10. The Lights Go Out
HOTEL ROOM
Integra frowned at the television set displaying live footage of the burning ruins that were once London. It also revealed the three planes loaded with explosives that when dropped will destroy everything in London, essentially erasing it from existence. He troops were still there and Alucard and Seras were trapped in there, whether they were living or dead, she felt terrible just letting the government bomb them. She had tried to sway them, but her argument was flawed. Her lack of a better idea made it impossible to stop them.
All she could do was watch the planes circle endlessly until the destroyed the place she grew up in and the world she defended.
I thought a captain went down with the ship...so what am I doing here?
Integra's eyes widened. Without Hellsing, she was nothing. She would no longer be a figure-head, she would no longer be able to defend the world from vampires...she would be just as useless as the crater that would soon be London. She had no other use, except to die in her home, like her father would have wanted...
Integra packed nothing but her sabre and her pistol, as well as a bottle of wine and a box of cigars. She packed most of it into a bag, the sabre, she slipped into her belt. She strolled outside and hailed a cab. The driver stared at her quizzically and she told him the address.
"But...that's London! London is a war zone!!"
"Take me there, and I'll pay you double." Integra flashed a wad of cash. It meant nothing to her now. The driver took it and started the car. He drove leisurely until Integra told him to speed up. "Speed up. Faster. If you get fined I'll pay them off for you." Integra glared at the black dots in the sky, the mechanical grim reapers. The taxi stopped at the border of the city. Integra thanked the man and watched the taxi speed off back to the other town. Integra ran through the empty streets, passing corpses everywhere she went.
"Alucard...Miss Victoria...Please stay alive!" Integra froze as she rounded a corner. She stared at a huge seething mass of the undead. A group of the rotted faces glared at her as she approached. She drew her pistol, but quickly realised it was as useless as a stick right now.
A vampire with flowing red hair strode out to the front of her army. She set her eyes on Integra and smiled.
"Well, well, well...Miss Integra Hellsing as I live and breathe...what made you come back? Was it the desire to die by you comrades side? Or was it just a stupid matter of pride?"
"I don't have to answer to you!" Integra raised the gun. She may not take them all, but a handful could surely die before she did.
"Oh please! What's a tiny pistol like that going to do?" The red haired woman laughed. She took out a long dagger and held it up to the light. "Let us enjoy this!"
*****
Alucard blew the face of a ghoul into tiny pieces as he fired point blank. The ghouls behind him rushed in to attack, but a volley of bayonets struck them down. Some unknown force was making the two sworn enemies fight as one. They pushed the army back and took down a quarter of the enemy army. Unfortunately, the ghouls were swarming around them, rather than attack, they were encircling them. Seras, Alucard and Alexander Anderson were trapped, back to back, against the almost unstoppable foe.
It seemed that the battle would be impossible to win, but they would not go down that easily.
"FIRE!!" Someone roared. A rain of bullets took down a portion of the army and a temporary path was cleared. The remainder of the Hellsing army charged to the side of their ally. The small group of reinforcements would be a welcome addition to the fight.
With the extra firepower, the ghouls were pushed further back. The vampiric commanders called the battle to a halt, trying to make their forces retreat. The undead creatures barely comprehended retreat. Some stood perfectly still, some fought with extra vigour and some actually obeyed. The distracted forces allowed the Hellsing organisation to claim a few more undead lives.
When the ghouls began to flee, the Hellsing men let them leave, counting their losses. Nine more Hellsing troops fell in the short skirmish. That left only eleven more, Seras, Alucard and the Iscariot paladin. The ghouls still numbered in the hundreds. The whole battle, despite going so well, only claimed a portion of the enemy's forces.
"We're running out of ammo. We are also without food or water. We need to recuperate before the enemy attacks again. I suggest-"
"What is that?" One soldier pointed to three black dots in the blue sky.
"They are planes! It must be the reinforcements!!" Another soldier said excitedly.
"Why are there only three of them then? We need more than three planes to finish them off!" A sceptical soldier muttered.
Alexander Anderson frowned at the fleeing army. "Humph! They shall never escape me! I'm going after them!" He began to run, but he looked over his shoulder at Alucard. "Vampire, next we meet, we shall fight to the death!"
"As you wish." Alucard grinned as his nemesis ran right into the middle of the enemy army.
"Should we help him?" One soldier asked.
"No! He is from Iscariot! He'd kill us if he had the chance! I say let him die!" One of the more authoritive soldiers growled.
Seras ran to Alucard's side and hugged him. The ancient vampire looked startled by the sudden display of affection. He stared at her awkwardly and then placed an arm around her. "We've one this round Police girl...but more is to come. Anderson will not survive against so many ghouls. Soon enough they will finish picking the meat from his bones and come back."
"Then why don't we ram 'em up the ass!" A burly soldier yelled.
Seras took out the last bullet she had left, a grenade. She loaded it into her oversized rifle and took aim. The others shouldered their weapons and Alucard loaded fresh clips into his pistols. The next round was about to begin. Seras pulled the trigger and a smoking trail was left in the path of the missile. It exploded into the rear flank of the army, ripping them to shreds. As the confused ghouls spun around, the next wave of gunfire commenced. The Hellsing troops used up every single bullet left in their guns and then began to reload. The army must have been reduced to at least two hundred now. Alucard fired his explosive mercury rounds into the ghouls and howled insanely as they were lost in a sea of gore and blood and rotten grey flesh.
Two horses rode out while everyone was still reloading, both were vampires. One was an old man; the other would have only been twenty or so when he died. They launched themselves at the Hellsing ranks and tore through the defenceless soldiers. The old man approached Seras, but she slammed her Harkonnen into his face, knocking him to the floor and fracturing his skull. She finished the job and bludgeoned him with the weapon. The other soldiers flanked and shot down the other vampire, but by then, only seven remained.
The ghouls were dispersing now. They split up into groups and took off in all directions.
"They're retreating!"
"There isn't many left! With those reinforcements, we should be able to wipe them out easily!"
"Wait, who is that?" Seras pointed to the two women slashing wildly with swords. Alucard squinted at the two foes and gasped.
"It's Lady Integra! We must help her!" Alucard dashed off through the area that was once consumed by the dead. He struggled to line up a shot as the two women moved about frenziedly. The Hellsing army jogged behind him along with Seras.
Integra winced as the pain from her multiple stab wound began to worsen. She had only inflicted minor wounds on her opponent, yet the vampiress had managed to inflict deep gashes and cuts in her. Integra parried a blow and hacked at her enemy. The vampire stepped back and jabbed her dagger into Integra' shoulder, forcing her to drop her sabre. Integra cried out and fell to her knees. The vampire followed up by stabbing her in the chest.
"Integra!!" Alucard finally lined up a shot. He fired at the vampiress who tried to use the blade as a shield. The bullet tore through it and continued on into the vampiress' face, ending her life. With the battles over for now, they could focus on the wounded.
"Alucard...You- Urk." Integra coughed up blood. Her wounds had bled profusely and she was definitely lacking the amount needed to go on. She almost fell onto her back but Alucard caught her.
"Lady Integra, what were you doing?" Alucard almost sounded human for once.
"I had to come here...to go down with the ship…"
"What?"
"They...they're going to...blow up London." Everyone's eyes widened.
"The planes!! That's what they're for?! But they'll kill us all!!"
"I tried...I...tried..." Integra's eyes repeatedly drifted shut. She was struggling to stay conscious. Blood seeped onto Alucard's gloves but he ignored it.
"You did all you could...thank you, it was an honour to serve such an outstanding commander." Alucard mock saluted and Integra laughed; only resulting in a coughing fit.
"Lady Integra...no..." Seras gazed solemnly at her fallen commander. "Is there anything we can do?"
"I am no more...I won't last...As for the bombs..." She trailed off.
Seras found herself staring at the blood. She felt hr body tingle and she was suddenly hungry. Her body convulsed at the sight of the flowing red drink. She began to shake. Alucard noticed her discomfort and sighed.
"It has finally kicked in."
"What's happening to me?!" Seras screamed. She gritted her teeth which were becoming sharper. She grew fangs and her eyes went a darker red. "AAAAGHH!"
"You are a vampire....you cannot hide from your bloodlust forever." Alucard frowned at Integra who had closed her eyes and was barely breathing. "Drink from her. It is what she would have wanted...to die with a purpose."
"What?! I'd kill her!!"
"If you do not drink, then you too will die. Blood is as essential as water to a human. Without it, you are going to die." Alucard spoke in a concerned tone.
Seras felt tears flow from her eyes. "I couldn't..."
"Do...it." Integra whispered. Her pained blue eyes focused on Seras, pleading her to end the suffering. "Put me....out of...my...misery...please?" The last word tore through Seras like a knife. She fell onto her hands and knees just from a word. Her shaking became more frenzied and she began to sweat profusely.
"All you have to do is drink. You don't have to cut her up and eat her, just drink." Alucard sounded like he was training a child. He spoke calmly and reassuringly, somehow it was working.
Seras leaned in close to a dripping wound on Integra's arm. The red droplets enticed her, seduced her. She opened her mouth and let her tongue snake out. It stopped beneath the wound and Seras froze. A drop began to form on Integra's arm and Seras stared wide eyed I fascination. It began to droop, forming a swollen droplet of life fluid. Seras felt like screaming, but she refrained, keeping her tongue out. The drop fell and time seemed to slow down. She watched it fall, eventually landing on her tongue. In an instant, waves of ecstasy coursed through her veins and her whole body began to tingle. Before she even knew what she was doing, she dug her fangs into Integra's neck and guzzled the blood that flowed. She let out ecstatic moans of pleasure as it flooded down her throat and spilled over her face.
Integra smiled and managed to whisper one last word before she fell into the eternal slumber of death. "Thanks..." Her head slumped to one side and Seras continued to drink greedily. She moaned in a way that made the Hellsing troops wince and turn away in disgust. It was as if blood gave her pleasures similar to those of lovers.
Alucard chuckled. He patted Seras' head and pushed her back from the corpse. Seras grinned with a blood stained set of teeth and Alucard smiled back. "You are a true vampire now..."
"Thank you master." Seras turned sharply to face the remnants of the undead army. All bore rage filled expressions. This would be their last battle. But there was still the matter of the bomb-planes...
Alucard checked his pistols. He only had ten rounds left in each, giving twenty total. The Hellsing troops carried empty rifles, some taking out combat knives, others still hoping to rely on the few measly rounds left in their guns. Seras had no more ammunition. Alucard closed his eyes and sighed.
"We need to deal with this army first. We must hurry! Those bombs could be dropped at any second."
"Then why don't we destroy them first?" A soldier asked.
"Because, the enemy will try and stop us. We can't have any distractions. Now hurry and kill them all!!" Alucard set off first, using up a whole clip on the ghoul before discarding the silver pistol. Now only armed with his Jackal, he waited.
"Leave them to me!" Seras roared. She charged into the middle of them and cackled. Her chest erupted in a black shadow which formed into a demonic figure. It began to mutilate and destroy everything in its path. Seras used her bare hands to kill her foes, punching them so hard that their skulls caved in. She laughed insanely as she took down a hundred ghouls in less than a minute. Everyone watched in shock. Even Alucard never did that...
"She is strong...the blood of the Hellsing family carries great strength. Any who drinks from those veins becomes super powerful...It is what I did, and she has done the same. For a short time, our powers would be nearly equal." Alucard grinned as Seras finished off another thirty undead monsters. She left the rest and came back to the others, breathing heavily. She stared at the blood all over her body and her eyes suddenly turned blue again. She screamed at the sight but Alucard placed a reassuring arm on her shoulder.
"Master...what did I just do?" She had completely forgotten the last five minutes.
"You won the battle for us." Alucard and the other Hellsing men with rifles shot down the last of the ghouls, leaving only three left. Two ghouls stood protectively beside the middle aged vampire.
"You bastards!! How can you be so strong?! It is not right!!"
"Neither is the existence of a freak like you." Alucard fired his last round into the vampires head. The brain matter that rained down on his guards made them salivate and forget their mission. Two Hellsing soldiers snuck up behind them and slit their throats. The war was over. At the cost of the Hellsing organisation and London itself, humanity was spared, but there was one more problem...
"The planes!"
"They're going to bomb us!!"
"We have to stop them..." Alucard closed his eyes. "Police girl..." Alucard turned to his fledgling. "Can I have a drink?"
Seras stared incredulously at him. Before she could refuse, Alucard knelt down and snatched her hand. She shrieked, yet the vampire merely kissed her hand. She blushed and giggled, unaware that he then sunk his fangs into her arm. When he was finished, he wiped his mouth and roared. His body began to break apart into the hideous mass of shadows with multiple heads and a thousand eyes.
From the sky, the pilots stared at the abomination that glared at them.
"What is that?!"
"It's a monster!!"
"Kill it!! Drop the damn-" The pilot was interrupted by the huge fangs that tore through his planed and eviscerated him. The other pilots screamed as they were devoured by the giant shapeless beast.
Alucard summoned the creature back inside of his body and metal rained down on the city. Alucard laughed wickedly and felt something bump into him.
"Master...we did it!! It's over!!" She nestled her head in his chest and he stroked her back with a blood stained arm.
"It is over...Seras Victoria."
"For the last time!! It's not police girl, it's- Huh?" Seras stared at her master. "You just said my name...my actual name..." Tears welled up in her eyes and she wept into his chest.
"Vampires are not supposed to cry." Alucard muttered.
*****
SIX MONTHS LATER
LONDON
London was now partially reconstructed. The Hellsing headquarters had been rebuilt, along with many other structures. Big Ben was still being rebuilt. The roads were repaved and the destroyed buildings were demolished to clear the way for the new city.
Inside the Hellsing Headquarters, a young blonde girl sat at a desk in a large open space. She looked utterly confused, yet a smile crept onto her face when a man clad in a red trench coat came in. He looked at her and laughed.
"Hey! Why am I leading this organisation?! I know nothing about this!!"
"You drank Integra's blood...technically you have the Hellsing blood inside you, so by tradition, you are the head of the organisation."
"Alucard, that makes no sense!! Anyway, you drank her blood too!" The blonde girl snapped.
"Yes, but that was many years ago. Anyway, I am not a leader...I am a follower." Alucard grinned at Seras, and she returned the gesture. "I am merely a killing machine on a leash. You are my new master, Miss Victoria."
Seras giggled at the mention of her name. She leaned back in the chair and sighed. She frowned and Alucard took notice of her sour expression. "Something wrong?"
"Oh...it just...I'm thirsty."
Alucard laughed uproariously. Soon enough, Seras joined in too. The two vampires laughed on for what seemed like hours, then an alarm rang. Both stopped immediately.
Alucard took out a pistol and Seras took out an oversized rifle. The two grinned at each other.
"There's work to do!" They roared as one and charged off down the hall towards another battle...
END
I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank you to all who read, reviewed, favourited, whatever your part, it helped. I really had fun with this. I might write another Hellsing story one day... Anyway, please review, I would love to know what you thought.