Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY, where every Friday two of our favorite horror movie monsters will battle it out until only one, is left! The winner of each bracket will then face off for the title of FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY’S “KING OF THE MONSTERS!” When that is all said and done, we will have a bonus HERO bracket! The winner of that bracket will earn the right to fight our “King!”
Today is the first round of our Classic Bracket Semi-finals!
In the semi-finals and finals, I will be keeping the intro’s shorter, being as all fighters have been introduced in their prior matchups. If you are new to the series, this is our 3rd bracket! You can catch up on past fights click here and type in FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY! For a quick rundown of the rules, click here!
Both of today’s fighters won their first match to get here, and they are both quite different in style and abilities! This will be an interesting matchup! I present to you, Dracula vs. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde! Let’s go!
DRACULA
The Prince of Darkness, himself. The OG of vampires! You know him, you love him… he’s Count Dracula! In his last fight, Dracula took out the Phantom of the Opera in unforgiving fashion, turning his love against him in the end. Never to be underestimated, Dracula is one smooth bastard.
DR. JEKYLL/MR. HYDE
Dr. Jekyll was just a normal, nice guy. (Was he really, though?) That’s why he created Mr. Hyde. To do all the evil shit he wanted without feeling bad about it. They defeated their last opponent, the Invisible man quite brutally. That’s Mr. Hyde’s way. Nast and brutal. Never turn your back on Mr. Hyde. (Or Dr. Jekyll, for that matter.)
FIGHT
Fog shrouds the London streets. The night air is cool and damp. The moon’s bright in the dark sky, illuminating the fog-like smoke under a halogen light. He isn’t exactly sure how long he’d been the other... but he knew the sun was up when he transformed. He didn’t want to hurt that girl either but... Aww, who was he kidding, yes, he did. Actually, he rather enjoyed it. He relishes his escapades as Mr. Hyde more and more as time goes on. One day, he knows Hyde will be all that’s left. He’s becoming strangely comfortable with that notion.
Which is totally crazy because... there is no Mr. Hyde. They may look different, act different, and even walk different, but Hyde’s indiscretions were his own. They were always his own. That was, after all, the point wasn’t it?
There’s something exhilarating about being able to do whatever you want, without your pesky conscience getting in the way. He skulks through the dark alleys, staying in the shadows, in constant watch for his next victim.
He cuts across the main road and into the adjacent alley where a man and woman stand in the midst of a lover’s quarrel. Mr. Hyde approaches slowly, pretending to be intoxicated. As he passes the woman, he leans in and grabs her on the backside firmly, smiling as her eyes fill with anger.
“What the hell?” The woman takes a step back, put off by Hyde’s alarming and somehow disgusting smile. “Hey, you got a bloody problem, mate?” The man, protective of his lover, pushes Mr. Hyde back with both hands. He feels a slight sickness at the mere thought of touching this small, grotesque and hideously deformed man. (Though later, he wouldn’t be able to recall the exact nature of the deformity to the police and would describe it as more of a feeling.)
Mr. Hyde’s smile was wider and even more fiendish this time as he lifts his cane into the air. He hits the man across the side of his skull, causing his knees to buckle. He hits the ground hard as his girlfriend, turns to run.
Sirens sound down the street as the woman runs out into the open, causing Hyde to abandon his plans of giving chase. As fun as it would be… another time perhaps. As Hyde turns and disappears back into the darkness of the shadows, a bat takes flight from the rooftop, shrinking against the silhouette of the moon as it flies away.
The next evening Dr. Jekyll awakes to a knock on his door. His feet ache from walking the streets all night. His head feels like it’s three sizes too big. Damn serum. He slept the entire day practically away. He gets out of bed with a wince of pain as he places weight on his feet.
“Who is it?” he asks as he glances out the peephole. It was a man, well dressed. Probably in his late thirties or early forties. His hair was dark and slicked back. His smile was charming and welcoming.
“Hey there. Sorry to be a bother but I’m looking for my daughter.” The man holds up a picture.
Dr. Jekyll opens the door slowly. He looks at the photograph, then shakes his head. “Haven’t seen her, sorry mate.”
“No problem, maybe you could take a closer look in the light, just in case you run into her?”
“Sure, of course.”
“May I use the loo?” The man looked like he been walking a while, showing that picture to everyone he could. He felt bad for him.
“I um, yeah why not. Come in.”
The man enters the home, then looks around, noticing the lab in the back.
“Scientist?”
“Something like that.”
“What do you do?”
“Oh, nothing too exciting.”
“Modesty. An excellent quality to have.” The man looks him over, almost as if studying him.
“If you say so. I’m really nobody important.”
“Come now, modesty and low self-esteem are two entirely different things, Henry.”
“How did you know my…”
“I bid you goodnight doctor; your hospitality is appreciated. I assure you the favor will not go unreturned.” The stranger turns and heads out the door.
“What about the loo?”
“Another time, perhaps, Henry. Good day sir.” The man shuts the door as he exits, leaving Dr. Jekyll a bit confused.
He looks out the window, but the man is already gone. Odd, he thinks to himself.
He had a ton of work to do in the lab. He was on the verge of a real breakthrough. Yet, more and more increasingly, his thoughts turn to running the streets as Mr. Hyde. It beats the hell out of sitting in a boring, dingey lab all day. It was also becoming harder to control the change. It used to be that it would happen when he was distressed or emotionally strained. Now it seemed to be happening on a whim and at an alarmingly increased rate, for longer periods of time. If not for the serum, he wasn’t even sure that he would be able to come back at all.
He works tirelessly in his lab tinkering with the serum, adding this and subtracting that, hoping to produce enough to get through the week before he “changed” again. He enjoyed being Hyde, but the uncontrollable shifts made finishing projects a bit difficult. Hopefully, the new serum could help with that.
A gust of wind comes through the open window as he works. It blows the curtain aside gently, briefly revealing two glowing eyes outside in the yard, about ten feet out. Instantly Dr. Jekyll feels a chill. The hair on the nape of his neck stands up as goosebumps form on his skin.
He pulls the curtain back, expecting to see a wolf or a stray dog. Instead, there’s nothing but fog. Cool, damp, London fog. He scratches his head, sure that he saw eyes staring back at him from out in the darkness. Even more, there was an intelligence in those eyes.
The fog dissipates in front of his eyes as the breeze blows again. His hair returns to normal, his skin as smooth as a baby’s. Strange, he thinks to himself as he shuts the window. He was almost positive the confusion would trigger the “change.” In fact, he was expecting it the entire time that he was finishing up the new serum, but it didn’t happen. He wasn’t sure how many hours had passed, but the sun is coming up, and he is tired again. He decides it best to lay down, get some rest while he can.
Several hours later he is ripped from a dream by the distinct sound of a wolf’s howl. He sits up in bed, immediately reminded of the glowing eyes from earlier. Could it be? He goes to the window, picking up Mr. Hyde’s cane on the way.
His heart beats at a rising rate as he reaches for the curtain, drawing it back. Again, nothing but that damn London Fog. He stares out into the night, scanning the length of the yard with his eyes. That howl was loud enough to wake him from quite a lovely dream, no way he imagined it. The moonlight shines through the fog, making it look like it was dancing. It was almost hypnotic and undeniably beautiful. He watched as it seemed to swirl and move.
Suddenly he realizes… it IS moving. Slowly but steadily, it was coming toward the window. Toward him. He slams the window shut and steps back, closing the curtain.
The home was built in the late 1800s, and although the design is impeccable, it isn’t exactly weatherproof. Dr. Jekyll watches as the mist creeps in from between the cracks of the window. It seeps in from all sides, creating four streams that combine into one by his feet.
He watches, at first, in awe as it starts to form a shape. Then, in horror, as that shape becomes what looks to be human, in front of his very eyes! It stands in front of him, a full-grown man. Close enough to shake hands.
Not just any man, though, it was the stranger from earlier. Dr. Jekyll steps back, clumsily falling over himself and landing on the floor. He crawls backward, in shock from what he had just witnessed.
“You’re afraid of me?”
“W-w-what?” He stutters as he speaks.
“Stand up, mortal. Do you know who I am?”
“Th-the D-Devil?”
“Ha-ha!” He laughs heartily — an honest laugh, from the belly. “You Englishmen always made me laugh! Such a superstitious bunch.”
“Well, then who the hell are you?”
“I… am Count Dracula, and I need your help.”
“What are you some kind of demon?”
“Sure. If that helps you wrap your mind around it.”
“What is it that you want, demon?” Dr. Jekyll raises the cane as he speaks.
“I want to make a potion. Well, I want you to make a potion, and then give it to me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I asked you to and believe me… I’m not the type you want to disappoint.” Dracula’s eyes glow red as he finishes his sentence. His words booming like loudspeakers in Dr. Jekyll’s ears.
“What kind of a potion?”
“One created from the fountain of youth, my good doctor. From the very key to immortality. My blood. And from my blood, I will grant humans the one thing they have never been able to grant themselves! Everlasting life and I… will be their God.”
“That’s insane!”
“Is it? Is it more insane than turning into a fiend and assaulting women, my good doctor? Committing murder shrouded in the disguise of another?”
“How do you know who I am?”
“Does it matter? I know what you are.”
“And you think I’m going to help you? Make you a potion that what turns people into… into whatever the hell you are?”
“What I think, is that with your potion and my blood mixed together, we could have an undead army that would feast on nothing but victory and glory until this entire planet is ours — no more hiding in the shadows. You can be who you want. All the time.”
“I- I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”
“Fool! I offer you paradise, and you turn me down?”
“It’s true, I enjoy my time masquerading as Hyde but…”
“You’re not masquerading as Mr. Hyde. You’re masquerading as Dr. Jekyll, and enough is enough.”
“My answer is no, I’m sorry. Even if I did trust you, I’m not sharing my formula with anybody. It’s mine!” An evil and sinister look flashes briefly across Dr. Jekyll’s face.
“You will give me what’s been requested of you.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then…” Dracula appears to grow larger in stature as he speaks. “I will take it!”
He steps forward towards Dr. Jekyll. “We both know you’re afraid.”
“That may be true, but you're forgetting something.” Dr. Jekyll’s body starts to contort, and his face twists into something grotesque as he finishes his thought. “Only half of me is afraid.”
He grabs his head as he turns from Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. Dracula watches, amused.
“Yes, but all of you will die!”
Mr. Hyde grunts as he looks straight at the Prince of Darkness. He charges forward with his cane in the air. He gives a mighty swing but almost falls to the ground from his own momentum as the cane phases through Dracula.
Dracula laughs as Mr. Hyde gets back to his feet. Infuriated and humiliated, Hyde charges again. Dracula vanishes then reappears behind him. He taps him lightly on the shoulder. “Looking for me?”
He punches Mr. Hyde in the face, hard enough to send him back into the wall. “This world, it will be mine. You could have had a place next to me. Now, look at you!”
Dracula lifts him off the ground and throws him into the lab. Beakers and tubes fall to the ground and break, shattering to pieces. Mr. Hyde stands up and brushes off. A little dazed, but otherwise unharmed by the attack. He grunts loudly, then charges again.
The head vampire easily evades the attack and claws Hyde across the face. Realizing he can’t win by force; he devises a new plan.
If he were to win this fight, he would need to use his wits, not brawn. He opens the drawer in the kitchen, removing a Bible with the shape of a cross on the front. Recalling an old legend that he heard as a child, he holds it out in front of him.
Dracula hisses at the sight of it. Hyde pushes forward, holding The Bible out like a weapon. The Prince of Darkness turns to mist, escaping under the door. Hyde, letting his temper win, throws the Bible after him. It hits the door and lands on the ground.
He goes to the window and opens it, his adrenaline pumping hard. Instantly a large wolf is upon him. Its sharp, hungry teeth sink deep into his throat. His warm blood spills onto the cool floor as he lies on his back. A peaceful serenity washes over him as he takes one last look at those glowing, intelligent eyes.
DRACULA
I think it’s safe to say we all knew Hyde wasn’t making it out of this fight. Hyde is tough, but I was having a tough time thinking of a way he could even harm Dracula. In the end, his only chance was to pull out a bible. That isn’t going to cut it for long, even if he managed to hold on to it.
In the end, Dracula is just too powerful for Hyde. The supernatural elements really come into play here. Hyde is a very physical fighter, but Dracula is impervious to most attacks. Their two sets of abilities and weaknesses give Dracs a serious advantage. Sorry Hyde, not tonight.
What do you think? Does Dracula completely destroy Hyde, or am I way off? Yell at me in the comments and don’t forget to upvote your favorite fighter! See you next week for round 2 of our Classic bracket semi-finals, The Mummy VS Frankenstein’s Monster! That’s it for now! Until next time, keep on geekin’ on, my friends!
Joshua “Prometheus” Scafidi
