Chapter 3: The Museum
The museum was nice. The building itself was attractive, with high ceilings, arching doorways between exhibit rooms and marble pillars for support. And it also had a fairly impressive collection of paintings, portraits, sculptures and archeological relics. There were even a half dozen or so dinosaur skeletons in the prehistoric exhibit.
Of course, none of that was why Integra had come to the place. Most of the cultural and historic stuff she could find just as easily in a London museum. No, the lady knight was here for the Joan of Arc exhibit. So she moved quickly through the rest of the museum.
Integra was surprised by how extensive the Joan of Arc exhibit was when she reached it. There were statues displaying different armor's Joan was believed to have worn, extensive timeline's illustrating each of the French knight's battles, and a number of beautiful paintings emphasizing everything from the French martyr's strong belief in God, to her prowess on the battlefield, to her leadership abilities. But the crown jewel of the exhibit was a small piece of metal that was believed to have come from the holy woman's Fierbois sword, above which rested a replica of what computer projections from the small relic estimated the intact sword would've looked like.
This display struck Integra as truly unique. As far as she knew, no trace of this sword had been found since the French knight's capture and execution. If the Vatican was now claiming to have a piece it must have been a recent find, and Integra could only guess at how the curators of the Gotham Museum had convinced the Vatican to loan them such a recently discovered relic. Someone, somewhere must have had some serious pull.
Integra stopped to examine the display more closely and found that she wasn't the only one doing so. An exceptionally well dressed American with dark hair and blue eyes was currently bent over the glass box. Something about his position struck the lady knight as odd, and she shifted focus from the sword to the man.
Slowly, using a combination of her stealth training and the elegance she'd been bred with, the English aristocrat maneuvered herself around the case and came up behind the American. And then, looking over his shoulder, she noticed the peculiar images in the face of his watch – digitally projected moving dials and what appeared to be some kind of frequency measurer. "What are you doing?" she asked her tone somewhat accusatory -- which only made sense given the way he seemed to be trying to hide his actions.
The man paused for a moment and then stood up without any visible signs of stress. He turned and smiled. "Hello, I'm Bruce Wayne… and you are?" he replied as he extended a hand.
"Someone who would like to know what you were doing to that relic," Integra answered, stubbornly refusing to let the conversation get sidetracked with pleasantries.
The man just let out a good natured chuckle. "I see I've been found out," he responded, still not answering the lady knight's question. "But the question remains, who by? You are far too pretty to be a security guard," he continued, locking eyes with the woman.
Integra just rolled hers. Perhaps this man's prince charming routine would've worked on another woman, but Integra had grown up with Count Dracula – the original 'deadly handsome man'. And as a result she'd built up quite a tolerance to subversive flattery. Even still, she acknowledged that the man before her did have the right to know who was questioning him, but if he was going to insist upon that knowledge, she'd make sure she gave him both barrels. "I'm Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing."
"Hellsing?" Bruce replied, sounding as if the name was somehow familiar to him but he couldn't quite place from where.
"Yes, and now that I've answered your question, would you kindly answer mine? What were you doing with your watch?"
"Persistent, aren't you?" Bruce asked with a sly grin.
"Persistent… and losing patience," Integra replied in a haughty tone.
And then there was a crash and the sound of automatic weapons' fire filled the air. Three gunmen in ski-masks suddenly entered the room. "Alright everyone, stay where you are or things are going to get… messy," one of them threatened as they began to approach the Fierbois sword display.
The American blue-blood took a single step forward, and the action seemed instinctive as if his first reaction was to place himself in-between those around him and the danger that threatened them. However, he checked his advance – reason over coming instinct, perhaps? -- before moving any further. Still, his eyes darted around quickly as if scanning the room and trying to think of… something.
But while the American socialite planned, the English aristocrat acted. She leapt forward, tucked and rolled into the three armed men, tripping one in the process, and then she stood up behind them. Her reflexes where honed and razor sharp. She stretched out her hand towards the sword replica, and had it set firmly in her grasp before the criminals had the chance to turn to her. And, with a flourishing spin, the lady knight struck, her blade slicing right through the neck of one of the armed men.
She found herself a bit surprised by the fact that the sword cut through with so little resistance. Integra had rather expected the blade to become embedded in the enemy's spine, forcing her to either risk the time required to wedge it free or try to claim the fallen foe's gun. However, both alternatives were now unnecessary as she pressed her attack with lightning speed -- realizing that her sole advantage lay in the surprise of the three criminals and that if that wore off before she was finished with them, and any of them had a chance to bring their weapons to bear, she would be in a whole mess of trouble.
The lady knight dove at the third gunman as the rest of the museum's patrons screamed and ran. And when she landed, her blade found a new sheath in this second gunman's chest. Integra smirked, but then her eyes went wide as she remembered the first gunman had only been tripped. She tried to jerk her sword free, but it wouldn't budge. It was almost as if some other force was being exhorted on the blade, holding it in place.
Integra knew her time was limited and so abandoned the sword and instead reached for the rifle that hung loosely from a strap across her latest victim's neck. She brought it to bear on the remaining gunman. And just as he was rising to his feet, the lady knight loosed a torrent of bullets into his chest.
She emptied the entire clip, however, to her surprise, he failed to fall. Instead, the criminal merely laughed. "Hahahaha! Do you really think you can stop me? With such a pitiful weapon? Girl, you have no idea who you're facing." And for the first time Integra noticed that the 'blood splatter' from these gunmen was not the deep red of human blood, but a dirty brown, unlike anything she'd seen before.
She had little time to process this however, for she soon felt hands locking around her ankles. And, looking down, the lady knight found that those hands belonged to arms attached to the gunman she'd just impaled with her borrowed sword. He chuckled as he stood back up, his body completely reforming in the process, pulling Integra's ankles with him until she was suspended upside-down in the air. The sword was still embedded in the 'man's' chest, though he seemed to take little notice of it.
Integra did notice it however, and she went for it. She latched onto the handle and, using her entire body as a leaver made one last attempt to wrench the thing free. And, this time, she succeeded. The replica of the ancient warrior woman's heavenly sword now once more firmly planted in Integra's hands, the lady knight growled as she swung her suspended body to the side and sliced at the wrists of the creature which held her captive. And with an audible thud, she dropped to the floor, and then the hands around her ankles dissolved like wet clay.
The lady knight scrambled to her feet and backed away from the inhuman intruders, the tip of her sword standing between them and her. The second gunman was back up now too, and they all started to move towards her, a sick, twisted grin upon their faces. "Oooh, got ourselves a feisty one, Eh?" And then Integra got another shock, for as they advanced on her, the three monsters contorted and merged into one -- the last semblance of their humanity vanishing beneath a monstrous, mound of moving mud.
"You know I only came for that sword piece, toots. But after all the trouble you've caused me, I think I'll play with you for a little bit before finishing the job," the monster cooed as thin, brown cords shot from its chest and attempted to coil around Integra.
"What, am I suppose to be scared?" the lady knight asked, regaining from the shock of the creature's transformation, as she dodged to her left and brought her sword up to sever the projectiles. "I've spent my life fighting real monsters, and you are nothing more than a side show freak."
This comment seemed to enrage the creature. "A freak? I'll show you who's the freak!" he spit out without even realizing that his response made no sense. And then the mound of clay lost its humanoid shape and dissolved into a large, dirty puddle on the floor. Still, it came for the lady knight.
"Let's see you cut me now," the creature taunted, a mouth momentarily forming and then dissolving back into the shapeless nothingness from which it had come.
Her back nearly against the wall now, Integra found herself desperately wishing for a phosphorous grenade to burn the puddle of mud, for she knew her sword would do little against the creature now. In its current state, trying to fight it off with a blade would be rather like trying to eat soup with a knife. Yet, the lady knight still held her ground as she searched for something she could use to level the playing field.
It was then that she noticed the lights in the ceiling and wondered if she could shock this creature into compliance. She'd have to find a way around the advancing puddle first, but she realized that it was her best shot, perhaps her only shot at defeating this disgusting… thing. The lady knight sheathed her sword in her belt and prepared herself to attempt a running jump over the advancing mud, however this proved unnecessary.
The split second before she would've begun her charge, something swooped in from the side and carried her over to the adjacent corner. Integra heard a gasp and was surprised to find that it had come from her. Then she looked over at the being whose arm was still wrapped around her and got yet another shock, for he – whoever he was – was dressed up like a giant bat!
"Oh great, another looney," Integra commented sarcastically as the puddle reformed itself once more, reclaiming its previous, humanoid shape.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Bat. The boss will give me a bonus when I bring him your cape and cowl."
The 'Bat's' mask covered most of his face, yet his eyes and mouth were still exposed. And Integra noticed that the lips of her 'rescuer's' mouth curled slyly. "I'm sure he would," the bat replied coyly. "But I'm afraid you won't be bringing him anything," he finished in a smug tone.
And suddenly there was a slight hissing sound, and small patches of ice appeared throughout the trans-morphing creature's body. "Huh? What the…" he commented as they began to spread, however he was frozen solid before he got the chance to finish his question.
Integra looked over at the man, whose arm was still wrapped around her side, and wondered exactly how he'd managed to turn that creature to ice. Even if the rumors were true and this guy wasn't just a human nut in a giant bat costume – but rather a vampire nut in a giant bat costume – the ability to freeze others wasn't a part of any vampire lore that Integra was familiar with. And she prided herself on being familiar with all of it.
"Who are you?" Integra questioned.
"I'm Batman," the man replied as he turned to face the lady knight. And suddenly his arm was gone from her side and the two were engulfed in thick smoke.
Integra coughed for a moment, but the smoke didn't last long. It dissipated in a matter of seconds, and when the lady knight could see clearly once more, she found that, like the smoke, the self-proclaimed 'batman' had vanished – seemingly into thin air. Integra's eyes narrowed as she realized that a possible vampire had actually managed to elude her. But then the corner of her lip turned upwards as another thought came to her.
Maybe this imposed 'vacation' would not be as boring as she'd feared? It was only the first night and she'd already found herself a mysterious, possibly vampiric sparring partner – one who, like her pet, seemed a cut above the regular thugs who called themselves vampires. Oh how she was going to enjoy tracking this one down and figuring out all of his little secrets. Maybe she'd even come up with a few improvements for her pets? After all, the ability to freeze an enemy could come in handy.
Well, hope you enjoyed the new chapter. This is where I'm going to take stock and decide whether or not to continue this story. So, please let me know what you think of it. Thanks.
Have a good day, and God bless.
Metropolis Kid.
