Jubilee and I spent almost the entire day together. As soon as the girl took a short break, we were off again, walking endlessly. It seemed she enjoyed just wandering the streets of New York and exploring its corners, just as I did. The Big Apple certainly earned its name—one life isn't enough to see it all, you can't bite off more than fits in your mouth.
Still, I tried to stick closer to Columbia University. The moment I met my friend, I started to feel someone's attention on me. I swear, someone's watching us, and it's probably just some overly cautious X-Men. But what if it's someone else?
I didn't want to take any chances, so I kept the phone Blade gave me close. If something happened, dialing would be quick. In the evening, we found a cozy café and decided to sit on the open terrace to fully enjoy the refreshing cool air.
The feeling of being watched didn't go away, and as I sipped my cola through a straw, I casually scanned the surroundings for a potential watcher. I had seen that old Dodge a few times today, so when three pale, black-clad girls got out of it, I didn't waste any time. I pulled out my phone and hit the call button.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to say even a word to Blade. The events that followed took me completely by surprise. Out of nowhere, a man's figure fell from the sky right in front of the girls heading straight for us. A familiar figure, I might add. I saw him from behind, but there was no mistaking it. Morbius, in the flesh.
People in the café jumped up from their seats and scrambled to get out of the way. I have to admit, the locals seemed like quite conscientious citizens. They had clearly learned that if some freak falls from the sky, it's best to get away as quickly as possible.
Honestly, I was so amazed that I relaxed a bit and missed the moment when a gorgeous woman swiftly passed by me, tripped, and nearly knocked me off my seat. My phone fell from my hand and rolled away. My hope of reaching Blade was shattered when another woman stepped on the poor thing with her heel.
"What are you?" Morbius asked, rudely pointing a clawed finger at the trio of girls.
"And what are you doing here? This is my territory!"
Heh, seems I'm not the only observant one, right?
The girl at the front of the group immediately took a combat stance, inhaling through her nose and hissing like an angry cat.
"No, what are you?"
While the vampires—though I had no doubt the pale girls with gleaming fangs and snarling like porcupines belonged to that breed—exchanged their first greetings, half the café's visitors and all the passersby quickly scattered in every direction. Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy to leave the terrace where we were sitting. Morbius was standing right in front of the exit.
"Let's go," I said to Jubilee, pulling her by the hand.
We needed to follow the locals' example. The people here had clearly seen enough superhero battles to have memorized the evacuation rules. Most decided to duck into the café and use the emergency back exit. We'd do the same.
"Sister, they're leaving!" one of the vampires shouted. Even though I wasn't looking their way, I felt trouble coming from behind.
"Go after them! I'll deal with this… this anomaly!" the likely leader of the vampires yelled.