Werewolf by Night (Marvel NEW)/Issue 3

The third issue of the Marvel NEW comic book series, Werewolf by Night. It succeeds Werewolf by Night Issue 2 and precedes Werewolf by Night Issue 4.

Synopsis
''In present day New York, mysterious knocks are heard on Jack Russell's doorstep. In 14th Century Latveria, Jakob Russof had recently turned into a beast of unparalleled strength and went on his first trial by fire by battling the Black Knight. For sure, nothing will end up positively for both of those periods. Especially when a ghost from the past came to visit him...''

Continuity
Part of The Dark of Night story arc, both the issue's past and modern parts are set after the happenings of the previous issue.

Plot for The Dark of Night, Part 3
In Jack Russell's apartment, the knocks on his door are still heard, agitating Russell. After taking a look at his door, he breathes in heavy and wonders to the reader if he can continue his story any longer. Russell decides to continue his story, as he knows that the reader's still interested in it. And by now, the reader knows that in both then and now, he's in a situation he can't survive.

Seemingly hearing the reader's response to the latter, Jack raises his right eyebrow and clarifies to the user that while he's not entirely right, he never thought that he'd survive the past encounter. Same as now, he doesn't think that he'll survive what's about to come next when he opens the door. And by not surviving means that he won't make it out to the next day whole.

Nevertheless, Jack proceeds to continue his story and tells the reader that the next few moments they will hear, feel, or picture will be quite disturbing. That, is if they're brave enough to experience it.

-

Continuing from last issue's ending, the wounded Jakob was seen facing a group of English soldiers led by his former friend from the Crusades, the Black Knight.  After hearing the Black Knight's statement, Jakob howls in response. Not fazed by the werewolf, Eobar told his men to not fear this beast and asked them to strike as hard as they could.

Straight after asking his men if they're ready (they were as ready as they could be), Eobar ordered his men to attack Jakob. As arrows fly and men charge with valiance, Jakob began charging at an impossibly high speed and dodged the arrows while also pulling out the arrows that harmed him.

Jack described that all the sensations of pain that he felt at the time became nonexistent, and he felt them slowly going away. He then told the reader that it's only a matter of time before he realized that he could heal from his wounds in an unbelievably fast rate. As scenes of Jakob continuing his charge at the soldiers continue, Jakob said that by the time he realized of that and how mighty his strength is, he knew that no one stood a chance except Eobar Garrington himself.

In an instance, the scene switches to Jakob leaping at the soldiers. In the next few panels, Jakob was seen murdering the soldiers. Killing them with savagery by splitting their bodies in half, gouging their eyes, and decapitating them, he surprisingly cut down the Black Knight's small army within a few seconds. Even with some silver bolts piercing his chest, he still felt nothing and dodged most of them anyway.

As the Black Knight saw this atrocity, his rage surfaced and he decided to take things to his own hands. When Jakob was distracted eating the head of a deceased pikeman, the horse-mounted Black Knight charges at him. When Jakob got knocked down by the horse, Eobar stabbed his throat with the Ebony Blade. After lifting him up straight with the blade, his horse continued to gallop towards a big tree.

As Eobar nearly approached the tree, he pinned down Jakob on the tree and his horse slowly backed away. Seeing the struggling wolf, Eobar told him that the Ebony Blade had slain more powerful beasts than him and it's blessed by Merlin to affect the unholiest beings to ever exist, including demons and werewolves.

Jack comments on his statement, advising the reader to believe him because what's about to happen next is going to be outrageous. True to his words, right after Eobar said that Jakob forcibly removed the sword from his throat and roared at Eobar. Seeing this, the Black Knight stayed calm and dodged the incoming blows from the werewolf. He managed to trick Jakob into stucking his claws on to a tree.

Giving the Black Knight time to strike back, he proceeded to cut off Jakob's lodged arm, prompting him to scream not in pain, but anger. Preparing to strike him once again, Jakob leapt at him predictably and he stabbed his chest and threw him over his head. Still relentless, Jakob unexpectedly unleashed an even more agressive onslaught against Eobar.

Eobar was nearly overwhelmed, until he managed to cut off his leg. However, Jakob retaliated by delivering slash at his helmet. With his supernatural strength backing his claws, the Black Knight nearly got his head split in two if it's not for the helm's mystic nature. Still, the werewolf successfully wrecked his helmet and left a considerably large scar across his face.

Feeling blood gushing from his face and seeing them pour down to his hand, Black Knight curses out Jakob and told him to go to Hell. In an instance, after cursing him Eobar rushed at the werewolf in the hopes of finishing him off by decapitating him. However, Jakob was far from being tired and cancelled his attempt by delivering a bone-crushing punch to his face.

Rushing fast towards the punch resulted in the punch dealing even more damage to him. Eobar ended up crashing a tree, breaking many of his bones including his spine. Needless to say, as the Black Knight hit the tree his body didn't move even an inch. His fate in life or death unknown, Jakob saw his immobile body with a mixed expression of anger and satisfaction.

In the panel of the said scene, only a silhouette of Black Knight's battered body was seen in addition to the kneeling werewolf. After looking for a while, Jakob decided to escape even with two limbs of his gone. As he left the scene, the readers get to see Eobar's corpse, with his face so disfigured that he himself could only be identified via his armor.

As panels showing Jakob traversing the forest surprisingly fast, Jack commented and reminded the reader that he felt no pain whatsoever so when he apparently lost his limbs, he knew nothing of them until the next day. He however, tells the reader that they're not going to tomorrow first.

Without any further comments, readers finally see Jakob slowing down and seeing his lost limbs. The other wounds he sustained, such as sword slashes, gashes, and (silver) arrows, already healed. Growling in annoyance, he proceeded to lick the joints that once held his now-disemboweled limbs. While doing so, a hooded person (whose identity was already known) was seen standing behind him without Jakob's awareness, smiling at the prospect.

It took a while for Jakob to sense him however, turning to Mephisto when he picked up the scent of brimstone. Seeing Mephisto, he intended to attack him but Mephisto, being the true source of his power, pacified him. As Jakob was left immobilized, Mephisto approached him and kneeled near him, praising him for proving his strength at first night.

He told him that while his mother's death wasn't expected, he found out that Jakob was his greatest servant in returning to him his promised land. He told Jakob that while he couldn't immediately corrupt or buy his soul, one day his soul would be his. But nevertheless, he's proud of him for displaying such an amazing combat prowess he hadn't seen for centuries.

He continued by telling him that in the morning, he'd be mistaken for all but a drunk man. For now, he'd be given a brief moment of peace and one day, they'd meet again. In an instance, Mephisto touched his forehead and sent him into a deep sleep, leaving the scene without leaving any traces while wishing him good luck. As he cleared himself off the scene, viewers could immediately see Jakob's werewolf form slowly reverting back to his human form.

-

In the morning, viewers could see the hand of a man near a body of water, which was revealed to be a lake. The panels began panning over the man's body, revealing him to be Jakob Russof himself in his normal form. Completely naked, he's seen lying near the lake while unconscious, not knowing his surroundings. While asleep, the shadows of multiple men were seen.

Although unconscious, Jakob managed to pick up some chatter of the men and subconsciously identified their language as Symkarian. As he suddenly felt someone poking him with wood, he slowly woke up and found himself surrounded by soldiers bearing the Symkarian banner on their plate armors.

Not remembering what happened and oblivious to the fact that he's actually surrounded by not five soldiers but an entire regiment of the Symkarian Army, he greeted them in Symkarian as a reflex. He continued by asking him of what happened. A man then stepped forward, identified as the soldiers' superiors.

While walking, the man asked him if it's not strange having the greatest soldier in Latveria somehow end up right in the Symkarian border, naked like a drunk man. Revealing the naked man to be Jakob himself, he then stood up with the Symkarian's help. Jakob assured him that he knew nothing of what happened and how he came to be there.

The man told him that perhaps he'd remember when he's put in the dungeon, identifying himself as Ernst Sablinova II, Leader of the 1st Symkarian Infantry Regiment, known as the Wild Pack. Upon hearing that, Jakob's eyes widen as he suddenly realized that he's standing before perhaps the strongest standing army in Europe and its infamous leader.

Clarifying that he finally memorized who he was, he shook hands with Ernst but the latter told him that he had to bring him into questioning before returning him to King Doom. He also revealed that news of his appearance there had been notified to Latveria's officials, but they couldn't do anything but ask for his extradition. They agreed, but after what Ernst had informed him.

Agreeing to be questioned in the nation's capital, Aniana, Jakob proceeded to march alongside Ernst and his men. Right before they go however, Ernst ordered three stray soldiers of his to rejoin him. As they rejoin the pack, Jakob's attention was attracted to them as they conversed of the tracks they found earlier, resembling those of a wolf. Problem is, wolves were nowhere to be found around the border area.

Conversing with Ernst along the way, they finally reached Aniana. Seeing the city, Jakob thought to himself that while unorthodox, this was the first time he saw Aniana. He compared it to Latveria, with many of its architectures resembling one another. Ernst knew of this and welcomed him to Aniana, asking him to enjoy his stay.

Entering the Royal Palace of Symkaria, Jakob found himself in the audience of King Stefan I of Symkaria, the leader of the country. Giving Stefan his respect, the king responded in open arms and told him that he's deeply honored by his presence. Though he didn't expect to find him lying around like a drunkard.

Embarassed, Jakob informed him that he had no idea of what happened to him but he believed that Ernst and his men could use a little "interrogation" to refresh his memories. This invited the laughter of the Wild Pack themselves, alongside Ernst. After a little more conversation, Jakob agreed to be taken into the dungeons for literal interrogation, with Ernst telling him that this was the first time he interrogated a willing subject.

-

Meanwhile in Latveria,  the Russof family was seen mourning in their living room. Jakob didn't return and Lissa was nowhere to be found. The family stayed silent until Gregor told them that today was a sad day for their family as they lost both their legacies. He then gave a speech, until a knock on Castle Russof's gates were heard.

Apparently, Doom himself was at the gates and told them not to mourn but be concerned of their fates later on. Hearing this, the family shook in terror as they thought that Doom was there to execute them for whatever reason he could think of. However, Doom told them to calm down as he's not the type of ruler to kill people randomly (apparently knowing their thoughts).

He brought the Russofs two good news. The good news was that Lissa Russof had been found. After hearing such news, Lissa herself appeared from behind Doom and ran towards her father. However, the bad news, which were worse than they thought, chilled their bones.

Doom told him that at dawn, he personally took some of his Doom Sentinels to Doomwood in order to see the progress of their son and his men. At the center of the forest, he discovered that apparently they succeeded... chaotically. He found out that the sixty missing people were apparently turned into werewolves, but only their remains were left as if they're attacked by something else.

His Doom Sentinels also ended up being torn apart, and a corpse of someone he presumed to be Maria Russof judging from her facial features was found, only to suffer a fate of death as horrible as the other corpses there as well. He began to piece things together the moment he found out that none of his Doom Sentinels managed to find Jakob's remains. That, was until Doom personally found his plate armor.

Upon examining the armor, Doom concluded that something happened to Jakob and that he's still out there. However, he told them that the Jakob Russof they knew may not be present. The chest armor was seemingly released spontaneously, as if his chest was enlarged to the point that it didn't fit and the armor piece was flung out. Same went for the rest of his armor pieces. His suspicions grew, coincidentally his Sentinels discovered distinct footprints that led north to Doomwood, which was where the Symkarian border happened to be.

Gregori Russof, terrified, asked Doom if he meant to say that his grandson was now a werewolf. Doom said that while he's more of a scientific man, he couldn't believe more so in that. Later this morning, Doom received news from the Symkarian Embassy that the Wild Pack found Jakob Russof, the country's greatest and most renowned soldier, lying naked on the lake that borders Doomwood.

Gregor, stunned, turned to his daughter and asked if she believed him. Lissa, traumatized, told him that she saw everything and that Maria was responsible for him being a wolf. Doom then pointed out that she herself saw the entire events fold out, but Gregor refused to believe that his son's a werewolf and his wife a witch. Responding to this, Doom presented him with a coffin his men brought and asked him to take a look inside.

After opening it and taking a look at what's inside, Gregor immediately ran to the bathroom and puked. Apparently, the Black Knight's corpse was present and how his face looked like couldn't be withstood by Gregor. Doom closed it back afterwards, saying that they couldn't afford having an unholy aberration running around Latveria. And when the day's still young, he shall issue the order to Ernst Sablinova to kill him.

Doom apologized to them, telling them that if there were any magics powerful enough to revert him back, he'd still be alive. This statement invited the ire of Lissa, who angrily said that he's lying, stating that he just didn't want to waste any more of his precious magics. Doom admitted that magic was known to him, but never did he master the power to manipulate the states of men. Nevertheless, Jakob's execution shall be done today and the Wolf of Latveria will be remembered only within the Russofs' records. -