"So this is how it all ends. . . ." It was not a question, it was far too late in the game to debate the outcome, and Una knew it.
"Is that sadness or nostalgia I hear in your voice?" I asked, causing my lieutenant of over six hundred years to turn to face me. She was lovely, as all our kind inevitably were. Short black hair framed a heart shaped face whose delicate features and almond shaped green eyes were twisted into a frown. Her hourglass body standing with a cocked hip as her arms crossed over her bountiful chest.
"Neither," She stated, her eyes flashing. "it is frustration." Una gestured at the scene before us. "An entire world destroyed out of petty spite, and they have the nerve to call us monsters?" She asked, and I could hear the venom in her voice.
Honestly it was quite hard to disagree, given the sight before us. We stood on a rocky cliff jutting out from atop a small mountain who's name I had never bothered to memorize. Surrounded by large swaying pine and oak trees who's leaves and needles appeared almost black in the fading light. A short way through the trees was a sheer wall of granite, broken only by the mouth of a cave.
We were all but invisible amid the gathering twilight, as below us the mountain sloped downward at a steep angle, before abruptly ending at the shore of a winding river. Beyond the river's opposite bank the land flattened out, into what had formerly been a vast forest that had reached for countless miles. It was here. . . that the end of the world played out before us.
The trees were long gone, destroyed by fire, and near constant bombings, artillery strikes, and missile barrages. Hover tanks, and various APC's traded fire with one another, the coming night occasionally disrupted by massive pillars of flame as the vehicles of one side or another exploded. Soldiers in their hundreds of thousands moved forward with the vehicles, sending blue white plasma blasts, red and green laser pulses, phosphor white tracer fire, and the occasional shoulder launched missile into each other, and the various tracked, wheeled, and hovering, machines. Even miles from the battle, the screams of the dead and dying and the cacophony of weapons fire, were easy to hear.
"We should have done something!" Una seethed, and I was surprised to hear a faint note of sorrow in her voice. I sighed in mild exasperation.
"And what would you have had us do exactly? Organize a cabal of our fellows to rule humanity from the shadows? Such things are only ever realistic to conspiracy theorists, and others who's capacity for self delusion exceeds their common sense." I shook my head. "Humanity has ever been on the road to self annihilation, and it was inevitable that one day they would succeed. Even if we took enough of a direct hand in things to delay this inevitability, it would still be only that, a delay. In the end, what you see before you now is mankind's inescapable destiny." Una turned to glare at me.
"Does none of this move you? Is all this simply another number in your grand calculus? Have you truly lost all connection to your humanity?" I shook my head again.
"My design will preserve sentient life in some form, though even I am uncertain what that form will be. And I feel certain humanity will not die out as completely as you think. They are surprisingly resilient." I turned to stare at the cave mouth that led to the culmination of my efforts to prepare for this day, turning my back on the battle as I continued. "I am not so divorced from humanity that I have no regrets, but after slightly over a thousand years of existence, I have grown largely numb to the atrocities of men. I am more interested as to why you have refused to join myself and the others?" Una sighed, and I glanced upward briefly to acknowledge the roar of ICBM rocket engines. As the final nail in the coffin of what was soon to be the old world, was put in place. Time was running out, but I paused to hear Una's explanation. The least I could do was listen to her final words.
"You are aware, that when I was younger I had a human lover?" She asked, and I nodded.
"I am." I replied, turning back to gaze at her. She sighed.
"They say you, as the progenitor of our kind, have never truly loved. Even as a mortal they say your only love was of conquest, battle, and power." I nodded, it was not an inaccurate description of me, though it was fairer to say I never had genuinely tried to find love. Love was simply unnecessary to my plans and designs. I had taken many a woman to bed, but never had I loved them. . . not romantically anyway.
"A fair statement I suppose." I responded. Una turned to look at me in what seemed to be sympathy.
"Then I doubt you would understand my reason for staying. The man I loved was a part of this world you would so casually abandon. All that brings me joy is in this world. . . if it must end, then I wish to go with it." I shook my head.
"You are correct my dear, I do not understand. Nor have I any wish to. I am a man of the future, not the past, and in the new world I shall do as I have always done. I will carve out a kingdom, and I will rule it until such time as I grow weary of doing so. I will make my name known, and I will be a symbol of all that mortals should fear and respect. I will exist as I desire to exist, and crush all that stands in my way." Turning I headed swiftly for the cave, ignoring the almost imperceptible pang of regret at Una's coming death. I also pretended I didn't hear her last words to me.
"I pity you. . . Lord Dracula, for you have never truly lived."
Heading to the back of the cave I awakened the hidden elevator that would see me to the carefully prepared stasis chamber where I would await the rebirth of the world. It was one tomb of many that I had designed to shield my kind from the ravages of the war that, even now, was ending the world of men. Mine, of course, was hidden from my fellows, as I had not gotten this far by being overly trusting. Una was the only one who knew its location, and even she had not found out till recently. I had hoped she would join me, but in the end she chose a different path. Entering into the elevator I got one last glimpse of her. Standing with her back to me, back-lit by the explosions and flares beyond. A part of me wanted to wish her luck, but I ignored it. Luck was a delusion, the strong made their own luck.
The door closed and I began my journey down into the earth. It was a long trip, and took nearly seven minutes to reach the bottom of the mile and a half deep shaft. When it opened I headed to the nanosteel coffin that would be my home for the next ten thousand years, bearing my family crest atop it. Next to it was the one I had intended for Una, forever to remain unfilled. Wasting no time, I climbed into my place of millennial repose, and started up the life support systems that would keep me fed and stable while I slept. As the heavy lid of nanosteel slid into place and I closed my eyes, I wondered what the world would become in the next ten millennia. . . .
I awoke, what seemed like scant moments later, to a red hard-light screen blaring angrily that power and life support was nearly depleted. Raising my hand I pressed the icon to open the casket with what little power remained. It opened with a hiss, and I felt the stale air flood the coffin, reeking of dust and neglect. As soon as the lid was out of my way, I wasted no time in rising. A faint stiffness afflicted my arms and legs, and I flexed my limbs attempting to work out the kinks of my ten thousand year slumber. A moment later I headed for the elevator, where I was informed that the shaft had collapsed some time ago. However this likelihood had already been foreseen. Moving to a nearby computer console, I ordered the opening of the backup exits, a multitude of small vents leading to different points of the mountain. Closing my eyes I felt the air shift ever so slightly and smiled.
With but a thought, my body exploded into a cloud of living smoke. For a time I reveled in the sensation of weightlessness, and moving with the power of thought alone, as I raced up one of the vents. Exploding out of the well hidden, now ancient, mouth of the miles long flue. Hovering in place I focused, sending invisible tendrils of my consciousness out in every direction, seeking any sign of civilization. . . it didn't take long.
I soon sensed a large group of sentient lifeforms gathered together near the sea, a few miles distant. Streaking in that direction I now refined my search, seeking someone isolated whom I could question without interruption. Again I was fortunate, as I sensed a single individual, far from what I now saw was a small village. It was a female, even better she seemed to be quite sad about something, which meant she would be mentally vulnerable. Honing in on her I reformed just outside of her visual range, and listened intently.
"JERK!" She snarled, though I could hear a fair amount of barely restrained sadness in her voice. "I slaved all day to make a perfect lunch for that ungrateful hedgehog, and he just skips out on it to go play some stupid sport with Knuckles!" I raised an eyebrow at that, did she really just say 'Hedgehog'? "I worked so hard. . . and he didn't even. . ." Here whoever she was, broke down into sobbing. . . perfect. Moving closer silently, I got my first good look at the crying girl.
I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I got. There, sitting on a fallen tree in a small clearing. Was what I could only call a bipedal, pink, anthropomorphic hedgehog, wearing a red dress. She was about four and a half feet tall, and in the long pink quills that answered for her hair, she had a red hairband. She was also, quite lovely, in an exotic way. Her body had a pleasing hourglass shape, was athletically toned, and had a decently proportioned chest that fit her perfectly. Unfortunately her face was buried in her hands, so I was unable to see her features completely, but what little I could see looked pleasant enough.
A vulnerable girl, hurt by a callous male and looking for a shoulder to cry on. I smiled, this was going to be easy. I walked forward, putting on my very best, concerned stranger, act.
"Excuse me miss, are you-" Whoever this strange girl was, her reaction was not what I was expecting. Pulling what looked like a large toy mallet seemingly from thin air, she swung it at me with inhuman speed. It was then that I saw her eyes, they were filled with a blazing fire that sent a strange shiver of delight through my body. Those bright green orbs were filled with dozens of subtle emotions, but most prominent among them were, rage, sorrow, and a hint of madness that thrilled me in a way I hadn't felt in ages. Dodging the mallet with ease, I held up my hands to show I was unarmed.
"Who are you?!" She demanded, and I again felt a thrill as she glared at me, there was such a fury in those eyes, it held me spellbound for an instant. I gave a gentle smile as I replied.
"Apologies miss, but I heard a young woman crying and I was concerned you might be in distress." Here I chuckled, as I noticed her lower her guard slightly. "However, now I can see my worry was unwarranted. That strike was quite impressive." I wasn't even lying, she handled the heavy weapon with the ease and finesse of an experienced warrior. Her swing having transitioned into a guard position with a smoothness no novice could ever manage. Granted, she was nowhere close to my level, but for a mortal she was quite good.
"Oh. . . uh, thank you." She replied awkwardly, lowering her guard completely. Normally I would call someone who abandoned their defenses so easily naive, but here, odd though it was for me, I found it rather endearing. "I'm sorry I thought you were someone else." Here I softened my expression, hoping to put her even further at ease.
"Oh? Forgive me I'm not from around here, do you know many humans?" The girl shook her head.
"No, just one, unfortunately." She stated, sounding annoyed, before glancing back at me with a frightened expression, clearly worried she had offended me. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to imply-" I forestalled her with an upraised hand.
"Quite all right, I take it this other human made a poor impression?" She nodded, and I grinned inwardly, glad that she was getting into the conversation, and at the information she was revealing.
"His name is Eggman, and he keeps trying to take over the world." I struggled not to laugh as I continued speaking.
"Goodness, that's abhorrent!" I declared, feigning shock and anger. Amy shrugged.
"Honestly, it's more annoying than anything. Eggman's not exactly good at it." Again playing up the chivalrous noble angle, I replied with concern and faint indignation.
"Still, to think one of my fellow humans would treat others in such a manner! You have my deepest apologies." I declared, and was pleased to no end when the girl looked at me with eyes that were filled with both surprise and embarrassment.
"Oh! You don't have to apologize, Mr. . ." She trailed off and I smiled.
"Alucard." I replied, deciding to make use of my oldest pseudonym. However, upon speaking the name, the girl gave me a strange look.
"Alucard. . . I've heard that name before. . ." Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait. . . Alucard, A-L-U-C-A-R-D, that's another name for. . ." I frowned, I had so been hoping I wouldn't need to kill this girl, but now I may have no choice. Clearly my legend had survived the destruction of the old world. . . as had my one time favorite method of disguising my identity. However, instead of screaming or grabbing for her weapon, the girl shook her head and laughed. "You know if you're going to use a fake name to impress girls. You may want to pick one that's a little less dated." That most assuredly stung my pride, but it was made up for nicely by her next comment. "Besides, what's a handsome guy like you need with a fake name anyway?" I smirked. I had always taken great pride in how I looked, but it boosted my ego nicely to know that I could not only still appeal to women, but that I could appeal to women of an entirely different race and time period.
Granted, I could no longer see myself in conventional mirrors, but my appearance was still known to me. I was about six feet five inches tall, with long strait black hair. I was clean shaven and had noble aquiline features, and pale skin. My eyes were a deep brown, almost black, and my apparent age was frozen at around mid-twenties. Deciding to play off her apparent dismissal of my name, I laughed.
"Ah, if I only had a coin for every time this happened." I said with a smile. "You see, my name actually is Alucard. My parents had a rather strange sense of humor, and loved Gothic horror. So they decided it would be fun to name their son with the pseudonym of the character Dracula. The fact I bare a superficial resemblance to the character, and am something of a night owl, has not helped either." I explained with a self deprecating smile. The girl laughed again and I had to admit, the sound was quite pleasing.
"Wow, and I thought my life was strange." She remarked, before holding out her hand. "I'm Amy, Amy Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Alucard." I smiled, taking her hand and placing a feather light kiss on the back.
"The pleasure is all mine my dear." I replied with the obviously fake accent mortals associate with me. Looking up with a smile and a wink so as to assure her I was joking. Amy laughed, and gave me a smirk, mischief dancing in her eyes.
"You gonna bite my neck now?" She asked playfully. I gave a devilish grin, little did this girl know how tempting that proposition was. However, first there were more important matters to attend too.
"Perhaps later, for now. . ." Here I looked straight into the girl's eyes, sending my consciousness gently into her mind, and making her more receptive to me. I could have just overwhelmed her with my power and torn the information from her brain, but I abstained. Something about this girl intrigued me, and I wanted her mind to remain intact. "Tell me everything there is to know about your village, the surrounding area, the world at large, and this Eggman individual."
In the deadpan monotone of an entranced mind, Amy began to relate to me the information I required. It was quite interesting how drastically the world had changed. Now instead of 'Earth' the planet was known as 'Mobius'. There were countries run by the strange anthropomorphs, of whom there were endless varieties, but the village was not part of any of them. Amy herself was a member of a team of heroes lead by an individual named 'Sonic' who she had something of a crush on. It took hours, but by the time the sun started to go down, I had everything I needed. Breaking the hypnotic link with a thought, I created in Amy's mind a memory of a pleasant afternoon talking with me, and picked up the act from there.
"My goodness is the sun setting already?!" I asked, in perfectly feigned surprise. "How time flies when you're having fun." I remarked with a chuckle. Amy seemed confused for an instant but then nodded.
"Yeah, I had a lot of fun talking with you Alucard." She said with a smile, and I was mildly surprised to see a faint blush adorning her features. I returned her smile, and decided to try pushing my luck a bit.
"Would you mind if we met again, say. . . tomorrow evening?" I asked, sounding as casual as possible. Instantly Amy nodded, her smile growing wider.
"You bet! Come by my house and I'll fix us something to eat, then we can watch a movie." I smiled, in a manner that had been know to make even the most conservative women into putty.
"You're certain Sonic wouldn't mind?" I asked nonchalantly. "I wouldn't want to overstep." As predicted, Amy's expression soured for an instant before becoming a smirk.
"Sonic isn't the boss of me, if he doesn't like who I spend time with that's his problem." She declared. "My place, at six in the evening, don't be late." She stated, and I felt myself burn with delight at the confidence in her voice. I smiled and bowed.
"Till tomorrow then." I stated with a smile, before turning to head back into the forest. As soon as I was certain I was out of sight I once more discorporated into smoke. Interacting with an interesting woman always gave me a powerful thirst, it was time to hunt. . . .
Hurtling through the trees, it didn't take me long to find a target. It appeared to be a member of a nearby tribe calling themselves the 'Gogobas'. Based on what I had learned from Amy, they were little more than parasites, preying on the goodwill of others. This one appeared young, not much older than a child, and I pulled him into the air with barely any effort. Moving at top speed I deposited him atop a large plateau far from prying eyes.
Reforming with my back to him I was surprised that he didn't seem to be all that frightened. . . that would need to change.
"Oh hey, I can see everything from up here, that makes up nicely for the long climb down a sheer-" His voice was as appallingly irritating as I had imagined, and I felt no regret whatsoever at interrupting.
"No need to worry about the climb down. . ." I declared as I turned around, revealing some of my true form to him. Delighting in the way his eyes widened and his voice failed him, as he stumbled backward. Advancing on him, I smiled, revealing my fully extended fangs, and he fell onto his rear paralyzed with primal terror. Moving too fast for the eye to see, I grabbed the boy by the throat and hoisted him to eye level. "in fact. . . no need to worry about anything, ever again." So saying I bit deep into the child's throat, tearing it out in a spray of crimson. As the boy gurgled out the last breath he would ever take, I tilted his body to let the delicious red nectar pour into my open mouth. My eyes rolled back into my head as I lost myself to the delightful sweetness of such a tender morsel.
As the flow lessened slightly, I tore what remained of the brat's head off and cast it aside, squeezing all I could from his lifeless twitching husk. However, all too soon, the flow ended completely, and I dropped the small body to the ground, licking my lips in delight. Focusing my thoughts, a swarm of rats seemed to melt out of the shadows to begin feasting on the boy's remains, by dawn, nothing would be left save the memory. Idly, I wondered if the boy's mother might come looking for him, but dismissed the thought. Even if she did, it would by unwise to arouse suspicion by taking her as well. A child wandering off was far less suspicious than a child and mother disappearing into the night. So reluctantly, I headed back to my mountain to feed on a few cryo stored blood packs, and decide what I ultimately wanted to do with Amy Rose. . . .