HELLSING: ERADICATION

CHAPTER XI

At long last this chapter has finally arrived! I apologize (yet again) for the delay of posting this chapter, as I was quite busy over the summer. But in my defense and for your personal enjoyment, this chapter is the longest one yet, and I am quite pleased with how it worked out.

Enjoy!

It was a bright and sunny day in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Then again, it was almost always a bright and sunny day, but even to the casual traveler the day was filled with promise. Hope for something to be done, ambition to be achieved!

Or at least, that is what went through the mind of a tall and lean man in a brown suit as he walked along the sidewalks among the city's populated streets. His business attire was not seen as out of the ordinary, given that a rather large amount of officials, or those appearing of the sort, had been visiting the city. The man did not know why, nor did he really care.

He was simply much too enthused of the day's events to notice.

As he had heard from others of the intelligence division, the attack on the Hellsing estate had ultimately been a failure. As it had been guessed by the top officers, the master vampire, the dreaded No-Life King, was still safeguarding its halls.

At the cost of two very talented operatives and the element of surprise, many of the organization had thought this a massive blunder, but the group consensus was of a rather more successful one. Though now the group was surely to be compromised (at least in identity), they also had the first move.

The man remembered fondly of the decisions made at the last meeting. He had been chosen, a faithful servant, to draw the enemies into the trap and leave the Hellsing estate undefended. The damage report had not been discovered, but he imagined that with Jan Valentine on the case, casualties were a primary objective.

Therefore, the already weakened estate would be even more vulnerable. The Major's plans were of an ingenious breed, and the man marveled at the strategy of his master. Quite stunning, to be put lightly. Everything, it seemed, was just as planned.

The man looked out onto the vast waters that occupied his vision as he turned from the sidewalk into a park. It truly was glorious, not only for the landscape's sake, but for the acts that been set into motion.

War was coming.

The man could not wait.

Alexander Anderson walked in a similar fashion, all too unaware of who else was present in the park. Though he did not think much of the city, he admitted even to himself that it was rather calming to walk knowing that he was in a city of believers rather than heathens.

It comforted him still when Maxwell had commissioned him for this assignment. Though Maxwell was not of the pious standard that Anderson kept himself to, the man was a zealous overseer of the Iscariot organization.

Anderson walked down a narrow street, relatively free of human traffic, and pondered over the days since he had graced the unholy ground of the Hellsing estate. He had noticed that the fledgelings had recognized him from the mission in Ireland weeks ago, and it had annoyed him to no end that Maxwell had not simply provoked the Hellsing agents into attacking outright.

Though Anderson could not slaughter them where they stood, their foul presence at last nullified, it amused him to think of all the possible outcomes of such a scenario. Eventually Maxwell had sent him to Brazil in order to act as the eye of Iscariot on matters of interest.

Anderson had learned that Maxwell informed the Hellsing heretic queen herself of their attacker's supposed location, but even he knew that something so organized would not be foolish enough to remain in one place.

Still, the two organizations now shared a common enemy, it seemed. Truthfully, the only thing the old priest found more infuriating than heretics was pagans, and he was sure that the soldiers of Millennium were as godless as their masters.

He was eager to see how the events were to play out.

Alik stepped off the helicopter, accompanied by Seras, his Master, and the leader of the Wild Geese, Pip Bernadotte. He had never been outside of Europe, and this new sight in the 'New World' was quite interesting. He had seen skylines, yes, but this was quite spectacular.

Buildings upon buildings lay scattered before them at the helicopter pad on top of the business building they had landed on. Night had just fallen upon the city, and Alik was smitten with it. The centerpiece of this magnitude was an enormous statue sitting on a mountain, the one Alik recognized as the Cristo Redentor. It was most impressive.

However, his Master seemed almost dismissive of these sights as he walked with purpose towards the entrance to the building. Alik had no choice but to follow.

It was discovered that the helicopter had arrived at a hotel. Alucard approached the attendant at the desk opposite the street entrance. At his presence, the attendant surveyed him with apprehension and hesitated for the briefest moment before beginning to speak.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" The man spoke with a slight accent, but even that was not enough to disguise his obvious fear of the man in front of him. Alucard answered immediately. "I request the penthouse suite. Now."

The attendant frowned at Alucard's tone. "I'm sorry, sir. The penthouse suite is currently occupied. Can I interest you in-"Alucard's hand moved to the desktop, and though it was by no means aggressive, the man stopped speaking as Alucard replied. "I would implore you to reconsider."

Alik noticed his Master's gloved hand begin to glow with an ominous shade of red, and the man seemed to forget himself. "Of course sir. Up the elevator on your right. Have a pleasant stay." The man's voice was monotonous, and Alik could have sworn his eyes were as red as a vampire's for a split second before his Master lead the way to the elevators.

Though Alik had never stayed in a hotel, the penthouse suite was quite satisfactory to his tastes. Somehow his Master (though Alik had his theories) had managed to bring the coffins that the fledgelings had slept in at the Hellsing Estate to the Brazilian city.

Additionally, as Alik felt the weight of sleep begin to press on him, he found his room already stocked with several blood packs, arranged in a line along the wall adjacent to the door. He was sufficiently surprised.

Alik had then remembered that his view of the city's night sky had been interrupted, and found himself on the balcony of the hotel overlooking the glorious lights that shone from the busy atmosphere about Rio de Janeiro.

Strangely enough, Alik felt a sense of calm, similar to the one he felt in Seras' presence, but instead surrounded by not other people but instead with the cool night breeze and the sight of wonders in front of him. So amazing it was, that Alik had not noticed Seras' arrival on the same balcony, not even her appearance at his shoulder as she too leaned on the railing to bask in the view.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said, turning to him. He nodded. Breathtaking. It was almost impossible to imagine that something as hostile as the enemy they were hunting could be in such a place. It was as if the two concepts were completely incompatible with each other.

"It's about time we did something. Those blokes from back home that attacked us deserve it." Alik realized that she was referring to the strange ghoul soldiers that had attacked the Hellsing Estate earlier, and then memories of the battle came back to him. Suddenly the night sky seemed slightly less peaceful.

"Yes. We'll pay them back for that." He said. He envisioned his attackers broken, their blood spilt as vengeance for the unjust attack. But somehow he expected the enemy that they had come to Brazil for was not going to fight in that manner. Though the efficiency of the attack on the estate had been unquestionably impressive, it was not a stealthy maneuver, and moreover it seemed a rather reckless move for someone – or something – that possessed the element of surprise.

"We'll find them Seras. And I'll save some just for you." She let out a chuckle. "Why thank you, good sir." He returned the action. He had meant it of course. For reasons he could not decipher, Seras seemed to have a deeper hatred for the attackers than he did, which was both impressive and curious. Why? It appeared to be personal, at least somewhat. But of course, like many things in his life, Alik had no answer to that line of questioning.

Instead, he returned to the view of the illuminated city.

Was this enemy lurking in the shadows even now? Where were they? Alik imagined that the enemy expected counter attack for the estate's losses, and thus it would not be easy to find them amidst the bustling metropolis. Perhaps Alucard had a plan.

Regardless, the night sky reminded Alik of his fatigue, and as he returned to his room, he bade Seras good night and collapsed into the coffin.

Dreams again invaded Alik's mind. Though why they could not simply make sense, he did not know, but this time the fragments of memories that usually flitted about during his nighttime rest were replaced by coherent sequences.

A man in a dark brown suit, complete with hat, stood before Alik in a burning city. He pointed and gestured, opened his mouth and yelled, but Alik could not hear any sound come out of the man. As he attempted to interpret who the man was, the dream changed again.

Another man, different from the first, walked towards a scattering of tents with a strange flag mounted on each of them. The man wore a suit of camouflage with an eye patch on his face, carrying an assault rifle. He went inside the tent, and Alik heard gunshots. Then the man appeared again, in the middle of the clearing of tents, and smiled directly at Alik as the tents erupted in fire.

The scenes changed for a third time. For this occurrence, a woman with dark hair so long it dragged across the floor as she walked, appeared in front of Alik, twirling a sniper rifle with apparent ease. She appeared to be dancing, so graceful she moved, but suddenly she stopped and looked around, Alik doing the same. It appeared that they were on a ship of some kind, and as he gazed on the ship burst into flames. The familiar red trench coat and fedora appeared from the fire, and then…

And then Alik woke up.

The following day was quite sunny, which was rather unfortunate. Alik himself had noticed an aversion to sunlight only because other vampires seemed to dislike it. He was unsure of why he was not much affected by it, finding it a bothersome bright light in the sky, as opposed to Seras, who had arrived to the penthouse suite that morning in a parka of sorts.

"It's so I don't burn up." She had said, though how she survived in this heat regardless of her ridiculous clothing choice Alik had no idea.

Alik had by then of course directed his focus towards the mission at hand: finding the enemy that was hiding in the city. He had considered the logistics of this assignment somewhat difficult, especially considering that the enemy could be anyone. Surely his Master had a plan.

And so Alik and Seras accompanied Alucard on a relatively peaceful stroll through the streets, though Alik could not guess the purpose. He would have begun by questioning suspicious persons, but as it was he did have the authority to do so this time.

Alucard seemed almost distracted during these events, even more mysterious and stoic than usual. It was as if he sensed that something terrible could happen at any moment, and though Alik felt uneasy quite often, he was not particularly concerned for the safety of Seras and himself. Alucard could easily dispatch the entire city if he wanted to, of this Alik had no doubts.

Then why the hesitation, the most abject of caution? Alik could not discover the reason. So, he turned his thoughts to things that made at least a little more sense. He began to think of Seras once more.

She had seemed distant since the events of the Hellsing estate invasion, though Alik could figure out the causes behind that this time. It had been a strange occurrence, yes. The pull she had exerted on him, seemingly subconsciously, whilst under the effects of the vampiric bloodrage had been stronger this time. Irresistible.

Oddly enough, Alik had not considered this as unusual as he would have on any other circumstance, but mostly his concern was due the fact that Seras herself had not said anything about it. It appeared that she had either no knowledge of the events or chose to not remember them. Alik made a mental note to confront her of this after the mission. The anxiety that he felt concerning matters of her interests was something he was both unaccustomed to and annoyed with.

The "walk" continued well into sundown. Alik still had no idea why this was necessary. Surely the enemy would be hiding, and thus, why would a literal walk in the park expose them? After one last agonizing trip around the center of the city, Alucard stopped and spoke to his fledgelings.

"Now I must return to the penthouse. Alik, you must find our mercenary captain and bring him here. Police girl, come with me." Alik opened his mouth to protest, but Alucard had already begun to walk away, and with a look of confusion, Seras left with him.

Alik considered his instructions. Finding the captain was a strange objective. He knew that the man had not accompanied them on their "walk", and was most likely skulking around a bar or something similar. It seemed to be the most likely course of action from the mercenary.

Alik scanned the area for any such place, and though he spotted tents with armed men, appearing to be law enforcement of some kind, patrolling them. Alucard had said "here", and Alik guessed this must have been where that statement applied to. As for the captain…

Alik spent a good half hour scouring the streets near the tents, but eventually came upon a bar that seemed even more rough than the others he had had the misfortune of walking into. It reeked of almost every offensive smell Alik thought bars could have.

At the corner of the room Alik spotted a man with a braid and an eyepatch, and let out a sigh of relief. At least the fool hadn't gone and gotten himself killed, or worse, stuck in a fight. Alik walked over to him, rousing him from sleep with a less-than-soft kick.

Pip awoke and swore. "Who's- oh. It's you. What's it you want?" Alik spoke quietly as to not let others overhear. He trusted this bar even less than he trusted the man in front of him. "My Master wishes for you to accompany me. It is urgent."

Pip grumbled something criticizing of vampires, then stood and followed suit. Alik attempted to ignore the strange looks he received from some of the bar personnel. The uneasiness worsened.

The pair reached the site of the tents, and Pip examined the place. "This is a police camp. What're we doin' here?" Alik considered this, but before he could reply an explosion rocked the ground.

He slipped and fell as the massive vibration hit, and as he attempted to stand, he wondered what had just happened.

It appeared that the battle had already begun.

Seras felt incredibly anxious as she paced about the penthouse suite. Something was not right. Something was different. Night had befallen the city, and though the skyline was again breathtaking, Seras could not shake the feeling that something was going to happen.

Something big.

She put it out of her mind the best she could, though it was admittedly a difficult task. While her Master Alucard had been communicating with Sir Integra, she had been given nothing to do, and had already spent a large amount of time stargazing, though it had been less enjoyable with Alik's absence.

As such, when she heard the elevator ding in the corridor outside, it was an understatement to say she was surprised. The penthouse suite was unique in that it essentially had its own private elevator, remaining isolated both due to Alucard's wish to not be disturbed and the remote area of the hotel in which it was located, and thusly anyone coming up must be important enough to attract Seras' attention.

"Master!" She called out. "Were you expecting anyone tonight? There's someone at the lift!" Alucard swiftly moved into view, and though his expressions were often unreadable, Seras could feel the anger. "Fledgeling. Into your dormitory."

Seras obeyed, but refused to be kept out of the situation and kept the door ajar enough so that she could see most of what might be happening.

The elevator stopped, doors opened, and immediately gunfire sprayed into the penthouse room. Though the room itself was quite spacious, the bullets seemed to whir every which way, and soon enough the room was in shambles.

Seras gazed on in shock as her master crumpled to the floor. Shouted Portuguese (from the sound, not friendly) and more gunshots filled the room, but as soon as the attackers appeared to notice Alucard's body slump, they marched forward.

Seras could not believe her eyes. Was her master, the great Alucard, defeated? Surely not…

The attackers, who had now entered Seras' view, wore dark uniforms and masks, but from the insignia on the armor Seras guessed that they were law enforcement and not Hellsing's "real" enemies. But what were they doing here? Alucard had not done anything, hadn't he?

Suddenly there was a blur of red, and one of the officers stumbled backwards as his head exploded in a shower of viscera. The other officers began to open fire, but Seras realized now what was happening and knew that they had no escape. More blurs of red, and the others dropped to the floor sporting grievous wounds. Seras moved out of the doorway and into the penthouse room itself, finding her Master staring down a lone officer who was quaking in fear.

The officer lowered his handgun to his temple, and pulled the trigger. Alucard turned to face Seras, and commanded in a booming voice. "Fledgeling. Our enemies have revealed themselves. Take the fire escape and descend the hotel. Meet me at the front."

Alucard walked to the lift, and disappeared inside. Seras remained confused, but did as she was told and opened the nearest window while attempting to locate any sort of safety route. Eventually she discovered the steel railings outside the penthouse suite and climbed through the window.

She descended the flights of stairs as fast as her legs would permit, and along the way she heard a cacophony of gunshots and screaming from inside the building. It was strange hearing it with the knowledge that whoever was causing it was her ally, but as she reached the bottom of the stairs and jumped off the ladder, even more spectacular things happened.

Nearby windows exploded and as Seras gazed upward, she saw several human bodies fly out of them with great force, screaming as their hellish flight carried them away. Large flagpoles stood outside the hotel bearing Brazilian banners, but now Seras saw that they currently were being used as conveniently placed spears of a sort.

The bodies seemed to fly perfectly onto the flagpoles, impaling themselves as their owners breathed their last gasping breath and blood trailed down from their injuries. The nearest flagpole to Seras dripped onto her face, and though a part of her was disgusted at such a sight (the small bit of humanity she supposed she had left), the majority of her mind was fascinated in a sadistic manner of this spectacle.

Seras then remembered her instructions and ran to the front of the hotel, finding an even stranger sight greeting her. A man in a brown suit, complete with fedora, stood at the entrance, surrounded by several dozen of the Brazilian police officers who had invaded the penthouse suite.

And standing to face them at the top of the stairs was her Master Alucard.

Alik and Pip rose to their respective feet. Alik looked around and found the camp of tents bustling with newfound activity. Apparently whatever had caused the battle had reached the ears of the entire city, for now what appeared to be police officers spilled in and out of the camp, reaching vehicles and retrieving armaments.

Alik glanced at Pip, who looked back. "They're police, those ones. Think we ought to fight 'em?" Alik considered this. In the panic, assuming of course that the enemy had revealed itself and was attacking his Master, any further chaos would be catastrophic.

Then again… it had been far too long since Alik had seen a decent explosion.

Alik nodded. Pip flashed a malevolent grin and produced a pack of explosives. "So we sneak in there and blow 'em to hell. I like it!" The duo ran to a nearby street as they spotted a foot patrol of the officers running in haste.

Alik motioned for Pip to attack, and the pair began firing, managing to take down the officers. Alik then moved to strip the officers of their gear. In the confusion surrounding the mobilization, surely a few oddities would not be noticed.

As fast as possible, Alik and Pip slid the bodies into a dumpster and haphazardly equipped the riot gear that the officers had been carrying, then proceeded back to the camp of tents.

Even more activity was sparking to life upon their return, with multiple police vehicles and even a helicopter landing in to survey the area. Alik took point as the pair made their way through the crowd of frenzied officers towards the main camp.

Inside the camp were dozens of tents, though one stood out prominently; Alik assumed it was the command post. He nodded in its direction and was thankful to see that Pip had noticed as well. They walked close enough to begin hearing voices from inside, leading to another of Alik's discoveries.

Though he could not understand Portuguese, he heard a voice begin rapidly speaking German, and thus tuned in only fast enough to catch the tail end of it. "-und du wirst unsterblich sein. Es ist bestimmt."

Alik recognized this enough to guess its meaning. Someone, or some people, were convinced that they would become immortal. What did that mean? It was so ominous that to Alik it seemed quite out of place.

Suddenly several police officers walked out of the tent and spotted the pair of eavesdroppers, though they did not seem to recognize them as such. The nearest officer began to speak in Portuguese, and Alik glanced at Pip hoping he had a plan.

Pip then frowned and spoke in a pronounced French accent. "Er, sorry. I don't speak Portuguese. Only English and Français." The officer returned the frown but spoke in English regardless. "But you're in Rio de Janeiro. Where are you from?"

Pip looked away. "Montréal, but my father moved here to be with my mother. Sorry. But excuse me, what's going on right now? Are we under attack?" The lead officer's face hardened. "Some lunatic is on a rampage at a hotel. We're off to stop 'im."

With that the officers marched away, and Alik gazed upon Pip in awe. Perhaps he had underestimated the mercenary. Or perhaps the mercenary was just an incredibly skilled liar. Typical of the French, Alik assumed, but regardless, he turned his attention back to the now-nearly vacant command tent.

He motioned for Pip to follow, and stepped inside the tent, using a knife he had retrieved from the officer's corpse to slit the throat of the officer nearest him. Pip performed a similar takedown of an adjacent guard, and then left the last officer to Alik as he armed the explosives.

Alik crouched as to avoid making too much noise just yet, and finally stabbed the solitary officer. As the officer fell, Alik noticed a peculiar insignia on an envelope near the desk where the officer had been standing previous to Alik's stabbing.

He grabbed it, and for a moment believed he was seeing things, but recognized one of the world's most hated symbols: a black swastika pronounced by a white and red background. Verdammt, he thought to himself. This couldn't be anything good.

He opened the envelope, and though he could not read it due to its Portuguese print, one thing that stood out was the title, curiously written in German: "Das Letzte Bataillon", better realized as "The Last Battalion".

Before Alik could decipher what this all meant, Pip reappeared in the tent's entrance looking slightly frantic. "I think they're onto us! It's all primed, let's get out of here!" Alik stowed the letter away in his stolen armor and drew his weapon, following Pip as they picked up speed away from the command tent.

Amidst the camp was now (at least in Alik's opinion) unprecedented chaos, seeing no visible means of organization as everyone scrambled about to gather weapons or vacate the camp. Somehow he and Pip managed to evade any suspicious guardsmen and snuck away to a nearby alleyway.

Now convinced that they were safe, Alik turned to Pip to find the latter producing a detonator from his belt, smiling with undisguised enthusiasm.

"Une, deux, trois,et…" Pip pressed the button. A sound like that of an earthquake rattled their eardrums and the camp of tents erupted in fire. Officers scattered in every direction, and some of the less-than-fortunate ones caught fire or were shredded as shrapnel and debris flew with the smoke from the rapidly burning remains of the camp.

Pip clapped Alik on the back, and though the sentiment was not reciprocated, Alik felt a thrill of success. And the fireworks were nice too. Now all that remained was to report back to his Master…

Hmm… Where was he, anyway?

"Ah, Alucard. I had been expecting you, but if I'd known you would have done all this I might've rolled out the red carpet instead. Ha!" The man in the brown suit spoke in a strangely viscous accent, though Seras sensed that beneath the conversational tone this man was dangerous. He was, after all, surrounded by a large number of police officers.

"Oh really? I am honored." Alucard said, looking almost smug, in a way Seras had not seen before. Perhaps he was enjoying himself at the prospect of finally having a fight? Seras did not know. Alucard continued. "And you might you be?"

The man bowed. "I am Tubalcain Alehandra, more known simply as, the Dandy Man." Seras felt as though she should laugh at this, but could muster the courage to do so. "Tell me Alucard. Do you play cards? For I fear that even you have a losing hand this time."

Alucard glanced around, and though he apparently did not notice Seras, he shrugged regardless. "What leads you to that conclusion?" The Dandy Man held up a card in between two fingers in a motion that Seras found ludicrous, though given the circumstance 'insanity' was most likely substituted with 'very dangerous'.

"You see, I brought my Ace of Spades to this fight." The Dandy Man spun around and threw the card, which whizzed towards Alucard and missed his head by mere centimetres, impaling itself in the welcome sign of the hotel. It subsequently exploded, debris falling and obscuring the entrance doors.

So the crazy bloke threw exploding cards. Seras felt both surprised and amazed by this oddity, but at that moment Alucard decided it was time to counterattack. Both handguns flew to his hands with graceful speed and unleashed their bullets upon the crowds of civilian onlookers and police officers alike, blood spattering everywhere.

The man in the suit reciprocated by throwing more exploding cards, most of which seemed to miss on purpose with the sole objective of causing collateral damage. Seras was then thrust into the fray when several police officers spotted her holding her sniper rifle and beginning to move towards her in aggression.

She opened fire, killing the guards, but by now everyone in the area was part of the conflict. Seras moved to defend herself from the onslaught of bullets from the officers and also from the stray exploding cards that managed to not harm her Master in his fight with the Dandy Man.

When her sniper rifle ran out of shells for its magazine, Seras discarded it temporarily in favor of her dual pistols, firing on the nearest officers who had charged at her. It was at this moment that she noticed several more police personnel approaching with riot shields and submachine guns to accompany them, similar to the Millennium invaders that had attacked the Hellsing estate.

Seras attempted to aim at their arms that protruded from the edge of the shield, but to no avail. Suddenly, another explosion rocked the ground next to her and she lost her balance and toppled to the asphalt.

When she looked up, she saw two officers sprinting towards the centre of the chaos, pistols in each hand firing madly. Something was oddly familiar about them, especially the long braid that trailed behind the helmet of one of them, but…

She recovered from the shock and resumed fighting against the officers, and eventually she had cleared an area around herself for which she could catch her breath. She glanced around the area, which had become an absolute warzone.

Amidst the many corpses of civilians and officers alike stood the two officers that had come running, though now with their helmets removed Seras recognized them as Alik and Pip Bernadotte, the mercenary captain of the Wild Geese. How they gotten the uniforms she had no idea, but then her attention drifted to the only real battle still persisting.

In the centre of the car park for the hotel was a dance of two individuals who fired and parried blow for blow. Her Master Alucard and the agent they had sought after since their arrival in Rio, the Dandy Man. Brown blurred against red, but after a time Seras thought that with no other threats around, she should at least attempt to aid her Master in battle.

Finding her sniper rifle and reloading it, Seras approached the dueling pair and crouched to steady her aim. If she missed the results would be quite disadvantageous, but what she had to do was quite impossible for humans.

Strangely enough, the carnage that she found herself almost literally bathing in had not gripped her as violently as the massacre at the Hellsing estate had. Though she had found her abilities heightened and her fangs elongated, she had not felt the burning desire to inflict pain. Whatever the reasoning behind this, she felt the killer instinct return with a vengeance to her as she steadied her sniper rifle's scope.

Granted, the enemy was not hitting as personal as the last one had, and thus Seras' rage was tempered somewhat, at least compared relatively to the events of the Hellsing estate. But now she wished to prove to her Master that she was competent enough, skilled enough, to aid him without getting underfoot.

She took a breath. Her demon helped her focus on the opportune moment to strike. The Dandy Man and her Master were locked in a battle of wills and ability, but then…

Seras pulled the trigger. The rifle went off with a loud crack, and there was a flash of light. The Dandy Man, to his credit, stumbled, but by now it was far too late. Alucard took advantage of the distraction and drove his hand through the Dandy Man's arm, cutting it open with sheer force. Blood splattered the ground.

Alucard brought his opposite hand to hold the Dandy Man as to prevent him from falling, and as he did so his mouth moved as though to say something, though from the distance at the present Seras could not hear what was being said.

Alucard then drove his mouth into the Dandy Man's neck, ensuing crimson spraying from the attack, and within seconds the Dandy Man's body seemed to vaporize into nothingness.

The battle was over.

Alexander Anderson walked among the corpses of the latest Hellsing battle. He had been genuinely impressed: in one day, even as the heathen abomination that he was, Alucard, the chief offense of all mankind's sins, had drawn Millennium from its hiding place.

Additionally, those who had been foolish enough to aid the agent of Millennium had been dealt with in Anderson's favorite manner of doing so: with maximum lethal force. It had been a rather creative approach of using flagpoles as devices of impalement, and given Alucard's probable history of similar affairs, Anderson was struck by both irony and amusement.

Though regrettable as it was, Hellsing had proven themselves capable of handling their problems, and Anderson knew there was no disputing that. The most likely course of action would be Integra Hellsing's petition of the Queen to ask for sanctioned military support against Millennium, something Anderson found himself agreeing with.

He hoped for a crusade against these enemies of God. He had already 'picked his poison' as it were, to have misguided (though well intentioned) believers rather than ignorant and amoral pagans, and it seems that in some part Hellsing had chosen to do the same.

The dawning sun arose on the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the red rays struck the sky like blood. Surely this was an omen of some sort. Anderson had felt it. Change was coming. War was coming.

And Anderson could not wait for it.

So, what do you think? I used some different approaches to how I normally write these chapters, but I rather like the result.

Review and rate. Have fun. Or a nice day. Whichever you prefer.