UNTITLED VAMPIRE HUNTER D / HELLSING CROSSOVER
TAKE 3 : Next of Kin
Refuted reports of vampire and demon activity poured in. While Seras was not accompanying her lord and master Alucard, she was at the firing range or improving her people skills by commanding troops through training exercises. It was not really hard work; she had to contend with the unbearable libidos of every man who tended to glance below her neck and notice two very prominent things about her. She gave a sigh of exasperation which blew out as a raspberry, marching herself down to the hospital wing. Bugger it, she thought. Today was no different than the last. At least as a human, people had more decency toward her. Maybe it was some kind of natural vampiric allure...
Musings aside, she found herself straightening her spine as she wandered past the point of no return in the quiet, funereal darkness of the medical wing. Apart from treating day-to-day injuries or packing entire combat units into the examination rooms to treat war wounds, this wing was meant for swift and decisive medical action. Which meant it included rooms that could hold creatures much more than human.
This was one such room. The ex-policewoman did not even have to ask which room. It was merely a matter of which was the most heavily guarded.
Being a familiar face around the headquarters, she was quickly admitted by the armed, armored guards standing outside the doorway. The room was clean and sparkling and every bit as uncomfortable as if she were a human getting a shot.
On the bed was the most beautiful man (ranking high with her master) she had ever seen. Her fledgling heart skipped a beat, so to speak; he was already standing, gazing at her balefully with crystal blue eyes from a youthful face, smooth and white as the unsoiled moon. She swallowed heavily. "I was t-told to k-keep an eye on you," she stammered, "so you better not try anything funny!"
The other man said nothing. She realized right away that he was only dressed in the gown his examiners had provided for him. She realized Integra must have seen him totally without clothing, since she was the overseer of the examination. He was perfectly healthy, of course, but drastically weaker than normal. She tried with too much difficulty not to stare too long in one place.
"Who are you?" was the final conclusion.
"Me? I'm Seras Victoria. Alucard is my master. He saved me from a vampire priest. He had to shoot through my chest to kill the monster." The memory made her quake slightly, her hand accidently brushing over her breast to stave off the recollection of pain, terror, and nightmares.
This seemed not to surprise him at all. He was in the company of those who meant to kill him! She was impressed; he had real brass balls, this one. He asked softly, "So you kill vampires... your own kind."
"That includes you, mate," she reminded him coldly. "I mean, I'm not sure, but I'm fairly certain Alucard means to fight with you and kill you!"
The stranger slowly sat down, as if he meant to make his presence less potent by doing so. "So he tells me." There was a pause, then a gentle, "My name is D."
Seras, already unintentionally caught under his spell which was almost constantly in effect, sat down on a stool. She leaned her hands on her knees to give him her most alluring puppy-dog eyes. "Where are you from?"
"The Frontier."
"In America?" Seras wrinkled her nose; it was not a righteously popular country to be from. Seras couldn't stand Americans.
"I don't understand what you mean. The Frontier is... the Frontier. I don't know any region called 'America'." The honesty was a product of his words, not his impression on her mind. All frankness, no wordiness. Not like Alucard, who could run circles around Integra if she was not constantly on her toes.
The police girl gave him a long, quirky stare with reddened eyes, malovolency naturally injected to her stare. "You're weird," she complained inevitably. But her curiousity won again, and she asked, "So this... Frontier, then. Was it so bad you wanted to crawl into a coffin and disappear?"
Muscle twitch. In his jaw. It was barely noticable but it was noteworthy. "Yes." But I hoped not to wake ever again... "Now tell me, what year is it?"
"It's the twenty-first century," Seras answered quickly, blushing at his asking her questions. At least it wasn't personal, like, "Is Alucard your boyrfriend?" or something. Hell, at least he wasn't staring at her breasts. He was a perfect gentleman so far!
"I see." The information sunk in, and he seemed to diffuse his influence. His eyes grew distant and a little troubled.
Suddenly, the doors swung open slowly again, and as they closed, Integra Hellsing stood before them. Seras stood immediately. "Sir!"
D's baleful gaze switched automatically to the tall woman before him. He stood slowly, quietly, as if testing the strength of the floor in case he suddenly fell through it. The pair gazed long and hard at one another. She pushed her glasses up to her eyes further, blankly staring into the challenging gaze of the feared guest. But there was no fear in her eyes; just the cold, blank, long-lived resentment of a vampire hunter toward her quarry.
"My name is Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, leader of the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, Hellsing. I just want you to understand one thing, vampire. You are not welcome here. You are here certainly not by my choice, and not by everyone else's. I understand you've been respectful to everyone who has been treating you. This is good news; I'll have had you put down hours ago. I had the order ready to sign and all that. But just as you are a vampire, we kill them." Behind her glasses, those eyes blazed with a ferocity that impressed Seras. What impressed her even further was that it had absolutely no effect on the stranger at all.
"I understand you clearly," he replied smoothly. His voice was so beautiful, it was as clear and pure as a silver bell. "But you must understand me as well. I hunt vampires as well. I come from the future, and I am a half-breed - a dhampir."
A silence stretched out that engulfed the trio, and Walter too as he peered into the room. This skewed piece of information brought forth a slow, manic energy to the room. At first, Seras wanted to laugh out loud; Walter shook his head slowly. But Integra Hellsing, leader of her Organization, an iron fist in the world of vampire slaying - she merely nodded vaguely, not quite captured by the beauty of his voice, but entranced. A half-vampire. Impossible. No known vampires could produce living offspring... could they? Maybe it was like the computer-chipped vampires. But no... All the medical follow-ups insisted that he was not the pure form of a vampire. But he was older than dirt, an extremely bizarre case of vampirism. Integra was fascinated in part due to her own knowledge of vampires; everything in those reports flew in the face of everything she knew.
"Strangely enough, I believe you. Am I right to conclude that your name is D?" Her hand moved forward. It had the sword that baffled Walter and rattled Alucard's faith in D that he was who he said he was.
D nodded. A sedate relief filled the room. Integra knew what to do. Integra knew everything.
"Take this sword. I don't know what the hell Alucard wants with you, but I don't trust you enough to let you walk away from here."
"I wouldn't know where to go, Miss--"
"Sir!" Seras corrected sharply.
"--Sir Integra."
"Then stay with us. I've already set a case for Alucard and Seras to investigate. There could be aggressive negotiations involved. Join them, if you want. Alucard has my full permission to kill you if you show any signs of unmanagable behavior. There are explosives inserted into your body. They will detonate at Alucard's bidding." The sword was transferred from her possession to his. D's eyes never left her face. It was as if something about her entranced him, changed him. He looked almost as if he were... spooked. Seras had a feeling it had nothing to do with the fact that he knew there were explosives inside of him.
Anyone with that kind of information would have blanched visibly. But he simply nodded, nigh imperceptibly. "Then it appears I have no choice."
Seras gave a little smile. She was somehow looking forward to spending more time with this stranger. The sword suited him. Soon enough she would be able to see him in his full body suit. It sent a rush of heat to places that had been hot for nothing but blood for the last few years. Alucard's voice filled her head with taunts. Damn it, she thought. This isn't going to be as enjoyable as I'd hoped...
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It was with great anticipation that the Midian paced the narrow space between the corridor and the parking lot. The steady scuff and clacking of his soles on the linoleum provided a staccato percussion to the other bustling noises of those readying themselves for battle. There was the van that was taking them to the target location in question infected with vampires. A Hellsing coat of arms decorated the side of the vehicle, along with the well-remembered creed. Seras and their small band of human meat-bags, as Alucard referred to them, watched and waited with similar energy.
Alucard never acts this way before any mission. Seras gave a little chuckle, trembling with a little excitement. Alucard looked almost sick with giddiness. Well, not particularly.
They all wanted to see him - the famous dhampir hunter - in his full regalia, despite the fact that he might not be all that Alucard hoped.
His eyes gleamed, fiery coals of bloodlust that couldn't be quenched with just any old red blood pouch. He tipped back his hat, turning mid-step to face the doorway. A pair of double-doors swung open, and the hunter advanced.
Black as midnight, as pitch, coal -- with some adjustments, his full bodysuit clinging to his muscled form like a second-skin. Plenty of his body wasn't visible due to the shadows cast by the lengthy black duster he wore, courtesy of the Hellsing tailor. A black, broad-rimmed hat not unlike Alucard's fedora, sat atop his hat, hiding the upper part of his face. His unsmiling mouth set in a thin line, he looked among the on-lookers with a blinding lack of emotion.
Alucard's eyes were for the sword on his back. That slow, lecherous grin crossed his lips. "I hope to see that blade in action, D," the vampire growled.
"It's a promise," the hunter replied calmly.
"Alright, mates! Time to move on out!" Seras shouted, pointing to the open doors. The group of supernaturals piled into the truck in the middle. Alucard, positioned across from Seras, gazed sidelong at D, who was strategically between the two, back to the driver.
"True to fact, there are vampires in a little hamlet south of a little town east of London. We've been called to eliminate the blood-sucking bastards and send them straight to Hell to purify their damned souls!" Seras informed them, confident that her words would stir up those listening on the secure radio signal of all in their tactical squad. There was a chorus of agreement from those who would fight with them. "While you guys clean up, Alucard, Mr. D, and I will take out the head vampire. Probably just another crazed bloke with a power complex, but we'll see. As usual, no straight information on the leader so we'll be, again, flyin' blind!"
As Seras settled down with a large, huge suitcase at her feet, she winked at D. "All this is not all that sophisticated compared to huntin' in the time you come from, right?"
"Actually, it's not that different. The only problem is... we hunters hunt alone. It's risky, taking so many with us."
"Which is why they're doing clean-up. Which means blasting the hell out of those cretins. We're the ones handling the tough job."
"Theirs is a job suitable for proper peons." Alucard growled. "Such paltry work is not for true slayers, such as ourselves. Isn't that right, Police Girl?"
"Yes, my master!" she barked, smiling broadly. "And besides, I dunno how many would survive getting in the way of one blast from my Harkonen!" She affectionately stroked the case at her feet. A ripple of exciement made the vampiress look exceptionally beautiful. But her eyes glazed red, her mouth curved into a bloodthirst curve of pointed teeth. The girl had suddenly become a demon, quivering in anticipation for the blood of her own kin to be spilled.
D's eyes swerved to Alucard. The Midian's glasses were off, tucked into his flamboyant scarf that doubled as a tie. When their gazes met, they clashed, and neither of them found themselves capable of tearing their eyes away. Perhaps the one was intimidated by the other. D felt the aching scars of the tiny bombs attached to his body, just as the Midian carried the responsibility of his life in his hands. "Alucard."
"D."
"Why do you want to fight me? This isn't just about being a dhampir, is it?"
"It's about death, boy," Alucard replied grandly, opening his arms even as he leaned his elbows on the backrest behind him. "We who must live on while others die! We who command to our side the demons of our past sins, and wreak havoc upon the world. Whose bastard child were you, half-blood? What forefather's sins do you carry in your pocket?" A coarse laugh followed his words, taunted by the silence of his counterpart. He seemed terrified and elated all at once. "It doesn't matter. Watch me tonight, traveler from the future. Watch me lay waste to those weeping pretenders. I'll keep an eye out for your skill. The sight of that blade makes me rather hard."
"I will," D promised. "Although I can't promise your survival, or your fledgling's. I'm not meant to be here."
"Are you not? That makes two." The No-Life King's mouth widened into a smile full of sharp, malicious teeth.
D frowned. "You can't keep me here for your entertainment."
"I think I am. Are you done whining? Perhaps it was better when you didn't speak. What a waste of a pretty voice."
The entire exchange went unnoticed. D realized with a distinct tremor of concern that time had stopped and they had somehow stepped out of the flow of time to have this conversation. Seras sat perfectly still, frozen in the process of gesturing animatedly about how good it was to finally be sent on a mission. But the river was bending back toward them and drew them along. Alucard was as still and silent as death, a shadow for eyes, smiles gone.
Time dragged on again. Their destination stank of death and the promise of bloodshed. D's eyes closed and he merely breathed a sigh of resignment.
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The moon seemed red for Alucard's entertainment. It seemed to balance itself on the tip of a spire atop a lone mausoleum, crafted out of stone shipped from thousands of miles away. He tipped back his hat to gaze upon it, before he walked forward. The mythological phoenix crafted of solid marble seemed eternally captured in its pose, rising from fire beneath the gaze of the moon, head reared to scream at the sky. The courtyard and surrounding garden swirled around in it; from above, it must have been a magnificent sight to see. Alucard kept that thought in mind as he gazed at the sky; his quarry could be spying on them from above even as he marked the distance from where he was to the front entrance.
D was walking around the other side of the statue, gazing with some interest at the windows - staring at a particular one, he made for the doorway.
Seras, who was in charge of leading a group of five armed mortals in through a secondary entrance, communicated through the wireless comms that there was a very sophisticated security system in place within the mausoleum. She noted to take care when opening doors and, additionally, there were security laser lines that only the sharpest of vampire eyes could notice.
"Should I toss a few smokers in there to make them clearer for you to see?" Seras asked carefully, wiping her hands on her pants before hefting the Harkonnen to shoulder-level.
"I'd rather not. Our new puppy's got the scent for us." Alucard pulled the twins from their holsters, two gigantic hand-cannons that puckered holes in solid steel. With a little finesse, he could kill with every single shot without having to change the clips. The detonator hung from around his neck within easy reach if he needed it. Somehow, watching the dhampir melt into the shadow of the mausoleum, he was not concerned for him.
D had been briefed by Seras. Recently, in this area surrounding the mausoleum, women had been disappearing from town. Their cold, bloodless bodies turned up days later in dumpsters, in rivers; everywhere except near the mausoleum. The only thing that linked the mausoleum to the killings was an old women who worked there as a cleaner for years, a keeper of the grounds that had suspicions that the new master of the house had an unnatural thirst for women.
In that respect, the information was forwarded within the day to Hellsing. An investigator returned to confirm the data. The man who had purchased the mausoleum had been a charismatic, albeit it eccentric young man with a habit for biting his knuckle when he was thinking. He wore flamboyantly-colored clothes, and often dressed in styles primarily reserved for women.
Alucard was momentarily distracted. Not all of the women had returned as dead. The key factor was that the victims were not innocents. The ones who had remained as eternal guests of their unearthly master had exited from the front windows, scattering shards of broken glass everywhere. D had disappeared completely.
The women were utterly naked and almost identical in appearance with large brown eyes and lustrous brunette hair. Their hands were claws, their little fangs bared - as if they could possibly intimidate him in the least.
They sauntered toward him, touching their breasts, moaning for murder. It was revolting.
"Ladies," he greeted, sighting them along his enormous Desert Eagles. "May God in Heaven cleanse your tainted souls! And tell him to wait for your pathetic worm of a master!" His mouth wide with a grin, his laughter rose above a roar of gunfire that filled the night amidst screams of pain and terror. Blood and gore splashed against the phoenix, staining the white cobblestone beneath his boots. A vampiress shrieked, then gurgled, as her head disappeared from her neck in the blink of an eye. It was a feast of violence for eyes too unaccustomed for death. The fanged beasts collapsed, flailing and twitching, until the blessed bullets released their souls from imprisonment. Alucard never let one of them get her hands on his body.
D watched from the shadows, until the last woman fell, then turned and proceeded cautiously into the mausoleum, whose glass ceiling glowed from the lights within.