Chapter 15
"How does an idiot end up with access to a super computer?"
Touji Suzuhara the Third turned around and stared at the Second Child.
"What?!"
Asuka crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I want to know how an idiot named Touji Suzuhara could get access to a super computer."
Urd leaned over and whispered into Touji's ear.
"Don't worry about her. She's like this all the time."
"Right." Looking back at Asuka, Touji replied. "Look lady. I don't have a clue where the hell you've been getting your information, but let's set something straight. I earned through hard work the job of programmer on the PILOT system. I get access to the NORN because the two systems are so closely related. You came to me for help, so that obviously states that I am good enough for you. So don't give me this idiot crap." He then turned around and continued working on the NORN.
Asuka sat silently, staring at the back of Touji. She then huffed and walked off to another area of the exhibit.
'Must be Hikari's genes coming through.'
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Sayoko slowly began to back up as Father Anderson approached.
"What?" he said, "Nothing to say? You had a lot to say before. Maybe it's because you were in a position of strength? Where is your power? Where are you friends?"
Sayoko stopped backing up and raised her arms. A ball of energy formed between them.
"Back off Father." She said, "I'm warning you."
Anderson laughed and continued to walk towards the Goddess.
"You asked for it!" Sayoko held her hands out. The force bolt shot out about two feet in front of Sayoko before it literally fizzled out. Both the Priest and Goddess stared at the space where the force bolt had vanished. Sayoko quickly created another bolt and tossed it at the Priest. This one fizzled before it left her hand. Sayoko looked nervously at the Priest.
"I don't suppose we could just sit down and talk this all out?" she asked.
Anderson charged at her, his blades swinging.
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" '….and Bardiel will come on swift wings from the east, searching the children out. But they will not know him, for like the wolf he will hide within the flock. Bardiel's rise will force child to face child, brother to face brother, lover to face lover. Should Bardiel fall, another will rise to…….' "
Arael stood in front of a large glass case. Held within was a large piece of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Arael found it somewhat unnerving that mortal hands had written down the events tat wouldn't take place for another 2,000 years. She was just about to see what the texts had to say when she felt something. She frowned. It felt far to weak to be a god…….and yet……..
Arael turned about and headed out of the exhibit, heading in the last known direction of Sayoko and Celes.
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Asuka turned around and looked off towards the direction that the others had walked off to.
"What is it?" asked Lime.
"I thought I felt something." Asuka said.
"Felt what?" asked Urd from where she was working.
"Don't know. Whatever it was, it's gone now."
Urd shrugged. "You are near your old Eva. That's probably effecting your senses a bit. Don't worry about it."
Asuka nodded at Urd, but looked back one more time.
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Sayoko struggled in the grip of Anderson. He had penetrated her shields, mostly due to the fact she was barely able to raise it. How she dangled from his hold on her neck. She had tried to pry open his fingers, failing to do that she pounded her fists on him. Her vision was reddening and fading, his laughter echoing in her ears.
'I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die.' She repeated over and over in her head.
"SAYOKO!!"
Suddenly the pressure was gone. Sayoko sucked in a huge breath of air, nearly choking on it. Something cold pressed against her neck and she heard the priest say something, but her mind was unable to process it as she was still feeling lightheaded.
'Why can't I see?' she thought as another voice spoke from further away.
'OPEN YOUR EYES YOU FOOL!' came another voice from the past.
Sayoko opened her eyes. The Priest had an arm wrapped around her, one of his blades at her neck. In the entrance to the exhibit stood Arael. Sayoko had no idea what the Priest and Arael were saying, but she could kinda guess. And with her in the Priest's grip, Arael would be very reluctant to act for fear of hitting Sayoko.
'But the Priest must be stopped.' She thought. She knew what had to be done. Her eyes met Arael's…….
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"You heard me Heathen!" Anderson shouted, "Back away or I'll cut this pretty ones neck."
"How do I know you will not do it anyway?" Arael asked.
Anderson smiled.
Arael looked over at Celes. The Vampire was still pinned to the car by the holy blades and in obvious pain. She couldn't call for help from the others for it would arrive too late. Arael looked at Sayoko. Cuts on her body showed where the Goddess had tried to fend off the Priest unsuccessfully. She had been limp in his hand when Arael had finally arrived, but appeared to be slowly regaining consciousness. It was then that Sayoko's eyes focused direct on Arael.
"You remember the first time we met?" Sayoko asked softly, "You, me, Asuka?"
"Silence you!" Anderson shouted at his captive.
Arael blinked. 'What is she……?'
"We were having a good conversation until Rei interrupted us." Sayoko continued, still staring Arael in the eye. "I think we should continue that conversation."
"Shut-up!" shouted the Priest, pressing the blade a bit harder into Sayoko's neck, drawing blood.
'She doesn't mean……' Arael thought, but one look at the Goddess showed she was serious. Very serious.
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"Shut-up!" Anderson shouted at the Goddess. He pressed his blade against her neck and was rewarded with the sight of blood.
"So…….The Heathen bleeds." He said, "You're mortal after all. You shall pay for trying to put yourself above our Lord, Heathen." He turned his head to look back at the 'supposed Angel' when he was engulfed in bright white light.
"You're Heathen tricks won't work this time!" he shouted, just before his mind was assaulted by memories.
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"Auntie Megumi? When will Poppa and Momma come home?"
"I don't know Yoko. Your Auntie Skuld and Urd went to heaven to find out."
"It's all your fault my brother's dead! Yours and Kami-sama's! You took my brother away! I'll never forgive you!"
" 'To Sayoko, Goddess 1st Class Unlimited. Your license is hereby suspended for 2 months for abuse of your goddess powers. Take that time to think about what you have done. Kami-sama.' "
"Just what the hell do you think your doing!??!"
"I…..I….I….I didn't…I wouldn't….." "It was and accident."
"An accident?!?! Grabbing her ass was an accident?!?!"
"You will regret that. When I am done with you, the Kami-sama himself will cast you from the heavens!"
"Arise Lucy! Arise and take your place by my side!"
"I'm sorry ma'am. He…..he's missing, presumed dead."
Bad memory after bad memory assaulted Sayoko's mind, the accumulation of 500 years of bad times slammed into her all at once. All she could do was scream.
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"Even with your little human friends you're still and evil, corrupted monster."
"Well now……You must be the Hellsing family's pet Abomination."
"You're from Iscariot. I see."
"Iscariot was ridding the world of sacrilegious monsters such as yourself, centuries before the Hellsing family ever existed."
"You defile this place."
"I purify this house! So that filthy creatures can't use their cheap black magic! Our mission is to punish any heretic that would deny the word of God. We will crush your unholy body and salt the earth with your dust. Amen."
Memories assaulted Father Anderson as well.
"You will not do this to me again." Anderson muttered, "My past has made me what I am. I am the instrument of God. Messenger of the divine punishment of heaven. I will not fear my past. Fear is the mind-killer. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain"
Anderson focused. Through the haze of memories he saw the shape of the Angel, and threw his blade at it.
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Celes struggled to pull herself from were she was pinned to the car, but the
blades were buried deep into the metal and with every struggle, her wounds burned
more and more painfully. From her position, she could see both Sayoko and
Anderson trapped within the light of Arael. Sayoko's eyes were clenched shut
and she screamed as memory after memory assaulted her mind. Arael herself was
crying as she watched her friend writhe in pain.
Anderson however……… He was not breaking down as he had before. Suddenly his eyes popped open and seemed to focus on Arael. The sword he had been holding at Sayoko's neck flew through the air as the Priest tossed it. Arael had barely enough time to gasp and break off her attack, trying to bring up her AT-Field. She wasn't fast enough. The blade slammed home into Arael's chest, emitting a few sparks as it entered her. Arael let out a cry before falling backwards to the floor.
With Arael's light gone, Sayoko collapsed to the floor unconscious. Anderson fell to his knees, breathing heavily. He then looked up at Celes with a grin.
"Now Abomination." He said, "Where were we?" He pulled out a blade and approached Celes. "Oh yes……I believe I was about to send you to hell."
Anderson swung the blade, intending to remove Celes' head. Celes closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
But it did not come.
A gun roared from the shadows, shattering Anderson's blade just before it would have sliced into Celes neck.
"What?!?!" shouted Anderson. He turned towards the direction the shot had come from. Celes followed his line of site to see a large black gun hovering just out of the shadows, the hand that carried it covered in a white glove, vanishing within a red sleeve.
"Master?!" Celes shouted out.
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Asuka lay on a bench in the Angel War exhibit hall, listening as Urd, Lorelei, and Touji muttered to each other about the best way to read the disk. Asuka let out a sigh and continued to stare out through the skylights in the ceiling. The rain had stopped, and the clouds had cleared enough to let Moon be seen. A nice big full moon…….turning red for some reason…….red?
Asuka sat up and was about to called out to Urd when she was hit by a wave of cold, dark, evil. Urd must have felt it too because she immediately stopped talking and turned around to look at Asuka. Before either could say anything, red light shined down from the sky light. Far above in the sky, a red pentagram appeared within a circle containing writing and ancient glyphs.
"Oh hell!" muttered Urd. She turned and started towards the corridor.
"What's going on!?!" Asuka asked.
"I think Celes' sire just showed up."
Asuka frowned. Lorelei, Touji, and Lime looked at each other before looking back at Urd.
"Her what?"
"The person that made her what she is." Urd growled.
"Oh….." replied Asuka. Then she realized what Urd said. "WHAT!!?!?!"
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The arm moved out of the shadows, followed closely behind by the red clad form of the Vampire Arucard.
"It has been a long time Judas Priest." Arucard said with a smile. He lowered his yellow sunglasses slightly, allowing his red eyes to see the Priest clearly. "Shall we reacquaint ourselves?"
Father Anderson snarled and crossed his blades before his face, glaring at Arucard.
"I shall purify thee with a single blow monster!" Anderson shouted.
"Try it Catholic Dog!"
Anderson let out a shout as he charged Arucard. The vampire followed the Priest and fired off a shot from his massive black gun. Anderson dodged the shot and swung his blade in an effort to remove the vampires head. Arucard ducked and fired another shot. The bullet slammed into Anderson, leaving a massive hole in his chest and sending him flying across the room. He slamming into the wall, cracking the plaster behind him. He was back on his feet in an instant and hurried out of the room.
"Oh no you don't!" Arucard shouted, "I've waited too long for this for you to ruin my fun!" He started after the Priest.
"Master?"
Arucard stopped and looked at Celes, noting her……..predicament.
"Stick around Police Girl." He said with a smile, "I won't be long." He turned and left the room.
Celes stared at the doorway her Master had just gone through with a stunned look on her face.
"Stick around?!?!" she shouted, "Where the bloody hell am I going to go? I'm pinned to the bloody auto! AND DON'T CALL ME POLICE GIRL!!!"
"Ok…I won't."
Celes turned to see Asuka standing in the doorway, Urd right behind her. Urd immediately flew over to Sayoko while Asuka went to Arael's side. She pulled the blade out.
"How is she?" Celes asked.
"Looks like the blade scrapped along her core." Asuka said. She placed her hand over the wound and healed it. "She should be up in a bit."
"What about her?" Celes asked, nodding towards Sayoko.
"She's out of it." Urd said. "Let's worry about you for now."
Urd stood up and walked over to Celes. Asuka joined her and soon both were grunting in effort as they struggled to free Celes.
Over on the floor, Sayoko shifted slightly, he eyelids twitching ever so slightly.
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Music drifted throughout the empty hall. On stage, Sayoko sat at a piano, her eyes closed as she played.
"You seem to think about the most strangest places." came a voice.
Sayoko kept her eyes closed and continued to play as she responded.
"Would you rather be sitting in a train car taking laps around Tokyo-3?" Sayoko asked.
The Soultaker sighed. "You've been hanging around that Ikari boy too much. I assume you know why you're here?"
Sayoko nodded as she played. "Arael's attack on Anderson overloaded my mind."
"And you're ok with this?"
"I told her too." Sayoko replied, "It was my choice. I am not mad with her."
The Soultaker grumbled in disappointment. She walked over and sat down beside the Goddess.
"Why are you playing piano anyway? I thought you played the flute."
Sayoko glanced at the Soultaker from the corner of her eye.
"I do play flute. But also piano."
"What is this place anyway?"
"It's the auditorium from Tokyo-2 High School." Sayoko said, "I played the piano here for a recital."
The room suddenly grew cold. Sayoko stopped playing the piano and went stiff, as did the Soultaker.
"You feel that?" Sayoko asked quietly.
The Soultaker nodded. "It's a Nosferatu."
Sayoko frowned and looked at the Soultaker. "Celes doesn't feel anything like that."
"Celes is still a weak low level Nosferatu. This is a High level one." The Soultaker turned and looked at Sayoko. "Like the one that sired Celes."
Sayoko let out a sigh. "Arucard. Guess it's time I woke up. Someone needs to save the Priest."
The Soultaker's eyes narrowed. "Why would you wish to save someone who wants you dead?"
"For the same reason I'm still talking to you after everything you did to me." Sayoko said, "I can forgive."
"That is what makes you Gods weak."
"No. That is what makes us strong." Sayoko stood up and started to walk away. She stopped and glanced back at the demon, still sitting at the piano. "What is your name?"
The Soultaker turned around and stared at Sayoko. "What?"
"I know your name isn't Soultaker. What is it?"
Soultaker tapped out a note on the piano. "Soultaker was the title given to me when it was discovered I had the power to consume souls. The name brought such fear that I stopped answering to my real name." She turned and looked at the goddess. "My real name isn't that threatening."
"Will you tell me?"
The Soultaker turned around and started to play the piano. "Maybe later."
Sayoko nodded and vanished, leaving the Soultaker alone on stage.
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Asuka pulled the last blade out, free Celes who collapsed to the floor.
"Thanks." Celes said.
"No problem." Asuka replied as she placed a hand on the first of Celes many wounds.
Urd stood up and sighed, glancing at Arael, then glancing over at………
"HEY! When did Sayoko leave?"
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Arucard entered the large exhibit hall. Like the Angel War hall, it was huge. Airplanes from the past 600 years hung from the ceiling as well as sat upon the floor and on various platforms towards the ceiling. Arucard wasn't interested in these machines however.
He was hunting a Catholic Rat in Priests clothes.
"Come now Priest!" he shouted out, "We haven't seen each other in 500 years and this is how you greet me? You run! Like the coward you are!"
Something slammed into the wall just next to Arucard's head. He turned to see one of the Priest's blades stuck there, still vibrating from it's flight. Without turning he lifted his gun and fired off several shots. The bullets slammed into an old fighter, a Supermarine Spitfire, knocking it off it's wheels to the floor with a loud crash.
"Rather violent aren't you."
Arucard turned and brought his gun to bare on person who had just spoken to him, only there was no one there. Or was there? He squinted his eyes slightly to see the faint outline of a woman, one of the ones who had been laying on the floor in the room with the Police Girl.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked, taking aim.
The woman frowned. "Point your gun elsewhere Arucard or you'll find your arm missing."
Arucard smiled. "Aren't you a feisty one. Much like my Master."
"Sir Integra Hellsing I am not," the woman said, "I am the Goddess Sayoko. I would ask you to spare the Priest Anderson."
Arucard laughed, "A Goddess? Oh this is too funny! The Priest put you up to this didn't he?"
"If there can be beings of Evil such as yourself, why not beings of Good such as I?"
Arucard didn't have an answer for that. "Why do you want me to spare his life? He has caused my Master much grief in her life. The blood of hundreds of innocents is on his hands."
"….. there is as much blood, if not more, on yours………Count."
Arucard's eyes widened slightly.
"Yes…..I know of your past." Sayoko said, her eyes narrowing, "Castle and territory gone, all of your servants killed. Everything held dear to your black heart gone, all because of one man."
"Then you know that I am bound to my Master." He held up a glove adorned with the encircled pentagram. "I must obey her orders. The Priest must die."
Sayoko sighed, but nodded. "Then that is that. I will not interfere." She vanished from his sight completely.
'You've been hanging around interesting people Police Girl.' Arucard thought, 'Now……where is that regenerating cockroach?'
Arucard walked further into the exhibit, looking carefully at both aircraft and shadow, trying to spot a tell tail sign of his target. A loud twang then reached his ears, followed by another. Arucard looked up to see an airplane, a Douglas DC-3, plunging downward nose first towards him from its previous position of the gallery. Arucard smiled.
"This is going to be fun." He said as the plane slammed into him. With the shriek of metal, the old plane bent and collapsed on top of the Vampire. After the dust and noise had settled, the Priest dropped down from his location and looked upon his work. The plane was no longer recognizable as such. Now it was simply a pile of wreckage.
"Ashes to ashes….." Anderson said, "Dust to dust."
He walked towards the pile of wreckage with his blades out and kicked a few of the smaller pieces of debris out of the way. Red blood oozed out from the location of Arucard's body. Anderson let a smile appear on his face before plunging his blades deep into the pile. More blood spilled out onto the floor. Several minutes and several more blades later, Anderson stepped out of the pool of blood that now encompassed most of the wreckage.
"At last." Anderson said softly, "I have ridden the world of the foul creature."
"Have you now?"
Anderson turned and narrowed his eyes. Sitting on a nearby bench was the heathen self-proclaimed goddess.
"What do you want heathen?"
Sayoko smiled. "You believe that Vampire dead? I find that somehow amusing."
Anderson snarled and pulled out two new blades. "You won't be finding it amusing when I plunge my blade into your heathen heart!"
Sayoko sighed. "You seriously have your priorities wrong. You haven't yet finished the Vampire and now you are seeking to fight me yet again."
"That monster is dead!"
"You really think dropping an Airplane on him will kill him? Come on, you've removed his head and he recovered! Face it Father, you didn't kill him." Sayoko glanced over at the pile of wreckage. "And now it's about to come back and bite you in the ass." She vanished with a flash.
"Invocation of Cromwell Confirmed."
Anderson whirled about upon hearing Arucard's voice, yet the vampire was not behind him. Nor was the blood on the floor or in the wreckage.
"Levels three, two, and one released."
"SHOW YOURSELF MONSTER!" Anderson screamed looking around.
"Releasing restraint control." Arucard's voice echoed through out the room, now taking on a red glow. "Activating limited disengagement of ability protection until target is completely silenced."
Bats suddenly flew about Anderson. He swiped at them with his blades.
"Filthy vermin! Away from me!"
"Vermin?" came Arucard's voice. The bats flew away from Anderson and gathered together to form a figure dressed all in black. The figure looked up, revealing himself to be Arucard.
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From the entryway, Urd, Asuka, Celes, and a pale looking Arael watched as the bats gathered around and formed into Arucard.
"Neat trick." Asuka said quietly, "Why can't you do that?"
"I'm a low level Vampire." Celes replied, "Arucard is a true 'No Life King'"
"Everytime we have faced each other I have only used a fraction of my abilities." Arucard said, speaking to Anderson. "I shall now educate you on the full extent of my abilities!" Arucard held his hands out in front of his face. All over his body, red eyes opened up, focused on Anderson.
Asuka's mouth dropped. "What the ………"
"Behold the power of the Nosferatu." Sayoko said, appearing beside them. "Behold the 'No Life King' Arucard in all his Dark Glory."