11Chapter Eight: Seras's First Lesson
Seras knew the sound of the 'report for duty' alarm, and reacted immediately. She changed into her uniform, and grabbed her harconan cannon, then ran up the stairs. Alucard followed behind her, sighing. It was only just sun set. Couldn't evil wait until he had actually gotten a full day's sleep?
Lui stuck his head out his door, and yelled to Seras, "Hey, what does that alarm mean?"
"We have a mission. This is Hellsing after all."
Lui's eyebrows shot up, and he ran back into his room, "Johnny, get ready bro! We goin' huntin'!"
Seras stood at attention with several other soldiers. Alucard stood to the side, a look of perfect uncaring on his face. Integra walked out in front of them, and said, "It appears the FREAKS have reappeared, in mass. They have taken over a large factory thirty miles north of England. We believe that they may have turned all the workers into ghouls or more FREAKS. You are to exterminate them. In the name of God, the impure souls of the undead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen."
"Amen!" the soldiers repeated, then they ran outside, to their transports.
Alucard walked up to Integra, asking her simply, "Should I go?"
Integra shrugged, "Yes Alucard, I think you should. It's been quiet for too long to just put this off as a standard mission."
"Then you wouldn't mind if we went as well would you?"
They turned to see Lui phase through the floor, shocking Integra. Not by his sudden appearance, but merely by his appearance in general.
He was wearing a long coat, similar to Alucard's, but it was black. And for lack of a better word, thicker, and heavier. Straps and buckles held the sleeves to his wrists. His pants were made of the same material, as was his shirt. He wore heavy black gloves, and had on black sunglasses. The sight made Alucard give off one of his insane laughs, "The Reaper walks again."
Then Johnny walked up beside his brother, wearing a matching uniform, only he sported his sword on his back. Alucard looked at him, and laughed harder, "And the Black Knight draws his sword. Master, let them accompany us, I have such an urge to see what they have learned in fifty years!"
Integra shook her head. This was all she needed, "Fine. But they are your responsibility Alucard."
Seras looked at the now silent factory. If the intel was right, this was going to be very difficult. There could be any number of people in the factory, and that means there were that many FREAKS and ghouls to fight.
Seras checked her cannon, sub-machine gun, and ammo bag again. Everything was in order. She was ready. She turned to the men in the unit. They had grown used to her presence by now, and realized her strength. They each nodded as he gaze fell on them.
Then with a final motion from the commander they started forward. It was a fair distance, but they didn't dare get any closer in the vehicles. The FREAKS could have easily had rocket propelled grenades, and other such weapons. It would have been a nightmare had one of their helicopters had been shot down in close proximity with the factory.
Suddenly the ground in front of them rose up, and ghouls jumped from a trap that had been prepared. They were led by several FREAKS, who had automatic weapons.
"Kill em' all boys!"
"Ah ya, I'm not going to be thirsty tonight."
The Hellsing soldiers dove for cover as bullets sprayed the area. Seras cursed, trying to figure out where to aim her first shot.
Then she saw Alucard walking strait towards the enemy, flanked on either side by a man in a black coat. She then recognized them as Johnny and Lui. What in the world was going on?
"These are what you guys fight for a living?"
"Could they get any more pathetic? I mean, sure ghouls make good soldiers if you're fighting children perhaps, but come on. Nothing beats the real thing." Lui taunted after his brother, smiling.
"Who the heck are these guys?"
"I don't know, waste them!"
"Wait, let the zombie dudes handle it."
One of the freaks snapped his fingers, and the ghouls started marching forward.
The three vampires looked at each other, then they moved their fists up and down three times. Lui held his hand flat, as did Alucard. However, Johnny held out two fingers.
"This is why I hate rock-paper-scissors." Lui scoffed turning away. Alucard shrugged grudgingly, and let Johnny walk forward, a smile on his lips.
He didn't even look at the now nearing horde of ghouls as he yelled to the FREAKS, "Hey, you guys ever seen a pure blood at work?" He asked, drawing his sword from it's sheath, "Cause if not, I would start taking notes."
Johnny rushed forward towards the line of ghouls, then jumped to one side. Sticking his blade out, he jumped the other direction, and with that one movement cut the entire first line of ghouls in half. It took a few seconds for anything to happen though, then the FREAKS watched in horror as their entire front line literally fell to pieces.
"What the? What is that g-"
The FREAKS didn't know what hit them as Johnny the 'Black Knight' cut them apart. The couldn't even fire their weapons back at him. It took only seconds to wipe them out. Appearing in front of one, he thrust his long blade through the FREAK, then kicked the man-made vampire away. Another came at him with a long knife, but he easily parried the blow and took the FREAK's head off for his stupidity. Johnny smiled as the remainder of his opponents gave each other scared glances. Then they opened fire, missing the American vampire entirely as he dodged to the side. He stopped a few feet from a FREAK, who turned and fired his machine gun. Johnny used his sword to change the direction the barrel of the gun was pointing, so instead of hitting him it hit two of the FREAKS. He finished off the artificial vampire with a quick stab through his heart.
He wiped the blade off on a piece of cloth, then sheathed it again. He turned to his comrades, and motioned around him, "Well?"
Lui shrugged, "Not bad."
"Not bad?" Johnny's shoulder's slumped, "I just took them all out in ten seconds and all I get is 'not bad'?"
"Correction." Lui said, throwing a knife right by his brother's head, strait into a FREAK who was attacking him, "You missed one."
Johnny turned, then scoffed. The three vampires began to walk towards the factory.
Seras recovered from the shock of what she had just seen, then quickly dashed up beside her master and Lui, "What are you two doing here?"
Lui turned to her and grinned, but not like usual. No, this one was a direct mirror of Alucard. His voice remained the same, but she could sense something different about it, "What does it look like we're doing? We're making the most of the night. Come on, or you're going to miss all the fun!"
With that, Lui dashed quickly past his brother, and crashed through the wall of the factory. They could here a maniacal laughter over the sounds of gunfire. Johnny laughed as well, and ran after his brother.
"Now you will see what those two are really like Police Girl. There is a monster inside of us all, even you. No matter how much you cover it up, it doesn't make it any less there. This is your first lesson in the ways of the true Nosferatu. Stay close to me, and pay close attention!"
Alucard phased, bringing Seras with him into the factory. They sat in one of the rafters, watching Johnny and Lui fight below.
Lui was shooting like a madman. It seemed like he was using four pistols at the same time. Which he was. He was able to move so fast that he could let go of one pistol, fire another, and go back to the first without it so much as falling an inch. But the ghouls numbered to much for this alone to be enough, and they actually managed to close with them.
That was when Johnny kicked in. He would slash and stab around his brother at anything that got what he deemed to close. Thrusting, slashing, kicking, his blade flickered in the light of his brother's gunshots. Moving together they looked like little more than black blurs, or would have to human eyes. But Seras could see them, and watched in shock. Were these really the two carefree American's from before? They moved together like they were one mind, ducking and weaving with each other, sometimes bullets missed Johnny by millimeters, and sometimes a stab nearly impaled Lui. But it never did. It always missed by a little bit. And they were laughing.
"Yes, these are the same Lui and Johnny you know. However, they are enjoying the rush of battle Police Girl. It may take a while, but sooner or later you will crave for fights like this, against insurmountable odds or seemingly unbeatable opponents. There is a feral nature in vampires, at the darkest core of all of us, that lusts for blood and death. That is why we are 'cursed' to the Iscariot. It doesn't matter about our souls or salvation, they hunt us because they fear this very thing."
Alucard suddenly pushed Seras off the rafter, then jumped himself. She managed to land on her feet, but among the ghouls. She didn't stand a chance. Until gunshots rang out from above her, and bullets ripped the undead creatures apart. Alucard landed in a crouching position, smiling, "What are you waiting for Police Girl? Fight!"
Seras nodded, and raised her cannon. She fired, sending a massive slug that took out a large swath of the ghouls. Then using it like a club she swung it around and knocked the ghouls behind her down. Alucard finished them for her. Indeed, she did feel something. She had felt it before she had been a Nosferatu as well, like when the Valentine Brothers turned most of the soldiers of Hellsing into ghouls. A lust for carnage. But now it seemed less threatening, more natural. She knew that she could control it now. But she still held it back.
"Don't resist it Seras, let loose the vampire inside of you! Let it guide you, let it help you!"
Seras didn't want to, but then she was alone in the crowd. Lui and Johnny seemed miles away, and now Alucard was gone. She felt the weight of the crowd pressing around her, and she took a deep breath closing her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were angry, and cold. She raised her machine gun, and spun around rapidly, pouring bullets into the crowd as fast as possible. The ghouls fell, but more approached. She reloaded her cannon, and then jumped. The ghouls closed where she had just been, and she aimed strait down. This time the shell exploded when it hit, taking out a fair number of ghouls. Then machine gun fire erupted from the hole in the wall, and Hellsing soldiers poured in. This snapped Seras out of her battle fury.
As the ghouls were being driven back, Lui walked over to Seras, who was breathing heavily. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Nice job. You truly are Alucard's dark child."
"Did I really just do that?" She asked. Never had Seras thought she was capable of a feat like that.
"Don't worry, it's get's easier to control with time. As well as less tiring. Come on, before Johnny and Alucard do something stupid."
Alucard walked into a room that looked like a control center. He was ready to fight, but saw that instead Johnny stood there among the corpses, leaning on his sword, "Too slow Alucard. I already got this room."
Alucard looked displeased, then fired a shot. Johnny turned, and found a FREAK was about to shoot him. He hit his head, angry he had missed one. Again.
"You're skills have improved greatly, but you need patience. Do not stop until you are sure that all of your enemies have been silenced."
Putting his sword across his shoulders, Johnny told him, "You're beginning to sound like my mother."
Lui whistled as he phased ahead of the Hellsing soldiers. This was fun. A bit easy, but fun. He pulled a sawed off shotgun from his coat, and pointed it at a wall. He fired a shot, which blasted through the wall and took out the FREAK on the other side. He and Seras had split up at the last turn, and he had ventured down this path, blasting everything in his path. They called him 'Reaper' for another reason than the connotation to the 'Grim Reaper'. He had once taken one of his pistols, which were semi automatic, and fired at such a rate that he actually cut down the better part of grain field, as well as most of the people hiding in it. He had 'reaped the harvest' with his guns. He sighed, sensing nothing further entertaining down this path, and left the remaining trash for the humans. He began to make his way back to Seras.
Seras was alone now. She had been split from her men a while back, and had been fighting ghouls alone. Then she walked into a room that looked like an office. It was right near the center of the building, so it was perhaps a meeting room?
Seras had no time to think about it. From no where, two FREAKS tackled her from behind, and quickly disarmed her. They held her to the ground as a third Freak approached.
"Well what have we got here?" He asked. His smile betrayed what he intended to do, "I'm going to enjoy this cutie."
"Hey FREAK boy!" They turned to see Lui holding two pistols at them, "Only I get to call her that!"
He let out a firestorm of silver that cut the Freaks apart before ever actually striking a vital area. He walked over to Seras, who was getting to her knees, deeply shaken.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"No problem. Come on, I-" Then Lui heard a loud click. He turned to see one of the FREAKS still alive, removing a pin from what looked like a large plastic explosive.
"Oh crap, Seras get down!" He yelled, grabbing the younger vampire. But just then the bomb exploded, and they fell into blackness.
Seras didn't know how long she was out, but she didn't think it was all that great a length of time. She couldn't see a thing. But she felt a body over top of hers, and very close. She tensed up instinctively.
"Hey Seras." Lui said, pain and struggling clear in his voice, "I would move, but I think the entire building collapsed over us."
"You mean you're holding up the rubble around us?"
"No! I'm fighting off the extreme urge to start making out with you-YES I AM HOLDING UP ALL THE FRICKIN' RUBBLE AROUND US! AND IT MUST WEIGH ABOUT A HUNDRED TONS!"
Seras gasped. He had saved her life. But why didn't he, "Why don't you just phase us out of here?"
"I would if I could."
"You mean you can't? Why not?"
"I could, but I'm not as good at it as Alucard. It takes some measure of concentration. I could phase myself out, but the rubble would crush you. I could try and phase you out, but I would be crushed in the process."
Seras blinked. This wasn't good, "Is there anything I can do to help?
"Yes! Call for Alucard and Johnny! And start praying!"
MASTER!-
Police girl! Where are you?-
We were caught up in that explosion, and are buried under the rubble. Lui is holding it up for now, but I'm not sure how much longer he can last!-
Alright, I think I can get to you, hold on!-
Hearing a slight moan from Lui, she yelled -HURRY!-
"Alright, Alucard is on his way."
"Seras." His tone caught her attention, "If I feel I'm going to give out soon, I'm going to phase you out of here."
"What?"
"I have a better chance of surviving if this stuff comes down than you do. If it comes to that, sorry about doing all of that stuff I did to you."
Then suddenly he felt some of the weight start to come off him. His rescuers had arrived.
He sighed in relief, then felt a soft pressure on his lips. He opened his eyes in shock. She was kissing him!
"Thank you." She said.
"On second thought, if your going to be like that, tell them to take their time."
He was kidding of course, and for once Seras smiled at his teasing. If he wasn't the only thing separating them from a grizzly death though, she would have punched him in the gut though.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they pulled the final piece of stone off them. Lui immediately collapsed to the side, breathing heavily.
Seras had helped him hold it up after a while, and while she didn't hold it up as long, she wasn't as strong either. They lay there panting for a long time.
"I owe you one Lui."
"I know. That hurt, really bad."
Johnny looked as a soldier approached, "The building appears to be clear. We lost 13 men in the fighting though."
"Alright, we'll be out in a second." Johnny told him. He helped Seras to her feet, and watched his brother get up. He was staggering around, then he fell down again. Johnny and Alucard bent over, and they each put an arm around their shoulders, helping him walk between them.
"Now I know what a bug about to be stepped on feels like..." Lui muttered, still unable to get full control of his legs. Or arms for that matter.
Then a smile crossed his lips, "Hey, I got an idea Seras. If I can move my legs again in the next few days I have a very good idea."
Seras wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that.
Alright, I took a brake on funny for this. I was in an action mood. But I promise that the next chapter will be funny!
