This story takes place in an alternate universe, outside of the Blood Brothers and Dead Zone episodes from the Hellsing Anime and Manga chapters. The Valentine Brothers, Hellsing and its characters, etc. do not belong to me. The character of "Shinny" belongs to me. May contain strong language (from Jan)
Watching Big Brother
Part 3
Just My Size
A darkening shadow loomed over Luke. What looked like limbs were as bright as soaking headlights in the rain. Was this figure his own uncle, now towering above him? But the shadow caresses his face with a long finger, a feminine touch petting him. It was like the hand of his mother almost reaching out to him, but an unfamiliar goddess watching from space. Luke wanted to know who this was. This savior hidden by the darkness and blinding his eyes. . .
Morning took over Luke's dreams at last. He was in an unfamiliar place as he awoke to find himself lying on what was a firm, white cloud. He tried to find his glasses, but found them hung on his shirt pocket, which made the search the least of his problems. He looked around and found that it was a bedroom, but was as big a Hilton hotel lobby, the entire room encased in white like a fantasy of Heaven. He slept on a bed that stretched for yards, literally a king-sized sleeping post. A brown dresser stood against the wall between two closets and an oval mirror hanging above the dresser on his left. On the right, a large window hung clear white curtains, appearing invisible against the bright morning light.
They made it back to America it seemed. Joleen was able to give them a ride and paid for their trip on a commercial flight without being detected. The soldier Freaks chased the brothers through the South American jungles, so everyone will know they escaped and go on the trail for them if Joleen didn't mention to the brothers that she will explain everything for them. It would be good on his and his brother's part for them to buy some time and completely leave their trail vacant and undetected.
It certainly felt like a dream to Luke. He desperately wanted to believe that he grew 60 feet tall and was experimented and tested on by his uncle, Doc, only to be shrunk and rescued by his brother. Then he wanted the image of the dark light being that became a giant almost to be real, it was soft as imagined but still a mystery. Everything became a mystery; why was he here and why was he still small? Luke realized that this was not a dream anymore; his sleep did not comfort him and all that he had experienced did happen.
"You're bro's still sleeping when I checked," said a young woman named Abigail, who liked to be called Shinny, readjusting her black hair ribbon that hung on the side of her head. Jan was stretched out on her couch and appeared to take up every space with his unusual relaxed pose. His legs out and strewn like he was hanging on the couch's edge. The girl looked in her hallway mirror to check herself. She ran her fingers first through her honey hair and scratched around her cheek, trying to look for something unusual. She was dressed in a long stringy black dress and a black vest, sleeves covering her arms and white buttons adorning the vest. She didn't have the heavy make-up Goths girls were known for with black eyeliners and black lipstick, except she had dark green and gold contact lenses. With her constant rubbing of her eyes, she would rather not go through the trouble of eye infections.
The place the brothers were staying was a summerhouse located in a secluded countryside, prefect for them to not be noticed and make all the noise they want. Shinny bought the home from her parents so they could spend their retirement in Boston when she moved out to attend college a few years back. It was a small and cozy place; she fitted it to look like an apartment style of New York upper class.
"So how you've been, Janni," she asked the younger Valentine. Jan cringed whenever she called him "Janni" in a sweet little voice, but he knew she was a girl after his own deadened, vampiric heart, even though she's a human and seemed a little too kind of be considered Gothic. "I was worried about you when you didn't call me back."
"Well, what the fuck did you expect? It was four fuckin' months ago. Can't believe you waited that long. And I had to tell you everything about the damn group since I showed up."
"And it's all because your older brother became tiny? It seemed too far fetched."
"It's more than that, Shinny babe. Big bro was bigger than that. Way bigger. I had no choice unless that was me as the fuckin' guinea pig. Too bad though. I wanted that to be a surprise. A 'down there' surprise if you know what I mean," Jan ended with a cute devilish look, hoping she would look his way.
"You're such a swear bag sometimes. Maybe that's why I love you." Shinny approached the couch and proceeded to sit on Jan's lap. She placed her lips on his and licked all around the rim and on one of his lip earrings.
"Oh yeah, babe. Nothing like a 'morninger' for me," he sloppingly cooed, trying to be sensual without success. Since getting to know Jan better, Shinny liked doing two things with him. Making out on the large creamy couch and making out on the porch at night, with the sound of rustling trees and occasional owls hooting as their backdrop.
She still had to get use to Jan crass method of being nice to her. Shinny continued to kiss him and rubbed his shoulders all the way down his back.
Back in the guest bedroom, Luke took hold of the sheets and slowly slid down the mammoth bed like a mountain climber edging into a cliff's underground cave. Thankfully, he regained his appetite as he did when he was regular sized. The last thing he remembered was sleeping inside the flap of Jan's knapsack on the plane ride to the US. He wanted to go to back to sleep just to relax for once if not for drowning out the wacky predicament he was thrown into. Being 60 feet tall was a confining challenge, but now standing at 5-inches tall would prove to have an even bigger challenge.
He was uncertain if he could get to the kitchen before his hunger would slow him down. The knapsack was in the corner by the closet and he walked over there to check anything out. Removing the flap was a little difficult; it took him a few tries before he moved 3 inches of the flap's tip. Then he proceeded to crawl inside, climbing over the faded tan material and using his night vision, part of his vampiric trait, to look around the dark area. Unexpectedly, he came across a large glass bottle with a sticker across it. Luke's closer inspection found that the vial read: "GH: 51LV". Was that the growth hormone formula Jan mentioned he stole, he thought to himself.
With enough strength in his tiny body, Luke managed to lift and bring the bottle out of the sack and carefully place it on the floor. Then he let himself drop out of the sack and on his feet. He looked at the growth hormone's bottle and found the contents inside were a slivery white, but it looked pink. He wondered why there was a pink pigmentation in the formula. Then he realized dumbfoundingly that he was looking through the clear tape of the sticker, odd that it was for a scientific experiment to be covered in something as silly as a pink tape covering.
Luke then had an idea. If Jan was able to slip some of the shrinking formula from the extracts of the hormone into him, maybe the growth hormones would work also. A strange idea that he would never think of, but he felt it was worth a try, if it meant returning to his normal size since he didn't know how to do it himself. Could he do it himself? He didn't have time to think, he wanted to be independent again.
He placed his hand on the cork of the bottle and slowly twisted it off, careful not to make too much rocking motions so as the bottle would not tip over. He struggled and strained trying to remove the cork and was losing his nerve to continue further. It was taking too much of his energy to remove something as normally simple as opening a bottle. He failed to realize that his frustration was over taking him. His body warmed and pulsed with a strong sensation, a familiar one that caused his growth some time ago. Luke came to realize that his hands were over taking the cork, slowly expanding for his fingers to grasp the cork entirely and his other hand holding the bottle. He paused for a moment by how his hands were almost larger than he was and his body then quickly shot up.
Almost like baring another ability, he could predict what his height was as he grew. His hands were a foot in length and appeared smaller when he grew a foot himself. Slowly and surely, he shot another foot and was then standing three feet tall. He could now see over the bed and into the sunlight. Luke was delighted that he was growing again and hopefully to where he wanted to be.
Shinny and Jan continued to make out when Luke went through his transformation. Shinny rubbed and smoothed her hands over Jan's shirt, proceeding to unzip it delicately. Hurried footsteps were soon heard and panting that was not coming from either two.
"JAN," Luke cried from the doorway. "You're not going to believe this!"
Jan said with a grunt, "What the fuck is it bro . . . What the fuck!"
Jan became dumbstruck, forgot that Shinny was on top of her, and pushed her to the side. Shinny took offense to that when their time was getting steamier, but she sat there just as dumbstruck as Jan was.
Standing in the doorway was a child-sized Luke, grasping the bottle in his hand and supporting the door frame with his other hand. He was smiling and baring his mouth like never before. Jan could not remember the last time Luke was this ecstatic about something other than books.
"Bro, what the hell. . . Look at you, man!"
"I know! I'll finally be normal sized again!
"You certainly weren't normal sized before," Shinny made a humorous crack.
Another wave of excitement overtook Luke and did not stop. Even though he was happy about the thought of returning to normal, his body did not desist growing. He shot up to his normal height, but recognized the switched looks of his brother and the girl on the couch. Before he could ask, he bumped his head on the ceiling, indicating that he was about 6'11, almost reaching seven feet even.
"Wait, what it this!"
"What are you doing, bro?"
"I'm not doing anything!" His screams wobbled the walls.
Shinny bolted up from the couch and was about to move to a free corner, thinking that Luke would not stop and could take over the entire house.
"Luke! Please calm down," she tried to reason with him. "Everything'll be okay."
"Yeah, bro, listen to her! I'm not goin' through this shit again!"
Luke closed his eyes, trying hard to contain himself and hoping their words would calm him. He thought to himself that he did not want this and wanted it to stop.
A few agonizing seconds later, Luke miraculously stopped growing. All he allowed himself was to stand at 9 feet tall, his back arched to the corner of the ceiling and his head looking over the doorframe. Shinny stepped out of the corner and came closer to where Jan stood. They looked at Luke and he looked at them. They were not as tiny the last time he looked at other people, but in his eyes, he was still huge. It may be his imagination that perceived it, but he still towered over everything again and he did not doubt that.
"Wow," Shinny gasped as she gawked at Luke, hoping that she was not being too rude to her giant guest.
"I guess I should have asked what type blood you drink. I hope coffee's okay."
Shinny prepared breakfast a short time after the three got out of their defunct states. She made scrambled eggs, Taylor ham and bagels for all, but instead of coffee, her preferred drink was orange juice. She thought she was a good cook and did not have to worry too much about the blood problem for the brothers. It was shocking to her that not all vampires lived on just blood alone; maybe she thought they were a different kind. She did know Jan for a couple of months before he was forced to flee the country. Right now, she was hoping she made enough food. There were no plates or coffee cups big enough for Luke to enjoy with, but Shinny made due with a large holiday serving tray for his meal and a large soup pot for coffee.
"It's fine, thank you," Luke responded after taking a sip from the soup pot. He sat cross-legged again across from Jan and Shinny at his side. His body blocked the door to her balcony as she had the table moved into the middle of the slightly tiny cottage kitchen to make as much room as possible. Jan thought it was hysterical when Luke crawled through the kitchen door because he was tired of his head hitting things. Jan wanted to blurt out how his butt also grew, but decided against it.
"So, what exactly happened, bro," Jan finally asked. "You had that stuff in your hand. I didn't think you were hitting the end of one."
"Try opening it as a Lilliputian," Luke snapped back at him. "It was a pain and that's all I focused on. I guess I'm not as patient as I thought I was."
"Well, at least you didn't go fuckin' crazy this time. None of us would has a roof over our head."
Shinny chimed in, "And at least you managed to stay clothed. I don't want Janni to think I was getting an eyeful."
"What the fuck?"
"Oh come on, I'm teasing you." Shinny smiled back. "I thought you could take a joke."
Luke knew right away that the two would get along famously. She reminded him of his little brother, except she swore less and was a lot nicer. It was not something he would say about humans since it was a long time he was one once.
"Anyway," Shinny began, "This was what your bro told me about, Luke. Looking at you now, I thought you were trying to escape the US army."
When Luke heard her, he shot a look at Jan as if he messed up again.
"But it's okay," Shinny tried to answer for Jan. "There's no reason to go at him for it. I don't care that you guys are Nazi's and stuff. I mean, only because you don't really behave like them."
"Well, we don't Shinny," Luke, said to her. "Our uncle forced us into it. We had no choice to ignore what Millennium wanted and our parents were gone so we had nowhere else to live."
"Oh, so you're kind of like hitmen with regrets, then?"
"Some regrets," Luke plainly put it.
"So what are you going to do now? You're more than welcome to stay here as long you like." Shinny sipped from her glass and tried to smooth things over again. "I can't say for the insurance for whatever happens or if 'they' come here."
"Fuck the insurance, babe. We're vampires. And we can take them down on our own. Especially with a little help from the big guy." Jan turned over to his brother. "Right, big bro."
Luke was hoping he could get through the morning without hearing toilet talk from Jan, and was now pushing a little too far.
"I don't really appreciate being called that," Luke icily said.
"I always call you 'big bro'. Why bitch now?"
A large thud hit as Luke dropped his drink on the table, the force digging the table legs into the kitchen floor. Shinny almost choked on a piece of egg and meat in her mouth. Luke slowly uncrossed his legs and stood on his knees, looking bigger than before, like a bright miniature god with a fierce glare.
"Just when I think you actually started to care about my feelings, Jan, you had to make a joke at my expense!"
"Hey, man! Are you forgettin' who saved your giant sorry ass last night! I would have left for good by my fuckin' self and leave your fuckin' whiny ass behind. You could've fuckin' been Millennium's Pet like fuckin' Hellsing did, is that what you want!" Jan's own roaring only infuriated Luke to the extreme. Shinny wanted to get in the middle of this to keep the guys from killing each other, but she decided not to cross either brother at their fullest rages. So much for brotherly love at this time.
"I could have been Millennium's PET!" Luke voice grew louder and shook from his lungs. "I could have escaped by myself if I wanted to! And I could have strangled you like a rat in my eyes!"
"Yeah, I bet your glad it was you instead of me! I would have fucked you up ten times over!"
For the first time that Luke could remember, Jan's ongoing insults drove him to punch his brother right in the face. And this time, it would go right through his brother's entire body. He clenched his left hand into a fist, ready to strike. Then, he remembered what happened when he got upset, so he let his hand loose and fall. He instead strove past Shinny who looked on with shear fear at what could have happened. Luke ducked his head down the doorway and the sound of his feet hammering the floor disappeared when Luke carelessly opened the door with a crack and left.
Shinny turned to her lover in the deadly quiet kitchen; Jan's face broke out in a red sweat with heavy breathing, almost facing the thought of his older brother's violent impact.
"Christ," Jan broke the silence, as earthshaking as Luke's impounding footsteps. "If he wanted to kick my ass, he should've."
"Jan," Shinny cried.
"Well what? If he wanted to be the adult, he should've stayed and got it over with. He's always like this shit when someone hurts his 'feelings'." His voice calmed down as he again remarked, "The big guy around acted like a fuckin' big baby instead."
"I'm not surprised why," Shinny said in an angry tone. "Of all people, you were the one to hurt his feelings. He probably heard from everyone in his life and didn't want to hear it from you. And you told me about Millennium and all that shit, because it was out of your sake for him. Luke can't help what happened to him and I'd be pissed too if that happened to me!"
"Come on, babe. It'll be water under the . . ."
"Don't be so sure, babe!"
Shinny sat back down and tried to eat, but she continued thinking about Luke. She got up and left her kitchen, while Jan was left to fume in his own space.
"Christ," he muttered again. "And I wasn't even joking."
Giant's Domain
Luke needed time to cool off after fighting with his brother. Much to his surprise, his anger did not cause him to grow. He was able to slip back to his normal height after lying against a tree to calm his thoughts. It was a little relieving that he was not some enormous menace or a pint-size mouse anymore, but his guilt still remained inside him. Why did he feel the way he did? What was normal anyway?
Luke knew he was always different. He was smarter and faster than most kids growing up. He considered himself a charmer and people respected him. But despite all those qualities, he could not help but think if it was because he was taller than everyone else. Everyone probably got on his good side because they did not want to anger him, afraid that he would hurt them with a single swing of an arm if he was angry or lifting heavy desks when he was depressed.
Yet he was popular back in the London schools. He was president of the Science club, a star in track and field and one of the top academic students. He also had a tendency to tell people that he was not related to Jan, even though they both had the same last name. The façade never lasted long when Jan kept grabbing the opportunity to grab around his taller brother's neck and shout to everyone how 'damn proud he was of his bro'. Luke thought it was a way of getting on his nerves when Jan pranced like that. However, he failed to realize a lot of times that Jan was proud of him. Luke always stood up for Jan when Jan got into fights or whenever the other boys would pound on him. Being taller did have an advantage over his bullying peers.
Luke also knew that he forgets the tender side of their relationship. Whatever Luke did, it was as a brother looking out for a younger brother's best interest. When he was locked inside the sector, he thought of how he wanted to see Jan, the only person he wanted to see. He was rude to Jan when he offered him food, but Luke thought everything was pointless at the time. That he wanted to give up and no small gesture would change his mind. But Jan was doing him a favor this time; he got him out of the sector and to freedom. It was more than anyone could ask for.
He wanted to go and apologize to Jan, but he needed a different view of his surroundings. It was a long time since he could move on his own without staying cramped in a tiny space for weeks on end. He was free and he did not have to worry about making any unusual scenes.
Awakening Ghosts
His quick speed led him into a town's business district. He recognized the quaint surroundings, the cheerful faces and productiveness as the little town of Luthern when He and Jan were stationed there. He always liked to visit the stores, especially the book shop. There he would drown out the day and some free time in many classics, yet their books were not always great and in short supply. He was certain that he read half of the store's books, which can say that their inventory was already leafed through top to bottom.
Instead of going through familiar territory, he wandered by a small café's outdoor area. So he sat and mused around one of the circular tables, listening to a radio playing inside the café's background of Otis Redding's Shake, enjoying a small espresso. He found using the word 'small' a little humorous. Something as simple as words that describe size was nothing ever important to him, but now it appeared that it was important. It was like he lived around both worlds, led different lives and personalities. In his life, he wanted to broaden his horizons, but everything in the last month or so broadened more than that. He became like the figures in science fiction and fantasy tales. A giant living outside common society, and the little people who made the effort and risk to accept them. His brother and his girlfriend are the second closest to him now and he hoped not to lose them.
After enjoying one last sip, Luke ventured back home. Around that time, it was two hours before sunset. Shinny was out on her porch and she looked to be asleep, lying on a white lawn chair. Her body rustled up and she turned to see the pale looking man casually walking up to her. She swung up and off to reach him by the railing.
"So that's what you really look like," Shinny said admiringly.
"What do you mean by that," Luke asked.
"I mean that your of average height now." Her smile brightened Luke.
"'Average' means different thing to people, Shinny." Luke's intellectual manner shined through his opinion. "But now it means many thing to me. But, anyway. Where's Jan?"
She pointed toward the back door to the kitchen.
"He's in our room." When she said "our room", it meant her guest room she converted to a regular bedroom she and Jan shared, while Luke, in actuality, slept in her old room. "Locked tight."
"I see. Somehow, I'm not surprised. I just hope there's some reason left in him." Turning toward the now unmanageable front door, Luke lifted the door up to reach inside.
"Much, much luck to ya, Luke," Shinny called back.
Everything was quiet inside. Sometimes in their line of work it was either a blessing or too good to be true. Total silence meant an ambush on most occasions, but this procedure would be more low key. As Luke reached the door, he politely knocked.
"Hey, Jan," he called inside. There was no response. He tried another level of getting his brother's attention. "Bro," it came out like a noble speaking in slang. "Jan, Shinny told me you're in there and I know she wouldn't lie. But, I'm really sorry about the way I acted. It was out of line and it wasn't fair."
Jan sat cross legged on the bed, forbiddingly holding a cigarette between his fingers. Thin smoke was visible in the dim room and he didn't care then that his human lover would chew him out for smoking in the house. He would not speak to his older brother and he made sure he will not break. He felt unappreciated for the first time and did not want to think that Luke apologizing would make everything go away. Even so, he wanted to continue to have his say.
"Coming off your high horse wouldn't even make me budge, man," he muttered loudly through the holed up enclosure.
Sighing, Luke tried again, "I know you don't believe me, but I am deeply sorry. Everything that's happened, the way I've been snapping at you. I really couldn't help that. But I've been thinking that you still went out of your way to do this. I am thankful for that, I really am. But right now, and what I want to say would be strange, even to you. I need you. Weneed each other right now. There's no way in Hell that Millennium would allow us back in even if we wanted to. Doc would dissect us both and we wouldn't have had a chance anywhere else if it wasn't for Shinny. And I even appreciate all she's done for us. No one else would if you think about it.
"Is there at least anyway to make you see that?" Rustling was heard behind the door. "Anything?"
Luke heard something else inside. It was the sound of something opening and a wheezing that sounded like a breeze. The door creaked opened. Luke could smell a cigarette already put out and he hoped it wasn't somewhere forebodingly.
"You positive, right?" Jan leaned against the door in a slick feature.
"Well, yes," Luke answered uncertainly and hoping his favor would not have him doing something unsavory.
"Well, the only thing you can do is something you already have."
Luke wasn't sure what Jan was getting at, leaving his younger brother to explain.
"Remember I told you you had control over this? Remember? If you didn't act like a fuckin' pansy half the time, you could have used that attitude of yours to your advantage. Know what I mean?"
"I do, yes." He already knew the deed. "If it makes you happy, I'll try and control this power. But, I can't grow or anything while in the house."
"Come around the back, then," Jan told him.
Luke nodded and took a different way out.
Outside, it was getting cooler as Shinny was still on the porch, waiting. Upon the back door opening, she saw Luke come out and watched him step behind the house. She was curious as to why and followed him. Luke saw Jan's head sifting out the window ledge like a lapping dog and approached him, his arms hung loose as he let his brother know he was ready.
"You sure about this, Jan?"
"Hey! No backing out on this, man."
"I'm not. It's. . . just hard to embrace the idea of becoming bigger."
"You want to prove you're open to this, go wild. No time like the fuckin' present as they say."
With a soft relaxed sigh, Luke focused with intent this time to get his power working. He thought of the times when his powers erupted when he expressed extreme emotions. He was happy trying to think of a Hellsing invasion plot when it happened, but felt frustrated. He was frustrated too when opening the growth hormone's bottle, but he became excited when he was growing again and too much of it overdid the growth. Arguing with Jan intensified his anger, but he did not grow at all. Then, he remembered that when his focus in all those situations turned to Doc, that was when the growth started. He focused on that anger, the hurt, the torture, the agonizing stares of others gawking, the nightmares. He wanted his body to get use to the idea of growing, expanding, but suppressed rage spun it all out of control. He will go wild with it, but in his own way.
Instead, he focused on what he told himself earlier. The sense of furthering horizons, a sense of worth with each passing inch and muscle and pure expansion. He could feel his body blanketed by a warm sensation. It was not intense anger or happiness that he felt, but the power his body possessed that he suppressed. The hormones secreted throughout his body, making different journeys through his veins as he can feel it all for the first time. His mind in a state of ease as is body finally started rising. He could tell he was reaching the eight foot mark.
Shinny was coming closer when Luke started to rise above the gutters. She was showing quick remarkable bravery when standing seven feet away from the forming giant. She was ready to move back before the environment grew crowded. In her eyes, she caught sight of something new. It was a man stepping out, moving away from small steps and taking great leaps. She was not sure exactly how tall Luke was becoming, but so far he was waist high over the edge of the roof. It was true that Luke could express this awesome gift, but she never expected it to happen so fast, almost with ease. Shinny saw the strength in his face, relaxed and tame.
Luke's head surpassed over the roof top in what seemed like a long time and could see into the distant dark trees. He figured if the tiny house is around thirteen feet high and his crotch already passed the gutter mark, he must be over 27 feet and he knew he would have to grow even more, this time he wanted to grow. He wanted to control the nightmares, make the fantasy his own. It will prove that he was not a pansy, that he was not afraid. This was power he never felt before or was opened to; he then reached 50 feet. The world seemed welcoming. It was not a cramped room or a house that could no longer support him, everything was freely spaced. He could see for the first time why Doc wanted it this way. Controlling every space was tempting, all things that were great became measly miniscule. Only a giant brainless creature could pull it off, satisfying a mindless hunger that was not its own. Only Luke had a brain and he refused to give his uncle a glory hogging satisfaction. It was Luke who controlled it now.
When the process was finished, Luke stood 100 feet tall, dwarfing all his surroundings. From afar, he was magnificent as he literally stood taller than imaginable. Jan was livid down below, whooping and calling at the crowning achievement.
"That's what I'm talkin' man! God-fuckin'-zilla!"
Shinny stepped up closer and craned her neck to take a look. If the sun was still up, she would have been blinded. After what she had seen, she uttered a "wow" under her breath.
"What do you think," Luke's booming voice reached below. Shinny shifted her body in shock by the giant Luke's voice. Jan proceeded to climb out the window to join his lover and Luke, but clumsily doing do and high on too much excitement. He landed on something that felt like a warm silk blanket. It was the unexpected safety of his older brother's enormous hand, providing his usual quick reflexes even at his immense size.
"Better be careful there, little brother," Luke smiled wide and mischievously.
"Whoa," came Shinny's excited musing. "That was cool Luke! I didn't know you were that fast!"
Jan looked at her like he was offended.
"Oh God, you know I meant his power Janni!"
Shinny helped him off the giant's hand and pecked his cheek as a sign of hopefully her love to him.
"I think I'll stay out here tonight," Luke stated as he settled himself on the ground to look at the night sky.
"Are you sure," Shinny asked. "I mean . . ." She trailed off, not sure how to convince Luke.
Luke turned to face the tiny couple. "I just want to know what it feels like now."
"Figures," Jan chimed in. "He rather be alone and shit. No point wasting . . ."
"I rather have you guys here," Luke commanded downward. Jan opened his mouth, but Shinny placed her fingers over his lips. She could feel a fanged tooth over the skin like she was charming a shark.
"We were just starting to have fun. I never figure you be a party pooper Jan."
"Am not! I just figure that bro can do it and . . . Ah forget it!" Reluctantly, Jan stayed by her side. Shinny could see how small she really was when Luke raised them up to the roof on his palm so that they are slightly closer to Luke and within his hearing.
"So . . ." Jan started to speak, but dragged his voice before he could speak again.
"'So' what," Shinny curiously asked.
"Aren't you gonna say something', bro," Jan ignored her and asked Luke.
"Say what?" Luke was not sure where this guessing game was going.
"That this time, I was," Jan dragged his words again. "What was that word that meant the opposite of 'wrong'?"
Luke scowled as Jan tested his patience again.
"You want me to say that you were right?"
"Was that the word?" Jan grinned and added, "And that would, I don't know, apply to me?"
"Yes, Jan! You were right. It's not so terrible anymore."
"What, that I can be right?"
"If you're right, then why ask me?"
"I ain't askin' you! I already know I was right. Boy if I was up there right now, I'd . . ."
Luke tapped a finger a top his brother's head and nudged him gently as Jan began to struggle.
"Well you're not," Luke teased, "And no matter what, I'm still the oldest and you should learn a few things from me."
"Yeah, like how to get a big head that matches the rest of ya."
Shinny giggled as the Valentine's were up to their usual antics of brotherly love. She felt everything was going smoothly again. Her chuckles became louder when Jan started jumping to get his hat back as it dangled some ten feet above his head. Clutching her neck, she felt a bruise on her jaw that halted her laughter as she took out a pocket mirror. It was hard to see what it looked like, but from the bottom of her eye, the bruise was purplish and yellow. She shrugged it off as an old mark that she probably forgotten about and went back to enjoying the spectacle.
Birth of a Weapon
Thousands of mile away, deep in beautiful jungle seclusion, The Millennium Base was shrouded in work and uproar. No one would ever guess that the lacky of the Valentine Brothers would carefully, single-handedly steal a secret formula, and execute an escape with a giant male vampire he personally reduced in size himself. Yet, someone else knew the effect of the situation first hand and was more enraged than anyone on the compound.
Doc found it hard to work under the uproar. His lab assistants kept gossiping and got on his nerves more than once when they forgot a certain agenda or accidentally dropped syringes or test tubes. Eventually, he sent them all out and tried to concentrate on his own. His entire mind wandered on what how his own impotent nephew and his equally brash older brother made the escape so quickly. The soldiers should have caught them before they made their way to the gate, even before they made it to the airport. Everyone was becoming incompetent. It was poppy cock when comrade Joleen Britz stated that the brothers were striking out against Hellsing because Major already ordered them to and she was taking them to their destination prior for the trip to England. Doc knew the Major did not make such an order without mention to him first. It was out of character for the Major to not consult one of his most loyal handy man, especially since the brother's were his responsibility. Yet either way, Major was still pleased by the ballsy move of his nephews and would give them a heroes welcome if the mission succeeds.
His nephews' congratulations for a possible success angered Doc even more as he smash his fist on the examining table. His generation was slowly succumbing to the orders of the young; they would not be punished for their ordeal and infest their way in before anyone considered siring them. Either way, he knew the boys would not forget their place after everyone bows to them for a rounding success. It was his life long project that they will get the recognition for and he will literally turn them into the size of rats for real animal experiments, as he believed they were meant for.
Doc stayed in his laboratory/quarters for hours. He looked over photos of a family, posing and smiling together. He recognized the two little boys in the small family portrait. Younger and cuter versions of the brothers dressed in blue blazers for their school uniforms, but Jan slightly stuck his tongue out while Luke ignored it and his parents smiled at his antic. It was no surprise that Jan would never outgrow that stage. The photo was dated October 13, 1986, a week before the Valentine parents were killed and Doc granted guardianship of them. This was one of many things the brothers took with them from their childhood home and now was one they left behind. Even though Doc fully planned the execution of the Valentine parents, he could not contend to have the sons killed and he knew why. Perfect hosts for turning them into full fledge vampires for Millennium's cause and perfect subjects for evil. He remained in London with the boys until they left school and old enough to be on their own while he traveled back to South America on a regular basis to keep up with the vampire experiments on the soldiers.
He remembered the time when he first started on the boys. Jan, age 7, was too fidgety to sit still while waiting for the preliminary injections and his older brother, age 10, swung his tiny legs over the seat. They did seem cute at the time and Doc took a shining to it. Doc gave Luke the necessary injections for the vampiric makeover to work. Hours later, he was stunned to find the oldest of the brothers was now the tallest. Little Jan was gawking at his older brother, marveling how big he became. Doc knew there was something more special in Luke Valentine.
Luke was permanently stuck at 5'5" tall (167 centimeters) and kept growing naturally, or unnaturally, since then. Doc was intrigued by how this could only happen to Luke and not his brother. He pressured on, studied, and prodded, all the while ignoring Luke's concerns. Luke told him about the nightmares and the teasing in school. Doc always reminded him that to be strong, you can't submit to the words of humans lesser than you. Everything's time will come he also said. It did not help the young boy's esteem and so he forbid the subject to be brought up again.
Doc continued to work on Luke for over ten years, his research led to a hypothesis that the phenomenal growth was the cause of not only excess hormones that kept producing in Luke's body, but as a latent ability in the boy. He was astonished of such power that lay dormant when the boy was still human and finally released when Luke journeyed into his full potential as a vampire. Because of the experiments, Luke developing superhuman speed and strength when his ongoing, ever producing hormones increased every half year to year. This would be the Doctor's proudest achievement and the cornerstone for Millennium's army.
One day, during a physical exam, Doc was shocked to find that the hormones suddenly stopped producing. It was too late to harness the hormones and Luke by then was in his mid-twenties and stood 6'3" tall (192 cm). Already tall enough for the boy even before puberty, Doc estimated that Luke grew another two inches before Luke's height was official. Soon after, Doc felt disappointment in the boy. How could he possibly lose the capability when he would still grow in more ways than one, even after he became an adult? It must have been a cruel joke laid upon him Doc thought. Finding no use for either two, the boys now lived on their own and Doc returned to headquarters permanently.
Doc had to try and convince Luke to use his powers to the fullest extend so that the growth hormones would return and the only way to do that was to trick him and bring out his intellectual nature into a act of gaining supremacy. That was when he lied that Jan volunteered for the enlarging experiment, provoking the foolish boy to take matters in his own hands and set his desire free. He knew that Luke wanted acceptance, that he was useful and important for something. Doc did not entirely ignore the issues Luke had as a child.
His plan worked when Jan, frantic, alerted him of the situation. Hours later, Doc came face to face with the dream and its reality. It was not so flattering to find a perfect specimen holed up inside a tiny house that appeared so to the giant. As with all specimens, when they break your hold and develop a brain, it was a flick of the switch around his wrist that knocked the gargantuan to the ground. Luke Valentine, in Doc's eyes, was no longer a vampire. He was Millennium's greatest achievement and proved a valuable weapon.
It was a lost cause again when the brothers escaped. Doc crumbled the happy photo in his hand. Now the brothers were smiling at him. A false anger then melted away when he bared his own devious smile. Jan was quick, but the Doctor always kept a card under his sleeve.
His card was the remainder of the formulas that no one else knew was located. Blessings from the Major or not, he will take back the cause that is rightfully his and be the hero among Millennium. The under appreciated scientist and intellect will rise above all science. In his mind and language, it is high time to show the best the better part of all members.
After raiding a hidden compartment of his lab, Doc contacted Joleen and requested a secret trip scheduled for the United States. He may not find Luke by his technology, but he will find the other.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 4
