A/N: I know that I said I'd put this on hiatus, but now I have watched the OVAs and I'm inspired to finish this story, which will be my only Hellsing story in my canon.
Chapter IV: Attack on London
While the other members of the war cabinet were conversing over how to handle the situation now that Alucard had disposed of Rip van Winkle, I sat alone in a corner of the war room, still trying to wrap my brain around the entire situation at hand. Not only was there and army of artificial vampire Nazis about to invade London at any given moment, but I had just witnessed the terrifying power of a true vampire firsthand. Even though I knew that Hellsing have been said to have been dealing with these kinds of creatures since its foundation, I had not actually expected these creatures to actually exist, much less meet not only one, but several of them in one day alone.
While observing the scene, Walter noticed my blank expression, and walked up to me.
"Is everything all right, master Belpois?" he asked.
"Huh?" I looked at Walter. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay."
"Your eyes seem a bit distant," he said. "Perhaps all of this vampire business going on here is a bit of a shock to you?"
"This is a bit unnerving," I nodded, "but I'll have you know I've been through worse than this many times before in my life."
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe for one as young as yourself, even with your given backstory."
"You'd be surprised, Walter," I chuckled to myself. "The wars I fought the fiercest were neither on the physical battlefield nor on the mental."
"Really?" Walter smirked. "That sounds most intriguing. Perhaps you could relate your story to us once this business is sorted out."
"Perhaps I shall," I smiled, getting up. "So what's been happening while my mind's been away?"
"Nothing yet, as of now," he replied. "We've been trying to reach the other agencies and warn them about the current situation, but they don't seem to respond yet."
As soon as he said this, I felt a rumbling from my waist. Realizing that this was my cell phone, I opened the clip pouch on my belt and took my phone out. Smiling at the caller ID, I answered the call.
"Hey, Aelita," I said, "how's everything back home?"
"Slow and quiet without you," my girlfriend replied from the other line. "How goes your, eh, business trip?"
"Way different than I had ever imagined," I replied. "There's a definite connection between the Black Cobras and this 'Millennium' that I've heard about."
"So what is Millennium, Jeremy?" Aelita asked.
"Well it's…" I began, but soon I heard a loud crackling noise. "Aelita? What's going on? Are you breaking up?"
Just then, a loud series of beeps from the other line. I jerked the phone away from my ear and clutched my ear, wincing. I gasped when noticed the phone had a new image on it: a Nazi Swastika. As I noticed this, I saw the screens on the war room monitors turn bright red, and a string of alert noises began beeping rapidly. There were also numerous alert windows which read, "CNT LOST" all across England.
"Good Lord," I could hear the men gasp with fright and panic. "This can't be happening!"
"Sir Penwood!" one of the men shouted, "our communication feed with the SIS and the RAF has just been cut off!"
"It's what?" Penwood gasped, turning around.
"We've also lost contact with London BTN Control!" another communications controller added. "Civilian communication networks across the city are apparently also offline!"
"That explains how my call with Aelita got dropped so suddenly," I said to myself.
"There's no response from the Atlantic Fleet or from Fleet Command," a third man said.
"We've had no word from Defense Intelligence Headquarters," another said. "All lines are down!"
"Sir, we've received civilian reports of a fleet of dirigibles moving north over Newhaven!" a fifth said. "They're on a direct course for London!"
"A fleet of airships?" Penwood gasped. "Impossible! They can't be trying to declare war on us!"
"We're past that," Integra said after a long silence.
"Sir Integra?" Penwood looked at the Hellsing commander with shock.
"The enemy," Integra declared, "is at the gate."
None of the men, or even I, could move at this declaration. We had only thought that the enemy was just now coming. But to know that they were now here, none of us were prepared.
"It's happening," I said to myself. "All Hell is about to break loose."
While I pondered over this new mess in London, Aelita and the others back home in France were wondering what I was getting myself into. Aelita, who was in her old bedroom at the Hermitage, kept staring at her phone after our call had been dropped. Thinking that something was terribly amiss, she tried dialing my number again and again, but to no avail. She sat down on her new bed, trying to think this over without panicking. Yumi, who was helping her and her family spruce the place up, turned to Aelita and, noticing her worried look, sat down next to her on her new bed.
"What's wrong, Aelita?" she asked.
"It's Jeremy," she replied."I tried calling him to see if he was okay. He sounded good at first, but then the call just dropped."
"Did you try calling him again?" Yumi asked.
"At least five times," she nodded, "but every time it says that either his phone is out of range or the number has been disconnected."
"Well, you know one of them can't be true," Yumi said, smiling. "He'd never disconnect his number in the middle of a call from you."
Aelita blushed a bit, but smiled. "Well, that's true. But his military cell phone is supposed to get satellite service so he won't have to worry about range or service."
"You called him on his military phone and it dropped?" Yumi said, her eyes widening. "But that thing's supposed to have global Wi-Fi! How could your call have been dropped?"
"What's going on in here?" an elderly voice called out.
The two turned to see Aelita's parents, Waldo and Anthea Schaeffer, standing in the doorway.
"Aelita called Jeremy's army phone and the call dropped suddenly," Yumi replied.
"That doesn't sound good," Anthea said, looking just as worried as her daughter.
"It keeps saying that the number's out of service or that it's been disconnected," Aelita added.
"But that's not supposed to happen with those phones," Waldo said, rubbing his chin. "There's something that isn't right here, and I don't like it."
Just then, Ulrich, Odd, and William burst into the room. They were panting heavily and each of them looked like they had just seen a ghost.
"What's the matter, guys?" Aelita gasped. "What's wrong?"
"There's… in the sky…" Odd gasped.
"It's… just like… last summer," William added, his chest heaving up and down.
"What are you talking about?" Yumi said. "Sit down, calm down, and tell us what's happening!"
"Sorry," Ulrich panted, and the three Lyoko Warriors sat down and took a deep breath. "You all need to take a good look at the skies."
"How come?" Aelita asked.
"Look outside and you'll find out!" Odd shouted. "It's like World War II all over again!"
"What!?" Waldo gasped. "What do you mean?"
"Take a look over there," William said, and pointed out the window.
The Schaeffer family, along with the other four Lyoko Warriors, looked outside. The tall trees had been cleared from the land, allowing a clear view of the lighted city ahead and the evening sky above. It was when they all looked up that their eyes grew wide with terror.
A massive airship, flanked by two smaller airships, was flying several thousand kilometers away from them, but they could still tell of their enormous size and altitude from the fact that they were amongst the clouds. The two small airships were a dull gray, but the lead airship sported a bright red and black checkerboard pattern. By the time they had noticed them, the airships grew rapidly smaller and faded away into the horizon towards England.
"What in the hell were those things?" Yumi gasped.
"They looked just like the zeppelins that the Cobras used," Aelita said.
"And those were based off of German airship forms from the days of the Third Reich," Ulrich added.
"Uh, did anyone else notice the fact that those ships were heading straight towards England?" Odd said.
"Wait, did you say England?" Aelita gasped. "That's where Jeremy is! He could be in trouble!"
"We need to calm down first and think of a plan," Waldo said, "then we can worry about taking action."
"What plan is there to make?" Aelita turned to her father. "We have to go to England and help Jeremy! I've got a bad feeling about this, and this is worse than any feeling I've felt."
"Well, at least let us come with you!" her father protested. "You could be in danger if you go there as well!"
"And if I don't," Aelita shot back, "then something much worse could happen to Jeremy!"
"I have faith in her," Anthea said. "You go to Jeremy, and if there is a battle to be fought, then you must help him in that battle."
"Thanks, mom," Aelita smiled, and then went into her room.
She went into her dresser, opened a secret drawer, and took out an intricate mechanical belt with the Eye of Lyoko on the buckle. She also took out a wristband with a device like an iPod touch nano on it, and strapped it onto her left wrist. With that, she walked outside and stared into the sky. With a final look and smile to her friends and her parents, she pushed a button on the belt, and transformed into her Lyoko avatar. She moved her hand over her wristband, which had also transformed, and she flew off into the night sky.
"Please be okay, Jeremy," she said silently. "Something is not right, and I don't want you in it."
As the men at the controls tried to reestablish connections with the outside world, I sat at the Round Table in a daze, weary and rather afraid of what was to happen. Any moment, several airships were about to invade the London skies and drop hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of undead Nazi soldiers onto the city to slaughter all its people and destroy everything else that stood in their way. And God only knew what kind of firepower those airships had or what they would do to the city from the air.
"And I thought the Black Cobras were bad news," I said to myself.
Suddenly, at least three dozen armed troops marched into the room, and, in less than six seconds, held each and every one of us at gunpoint. I looked just as shocked and scared as Penwood and the other men, except for one of the men, who rose from the table and smiled wickedly. That man, who I realized was the admiral who had spoken out against Integra, reached into his jacket, pulled out a pistol, and pointed it straight at Integra's head.
"No sudden moves, Sir Integra," he said. "As of now, this facility is under the control of Millennium."
"Enough of this!" Penwood barked. "What's going on?"
"SHUT UP!" the admiral barked back. As he did, I realized that his teeth were pointed and his eyes had turned red. "What is going on is a good day for vampires! Vampirism is magnificent!"
The soldiers chuckled as the admiral walked up to Integra and me.
"Magnificent indeed," the admiral continued, "seeing as how we've captured the great Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, along with the boy who defeated Kirk Fromm, Captain Jeremy Belpois, hero of the Cobra Wars and the Great War on Carthage."
I gulped, but I heard Integra chuckle rather amusedly. The admiral noticed it as well, and pointed his gun at her again.
"What's so funny?" he barked.
"Why, the whole thing, Admiral," she replied. "You think you've got us cornered, but you're just a bunch of newborns compared to us. We are the institution of your annihilation. Frogs parading in front of a viper. Of course it's funny."
"I'm not scared of you!" he snarled.
"I hope you can claim your Iron Cross from your corporal in Hell," Integra smirked.
"SHUT UP!" the admiral shouted, and put his finger to the trigger.
But before he could make another move, his entire arm was suddenly sliced clean off, spreading his vampiric blood everywhere. Some of it landed on my shoes, and I cringed a bit. Once the admiral's arm hit the ground, Integra made another smirk.
"Walter," she said, "clean up."
"As you wish, Sir Integra," the butler said from behind me.
As I turned around, I noticed his expression turn deadly serious with a hint of playfulness. It was rather like Odd's look when he would fight a monster many times his size. He pulled his cloves tighter on his hands, and he grinned like a maniac.
"Now then," he smiled, "it's time to take these children across my knee."
"DIE!" the soldiers shouted, and fired their rifles at the elderly butler.
However, all of the bullets helplessly exploded a meter away from him. I noticed that there were a bunch of almost invisible wires surrounding him, and these wires were slicing the bullets into pieces before they could hit him. He made a simple hand motion, and then the wires went on the offensive, slicing the soldiers into pieces. He then waved his hands like a conductor in a symphony, or perhaps more like a puppeteer, and the rest of the soldiers were ripped, sliced, and torn into pieces, blood flying everywhere. Most of it remained on the floor, but some of it flew onto the screens, and a bit landed on Sir Penwood's face, startling him.
"Is that all?" Walter asked as he tightened his gloves again.
I, along with the rest of the cabinet, stared in shock at the pile of bodies and body parts that lay strewn across the floor. I noticed that Integra glared at the decapitated head of the admiral who had started all of this.
"I thought he was a bit nasty mannered," I said to myself, "but I never suspected this."
'Bloody traitors," Integra mused, and then turned to Sir Penwood. "Sorry about that, Sir Penwood. Are you all right?"
Penwood regained his composure, and nodded.
"Up until now," Integra said, smiling a bit, "I assumed that you were the traitor in our midst."
"I may be powerless against them," he said, cleaning his face with a handkerchief, "but I'm certainly not a coward."
Suddenly, alarms louder and fiercer than the previous ones sounded and each and every screen had a large "WARNING" window on it. As the alarms sounded, the entire place shook like a small earthquake was happening. I jumped to my feet instinctively, but everyone else remained seated so I calmed down a bit.
"Sir!" one of the men shouted. "The entire city is under siege!"
"What?" I gasped.
"We have no word from the chiefs of staff!" another man said.
"We've lost contact with over 100 military installations and command centers across the British Empire," a third man said, reading a clipboard. "They could be fighting the enemy forces even now."
Integra looked at the body of the admiral again. "It will be the same everywhere." She then looked at Sir Penwood. "Sir Penwood, this place is sure to be their next target. We all must leave at once before they arrive."
"We have confirmed visuals of Waffen SS soldiers dropping from above!" one of the computer commanders shouted.
"Sir Penwood, we need to leave immediately!" Integra shouted, nagging the table. "This facility will soon be overrun by a massive army of vampires!"
Sir Penwood was wringing his hands nervously, but his face conveyed a sense of firmness. "Sir Integra, you and your men will return to Hellsing headquarters with all the speed you may. You all have duties to perform."
"But what about you, Sir Penwood?" I asked. "You can't stay here! You'll be killed for sure!"
"I have a sacred duty to perform, Lieutenant," he said. "This was handed down to me since my father, and his father. I'm not strong, I'm not smart, but this is my job and I must perform it. I cannot and will not abandon my post." He then turned to his men. "All of you go back to your homes and protect your families. You have a duty to them, and I can handle myself here."
The men looked at themselves, and started laughing.
"I mean it!" Penwood barked. "What's so funny?"
"We won't abandon you either, sir," one of the men said. "Besides, you don't know how to run the controls."
"Now form a barricade at the entrances and exits!" one of the commanders barked.
"Activate the emergency communications line!" another soldier said. "Try to reestablish contact with any and all locations of military operation!"
"Gather all ammunitions from this location into this room!" a military advisor barked. "If they come here, we'll be ready!"
Sir Penwood looked astonished for a second, but then smiled. "Thank you all, gentlemen. Carry on."
Integra pulled out a pistol from her jacket and handed it over to Penwood. "It's loaded with blessed atomized silver-tipped bullets. They'll be more useful than ordinary iron. Use it well."
"That I shall, Sir Integra," he said. "Good luck, good hunting, and Godspeed."
"Good luck and Godspeed to you as well, Sir Penwood," Integra nodded, and left the control room.
As Walter and I followed her, I could hear the men shout out orders to repair communications and build up a defense against the impending army.
"I have the car ready, Sir Integra," Walter said. "We will make haste back to headquarters."
"Nothing is going to get in my way, Walter," she said coldly. "As head of the Hellsing family, I swear it."
As Walter sped the incredibly fast Rolls-Royce down the blood-stained streets of London, I could see the devastation that this war had caused. Millions of bodies of innocent people littered the streets and gardens, and there was nothing that was not stained with blood. Though I had been through war three times in my short life, I had never before witnessed such carnage and bloodshed. Not only did it shock me to my core, but I felt my body shake with pure fear. Integra, who sat in the back seat next to me, noticed my small spasm, and cocked her eyebrow.
"War is Hell, Jeremy," she said. "That's the truth."
"I've heard it said many times," I said, somewhat mesmerized by the horrible scene outside, "but I had never believed it to be fully true until now."
Just then, Integra noticed something and growled. "Walter, make a sharp left turn now!"
"Yes sir," her butler replied, and swerved to the left.
Even though I was buckled in, I felt myself leaning to the left, but I kept myself from touching Integra's side. Once the car stopped turning, I saw Integra roll down her window and shoot at someone. When I looked outside, I noticed that she had shot a Nazi through his head.
"Nice shot," I said to myself.
I took another look, and saw that he had shot a London police officer through his head after he shot him dead. I hissed as I took in this cruelty, and I noticed Integra look very solemn as she looked at the other soldiers scattered around the ground.
"Good boys, you defended Queen and country," she said. "Rest in peace." She then looked at Walter. "Time is short. Let's move on."
Walter nodded, stepping on the gas and speeding towards Hellsing HQ. As he did, the radio began crackling and buzzing.
"Attention, anyone who is listening in," came a familiar voice form the radio. "This is Vice Admiral Shelby M. Penwood calling any and all who can hear my voice. I don't know if anyone is hearing this message, but I send this to anyone who will. This facility has fallen, and I most likely will soon be killed by the enemies who have invaded this place. But if anyone can hear me, then know this: keep fighting. Do your duty."
Just then, I heard and felt a tremendous explosion from several meters behind us and the radio stopped its transmission, replaced by more static. Integra and I both stared at the radio, silent and cold.
"Walter," Integra said after a while.
"Yes, sir?" he asked.
"Faster!" she barked.
As Walter stepped on the gas, I felt my head sink into the headrest. I also felt the car thumping as if someone or something was hitting against the sides of the car at top speed. I looked out the windows and noticed that tons of ghouls were flying from the car, having been run over by Walter. Suddenly, Walter stopped the car so suddenly that I almost flew from the seat.
"Sir Integra," Walter said, "please take the wheel of the car and find another way across town."
"Walter, what are you doing?" she asked.
Walter simply stepped out of the car and looked into the distance. "Just take the car and leave here as fast as you can. Do not try to find me and don't look back no matter what."
I looked where he was looking, and gasped. A multitude of vampires were charging towards us, all of them armed to the teeth and running at a superhuman pace.
"I don't know how long I can hold them," Walter said, "but you must survive. As the head of the Hellsing family, you must survive."
After a while, Integra got out of the car and took the driver's seat.
"Walter, come back alive," she said. "Consider that an order."
"If you insist, Sir Integra," he smiled, brandishing his gloves.
She shut the door behind her, and I quickly changed seats to the passenger seat as well. She and I looked behind, and she turned the car around and sped off. We each took one last look at Walter through the rearview mirror, and Integra sped the car off to the Hellsing mansion. As I kept looking back, I caught a glimpse of a tall soldier with a flowing cape marching towards Walter. His wires were ready, and he charged at the soldier.
It was then that I had another vision. I've been having these ever since my mental unity with XANA last year and they're flashes from the past or future. Odd used to have something like this for one of his Lyoko powers, and since I had all of my friend's powers, I had that one as well. But I always felt my powers of future sight were more powerful than Odd's since I also saw the past.
For the first picture, I could see Walter standing on one of the zeppelins, but he was different. He was younger, and with a more heartless look about him. The second picture was one of a young teenager in Walter's uniform and wielding his wires. I was deeply confused by this, but I had no time to think about this, as the vision was shattered into pieces along with the car's windshield. We had crashed into a telephone pole upon turning a corner to avoid a swarm of vampires, and the car could not move another centimeter.
As Integra and I got out, we faced the army of vampires before us.
"You don't know vhen to give up, do you?" one of them laughed. "Surrender und your death vill be quick und painless."
Integra laughed and began smoking a cigar. "That's just what someone like you would say. Cowards who could not bear the weight of their own humanity. You vile monsters disgust me." She then pulled out an old-fashioned English broadsword. "Come on, let's have it."
As the vampires laughed and charged at us, they stopped when I started laughing as well.
"Vhat is zhat brat laughing at now?" the leader barked.
"I'm laughing at you," I replied. "You think you've got us cornered, but in reality it's the other way around. You're the one who's fallen into a trap."
As I spoke, the fires around us began blazing brighter and fiercer. The vampires were clearly confused, but when they looked at me they noticed that the whites of my eyes had become jet black, with the Eye of XANA where my pupils once were.
"Vhat is this?" the soldiers gasped. "Who are you?"
"I am what I am," I said. "And what I am is a Scipio."
Instantly, bolts of purple lightning shot out from my hands and fried the vampires in front of us.
"Be careful, Integra," I said. "I may be able to control my powers, but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you!"
"What is the meaning of this?" she hollered. "How are you doing this?"
"This is the power that won the Cobra Wars," I said. "I'll explain later, but I know that this power can take down anything."
"Oh, ja?" another soldier jeered form above, and another swarm of soldiers surrounded us.
"Stay close," I said. "Allow me to be your temporary bodyguard, Sir Integra."
"Do what you will," she said, brandishing her sword, "just take them down."
Suddenly, the soldiers in front of us exploded into bloody pieces. I looked up and saw pages from a book floating down to us. I picked one of them out of the air, and read it.
"Blessed are the ones who thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied," I read. "This is a page from the Bible, but what's it doing here?"
As if on cue, a large, looming shape emerged from the pages that blew around on the ground. Integra and the vampires were shocked, but I was confused.
"It's you!" Integra shouted. "The Iscariot Organization! Vatican Section XIII!"
"The Killing Judge," the vampires whimpered, "Angel Dust, the Beheading Priest!"
As his face became clear, I realized who he was. I could only speak two words.
"Alexander Anderson."
A/N: Another cliffhanger! I'm awful, I know. But at least this was significantly longer than my other chapters, and Jeremy got in on the action! More is sure to come, but please be patient!
-JeremyX signing off!