Disclaimer: I own neither Hellsing nor Ranma or any other series that may appear and make no monetary profit from this fanfiction whatsoever. This is done for pleasure, pure and simple.
Ten Minutes Later, Living Room
As Integra walked into the living room, she left behind her a trail of shocked house staff members who couldn't believe what they had just seen. Integra now wore a (borrowed) dark green formal dress and her hair was noticeably straighter then it normally was. She moved gracefully into the room instead of affecting her usual aggressive stride. She almost tripped at the sight she saw on the couch of the living room. Integra was shocked to see her 'big sister' Kasumi cuddled up against an, admittedly handsome, young mans chest. Kasumi looked up from where she was seated on Ranma's lap, looking very happy. The expression of Ranma's face could best be described as peaceful and Integra thought she had heard the sound of purring in the room just a few seconds earlier.
Kasumi was quick to stand up and move towards Integra. She embraced Integra in a sisterly hug and felt Integra return the action a few seconds later when Integra wrapped her arms around Kasumi. She let go and the two women separated from each other. Integra felt herself become a little tense as she noticed Kasumi was looking her up and down. She let out a small sigh at Kasumi's smile of approval at Integra's appearance. Unnoticed by Integra, Ranma gave a small smile at the scene. He remembered what Kasumi and Nabiki had told him about Integra and their relationship with her. He was happy to see that it was just as it had been described to him.
Integra was the first to break the silence between them. "Kasumi, it's so good to see you again!" she said to Kasumi warmly, "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you as well Integra." Kasumi replied just as warmly, "I'm sorry to drop in on you like this."
"You have nothing to be sorry about. You're always welcome here." Integra reassured Kasumi and then looked at her with some curiosity, "This is certainly a pleasant surprise and I don't mind you being here but can you tell me just why you are here? And who's your friend? Is he your boyfriend or maybe something more?" Integra asked her, a teasing lilt to her voice.
Ranma blushed a little at Integra's questions. Kasumi blushed a little as well but neither one denied Integra's implications. "He's something more…" she replied to Integra with a small naughty grin that had Integra raising an eyebrow in quiet shock at her normally reserved 'big sister' Kasumi. "Let's sit down and I'll try to explain what's happened over the last three years. I know Nabiki and I haven't really explained much in our messages but we weren't really sure what to tell you." Kasumi paused and seemed to gather her thoughts. "A lot of what we've seen and been through is…more than a little unbelievable."
Integra cracked a smile and was about to reply that she was no stranger to unbelievable happenings herself. That was when one of the reasons for her familiarity with the unbelievable chose that moment to return from their nightly patrol. Alucard's head phased its way through the ceiling of the room. "I didn't know you were expecting guests…Master." Alucard noticed that both of Integra's visitors didn't seem to be surprised in the slightest at his sudden appearance.
Integra was caught off balance by their seeming acceptance of what others would find a strange event. A few seconds later saw Ceres attempt the same thing only to float through the ceiling instead. "Oh damn! Not again!" Ceres managed to curse out loud before flipping herself right side up, becoming solid and landing on an unoccupied chair. Integra wondered to herself just how she was going to explain this to Kasumi and her friend.
The young man simply looked up at Alucard before looking at Ceres and finally turning back to Alucard who still remained visible only from the shoulders upwards while projecting out of the ceiling. "Now that's a pretty good trick." The young man said to Alucard, his enthusiasm unhidden, "Don't suppose you'd teach me how to do that too?" The young man asked him while Kasumi, Integra noticed, simply smiled lovingly at the young man as he asked the question as if it was something she knew he would do.
Integra expected Alucard to simply laugh in the young mans face or something similar and tell him that a mere human wouldn't be able to do what a true vampire took for granted. Integra prepared herself to act as a mediator between the two. She noticed that the young man seemed to have the same air of pride that Alucard carried himself with. 'This is not going to be pretty…' Integra thought to herself, imagining the two men about to start an argument before they had even been introduced to each other. She noticed that Kasumi herself didn't seem worried about the young mans safety despite Alucard's casual show of inhuman power.
Alucard surprised Integra when instead of doing as she expected, he floated down out of the ceiling and landed in front of the young man. Alucard peered intently at the young man as if he recognized him from somewhere. The young man didn't seem to be too concerned about Alucard's scrutiny and dropped into a relaxed posture. Alucard smiled to himself and reached into his coat to pull out something. Integra almost jumped Alucard then and there, afraid that he was about to shoot the young man. She stopped herself when she saw Alucard pull out a japanese magazine instead. She could see the title read 'Nerima Martial Arts Monthly' and there seemed to be a picture of the young man on the front.
'He's famous?' Integra thought to herself, 'Why would Alucard have a japanese magazine on Martial Arts? He isn't the type to read magazines…unless they happen to be about firearms.' She noticed that the young man seemed to tense up at the sight of the magazine. 'Now why would he be worried about something like that? Perhaps he didn't want to run into a fan?'
"You're Ranma Saotome aren't you?" Alucard asked him with a tone approaching respect. "You are the human who managed to kill Saffron, the so called 'Phoenix God'?
"Yeah…" the young man, Ranma admitted warily, "A life was at stake and he left me no other choice. It's just Ranma now by the way."
"I see, well Ranma, I think you might be able to learn it." Alucard said to him to the continued shock of Integra. "Although usually it'd be impossible for a human but you may prove me wrong."
Ceres interrupted their conversation with a puzzled question, looking as confused by the current situation as Integra felt. "Master, I thought you said that only vampires could learn that technique?"
"Master?" Ranma repeated.
"Vampires? Oh my…" Kasumi said softly.
Integra cursed under her breath and looked at Kasumi and Ranma who looked at her with curiosity, "I can explain…" she said to them, feeling nervous and afraid, unsure of how the two would react when she told them the truth. Integra feared Kasumi's reaction the most but she wouldn't lie to Kasumi. "Let's all sit down and I'll tell you what's going on."
They all sat down and Integra looked at Kasumi, "You know I've always said that my family had a secret?" Integra continued at Kasumi's nod, "Well, I'll start at the beginning with a story you might be familiar with, about a man named Hellsing…"
Integra felt the gentle probing of Alucard's mind interrupt her, 'What's wrong Integra?' He asked her silently in her mind, 'I have never felt so much fear from you since the day we first met…'
'I'll explain later…' she thought back to him silently before continuing her story.
Ceres simply sat quietly in her seat as she listened to Sir Integra tell her story. She had heard most of it before and had even lived the more recent parts herself. She wondered just who the two guests were and why Sir Integra seemed to be so worried about their reactions. Now that Ceres was more comfortable with being what she was and willing to drink blood without having to be forced, her Master was more open with her. He had begun to teach her about what she could do as one of his 'children'. She felt her lessons were progressing well although Alucard did tell her that she was still a little slow to pick up some of them.
Alucard had yet to offer Ceres a chance to drink his blood for the second time. Privately, well as private as she could be where her Master was concerned, she felt that she wasn't ready to be 'freed' yet. Ceres hoped to complete her lessons before taking that next step away from humanity. Her attention was drawn back to Sir Integra's story when it reached the part where Alucard had visited Sir Integra inside her cell. Ceres' newly learned skills in reading emotions picked up on Sir Integra's growing unease as she told her story. Her two guests on the other hand seemed to believe Sir Integra and weren't worried about being told that they were currently in the room with at least two vampires.
"I…I accepted Alucard's offer. Please forgive me Kasumi, I, I…" Integra had dropped her gaze from Kasumi's and broke down, afraid of what she would see. Alucard made to embrace Integra and comfort her but Kasumi beat him to it. Kasumi wrapped her arms around Integra and whispered soothing words to her. Kasumi's words would have been unheard by a normal human but of the two humans in the room, only Kasumi was 'normal'. Ranma looked uncomfortable at the scene in front of him. Ceres noticed his discomfort; her Master didn't look like he was paying attention to anyone but Integra. She decided to see if maybe Ranma might want to talk somewhere else.
"Ranma, wasn't it?" Ceres asked him, "Why don't we leave them alone for now? Would you like to go outside? The rain has stopped."
Ranma looked at her gratefully. "Yeah, I'd like that um Ceres right?" He walked over to Kasumi and softly touched her shoulder. She looked up and nodded at him. Ranma nodded back with a small smile and turned to Ceres, "Well, let's go."
Ceres led him out to the back of the mansion where the moon shone down on the still wet grass. She wondered what to do now and thought about asking him about himself. Ranma interrupted her thoughts before she could voice them. "Hey Ceres, can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose, what is it?"
"Well I was wondering; can you do any of that stuff that Integra said that guy Alucard could do? You know, turn into bats, grow back missing arms and all that stuff?"
"I can do some of that." Ceres replied, wondering where he was going with this, "I'm still learning really. Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to spar?" Ranma asked her a little shyly, "Vampires don't seem too different from Saffron and well…its been a while since I had a decent workout. I was hoping maybe…"
Ceres thought about it for a few seconds. A year ago, she would have been upset at him but she had changed a lot since then. She decided to go along with the offer. Normal humans wouldn't stand a chance against a vampire after all but her Master had implied that Ranma might be an exception. She was curious about her Master's reaction to Ranma earlier and it wasn't like she'd be going all out against him. She'd hold back enough not to hurt him and it wasn't as if he could actually hurt her. She did need the practice after all. She nodded at him, "Alright but don't expect me to use all my strength, I don't want to hurt you too badly."
Ranma gave her a cocky smile in reply, "Don't worry about that, you won't even be able to hit me." He said to her confidently.
"Oh really? Well we'll see about that." Ceres replied to him. 'You're in for a big surprise Ranma if you think you're going to win.'
The two of them got ready to face each other, the bright light of the full moon shining down on them. Unnoticed by either of them, the face of the moon seemed to turn red and the light took on a red hue.
Curtain Call
Another chapter finished at last! I know some people might wonder about Alucards reaction to Ranma especially with how he treated him. I just feel that Alucard would have some respect for Ranma if he knew even just a little about Ranma's life. Since he reads the Nerima Martial Arts Monthly (An 'N.Tendo' Publication heh heh) he knows quite a bit about it although not everything certainly.
I've only watched the Anime but the impression I got of Alucard was of a proud man or vampire rather who respects someone who refuses to quit no matter the odds against them. When he first met Integra, she refused to let Alucard intimidate her and look what happened. Alucard is very proud of what he is and someone like Ranma, well, he's definitely proud and his sense of honor would probably strike a cord with a 'true vampire' like Alucard.
As for Integra, she's a woman who's been through a hell of a lot and her breaking down like that in front of a woman she considers her big sister is understandable. I mean, she was betrayed by a member of the knights. Her organization is accused of attacking the queen and set up by the traitor.She's abandoned and THEN she gets locked up for helping to save London? I mean come on! That would be enough to make a lot of people just give up all faith in humanity! Besides I always thought that Integra accepted Alucards offer at the end but that's just me.
I'll delve more into what happened to the Hellsing Organization after the anime ended sometime soon. Now about some of the reviews I've recieved...
Wonderbee31:- Congrats! You certainly hit it right on the nail! I did plan on their being new additions to the Hellsing 'family' from the beginning. Now I know that this is a bit of a spoiler but did anyone really think I'd really kill off Ranma, Kasumi and Nabiki so easily? I will eventually reveal how Kasumi and Ranma got together but that'll be a while yet but as for the 'Nerima Scoobettes'... I don't know...would anyone else like to see a story on what happened on their first and only case?
Ranma Hibki:- I'm not sure about a prank war...but given how destructive those two can get in their fights, can you just imagine what would happen if they went at it in a no holds barred battle royale? Buh Bye London!
A.Nonymous:- Ranma is still cursed, so don't worry about that. I just didn't mention that Ranma was warming up the rain enough to not trigger the change with his ki (actually, it's more a case of me forgetting to put that bit in oops!) No zombie pig or ghoul panda but that's because I've got something better (or worse rather) in mind for them! This fic will be a little hard on some of the characters then MMSS so you have been warned!
To everyone else who reviewed this story, I'd like to say thank you very much, I really appreciate it so please keep reviewing! To cap this chapter off, here's an Omake!
OMAKE
Ceres led him out to the back of the mansion where the moon shone down on the still wet grass. She wondered what to do now and thought about asking him about himself. Ranma interrupted her thoughts before she could voice them. "Hey Ceres, can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose, what is it?"
"Well... since you're a vampire and all..." Ranma asked as he began to blush, "Does that mean you were a virgin when you died?"
Ceres' face turned bright red at Ranma's question. "I was saving myself for the right man! You insensitive perverted jerk!" She shouted at him before pulling out her cannon from nowhere and blasting Ranma with an incendinary shell.
Ranma went flying into the distance as he shouted back, "You are so uncute you undead tomboy!"
Ceres seemed to burst into flames when she heard him. She took off after him while loading a depleted uranium shell into her canon, "You take that back! I am NOT uncute!Get back here! RANMA NO BAKA!"