Tragedy struck in Gehenna, when several residents were found dead in London outside the wall. They were all killed in a similar fashion with a slash to the neck and perhaps a few stab wounds. They were found somewhat nearby, so HELLSING began patrolling the area on a regular basis. They did so with the ear pieces in their ears, filtering any sound before it reached their ears so that Skullface's powers wouldn't effect them. Unfortunately, as noted with White's fight with him, a good hit to the side of the head on the ear would hurt, tempting the wearer to dig them out. It was something that each and every solder on patrol had to be wary of.

Yet, with most patrols, they were set on a regular schedule. Once a pattern was recognised, it made it possible to get through. That is exactly what Kyle Brykle was tasked with doing next. In a matter of days, Skullface had a route and a timesheet ready for his use. He knew that his bank heist schemes were failing because of those same soldiers. Kyle had been of much use to him and proved to be a valuable resource. He didn't even have to use his abilities on him! How amusing.

Next came a rather bold move. He would explore this area further and discover why there was such a high concentration of supernatural beings there. With the soldiers present, it was important that he came along as well in order to "deescalate" confrontation if necessary. He figured that supernaturals were hiding out in the abandoned buildings that were rife in the area. Thus, with a few flunkies, they started up the van and he put on his mask before heading out.

He sat in the back where there were no windows with two other men. They wore cheep plastic masks with the right eye hole covered, while another man sat up front with the driver while wearing an eyepatch. The man up front was scanning the area for supernatural beings in disguise with his supernatural sight, given to him by the Belmont organisation. In the very, very back of the van sat a mysterious chest that one would really rather not look inside.

"So we're clear on everything: We're going to try and see where all these monsters are coming from. Then we'll gauge whether or not we should take care of it now or come back with help. Everybody on the same page?" Skullface said, earning a positive response from the others. Looking toward the man in the front passenger seat, he asked: "See anything yet?"

"No, sir." the man up front stated. "Clairvoyance is picking up something faint, however. That way." he pointed.

"Is that route clear about now?"

Looking down, one of the other men in the backseat looked down at the piece of paper. "What street is this?"

"'Shady' something." answered the man up front. After a moment, the masked man with the time sheet gave a thumbs up.

"It should be clear." he said, prompting the driver to turn. "A little up ahead is a place that is heavily guarded, though."

"That's probably it, then." Skullface stated. "Keep going. Let's test our luck a little. Keep an injection handy in case we need one."

"Yes, boss."

The van very slowly coasted through the maze of abandoned complexes, not knowing that they've already been spotted. You see, Kyle was unwittingly spotted as well. He just wasn't enough of a threat to act on. Now this van? That was a different story. Above them in several of the abandoned buildings sat soldiers on the lookout in little, lonesome stations with only one man sitting at them. Putting down his lunch, one of them picked up his radio and sent out a message.

"This is aerial point D reporting a white, windowless van down Shady Grove en route to the East Guard Post." he informed. "Number of occupants is undiscernable from my current location."

"Understood. Team Delta, go check it out." answered a voice on the other end, followed by a "roger that" from Team Delta.

Very shortly after, the team of soldiers moved into position, attempting to intercept the van. One stepped out with his gun in one hand, holding up the other to signal for the van to stop. Only when he did, he saw into the van. Despite the fact that there were no windows, he could see masked men in the back of the car. One of them was wearing one that looked like a skull.

"Code: White! I repeat! Code: White!" he shouted into his walkie-talkie. Hearing him, his team moved in behind him, guns drawn. They managed to poke a few holes into the vehicle before the driver pressed the pedal to the floor and sped off, leaving large tire marks on the pavement.

"Look alive, everybody! We've been spotted!" barked Skullface, grinning underneath his mask. They continued to speed along the road while other agents fired at them from above when they passed and converged on their location. The group swerved around corners as they narrowly avoided their attackers. In the distance, they could hear music as they grew closer to Gehenna.

The HELLSING agents took their que when Code: "White" was declared, abandoning the booth outside the fence and closing it off indefinitely until someone from headquarters remotely returned the system back to normal. Although they had the earpieces in, the gaurds could not open the gate themselves once this was enacted as a safety precaution should the pieces fail or if they were beaten into submission. The music was loud. Very loud. It was loud so that none of the residents would be able to hear any of Skullface's orders, either. Shouting wouldn't do him any good.

"What's that noise?" the boss of Belmont asked in his gruff voice. "Sounds like music… What is that?"

"I don't know, boss." said the man in the front seat. That's where clarvoyance is leading me, though."

"That's where they are then." Skullface laughed. "They're trying to make sure I can't control anybody! Clever!" He practically cackled manically as the car continued to speed up.

"Alright! Here's what we're gonna do: Keep driving. We're gonna retreat for now."

As they drove past the source of the music, it started to fade and was replaced with the sound of approaching vehicles. Two trucks started tailing the van at high speeds before one of them finally opened fire. Skullface and the man on his left ducked immediately, narrowly escaping being hit by the bullets coming through the glass windows on the very back doors and through the body of the can. The man on his right, however, wasn't so lucky. He was struck in the head and slumped over dead in his seat. The contents of the inside of his cranium splattered into the front seats, further blocking the view of the driver alongside massive shattered spot in the windshield where the bullet exited.

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" shouted the driver with one hand on the wheel. With the other, he desperately tried to punch out the screen so he could see.

"Either of you wanna play with 'em?" asked Skullface to his two remaining flunkies. After a moment, the guy on the front passenger seat unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Yeah, sure." he said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a sryinge and fiddled with it for a moment. With his thumb on the plunger, he stabbed the needle into his leg and pressed down on it, grunting before uttering a low growl. Then, he threw the needle and his cigarette out the window before turning around to face his compatriots.

"Want me to throw him out?" he questioned, indicating to the body in the backseat with eyes dilated and veins protruding from his forehead.

"Yeah." Skullface answered, leaning over to unfasten their fallen comrade's seatbelt and hoist him toward the front.

The passenger in the front seat then swung open his door and tossed the body out, only for it to fall under the wheel of one of the trucks behind him. While he made a decent speedbump, it really didn't do much but shock the soldiers a bit. Then, the offending Belmont operative reached under his own seat and pulled out a rather large magnum revolver. More likely than not, it was aquired through dubious means, but that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that the passenger took it out, loaded it, swung open the door again, and leapt out onto the street.

He rolled a bit, but then he stood up and began firing at the soldiers. Bullets bounced off the armour plating of the vehicles and the trucks showed no signs of slowing down or stopping. So, the Belmont agent jumped as high as he could, landing on the front of one of the trucks and landing on the hood. His eyes were wide and he bared his teeth, blissfully unaware of the fact that his ribs were cracked from the impact. The adrenochrome had eliminated his ability to feel pain, so it was impossible for him to know if his body was damaged.

When a soldier opened the hatch on the roof of the truck and stood up to shoot the man, he raised his own gun and pulled the trigger. The world seemed slower to the Belmont agent now, so aiming in the narrow window of time he was given was not a problem. A bullet went straight through the soldier's stomach and out through his back, causing him to fall back down. One of the other trucks pulled alongside this one and a door opened. The agent was able to fire one shot at the soldiers, but missed, so he was shot in the arm and the side as he ducked his head down.

With a roar, he aimed his gun again and fired until the hammer clicked. He needed both hands to reload, but needed at least one to stay on the hood of the truck. Looking down, he saw that he had a bigger problem. He was starting to paint the hood of the truck with his own blood. It wasn't a trickle, either. He was bleeding out and his increased heartrate wasn't doing him any favours.

"Fuck..." he cursed, furrowing his brow. He knew how this was going to end for him. All he could do was accept it. With that, his frown turned into a smile as he looked back over his shoulder at the van.

"Fine." he said, putting his gun between his teeth. With both hands on the truck, he tried to stand, holding on as tightly as he could while the driver tried their best to shake him off and while he was being riddled with bullet holes from the other truck. Staring at the two guns coming at him from the side, he reached for his own weapon again. Now, he tensed his damaged muscles and leapt like no normal human being could. He aimed himself right at his attackers, wincing slightly as his ear was blown off.

"For the cause!" he roared. While still in the air, he raised his arm with the gun in his hand in order to bring the butt of the weapon down over one of the soldiers' heads.

He missed.

He landed on his feet on the pavement between the cars, but because he was moving, he fell and cracked his skull on the hard ground. Blood poured from his head, staining the concrete, and the road rash from having scraped against its rough surface would definitely scar. Yet, he was still alive. Before he could even attempt to get up, however, the wheels of the third truck lingering behind the first two found him, killing him instantly. It happened so fast that the driver didn't have time to swerve. Unfortunately, despite his increased strength, agility, and lack of pain, the Belmont agent was still only human.

Skullface was able to relax a little for a moment, as his underling did manage to slow down his pursuers, at least slightly. His own vehicle sped up and made it into London, only to face yet another obstacle. Now, it was difficult for three armoured cars to tail a van through a bustling metropolis, so HELLSING broke out the big guns. Music no longer reached Skullface's ears and was replaced by the sound of a helicopter overhead.

"Fuuuuuuccckkk!" growled Skullface. Unbuckling his own seatbelt, he leaned forward to the driver and said: "See that bridge over there? Get down there and drive underneath it. When you do, slow down. Once you've passed, keep driving until you run out of gas."

"That's the plan?!" asked the driver. "How is that supposed to save us!?"

"Don't worry about it." reassured the boss. Turning around, he reached into the back of the van and opened the latch on the trunk. He opened it and took off his mask, revealing his face. Under his breath, he added: "I'll be fine..."


A/N: WHAT'S IN THE BOOOOOOX?!

You'll see. Eventually. Probably next time.

Thanks for all of your comments. They're really helpful. A few of you said "yeah, you could pick up the pace" while others were like "It's fine, don't worry about it." So what I'm getting from that is somewhere in between. We have been learning new things in the past few chapters, but there's not a lot of action. We are doing things, but it doesn't seem like the story is progressing? Is that the feeling y'all are getting? I'll do my best~!

I finally got the resolve to do this bit as a result, actually! I wanted to make sure that everybody was following along and that it doesn't feel like we rushed into shit happening right away. There's a balance to it, and each arc I have to try and figure it out. Woes of a writer, amirite?

Thanks again, you guys!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!