suddenly, as if on a cue, Rachel and the Transport arrived in the air above the huts. Shining her light upon the area, she seemed to annoy Dracul enough to make him decide it was his time to leave. He quickly whispered something in her ear and seemed to turn to nothing more than smoke, and disappeared into the night.

His presence gone, everybody seemed to return back to normal. Our senses returned to us, we quickly boarded the ship and made our way home, pleased that everybody made it away from the attack unharmed.

There have been no reports of attacks in either Bulgaria or Vlatavia since.

Despite a search, the man known as Dracul (Count Dracula?) has not been heard of since.

Oh, and what were the words he whispered to Duchess before he disappeared? "This is just a beginning…" Creepy, huh?

She turned over and looked at the clock, wiping the sweat from her brow. Luckily, it was a Saturday, and it didn't matter that it was nine in the morning, and she was feeling like she was about ready to get some sleep. As she drifted off into sleep, she had the most vivid dream. She dreamed that she was back in the transport, monitoring everybody's status. Suddenly she looked over at the pilot to notice he was sleeping blissfully. Rachel feels very odd, like some bizarre presence is in the transport with her, then…

Rachel awoke from her dream with a start. She looked at the clock, now four in the afternoon, and tried to remember the dream which had startled her enough to awaken her from her much needed slumber. She couldn't remember anything. With a uneasy feeling she rubbed her neck. It was sore, and had been ever since that night in Bulgaria, and she couldn't understand why…