Vash ran. It was all he could do to keep himself from going insane as Knives pounded his thoughts with images of all of the people he had killed in the cities he had destroyed.

"Damn it, Knives!" Vash yelled, aggravated. He had reached the control room door. It slid open and he prepared for the fight of his life…nothing. The small room was empty. Head hurting form the continuing hail of pictures and voices he leaned against the wall, gun hand to the side of his head in hopes of relieving the intense pressure.

"Don't mind these people, vash. They're just a few of the many you eradicated in your pursuit of stopping me. It's not like they count anyway, although I thank you for a job made significantly easier with them gone," Knives calmly explained to him. "Though I was in the control room? Wrong, like so many other things Vash. Your memories of my childhood won't help you find me. I'll give you the answer to simplify things: level four. I guarantee you'll enjoy the present I have for you before reaching me though.

The constant barrage of images and snide comments stopped, leaving Vash sudden time for thinking. Something was wrong. Present? He thought, worriedly.

Shaking his head he began to run again. There was no time for thinking. For all her knew the "present" was some sort of sick game with a nearby town's population.

He turned a corner and met an elevator, doors opening for him before he even pressed the buttons. Cautiously, he entered. The door closed and it automatically rose upward. Apparently Knives had control over the elevator without the use of the main control room he had been in moments before.

The elevator stopped and so did his breathing before the doors opened. Ready for anything, he peered outside from his hidden spot within the elevator. No one fired any weapons and no sounds caught him as significantly threatening so he moved forward.

An incredibly large room confronted him. Catwalks spanning the ceiling and a few stairs leading up to a platform were the only things in the room. Anything else that had previously been there were obviously taken out for the fight, places where no dust covered the floor held testament to that.

"Where are you?" Vash mumbled to himself as he walked cautiously further into the room. His footsteps echoed off the walls.

A soft footstep tripped his reflexes. He spun around, red cloth slowly following him, to see absolutely nothing.

He heard another soft footstep to his right and flew around to see more nothing. More strange footstep noises echoes through the room until he counted six, meaning three people were in the room or one person had moved six steps. Where was the sound coming from?

"You're Vash?" A young voice asked from no where. More footsteps moving about. Vash moved in a full circle, trying to see everything at once.

"Welcome to my current home Vash," Knives' voice reverberated proudly from metal surfaces and hallways. They were the first real words spoken between each other in ages. The problem was that he could not see his brother so there was no point to hearing outside of the mind.

"Where are you?" Vash said, wondering if he should have yelled it since he had no idea how far away his brother was.

"I'm nearby. Before we end this, I want you to meet the one you are fighting. Since you've been so hell bent on eradicating our kind by helping the humans I've pulled the DNA stored in this SEED ship which was to populate the earth with humans and altered it. Already, I am developing fully grown specimens who will grow into humanoid-plants. Some will be ready to help destroy the human race from this planet within the coming month," Knives explained. Vash froze, absolutely caught off guard.

"Knives!" Vash yelled angrily. He knew his brother had thoughts of doing something like this but had no idea he had actually managed to reach so far as he had bumbled through the world avoiding him – he felt like a drunk who ran from his problems. How many people had he created merely for brief observation like lab rats? How many discarded as trash?

"You know why I did this, right?" Knives' voice seemed to be right next to his ear and he jumped. "If I die then who will spread our kind throughout the world? No, I decided you would fight one of our kind since that is what will be destroyed if you ever caught me. By the way, he has no name, try to think of one before you or he dies – preferably you since history should label you as a traitor to your own kind." The voice did not return. Vash again listened for soft footsteps. None came.

Silence filled the room again.

Then the sound came again: quiet footsteps moving all around him. They stopped, louder than he had heard them before. There was a clicking noise right behind him and immediately he ducked and rolled away as a gun shot echoed through the room but did not actually hit anything. Where was the no name opposition?!

"Why can't I see him?" Vash asked in hopes that Knives would respond. He did, but not the way he would have liked.

"We all have our special abilities as an individual. It depends on the type of plant that is altered with the DNA," Knives explained with a bored tone.

Great, so he's either invisible or can move so fast I cant see him or a few things I cant imagine, Vash thought to himself. Another click notified him that he had been targeted and he jumped a good eight feet off of the ground.

How am I going to fight blind? The echoes in the room make it impossible for me to measure how near or far away he is!

-!-!-!-

Alucard put his hands to the glass and then gently placed his forehead to it, eyes closed. Blond hair swirled around the girl's body in magnificent movements. Her blank stare narrowed and focused on him through the glass. Seconds passed by as endless eternities without fail.

Without taking in breath, Alucard sighed. "This won't do. Even if you are my master in flesh you are not my master in mind."

His eyes opened and he stared into her eyes with an emotionless expression, delving into her being. Her thoughts were blank but that made what he was about to do all the easier. Ignoring spatial laws, his arms went through the thick glass like renewing butter. Long gloved fingers reached traced ancient symbols onto her temples and finally he placed his index fingers on them. Sudden concentration filled his still-delving eyes. A few moments passed and nothing happened. Then: a slight involuntary twitch of movement in the girls hand began and Alucard released her from his touch to observe the next few moments with interest.

The body lurched into a sudden violent tossing and backbreaking movements as if by signal of the previously twitching hand. It seemed like her body was fighting something wholly unimaginable and definitely set on forcing her body to break. Minutes ticked by and the body began to slow, energy being completely spent already. Alucard frowned, and an angry aura filled the room. The body curled into a ball within the liquid-filled tube as it reached it.

Come back. You have no choice but to come back. If I am freed upon this land I will destroy and create chaos. Blacken the sun and the ground in hopes of replicating my home sweet home: dear old Hell. You are not this thoughtless mass of flesh before me, the memories hide deep within your stolen DNA and I have destroyed the strange alterations made to it by whomever replicated you. Now bring back those memories and become my master: Integra Wingate Hellsing! Alucard demanded silently to the body. It stopped moving and seemed to give up for a few moments but suddenly - as if listening to his thoughts- stirred from it's curled up position.

Back straightened and floating tall, she opened her eyes. The stare was no longer blank – it was hard and cold. A hard brutal laugh was followed by a face splitting grin, fangs showing in his rapture. With a fluid movement he bowed. Glass shattered and Integra still floated, supported by a dark substance, as if still in the water which flowed in a brief torrent around his feet. Her cold expression didn't even adopt surprise at this, so used to the strange as she was after finally receiving the last of her memories. Just as he had said, they had been deep within her, erased but not forgotten. Alucard stepped up and pulled her body to him. He had already taken off his deep red overcoat and wrapped her in it for warmth. For all he knew the room was freezing.

Cradling her in his arms with that face splitting grin he walked out of the strange room towards an elevator. According to his eavesdropping on Vash and Knives mind conversation there would be an interesting battle to observe on level four. He never did get around to explaining to Vash that he could hear all conversations he made with his brother.

-!-!-!-

Vash managed to dodge the bullet four times out of five. One had hit his right leg near the knee and had slowed him down dramatically as he basically hopped around to dodge clicks. Occasionally a click from the weapon followed with nothing. It was baffling.

One more bullet and then he has to reload, he thought encouragingly to himself. All he had to do was dodge one more bullet and then he would be able to –hopefully- hear him reloading his revolver as he could tell he had from the type of click it made.

He heard another click and dodged like he had the previous five. No shots followed the click however. Oh crap, he thought as he realized that the gunner wasn't going to pull the trigger until he was within range and by that time it would be too late. If he would just talk about something I could tell what direction he's coming from! Vash thought, looking in all directions and knowing it was pointless.

Alucard!? He called silently, hoping the vampire was within range.

"Yes?" Came an immediate reply.

I don't know how much time I have left but you don't have to meet up with me after you find your master. I probably won't be there, Vash explained still straining his ears for sound.

"Why is that? Change of plans?" The vampire sounded extremely amused.

Yeah, Vash replied, trying to hide the "I'm about to die," tone creeping into his thoughts.

"My master asks if you would except help even if this obviously a family matter," Alucard said suddenly. Catching Vash off guard.

You found your master? Vash thought.

"I suggest you duck and roll forward as quickly as possible," Alucard said, not answering as he watched Vash follow directions. A number of bullets numbering the empty clicks previously made ricocheted off the floor and lost energy in wrong targets and making the blond's head snap in odd directions to catch their travel better.

What the ever loving-?

There was a surprised silence from the movement of footsteps.

You're here!? Vash asked, looking around for the familiar red coat Alucard donned.

"Look up."

Vash looked to the ceiling to see Alucard just visible and slowly waving. When had he gotten there?

"Run as fast as you can away from the direction you're facing now," Alucard said.

What? He was out of ammo wasn't he?

"He isnt using it anymore. There's a small knife in his hands now about four inches long," Alucard explained.

Is there anyway I can make him more visible? Vash ran quickly in the opposite direction.

Silence fell. The invisible offender seemed to have patience when regarding Vash, not rushing into anything hastily.

"Aim your gun ten degrees to your right and fire," Alucard instructed. Vash listened, aimed, and shot in the blink of an eye. Blood dripped in midair, as if running down an invisible wall and a young boy of at least eleven appeared moments afterwards. He had been invisible. Somehow.

"You sent a child after me!?" Vash roared angrily, knowing Knives would hear him. Without thinking he raced over to the boy. The bullet had hit just short of an inch away from his heart.

Alucard! I didn't want to kill him!

"I had you aim at his shoulder but apparently he moved to a different position after I told you where to shoot," No real tone of caring surfaced.

The boy stood his ground, breathing heavily as blood stained his white shirt. In his left hand was the knife Alucard had warned him about.

"Don't go near him," Alucard warned, but Vash only slowed in his run to the boy. Carefully advancing.

"Do you know who I am?" Vash asked the boy who nodded with hatred in his eyes that matched Knives'.

"Enemy," the boy state simply. Vash was within two or three yard distance now. "Stay back," He demanded with heavy breathing.

Vash refused to obey and baby-stepped closer to him. With lightning movements, the boy threw the unloaded revolver down and pulled another knife from his boot. Vash rushed up to him, thinking he could grab the boys hands before he threw or jabbed one at him. He did but was now in a power struggle over the movement of the boys arms which he held in the air with all of his strength at the wrists. Their strength matched terribly.

"'Underestimation is a terrible thing to have at a moment like this,' my master comments." Alucard quoted sarcastically.

You can stop talking now, Vash thought, frustrated. There was no response. Meanwhile the power struggle continued with minutes falling away with Vash's endurance. The boy's arms were either gaining strength or he was toying with Vash, testing him to see just how strong he was.

In a movement so fast that even Vash failed to block, the boy kicked him hard in the gut. Vash loosened his grip from the boys left arm for only a minute second and the boy took the opportunity to break that arm free.

Writers rant:

I don't think I deserve a writers rant today…in fact I probably will get chased out of for making people wait this long….sorrys…I have no good excuse other than pure lazyness and the fact that everytime I had writers block up and die I was not conveniently placed infront of com…but at least its done right? Author tries to squirm out of this situation by listing positives in sly mannor… I mean, some writers just give up and never come back to it! Erm…like this one author whom I really liked but forgot the name conveniently…erm…and…that other one….and…..sure..right..anyway bows veerrryyy low to ground sorrys X.x;