Inside the Warehouse, Just Before the Shattering of the Skylight,
The Barely Teenage Girl's Point of View"Please! Please! Let me go! I promise I'll never try to steal again," pleaded Sorina as she was roughly pulled off the floor by the two monsters in black trench coats and held there.
"Oh, most definitely, little one! In fact, I can guarantee that you will be doing nothing at all for the rest of your life," said the man who had dragged her into the building by her hair in a playful tone. "All five minutes of it!"
This only made it harder for her to keep from breaking down into tears and only what willpower and stubborn nature she had prevented her from doing that, which would no doubt please her captors greatly. Amidst the revolutions of fear growing within her, she had to ask herself: how could this be happening to her? Unfortunately her mind was all too prompt in providing an answer for her and it all came down to a single bad choice. Ever since she lost her parents in a fire, she had been living on the streets, doing whatever she could bring herself to do to survive another day. She knew that this wasn't the only option for her, that she could just do what the police wanted and go to live with her aunt and uncle, but to her that would be the same as being executed. She knew that her mother's sister and her aunt's husband didn't like her and had never really been close to her parents. However, as far as the law was concerned, they were her closest living relatives, so that meant that they would be the best people to become her guardians. It was pretty much a bad joke as far as she was concerned that those two could have the term guardian applied to them. She knew that the moment that the people from social services left, they'd have her doing every menial chore they could come up with and beat her if she didn't do it perfectly. It wouldn't matter to them if the job they assigned was impossible for one her age to accomplish and any attempt to point this out to them would just make the beatings worse. All in all, going to live with her aunt and uncle would be hell, so living on the streets was definitely a preferable choice. While some days were worse than others, there were also days that were almost great as far as she was concerned.
Today, though, would definitely rank someplace sixty feet below horrible. She thought as she tried in vain to free her arms from her captors.
Today had been 'pick pocketing day' for her, where she spent most of the day and the evening marking suitable people for money liberation and then taking what she needed. She did it about once a month and made sure that by the time she was done that she had enough money or pawnable valuables to last her until next time. Sadly, the pickings today had been less than great, which is what had led to this situation because she had chosen the monster advancing on her as a target. It had been her opinion that his coat had been fancy looking enough that he had to be fairly rich and, like most rich people, they'd be too stupid to keep the amount of money he had on him to a minimum. She had pictured him having a nice roll of bills that would be enough to let her cut 'pick pocketing day' short and maybe even sleep in when the next one came around. However, what had happened next pretty much made sure that if she got out of this in one piece, she'd stick to the naïve tourists from this day forward.
She had decided to go with her 'running from the scary men' routine, in which she would come barreling around a corner ahead of her target, slam into him yelling about the bad people chasing her and while the target was busy looking for the approaching bad people, she would reach into the most likely pocket and grab whatever was there before running off. With her knowledge of all the crawl ways and hiding places in the area, it should have been a piece of cake to take what she needed and then play keep away with the monster for the next few hours. In most cases the people she used this tactic on eventually gave up out of sheer frustration after the first hour of chasing her, which left her with some time to counter her catch before moving on to the next person. This time, however, her hand hadn't even gotten into the pocket before the monster had clamped down on her wrist with inhuman strength. She had tried to come up with some kind of feasible reason why she'd been reaching for his pocket but he didn't believe her for a second. Then he had gotten this weird look in his eyes that had caused the fear of being caught to transform into the fear of something far worse. Her fear growing, she had started to scream for help, hoping that that would get the monster to let go out of shock, allowing her to escape, but a freakishly strong punch to her stomach had put a stop to that. She had lost consciousness soon after and it had only been outside of this warehouse that she had come too, wondering what she had done to have this happen to her.
I guess God really was serious with the 'thou shalt not steal' part, had been her thought upon entering the warehouse and seeing the horrors that resided inside.
Each horrific scene she saw had only caused her to struggle more and more against being dragged by her hair further into the den of blood, and it had gotten to the point where she didn't care if she wound up losing a few clumps of hair so long as she got free in the end. However her struggles had apparently annoyed the monster, causing him to throw her against a wall and knocking the breath clear out of her lungs. That, of course, brought her to where she was right now and with each step the monster took towards her, she felt certain that only an angel from on high would be able to save her now.
Almost as if in answer to her prayer, the sound of shattered glass filled the air and, from a skylight in the ceiling of the warehouse, a crimson-clad shape dropped to the floor. The being landed on the floor like a cat, making no more noise than one would if one simply hopped off a chair, which made no sense given the height it really did fall from. Less than a second later a second being landed behind the first, a bit shorter but no less graceful as it didn't make much noise landing either, both rising and standing before the shocked gathering of monsters as if nothing had happened. She couldn't see their faces and wondered if these were truly the angels she had wished for, or if they were just a pair of monsters drawn to the smell of blood in this place. She could only hope that these new arrivals would somehow benefit her because, otherwise, she might just impale herself on one of those nearby spikes and make her death a quick one.
"And just who are you two?" Asked a monster clad in a fine suit with a tone that made it clear that quick answers would be the best for the sake of the newcomers, "This place is invite only."
"Pest control. Divison six. We received reports from the locals of a rather foul smell coming from this place and suspected there was an infestation here," the first being replied, sounding quite playful and disrespectful to the suit-wearing monster. "From the looks of things, it's even worse than we'd been told, eh, Lilith?"
"The place is crawling with the unclean vermin, Alexander! Someone really should have called us in on this sooner." The second being, a woman apparently named Lilith, replied with utter disgust in her voice as she looked about the room.
"True. Property values do tend to plummet when word gets around of a large vermin lair nearby." Alexander stated with a disappointed shake of his head, "Can't say I blame them now that I've seen it for myself."
"Look, I don't know who you crazies are, but you've got five seconds to get the hell out of here before we decide to throw a few more meat bags on the fire." Mr. Monster Suit declared angrily at both being disrespected and being forgotten about after the first exchange, "One… two… three…"
Then, in the blink of an eye, no, faster than that she realized, both beings that had so recently dropped down from the skylight vanished, only to reappear in front of Mr. Monster Suit. However, what somehow managed to top the shock of their inhuman speed was the sight of a hand sticking out of the back of Mr. Monster Suit's head as well as the left side of his chest.
"Four, five is how I believe it ends," growled Alexander before he tore off Mr. Monster Suit's head, his companion tearing out the monsters rib cage with similar ease.
The crowd of monsters in the warehouse looked to be quite shocked by all of this and that was odd, given what acts of savagery they had been committing before the arrival of the two beings. With a casual flick of their hands, the two beings sent what was left of Mr. Monster Suit flying through the air before it hit the floor and rolled into a shadowed corner.
"Yech! I much prefer the demon breed of vampire over this variety, Lilith!" Alexander said with distinct disgust, "At least when they die, they go 'poof' and don't leave this much mess behind. Still, it's a dirty job and someone's got to do it, right? So let's get to it!"
As if a troublesome connection had finally been made in the minds of the monsters scattered throughout the room, they sprung into action, some going for weapons while the others attempted to leave through the ground level exits. It only went so far as 'attempted', though, because the moment one of them came within two feet of an exit, the shadows nearby sprang to life and leapt out towards the doors, swallowing them whole. Despite not being able to see the doors, the monsters still tried frantically to find and open them, but judging by their increasing state of unease, they weren't having any luck.
"Oh no! We can't have any of you leave the party this soon!" Alexander said in a sadistic tone of voice, "After all, the fun's just about to start!"
Without warning she found her arms free from the grasp of the monsters that had moments ago held them firm for their fellow creature. Not one to pass up an opportunity, she ran for the nearest sturdy piece of furniture she could find and crawled under it for safety. She stuck close to the edges of the thick table, however, because even though she was afraid, something within her compelled her to witness the battle that would follow. Something compelled her to witness the destruction of these monsters at the hands of the two beings and so, with eyes open and attention fixed, she watched.
As little more than blurs, the two beings that crashed through the skylight went from one side of the room to another, killing all the monsters they came across in increasingly bloody displays of power. One monster attempted to decapitate Alexander with a lance from a nearby wall but, in a blur of motion, the blade portion was cut from the pole and, in a single motion, Alexander took ahold of it then sent it back at the monster. It struck the creature in the throat and nearly severed the monster's head but instead only paralyzed it from the neck down, causing it to fall like a puppet with its strings cut. The one Alex called Lilith, in the meantime, seemed to be slinking towards her prey as though seducing them but, by now, all who saw this knew that it was pain and death rather than pleasure that she would bestow on them. A perfect example of this being when she grabbed one of the monsters and threw it at a wall with enough strength to bury it almost to elbow level and then threw a second right at the first with such speed that it became buried in the first creature up to the waist. A most ridiculous thought came through her mind that Lilith was trying to stick the second creature's head up the first ones ass but she disregarded that when the battle took a different turn.
By this time, by some stroke of luck, some of the creatures had managed to reach a stockpile of guns and had armed themselves from top to bottom. Now she was no gun expert and could barely tell a handgun from a rifle, but she could tell that the firearms that the creatures now had were military-level hardware. With the sounds of guns being cocked and bullets being chambered, Alexander and Lilith stopped in place in order to look in the direction of the new development.
That proved to be a mistake.
It was a mistake because, the moment the two of them stopped moving, the creatures began emptying everything their weapons had in the general direction of the Alex and Lilith. A thick storm of lead flew through the air and while some shots did fly wide of their designated targets, most did hit their target, tearing holes in flesh and sending blood everywhere. For half a minute the barrage of lead continued and, by the time that the creatures stopped in order to see whether or not they had succeeded, both Alexander and Lilith were little more then shredded body parts. Seconds ticked by and, when there was no sign of further movement from them, the creatures began to cheer and slap each other on the backs in victory. For her, though, it was a moment of despair because she knew that with the defeat of Alexander and Lilith, it was only a matter of time before the creatures would turn their attention to her and Death would come to claim her. As if all life, all emotion had vanished, her body remained as motionless as a statue, awaiting its inevitable end.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Laughter. From nowhere and yet everywhere, laughter that sounded more than a little unhinged came that stopped the victory celebrations of the creatures right in its tracks and caused the monsters to freeze like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train.
As one, just about every person in the room, her included, looked about the room for the source of the laughter but there was nothing there but the creatures. However as her eyes passed over the main entrance to the warehouse, she noticed something odd that gave her an inkling of who might be laughing. The door, the one that had been swallowed up by the darkness, thus preventing the creatures from escaping, was still covered by shadow. She was certain that the removal of all the entrances and exits had been Alexander's doing, since he seemed to be the more dominate of the pair, but if he and his companion were dead then the doors should have returned. It was only logical, right? So if the they were all still enshrouded by darkness then…
Can't be! She thought as she snapped her head in the direction of what had been Alexander and Lilith.
Against all laws of nature, physics or reality, her suspicions were proven true as she watched the pool of blood, that had up until a few seconds ago been flowing outwards from the remains, begin to reverse direction. As if being drawn in by a vacuum cleaner, the blood flowed back to beings it belonged to and, as it reduced to half of what it had been before on the floor, another startling thing caught her attention. The limbs, the ones that had been shot clean off and had been strewn about the immediate area surrounding the spot where Alexander and Lilith had been standing, were turning into smoke, only to reform as well as reattach themselves to where they belonged. Her mind boggled at what she was seeing and, for the life of her, she could not conceive of a valid theory as to how this was being done. Before a minute had passed, both Alexander and Lilith's body had almost completely reformed with only a few bits and pieces had yet to rejoin the main mass. Watching as both seemingly invulnerable beings pushed themselves to their feet, she knew right then that the time in this world for the monsters was now over.
Time for them to be sent straight to hell for the suffering they've caused!! She thought with a feral, vengeful smile as she watched eagerly to see what would happen next.
"Whistle That was quite a bit of firepower you sent at us boys!" Alexander said mockingly as he made a show of brushing nonexistent dirt off of his coat, "On anyone else it would have turned them into hamburger, but I'm afraid it'll take more than that to kill me and Lilith. Let's see if you lot are as durable, shall WE!?"
Alexander then thrust his hand out towards a rack of implements, the same ones the monsters had been using on their victims, and as though they were being lifted by ghosts, the blades rose into the air. Then, as though not satisfied, Alex thrust out his other hand in the opposite direction and called another assortment of weapons to rise from their places and join the first. Curious as to what the monsters would be doing in the face of such an ominous display, she was surprised to find them acting as though their feet were stuck to the floor. It was only when she looked down at said feet of monsters that she noticed an unnatural mass of blackness around their feet with tentacles wrapped securely around the footwear above it. Was Alexander doing this? Or was Lilith somehow keeping them in place for her friend? She concluded that there was no real way of telling one way or the other, so she decided to believe that it was Lilith helping her companion. Looking back upwards, she wondered if Alex had finally been satisfied with the multitude of weapons now at his command. As soon as she finished raising her head, she almost didn't notice her jaw dropping in shock at the sight before her eyes. Filling the air above everyone was an uncountable mass of weapons that had to have been taken from every available rack, chest and case in the entire building. Not only that, but there were shards of glass, steel and wood amidst the mass of deadly objects that all possessed fine points to them. She was certain her eyes must have been playing tricks on her, they had to be, but it looked like there wasn't more than two or three inches between each weapon in any direction.
"There! I believe the number of weapons I now have at my disposal now equals the number of bullets you and your fellows sent at Lilith and I." Alexander declared, sounding quite satisfied with himself, "Time to see if you're all sharp enough to survive my onslaught!"
Without saying another word, Alex threw both of his hands forward and, like the bullets the weapons were chosen to retaliate for, they shot towards their targets with unspeakable speed and yet not a bit of sound. To say that the actions of the monsters had been paid back in full would have been an understatement in the extreme for not only were most of the monsters torn to shreds, but also no piece of them that remained was bigger than a plum. Bleeding, meaty plums to be sure, but plum-sized bits none the less. Smiling with glee and vengeance satisfied, she was in the process of getting out from underneath her cover when she noticed that five out of the twenty some that had been targeted still lived, albeit with serious wounds. Had they evaded the attack somehow? Or had Alexander missed them on purpose for some reason? She received the first inkling to her answer when Alex walked across the room to one of the monsters struggling to get to his feet somehow. Unfortunately Alexander wanted the man's complete attention so, with a sharp kick, her male rescuer took the monster's left leg clean off, sending him to the floor with a howl of pain. This was paired with another howl as a brutal stomp on the knee of the monster's right leg pretty much reduced the bones beneath the flesh to paste.
"I hope I have your complete attention now, Corvenus vampire." Alexander said with false politeness and respect, "Now you and I are going to play a little game. I'm going to ask a question and then you are going to give me an honest answer. However, if I think you're lying, I turn another bone of yours into mush. Understand?"
"Y-yes!" The male monster managed to get out despite the pain he was obviously feeling at the moment.
"Good! Now, how about you tell me how the ruler of the local Coven can permit such low breed behavior in his subjects. Last I recall, Viktor frowned on such sickening displays of savagery." Alexander said, making it clear what his opinion of the warehouse's function was with no room for misinterpretation.
"I-it's K-KRAVEN!!" The male creature replied going from normal volume to a yell as a sharp spike of pain went through him, "He's got a p-plan in the works! H-he said if we helped him take over, we'd no longer have to follow any laws but his OWN!"
"Kraven… ah yes, the ambitious little second in command of Viktor, I remember him now!" Alexander said with amusement as his memory put a face to the name, "Still possessing delusions of grandeur, I see. When will that boy learn that it takes POWER as well as cunning to rule. Now, tell me more about this plan."
For a moment the male monster hesitated as though he was more fearful of Kraven's wrath then Alexander's wrath. Fortunately a savage stomp on the man's forearm cleared up that little problem rather quickly.
"A m-m-meeting of the C-covens is due to happen within a few days! W-when the Elder Amelia w-will turn over rule of the vampire Covens to M-Marcus." The male monster replied as it no doubt tried to force his reply past his pain, "That's when we s-strike! K-Kraven's got something worked out with someone named Lucien. L-Lucian will dispose of Amelia, then K-Kraven will destroy Marcus and Viktor leaving him the sole ruler of all Corvenus vampires!"
For a moment it looked as though Alexander was going to crush another limb beneath his foot, but then in an act completely unexpected he threw back his head and laughed the laugh of a person of questionable mental stability. This went on for a while and apparently got to the point where Alex had to clutch his stomach because of his laughter. Eventually, though, he apparently got himself under control as the laughter faded and a semblance of sanity returned to his features.
"Ah, that Kraven! He certainly has some interesting ideas about his future." Alexander said with genuine amusement and humor, "I think I'll go pay him a visit and let him know how much I enjoy seeing his little scheme unfold. First, though, I have to let him know I'm coming, since it would be rude to just show up at the mansion without any warning. Now, how should I do that?"
Alexander walked about in a circle for a moment, taking in the room every now and then, before his eyes widened and a look of sadistic humor blossomed on his face.
"Tell me Lilith… did your father ever teach you about the more inventive uses for pikes?" Alexander asked with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes that said he knew them all.
Suffice it to say that what happened next was not for the faint of heart nor those who get sick at the sight of blood and it lasted right up until dawn itself.
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Hellsing Mansion, London, England, Noon"Sir Hellsing? I believe you may wish to take a look at this." Walter said as he entered her office at such a fast clip that she knew instantly that something important had happened.
It had been a little over two weeks since the disturbing incident involving Alucard's momentary lapse in control over his abilities, and their progress in understanding why it happened was going slowly, far too slowly for her liking. They were all but certain that the remnants of the Millennium organization were behind it, as there were few groups on Earth capable of casting spells capable of having such a potent effect on the No Life King. The abduction of Alexander Harris, a young man allied with Rupert 'Ripper' Giles, was also suspected of playing a role in the event, although what that role could have been was uncertain. She had assigned Walter and his team of researchers to look for any rituals, ceremonies or spells that would require someone matching Harris but nothing significant had come of it. Unless, of course, it was this hurried entrance into her office that signaled a breakthrough in the research, but considering that her retainer was heading around her desk in order to access her computer, she doubted it. An abundance of keystrokes later and a sifting through a website later Walter brought up a European news stations website and, with a single click of the mouse, brought up what was apparently a live news broadcast.
"This is Tracy Wong, reporting to you live from the warehouse district of Pardubice in the Czech Republic where a sight not seen out of a horror film has the people of this city looking over their shoulder even in broad daylight. It was early this morning, just after dawn, that a passing truck driver discovered something truly horrendous on his way to deliver his shipment to a nearby electronics building," stated the Asian woman who looked a little ruffled even though she did her best to conceal it. "What he saw was five bodies, all of them burned almost to the bone, impaled on metal pikes in a manner almost identical to the method used by Vlad the Impaler centuries ago. The only difference being, according to confidential sources, was that three of the five were apparently impaled multiple times before the perpetrator was satisfied. Whether the impalement occurred before or after these people were burned alive is not known, but it is safe to say that they may very well have deserved their fate.
"While local authorities were quick to cordon off the entire area, this reporter was able to acquire this exclusive footage of the inside of the warehouse which the victims were impaled in front of. I warn you that what you are about to see is graphic and if you have any children present, you should send them to another room immediately." Ms. Wong said, waiting a full ten seconds before playing footage, "As you can see this place can only be described as a torture chamber where numerous people, ranging from teenagers to the elderly, underwent extreme and often fatal sessions of pain. Given the presence of several pieces of furniture more at home at an expensive mansion, one has to wonder just who committed these horrible acts and why. One thing is for certain, though, and that is the fact that these heinous acts have been perpetrated for many years.
"This reporter has made numerous attempts to contact the local police commissioner as well as the detectives rumored to have been assigned the case, but there has been no response as of yet. This is not surprising since it must be quite a black mark on the records of the entire local police force for something of this nature to have happened right under their noses without them being the wiser." Tracy said before the screen began to get static-filled and the reporter became aware of it, "Apparently the local government is so eager to cover up this caper of carnage that they are right now attempting to block our broadcast signal. We will attempt to gather more information on this story and report it to you as soon as we can establish a solid broadcast signal. For the Associated Press, this is Tracy Wong reporting from Pardubice in the Czech Republic, signing off."
With that, the local authorities apparently succeeded in blocking the transmission as the screen went snow white with static. Having recorded everything, Walter immediately rewound the report until a clear image of the five impaled bodies was displayed on her screen. Indeed it was the most telling image of the entire news broadcast as it gave her an inkling of an idea as to who might have caused it, as well as why. The reporter had not been far off the mark when she compared the impalements to those done by Vlad the Impaler and she would know. As head of the Hellsing organization, she was well-versed in the history of vampires and other demonic entities, both native to the United Kingdom and abroad. She was well aware of the Corvenus breed of vampire, which these five obviously were since the demonic breed turned to ash when killed and True Nosfuratu could not be slain in this manner, and from the images of the inside of the warehouse she had her suspicions as to what group the five corpses had belonged to. There were rumors of a group among the Corvenus breed that took pleasure in torturing humans, who took pride in surpassing their fellows in causing pain, and did not care what happened to the remains of their victims. What was puzzling, though, was that the majority of these sort of vampires considered the butchers outcasts at the very least and a threat to their secrecy at most, therefore, it seemed odd that the current ruler of the Corvenus vampire Covens would permit such vulgarity in their subjects.
"Walter, who is the Corvenus vampire currently in charge of that city?" She asked her friend and confidante without looking away from the screen.
"The steward of the Covens, Kraven I believe his name is." Walter promptly replied with less than a second of pause between recollecting and speaking.
"And it appears that he is still the incompetent I remember him to be," came the contempt-filled voice of Alucard as the No Life King phased through the wall to the left of her. "At least Viktor understood the necessity of culling the weak and depraved from his kind every so often."
"What do you make of this Alucard?" she asked her pet monster indicating that he should inspect the image on her computer screen.
"What I make of it is that apparently someone shares my opinion of lowborn trash like that who drown themselves in their own vulgar desires as well as how they should be dealt with. Excellent technique!" Alucard replied as he took on the body language of someone critiquing a work of art, "It might have taken him a few tries, but he eventually got the hang of it. His partner wasn't all that bad either, though obviously in need of practice."
"Partner?" She inquired, seeing nothing in the image on her computer screen to indicate the number of perpetrators.
"It takes someone who has actual experience in such matters to see the difference between a single artist at work and one who has a student with him." Alucard replied in a tone that made it clear he took pride in his past acts of impalement, "It also takes a person of experience to be able to recognize the work of others as well as their own. I believe we now know what it was that Nazi rabble tried, and apparently succeeded, in doing seventeen days ago, my Master."
It took less than two seconds to connect what Alucard had just said to what they knew of the situation involving the Millennium organization and she did not like what the No Life King was implying. If she was interpreting his words correctly, which she was if that manic smile on his face was anything to go by, then somehow the survivors of Hitler's occult research branch had successfully managed to create a copy of Alucard. How exact this copy was she could not tell from one image alone, but anything even approaching a complete success did not sit well with her at ALL. Since the former count's capture and enslavement, he had served as the Hellsing organization's trump card against all the vampires and demons had to throw against the United Kingdom. To know that there could very well be another true Nosfuratu of Alucard's power out there that was not under the restrictions of Control Arts was ominous. While she could not conceive of a purpose behind the attack on the Corvenus vampires from the standpoint of this copy Alucard being under the control of the Millennium organization, that didn't mean that there wasn't one.
"Walter, I want all our operatives in that region to begin conducting covert surveillance of the Corvenus vampires in that area. Whatever is responsible for this… display… it is unlikely that we have seen the end of it all." She ordered, deciding that for the moment watching from afar would be more informative than intervening.
"Indeed not, my Master. In fact I dare say that we are looking at the beginning of some truly interesting times." Alucard said with a voice laced with excitement and amusement, "After all, the young can be so industrious when properly motivated. Isn't that right, Mina?"
In response to this, the shadows that existed in her office seemed to darken as well as deepen before admitting a dark haired woman in black slacks, tan blouse and brown shoes. However it was when one saw her eyes, eyes that flickered from sea blue to blood red, that truly identified who it was that had entered the office. While the woman had had very little contact with the Hellsing organization since its founding, Wilhelmina Harker did call from time to time but this was only for two reasons, for the most part. The first pertained to her unique condition as a Dhampir, a being who was half vampire and half human but vastly superior to a ghoul, and a search for a way to become completely human once more. It had been something each leader of the Hellsing family had tried to do ever since the woman had first fallen victim to Dracula, but thus far the lack of success on that front had been discouraging. The other reason was to inquire as to whether or not the No Life King was still trapped in servitude to the bloodline that had defeated him. It was likely the only comfort the woman took from that entire affair, that the monster that was the cause of her current condition was suffering just as she was, and was usually unhappy if she was told that Alucard had been allowed out of his cell for any length of time.
"Welcome to Hellsing manor Ms. Harker. I take it that this is not a social visit?" She asked, trying to remain polite yet professional.
"I came for information, Sir Hellsing, and based on what you were discussing with him when I arrived, I believe you have what I need." Mina replied with extra venom when indicating Alucard, "Tell me why it is that I sense two of him now in this world."
"Looking for a new husband already, Mina? I wonder what dear Jonathan would say about that were he here." Alucard asked with eyes aglow with the amusement he no doubt wish to gain from needling his almost fourth bride.
To this Mina Harker only glared at the source of her unnatural state, her eyes staying a glowing red, but did nothing more as she no doubt knew it would only serve to amuse the No Life King further.
This is not going to be pleasant. She thought to herself as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, However, it is better that she get what she came for and leave rather than tempt fate by keeping her and Alucard in the same city for very long.
"If you would sit down, Ms. Harker, I shall do my best to brief you on the situation as it stands now." She said as she took a cigarillo from her desk drawer and lit it.
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The Headquarters of the Watchers Council, The Other Side of Town, Meeting Room"We have come to a dangerous turning point in the history of our world, my friends." Quinton Travers, who sat at the head of the large rectangular table at the center of the room, said, "As you have just seen in this news broadcast, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that our precognitive division spoke the truth when it declared that a 'No Life Prince' has been born. What we must decide now is how to deal with this turn of events."
There was a period of silence after this before one Watcher, an Irene Adler, chose to voice her opinion of the situation.
"Considering that all of the members of the precog division either died or slipped into a coma after delivering their predictions to us, I do not think it wise to put too much stock in their words." Adler said, trying to sound confident in her position, "Based on the evidence, it is clear they were being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information in a brief period of time. It is not entirely unfeasible to say that they may have gotten some of their facts wrong."
"I truly wish that were the case, Ms. Adler, truly I do, but given what our sources in Romania told me two days ago, I do believe we are dealing with a No Life Prince. According to them, there was an incident of sorts at a 'drug company' rumored to have ties to the Millennium organization in which the entire facility exploded." Quinton said, sounding as though he truly respected the woman's opinion but dismissing it just the same, "While the majority of the materials and records within the facility were destroyed in the ensuing fire, our Romanian agents were able to salvage a fifteen second recording from an external security camera."
With the flick of a switch, a black and white view of the front of a massive facility could be seen and when the time coding on the footage reached the five second mark two people could be seen exiting the facility. The taller and obviously male one was carrying a smaller female one, who apparently was clothed only in a cape that was wrapped around her body. The pair only got as far as the bottom left of the security camera's field of vision before a third figure emerged from a side door of the facility. It was then however that the footage became garbled before finally winking out entirely, indicating either the camera's destruction or the end of what the Romanian operatives could recover.
"While we were not able to get a clear view of the face of the man carrying the woman out of the building, we have been able to enlarge and enhance the woman's face enough to make an eighty-two percent positive identification." Travers said before hitting another switch, causing two images to appear on the screen, "The one on your left his a enlarged and enhanced image of the woman's face from the recovered security footage whereas the one on the right comes from files we 'acquired' from the Hellsing Organization. While the distance from the camera made a crystal clear image of the woman impossible, I am sure you can all see for yourselves the similarities."
Indeed they all could see that the woman recorded being carried out of the drug company in Romania did look almost exactly like the photograph on the right labeled '1st Lt. Rip Van Winkle'. While little was known about Winkle, she was for certain a member of the Millennium organization and was present at conflict between her fellows and the combined forces of both the Hellsing Organization as well as Iscariot. It was however something of a puzzling fact to see her alive, metaphorically speaking of course, since last report had her being slain by Sir Integra's attack dog Alucard. Either the report was mistaken with regards to her demise or the occult branch of Hitler's army had decided to create a copy. Neither possibility was encouraging, given what it implied either about Rip Van Winkle's abilities or about what the Millennium group was capable of at present.
"Given how this group reportedly deals with failure, it is reasonable to hypothesize that Lieutenant Winkle was being experimented upon since her use in the field had been brought into question. Given her apparent weakened state, as shown by the fact that she had to be carried from the facility, it is safe to say the man carrying her was primarily responsible for their escape." Travers said as he clicked off the TV screen, "I don't think I need to point out how difficult that would be, given what measures they likely took to keep their experiments under control. With all this varying information, I believe it wiser to err on the side of caution and assume that what our precogs told us is accurate."
"Perhaps we could turn this to our advantage," said Robert Price in a speculative tone of voice.
"What do you mean Robert?" Travers asked with curiosity.
"Well, it's just that it has been a concern of mine that with the escalating nature of the conflict between the Millennium group and the Hellsing Organization that we are starting to lag behind a bit." Mr. Price replied a bit unsteadily due to his sudden position in the spotlight, "After all, Hellsing has Alucard and his Mideon childe, Iscariot has Paladin Alexander Anderson and Yumiko Takagi but we have only the Slayer. Even given the fact that there are two now rather than the traditional one, neither Slayer Summers nor Slayer Lehane are strong enough to be considered a match for the enforcers of Iscariot or Hellsing."
"Your point being, Mr. Price?" Travers stated coldly as he didn't like being reminded of the two Slayers in Sunnydale.
"My point is what if we took a page from the Hellsing Organization's book and attempted to seal this 'No Life Prince' to our service. I grant you that there are some inherent risks in such a venture, but should we succeed we would have sufficient power to deal with both Iscariot and Hellsing on more even ground." Robert stated, sounding more confident as he realized how it might benefit him should his idea work.
"You're forgetting the fact that the secret of how Alucard was bound to the Hellsing bloodline is a complete mystery with the knowledge known only to the current head of the family." Minvera Watson pointed out with obvious dislike of the idea proposed by Robert, "Then, of course, there is the problem of being able to pin down this 'No Life Prince' long enough for the binding ritual to take effect. If this being possesses even one tenth the strength of Alucard, it will mean serious losses in manpower one way or another."
Murmurs of agreement flowed about the room, making Robert Price look like he was wishing he had kept his mouth shut. Travers, on the other hand, had a speculative look in his eyes that almost immediately vanished when the chance of it being spotted by others arose.
"In any case it is clear that we must intensify our intelligence gathering considerably in order to ensure that the potential threat that this 'No Life Prince' poses to our cause is minimized. Each department is expected to devote the bulk of their resources to learning all they can about him and where he may go in the future." Travers stated as he rose from his seat in a subtle sign that the meeting was about to come to a close, "Despite the dangers you pointed out, Ms. Watson, I want you to consult our mystical resources for a means of either weakening this Nosferatu or at least protecting ourselves from his powers."
"Yes sir." Ms. Watson stated, sounding more agreeable to Travers' orders than Price's suggestion.
"Very well then. This meeting is adjourned." Quinton said before looking directly at Price, "Mr. Price would you please remain. I would like to have a few words with you concerning your pessimistic appraisal of the Council's power."
Those words produced additional incentive for those that had attended the meeting to leave the room as they had no doubt that their co-worker was about to get a serious dressing down.
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Vatican City, Rome, Italy,
Headquarters of the Special Section 13 'Iscariot' Organization"What news do you have for me, Timothy?" Father Jacob asked as he saw the young priest enter his private chambers.
"I regret to say that the news I bring you does not bode well for the world, Father. I have just received a report from our operative in the Watcher's Council and, if her words are to be believed, then first Lieutenant Rip Van Winkle still exists and is currently in the company of one who could be the No Life Prince Jose spoke of before he died." Timothy replied, visibly troubled by the news he had acquired, "It is believed that they are in Pardubice in the Czech Republic at the moment as several impaled and seriously burned corpses were discovered this morning. The condition the bodies were found in suggests that they were Corvenus breed vampires and the impalement method is consistent with what we know of Nosferatu Alucard."
"Have faith in the Almighty, Timothy. We are his agents here on this world and, no matter the threat, we will prevail because it is His will that we prevail." Jacob stated, lightly reprimanding the young man for his reduced faith in the Lord, "What courses of action have these two groups of heretics decided upon?"
"Both have decided to continue collecting intelligence on the two nosferatu rather than send a force in to deal with them. It would seem that they are concerned that the Corvenus vampires might take offense to their presence and complicate any attempt to either capture or slay the two true nosferatu." Timothy replied with disgust at the perceived cowardice of the organizations.
"I take it you do not approve of their decisions?" Asked Jacob, who desired to hear more of what was on the young priest had to say.
"I doubt those heretics would ever make a decision that I would ever approve of, Father! They both claim to serve the same cause as we do, but they employ monsters to do their work or only put forth a token effort against the evils of this world." Timothy stated with hatred and contempt for both the Watcher's Council and Hellsing Organization, "If they had any true goodness in their hearts, they would not care about offending monsters but rather march their forces into the city and not leave until every unholy abomination was destroyed!"
"Perhaps they are concerned that such an aggressive move might risk bringing the existence of these abominations to the attention of the public. After all, Timothy, it would be hard to miss an armed force entering a city in plain view of the public." Father Jacob said, pointing out a problem that kept him from dispatching Iscariot forces to the city.
"Forgive me, I misspoke, I merely meant to say that I believe that the two nosferatu and the Corvenus breed should both be destroyed sooner rather than later." Timothy said, realizing how he had forgotten the fact that their mission must remain hidden from the innocent public, "Long have the Corvenus vampires had a chokehold on that city and the surrounding regions. With the presence of two true nosferatu in the area, the threat to those loyal to the one true faith increases to the point where they may be lost to Hell."
"You propose a more surgical strike should be used in this situation?" Jacob asked in order to prod the young man's train of thought along.
"Maybe. Perhaps a force led by Paladin Anderson, Heinkel and Sister Yumiko with the three of them assigned to terminating the priority targets while the rest keep the cannon fodder at bay. Without their leaders, the lesser vampires should be easy to slaughter." Timothy replied with his confidence rising and falling in time with his thoughts on how to accomplish such a mission, "We might even be able to justify the presence of Iscariot forces by claiming that we are pursuing the perpetrators responsible for the incident at the Corvenus warehouse."
"Indeed. It would be a small thing for our people in Italy's Federal law enforcement agencies to 'discover' a link between a recent arrest and the slaughterhouse discovered in Pardubice." He stated without actually saying where he stood on Timothy's proposal.
"Y-you mean you would approve such a mission, Father?" Timothy asked with both surprise and interest.
"Officially, of course, I cannot condone such blatant trickery and manipulation of the facts due to the lingering 'repercussions' of Maxwell's actions. Our freedom of operation has been greatly reigned in thanks to that fools actions and it is unlikely His Holiness would approve of such a venture." Jacob replied, taking care to choose his words carefully, "Unofficially I agree that the abominations have ruled over those regions of the Czech Republic for far too long and with the potential for an alliance between them and these two nosferatu cannot be ignored. If such forces were to be dispatched they would have to be gathered covertly and no written record of their actions could be made until after their victorious return. Iscariot is at a very perilous point in its journey down the one true path. Do you understand, Timothy?"
It took a moment, but a light of understanding did appear in the boy's eyes as he perceived the hidden meaning in his superior's words.
"If such a mission were undertaken, the one who conceived it should accompany the forces in order to ensure its success." Timothy said both casually and with a tone implying hidden meaning in his words, "However he would have to make sure he could acquire the necessary equipment and manpower without arousing suspicion. How do you suppose such a person could do that?"
"I suppose if the man had in his possession a small token, one known by all to belong to a high ranking Iscariot official, it would cause his orders to be immediately obeyed." He said while taking off his own personal cross from around his neck, "For instance this cross was handcrafted and presented to me by His Holiness himself for many years of faithful service to the Almighty. All who have seen me walking the halls of Iscariot headquarters would recognize it."
With no further words spoken he reached out and placed the cross in Timothy's hands before closing the boy's fingers around it.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, my son, I have much tedious paperwork to attend to and little time before it is due to hand it in." he said before crossing himself, "May the Almighty always watch over you, Timothy."
"And over you, Father Jacob," said Timothy as he crossed himself.
With that the boy walked briskly out of the room with the idea in his head that he had been given covert permission by the head of Iscariot to lead a force to Pardubice to eradicate all unholy abominations in the city. Should the boy return victorious, it would prove to be a great victory for section thirteen and would go a long way towards restoring His Holiness' faith in Iscariot. However, should the boy fail, he could safely use plausible deniability to his advantage and claim he had no idea what the young man had been planning. It would be more convenient for him if there were no survivors of the failure, since it would make concocting a cover story easier, but Paladin Anderson would likely return from such a defeat no matter what. If that happened, he could claim that the boy had stolen his cross from his office while he was elsewhere and launched the mission in a misguided attempt to win his admiration. Iscariot would still take some damage, both from the world and from His Holiness, but it would be minimal without any concrete proof to implicate him.
I truly regret having to use the boy in such a manner. He was a truly devout servant of the Almighty and executed his duties diligently. He thought to himself as he returned to his chair behind the desk, However, we must all make sacrifices in order to carry out His will on Earth.
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Viktor's Mansion, Pardubice, Dusk, The Hallway Approaching Kraven's OfficeWHY DOES IT ALL HAVE TO GO WRONG NOW!?Kraven thought to himself as he angrily stalked towards his sanctuary from the problems of stewardship.
He had just spent the last three hours not only dealing with the members of the law enforcement community the Covens had secured the loyalty of attempting to minimize the potential damage caused by the exposing of the den of decadence at one of his secret warehouses. It had been a mess coming up with a convincing story to explain why such repugnant vampires had set up shop at one of his buildings, but he had explained it away as a failed attempt to bring them back into the fold. He had made it sound as though it had been his intention to reform those filthy, sadistic Death Dealers and make them into more respectable members of the Covens. He made sure to include just the right amounts of surprise, anger and dedication to mainstream Coven viewpoints in order to convince them that he had no part in what had been going on in the warehouse. Eventually, though, he had managed to convince them and after some financial incentives all of them had promised to do their best to sweep this problem under the rug by blaming some biker gang or cult known to exist in the Czech Republic. Within a month they promised it would all be forgotten both locally and abroad leaving him with nothing to worry about.
I'll deal with them later! Right now I have to focus on making my arrangement with Lucien and his ilk succeed. He thought as he turned the doorknob on the door to his office, Once I become the sole ruler of the Covens, I will have more than enough power to deal with them my way!
However any thoughts of the past, present and future left his mind when he entered his office to find a young man with long black hair dressed in a blood red duster jacket sitting in his chair with both feet up on his desk. He was about to make his outrage at this known when the boy's head snapped up to reveal glowing blood red eyes and a fanged smile that had just a touch of madness to it.
"Nice office you have here, Kraven! I especially like this chair!" The boy stated in a manner that made it impossible to discern whether or not he was being serious, "Oh, I know it's a bit rude to drop in uninvited, but I did let you know I was coming with that little calling card I left in front of one of your warehouses. Those people were just oh-so helpful with all the little tidbits of information they gave me, but they left one little detail out that I'm curious about. Who is Lucien?"
The world HATES me! That's the only possible explanation for everything getting fucked up all of a sudden! He thought to himself as he tried to think of a way to turn the arrival of a True Nosferatu to his advantage.