Hello, and merry Christmas! I planned on updating all of my stories, but unfortunately I've had a few health problems recently that have prevented me from getting everything written on time. Sorry about that, I can only hope that what little I have put out will be enough.

First, we answer some reviews! I only got three ... two from the same person ... one is asking for an update of my HOTD story and the other is apologising ... come on, guys, can you please give me something here?

Guest: Merry Christmas! And thank you.

Merry Christmas anyway!

Now, this chapter we have the first full fight scene for Percival! For those of you who haven't read The Darkness comics, there are certain abilities the Darkness has in those that it doesn't have in the games. Case in point: it can create pretty much anything from the shadows around it, such as wings, weapons, etcetera. I plan on making full use of this throughout the story, and you will see the start of that this chapter.

Enjoy!

The Priest

We'd been busy. We'd been very busy. There was an almost unnatural rise in the number of Vampire attacks that had been occurring in Britain … and it was unnerving us all. Even Alucard seemed a little disturbed by the sudden increase in hunts. Though there was always the likely possibility that he was pleased something interesting was happening for a change … yeah, it was probably that.

I was good friends with Seras by this point. I couldn't help it, really; she just seemed so lonely when none of the humans working at Hellsing would talk to her. She was such a nice person, too, which meant we got along great. The Darkness still kept up its constant rape-talk in my mind, though, and it was starting to piss me off. It was still upset about going two hunts in a row without any blood for it to shed. The last few hunts we'd been on, I'd let it loose on some of the Ghouls, but not many—Seras needed her practice, after all, and I wasn't going to interfere with her training in any way unless it was helpful to her.

This job, though … it was different. It was a basic routine: single Vampire, a shit-load of Ghouls, all contained in one building, easy. But it didn't stay easy. There was somebody else there to hunt down that God damned Vampire, and he wasn't a friend to us … oh no, he definitely wasn't a friend.

Alexander Anderson would have died before being a friend to Hellsing.

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

The sun shone bright in the skies of Italy. Specifically the Vatican. The epicentre of all the world's Catholics and home of the Pope himself. It was considered the religious capital of the world, and there were few who would argue with that statement.

Just outside the Vatican there was a large, pleasant orphanage, nothing like the kind you would find in children's stories that portrayed them as places to be feared and avoided. This one was a large building with pleasant décor, and the children seen running about the place seemed happy and content. Though there were two currently being spoken to by the man who ran the place …

"Now both of you stop that," said a man with a thick Irish accent, completely out of place in the country in which he resided. "There's no fighting between friends. How do you expect to go to heaven acting like that?"

"Sorry, father," one of the children said, sounding genuinely ashamed of themselves.

The man sighed and smiled. He was a tall man in a priest's uniform. He had blonde hair that looked almost like it had been bleached that colour, a strong facial structure, but a kindly air nonetheless. "Listen," he said, "violence is never the right answer. Except when used against heathens and monsters." The priest's green eyes narrowed as he recognised an old man in white approaching them. "All right, I want both of you to run straight up to your rooms."

"Yes, father," the two children replied simultaneously. They soon ran off, laughing as they went.

"To what do I owe this visit?" the priest asked as he and the man in white began walking around the grounds together. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid we've been hearing a lot of bad news lately," the man in white said in an Italian accent much more at home than the priest's Irish one. "From England."

The priest stopped and turned, his interest piqued. "Ah. They're working hard to keep everything quiet."

"Vampires," the man in white said simply.

The priest grinned and chuckled, a little maliciously.

"There have recently been multiple Vampire attacks within their boarders," the man in white continued. "Far too many to be pure coincidence."

"Well, nothing wrong with that, is there?" the priest asked. "If a Vampire wants to eat some Protestants, how is that our business?"

"There's more," the man in white said. "Hellsing. They are a problem. They've been holding a stronger front than we expected, keeping damage to a minimum."

"They're nothing but amateurs." The priest said this with confidence; he made it no secret that he—along with everyone in the Vatican who knew of them—despised Hellsing. "Hellsing is practically a kindergarten compared to us. The Catholics … the Vatican … and the Iscariot! We were fighting against the forces of darkness centuries before the Hellsing Organisation even existed!" He calmed himself down, his face returning to that of serious business. "So why are you here? If all the trouble's over in England, surely the English can take care of it on their own."

"Because it's not only in England," the man in white said, causing the priest's eyes to widen.

"What …?" the priest said in a hushed whisper.

"There's been an attack in Ireland," the man in white explained. "Northern Ireland. A little town called Badrick. Hellsing is on the move, and we will not just sit back and watch."

"… The nerve of them," the priest said after a while. A grin once again overtook his face. "Sneaking around where they're not wanted, like they belong there. These fools are as shameless and presumptuous as ever."

"We will teach them to know their place, Anderson," the man in white reassured him. "They tread on Catholic land … this Vampire is ours to destroy." He looked Anderson in the eyes. "We want you to deal with this before they do."

"And if I should run into the agents of Hellsing?" Anderson asked, though the smile never left his face. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it out loud.

"Just remember, we are part of God's divine instruments on Earth. We do not retreat when we are challenged by heretics."

"If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed at His coming, God save him from his fate. Amen."

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

The night was dark and the building was empty … well, mostly empty. It was empty of near enough all signs of actual life. The population now consisted entirely of Ghouls and the three—two Vampires and one human who happened to be host to an incredibly powerful demonic entity—who were there to clear them out. Alucard was on one floor, shooting Ghouls left, right and centre, all with his unnaturally large grin on his face.

Percival and Seras were on another floor. Seras, despite having had time—though, admittedly, not much of it—to get used to her situation, was still very reluctant when it came to the killing aspect of her new job. She stared, unnerved, at the two Serpent Heads protruding from Percival's shoulders as he used his two Darkness-made handguns to blow the Ghouls back to the grave. The Serpent Heads ripped out and devoured the hearts of those Percival killed.

Seras, having gained some nerve she did not have a moment ago, raised her oversized rifle. They're not real people any more, she reminded herself. They may as well be zombie pumpkins … they're just dolls. Take aim … one shot and it's all over … She took aim and fired a shot, barely flinching at the recoil that would have torn a human's arms off. She killed one. Then two. Then three. Very soon she was killing Ghouls at a rapid pace, so rapid that the hallway had been cleard a mere thirty seconds after she had finally begun firing.

"Nice to see you're getting the hang of it," Percival said as they moved to another corridor. He smiled at her, but the Serpent Heads hissed. Percival sighed. "Sorry about them. They don't particularly like anyone. Still, it's good to see you're finally getting used to the job …" No it's not, he secretly thought. In fact, it's damn sad. She really shouldn't have to be doing this … she should be having a normal life, in a normal job … fucking Vampires, ruining people's lives. "Can I assume you're feeling better about all this?"

"… Not really," she admitted. "It's more like … like I'm getting used to it. This life, I mean."

They turned a corner only to be fired upon by a Ghoul with a handgun. Seras blew the fucker's brains out within a second. There were stairs there, so it would seem that they'd cleaned out the floor they were on. They ascended the steps, turned a corner, and immediately began killing more Ghouls. In the midst of the gunfire—blood, bone and brains everywhere—Seras' eyes took on a more intense look, turning a bright crimson after a short while.

Oh no … Percival thought when he noticed this. It would appear she's entering her first Blood Rage … He was wrong, but not by much. She was not in a Blood Rage, but she was fast approaching one. When in a Blood Rage a Vampire became savage, tearing through the enemy with its bare hands, teeth, anything it could use, but never anything that required precision and thought to use. Seras was still conscious enough to use her gun, which meant she had not quite reached that point yet.

"Police Girl," came the voice of Alucard. It was not in Seras' head, however, as Percival heard it too. Alucard was directly behind them, shooting at stragglers. "Make sure to put a hole through the heart or the head. Just remember: these people did not become undead Ghouls by choice. There's no way to cure them once they've been changed. It's for their own sake to put them to rest as early as possible."

"Sorry to say, Alucard," Percival said, "but I don't think Seras is paying too much attention at the moment."

True enough, Seras had stopped really aiming for specific parts of the body. Instead she was shooting anywhere on the Ghouls' bodies. She showed no signs that she was aware anyone else was in the room; all that seemed to matter to her was thoroughly demolishing the present threat.

Eventually the Ghouls in the corridor were eradicated, and Seras reloaded, turning around to face Alucard. "Sir, yes, sir, my Master …" She spoke with a large grin on her face that Percival wasn't sure he liked; it reminded him too much of Alucard's trademark smile. The Darkness, however, was laughing its ass off.

"Now there's a woman!" the Darkness yelled in Percival's mind, its evil laughter ringing through his head. "If you weren't such a goodie-two-shoes, I bet you'd fuck the red right out of those eyes!"

Yes, I'm going to break physics during intercourse, Percival replied to it sarcastically. Seriously, D-Man, I'm curious … where the hell do you come up with half the shit you say? All he got in response was laughter. Fine, don't tell me!

Before anything else could be said, more Ghouls made themselves known, coming out of the many rooms that lined the corridor, each armed with a firearm ranging from simple handguns to shotguns. Seras reloaded, grinned, chuckled a little, and ran at inhuman speeds down the corridor, blowing holes in all the Ghouls she passed along the way. Right in the head or the heart each time, just as she had been told. She was running so fast that she was dodging the bullets being fired at her by the Ghouls.

She reached the end of the corridor and threw her rifle aside. She stood up and charged a Ghoul, hitting it once in the head with her fist, breaking a hole in its cranium and allowing its brains to slide out and coat the floor. She then stepped on its head for good measure. She grinned sadistically, showing a mouth full of fangs. She pushed her foot down so hard on the Ghoul's head that it exploded, showering her and the surrounding area in its blood.

"Now you're starting to understand what it is to be a Vampire," Alucard said through their mental connection. He was smiling, as usual, but this smile was more pleased than it was sadistic or cruel.

Seras wiped her face of blood, panting, and held her gloved hand, now coated in the dark red substance, in front of her face. She looked down at her hand and her tongue, now long and sharp-looking, emerged from her mouth, fully intent on sucking in the delicious-looking liquid that coated her fingers …

… Then a bayonet stabbed its way through her neck in an explosion of blood.

Both Alucard's and Percival's eyes widened in shock. However, that was not the end of it. Several more bayonets were flung from somewhere behind them, embedding themselves within Seras' body and stabbing through to the other side. She fell forwards and onto the floor, groaning in pain and gasping for air.

"Seras!" Percival yelled out in shock and concern. She was still moving a little, which meant she was alive, but still …

"Getting a bit pissy, are we?" the Darkness asked. "Are you sure you don't want a piece of her? Or maybe a few? You've certainly taken a deep enough interest in her, haven't you? All that concern about her well-being, her adjustment to the Vampire lifestyle. It's all bullshit and you know it! You just wanna get into her pants …"

I think I preferred you when you just talked about murder … Percival was truly growing tired of the Darkness' sense of humour. But at that moment he had more pressing concerns. The handles attached to the bayonets had writing on them that glowed and shined despite the darkness of the night, so they could only be …

"Blessed Blades," Alucard observed, finishing Percival's own thoughts for him.

Both of them were startled to find Bible pages randomly flying around the room, almost as if in some sort of storm. They flew around the room like a wind was blowing through, and more bayonets came from seemingly nowhere, pinning the Bible pages to the walls all around them.

"They've set up a barrier …" Percival realised. "Shit, Alucard, someone really wants to keep us here …"

"I had noticed," Alucard said. Sometimes it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Footsteps. Someone was coming down the stairs. The first thing to stand out was the shine of a cross hanging around the person's neck. The second thing was the two bayonets they appeared to be dual-wielding like swords, shining with the blood that dripped off of them. As they got closer a priest's uniform and glasses could be made out, along with blonde hair and a savage grin.

Said grin was now being mirrored by Alucard.

"We are the servants of God, and messengers of His justice," Anderson said in his thick Irish accent. "We are the instruments of His divine wrath on Earth. We are called upon to cleanse His kingdom, bringing ash from the flesh of thine enemies." He brought his hands up and made a cross out of the bloody bayonets. They sparked as they collided.

"Oh, wow, look at this," Percival said, humour filling his tone but killing intent filling his eyes. He had grown to like Seras, and now he wanted to rip this bastard's spine out for hurting one of his friends. "The Catholic Church! No wonder it stinks of hypocrisy in here! And what's this? No little Timmy glued to your crotch? Progress!"

Anderson could have gladly killed him at that moment, but something else had piqued his interest.

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

"Sir, a report from our Vatican intelligence officer," Walter introduced a man to Sir Integra.

The man was holding a sheet of paper, which he then proceeded to read out. "It reads: 'Our fears confirmed. The Vatican's special operations, the Iscariot Organisation, is on the move."

"Iscariot," Sir Integra echoed, lighting one of her expensive cigars and smoking it calmly. "The Vatican's special operations unit, the most powerful agents the Vatican commands. Professional exorcists, assassins trained to deal with heathens and heretics. They're working under Section XIII, a black operations unit. How large a force did they send?"

"Just one agent was deployed," the man informed her. "The Paladin. Father Alexander Anderson."

Sir Integra's head snapped up, her previously calm demeanour turning into something a little more panicked. "Did you say Alexander Anderson?" Her voice lowered to a whisper. "God knows what would happen if he were to run into Alucard, Travis and the girl …" She stood up, her calm business face in place once more. "I'll leave for Badrick immediately!" she announced. "Fetch my gun, my sword, and prepare two bodyguards!"

"Yes, sir," the man said, bowing and leaving the room to do as ordered.

"Walter, I want you to keep working on the Vatican," Sir Integra ordered Walter.

"Of course, sir," Walter replied with a bow.

It took no time at all until Sir Integra's personal helicopter was ready. Before they were inside, Walter began to give the rundown on Alexander Anderson to the two bodyguards present.

"Paladin Alexander Anderson," he said. "Executioner Anderson; Bayonet Anderson; Off-With-Its-Head Anderson; Dust-to-Dust Anderson. Place of birth: unknown. Age: unknown. Even his origins remain unknown. The only fact that we can nail down is that he is an expert monster hunter. In much the same way as Alucard is our supernatural defence, Anderson can accurately be described as the finest agent Vatican Section XIII has to offer."

"The Paladin Monster Slayer," Sir Integra said to herself once the helicopter had taken off. "The Purifier. God, I hope they haven't started killing each other yet …"

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

Anderson was now half way down the corridor, close enough to stare both Alucard and Percival in the face. He had a large grin on his face as he looked between them.

"Lovely moon tonight, don't you think?" he asked them. They remained silent, simply staring at him. Alucard looked at him with a grin, whereas Percival looked with a glare. Seras moved on the ground, looking towards the three of them, groaning in pain as she moved. Anderson chuckled. "Your voice sounds so very lovely when you're whimpering in agony, young lady."

"I bet you use that line on your altar boys," Percival quipped.

"Don't worry, though," Anderson said, passing a quick glare at Percival. "You aren't dead yet. I haven't pierced your heart."

"And you're not fucking going to," Percival growled at him. He dropped the half-empty magazines from his handguns and allowed the Darkness to create two new ones, reloading. "Let me make this clear: you try anything like that again and I'm going to rip your fucking spine out, and then my friends here—" he gestured at the Serpent Heads "—are going to devour your heart. Understand?"

Anderson laughed. "It's been awhile since I've had a good hunt. I plan on enjoying this. The fight with the Vampires, at least. I've no interest in you just yet, no matter how infuriating you are. I think the lass will be happy she's finally got a job to do."

Percival's eyes narrowed. "The Angelus?" he had to ask, though he already knew the answer.

"Oh, yes." Anderson laughed loudly. "You can imagine my surprise at finding out the Darkness is one of Hellsing's attack dogs. Now, that is interesting."

"Vatican Section XIII," Alucard said after a long period of amused silence. "The Iscariot Organisation."

"Right you are," Anderson said, "you pathetic Hellsing dogs." He began to walk towards them. "And you must be Alucard. The housebroken Vampire, the monster who hunts his own kind, the famous Hellsing family pet."

"What have you done with the Vampire we are hunting?" Alucard asked, also beginning to walk forwards, intending to meet Anderson in the middle of the room.

"He's dead. Not much fun, really. I didn't even have time to enjoy it."

The two of them, both grinning, walked slightly passed each other in the centre of the corridor, and stopped. They stood, looking like something that reminded Percival strangely of a western, silently. While they did this, Percival knelt down and began to pull the bayonets from Seras' prone form, much to her pain and relief.

"It seems you two are the only ones left," Anderson said finally.

"Really?" Alucard asked.

A few more moments of silence … until both of them turned around, Anderson pulling out his bayonets with a yell, and Alucard pulling out his gun silently. Anderson's two bayonets won, impaling Alucard in both of his shoulders. Seras gasped, but Percival remained calm and continued to remove the bayonets from her, finally removing the last one. Alucard merely grunted in pain before lifting his gun and shooting Anderson point-blank in the forehead. There was an explosion of blood and Anderson limply hit the ground.

Alucard removed the two bayonets from his shoulders. "You attacked a Vampire head-on in the middle of the night," he said mockingly, but with a little curiosity, too. "You didn't even try to catch me by surprise. You're a brave man, father … but you're also a fool."

"Master …" Seras said, standing up slowly, though her wounds were not healing at the rate she had expected.

"Don't talk," Alucard told her. "You've been stabbed with a Blessed Blade." He approached them. "Now, just …"

A laugh rang out from behind him. Behind Alucard stood Alexander Anderson, smirk even larger on his face than it had been, his laughter booming throughout the room. He once again impaled Alucard through the shoulders, this time from behind, with his bayonets. A rare look of surprise took over the ancient Vampire's face.

"W-What?" Alucard gasped, not from the pain but from the shock.

Anderson laughed and shoved Alucard forwards, off of the bayonets. Alucard used the momentum to flip himself forwards, drawing his gun and firing at Anderson as he flew through the air. The bullets hit Anderson and sent him flinging through the air and onto the ground again. He lay limp for a few moments before once again getting up, laughing as his wounds smoked and healed before their eyes. He charged forwards once again, reaching speeds that no ordinary human should have been able to, and merely shrugged off any of the wounds being inflicted by Alucard's bullets. He slashed at Alucard, who jumped to the side and placed his gun next to Anderson's head, but a well-timed slash from Anderson's bayonet threw his aim off, causing him to miss.

Alucard shot at Anderson some more, the priest seeming to block all of them with his arms. Anderson flung his arms downwards, causing five bayonets to emerge from either of his sleeves, which he then flung out and threw at Alucard. And as it turned out, there were a lot more than five. Bayonet after bayonet was flung about the room, Percival and Seras having to fling themselves to the floor in order to avoid being damaged, and the room was practically demolished by the time the tirade ended. Alucard shot down the bayonets that were on a collision course with him, not noticing that Anderson was swiftly approaching him.

Anderson slashed Alucard's gun from his hand and stabbed a bayonet into each of his gloved hands. Alucard grunted in pain and Anderson laughed.

Anderson's wounds once again smoked as they healed. "Amen," he said with a cocky smirk on his face.

Alucard glared. "A Regenerator?" he asked. There was genuine interest in his voice, which did not happen often.

"Correct," Anderson confirmed. "A living weapon engineered by the human race to defeat vile monsters like you!" Anderson flung even more bayonets, of which he seemingly had an infinite amount, at Alucard, sending him flying into a wall and impaling him against it. Alucard's mouth hung open in pain at the amount of Blessed Blades that had entered his body. Anderson laughed as he approached, scraping one bayonet against another in his hands …

… And then he cut Alucard's head off in a fountain of blood.

"MASTER!" Seras screamed.

Anderson was laughing like a maniac.

And Percival was … smirking?

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

"Hurry!" Sir Integra yelled at her helicopter pilot. "Knowing Iscariot … no, knowing Alucard, it's already started!"

They were halfway there.

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

"I'm going to need you to take Alucard's head and run," Percival said to Seras. Anderson was too busy laughing to himself over Alucard's still-impaled body to notice. "I know you can't really run right now, and I'm sorry about that, Seras, but trust me."

"I do, but …" Seras said. "… But why would I need to take Master's head? He's dead … isn't he?"

"Give it a minute," Percival said. "He was decapitated with Blessed Blades, so he's gonna need a couple of minutes, but trust me on this. Just take the head and get the hell out of here."

Seras nodded to him and grabbed the head that had rolled nearby. Percival helped her to her feet, which she was grateful for, and she limped away as quickly and quietly as she was able to.

Anderson was still laughing maniacally, whether from amusement or actual madness no one could tell.

"That's it?" he asked through bursts of laughter. "That was Hellsing's ultimate weapon? The great domesticated Vampire, what a disappointment! He's a joke! Bloody Protestants screw everything up!" He turned around and noticed that the only person in the hallway with him was Percival. "So, after all that she's still able to crawl away? Looks like I underestimated the little Draculina." He took out his two large bayonets, prepared to begin the hunt again.

"If you think you're getting passed me, then you're more delusional than I thought, Anderson," Percival said. His guns faded into the shadows and a new shape began to form from the Darkness in his hands. "If we're gonna be inappropriately using weapons, then I guess these will do." Two curved daggers the size of swords made out of shadow formed in his hands, the handles resembling brass knuckles to aid with grip. He held them out in front of him offensively. "Come and get me, papist!"

Anderson sighed. "I hope you're not as disappointing as that let-down of a Vampire." Anderson charged forwards and Percival waited to meet him.

Blessed Blade and Darkness Construct clashed and sparks flew. The Serpent Heads bit and snapped whenever they got close enough, but Anderson's wounds continued to heal. Likewise, any slash that Anderson landed on Percival was healed over by the Darkness within seconds. It took a mere thirty seconds before both of them realised they were at a stalemate.

Percival was the first to do something about it. The shadows around them began to move and shape, forming strange protrusions … arms that grabbed at Anderson as they fought. He slashed at them and cut a lot of them off, causing them to shrink back into the shadows and disappear, though reforming again a few moments later. Anderson spun around and threw bayonets in every direction, a few of them impaling Percival, but most of them destroying the Darkness Construct Hands. Percival simply ripped the bayonets out of his flesh with the Darkness' tendrils and continued fighting.

As their clash of bayonet and dagger continued something unexpected happened. The shadows around Percival formed wings on his back and he flapped them once, launching himself above Anderson before falling back down and kicking off of Anderson's back, causing the priest to stagger forwards. Percival took this opportunity to charge back again, plunging the daggers into Anderson's back. Anderson grunted in pain as the daggers stabbed through him, protruding from his chest, but luckily missing his heart.

Percival grinned, his confidence in the situation growing. Unfortunately it was misplaced.

Anderson, in a rather unexpected move, grabbed Percival's arms and flipped him forwards, causing the daggers to leave his body in the process due to the grip that Percival had on them. Almost the second Percival landed, Anderson took out two of his bayonets and brought them down on Percival's shoulders, cutting right through and severing his arms from his body in a shower of blood from either side.

Percival growled in pain. "Motherfucker," he hissed. He heard Anderson laughing and turned his head up. "Oh, yeah, laugh it up, fuckface! Don't bother getting excited, because Seras isn't an eight-year-old boy!"

"Okay, first of all, that's stereotyping!" Anderson said. He was walking down the hallway in the direction Seras had gone … which was strongly indicated by the trail of blood. "And second of all, the little girl ain't gonna be able to do anything. If Alucard was no problem, why would she be?"

Percival laughed.

"What's so funny?" Anderson demanded.

"Oh, you'll find out," Percival assured him. "But before you go, why aren't you killing me? I don't have any arms, it would be pretty easy for you to just cut my head off."

"And take the fun away from my friend at the Vatican?" Anderson asked. "No, I couldn't do that. You'll just have to wait for the Angelus to come and exert divine punishment on you!" And with that, Anderson walked away.

I hope I've given her enough time, Percival thought. Alucard should have at least started to regenerate by now … at least, I hope so … Good luck, Seras.

The Darkness was already forming around the stumps of his arms and beginning to grow them back …

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

Blood dripped from Seras' slowly healing wounds as she slowly walked through the building, holding onto the window sills she passed with one hand, while keeping hold of Alucard's head with the other. She stopped to catch her breath. Those Blessed Blades had really done a number on her; if Percy hadn't helped her take them out she would probably be struggling to move at all …

She paused and held Alucard's head in front of her. His eyes were still slightly open, and they had kept their bright crimson colour. Hers had returned to blue long ago.

"Master …" she said, looking into his face. She hugged his decapitated head to her chest. "Please, I can't do this … I can't do this alone … I guess Percy would help me, but I wouldn't have anyone to help me learn to be a Vampire …"

Her moment was cut short as a bayonet flew towards her and hit Alucard's head, sending it from her grasp to be embedded in the wall.

"Where do you think you're going?" Anderson asked. "There's no place to run! Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we are nothing more than dust, and to the dust we shall return. Amen."

Seras was terrified. Not only for her life, but also because of a thought that entered her mind: Has he killed Percy? She hoped, practically pleaded with God, that he hadn't. Percy had been the only one at Hellsing other than Alucard to truly speak to her, and he was the only one period to treat her as a friend. Come to think of it, that made him her only friend …

I've got to get out of here, she thought as she realised Anderson was getting closer by the second. He seemed to be taking his time, toying with her. I've got to escape … find Sir Integra … She slowly made her way towards a nearby window, her hand outstretched towards it … and she withdrew her hand in pain when a massive electric shock seemed to pass through her. She looked up at the windows and saw Bible pages attached to the walls around it with bayonets. What is this …?

"That is a Spiritual Barrier, little girl," Anderson told her as he continued to approach. "It's impossible for vampiric creatures such as yourself to penetrate it. Now settle down and prepare for the slaughter, you God damned monster."

He's gonna kill me … Seras thought in terror as Anderson continued to approach, his bayonets drawn. Looking around, she could see Bible pages on all of the walls; Anderson had been incredibly thorough. I'm gonna die … I'm gonna die … oh, God, I'm gonna die!

"This is no time to lose your head, Police Girl," said the voice of Alucard in her mind. She snapped her head around just in time to see Alucard's head slip off of the bayonet that attached it to the wall, decaying into a puddle of blood in which no flesh or bone was visible. "Drink my blood, Police Girl. Drink and you shall no longer be treated like a slave. Drink, and you shall truly become one of us! You will drink blood of your own choosing, wandering the night powerful and singular. Become eternal and complete! Drink my blood, Police Girl. Drink my blood, Seras Victoria!"

Seras stared down at the blood, which was moving, in slight terror but mostly surprised as it actually began to form the words on the floor as they were being spoken in her mind.

"Got you," Anderson said. He was right behind her, his bayonets in a scissor-like position, prepared to take her head off in the swiftest movement … and then gunshots rang out and the bayonets were blasted to pieces in his hands.

"That girl belongs to me," said Sir Integra. She was holding a smoking gun and had two men in suits stood on either side of her. "What's your business here, Paladin of Iscariot, Father Alexander Anderson?" She lowered her gun.

"Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing …" Anderson said. "To what do I owe the honour of such a personal appearance?"

"Enough, Father Anderson," said Sir Integra. "This is a violation of our agreement. The situation here is under our control. Withdraw immediately. Neither the Iscariot or the Hellsing Organisation can afford this sort of battle. I don't care who you think you are, this act of aggression ends now."

"Withdraw?" asked Anderson, a grin growing once again on his face. "Is that an order?" He drew another bayonet. "You expect the Iscariot Organisation, God's chosen instruments of judgement, to just withdraw on your order? Did you really expect me to run away, screaming in terror from a filthy, Protestant whore?"

He ran forwards, swiftly decapitating Sir Integra's two bodyguards with his bayonet, before throwing a slash at her, which she swiftly blocked with her own sword.

"An artificially re-engineered Regenerator agent," Sir Integra observed. "And they've upgraded your healing. You're a thing."

Anderson leaned in. "Perhaps. But you're nothing but weak. You're worthless. And as for that pathetic pet Vampire you love to parade around … you just missed his decapitation."

While at first she had felt fear at the mention of Alucard, upon hearing about his 'decapitation' Sir Integra smirked. "You cut his head off?" she asked. "Is that all?"

"What?" Anderson asked, leaning his head back again.

The sound of a gun loading could be heard behind him. "Get your hands off Sir Integra!" Seras ordered him, her voice colder than she could ever recall it being.

Anderson laughed.

"It's not looking good for you, Father Anderson," Sir Integra told him. Her smirk never left her face. "If I were you, I would leave while I was still able."

"Have you gone insane?" Anderson asked her. "I'm about to paint the walls with the two of you."

"No, you're really not," Percival said. Seras felt an immense amount of joy at seeing him alive and well, but also noticed that he appeared to be regrowing his hands … "Decapitation is step one … but you forgot about two through ten."

There was a bat flying around the room that no one noticed but Seras and Percival. It would have been easily noticed by Sir Integra and Anderson had they not been locking blades at the time, but while Sir Integra did not see it, she was well aware of its presence. It was easily noticed by Seras and Percival due to its red hue.

"You should have just drank the blood, you idiot," came the voice of Alucard in Seras' mind. Her eyes widened.

And then all hell broke loose.

The windows smashed inwards and in flew a swarm of hundreds, thousands of bats with that same red hue. They swarmed Anderson, making him hold up his bayonets in an attempt to ward them off. It did nothing.

"Cut off his head?" Sir Integra asked again. "Pierced his heart? He is nothing like any Vampire you've ever known. Your tricks can't kill him. You may have been outfitted with the finest anti-Vampire technology, but a hundred years of the Hellsing family's occult knowledge brought this achievement!"

The bats were combining, splicing together into a black shape in the centre of the corridor. It was a black mass that had the vague shape of a human, and eyes and a mouth that glowed red. The mouth was grinning.

"The Vampire, Alucard!"

Alucard finally became visible in the midst of the bats, his red coat, hat and shades missing, leaving only a black straightjacket, white gloves and his pale face with its crimson eyes and dark hair and fangs. Soon enough his trademark clothes formed, too; everything but the hat.

"Master!" Seras cried in joy.

Alucard said nothing. He pulled his gun out of his coat and aimed it at Anderson. The two of them jumped each other, Anderson succeeding in cutting off both of Alucard's arms, but was surprised to see them grow back immediately.

"I think you're beginning to understand," said Sir Integra. "What will you do now, Anderson?"

"… I'll leave," Anderson said, the reluctance clear in his tone. "I'll need further preparation to kill this one." He pulled out a Bible, placed a hand on its cover, and its pages began to open and close in random places, like the wind was blowing open in different directions. "We'll meet again, Hellsing. Next time, I'll butcher you all." The pages of the Bible flowed around him, the sounds of the barrier smashing could be heard, and when the pages vanished so had he.

Seras fell to her knees, breathing deeply. "It's over," she sighed.

Percival sat down next to her, groaning as he did so. His hands had half grown back now. "Yeah, it is," he said. "You okay? Those bayonets did a number on you."

"I'm healing," she assured him. She looked down at his hands uneasily. "How are your hands?"

"Pretty good. Especially considering he actually took both of my arms off. Ordinarily I would heal faster, but those were Blessed Blades. Even the Darkness takes a little more time to recover from that."

Sir Integra sit a cigar and turned to face Alucard. "Are you all right, Alucard?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "It's been a while since I've had my head cut off. And now we've finally met Father Anderson from Iscariot."

"He has violated our agreements, attacked without provocation, and killed my men. The Vatican will pay dearly for this. However, they are not our priority. There is a shadow organisation somewhere out there that is responsible for our sudden increase in Vampire attacks."

Alucard grinned. "Then what are my orders, Master?" he asked eagerly. "Shall I destroy them? Wipe them from the Earth? Grind them to dust? Just give the word, my Master, Sir Integra Hellsing."

"When the time has come, I will," Sir Integra promised.

"Really?" Alucard said. "I can't wait. It'll be a pleasure, a truly great pleasure." He approached where Seras and Percival were sat talking. "You," he said to Seras, "why didn't you drink the blood?" She looked at him but was silent. "Why not drink?"

"I … I'm not sure," Seras said. "But it felt … it felt like if I drank the blood … it would mean the end of something important inside of me."

"… You are an idiot," Alucard said, turning away from her and began to walk away. "… But perhaps you have a point. Perhaps it is time for a Vampire who does not walk alone through the night."

Seras smiled. So did Percival, for that matter; it wasn't often that Alucard would even remotely admit to being wrong, and it was good to see that he at least had some form of soft side to him.

"Why on Earth did you turn her into a Vampire?" Sir Integra asked as Alucard passed her.

"Why, indeed?" Alucard said. "For fun? For sport? Maybe it was just a whim … maybe. But that doesn't sound like me. Perhaps after years spent with humans, you've finally rubbed off on me. I might be developing a sense of whimsy." He began to walk again. "Let's go, Police Girl. Don't dawdle."

"Yes, sir!" Seras said obediently, but happily. "Bye, Percy." She got up and walked out after her master. "But, you see, sir, my name's not Police Girl, sir. It's Seras Victoria."

"Enough!" Alucard said. "You coward. You are a police girl, Police Girl will do."

Seras sighed. "You're mean," she said, but Alucard ignored her and kept walking. She caught onto this and quickly hurried after him.

"That's quite a thing for him to say," Sir Integra said. "Just what I'd expect … from a King of Vampires … or a Count."

"He seems to be softening up a little," Percival said, walking up beside her. "Not much, obviously. He's been alive too long for that. But he's certainly being a lot nicer these days."

"I doubt it," Sir Integra said.

"So do I, that's the funny thing. Still, at least I've got someone to work with who isn't a complete sociopath. He was starting to drive me insane."

"Your job is to kill Vampires, not enjoy yourself."

"… I know that, Sir Integra. Believe me, I know that. Just … thank you for letting Alucard keep her around. She's pleasant company given our line of work, and it's much more refreshing than just not being spoken to."

Sir Integra said nothing. Eventually Percival left, and when that happened so did she.

~Hellsing's Supernatural Soldiers~

That was the first encounter we had with Iscariot, but it certainly wasn't the last. And Alexander Anderson wasn't done with us, either, but that's a story for another time.

Iscariot now knew of my existence. It was never any secret that Alucard was a part of Hellsing, but the fact that I, the host of the Darkness, was in league with Hellsing was something that Sir Integra had made sure was tightly under wraps. But now they knew, and that would have some serious consequences. The Angelus … the thought of that thing made the Darkness nervous, and I had learned that anything that could make the Darkness nervous was bad news. Very bad news.

My friendship with Seras was growing by the day. It wasn't only here, even I hadn't spoken to the human workers at Hellsing all that much. It was because of the Serpent Heads, you see; they tended to unnerve a lot of people. Not that I blamed them. But I spoke to Seras every night, whether we had a job to do or not, and I … well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel anything towards her. I didn't make a move, though, it all seemed a little too quick. Plus, she was already coping with being a new Vampire, and the stress of what had happened with Anderson, knowing that we had someone that powerful as an enemy … I think trying to make a move on her would have been too much.

… And considering her clear discomfort at seeing the Serpent Heads, I just didn't think she'd be all that interested.

But that didn't matter. What did matter was that Sir Integra had called a Round Table conference. It was time to bring these Vampire attacks to the attention of the other protectors of England. We didn't realise it at the time, but … that was exactly what they wanted.

And there we go! Percival had his first fight scene, and his attraction towards Seras is becoming genuine emotion. And I know that one short scene in Sir Integra's helicopter was pointless, but it amused me so I put it in. We had a brief appearance by our main antagonist, and we've had a mention of the Angelus ... the shit hits the fan from here, my friends, and those of you who know the series know just how much.

And one last merry Christmas to you!

Next Chapter: The Valentine Brothers