Foreword: Hello all. I sadly do not have any association to the awesome creator of this manga/anime. I own nothing from the series and all characters are property of their creator. With that out of the way, let's have some vampire action!
Part I: King of No-Man's Land
He wasn't really sure what was going on. There was definitely something clawing at the inside of his skull, he knew that much. It wasn't so much pain as the dull feeling that there wasn't enough room in his head for both himself and whatever it was that was tearing around his grey matter like a little tornado. If this new, insistent sensation had not been enough to ruin his restless sleep, he was quietly fuming about the lack of fun he'd been having.
His gloved finger busily traced the patterns on the hand-canon's grip while his mind traced the different routes he could travel down to gain the most pleasure from actually getting to use the now dormant weapon. All he could conjure, though, were repeated images of a ghoul's head exploding then its rotted corpse hitting the floor. Even worse, however, were the drearily mundane, inexcusably lackluster battles he could have with some upstart who thought that he was up to doing battle with a Nosferatu such as himself. Oh yeah, he saw the end of those encounters well before they began. "Yup, let me think. Yes I know how that goes, 'I'm the greatest vampire around! Oh wait, I can't transform, heal, or call upon the forces of the ether! I guess this is where I die." Then I play the part of the vampire hunter and rip the twerp's heart from his miserable chest." The No-Life King let out a long, exasperated sigh. The monotony was almost worse than a stake at this point; plus, the new grating, tearing movement in his head was not making him feel any better.
"Enough of this," he said in a commanding tone as though he were reprimanding a squad of soldiers who were beginning to act out-of-line. He was not going to stand for this boredom. If he were not going to be assigned to something interesting, he would find something interesting. The interesting thing he was now pursuing would be that bumbling police girl. If he didn't startle her by dropping into her room from the ceiling, he could get a reaction out of her by reminding her of how inferior she was for lacking the spine to drink blood and claim her rightful heritage.
For a second, he wondered why he was forcing this on her. For just a moment, wondered if maybe she might have had something he lacked that kept her from teetering over the edge of immortality. Then again, he had taken something that no other could claim to have taken, to achieving. He faced death than bled it dry by his sheer will. He was forever, he was what men looked for when they looked into their microscopes or when they sat in their pews and temples praying to their gods to sustain them after their bodies could stand no more. He was immortal, he was powerful… he was now being called by his master in the back of his mind. And now, he was smiling.
Part II: Attack-Parry Complex
The sun light stung a little as he walked into the cathedral that was Sir Integra Fairbook Wingate Hellsing's office or control center. He noticed that her hand wavered momentarily over a button that was set into a panel that fit into her Mahogany desk before it finally depressed it. The huge window, which took up an entire wall, was occluded as automated drapes fell to cover it. The No Life King chuckled as he thought the drapes looked like they were closing over a great stage. It seemed appropriate, considering that just about every single wriggling maggot out there could be slaughtered and he just wouldn't care. Well, more like he wouldn't be fazed by the imitation of fake life succumbing to menial death. They were all going to die. So what if they just happened to die a little quicker.
"Alucard," Integra accosted with pretense.
"My Master," he enunciated as his hand swept the Fedora off his head and bowed in a courtly, though purposely elaborate fashion. He smiled to himself when he detected those vibrations from her body singing the angry fugue that indicated that when he looked up, he would see a scowl mutating her usually comely face. Finally, a bit of entertainment. "I most graciously thank you for being oh so considerate that you should see fit to shield your humble servant from the encroaching light." A smile expanded over his face that was a cocktail of irony, sarcasm, and dry humor. The fangs that dripped over his lips shone in a nether-worldly glow against the artificial twilight of the chamber.
As he looked up, he was not disappointed. Integra's face was twisted in a resentful sneer. Without taking her eyes off him, her index finger flicked the air and came swiftly down upon the button she had pressed a moment before with unswerving force. Alucard didn't try to hide the smile that crossed his face and revealed the length of his needle sharp fangs. As the sun began to pour through once again, Alucard began to register the familiar pin-pricks that crawled over him as the sun came though to deliver a smothering embrace. The discomfort only made him take more delight in down-playing its effects to his Master who was hoping to get just a twinge of discomfort out of him.
"Why thank you master. You know, I had been hoping to get out and get a little sun. Now you've saved me the trouble. If you liked me before, you won't be able to keep your hands off me once I get a tan." His words were filled with spite but not pain or discomfort. They were also distinctly without any type of malice towards the stone pillar of Integra's form.
The stone that was Integra was not immutable however and Alucard had managed to find just the right pressure point. Integra's face flashed red, though it wasn't the red of flattery or embarrassment from his last comment, but from rage at his insolence. Her fist hit the table with a thud that echoed warily from wall to wall. Alucard just couldn't stop smiling. "Did I always enjoy taunting her this much or is just because I've been deprived of fun for so long?"
"Alucard! I realize that you have been inactive for a long period of time but I will not excuse your crude, immature remarks! Furthermore, I will not tolerate your disregard for my authority! Next time you dare to address me like that, I don't care if the entire domain of Satan is spilling over, I will relegate you to your coffin and let Seras and Pip sweep up the mess in your place!" Her last word was fired with the accuracy of a silver bullet and, as the tension finally took its leave, Integra sat back in her chair. She put her elbows up on the monolithic desk and folded her hands before her face. The change was instantaneous as her face was scrubbed of all discernable emotion. Now, her calm drawn tight over her face like the curtain that was temporarily drawn over the sun, Integra spoke in a phlegmatic tone that was as pristine as garrote wire.
"Now, have you noticed anything odd happening lately?" Her eyebrows didn't rise with the question and the inflection was dead-pan. Things were now strictly to business. Games and quips would have to be saved for later, especially if Alucard hoped to finally have a little excitement.
"No Master." Alucard really couldn't say there was anything going on. Things were as quiet a mountain lake. Just like his beloved Lake Snargov. Suddenly a wave of nostalgia took his motionless heart and carried him into waters he had learned to never tread years ago. He recovered quickly, reminding himself that things were no different now than they ever had been; everything changed.
"As I said before, you have had a lot of down time recently. Does this not strike you as strange?"
Alucard confidently made sweeping strides up to Integra's desk. He didn't bother with the formalities since he knew that he would be reprimanded should he be out of line. He could depend on his master for that. It was what kept him coming back in fact. If she had not been so strong willed, he would have easily taken his leave long ago; instead, he had helped her command respect and in return he, gave his to her.
"Well, after whittling down all the freaks, the two-piece maggots parading as vampires, and their ghouls; isn't this a good sign? Isn't this what the Hellsing organization is for: to rid the world of these filthy vampires?" He bared his fangs through the grin that over took his face, letting them make the point for him, so to speak.
The remark didn't faze Integra, or if it did, she didn't let it guide her facial expression which remained nonplused. "While I'm sure you would like me to indulge your ego by telling you that you've done a crack-job, what we've received from reconnaissance doesn't point to you as the cause of the their dwindling numbers." She wasn't sure what he was supposed to do but she was a little annoyed when he simply stood there without so much as a twitch. "Well Alucard, I'm going to give you something to do in this dry spot. You will stake out a park until you catch sight of this vampire. Reports say that he'll be seen on one of the crossroads in the park so please be vigilant."
Alucard grinned as Integra held up the picture of the target. The image was grainy, resolution wasn't great but just by looking at it, Alucard's hope began to sink into a pit that he doubted he could wrest it from. It was going to be another routine job that he would breeze through.
"This is going to be a walk in the park I take it," Alucard remarked with the constrictive tension of ennui clinging to his voice.
"What I want you to do is to extract information from this vampire who goes by the name of Scry." Her matter-of-fact manner was beginning to crawl under Alucard's skin, which was already bristling with the caustic rays of the sun but he knew that this is what he had to do and there was no arguing nor negotiating with her. The only thing he could do, the only way he was going to derive any sort enjoyment from this otherwise derivative mission would be to put his own personal spin on the proceedings.
"As you wish My Master. Though, what is it that I am to enquire about from this," the name was croaked out in disdain, "Scry?"
Integra placed the picture back into the tan file she had extracted it from then set it aside before she settled into her usual position: elbows on desk, hands clasped before her face. As she began to answer his question, a smile spread through his mind as he thought of everything he was reading from this simple choice of posture.
"You will enquire about the underground movement known as, 'Maiden.'" Integra stared out from behind her neatly clasped hands waiting for Alucard's response which he delivered promptly and cleanly.
"What can I expect as far as resistance? Will it be just him?" he asked expectantly. Integra couldn't help think how much he resembled a child asking if he'll get to buy a toy he had longed for. Integra decided that it would be kind on her part to give the stifled warrior something to look forward to; though, she carefully controlled her voice so as to stifle the slightest sign of beneficence.
"Scry will usually attract a moderately large crowd relatively quickly. Reconnaissance reports that his largest observed retinue was twenty-seven individuals."
Alucard didn't try to conceal the manic smile that exposed his fangs that only accentuated his bloodthirsty nature. Though they would be menial sport, maybe the sheer bulk of the slaughter could make up for its lack of quality. Alucard's trigger finger began to burn, begging him to no longer neglect it. He would be more than happy to comply.
"Will I be going alone or will I have to play chaperon to a group?" Alucard asked quite simply.
"You may go alone. These are nothing you can't handle in a matter of minutes," Integra granted. The conversation was pale, emotionless as the ocean that conceals a rip current beneath. Both participants were aware of the delicate game they played, of the bridle that they both tugged on. Alucard was concerned with tearing away the reigns from his master's hands, or at least giving the impression that he was doing so; while Integra was being careful to give him enough breathing room so he did not buck wildly out of control.
"When may I begin, Master?" he asked, hiding the mix of excitement and the precursor of inevitable disappointment.
"Tonight and every night leading to the full moon. That is the only time it seems that there is no activity in any of their observed congregational positions."
Part III: What not Who, Who is This?
Alucard began to walk to the wall through which he usually took his exit through. In most situations, he would simply turn, tip his hat in her direction then merge and disappear through the rift he was able to conjure. Integra observed something she had not expected this time. Her mind somehow superimposed the image of what she expected upon what actually transpired. One Alucard followed his normal route to the wall, gave his respectful recognition in her direction then took his leave; however, there stood Alucard, bent at the waist, his Fedora removed in a genuine gesture of respect. She couldn't decipher the intentions of this mysterious creature but he chose to make his feelings known as he quietly supplied, "Thank you for this assignment." He briskly righted himself and took his leave.
Integra sat stunned, confused a few moments, blankly staring at the spot the great vampire had disappeared into. Her heart twisted a little in her chest as she was reminded again of what he was. 'Could he be so thirsty for carnage that he would thank me for supplying him with what he craves? Could I… oh God, what does that say for me if I just let him sate himself on the suffering he causes?' The impassive face was caught in the transition from confusion to dread as she had to accept again, what the Legendary Vampire really was or at least acted like; nevertheless, she also had to question what she was that she could dare to utilize such a creature. She was thankful for the light that poured through the grand windows, grateful that she could feel the warmth on her back. It made her feel that she had a closer relation to the humanity she was supposedly fighting to defend.
Part IV: Boxed Consciousness
Sera lay in her coffin, her hand placed over her forehead, squeezing as the pangs came through. It seemed almost like she was attempting to squeeze the pulses of agony that fluctuated through her head out of herself at the moment they made their presence known. Unfortunately, she was not having much luck with this technique as they performed little rebellions at a set, predictable rate. Like an oscillator's waves, the pulses would arise then run their set course at their set intensity, only to fade in the cosmos of her inner being.
Her tongue played over her fangs, running over the tip, opening a gash that was tiny enough to heal as soon as it was made. She could never quite get used to the understanding that damage was done to her body without the actual feeling that it was being damaged. She knew that there was a problem with the system, but that was all: it was an interface to monitor and through which to interact, not a medium to experience.
That was what made Seras feel something that was not dimmed by her conversion: worry. This pain in her skull was not damage done by outside forces, it was not caused by a head ache – all headaches, except for those brought on by her hunger pains, had stopped from the time she had made the leap across infinity – but by something that was influencing whatever it was that was animating this body that should not be moving according to all the rules of Nature that she knew. Whatever it was, it was cutting straight to the core of her. Cutting into her core even, as those obstinate scrapings in her head suggested.
Now all she needed was to have her Master walk in and start berating her. He hadn't been very formal in the past about letting himself into her room. Usually he would simply faze through the door or the ceiling without warning; though, one occasion, she had sensed his presence and instantly directed her eyes to the two most likely points of entry. Instead, he had drifted up through the floor. She had jumped back at least twelve feet, tripped backwards over her coffin, and landed with her legs apart in an embarrassing display of ineptness. Her Master had done nothing, not even avert his amused gaze. He simply said in his usual amused fashion, "Police-girl, please scrape yourself off the floor." In those moments, Seras felt so useless, so much like a pathetic little girl cowering in the closet. In those moments, she wanted to punch him, to grow claws and rake out his eyes for making her feel like that. It was in those moments, though, she saw something develop in his manner that seemed out of tune with his normal demeanor.
Now, all Sera could picture herself doing was going to sleep. Sleep was the most she felt she could ask from the world that had dropped her screaming into this rabbit hole. Yet, the grinding in her mind neither abated nor augmented itself, simply maintained itself at its jarring level. She breathed in deeply in frustration. She held the breath inside for a moment, but soon realized that she could hold this single breath till the end of the world came, and she would never need to take another one. 'Imagine if I kept this one breath in me till I died,' she mused to herself. 'Imagine this one breath could be my last and yet I'm not close to dying right now.' Through the indignant clawing that permeated her head, she had to smile as she thought of the irony of this, of getting to have a second last breath. 'Would that make my other last breath, my first breath as a vampire? Sort of like being born?' she wondered, her eyes tracking the darkness of her coffin lid. The strange part was that she could see the every knot and spiral in the wood in details that the human eye couldn't see in the day time with a magnifying glass. There was no part of her that would let her forget that somehow, she was different.
Author's Notes: This is going to follow my typical scheme of being psychologically involved. However, unlike my past story, there will be a much higher emphasis on action. As boring as this chapter may be to some, I want to introduce the characters so that they have some kind of distinction and depth. After this though, there will be heavy concentration on action with scattered patches of psychological inquiry. So, now that the plot is set and the characters displayed, next chapter will find some action, Alucard style!