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Chapter Text

“You called for me, my Master?” asked the sultry baritone of the tall man with ink black hair and skin paled in death.

His red eyes watched her intently, the blonde-haired women across the desk. Her solemn, impassive face was a mask, perfected over hard years of commanding soldiers fighting monsters, despite her young age.

He was dressed in a black suit with a red trench coat, and he grinned at her, trying to unnerve her with the fangs that poked out between his lips even after all their years together.

She ignored his attempt to frighten her, and leaned forward and spread out several pieces of paper, police reports, and full color photos of bloodied bodies. Alucard leaned forward in interest, and he looked at her, asking permission with his gaze.

She gave the slightest nod, and he gently moved the pictures around with long, thin fingers enclosed in spotless white gloves. She pulled a cigar from a box on her desk and lit the end of it.

Alucard only barely wrinkled his over-sensitive nose at the foul smelling smoke that wisped up from the end.

“There have been strange reports coming from Los Angeles,” Sir Integra Hellsing said around the cigar, voice quiet but hard. “For the past two weeks, there have been reports of murders. Unusual ones. Bodies have turned up in all corners of the city skinned, dismembered, and decapitated. The heads are usually missing, and none have been found.”

She reached forward, and pointed to a particularly gruesome photo of a body crumpled on the ground; it was what was left of a man in a gray business suit. It was missing its head, and the dark, ragged mark down the middle of its back revealed the spine was missing also.

“Almost every body has had its skull and spine ripped out via brute force,” she finished.

Alucard’s eyebrow rose up slightly, and his lips thinned into a frown of contemplation. “This doesn’t sound like the work of a young, or even an experienced vampire. It’s not a werewolf, or a ghoul,” Alucard said, his blood-red eyes glinting with intrigue. “This sounds like something new.”

Sir Integra made it a point to look down at the papers on her desk. She looked away from the face of the vampire as a large and toothy grin grew in excitement over the vampire’s face. She wanted to be able to sleep at least a little that night.

“Whatever it is, it is a dangerous unknown. I want you to care of it, Alucard,” she commanded, removing her cigar and placing it in the pristine ashtray on her desk.

“You want me to go and hunt down this unknown threat in the City of Angels?” he asked. Alucard always made sure to have Sir Integra’s orders explicitly understood. Mostly it was because he wanted to do exactly what she intended, with no mistakes.

Partially, he liked to irritate her by making her explain her every intention and action.

Sir Integra scowled, but nodded. “Yes. I want you to go and kill it. Use extreme prejudice.”

“Of course, Master.” Alucard said, bowing slightly to her. When he straightened back up, he tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “However, why are you bothering yourself with the problems of the Americans? Can they not take care of themselves.”

Sir Integra huffed in annoyance. “Normally, I would leave this to their proper authorities,” she said simply, deigning to explain herself to Alucard, something she rarely did.

“Walter discovered there was a rash of similar killings in South America about ten years ago. Whatever it was, it was never caught, and it’s moved to North America. I refuse to stand by and allow this monster to come to England and start attacking her citizens. Therefore, I want this taken care of quickly and quietly, understand?”

“Of course, Master. I will leave at once,” Alucard said with a final bow. He took a step backwards and sank through the floor, disappearing like a ghost.

“Something ‘new,’ Walter,” Sir Integra quoted a few minutes later when her trusted butler was standing beside her desk, back straight and hands clasped behind his back. “Whenever Alucard is excited, there’s usually a large amount of unnecessary bloodshed.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, as though to pinch off the oncoming headache that usually accompanied her vampiric servant.

Walter nodded in understanding, and cleared his throat quietly. “If you wish, I can assign someone to keep an eye on him. Captain Nathans**, perhaps?”

“Nathans is head of security,” Sir Integra said, looking at Walter, a questioning eyebrow raised at the older butler.

“The Captain worked for the Royal Air Force before he worked for you. He’d probably appreciate the opportunity to spread his wings.”

She inter-laced her fingers and thought about it for a few moments, then nodded. “Fine. Send word to Captain Nathans; he will be leaving with Alucard tonight. You will keep up with Security until they return.”

Walter bowed in understanding, and just as he was about to leave, he paused. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Mum,” Walter said, a slight smile over his old and wrinkled face. “At least Alucard will be enjoying himself on another continent.”

~*~
One would think that, after 400 years, a vampire could learn to perfect the art of patience, but Alucard never seemed to have truly mastered it. Yes, he could wait for something for a while, but he would get antsy and itching for a fight. He was used to going into a battle, using cunning and brute force to win the battle, but there had never been as much suspense building for this fight as for others.

Now, as the Hellsing jet neared the end of a 17 hour flight from the Hellsing headquarters in England to Los Angeles International Airport, Alucard found himself almost vibrating in his seat from anticipation.

Captain Nathans and another Hellsing soldier were the only other crew on the small plane. Nathans was apparently so pleased with the idea of flying (something he had given up after becoming a Hellsing soldier) that he actually cracked a smile at the No-Life King.

Walter had given him copies of all the police reports and photos just before he had boarded the private jet. During the long and sometimes boring flight, Alucard studied the reports diligently, trying to glean from the slim readings what could have caused such trauma to the bodies, and why.

The main “victims” of this strange killer were mostly members of conflicting gangs that were currently attempting to overrun the city with drugs and death. The Jamaican Voodoo Gang and the Columbians seemed to have attracted most of the attention of the mystery killer, although there were several police officers and random citizens thrown into the mix.

Alucard quickly dismissed the work as that of a vampire, or even a nest of vampires. No blood was drained from the bodies, but the skulls and spines were removed with brute strength. Some of the bodies were even skinned, and a large number were found hanging upside-down and tied to rafters of ceilings. This was intriguing, because it portrayed just how swift and strong the killer was; hauling a full-grown body a couple stories into the air without being seen definitely quirked Alucard’s interests.

Another curiosity was the fact that the killer chose victims who were armed at the time of death.

“No sport in killing the defenseless,” he said to himself, now very interested in what exactly was hunting in the city. It had been a very long time since he had hunted something that peaked his curiosity.

Now, Alucard was becoming less patient and was fidgeting more as they approached the city. He tapped his fingers and shifted his legs several times. He wanted to be in the new city, and he wanted to be hunting now.

Wait a moment, is the great Alucard actually getting restless for a fight? Hehe, this is certainly a new feeling…

~*~

Despite almost being midnight, it was still a sweltering 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. The air was hot and sticky with the overpowering humidity, and steam rose from the streets and sewers. No one was out at the time; many were inside, enjoying the comfort of overworked air conditioners that dripped water down the sides of buildings, making them appear to be sweating.

To the numerous people who were living in the city, it was the Earthly version of Hell, what with the rampant crime and sky-rocketing temperatures.

To the Yautja, it was the perfect playground and temporary home.

He crouched on the edge of a roof of a skyscraper, surveying his sweltering kingdom. There blooms of heat that appeared and disappeared on his thermal vision of steam and heated blobs from warmed engines of moving vehicles.

There were some humans still traveling out and about, but he had no desire to hunt them. He already had more than enough trophies, the skulls and some spines of a dozen human warriors he’d vanquished in battle himself. Humans were supposed to be great prey for his kind, cunning and adaptable, but so far he was…underwhelmed.

The thrill of the hunt was waning. It was blasphemy, but he was becoming almost bored.

Soon, his ship would return and pick him up, but he was beginning to feel anxious that it wasn’t coming soon enough to stem such terrible thoughts.

Perhaps it wasn’t that he wasn’t bored, but the fact that he was alone that was upsetting. After all, this was yet another test on the path to adulthood: to hunt on an alien planet alone. All his other clan members were spread across this world on their own safaris, leaving him to his own devices. It was both a freeing and constricting feeling. Now that the thrill of the hunt was winding down, he was actually left the time and energy to really appreciate the fact that, if anything happened, (not that it would, he was a Yautja!) he was on his own.

Hopefully, his cunning, courage, and confidence had earned him the praise of U’Thre, their hunting God.

As he glanced over the city, he suddenly felt a tingle of uneasiness clench his stomach. The Yautja Predator stood and carefully scanned the area, but there was nothing near him on the roof save for a few pigeons: what was he feeling?

There was a rumbling in the sky, and the Predator turned and instinctively ducked as a small private jet flew past, descending towards the airport a few miles away. His plasma cannon instantly started to track the low-flying vehicle, but he did not plan on actually resorting to a tactic so tasteless.

The feeling of unease became one of anticipation and eagerness. It grew from the pit of his stomach until he seemed to engulf his whole body. He purred to himself loudly.

There is a hunter on that human ship, he realized. A hunter coming for me!

It was an old power that seemed to radiate from the ship; a sense of being that challenged his sense of superiority. Something very old and very strong was just as excited to fight him and he suddenly was to fight it. With excitement making his very soul reinvigorated and energetic, he clicked a tusk in curiosity as he started towards the airport.

Chapter Text

Captain Nathans was just piloting the plane into Los Angeles’ airspace when he noticed Alucard’s presence behind him in the cabin. He couldn’t hear the vampire over the roar of the engines, but the tell-tale shiver of freezing terror that ran down his spine in the vampire’s presence was a clear indicator of his visitor.

“Alucard, we’re almost to the airport,” Nathans said, glancing back to see the red-coated monster watching the passing city through the windshield. Nathans’ co-pilot did everything he could to pretend the powerful vampire was not smiling just a foot behind him. The captain was the only person, aside from Sir Integra and Walter, who could ignore the instinctual terror Alucard’s very presence stirred up and act almost normal around him.

“Yes. And I don’t plan on waiting anymore,” Alucard said, his voice strained with the last vestiges of control he’d learned over his long afterlife.

Nathans looked back in time to see the vampire put on his red wide-brimmed hat and caught the intense look of concentration and excitement on the old vampire’s face.

The captain immediately caught on. “You’ve got three hours, Alucard.”

“Then I will see you then, Captain.” The vampire actually winked at the captain before disappearing into the body of the plane.

“Make sure your seat belt is buckled!” Nathans advised, and the co-pilot nodded vigorously. His fingers were stiffened with fear from the vampire and the dread of what Alucard was up to and he had a hard time getting the belt to buckle.

Just as the latch finally clicked into place around his chest, there was a thunderous noise around them and an alarm started blaring at them.

“What the hell did he do?!” The co-pilot roared over the noise.

“Alucard’s not one for patience. He took the express shuttle down,” Nathans yelled back as he took the plane’s joysticks in his hands. “Now, you need to get that door closed, and I suggest you do it quickly.”

As the other man worked to get the opened emergency door closed before they landed, Nathans shook his head. “Just a little hop across the pond, Walter said. Nothing out of the ordinary, he said….”

~*~

The air violently whipped Alucard’s red coat around and battered his body as he plummeted towards the cityscape underneath him. His mad grin grew wider as he fell towards the ground at an increasing speed, and Alucard took in his initial sights of the City of Angels.

So, this is the City of Angels? Devils would fit in the décor better. I can smell the brimstone from here.

Even with the air whipping past him, he was able to take in the scents of the city that was rushing towards him (brimstone not really included). Blood, oil, death, smog, and various rotten, fleshy scents seemed to make up the entire city. The powerful odors of death and evil sent long dormant chills racing through his old spine. The lights of the city reminded him of the torches of enemy camps from his younger days.

He looked up and saw the private jet making its final descent towards the airport, and grinned.

“Captain Nathans, you didn’t blink under pressure as usual,” Alucard said to himself, sounding almost annoyed. “I can’t decide whether I find such steadfastness admirable or boring.”

Alucard landed on a tall skyscraper as gently as a leaf fell to the ground, and found himself buffeted by the city. Sirens blared across the city, obnoxiously loud to the vampire’s ears. There was a constant loud hum of people talking, screaming, laughing, and crying. The myriad of intense smells and the still, humid heat that had enclosed Los Angeles all attacked him at once. It only took a few seconds for Alucard to feel right at home in earthly version of Hell.

A sudden scent caught the vampire’s attention, and his interest in the city was forgotten as he zeroed in on the new scent. It was a strange smell, nothing like Alucard had every smelled before. It was…exotic, dangerous. The metal smell of blood in this scent was so powerful it made Alucard lick his lips hungrily. Unless there were multiple serial killers on the loose, Alucard knew it was the scent of his prey, was nearby since it was strong.

Which meant the strange killer was close.

The old vampire agent was looking for to this case with renewed vigor. Most cases he was sent on were simply clean-up missions, and so something different was an exciting idea. This killer was strong, fast, and brutal; it promised a great fight, something that Alucard would enjoy. It might even have been the one.

“Come out, Demon!” Alucard called out, remembering the city’s newspaper’s name for the mysterious serial killer. His right hand went under his coat and wrapped his long fingers around the handle of his silver pistol (which had the power and weight of a small cannon). Me, calling something else a demon? How hypocritical, he chastised himself cheerfully. “I’m looking forward to our meeting, and I don’t like to be kept waiting!”

A slight breeze stirred, gently billowing out his coat in its smooth, playful fingers. Alucard knew that his prey was watching him. He could feel unfamiliar eyes watching his every move intently. This only made him smirk, his fangs poking out between his lips. He grabbed his gun and pulled it free from his coat, fingers itching around its familiar weight. He lifted up his gun and held it aloft. Spinning in a slow circle and watching the tops of the buildings surrounding his position, Alucard narrowed his eyes, waiting for any sign of his adversary to show it.

The wait was not long.

One second, the vampire was standing alone; the next, three dots of red light in the shape of a triangle appeared over his heart. He recognized the dots as a laser sight (though seeing three was strange). He managed to dodge aside just in time to be missed by the blinding flash of light that came from nowhere and shot past him. Part of a metal fire ladder behind him melted when the light hit it.

Alucard glanced at the dripping metal of the ladder, then looked around, but saw nothing to explain the light, or where it could have come from. The burning metal overpowered the killer’s scent, and even his sharp eyes did not any evidence of where or how the Demon had attacked him.

Another flash of light, and this time Alucard noted the place it was shot from—a skyscraper a few buildings away and a few stories taller than the one he currently stood upon. He easily dodged the second shot, and took off running towards its source.

An invisible enemy using highly advanced weaponry? This wasn’t going to be the usual clean up mission he was assigned, where he would be fighting dozens of human-turned-ghoulish monsters (zombies with fangs).

Alucard didn’t even bother to stop the delighted laugh that escaped him as he jumped across rough tops that no human could have managed. He jumped from roof-to-roof and grinned in excitement.

~*~

The Predator was already curious, having watched the human jump from the low-flying airship and land on a building without hurting itself or dying. Even one of his species might have injured himself after such a long fall. Now, the young Yautja’s curiosity was becoming wariness as the human stood on the building several hundred yards away and a peculiar thing happened.

There was no heat signature for the Predator to zero in on. Amid the heat of the city (from the warm steam and leftover heat from the day) the human hunter was not made up of the usual yellow, red, orange, and black in his thermal vision. Instead, this one was black.

A humanoid shape that was solid ebony. Strange, considering that only dead things were black…

The human pulled out a standard weapon, an over-sized pistol, and the Predator took the movement as a challenge towards him. He whole-heartedly answered the call with a shot from his plasma canon. When the human dodged the first and second shots from his plasma cannon with exceptional ease and grace, he became intrigued. The human actually started racing towards his location and jumping over spaces between the buildings that were impossible for a human to make.

It was when this dead-like human started running up the side of the skyscraper he was atop of, the Predator was momentarily stunned. Having never seen a human move like that before (even Yautja could not blatantly ignore gravity so easily), he decided it was time to find another stage to battle on. Tapping a few keys on his wrist computer, the Predator disabled his cannon and took off at a sprint across the apartment roof he was on. His long strides and heavy weight actually left dents in the thin-metal roofing.

Within seconds, Alucard was on the roof and following closely behind the invisible Demon. His footsteps sounded tinny compared to the thunderous sounds the other creature made as it ran on the metal roof ahead of him. He laughed aloud.

“I love a good hunt!” Alucard shouted in glee as he whipped his gun forward and fired off several rounds. The blasts echoed off the surrounding buildings, making tremendous noise.

The Predator leapt off the tall building and the silver bullets with the Hellsing cross imprinted on them whizzed by harmlessly. He grabbed onto the gutter pipe attached to the wall and held onto it as he landed on the lower roof of another building.

Alucard was right behind him as he jumped off and fired at the roof below his falling body. His eyes were wide and insane with elation. He landed on the bullet-ridden roof, the last blast of the gun still resounding around him. He straightened up slowly, almost warily, looking around at the storage buildings on the roof.

The small storage sheds could offer cover to whatever he was hunting, and he found the sudden silence around him deafening. His grin grew as he emptied his gun’s clips, the empty magazines bouncing off the metal roof loudly.

“Whatever you are, you’re certainly good at running,” Alucard called out, reaching into his belt for extra clips. He slowly walked forward as he spoke loudly, his tone one of challenge. “However, I came here to find out how good you are at fighting!” The gun clips slide into the guns with a satisfied click. “Come out and face me!” he roared.

There was a sudden whistle as something sliced through the air behind him, and Alucard whipped around, gun up, just in time to see a 9 foot long spear whizz by harmlessly. It would have gone straight through his chest if he hadn’t moved.

The archaic looking spear buried itself halfway up the shaft in the wall of one of the storage sheds. Alucard began firing at the direction that the spear had come from, but the Predator had already relocated. Unsure where his prey was, the vampire began firing in all directions, the bullets made music as they ricocheted off the metal around. He was having too much fun trying to find his prey; he didn’t see the spear wrench itself out of the wall by an invisible hand.

Sudden movement behind him caused Alucard to whip around, bringing the Casull into his sights. His red eyes opened in slight surprise as the spear (wielded by an invisible foe) thrust itself through his body. Blood poured onto the ground under the vampire. Alucard, completely impaled, was lifted off the ground and flung across the roof with inhuman strength. He crashed through a storage shed and fell into a crumpled heap on the roof, momentarily stunned.

Alucard hadn’t been taken surprise of in a long time, and nobody got the best of him. Usually.

Yet, there he was, lying on the ground like a pile of noodles; all limp and unable to move. After another minute and with a slight grunt, the vampire was able to right himself. Now in a sitting position, he looked up and saw…something…come forward from the shadows. Alucard could see the movement, and was able to make out the outline of the basic humanoid shape, but there was no detail. Thought its scent was overpowering, it was easy to see how the killer snuck up on its human victims—it was completely invisible when not moving, and even moving it simply looked like a heat mirage.

Interesting camouflage, the vampire thought. He looked at the wound in his stomach (a gaping hole the size of his fist), studying the morbid visage intensely. A hand encased in a while glove swiped up some of the blood and brought it to his lips. His long tongue lapped at the blood and his eyes became alive.

“I haven’t tasted my own blood in years!” he laughed loudly, and this in itself caught off the approaching hunter off-guard.

Any creature would be shrieking and screaming in fear and pain and dying from shock. Yet this human is…laughing? Before the Predator could ponder the matter further, he was standing over Alucard. He raised his combi-stick over his head to bring down on the strange, cold human, but Alucard moved at an impossible speed. He kicked the Predator in the chest with surprising strength, making the alien stumble backwards several steps.

The Predator straightened himself and let out a mighty roar as Alucard started to get back to his feet, laughing the entire time. The roar was loud and seemed to shake his very core, like an earthquake. Had he been a normal human, Alucard probably would have been pissing himself in terror at the awful sound.

In his heat vision, the alien could see a spot of white in the chest area of the ebony human shape. The spear that went right through him wasn’t even slowing the human down, and that would have made an older hunter pause in curiosity.

Instead, the Predator marched forward towards the laughing Alucard and back-handed him across the face with enough force to remove his head from his body, sending him flying several feet away. Alucard had only just hit the roof and slid about a foot over the hot metal when the Predator’s strong hands unclosed around his ankle. The Predator dragged Alucard a few feet away (the vampire squirming the entire time) and with superhuman strength lifted the vampire off the ground by his leg. He swung the vampire’s body around until it smashed through a small shed, the building collapsing on the vampire-turned-rag-doll.

After several seconds of silence, the Predator was satisfied his prey was dead. He turned around towards the cityscape and sent out another loud, bellowing roar, a triumphant call announcing his newest kill.

There was a click and movement within the pile of metal and the Predator whipped around to see Alucard leering out from the pile, blood dripping down his face from a gaping wound in his forehead. Instead of being dead (like a normal human) the vampire smiled and raised his gun at the Predator’s chest.

The Predator’s outline belayed his size, but not his speed; the shape was already dodging to the side, but Alucard tracked the movement and squeezed off several roads that hit home. One in the arm, and one in the calf of the thing. Fluorescently glowing green blood began to flow freely, making the alien’s invisibility no longer valid.

Needing time to think of a new strategy, the Predator took off as fast as his injuries allowed. The blood dripped onto the rooftop as he jogged towards the edge and jumped, disappearing into the night.

“You can only run so far!” Alucard called into the night as he emerged from the rubble. He dusted his coat off and the wounds in his body healed instantly. “Well, this is certainly become an interesting hunt. I’m actually starting to enjoy myself,” the old vampire said with a chuckle. His glanced at the trail of bright green blood drops and his fangs flashed.

“I think I’m actually starting to have fun.”

Chapter Text

What the hell is that human?!, the Predator wondered as he ran/limped over the rooftops of L.A., trying to put some distance between him and the monster he was hunting.

He was hoping to heal himself and find another battlefield, so he could thoroughly enjoy this strange challenger’s fighting abilities to the fullest. I can’t enjoy myself full of metal bullets and limping like an Elder, the Predator thought as an explanation for his hasty retreat. At least, that was what he told himself in order to stifle the growing root of burning fear that seemed to have taken root in his mind.

Because he understood now that, whatever he had challenged, it was not a normal human. No human could have kept fighting after being thoroughly impaled with his combi-stick, never mind stayed alive. Its’ strength and speed was impossible; even the very laws of nature and physics did not seem to apply to whatever this dead-like human was. The fact that it laughed off gaping, mortal wounds like they were nothing more than scratches forced the Predator to rethink his approach.

The pain in his arm and especially in his leg became too great to ignore, and he was forced to stop a few miles away on yet another high-rise roof. As soon as he stopped moving he essentially collapsed into a heap behind the roof’s ledge, using it as cover in case the non-human was following him. He would have been surprised if the human wasn’t following his trail of glowing blood.

He hissed and clicked his tusks in pain when he fell to the rooftop, the bullets in his body burning the muscles like fire. He needed to get them out and patch up the holes quickly. Even with the blood loss and running on his leg, he wasn’t in danger of death. It took a lot more than simple blood loss to kill a healthy Yautja. Their bodies could take a beating without stopping, and few human bullets were exceptionally life-threatening, though they did hurt like hell.

A few taps on his wrist computer, and the invisibility shield around his body was removed and he materialized on the roof. He needed to see his wounds while doctoring them, and he had to work quickly to patch himself up since he was now slightly more vulnerable.

The Predator removed his shoulder pack and started rummaging through its contents. He straightened out the wounded leg in front of him, and cradled the wounded left arm to his chest. After a moment, his hand enclosed around the long and lean pair of tweezers inside. He inspected the hole in his upper arm, and noted the bullet was shallow, easy to find.

With a painful huff, the Predator drew in a deep breath and carefully nudged the cold metal into his arm, grimacing at the pain. A few seconds of painful prodding caused a bloom of pain to radiate from his arm like fire—found it. He was able to pull the bullet free with relatively little fuss, and dropped the hunk of silver to the rooftop in disgust. A grunt of relived pain escaped him, and his arm started to bleed freely once again.

He ignored the blood dripping down his arm, and decided to dig the bullet out of his calf. It looked to be embedded deep in the muscle, but luckily it hadn’t hit the bone. A chipped bone was technically a good enough reason to cancel his hunt and go back to the ship, but he’d never live it down among his people.

Another steadying breath inhaled, he plunged the tweezers into his leg and was unable to stop the loud groan of pain that escaped him. The metal burned and he was forced to move it around to find the alien object, causing his eyes to water at the pain. Eventually, he found the bullet, and had to calm himself down before just ripping the thing out carelessly. Another hunk of mangled silver fell to the rooftop.

The Predator watched the blood flow from his leg once again, but the pain was already lessening. He wiped the tweezers off on his loincloth, and tucked them back into his pack before pulling out a monstrous syringe full of red liquid. He grimaced at the needle slightly; he didn’t like shots, but it was necessary to fight off any infection.

He was forced to keep his left hand loose as he injected the syringe into his arm wound and let out a loud hiss. The liquid felt like fire, and burned quite badly for several seconds. He had to repeat the process with his leg wound. He clenched his left hand as he injected the medicine into the calf, and this time was unable to stop the pained bellow that escaped him.

It took a few minutes for the pain to subside, but when he slathered on the white cream from a nondescript tube that was in his pack, he sighed. The cream cooled the angry wounds and made him click in relief. The holes would heal themselves up in a day or two.

After a few moments longer, he could move normally and neither wound was bleeding anymore. As he stood up and tested his weight on his patched leg, he found it was almost back to normal, though the ache was still there. He felt a little tired, but had to be ready. The trail of blood he had left behind was easy to spot, and the non-human was sure to be following it.

A familiar scent filtered its way through his mask, and the Predator paused as he inhaled the fresh, meaty odor. He had inadvertently wandered to the slaughterhouse, and his body cried out for food. The protein would give him strength and sharpen his mind, two things necessary to fight his inhuman challenger.

He tapped away on his wrist computer, and the Predator disappeared into the night as he made his way stealthily towards the slaughterhouse’s rooftop entrance.

~*~

Alucard smirked once again as he picked up the trail of green splots across another rooftop. His blood-red eyes peered over his tinted sunglasses as his eyes followed the trail of blood, eyes narrowed in curiosity.

“I wonder what sort of monster this creature is,” he mused to himself as he calmly walked beside the trail of blood. It took a lot of willpower for the vampire to not bend down at lap at the blood, to taste his adversary and know it intimately. The blood could tell him everything he wanted to know, but he was going to taste it right from the source; the creature’s neck.

“It’s not a vampire, nor a ghoul, or werewolf or a witch. And with such technology I’d almost suspect a human, but the technology is too sophisticated. No human I’d aware of bleeds green blood, either. This really is something new.”

Before he could continue his analysis, a loud bellow filled the night air. It echoed from a point far away, yet still caused several pigeons nearby to take flight in fear. Alucard’s head snapped up towards the general direction of the roar. He narrowed his eyes but saw no sign of the Demon. As the night quickly swallowed up the noise, the vampire couldn’t help but pull out his Casull.

“Well, no matter what it is, it can still feel the effects of my Casull. Too bad this Demon won’t get to live very long. I was just beginning to enjoy this.” He bit down on the barrel of the gun and cocked it, the overhead moonlight glinting off of his glasses.

~*~

“Can’t you see, Herrigan? The technology alone we could learn from this…visitor…could change everything about the world!” Keyes said excitedly. The fact that the thin-haired man was currently dressed in what looked to be a haz-mat suit covered in tin foil only accentuated his craziness.

“You’re insane,” said Herrigan, the black police lieutenant whose clothes were plastered to him from sweat. Partially it was from the crazy heat wave that was engulfing the city, and the rest of it was from following the serial killer known as the “Demon” through the city. There was even a bit of blood on his orange shirt from Keyes’ goons knocking him out.

The longer Keyes went on and on, the more incredulous Herrigan looked, like the white man was pissing out a rainbow as he spoke.

The cop couldn’t help the thought Crazy white asshole from floating through his mind. “Let me get this straight, Keyes. You and your goon-squad are going to go into this slaughterhouse and try to freeze a fucking alien?” You’re the stupidest, craziest fucks in this city, though not spoken, was apparent in Herrigan’s tone.

“You saw it’s handy work for yourself, so don’t give me that look, Herrigan. You’ve lost your entire team to it,” Keyes said, hitting Herrigan where it hurt the most. “Now we’re just trying to even the score.”

Before Herrigan could throw out another “You’re outta your god-dammed mind,” Keyes turned his back on his and began preparing for the attack. He checked the monitors and spoke to his team inside of the trailer/secret operations base.

Keyes’ lackey, a big guy used to following orders, began leading Herrigan into another room. “You’re gonna get ‘em killed, asshole!” Herrigan roared before he was shoved into a back room.

~*~

Alucard stood on the roof of the slaughterhouse, the scent of butcher beef carcasses and blood making him thirsty for blood. He could smell the Demon’s exotic, musky scent here as well, so he knew his prey was inside the warehouse, somewhere. He had originally planned to corner the creature in the warehouse and torment it until killing it. The humans in the trailers around the building had forced him to pause.

His super sensitive hearing allowed him to hear the discussion between Keyes and Herrigan, and he tilted his head in intrigue. An alien? Well, that was definitely different, and explained a lot of the Demon’s weaponry and abilities. Yet Alucard didn’t care where the thing had come from, or even what it was.

He wanted to see it under battlefield conditions.

He heard the plan to hunt the hunter, and decided to simply observe the humans’ attempt at capturing the creature. “After all, reading about my adversary’s carnage and seeing it in person are very different. It would be rather irresponsible of me to not assess its’ true abilities from afar for my report to Sir Integra, would it not?” he said to himself, grinning with excitement.

Instantly, Alucard disappeared from the roof, only to reappear perched on a rather overhead; he had the perfect overhead view of everything about to happen. He crossed his legs and folded his hands together as he waited for the bloodbath to begin.

Chapter Text

Alucard watched with interest as a group of humans in strange, metal suits calmly worked their way through the lower levels of the warehouse. They had large packs on their backs, with what looked like a fire hose and nozzle in their hands, ready to shoot at the Demon. Even over the meat and blood, he could still scent their collective stench of caution the men gave off.

The lights on their backs swept over the meat house and he noticed the color of the light, which matched the light of the standing lights placed around the building. Ultraviolet light, the vampire realized, narrowing his eyes. If he joined in the carnage later (which, depending on his level of excitement, he might not be able to restrain himself from doing so) he’d have to be careful not to be exposed to the light too long. Though he was powerful enough to handle sunlight, the concentrated beams might burn or blind him, and that would be rather annoying.

He also noticed the air was full of falling flakes, and he held out a gloved hand to catch several pieces of what looked to be shaved metal. He raised an eyebrow at the metallic snow, but ignored it for the more interesting things going on underneath his perch.

There was movement on the level above the wandering humans, a huge black shape that moved with impressive speed and stealth. So, the Demon is here, Alucard thought to himself, and grinned. It seemed that it was no longer invisible, for whatever reason, and even in the low light he could finally see his adversary fully.

Even if the cop Herrigan had not called it an alien, Alucard would have known it was a being not of this world. Despite his quick glimpse as it moved, he noticed its broad size, enormous muscles, strange armor, dreadlocks, and the metal mask over its face. It was easily a foot or more taller than Alucard himself (a feat in of itself). There seemed to be a gun perched on its shoulder much like a parrot perched on a pirate’s, and long, serrated blades protruded from its right gauntlet. This was a being that lived to kill, and Alucard was certain he would be provided an entertaining show once the Demon realized the humans were there.

It was the only reason the creature was moving as it was, without being invisible. The Demon was making its way towards the hanging sides of beef on the lower level, and had not reacted to the human walking on the level right under it. Obviously, it had yet to notice the humans, which was odd considering they were dressed in metal suits and weren’t being exceptionally stealthy.

Perhaps the clothing is preventing him from seeing them? Alucard pondered, unsure. He wanted to believe this serial killer that was capable of giving him a proper ass-kicking was not that painfully oblivious.

As if to prove this point, one of the humans carelessly stepped on a metal stair, causing it to creak loudly. None of the other humans seemed to notice the fatal mistake except the creature, which immediately paused and then squatted down behind a shipping crate, and Alucard above them. The Demon looked around several times, but never seemed to pinpoint the human’s exact location, verifying Alucard’s hunch about the clothing. Whatever it was, it made the humans invisible.

How ironic, the vampire chuckled. The invisible hunter getting bested by invisible prey; how will it compensate?

The humans moved up to the level right under the Demon, and he started tapping on his left gauntlet. He would look up and around, then tap a few more buttons. He repeated the process several times until he looked down and reacted in shock at the humans underfoot. The Demon grabbed the condensed speak that hung at his hip and extended it to its full length before standing up.

Alucard grinned. “Looks like Hide and Seek is over. I think he wants to play Tag.”

While the rest of him looked calm and curious, he had to clench his fist to stop himself from pulling out his Casull and simply killing the humans himself. He wanted to be part of the carnage that would quickly ensue, but he restrained himself. No point in wasting bullets on those dogs when there’s a real wolf to kill, he told himself.

The humans must have realized the Demon was onto them, for they clustered together, backs to each other, trying to watch all directions for the creature to attack from. Too bad they clustered together about 10 feet underneath the waiting Demon, who was a level above them.

“Stupid fools!” Alucard hissed in laughter. “Foolish dogs!”

The Demon dropped down in the middle of their little defensive circle and the slaughter began. He cracked open the skulls of two men when he brought his spear down on their heads. He impaled on through the gut and slung him over the side of the railing to his death two stories down. Despite being completely visible and huge, the Demon was able to dodge the human’s strange weaponry and slash another man’s chest open with the blades on his gauntlet.

The air was filled with dying shrieks and the overpowering smell of freshly spilt blood reached the vampire in the rafters, making him shudder in retrained want. In the midst of the chaos, one man managed to stumble back a few steps and began fiddling with the knobs and controls on his nozzle. Alucard’s eyes narrowed as he watched the human try to attack the Demon from behind.

“I won’t allow a pathetic human to take down this Demon. He’s mine,” Alucard said, readying himself to shoot the human or tear his throat out with his teeth. The Demon was his foe, and only he would kill it. No human was going to stand in the way of such a marvelous opponent!

The vampire didn’t have to move from his perch; the man clearly had no idea what he was doing and was unable to make the gun work. The Demon, now surrounded by a cluster of human corpses, turned to the last man slowly. A loud trilling sound, like that from a monstrous bird, came from the helmet.

Just as the human looked up to see the Demon standing before him, spear raised for the final blow, there was a huge explosion that rocked the warehouse’s entrance. Alucard managed to drag his eyes away from the man and monster in time to see a lone man run through the flames into the slaughterhouse of Hell.

“It seems the Calvary has arrived; whatever shall you do?” The vampire sarcastically asked the Demon.

The Demon seemed to have forgotten the man in the metal suit as he started towards the new target. The gun on his shoulder, still aimed at the man, shot a blinding flash of light at the government agent. He was blown back into a metal wall and fell to the ground in a limp heap.

“That’s a satisfactory answer,” Alucard agreeing with the Demon. Whoever the Calvary was, they were much more interesting the foolish dogs the Demon had just torn through.

Chapter Text

The flames from the explosion had set off the sprinkler systems, and within seconds, both the lone human interloper and the Demon were drenched in cold water from above.

Alucard watched the human with interest, noticing that the Kevlar vest was the only protection the man wore, yet he managed to carry an impressive arsenal of guns on his person. The man tucked himself behind a series of shipping crates, and the familiar click of loading fresh clips into guns reached the vampire's sensitive ears.

Even from his height, he saw the shining spot on the man's belt. Ah, you must be Herrigan, Alucard thought, then looked at the smoldering heap of human that was the Demon's last victim. And that must have been Keyes. Too bad he didn't listen to you earlier.

The Demon leapt from the third story and landed on the ground floor, about fifty feet from the hiding cop. Its impact seemed to send tremors throughout the building; even Alucard felt their vibrations through the beams he was sitting on. The Demon crouched and tapped away on his wrist again, but nothing seemed to change. It looked at its hand, and electrical sparks leapt forth from the controls with a loud crackle and danced over the alien's skin. The falling water shorted out his cloaking ability.

Alucard watched as the Demon, momentarily distracted, was caught off guard as Herrigan let loose a barrage of bullets at him. Several seemed to graze the being's arm and thigh, causing shallow but painful wounds. More glowing green blood began to flow.

The cannon crackled, now useless with a bullet embedded in it. The Demon ripped the cannon from his shoulder and dropped the useless piece of tech to the floor without hesitation. Most of the other bullets bounced off the little armor he wore, leaving him alive and getting angrier by the second (if the increase in testosterone being released in the Demon's scent was any indication).

Alucard watched the Demon be pinned behind a series of boxes with peaked curiosity. He was intrigued by how this one police officer had managed to accomplish what a highly trained team of professionals could not. With lightning speed, Alucard raced across the rafters to one's right over the stand-off and resumed his perched position.

Suddenly, the black man looked up, and his eyes grew wide when he looked straight at Alucard overhead. The vampire grinned, baring his fangs, and the man shook his head, obviously thinking he was seeing things. The vampire used some of his own power to make himself hidden from the human's view, so when Herrigan looked up again, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The Demon, noticing the cop's distraction, capitalized on the moment and let loose with a miniature rocket from his gauntlet. The missile hit Herrigan right in the chest, sending the man flying back several feet backwards into another set of boxes and sending his shotgun skittering across the floor. He crawled out quickly, clawing at the smoking, melting Kevlar armor, trying to rip it off before it burned him. Alucard could tell that, though he was fast, the human was still in pain and injured from the missile.

The Demon moved fast for something so massive, and it almost managed to cut Herrigan's head from his shoulders. However, the human was smaller and faster. The adrenaline pumping through his body made him move erratically, able to run right past the Demon into a series of hanging sides of beef. Thinking quickly, he started swinging the heavy cuts of meat so that, if the Demon followed him, they'd smack into it full force, slowing it down.

Alucard chuckled as he felt the human's heart beating faster and faster, and he neared the blocked exit. What will this hunter do with his prize? He wondered. Decapitate it as the reports said, or do something else just as enjoyable?

Just as Herrigan ran into the locked metal door, the Demon was upon the man once again, with no intention of letting him run away. However, it was the Demon's turn to be surprised as Herrigan raised his shotgun (which he grabbed while on the run) and shot the alien multiple times. Bright green wounds peppered the Demon's mostly naked chest. The Demon let out a roar of pain as it stumbled backwards, and with the final pump of the shotgun, the alien fell to the floor, clearly dead.

The rafter Alucard was sitting on buckled under the force of his fist as he slammed it down. The old vampire was quaking in rage and disappointment. He had not seen the human grab his gun, and now his prized adversary had been stolen right out from under him, literally! The fight was over, and he hadn't done a damned thing to prevent it.

If a single man could kill it, what fun would it have been for you to fight? He heard a voice in his mind say in a soothing tone. True, he mused, and his red eyes focused on Herrigan's form, doubled over in exhaustion and staring at the monstrous corpse in front of him, uncertain. Perhaps I should go down there and drain him, use him as a familiar. His tenacity and ingenuity could prove useful one day…

The sprinklers began shutting off one by one until no more water (or metallic flakes for that matter) fell from the ceiling. The policeman inched forward, shoes squishing in the water pooled on the floor. When he was close enough, he bravely poked the alien in the chest with his gun, but there was no reaction. Getting bolder, he tried to remove it's metal mask, but paused when he noticed it was connected via tubes to its shoulder pack. He managed to gently disconnect them, sending clouds of white steam into the air.

Alucard, though now vaguely depressed, leaned forward slightly so he, too, could see the face of his most intriguing foe.

Both man and vampire were of the same mindset as the mask was finally removed, revealing the Demon's face. A large forehead with striped purple markings on it, deep-set eyes surrounded by bristles, and its mouth was flanked by four large mandibles, or tusks.

Alucard chuckled as he thought: He's one—

"You're one ugly motha-aaaagh!" Herrigan yelped as the Demon suddenly grabbed him by the throat and hauled him in close.

"Mo-ther-fuc-ker!" the Demon finished in a gargled voice before he tossed the human away like a rag doll.

Alucard began laughing maniacally to himself, mostly in joy. The Demon played us for fools! The hunt will continue!

The Demon sat up and shattered the police man's gun against the floor like it was a plastic toy. It let out a furious roar of pain and strode forward, fully intent on ripping Herrigan limb from limb. Instead, another human jumped in front of Herrigan, shielding him with his metal suit.

Though the burns on his face were severe, Keyes had managed to survive the attack. A blast of cold air (cold enough for Alucard to feel from the rafter almost 40 feet overhead) was shot at the Demon, causing it to retreat from the freezing air with a bellow of annoyance.

Keyes turned towards Herrigan and motioned for him to run. "Get out of here! I saved your ass, and this is between me and him."

Just as Herrigan took off towards a metal ladder that led to the roof, Keyes turned back to the Demon just in time to see something coming right for him. It looked like a discus with lights on it, but it cut through the sides of beef like they were tissue paper.

It also cut right through the government agent without stopping, completely cutting him in two.

The creature's roars followed Herrigan all the way up the ladder as he frantically climbed for his life towards the roof. The Demon was close behind him, ready to finish this battle.

Gleefully, Alucard disappeared from the rafter and reappeared on the roof just before man and alien, already pulling out his Casull.

Chapter Text

Herrigan knew that alien bastard was going to be up on the roof at any second, trying to rip his throat out. Luckily, the top of the roof was home to various shed-like structures, which would give him the advantage of surprise as he ducked behind one. His ears strained for any sounds: a shuffle, a step, a breath, even anything to give away the alien's position. The policeman couldn't depend on his eyes after all—having an enemy that could turn invisible was a situation he'd never been properly trained for.

A few feet from his position was a crunch, a possible footstep on the gravel-encrusted roof. Herrigan forced his back against the wall of the shed, shaking hands holding a death grip on his gun as he tried to ready himself to turn the corner and take a shot.

His breath was ragged and as loud as thunder, his heartbeat pounded in his ears a tempo of a dozen war drums. He had to remind himself that he wasn't actually shouting his position for all to hear. He attempted to take in deep, calming breaths, so he really wouldn't give himself away if the creature was just around the corner….

Despite his best efforts, his plan failed.

Herrigan had only closed his eyes for a few short seconds before he was attacked—from behind.

Several things seemed to wrap around him, binding him effortlessly. A dozen spectral hands were growing from the wall and had wrapped around him body, their strength enough to easily stifle any movement from the surprised cop. A white gloved hand, a strange pentagram design gracing the back, wrapped around his mouth to keep him from shouting.

Herrigan was now truly terrified. He was completely helpless, bound in a cocoon of hands. He wanted to try and wiggle free, to scream even though he knew it would be muffled.

Luckily, a small part of his mind was calm enough to keep him from doing as such. If he moved, and the alien found him, he'd be dead, his skull another trophy for the sadistic killer.

Something was wrong. This wasn't the hunter's work. From what he had seen, this alien hunter was all attack, no real tricks or traps. If you were armed, and displayed yourself to be a worthy prize, he'd attack. This was something different. What the hell is-?

The cop's eyes grew to the size of saucers as the head of a man phased through the wall right next to him. The skin was deathly pale, shrouded with ink black hair, and wearing a large red hat. His eyes, however, were hidden behind a pair of reddish/orange-lensed glasses.

The man grinned impossibly wide (it seemed to split his very skull), revealing a maw full of razor fangs. The glasses slipped down his nose to reveal glowing, blood-red eyes, which were looking at Herrigan with such a deep intensity he knew that, if he survived this, those eyes would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Oh fucking hell, it's the Devil himself! Thought the poor cop.

Alucard cocked his head as though he could hear the man's thought, and chuckled.

"Not exactly, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the compliment," the vampire king said with a smirk.

It disappeared after a few seconds, and he looked at Herrigan seriously. "There's an essence about you, a sense of bitter resentment and anger. Your accomplishments have meant nothing, your friend's lives, taken without warning. You hold a vendetta against this…hunter. And if freed, you will continue until one or both of you are dead."

Herrigan was still, watching the strange specter with awe and terror. How did he know what Herrigan's very thoughts were?

"Your sense of obligation to your dead comrades is…honorable." The vampire paused. "Honorable, but problematic. I cannot let you kill this particular predator. He and I still have blows and bullets to share, you see. It's been a long, long time since I've had anything close to the amount of fun I've had on this mission. Therefore, I will not let you get in my way anymore."

Herrigan felt a shudder of ice run down his spine as Alucard peered at him, and cracked that satanic smile again. "I don't meet such interesting people in my line of work. And if I do, they are usually on the other end of my gun's sight. I like you, Herrigan, so I won't kill you," Alucard said, causing the cop to jerk in surprise at the use of his name.

The cop's feeling of relief at hearing he wouldn't be killed was almost instantly realized the unspoken "but" that was implied. His worry transformed into gut-wrenching fear as the vampire's grin grew exponentially.

"I simply hope the knowledge that you will be able to fight and kill new enemies for the next eternity will be enough to assuage your need for blood and vengeance."

Despite the wall of frozen fear that was surrounding his mind, a few key words were able to break through.

Fight…kill….eternity….what the hell is he…?

Before a question could even fully form in his mind, Alucard's fangs sank deep into the cop's neck. His terror-filled heart worked against him, quickly pumping his blood into the vampire's waiting jaws. There wasn't any real pain after the initial bite, just the gathering tide of sleepiness that washed over him. His mind stayed alive just long enough for him to think My partner was killed by an alien, and I got myself killed by a vampire…what the actual fuck….

Alucard drained the man quickly. He did not want the Demon to come across him as he fed, when he was more likely to succumb to bloodlust and kill the alien without thinking. Alucard wanted this hunt to last a little longer; the carnage in the slaughterhouse made him want to show the Demon his skills, let them have a truly epic battle to the death.

He also did it as a small token of respect to his new familiar, Herrigan. After all, the man had drawn the hunter's blood. That was no small feat. Despite his…humanity…Herrigan would be useful later. Draining him quickly, humanly even, was a good way to show the respect Alucard felt the cop was owed.

With his lust for fresh blood quelled slightly, he felt himself ready to face the Demon and show it exactly what he could do….

Chapter Text

The Predator crouched on the edge of the skylight where he'd followed the human up. He clicked a tusk in slight irritation when he saw the number of small structures that dotted the rooftop. There were so many places for his prey to hide, and he was running blind without his helmet (left behind in the warehouse, possibly even destroyed). Like all Yautja, he was trained to hunt without the mask, but he had yet to actually use those skills in real time.

Unclipping the spare respirator from his belt, he took several deep breaths, hoping this would tide him over until he could go back to get his mask. He could survive without the mask, but the air was too dry here—he was used to a much more humid climate. The respirator had a humidifier to make breathing more comfortable and altogether easier for his kind.

He glanced around, suddenly remembering that he hadn't seen the strange human without a heat signature since it had shot him. Had the human decided to stay away? Doubtful, the Predator thought, he challenged me, after all. He'll be back, and when he is, I'll be waiting.

Until then, he had a particular human to kill.

The Predator surveyed the roof once more, then let loose with a bellowing roar; he was issuing a challenge to his prey, but he was also attempting to terrify it into making a fatal move. A flock of pigeons fled at the intense noise, but otherwise there was no sign of life.

He clicked a tusk again and began his manual search of the area. Though his cloaking device was still broken, he didn't need it to sneak around the roof without being seen.

Several minutes later, the Predator still had not encountered the human who had shot him. He was actually beginning to wonder if it was even still on the roof—he hadn't heard a single noise, nor smelled any of the particular scent humans as a species carried. Carefully coming around the corner of another structure, he literally stumbled over the human's corpse.

It was propped up against the wall, and from its stiffened frame, he knew immediately it was dead. Being a hunter meant the Predator was almost bored at the sight of a corpse, but this one did interest him. There was something…wrong with it.

Glancing around and seeing the coast clear, he leaned down and examined the body carefully. There was no wound he could discern, no bruises, no cuts, nothing. Just the fading heat signature his eyes could pick up. Thought he was unable to see the human's face, it was contorted enough that even the Predator could tell that there was a look of pure, unadulterated terror on it.

Who did this? The hunter wondered, ticking to himself in thought. What killed him without leaving as much as a trace behind?

No, there, he thought, spying something on the man's neck. Grabbing the head he turned it carefully, and two puncture wounds in the neck presented themselves, coal-black dots to his eyes.

Puncture wounds on the jugular, and no blood? Not even a drop? Looking down, he reaffirmed that the gravel on the rooftop was devoid of any had hunted enough prey to know that it was possible to kill something without making much of a mess. To exsanguinate something but leave no trace of the blood behind—that took much work.

And time. The human's body was still warm, but the coolness of death was creeping over the corpse; what once was red, yellow, and orange was quickly becoming pale blue. Whoever, or whatever, had killed the man had done it just moments before.

A myriad of emotions washed over the Predator as he glanced around once more. One was irritation: this was his human, his kill. The human had drawn his blood, but he had been denied the ability to return the favor. His honor would have to be assuaged with another trophy.

Curiosity was another one. Who killed him, and why in this fashion? How did they do it without alerting me to their presence?Many questions, but the Predator was not in the business of finding answers.

He was here to find worthy foes and make them into worthy trophies.

He gripped the handle of his combi-stick tighter, a determined growl escaping him.

Suddenly, footsteps were coming up behind him. The Predator whipped around, dreadlocks flying through the air at his speed, to face the ebony human standing only ten feet from him. The vampire stood with his profile to the Predator, who swallowed unconsciously when he realized the dead-like human had indeed managed to follow him.

"I've got you all to myself once more," Alucard said, unmoving. A small breeze tousled his black hair, obscuring his face. A toothy grin grew across his features. "This game is getting interesting, and I won't let you get away so easily this time, Demon."

The Predator's eyes narrowed at the solid black human before him.

Two things made the Predator pause. One was the fact that the human seemed to appear without warning, straight behind him. No footsteps, no breath hitched in fear. Nothing ever got the drop on him-he was a Yautja! He was one of the greatest race of hunters in the galaxy!

A strange sensation wormed its way into his midsection. A sensation that only intensified when the breeze shifted and a new scent assaulted him. The scent's undertone was that of an old, dusty, long-abandoned tomb. However, it was being overpowered by the sickeningly strong scent of heavy, greasy copper—fresh blood.

This was the one who had killed the human.

This one, who could seemingly appear out of nowhere, who appeared dead without any sign of life, who could kill and drain a human of his blood within moments, was the Predator's challenger.

"Now then," Alucard said calmly as he removed his hat with one hand and dropped it to the ground, then removed his glasses. A sadistic grin covered his features as he turned towards the Predator, lifted his arms before him, and made a rectangle with his index and middle fingers.

"Let me show you how a real vampire does battle!"

Chapter Text

Seconds seemed to stretch into years as the two hunters stared each other down, neither moving, just watching. A warm breeze blew between them, bringing with it the smells and sounds of the city: meat from the slaughterhouse and choking oil, police sirens and gunshots in the distance.

Alucard's sadistic grin didn't even falter as half of his body changed shape into an oily black mass, red eyes springing up like demonic wildflowers in spring. Where his hand had been was now a giant head with multiple pairs of eyes and a mouth full of teeth the size of steak knives. The creature's head turned towards the alien and let loose with a howl, gnashing its teeth. It seemed to pull at Alucard's very being, as if trying to escape the vampire's body.

Baskerville had always been an impatient pup. Especially when dinner was about to be served.

Though young, the Predator was proud of his fearless nature. He was a natural hunter, and nothing scared him. Not even the Xenomorphs in his Rite of Passage terrified him as much as the monster in front of him.

A shape-shifter human? No Elder spoke of such like this! The fear radiated from his midsection to his limbs, making him tremble and quake. His throat ran dry, but the proud warrior in his mind tried to play it off from the atmosphere. Too dry, just can't breathe. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid….

Alucard threw his head back and laughed when the Predator took a step back from the spreading pool of evil oozing from the vampire's body.

How does one hunt shadows? Think, think!

"You've given me a good run," Alucard said. "But I think it's time to make this a little more interesting. So, hunter, does your kind run with hounds as well?"

Baskerville barked again, the very sound shaking the very foundations of the Predator's soul. He couldn't understand English, but the beast with the snapping jaws that appeared to be large enough to crush his head spoke loudly enough.

"Get him, boy," Alucard urged, and the mass of black shadows leapt forth at lightning speed, racing to tear the Predator limb from limb.

Forced to action, he channeled his deep-seated terror into energy to swing his combi-stick down onto the beast's head as hard as he could. Instead of feeling the impact of the spear as it crushed flesh and bone, the spear continued on through the head as it disappeared in a smoky wisp. The force carried the Predator to the side, making him stumble and almost fall.

The alien hunter turned his yellow-and black eyes towards Alucard, surprise and anger recognizable on his alien face. The vampire laughed. "Can't make it too easy."

Suddenly, there were many strange hound-like creatures racing towards the Predator from all sides.

He extended the spear and started stabbing the oncoming hellhounds, using the momentum of his powerful stabs to spin in place, dispatching the shadow beasts as quickly as possible. The Predator tried to stab at the eyes, but piercing them did not seem to slow the things down at all.

His wrist blades swiped through the creatures with little resistance as he spun, dreadlocks flying in all directions. It was getting very difficult to breathe, the monsters pushing him back towards the ledge of the roof and away from his precious, missing mask.

His actions became a macabre dance as he moved, ducking and dodging the shadowy creatures while delivering his own attacks. Graceful sidesteps married powerful punches and thrusts as the Predator tore through Alucard's hounds. It was taking a lot of the vampire's energy to keep resurrecting the hellhound and making multiple copies for the hunter to fight back.

It was more difficult to move around when he had released his restrictions to such a powerful state, explaining why Alucard didn't attempt to move on the Predator while it was distracted by the vicious Baskerville. Besides, Baskerville deserves a good fight now and then. Sometimes even he has to work for his next meal…hehehe.

A small window of a few seconds appeared in the wall of shadow hounds and the Predator made a break for it, gaining several yards back from the vampire and his minions. A hound, the first one of this new batch of creatures, leapt towards the Predator, maw open as rows upon rows of teeth waited to rip him asunder. Instead, the Predator turned and drove his spear deep into the creature's throat. It fell to the roof, choking on the spear sticking out a few feet from its mouth.

Looking down at his wrist, the Predator realized there was only one way to kill this monster. Before the vampire could send any new beasts to attack him, he popped open his wrist computer to set the countdown for his Bomb.

Alucard walked forward, and saw the alien hunter start to rummage with his wrist device, and the sudden rhythmic beeping alerted the vampire to his plan. Going to kill us both in a blaze of glory? I don't think so.

"You're not going to kill me that easily, Demon!" The vampire said, anger tainting his words. Suicide was not a worthy death, and Alucard refused to allow this fight to end so melodramatically.

The Predator spread his legs wide, and threw his arms to the sides, issuing a loud roar that actually made Alucard's very being vibrate. His final challenge was issued. The Bomb was set. He would die but so would the shape-shifter. Knowing he had won in the end would make his death honorable, acceptable.

A clicking, gagging sound drew the Predator's attention, and he saw a puddle of the vampire's evil black ooze, dozens of eyes staring eerily at him. The puddle formed into a familiar head and jaws, but the shadow hound didn't leap at him. Instead it opened its jaws wide, wide enough for the Predator to see his combi-stick stuck inside its throat. With a click, the spear shot like a rocket at its original owner. The Predator didn't dodge fast enough, and the spear glanced past him, slicing through the muscle of his upper left arm almost all the way to the bone.

The beeping of the computer got faster and faster as the strange flashing dots disappeared, the time getting closer and closer to the end. But still he kept fighting. The Predator wouldn't stop until the Bomb detonated, and even then he'd keep fighting.

A roar of pain escaped the hunter, but before he could turn the hound was racing towards him again, jaws snapping together audibly. He punched his left arm out, straight into the throat of the new hound, trying to protect himself.

Baskerville chomped down, hard, slicing through the bone cleanly as though cleaved with a blade. Taking half the Predator's arm with him, the hellhound swallowed his prize whole and with gusto. With the wrist computer torn in half, the Bomb was useless.

Pain like he had never experienced shot through him, and the Predator bellowed incredibly loudly, mandibles flaring. Reacting completely on instinct, he stabbed the hound through the beast's head with his wrist blades, trying to get it off. Baskerville disappeared in a wisp of black shadow, the missing limb gone as well.

Disoriented from pain, the hunter took another step back—and fell right off the roof of the slaughterhouse.

"NO!" Alucard snarled as he saw the hunter fall off the roof of the building. The aspect of winning this fight because of a literal misstep was not acceptable! He raced forward to see where the hunter landed, to see if it had (impossibly so) survived the fall.

Looking over the railing, he saw a rain gutter torn away and had crashed into the building across the way. From the large hole knocked into the side of the wall, and lack of a body on the ground, he decided it was safe to say the hunter had survived.

For now.

"Luck won't save you in the end, hunter," Alucard said with a chuckle, leaping onto the edge of the roof, red coat moving gently around him. He had regained control of his playful hound and resumed his normal body shape.

The foul taste of the hunter's blood still lingered on his old tongue from Baskerville's meal. Whatever the hunter's blood was, it was disgusting indeed. This annoyed the old vampire greatly; he had hoped to feast on the hunter in the end, bring him into the eternal darkness that made up the vampire's being.

He was not looking forward to such a disgusting meal after such a vigorous battle….

The Predator only lay on the floor of the bathroom for a few seconds, trying to regain his wits. The loss of his favorite weapon, arm, and near-death had thrown the alien for a loop. He looked around to see the room he was in had plaster tiles that served as the walls. It will work for cauterizing the wound. It'll have too. Got to move fast before more of those shadow-hounds find me.

He got to his feet slower than he wanted, but faster than his body safely allowed, and nausea ripped through his stomach. His chest was burning from the gunshot wounds, lack of proper atmosphere, and crashing through a brick wall. Punching a hole in the wall above the sink to get at the plaster, he could only hope his instincts were right.

If I can bring him to the ship, the clan can help me kill him. Perhaps the Elder will know how to deal with his monster. Just have to get to the ship. Just have to get to the clan!

Chapter Text

Alucard walked vertically down the side of the tall warehouse towards the bent gutter. The wind channeled through the tall buildings tugged at his duster and his long inky hair. For once, he wasn't wearing his manic smile as he moved, silent as ever. Instead, he was contemplative about how this fight was about to change directions. The Hunter was now the hunted, and it was obvious the vampire had the upper hand. How was the creature going to react now that it was cornered and missing its arm?

He jumped, and hovered a few seconds before coming to land gently on the fallen pipe. His reddish-orange eyes narrowed at the 7 foot tall hole in the side of the building the pipe led up to. He could see movement, and hear sounds, but the Demon stayed just out of his sight.

Suddenly, an earth-shaking bellow radiated from the inner room, shaking the building to its core. The pipe swayed under him from the thunderous noise, but he managed to stay upright.

The manic grin returned. "Well, that's a good sign. He's not dead…yet."

The old vampire reached into his old red duster and pulled forth his silver Casull. Quietly, and with a grin that revealed many of his fangs, he quietly stalked up the pipe. His left arm crossed over his chest and he rested the Casull on it, keeping his sight steady on the hole while watching for movement. Alucard curled his long finger around the trigger, ready to kill the Demon once and for all.

Though this hunt has been fun, it's time to finish this up. The sun will be up soon, and I can't enjoy a hunt if my senses are in a fog. Let's finish this, Demon!

Alucard took another step forward, gun at the ready, and his head finally became level to look inside the ruined apartment bathroom.

As soon as Alucard's face appeared, the Predator attacked. The Predator waited until the familiar stench of blood and death hit him forcefully. Knowing his bellow of pain would draw forth the enemy, he sprung his impromptu trap.

Holding the lid to the tank of the toilet, he flung the thing like a Frisbee at the vampire, taking him completely by surprise. The porcelain top, flung with as much force as the Predator could muster despite his weakened state, caught Alucard in the face and carried him into the building across the street. The force of the blow embedded the vampire into the side of the building. Plaster and brick showered over him as he hung stunned for a moment.

As soon as he flung the heavy ceramic top, the Predator was off and running, not even bothering to see what damage he'd done. He smashed through the flimsy doorway, almost giving the terrified old woman holding a broom a heart attack as he ran past her. Walls, doorways, people; nothing mattered as the Predator smashed his way through all of them. He didn't need his computer to tell him wear the ship was, he could smell it.

And it was right under him.

He ran to the end of the hall, his weight almost making him cave through the relatively thin floor; he could feel it bow under the strain. At the end of the hall was a pair of elevator doors, which he came to a skidding halt in front of. As a dozen confused people watched the Predator with stunned disbelief etched on their faces, he kicked the doors open, knocking them almost clean off the hinges.

He swung his arm forward and grabbed one of the dented panels and ripped it completely off its broken hinges, and tossed it inside the elevator shaft. There was silence for 5 seconds before he heard the smash as it hit the floor.

"Face me, Demon!" yelled a voice. The Predator whipped around, dreadlocks flying, to see Alucard running forth at supernatural speed. Even running, he still managed to pull out his Casull, and attempt to take aim at the alien.

The other door to the elevator hung limply from a single hinge, and it was this that the Predator grabbed and ripped from the wall, whipping around to use it as a shield. Alucard began taking shots and the people that had been watching the strange situation ran screaming into what was left of their respective apartments.

Most of the bullets went through the panel like it was wet paper, but the Predator continued to use it until Alucard was closer. With a dull roar, he then shoved it as hard as he could at the advancing vampire. Normally, the vampire could dodge such an attack easily, but the tight quarters of the hallway gave him no room to move. The metal panel shoved him backwards and threw him against a wall.

As Alucard shook his head and produced a cloud of dust from the crumbled plaster, he snarled in anger. He had underestimated his prey's ability to fight back, again, and now the chase was on once more.

"I'm getting very annoyed with being thrown through walls," the vampire king said sullenly, standing up and brushing the dust from his duster with an annoyed gesture. Picking up the Casull from under a hunk of drywall, he strode purposefully towards the elevator shaft and looked down.

Several floors down, he could see a large hole punched through the floor into a dark inner space. There was no blood around the entrance, so he took this to mean the Demon was still alive.

"This is starting to get old, Demon," Alucard huffed, and without hesitation, he jumped down into the shaft. His duster flared out behind him, and he used it to steer as he plummeted into the black abyss. His eyes flashed as he realized there was something huge only thirty feet or so beneath the floor of the apartment building, and he landed heavily on top of it. Standing quickly and drawing his gun, the vampire looked to see he was standing on top of what could only be described as a bronze-colored craft of some sort, about 200 yards wide and saucer-shaped with an immense exhaust tower.

"A…ship? You really aren't from around here, are you?" the vampire said quietly. Casull in hand, he made his way quietly down the side of the craft to the ground. As he scanned the area, it was clear the hunter was not around.

"How on earth did you hide this down here with no one noticing? These Americans are denser than I remember…." Alucard muttered to himself. Moving slowly, he made his way around and finally found a tall entrance way filled with a gently pulsing golden glow.

"Killing you on your own ground should provide great amusement indeed," Alucard smirked.

Chapter Text

The entrance of the strange craft seemed to be open and waiting for him, and Alucard strode forward stealthily. His red eyes peered over his glasses at the intricate designs carved into the walls that pulsed with golden light. His eyes darted around, watching for traps, but the hallway seemed devoid of any security; this only made him more certain that a trap lay just ahead. Not that it would bother Alucard very much. It wasn't like he could truly die.

He finally made it through the hallway and found himself in a circular room with pillars in the middle and a few open entrances positioned around it. He breathed in deeply, trying to find the Demon's scent, but the room smelled of strange chemicals that made his face scrunch up in disgust at their stink. Wherever his prey was on the ship, he'd have to find it without using his nose.

The gently pulsating light made him blink slowly, almost sleepily, a few times, as though attempting to lull him in a trance. Were he a normal human, he might have dropped his guard completely, but he was able to fight off the light's gentle beckoning.

Something white caught his eye, and the vampire turned to see a wall covered in bleached skulls. Curiosity got the better of him, and he moved forward silently, barely swirling the blanket of white fog that rose up to his knees. The skulls ranged in size and shape from the mundane to the fantastic, except for the human skull near the bottom of the wall. Compared to the rest of the trophy skulls, the human looked exceptionally plain.

And he knew that these were trophies. Their display reeked of pride and arrogance, and Alucard suddenly understood the Demon's fascination with stealing the skull and spines of his human victims. He was on a safari, and those were his trophies.

A whirling sound started behind him, and Alucard whipped around in time to see a net being shot at him from an unseen force. The weighted net was moving so fast and was exceptionally heavy, enough to pin the vampire against the ship's wall. Alucard's gun was knocked from his hand, hidden under the blanket of fog as it skittered away. Motors whirled in the corners, causing the net to tighten over Alucard's trapped body. The razor wire dug into his flesh, causing blood to flow everywhere immediately.

Alucard laughed as the wires sliced a grid pattern into his face, breaking his glasses in half under the pressure. The pain was incredible, almost exquisite to the old vampire. Pain was the only thing that told him he still existed, and this was a new kind of fire that he'd never felt before. It was, in a way, exhilarating. Alucard had died a hundred ways, but being sliced into cubes from a net made of razor-sharp wire was a new way to go.

The Demon still did not show itself. Alucard let out a horrendous scream of pain as the wire cut him down to the bones, fileting him alive. For a moment, it seemed the Demon had gotten the better of him, until at the end of the scream he began laughing with insane excitement.

"You really didn't think I'd die this easily, did you?" The vampire queried the (seemingly) empty room. Without waiting for an answer, the vampire changed into a black fog, and the net went right through him, now flush against the wall with nothing inside it.

The vampire rematerialized just as the Predator's right hand swung forward, bringing his twin blades right through the vampire's stomach. Blood poured from the shredded holes in his gut and stained the floor underneath them. The Predator, who roared and bellowed in dulled pain and rage, backhanded the vampire across the room. Alucard landed in a broken, bloody heap, still laughing as he slowly got to his feet.

The Predator was already there and backhanded the vampire repeatedly. As soon as Alucard's limp form hit the floor, he dragged him back to his feet and hit him again. Each blow would have been enough to snap his neck, if he a normal human.

Finally, the twin blades sliced through the vampire's neck, cutting through the bone and tendons effortlessly. His head (face still contorted in surprised laughter) bounced away under the cover of the low-hanging fog, his laughter fading away. Alucard's body collapsed after staying upright for several seconds, and the heavy thud echoed through the chamber somberly and with finality.

Breathing heavily and paranoid, the Predator knelt down and began slashing wildly at the corpse, determined to hack it into the smallest slivers possible. The dead-like human was going to stay dead this time.

The Predator's thermal vision could not penetrate the cool cloud that hid the floor of the ship, so he did not notice anything peculiar as he hacked away with brutal focus. He did not see the blood that had been pooled under Alucard's disemboweled corpse start to flow into a growing puddle several feet behind the Predator. His angry clicks and grunts hid the sound of the blood actually forming a rising figure standing behind him.

There was the sound of a gun being cocked, and the Predator whipped around to see the dead human actually standing behind him. A gun was pointed at the Predator's face, and Herrigan's form quivered in rage. The Predator stood slowly, now completely surprised. I know this particular human is dead. I found the drained corpse myself!

Movement caused the Predator to glance down, and he saw that the human seemed to emerge from a black fog that encased its lower half. This shadowy material moved and swayed as if alive, and seemed to tenderly caress the human standing in its mist. Dozens of red eyes opened all over the black shadows, causing the Predator to let out a confused and concerned trilling sound. Though the eyes normally had the power to paralyze whoever looked at them, their effect was lessened on the Predator, who was only vaguely concerned about their appearance.

"I've been waiting for this a while, you ugly motherfucker!" Herrigan snapped, and he pulled the trigger of his silver hand-cannon. The shot hit the Predator in the face, causing a mandible to go flying off at the bullet's impact. He let out a soul-shaking bellow of pain, but the cop kept shooting with unnatural speed and accuracy. In the chest, the stomach, the thigh, he shot until the floor was a mixture of black shadow and green blood. The Predator collapsed to his knees, barely alive, still unwilling to stop fighting.

There was movement behind the swaying alien, and a white-gloved hand gripped around the Predator's neck from behind. The neck was so thick with muscle and bone that Alucard's hand couldn't encircle it even halfway. He held on tightly, keeping the dying Predator upright. Even on his knees, he was almost as tall as Alucard was standing.

"You fought well, Demon," Alucard said near the Predator's head, speaking in a quiet, almost tender tone. "Time for this to end."

With that said, the vampire's other hand punched through the Predator's back, through its barrel chest, and emerged from the front, drenched in glowing green entrails. The Predator didn't even have time to let out a final roar before it collapsed to the floor of the ship, finally defeated.

Alucard stood slowly, watching the glowing blood as it dripped from his arm and hand, and sent out his long tongue to lap the pooling liquid. It was still just as disgusting as before, enough to make him feel almost ill. The vampire watched the growing pool of blood under the Demon's body with grim disappointment. The creature would have been a fine familiar.

Speaking of familiars, Alucard thought to himself, and he looked up to see Herrigan looking at the Demon, his gun hanging limply from his hand. He actually looked Alucard in the eyes, chocolate brown boring into glowing red, and the vampire actually felt a little sorry for the police man and his cruel fate. Not wanting his post-battle afterglow ruined with pity, he waved away the shadows, and the fearful visage of Herrigan disappeared along with them.

There was another growling sound behind him, and Alucard slowly turned to see two more creatures suddenly materialize before him, armed to the teeth with cannons and spears. The laser sight in the shape of a triangle appeared on his forehead, ready to blow his head off without hesitation.

More sounds seemed to come from every direction, and Alucard found himself surrounded by 9 creatures, all armed and wearing masks. All except one, who had solid gray dreadlocks covering its head, and no mask hiding its ugly and alien face. Though not of this world, Alucard could see the wary caution and immense disappointment when this older Demon looked at the younger's corpse. Two more stepped forward and carried the body away, but they moved warily around Alucard, unsure if he would attack them, even unprovoked.

Though it had taken a few minutes for him to learn the language, he had gleaned a few bits of information from the Demon's blood in that taste. Mainly, he had learned that they were a proud, space-faring race of hunters named Yautja. He learned that the Demon he had hunted was a hot-headed youth who still had much to learn in the art of battle.

He also learned, interestingly enough, that the Yautja had a name for what he was. He was a Night-Walker, and apparently every world had its own version of a monster that lived in the shadows and fed off the life force of other creatures. They had never met one like him before, and he was considered to be the most powerful one ever encountered in several worlds.

They had no real way to fight him, and now he knew it too.

Alucard's eyes hardened as they bored into the Elder's yellow ones, the old alien showing restraint and control in front of his subordinates.

Alucard suddenly smiled and nodded at the corpse of the young one being carried away. "He fought well," the vampire said smoothly. The Elder Predator tilted his head slightly, tusk clicking as he listened. Whether he actually understood English, Alucard could only guess.

"I had a lot of fun with him. Haven't had that much fun in a very long time, Yautja," Alucard said, and the Predator looked taken aback when the vampire used their species' name.

Alucard grinned, his fangs poking out between his lips. "I thought about killing all of you, draining your blood, and making this a proper bloodbath. However, what's the fun in fighting an enemy that has no chance against you?"

The Elder Predator trilled quietly. "None," it said in a rattling tone, like there were marbles caught in its throat that bounced around when it spoke. It's thick and taloned fingers rubbed absently at a necklace made of teeth and bones that hung around its neck.

"Exactly. I get enough of that here on my usual missions. Though I must admit my disappointment that even your kind, flying around the stars as easily as you do, still cannot bring one vampire to his end," the No-Life King murmured. He looked at the Elder again.

"You are a nomadic race, and you seem to return often to the places you find the most worthy prey. When you come back here, Yautja –because you will return here in the future," he said, remembering Walter's words about the killings ten years prior in South America. "-you bring your best warriors and best weapons, and we'll finally see which of us deserves the title of Best Hunter."

The Elder looked at Alucard for several long minutes. The tension in the air caused by the surrounding aliens intensified as the oldest Predator pondered this challenge. Both Elder and vampire knew that Night-Walkers were almost impossible to kill. The Yautja did not challenge them because it was usually a futile battle. Mostly it was because they, as a race, utilized advanced technology for their livelihoods. Magic was not something they were familiar with, and thus they were not sure how to fight it. Magic was also an unfair advantage for the one who wielded it. The Elder saw this earlier, in how Alucard materialized Herrigan from thin air without hesitation.

The Predators were also not the kind to die valiantly for no cause. They were not a race to fight useless battles just to prove a point, which provoking this ancient monster of the night would do. The Predators were a proud race, but they also understood when they were bested.

If they retreated now, allowed Alucard this victory, then when they returned in the future with better weapons and tougher warriors, they might stand a chance against him.

Or they could die uselessly now by provoking the Night-Walker.

The choice was an uneasy but necessary one.

The Elder looked up to Alucard, looked him dead in the eye, and nodded once. The tension in the air broke, and the other Predators looked at each other before engaging their cloaking devices. Soon, it was just the Elder and Alucard standing in the chamber. As he turned to go, the Elder paused and reached into his belt, pulling loose an ancient revolver.

"Take it," the Elder rattled solemnly as he tossed the relic to the vampire. Alucard caught the thing, and saw engraved on the brass plating a name and the date "1715."

As Alucard looked up, the Elder Predator too disappeared, and the ship around him started to shake violently as the craft began lift-off. Alucard considered staying aboard the ship and traveling with these hunters, bringing death across space. He had already ravaged Earth; what would it be like to ravage another alien planet in fire and blood? Would his name be hissed in terror in alien tongues across the universe? The idea made him grin, but it faltered after a moment.

Unfortunately, he was still bound to Sir Integra, and he had to report back to her that the mission was complete and the Demon was dead. The ravaging of the universe could wait until another time. What if the one is amongst those far-off stars, he pondered.

Chapter Text

"Three and a half hours, vampire," Captain Nathans admonished him when Alucard finally made his way onto the private jet. It was waiting patiently for him on the tarmac of the L.A. airport, although its crew of two was not as much.

Alucard raised an eyebrow at the captain, clearly surprised at his tone. "Since when did you become so cheeky, Nathans?" Alucard asked dangerously.

Captain Nathans, usually one who never fussed or even engaged in banter with Alucard, pointed at the time. "The sunrise is in less than half an hour. Private Cooper and I thought we would have to find you. We all know what Sir Integra would have said if that had happened."

Alucard hadn't realized how late it had gotten. The night had been filled with so much fun and blood that he had barely noticed the passing of time. "No point in threatening me with that. I'm here, so let's return home."

Alucard moved back and found his seat, sinking down warily into the soft cushion, and found it too soft, even uncomfortable. He ended up fidgeting for a moment as he tried to get comfortable.

The open blinds on the small windows throughout the plane suddenly closed electronically, casting the entire plane into pitch blackness. Alucard would be able to sleep for most of the flight back to England. For once, he was glad for the chance to rest. The Yautja youth had run him ragged across the city.

The cabin's door opened, and Captain Nathan's head peered around into the blackness. "Just a suggestion, Alucard, but you should get some rest while you can. Looks like we'll be making a detour on the way back to the mansion."

"Detour?"

"Yes, on Sir Integra's orders. It seems the village of Cheddar in England has incurred an undead problem. The local authorities have yet to catch on, but she wants you there as soon as possible. At least the sun will delay the bloodshed a bit," he said, although it sounded more to himself than his vampiric charge.

"Well, at least the work will keep me busy," Alucard murmured to himself. The cabin door shut again, and the body of the plane engulfed the vampire in comforting blackness once again.

He pulled out the ancient revolver from his coat and looked it over carefully. His night vision allowed him to see the tarnished bronze and golden inlay, the stained and faded wooden body, and the cursive lettering above the incredible date. Alucard found himself grinning at the gun, and he tucked it away in a secret pocket. The trophy was also a promise of the Yautja's return, and he would be watching the stars anxiously from now until they fulfilled their promise.

After all, it wasn't as though Alucard would be dying anytime soon.