PART NINE

There are times in life that leave you forever changed. Something profound will happen and nothing will be the same again. Life is divided in two halves and all that remains is the memory of the person you were and the reality of the person you have become. Nick Fury's life changed on a daily basis. He had made an unfortunate habit of surviving against all odds, enduring all manner of horrors and being the last man standing to pick up all the pieces.

That was his existence. Countless times he'd compromised himself in the name of a greater good and countless others he'd refused for the same reason. He was so far down the line that he'd almost forgotten where he began. It was for that reason alone that he was able to play the devil the day the world went to hell.

"Five." Nobody blinked. Everyone was transfixed to their screens, paused anxiously in suspended dread. "Four." They knew what was coming, and though it was their own finger was pulling the trigger they were powerless to stop it. "Three." Every one of them in the room were loyal to SHIELD over their family, their friends: everything. If they weren't they wouldn't be there. They would do anything Nick Fury asked of them. "Two." This was how it felt when Berlin was crushed or when the Enola Gay took off for Japan. They would have their victory, no matter the cost. "One."

"Deploy the missile."

On his word the wheels were set in motion. High above them radio signals reached an obscure Russian satellite, ordering it to set loose the nuclear payload it would carry to the city of London below. Upon detonation a force would be released that would blow to pieces anything in it's path, tear flesh from bones and crackle skin into ash in an instant. Remaining would be a dirty Earth: a small patch where no life could flourish. It would be a literal chasm of death and all who would entered would join those who lay there.

Fury threw his cigar to one side. It was useless to him now. As much as the rich taste of the smoke eased him he didn't much feel like relaxing. The job was done and so was he.

"Sir?" The young soldier who'd followed him earlier could see guilt weighing down on his commander's heavy brow.

With a sigh he turned to the room, grimly making a parting speech before he went and lost himself in the bottom of a bottle. "Men, women, we did it. The job is done. May God have mercy on their souls, because we sure as hell didn't."

"Master! Master, please! Help me!"

Giant-Man's jowls hung open before her, threatening to swallow her down into his acidic gut with one nasty gulp. This was the third time that Seras Victoria would face death, though this time would be far less dignified than the others. The chasm leading down was black, rank and foul with death.

Her master was gone. It was he who allowed her to continue: gave her a driving force when there was nothing else. Now she screamed for him in her final moment and she was sickened by it. The pride of the beast welled up inside her, flaring her demonic red eyes with the power of the nosferatu bestowed upon her. Seras Victoria's final moments wouldn't be those of a helpless victim: she began to hack and tear at the giant hero's thumb.

"Quit it!" His grip tightened around her, snapping bones and piercing organs. Her cry wasn't that of someone in pain, but rather someone frustrated by a great deterrence. She would never surrender to death: not while her master lay on the dirt before her. If only he could see.

"Master!" It was no longer a plea. It was an order for him to stand. "Master!"

The Sentinel of Liberty charged through the fire, his shield held in front of him. Even if it did burn he could no longer feel the pain. In it's place was just the hunger that drove him as it did the thrall of superpowered zombies following him. With wild eyes and outstretched arms he held his weapon high and struggled to maintain a single cohesive thought. "Die, Alucard! Die!"

Dracula looked from the dirt mount he laid in: the spot his enemies had chosen to become his deathbed. From there he saw past the Colonel and his Avengers, beyond the weapons lingering to inflict the killing blow and saw his loyal servant clutched in the grasp of a mindless beast. He could hear her shouting, calling, commanding for him to rise. It was the power of her spirit that inspired him from his place, that put a grim sneer on his face.

"Do not order me, police girl," he hissed proudly. "I am your count... I am your king!"

From beneath his blanket of gore he did again transform, a swarm of bats flying upwards and into Giant-Man's mouth. With a look of surprise and shock did the ex-hero fall as they punched through his brain and out the other side of his skull with the force of a thousand cannon balls. Limp on the ground Seras Victoria pried herself free from the hand and took once more to safer ground to regroup: the zombies were entirely focused on her master.

Colonel America charged, leading the Avengers as they scaled Giant-Man's horizontal form with ease. It hardly seemed to bother them that one of their own was ended so easily: only that an enemy still stood before them. Perhaps if their hunger were sated they would have the capacity for grief but for now they had another goal. The Colonel was furious. "You are king of nothing! You... are king... of nothing!"

The bats pulled together once more and into a single solid shape, back into the form of Alucard. He was not adorned in his usual suit and long flowing coat: rather in a costume of black where his body was bound tightly and his dark hair flowed freely over it. The zombies seemed little concern for him now as he drank in the vision of the battlefield and his fallen army.

"You fought well," he lamented to his followers. Some were his soldiers by choice, many were not. Still they were all a part of him and for that he payed them tribute. "Return to me." The hundreds of corpses melted into shadows and crawled along the ground, once more rejoining Alucard as a seamless patch on his tight-fitted costume.

"Give it up," hissed the zombie leader. Behind him stood the Wasp, Meggan, Miss Marvel, the Phoenix, She-Hulk and what remained of Luke Cage. Though their numbers were significantly reduced they were still more potent and more powerful than any army ever assembled.

Alucard laughed, almost paying the idle warning no heed at all. His amusement continued to bewilder them, but it was a moot point. He still stood and he needed to die. "How utterly marvelous! It amazes me that filth as stupid as yourself continues to exist! One by one I have cut you down and still you come, determined to end me!"

Colonel America didn't flinch. "You're weak."

"Then finish me off," he taunted. "Come on! Hurry up! The end of the world is growing impatient! Hurry!" The wicked grin didn't part from Alucard's lips for even a moment. Was he capable of anything else? War seemed to bring him such constant and sorrowful joy.

"I'm really getting sick of this guy!" They converged as the starving Phoenix took the lead. A bright wall of unyielding concussive force lashed out at Alucard in numerous savage licks, tearing away shards of his clothes and skin. As usual Alucard didn't evade the blows and as such quickly reformed to his native state.

His nose turned up at Rachel Summers. "You, who once commanded life and death, who still hold a shard of the greatest power of all. It's so pathetic that you of all people should be resigned to such a fate..."

"Shut! Up!" Her power blanketed the area, breaking away at masonry, removing the roofs from cars, yet not once striking her enemy. Instead the vampire just seemed to dance around her attack, phasing in and out between the flame-like tongues and growing ever closer.

"For shame," he moaned as he appeared before her. Alucard's blackened form loomed over her ominously. His eyes were those of an animal: more beast than any of them could hope to be, regardless of how many they'd killed. It was then that the Phoenix saw his intent and for the first time since being overtaken by the hunger she was filled with fear.

"Please," she gasped ever so quietly. Alucard was the only one to hear her. She had no heartbeat to listen to or any other means to have her feelings read than the faint twinkle in the windows to her soul. Rachel Summers knew that she had become a monster against her will, and though the meat tasted so good she was filled with regret. She didn't deserve to live but she didn't want to die. Her eyes pleaded with Alucard: surely with all of his power he could end it somehow.

Dark magic turned Alucard's body into solid shadow: a walking black chasm from where not even light could escape, shaped like a man with a smiling head atop. From the inky depths appeared the eyes, wide and colourless, not so much seen as they were felt: assessing, estimating, judging. They were cold and cruel and from them emerged the disembodied head of a savage, hungry hellhound. Baskerville leaped out and enveloped the Phoenix from her head down to her torso, biting it clean from her lower half with sharp, pearly teeth.

The zombies watched her legs fall limp to the ground as the dog bucked it's head and snapped, letting torn chunks of their teammate fall back down his neck. Alucard beamed: he was a walking patchwork of horrors, greater than the sum of all their fears. They stood terrified, knowing that no matter how much they'd bite, claw, slice or chop that he would see them as little more than dog food.

Their minds were made simple as they were clouded by hunger. Any thought that crossed their barren psyche was no more than primal. They were strong, he was stronger. He was the predator, clever and calculating, while they were desperate and starving. Left with no other option they all ran: all except for Colonel America. That lone zombie stood and faced him down. For him there was no running and even when functioning on basic instinct the notion of fleeing never occurred to him.

"Run," Alucard ordered him. "Run!" The Colonel stood there, transfixed. All he knew to do anymore was kill and that the vampire before him was harder to kill than anything he'd ever faced before. Alucard could read it in his bestial eyes and smiled. "Seras Victoria!"

Hopping to position the police girl looked down from her vantage. The heavy twin cannons were positioned skillfully on her shoulders as she took aim of the fleeing corpses. Blasts poured from the giant barrels, an extension of her killer instinct. Aim for the head. One shot, one kill, she thought gleefully. The challenge excited her.

"You're all alone, Colonel," he taunted. "What are you going to do? Are you going to piss your pants? Pray to your impotent god? Not that he would ever forgive you. Forgiveness is a gift given to men, not monsters." His eyes calmed. The war was over. All that remained was the finishing stroke. "Are you going to cry out 'Avengers assemble', hoping they fall back into line? Go on. Say it..."

"I... I..."

Alucard watched him stammer and stagger, fighting his own senses for some semblance of order. He couldn't help but laugh. "Why don't you surrender? Oh, I forgot. That's not what the letter on your forehead stands for."

Colonel America trembled, but not out of fear or panic. He was too far gone for that. "I... I'm going... to kill you..."

"What was that?" His brow cocked as did his crooked smirk.

"I'm... going to kill you," he growled. "Avengers... or no Avengers... I'm going to kill you!"

In the space between light and dark, warm and cold, joy and melancholy did she sit, waiting patiently for her name to once more appear in the great book of life. Integra Wingates Hellsing felt strange: she could not feel her body. The room she sat in was entirely unfamiliar, assuming it was even a room. What time was it? She struggled as she searched her memory. Didn't she usually have assistants to annoy her with those sorts of trivial matters?

"Is there something the matter, sir?" Who was this man? She knew his name was Walter C. Dornez and that he had served as a retainer to the Hellsing family, but why did he come to her? It was only then that she realised who she was, that she had inherited her father's place and was now an important figurehead in the Protestant church. After a moments deliberation she had also decided on her age, clothing and facial expression as she addressed him.

"I'm not sure, Walter," she said, making sure to repeat his name so she might remember it. "Where am I?"

"Why, you are where you always have been. You are in a seat of great power under the Queen and Almighty God." That wasn't what she'd meant. She wanted to know literally where she was as well as the reason for Walter's wearing a maid uniform. Though that didn't seem important: it was a matter for God to judge. What was she thinking? Of course. "You are resting, sir. There has been an unfortunate incident which requires for you to temporarily forgo your duty."

As he spoke the room came clear to view. She was indeed lying in a hospital bed, a tube forced uncomfortably down her throat and something heavy tied around her neck. Hard as she tried she couldn't move her arms and legs and her vision was in broken frames. Objects seemed to echo and slide as her vision shifted. Upon thought she realised she was not looking with eyes and didn't want to think about it.

"Walter?" He was gone, just as suddenly as he'd appeared. Closing her eyes she could feel the darkness wash over her, weighing heavily on her heart. She was compelled to stand but was still left crippled without explanation. Though she denied this and appealed to her disinterested limbs. There was destruction above and she was needed: she still had a hand to play in the end of civilisation.

"Integra." The voice soothed her and eased the pressure she felt over her neck. It didn't speak to her with the air of subordination she would have expected in her own command post. Looking around and seeing nobody she realised that she was either dreaming or no longer in her own body.

"Who's there?" Suddenly she was a little girl again and only realised it when she heard the squeak of her voice. Trying to sound authoritative given the circumstances seemed silly, but she was still head of the Hellsing family and would do just that.

"Do not be afraid," it said stepping from the gloom. The person garbed in white was neither man nor woman and he/she smiled on Integra with an overwhelming sense of peace. Leaning to her side it smiled, encompassing her with it's pale blue eyes.

It wasn't the first time Integra had faced the supernatural and she'd made it habit to be suspicious. Yet in the face of the being before her she felt that she was easily losing her composure. "Are you an angel? Am... am I dead?"

"Yes and no, to both questions," it said easily as it reached for her hand. She reached out and their palms connected. "Heaven is waiting for you, Integra, and soon your new home back here in Earth. Leave your anger and your woes. Come with me."

A stream of silent tears rolled down her cheeks. For the first time it was alright for her to not be angry anymore: it seemed pointless. She could see the scars on it's wings and she realised to greater sorrow how many other souls it must have escorted to the next life those past few days. Though regardless of the pain she saw it smile and through it beamed God's love.

"I can't," she said, suddenly once more an adult, once more dressed in her dark coat with a lit cigarette between her fingers. "It is not yet over. The world cannot end: not like this."

The divine being smiled and stepped away, leaving her strapped down and confined in her bed. It needn't have said anything: those calms eyes assured her that Heaven was eternal and that it would still be there waiting for her when the time came. The difficult path she continued to travel was only a sign of her devotion and with that he left her.

Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing lay silently in her bed with a machine aiding her shallow breaths. For now she was calm, placid and completely unaware of what stalked the hallways outside her room.

Alucard ducked and weaved as the shield swiped brutally at him with Colonel America's full force. The display was amusing, like fighting a clown. Every one of the zombie's limbs flailed wildly, desperate for a strike. Usually the best torture Hellsing's dog had for an enemy was to accept the blows just to show them how futile they were, but that idea would be wasted on something that only served to grow more stupid with every hungering moment.

"Why won't you let me hit you!?" he screamed. "You let us hit you before! Why won't you let me hit you now!? Why!?"

"Say 'please'." This only inspired anger and more fervent, futile attacks. Alucard mused at the foolishness of Colonel America. How great a force the Avengers once were and now they were only one. The rest were being picked off like flies in the heat of distant explosions. It was ever so sweet like lambs to the slaughter.

Seras Victoria paused and looked up. She had wondered why the zombies weren't fighting back and now she knew why. It wasn't a star that burned so brightly as the distant inkling of morning cracked. It raged towards them, an enemy weapon clear in the empty sky. She knew what it was and gasped, "Master!"

Alucard and Colonel America paused in their battle only to look up and recognise the missile's approach. Suddenly all thoughts of victory and hatred raced from Colonel America's simple mind and he turned, running for cover. Furious at the oncoming assault Alucard threw his arms up in outrage. "No! This is my kill! My kill! You don't get to take this away from me!"

"Master! What do I do?" The former police girl stood mesmerised. What could she do as something with the force of God's angry fist struck at the world? Though she knew it was less holy than that: it was more akin to mankind's poison arrow.

Ignoring her completely Alucard practically leapt on all fours like a wild dog on the hunt, driven to take down such a despised foe. He would not be robbed of this: not by Nick Fury, not by God. With mankind on the verge of being wiped clean from the world all he had was his pride.

"You... are mine!" He pounced, bowling the Colonel from his feet and grinding face first into the dirt. Alucard pulled his head back, probably snapped his neck so that he could look him in the eye as he consumed him. "No you know the fear, Colonel. This... is what it's like... to be hunted..."

As his jaws hung wide open, revealing the vampire's glistening white teeth, a wave of bright burning white struck them. With the heat of an exploding sun the city of London was leveled to ash and cinders, then spread for miles around. Whether or not Alucard had claimed his victory or not was meaningless. Nothing could have survived such a blast.

TO BE CONCLUDED...