Curate, connect, and discover
Baby’s First year… 2-3 months:
[Deep in the pits of New York City’s underground, further below even the bowels of its deepest darkest subways or dankest sewers,there is a man of medical science descending a dark ladder into even deeper depths still…]
Morbius: *hand over hand, trying to maintain 3-points of contact with the ladder at all times, unfortunately he has a rolled up playpen slung across his back and a partially unzipped backpack bulging around his chest that makes that kind of difficult; he mumbles to himself in Greek…* « it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be ok. It’s going to fine. It’s going to be ok…»
Morbius: *as his foot comes searching downwards for the rung below, it momentarily slides off the much closer than expected surface before finally gaining purchase. Morbius tenses at once, waiting for his heart to stop trying to pummel its way out of his chest (unbeknownst to him during his pause, for brief moment a second pair of footfalls can be felt out of step on the ladder before also coming to a halt); the contents of his backpack burble at him, and it becomes immediately obvious that he is not frightened for himself* «shhh… everything is fine little one. I will not misstep again, I promise you that… just hold on a little longer as we are almost there!»
Morbius: *there is a change in the quality of air as feet finally come to a rest on solid ground. Even in the pitch black, he takes a moment to check on his young charge. Little golden eyes stare adoringly up at him as he lifts the baby out of the backpack and into the crook of his arm. He swings the empty bag around to sit with the playpen before turning to start down the open tunnel* «Yes, you look well and that is good… now! Thank you for being so brave little one, as a reward I have something I want to share with you…»
[Eventually the tunnel begins to widen, and then brighten, until finally a large brightly lit cave mouth leading a steep drop-off is reached. Inside this cavern is a Terrific sight: a sprawling urban metropolis, unjudged by human eyes and wrought entirely by monstrous appendages alone, glitters magnificently below]
Morbius: *proudly hefting the child so he can get a good look* «Behold, little one, the greatest thing I have ever been a part of: “Monster Metropolis”…»
[Now that there is more than enough room for flight, Morbius holds the Baby closer to his chest and takes off into the subterranean gloom… Heading for a rundown looking civil building in the heart of town, he circles the building twice before finding an open window to touchdown at]
Morbius: *trying to enter the window quietly, with a two and a half month old to his chest, without making too much noise:*
Manphibian: *scowling eyes shining through the darkness, fins agitatedly erect, standing judgingly amongst the silhouettes of other key monsters, waiting menacingly/disappointedly in the dark for a certain tardy doctor* “Ssso, you finally shhowed up after … 6 monthssss? Doesss that mean you’re ready to help usss poor unfortunatesss now?”
Morbius: *caught straddling a window frame again, this time facing a whole firing squad instead of one angry lab partner, oh well atleast he was able to point the baby inside over the window seal; grimacing on the inside, but pretending nothing is wrong on the outside as he finishes slipping into the room * “Ahh, καλησπέρα Manphibian… Gentlemen, it is nice to see you all again after so long, too… Has it really been 6 months, Frank? N’kantu? Jack…?”
Werewolf by Night: *hackles raised as he breaks away from the other monsters to lecture Morbius: his tone says he’s not mad, just disappointed at Morbius’ attempts to play things off (as shown by an exasperated face palm), however he’s not afraid to rip him a new one as he starts lecturing the living vampire (gesticulating wildly as he does so) … until he pauses for a second to notice the little bundle of joy in Michael’s arms* “Yeah Mike, it has been 6 months, which means it’s a madhouse downstairs! which means we’re packed to the gills with folks here for everything from silver bullet wounds to their annual visit! And you.. You were supposed to be here months ago!! Of all the dumb, self aggrandizing, scientific shit that you and The Lizard are doing up in that dumb tower of yours, what on earth has kept you away from us little people for so long-uhhh, woah! Um, what’cha… whatcha got there, uh, Mike?”
[various sets of glowing and or glassy nearly-dead eyes try to follow jack’s golden gaze to figure out what brought his tirade to a halt… N’kantu is the first to notice, but before anything can even leave his Shara parched lips, the rest also notice the child… Suddenly there’s lots of lisping murmuring from Manphibian, in addition to exchanged looks of disbelief and confusion from Frankenstein’s monster and N’kantu the living mummy as they all wait with baited breath for Morbius’ answer; you’d almost think they’d never seen someone hold a baby up close before…]
Morbius: *big eye roll at everyone being so dramatically curious, reflexively decides to respond with sarcasm; without missing a beat, pulls off the rolled up playpen and the backpack of baby stuff and hands them, plus the baby, over to Jack before walking away * “Obviously my ‘Lunch’, Jack… Do you think you could set him up in the break room for me? Apparently I have a backlog of patients I need to attend to”
Werewolf by Night: *dumbfounded that he was handed the baby, he looks down at the little bundle and gives it a gentle sniff test across its fuzzy little head: it definitely a baby, but there’s something familiar in its scent…, the baby’s eyes crinkle as he burbles with delight at being snuffed, he grins back up at the Werewolf by Night: sharp tiny front-toofers glisten in his mouth; the implications do not go unnoticed by Jack* “woah, uhh???” *sniff sniff-sniff* [pause] *snuffle-snuffle sniff* *[happy burble~]* “wait-a-minute!!”
Werewolf by Night: *having left the others in his dust, now furiously trotting after Morbius with the baby and it’s gear in tow, quickly gaining ground on him!* “Hey! Hey! wait a minute, Michael! Hold on, hold on! Since when have you started eating baby vampires?”
Morbius: *drily, not breaking step, tired of all the lectures and questions by now* “Oh… since around three months ago, when this one was dumped on my doorstep…”
Morbius: *arrives at elevator bank, still yanking Jack’s chain while he waits for one to come; ends with a demented full smile * “yes~, and since then I just cannot get enough of them… you know Jack, you should really try one sometime?”
Werewolf by Night: *knows exactly what he’s hinting at, and doesn’t appreciate Morbius’ blasé attitude; follows him into the elevator when the door dings* “Oh? I should, huh? What do I look like, Nana, To you?”
Morbius:* Looks him coolly in the eyes, his reflective red peircing jack’s lupine yellow, daring him to keep talking* “Well, if you can keep him alive until I finish my shift, you can be his νονός instead…”
Werewolf by Night: *the doors slide closed as Jack does his best to ponder his limited Greek vocabulary for a translation…* “Nonos…?”
[Moments later the elevator opens again on the second floor now, the murmuring of a crowded room can be heard just down the hallway… the two standing in the doorway of the elevator: Morbius happy at having stunned the werewolf into silence, and Jack with an epiphany having gone off behind his eyes]
Werewolf by Night: *with big, teary, indescribably happy, Lupine Puppy-dog-eyes he turns to look at the smug doctor; if Jack had a tail nothing in that elevator would be safe from it right now…* “ wha… Michael!!? You-you really want me to be his Godfather?”
Morbius: *realizing his mistake, steps off the elevator like he’s in a hurry to get down to business, practically running to the door in embarrassment; tries using ‘logical reasoning’ to explain this actual spur of the moment decision * “Of-of course!! After all, You are only my second oldest surviving positive relationship… and, er, you are strong and capable of defending yourself and others… oh! And plus, superheroes do not bother you all that much for some reason … So… of course, you are the best backup guardian for the little one should something happen!!”
Werewolf by Night: *ignoring the embarrassed posturing, surely Micheal wouldn’t make such an offer if he didn’t mean it! Gives him a hearty slap on the back before leaving cheerfully * “Heh~ Whatever you say Doc, I guess me and the little guy will be right over here in the break room if you need us… Go knock’em dead tiger!”
Morbius: *sourly scowls one last time before opening the door and leaping into the metaphorical fray* “you know, generally that is the opposite of what I intended to do…”
[in the break room, Jack sat the rolled up playpen on the ground, placed the backpack on the countertop, and just held onto the baby as he starts unloading stuff: there are dippers and bottles and a pacie and an extra change of baby clothes and… There’s almost no end to the things that Jack pulls from the bag. But just when he starts to question if Morbius maybe asked Dr. Strange to enchant the bag, Jack finally realizes he’s done setting up all the baby stuff! And that’s exactly when he notices the little fella becoming fussy]
Werewolf by Night: *panics a bit since he’s just barely into his 30s and only has a superficial knowledge of how to take care of a fussy baby (doesn’t help that this one is a fussy baby vampire either); he finally figures out what the problem is when the baby tries to sink his teeth into Jack’s palm* “Woah! Woah! Shhh, shhh… it’s ok, it’s ok? W-what’s up little guy, are you tired? Do I do I need to change you, or? what’s going- aAGH!”
Werewolf by Night: *More surprised than hurt, he checks on his hand: his fur is now slightly shorter and a bit soggy were the baby bit, but the kid didn’t actually draw any blood thankfully (he doesn’t need vampirism and this baby does NOT need lycanthropy!); very quickly he goes from annoyed to making baby talk at the little guy to try and calm him down* “*sigh* Ok, note to self, Morb jr. is hungry… Ah! But atweast he didn’t getta mowthful of werewolf blood, no he didn’t ~ Oh no he didn’t!~ ‘Cause him’s daddy would kill me if I handed him back a puppy!, Oh yes he would~ Oh yes he would!~”
Werewolf by Night: *Juggling turning the now squirmy and bite-y baby to face away from his body while at the same time looking for “baby food” : he paws through all the stuff he just set out, not exactly sure what to he should expect it to look like either… until he finds a bag of opaque pink liquid labeled in big messy sharpie ‘B-Negative Formula’* “Ok then little guy, why don’t. you help me. look for… your… Lunch! Got it! Alright! One bag of ‘B-Negative’s Formula’ coming right up!”
Werewolf by Night: *having transferred the contents of the bag into a bottle and set the little one up to feed, realizes something important* “wait a minute… Is your Name ‘B-Negative’, little guy?”
B-Negative: *turns those cute little glowy golden eyes to look lovingly up at Jack while he gratefully sucks down the bottle*
Werewolf by Night: *has to shake his head at the absurdity, but ends with a smirk* “heh, of course your Daddies named you like a science experiment! What else should I have expected…?”
[meanwhile, in the Examination Room, Morbius goes through patient after patient making diagnoses and administering treatment to many a different and strange problem faced by these monstrous citizens]
Morbius: *trying to reassure a large snake woman that she’s good to leave now; he practically has to shove her out the door…* “*sigh* Yes, yes I promise Mrs.Echidna, that cream should absolutely clear up your scale-rot! Yes, and if you would just go on to the front desk where one of my associates will write you a prescription for it at your local pharmacy… Yes, the door back is just down the hallway… Mhmm, you just read the instructions… yes, yes of course, but you need to go get it first… so if you would kindly? Yes, ‘goodbye’ Mrs.Echidna!”
Morbius: *watches to make sure she actually leaves through the correct door before checking for his next patient* “Ο δόξα το Θεό! I thought she’d never leave… Ok, and the next one is…? One, ‘Mr.Barlow’?”
Morbius: *radios to Manphibian to let the next patient through, and then waits…*
Morbius: *he waits for five minutes before he notices the noise of the waiting room escalate through the painfully thin walls of the examination room, and then he hears/nearly feels a suspicious *THUD* from something striking the floor in there* “what on earth is going on up there?”
Morbius: *Deciding to investigate, he goes to check the hallway: one of the bulbs at the end has decided to flicker ominously, and he can now hear screaming coming from the door at the end of the hallway that leads to the waiting room! He gets halfway down the hall when it stops; he also pauses for a moment*
Morbius: *finally, the door to the hallway creaks open to reveal an older looking nosferatu-style vampire… but something looks off about the way he fills up the door way…; fearing something medically might be wrong, Michael calls out to him* “Hello? Mr.Barlow? Do you need any assistance?”
[Mr.Barlow never gets a chance to reply: as suddenly his eyes bulge and he attempts to let out a scream that gets quickly silenced by the glint of a blade slicing cleanly through his wind pipe and the rest of his neck! The body starts to smoke and catch fire as it crumbles forward into the hallway, as if pushed from behind, and someone else enters the room]:
Blade: *with all the menacing British vampire hunter swagger he has* “I’m afraid it’s too late for him, Morbius… But you can help me out by pointing me towards that bloody little bundle of joy I watched you drag down here!”
Morbius: *has a pretty good idea of what Blade would do to the baby and decides that that’s unacceptable; furious, he crouches forward, ready to spring into a fight* “I am afraid that you are not scheduled for an appointment with us today, Blade! In fact, YOU WILL SEE THAT CHILD OVER MY DEAD BODY!!”
Blade: *pointing up the tip of his sword, signaling that he is also ready for a fight* “I see… so it’s going to be like that, is it?”
Morbius: *launching himself forward, all claws and teeth, ready to die for “his” child* “YES, IT SHALL!!”
To be Continued in the next issue of‘Blade’…
[Part 2 of 6]