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.

Hellsing Mansion, Living Room

They had spent the last half hour listening to Integra talk to Kasumi about all the feelings she had kept bottled up inside her for the past few years. Kasumi was mentally berating herself for having kept so little contact with Integra while she had been going through such a rough time. Integra had been burdened by far too much responsibility for one person for far too long. Kasumi knew how much stress one could come under from trying to run a small household like the Tendo family home. Integra had been running a multinational organization from the shadows while having to deal with a group of men that, from hearing Integra's descriptions of them, weren't much better then a cross between Genma and her father. (A.N: In case it isn't too obvious, I really, really hated those weak-willed, backstabbing, hypocritical, cowardly, chauvinistic and above all completely and utterly useless, worthless piles of that called themselves the 'Knights of the Round Table' or something like that. Expect me to really give them a very rough ride in this story. Nya ha ha ha ha ha!)

Alucard may have been a centuries old vampire but he had long gotten into the habit of letting his emotions have free reign of his features. When he was happy, you'd know about it. If he was angry, you would have more than enough warning to start running. In that respect, Alucard was very similar to Ranma. He simply had little experience with hiding his emotions. Where Ranma lacked the social training for such a feat, Alucard saw little use for it. That is until now. He knew that Integra had yet to fully come to terms with her new status as a vampire. He had sensed it on the edge of her thoughts for months now but he hadn't confronted her about it. Just like Ceres had, Alucard had thought that given enough time Integra would eventually accept what she now was.

The truth of the matter was that Alucard didn't know how to deal with Integra's emotions on the subject. He had taken to training Ceres instead of dealing with the matter. Inwardly, he felt it was strange that after wanting to turn a Hellsing for so long, after wanting to turn her for so long…now that he had accomplished it, he was at a loss as to what to do with her now. He could have simply taken her as a lover like he had done with others in the past. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had turned a woman simply to use her for his pleasure before setting her free to roam the world. Alucard knew that Integra herself had often thought of and dreamt of sleeping with him since her teenage years. Why not take his pleasure and simply leave? As her Vampire Master, he could force her to release him from the service of Hellsing. So why didn't he simply do it? What was stopping him from doing so?

Kasumi had done her best to help Integra come to terms with becoming a vampire despite how much Integra felt she had betrayed her family heritage by becoming what they despised most. It seemed to have worked for now but Kasumi knew that she and Integra would need to talk more about it eventually. At least Kasumi had managed to convince Integra that just because she was now a vampire didn't mean that Kasumi would turn away from her. Kasumi didn't see any problem with Integra becoming a vampire. In Kasumi's mind, Integra was still her 'little sister' from overseas and no amount of weirdness would change that. Besides, Kasumi had grown up in Nerima; vampires weren't really such a frightening concept when you dealt with demons and numerous other supernatural entities on a weekly basis.

Kasumi looked up at Alucard who was standing beside them with a neutral expression on his face. Having grown up with Nabiki the so-called 'Ice Queen' of Nerima, Kasumi knew how to read a poker face. It was why none of the other housewives in Nerima wanted to play cards with Kasumi. She was just too good at it. She saw that Alucard's feelings for Integra were more than that of a servant and their master. She also saw that Alucard himself hadn't realized it yet or realized how Integra felt about him. Integra had certainly given Kasumi enough clues during her story. She wondered whether she should try playing matchmaker between them or simply let them work it out for themselves. She would have to discuss it with Nabiki when she finished her business in Nerima and ask her opinion on the matter.

Kasumi felt that, in a way, Integra's relationship with Alucard was a parallel of Ranma's former relationship with Akane. Alucard had been an unwelcome but necessary addition to Integra's life at first. Ranma had been an unexpected and according to Akane, a most unwelcome addition to her life. Much like Ranma had with Akane, Alucard had saved Integra from danger time and time again, always protecting her, defending her honor, even though he seemed to go out of his way to anger her sometimes. Ranma did it because of how he'd been raised; Alucard did it because it was a part of his nature. The difference between the two relationships was that Integra had admitted, if only to herself, that she loved Alucard. Something that Akane couldn't or perhaps wouldn't admit to herself, letting her pride rule her life even more than it had ruled Ranma's life until a few months ago.

Kasumi just held Integra close until she felt her sobs begin to subside. Integra kept her head buried in Kasumi's chest, letting herself draw comfort from Kasumi's presence. Moments later Kasumi noticed that Integra had drifted off to sleep. "We should let her rest for now." Kasumi told him as she placed Integra into a laid back position on the couch.

"My master has had much to deal with." Alucard replied before hesitating for a moment, "Thank you…for helping her."

Kasumi gave him a questioning look. "Why didn't you talk to her about it?" She asked him softly, no hint of accusation in her voice, merely curiosity, "She would have wanted you to comfort her, you know?"

"I…have been busy, teaching Ceres what she needs to know as a vampire." Alucard said, turning away from her and looking out a window.

"Isn't Integra a vampire as well now?" Kasumi replied, "Doesn't she need to know as much as Ceres? You should think more about your excuses, Alucard. What's the real reason?"

"I am not making excuses!" He hissed at her, trying not to waken Integra, "I…"

Alucard was cut off by a large explosion that rocked the mansion. Integra was instantly awake and sat up quickly just as the alarms began sounding. Kasumi was already at a window trying to see what was going on. Alucard never even noticed her moving which surprised him. Kasumi could see smoke coming from the back of the mansion but she couldn't make out what exactly was happening. She turned around at the sound of the door being opened and saw Walter come through it. She noticed that Alucard was standing over Integra protectively and almost smiled at how similar the two of them resembled Ranma and Akane in that moment.

"Walter! What's going on?" Integra asked him angrily, "What was that explosion?"

"Sir Integra! It appears the mansion is being attacked!" Walter replied.

"What! Who dares attack the Hellsing mansion!" Integra shouted out in anger at his answer. "How many hostiles? It better not be any more bloody Freaks like those damn Valentines!"

"According to the reports, it seems to be a pack of Wolf Freaks." Walter told her, "They're attacking Miss Victoria and the young man. We can confirm there were at least a dozen of them. However the young man and miss Victoria are dealing with six of them and the troops have managed to keep the rest out of the mansion itself."

Integra and Alucard looked surprised to hear the report while Kasumi, Walter noticed, seemed to nod as if she had expected it. She didn't seem to be reacting to the situation at all. Kasumi looked as calm and composed as if nothing out of the ordinary were happening. Integra quickly got over her surprise and turned to Alucard with an angry scowl.

"Alucard! Show those Freaks what happens to any who challenge the Hellsing Organization!" She ordered him.

Alucard smiled at the fire in Integra's eyes, "Of course, my master." He said to her before disappearing into thin air.

Outside the mansion, shortly before the attack

Ranma was currently enjoying himself. His match with Ceres was going great. Now that he no longer subscribed to Genma's idiotic ideas regarding women, Ranma was willing to actually spar with Ceres properly. Instead of just trying to dodge and block all of her attacks, he was actually retaliating against them. They had begun the match by simply testing each others limits. Now, almost half an hour later, Ranma was beginning to use attacks and blows on Ceres that he normally reserved for people like Herb and Ryoga. When he heard about what Alucard could do, Ranma had compared a vampire to being akin to someone like Saffron. Someone that was dependent on just having powers and phenomenal healing abilities with little physical strength to balance it out. He was finding out that he had been mistaken. Ceres could take what she dished out unlike Saffron whose physical capabilities had been pretty weak compared to the average Neriman fighter.

Ceres on the other hand was surprised that Ranma was still going. She had thought at first that this would just be a quick match. Ranma had shown her how wrong she was to have assumed that simply because he was human, she would automatically win. Ceres didn't have the martial arts skills that Ranma had. She had been trained as a police officer and the majority of her training had been in firearms. When it came to fighting, all she knew were mostly holds to subdue suspects. She could punch and she knew a few kicks but that was about it. She had thought that she could just overpower Ranma but he had sunk that idea pretty quick. Holds were useless if you couldn't actually catch your target. Her punches and kicks were either anticipated easily or just plain blocked. Whenever she thought she had him he'd just get faster and attack harder.

It was currently a stalemate between them. Ceres had been hoping to overpower Ranma but he was too skilled for that to happen. They had been using purely physical attacks so far. It seemed like their match was going to reach another level in intensity when Ceres suddenly stopped midway through a combo of punches and looked to an area of trees close to them. Ranma had been so surprised by her unexpected action that he barely stopped himself from capitalizing on her apparent mistake with a spin kick. That was when he noticed some sort of rocket heading in their direction. The two of them immediately leapt up a few dozen feet allowing the rocket to pass harmlessly underneath them and impact against a mansion wall. The alarms began sounding as the two fighters got their first look at their attackers.

Their attackers looked like the werewolves that Ranma had seen in the movies. They were large compared to a normal human, towering at almost eight feet tall. They were muscular and had builds similar to Taro's Minotaur form although the legs were noticeably longer and more powerful. Fortunately, it seemed like only one of them was carrying any firearms, a wolf that was apparently their alpha male. The others didn't look like they carried any weapons. Half of them broke away from the group and headed straight for the mansion. The rest of them, including the alpha male tried to swarm Ranma and Ceres. The alpha male and two others chose to attack Ranma while the other three went after Ceres.

Ceres was quick to deal with her attackers, using lethal blows that either decapitated them or tore out their hearts. She found herself wishing she had her Halconnen canon with her. It would have ended things much quicker. She had gotten used to using it and secretly loved the feel of blowing up her enemies with it. She could understand why her Master used his guns instead of relying solely on his powers. There was an exhilaration she felt when she used her weapon that was different from just using her powers. Once Ceres killed the last of the werewolves who had attacked her, she glanced over to see how Ranma was holding up. She saw that Ranma was trying to knock them out instead of killing them.

"Ranma, what are you doing!" She shouted at him, "You can't beat them like that! Go for the head or the heart! It's the only way to kill them!"

Ranma managed to send her a shocked lock while he dodged the three werewolves' attacks. He was trying to keep pressure on the wolf he had pegged as the leader in an effort to prevent him from using his guns. "Kill them!" He shouted back at her, disgust in his voice evident, "I don't need to kill them to beat them!"

Ceres blinked at his answer and suddenly remembered how she had been when she first became a vampire. She had had a lot of difficulty with killing the freaks at first and that had been when she knew what they were. Ranma had no idea what these Freaks were so she could understand his hesitation. "Ranma, they're not human anymore! They're just killing machines now! Trust me; killing them is the only way to save them now! It's the only mercy we grant the poor souls!"

"Are you insane!" Ranma shouted back, still dodging, "You make it sound like there's no hope of saving them!"

"Once they've been changed, there's no going back for them!" She told him trying to convince him, "They have no conscious control of themselves! They're worse than animals now, they're just living weapons! The only way to help them is to kill them!"

"No! I refuse to believe that!" Ranma roared back at her. He knew about the Freak chips from hearing Integra's story earlier but he was still uncomfortable with the idea of casually killing something that had once been human. "I won't kill someone just because you think they can't be saved!"

Ceres felt a little hurt at Ranma's words but she understood how he felt. She had been in a similar position herself once. She watched with shock as Ranma suddenly moved so quickly he began to leave behind afterimages and seemed to attack specific areas of the werewolves. He stopped in front of her just as the werewolves abruptly stopped moving and a second later, dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Ranma looked at her angrily, "It's possible to stop someone without killing them. I know that sometimes there's no other way but I swore I would never kill anyone ever again. Not if there was a chance of saving them." He seemed to calm himself down and looked towards the mansion, "C'mon, we better take care of them rest of them before they get inside."

They heard the sound of maniacal laughter ring out over the gunfire coming from mansion. Ceres recognized the sound of her Master's laughter. "Never mind, my Master is already dealing with them." She told him, "They'll be dead before we can get there."

"What! We have to stop him! There's no need to kill them!"

Ceres grabbed his arm as Ranma tried to brush past her. "Ranma, please listen to me." She said to him as he glared at her. "I know how you feel, believe me. I've been though it myself but you don't know these things like we do. If you did, you'd understand. This is how it has to be." She sighed as Ranma still looked angry but at least he didn't try to break free of her grip. "I wish there was another way of helping them but there isn't. We've tried and nothing we've done has worked."

She felt Ranma relax a little but his muscles were still tensed for action beneath her grip, "I just can't believe that there's nothing we can do to help them." He said to her, sadly.

"Well, you can ask Sir Integra more about them." Ceres told him, "She'd be able to explain better than I could."

While the two of them had been talking, the sounds of Alucard's attack on the rest of the Freaks faded away. Ranma turned away from Ceres to see Kasumi and Integra walking towards them with a squad of soldiers surrounding them. He felt Ceres let go of his arm when he relaxed his muscles. He didn't want to upset Kasumi by causing a scene. He was going to get some answers from Integra though. He still felt that there had to be a better way of stopping the Freaks without killing them. He had been trained to protect the weak, not slaughter his opponents. Integra stopped in front of them and looked curiously at the werewolves that Ranma had subdued.

She sighed to herself at the look on Ranma's face. It felt like looking at Ceres again when she first joined Hellsing. He had the same look of apprehension at the idea of killing just as Ceres had. At least he managed to subdue the Freaks unlike Ceres on her first mission. 'I suppose we'll have to make it clear to him that once they've been changed, they're as good as dead.' Integra thought to herself. She was surprised that he had actually managed to subdue them though. She didn't think that was actually possible. While she had been thinking, her troops had surrounded the werewolves with their weapons at the ready and looked questioningly at her. This was the first time they had ever captured live Freaks. They were used to dealing with their remains so they were at a slight loss as what to do with prisoners.

"Good work in dealing with them Ceres." Integra said to her, approvingly, "Ranma, thank you for your help with the attack. Though I see you have something to say about our methods."

It was only Kasumi's presence next to Integra that kept Ranma from losing his temper and saying something he might regret later. He actually liked Integra and hoped to be her friend but that didn't mean he liked her methods. His head could understand it somewhat but his heart still wasn't convinced. "You bet I got something to say about it. I don't like the idea that everyone seems to think that killing them is all we can do for them." He said to her as he tried to keep his voice civil. "There's gotta be something we can do to help them."

"Ranma, I know you feel that they might still be saved but it's too late for them." She told him, trying to explain to him. "Once the chips have been implanted, there's no going back for them. These new Freaks don't even have the self awareness that the first ones did. As long as the chips are inside them, they have no free will of their own and removing the chips will kill them automatically."

"Damn it! Are you saying that these guys were just slaves?" Ranma asked her angrily before thinking of something, "They didn't want to do any of this did they?"

"I doubt it." She told him, letting the sadness she felt into her voice. "I suspect that they're just like all the others that have recently shown up around the world. They're probably men who were taken off the streets and implanted with the new Freak chips." Integra paused as she looked at the werewolves. "Just how did you subdue them? We've tried using elephant tranquillizers before but they had no effect."

"I used pressure points on them. They should be out for a day or so, I hope. If they can shrug off stuff like that, it'll probably work for maybe a few hours in their case."

As if to prove him wrong, a werewolf suddenly lashed out and knocked away a soldier who had gotten too close. The cry of alarm from the troops surprised them all. Ranma turned back in time to see the leader bring himself to a crouch and draw his gun. Time seemed to slow as Ranma saw Alucard descend from the sky from behind the werewolves and impale one of them, a werewolf that had just leapt up into the air, with his arm. Ceres had leapt at the werewolf that had first woken up and literally knocked his block off with a powerful punch. Neither of the two had noticed the leader drawing his gun on Integra except for Ranma and Kasumi.

The two of them acted instinctively. Kasumi, who was closest to Integra, pushed her to the ground before Integra could realize what was going on. Ranma had already leapt towards the two women to do the same which was why the two of them were right in the line of fire of where Integra had just been standing when everyone heard the gunshot. Less than a second later, the leader was killed by the soldiers who opened fire on the werewolf just as the gunshot rang out. Ranma landed on top of Kasumi as time seemed to resume its normal pace for him. He felt a sharp pain from the bullet that had just torn its way through his heart. He propped himself up with one elbow and looked down at Kasumi. He could see blood flowing out of her chest where the bullet had passed through as well.

Ranma felt his blood run cold as he saw Kasumi's wound. "Kas-chan…" He said softly as he saw her beautiful brown eyes gaze at him.

"Ranma…you're hurt…" Kasumi said to him, trying to keep the pain out of her voice as she felt herself go into shock. A part of her was thinking back to all the things she had read in those medical books that she had borrowed from Dr. Tofu. It seemed so different when you were the one experiencing it. "It's getting cold Ranma, we should go inside…"

Ranma could feel his strength beginning to leave him. After everything he'd been through, all the enemies he'd faced, he never thought that it would ever end like this. "Don't worry Kasumi. It's gonna be okay." He lied to her, knowing they were both dying, "We'll be fine…together…I…love…you…" Unable to keep himself up any longer, he slumped over Kasumi, his eyes beginning to close. 'At least we're together…I'm sorry Kasumi, I should've…killed them when I had the chance…now you're gonna die cuz of…my mistake. I'm so sorry…forgive me…'

Integra couldn't believe her eyes. Her 'big sister' and her boyfriend were dying right in front of her eyes. They were dying because they had saved her life. "No…this isn't happening." She whispered under breath. A part of her wanted to cry out in loss and shed tears of remorse. Another part told her she had to show a strong front to those under her command. She looked over at Alucard and then back at the two lovers. She didn't want them to die, she had seen more than her share of death. Her mother, her father, her troops…no more…she didn't want anyone else she cared for to leave her alone. She knew there was no way of saving them but…that didn't mean there wasn't a way to prevent them from being lost to her.

Integra got up from where she had been knocked down and knelt beside Kasumi. She gently lifted Kasumi's head, "Kasumi, Kasumi listen to me." She spoke to her gently. Integra saw Kasumi weakly gaze at her, her eyelids beginning to close. "You don't have to die, Kasumi. You can become a vampire…like me…please don't leave me sister." Integra began to cry as she asked Kasumi, knowing just what she was asking her to do.

Kasumi turned away from Integra and gazed down at where Ranma was lying on her breast. "Ranma…?" She weakly asked Integra.

Alucard knelt down on the other side of Kasumi and picked up Ranma. He cradled Ranma in his arms and looked down at the wounded man. "If he chooses to, the choice must be made of your own free will." He said to Kasumi as he saw that the both of them were still breathing but they didn't have much time left.

Ranma and Kasumi looked at each other as their time began to run out. Ranma managed a weak nod at Alucard. "Yes…"

Kasumi looked back at Integra and gave a weak nod of her own. "I accept…as long…as we're…together, it…doesn't matter…"

As Integra and Alucard bent down to bite them, Kasumi and Ranma shared the same thought.

'As long as we're together…nothing else matters…'

Curtain Call

Arcee: (Sweeping up ashes with a wooden broom) This just isn't fair! Why do I have to do all this!

R-Kives: Because you're the one who summoned an army of ghouls in first place. You missed a spot.

Arcee: Argh! (Throws down her broom) C'mon boss! Have a heart! You killed just as many ghouls as I did! Can't you just...you know? (makes a gesture with her hand) 'poof' all this away?

R-Kives: I could but I'm not going to. This is your punishment so stop complaining and start sweeping. Just be glad I gave you a broom. You could be trying to do this with a toothbrush you know.

Arcee: (Looks around her and sees all the piles of ashes still around) I'll keep the broom...

R-Kives: Right, anyway, the new chapter is done. Took me quite a while though. I think maybe next chapter we can pop down to Nerima and see how everyones doing. After all Nabiki is still there and she's a part of this story too. So everyone, I hope you enjoy the chapter and please review!

Arcee: (Muttering under her breath ) They'd probably enjoy it even more if they could read a new chapter of MMSS after they finished reading this one.

R-Kives: I heard that. I'm still working on it, it's not like I haven't made any progress you know. Anyway, it's time to go. Seeya everyone!