After the events of BLOODY BERLIN, Franks wants to go to Castle Frankenstein, where he was made, and find whoever has restarted Dr. Dippel’s work. And kill them.
Dex flies ahead and gets in a dogfight with two biplanes and two enormous winged vampires. The vampires are evaded, but one of the biplanes fights Dex to a draw. Eventually he helps the pilot land his damaged plane, and he agrees to help Dex against the vampire Count Volokoff.
Inside the castle the Grimnoir face off with Grimnoir from Paris who have been enthralled by vampires. One by one, each hero is stabbed with a needle in the back of the neck and falls unconscious.
When they awaken …
George and Claire are in a balanced glass tube. Melody is in a chamber filling with sharp icicles; only by heating them can she prevent being punctured. Francis is in a chamber full of mustard gas, keeping it away from his head by exerting his Mover power. Doc is holding up Dex’s full armor, except for the helmet, which is attached to Dex’s neck by a taut, razor-sharp wire. Another such wire attaches his neck to Claire’s tube.
Count Volokoff explains:
“Should Miss Claire teleport away, George’s end of the tube will fall, into the flames created by Miss Melody. Also, her end of the tube will rise, cutting off Mr. Dex’s head. But presently, either Dr. Caliban’s arms will tire, or the ice upon which Mr. Dex’s helmet rests will melt. Either will precipitate the same calamity as your Traveler’s absence.”
Also present are their old comrade Heinrich, who does not look happy; Victoria the Brute, who is seriously bruised; Pevnost the Traveller, with one arm in a sling; and Franks’ left hand, on a surgical table, not attached to any other Franks.
A skeleton wearing spectacles totters in on a cane. His bones are held together with wire.
“And since you have never met, may I introduce, before you meet your end, Herr Doktor Johann Dippel?”
Dippel is, of course, the fellow who made Franks 150 years ago.
The BLACK MADONNA 