A/N: I recently rewatched Hellsing Ultimate and got inspired, so have this. Next update in a year, maybe sooner.
The new Overboss was a mystery. One that I wasn't sure I wanted to solve. On one hand, I didn't have to worry about Mags, Nisha, and Mason killing me in my sleep 'cuz she wasn't doing what they wanted. On the other, Seras was goddamn terrifying at times. 'At times' meaning pretty much all the time. She almost never used any of her scary abilities, which was surprising considering how open she had been when she murdered Colter. Sure, she still showed off her incredible strength and speed, but the flashier stuff was reserved for tough enemies. She went to work almost immediately, clearing out the other parks for the raider gangs, without even a word from me. In under a day, we had cleared out the Kiddie Kingdom and the Dry Rock Gulch.
Now we were heading to the bottling plant. Seras insisted we go in the back way. "I still don't see why we need to go in through the rear entrance. The front is more than likely just as guarded." I complained as we hiked through shin-deep mud that reeked of Nuka Cola. If it didn't have the consistency of paste, I'd consider taking a drink or two from the shallow stream. We reached the far side of the plant, the lake that we had seen the Mirelurks nesting in coming into view. As I double checked that my rifle was loaded, a loud, horrendous screech sounded from somewhere near the lake. My rifle was up in an instant and aimed at the source of the noise as it rose from the water.
"Perfect," I heard Seras whisper almost inaudibly under her breath, and I figured that she didn't intend on me hearing that. She was staring at the mother of all Mirelurks with a hungry look in her eyes. The same look that I'd seen her fix Colter with just before she'd ripped his heart out. She jumped down from our outcropping and slid down the hill towards the monstrous Mirelurk. The Queen turned to look towards the source of the noise, and upon noticing Seras, bellowed angrily. Faster than I could track, she leapt at the charging Queen, and impacted solidly enough that had she been human, it would have broken every bone in her body.
The Mirelurk Queen reared back while it screeched in pain, suddenly finding Seras' right arm lodged in its neck. A quick glance around told me that the other, smaller Mirelurks weren't content to sit around and let their Queen die. A group of around 15 were making their way to where the two monsters were fighting. I opened up on the nearest one, the bullet impacting harmlessly on its shell. It didn't even flinch as it continued to relentlessly pursue Seras as she darted around the edge of the lake, the Queen in hot pursuit after her. She would be overwhelmed if I didn't do anything. I took aim and fired again, this time clipping the joint on the left arm of one of the Kings. This time, it looked my way, but again, it ignored me and resumed its pursuit of Seras.
"Do not interfere!" I heard Seras shout as she ran past where I was perched. "I can kill them myself, you would only get in the way." Her voice had taken the same two-tone echo it had when she was talking to Colter. Her left arm was now in the form of a gigantic sword, a full head taller than Seras was. I could only stare, dumbstruck, as said sword bisected an armored Mirelurk at the waist. Shadowy tendrils erupted from the sword and latched onto the still wiggling upper half of the Mirelurk. She then threw it at several other 'Lurks that were pursuing her, impacting the leading King with a loud crunch. The Queen roared angrily, protesting the death of her children, and charged with renewed vigor. This was what Seras wanted, it seemed, as she jumped and landed on top of the massive 'Lurk. With a cry of effort, she speared the sword into the shell of the beast.
A wide grin split her features almost immediately, and she bellowed a triumphant, borderline maniacal laugh. The Queen Mirelurk began spasming and collapsed to the ground. Shadowy tendrils erupted from many places on the Queen, lashing out at any nearby Mirelurks. A few moments later, the entire Queen was covered with the tendrils. The part that freaked me out was when the blob of shadow started shrinking, as if it was being sucked into another dimension. Eventually it disappeared entirely, leaving Seras alone in the knee-deep muddy water. The Mirelurks near her stood some distance away, not wanting to get too close to the creature that felled their Queen. A particularly angry King charged at Seras, the grin now having left her face. In the blink of an eye, Seras had the King stabbed in the gut and held aloft over her head. It, like the Queen, began twitching. I didn't know what she was doing with it, but given the pleased look on her face, it wasn't good. At least, not for the Mirelurk. After a moment more she tossed the Mirelurk aside like a piece of discarded trash. The remaining 'Lurks, not wanting to tangle with what they saw as an apex predator, fled into the factory.
"Seems every time we get into a fight I see you do something that scares the shit outta me," I said exasperatedly as I walked over to where the Overboss stood, a look on her face that could only be described as happy.
"Well you shouldn't be scared." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "With the power I gained from that Mirelurk Queen I won't have to feed for a long time." She seemed almost content now. In our earlier interactions she always seemed on edge about something.
"What do you mean 'feed'?" I knew I would regret asking this, but I had to know.
"I ate it." She said with such bluntness that I was flabbergasted. "I consumed its body to fuel my own."
"I'm sorry, I must have wax in my ears, because I coulda sworn I just heard you say that you ate an entire Mirelurk Queen." The look on my face must have amused her because she let out a soft giggle, one that belied the demon I had seen just a couple minutes ago.
Seras nodded once. "That's right. It's something I do to powerful enemies, since I gain more power from that than simply drinking their blood." So she did eat it. Well, now I could officially say with certainty that if she ever decided that she didn't like Nuka World any more, she could, and likely would, slaughter us to the last. She turned and started for the door that lead to the Nuka Factory.
"So, if you can do that, then why stick around here?" I asked as we entered the massive, sugary smelling complex.
She turned back and looked at me with an expression that could almost pass for human, if she didn't have eyes that glowed like the fires of Hell. "I haven't been to an amusement park since I was a little girl, and I haven't been a little girl for quite some time now. It's nice to just relax and almost pretend like the world hadn't been blown to pieces." Well, damn. When she puts it that was it almost seems like a good idea.
"Were you uh, alive before the war?" I asked as she smashed a clutch of eggs, sending the viscous fluid everywhere.
"For about nineteen years, yes. I was born in the year 1980." She paused, and then turned to look at me. "You seem pretty studious, for a raider. Tell me, have you read many works of fiction?" Blindsided by the sudden question, I tripped over a half-buried skeleton. I felt a hand grip the rear of my metal harness and hoist me back to a standing position.
"Uh, can't say I have. Most of the books that I read were on pre-war America and ancient world history." I grabbed a lukewarm Nuka from a nearby shelf and twisted the cap off. "Why d'you ask?" The cola was intensely sweet, bordering on sour. Evidently this one was nearing its expiration date.
"Well, to put it simply, I was turned by the most powerful vampire on Earth." Her short explanation had an almost melancholy tone to it.
"Holy shit, you mean to tell me there's more than one o' you walkin' around?" I had nearly dropped my Cola in shock. There was someone stronger than this monster that just ate a Mirelurk Queen like it was a pack of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes?
To my relief, she shook her head. "No, he disappeared about a year after he turned me. Never to return." Seras was definitely sad now. It seemed that she cared a great deal for this vamp that turned her. It took us (her) about fifteen more minutes to scrub the place clean of its Mirelurk inhabitants, after which we exited the front way. There was a raider approaching us, someone I recognized as belonging to the Pack.
"Overboss! There's someone coming through the Gauntlet." He said breathlessly as he finally made it to us.
"And?" From the way she drew out the word, I could tell that Seras didn't like the Pack very much.
"You're the Overboss! You have to fight 'em." The Pack member was either extremely ignorant, or suicidal. Probably a little of both.
"Let me tell you something; I don't have to do anything." She said shortly, in a way that made you want to piss your pants. From the look on the Pack member's face, he was a few seconds away from doing just that.
"S-sorry, Overboss ma'am. I'll l-let them know that you're-" He stuttered, fear overriding his previous bravado.
"No. I will see what this 'vic' as you so call them, has to offer." Seras said with a tone of finality that made me feel sorry for whoever managed to stumble into the Gauntlet.