A/N: I'm glad you guys have enjoyed so far. For those of you who are going to inform me that I'm ignoring the Wizarding World: I'll have Harry visit while Integra's meeting with Enrico "Shithead" Maxwell. I'll even give you some HHr that hopefully won't suck. In addition, I'll try to address some of the inconsistencies you guys find with Harry and Dumbledore. Also, I must do some shameless plugging for one of my favorite bands. Go listen to Eyeshine, they are an awesome band with Johnny Yong Bosch (Nero in DMC4, Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Kiba in Wolf's Rain, etc...) as their frontman, and they fucking rock! Just so you guys know, even though both Harry and Seras have consumed blood, neither does it on a regular basis, so all of the plot points about Seras clinging to her humanity still apply.
Disclaimer corollary: I don't own the basic design of either Ebony & Ivory or Rebellion (Dante's sword and guns from Devil May Cry). If you're wondering about their inclusion, I have no imagination when it comes to weapons and they fit with Harry's fighting style, which is based on Dante's: quick, brutal, stylish, and involving timing that would make a physicist go cross-eyed. If you're wondering about how I define the other characters in a fight. Alucard: toys with opponents, finishes in gory yet stylish manner, usually with a one-liner. Seras: sniper and when in close range, brawler. Walter: his nickname, Angel of Death, says it all, quick, violent, and efficient.
Pics of Rebellion and Ebony & Ivory: picasaweb(dot)google(dot)com(slash)SypherKyaeon
Info on Ebony & Ivory: devilmaycry(dot)wikia(dot)com(slash)wiki(slash)Ebony_%26_Ivory (Note that I left out the women's pictures on the grips)
If you want pics of Alucard's pistols or the Harkonnen, feel free to ask.
Harry Potter and the Bird of Hermes
Chapter 3: New Toys & New Threats
At the top level of Hellsing HQ, the Convention of Twelve met. They were the nobles, military leaders, and powerful politicians that ran England in secret. Their decisions affected every life in the country, and Integra wasn't looking forward to telling her fellow members that someone had been flooding their land with vampires.
"Sir Integral, why have we been called here? Have you finally found something?" Sir Hugh Islands, sitting opposite Integra at the other end of the large, rectangular table, asked.
"Please tell me you've found a way to stop these vampire attacks, there's a limit to the amount of information we can suppress and sooner or later the press is going to find something out," another member of the Round Table said.
"After researching this recent surge in vampiric attacks, this is what we've found," Integra replied, holding up a small microchip.
"W-What is that?" Admiral Shelby Penwood, an old friend of Integra and her father before her, asked.
"A small chip that we found implanted in a few of the vampires' bodies. It monitors their condition, movements, mental status, and combat readiness," Integra answered.
"W-WHAT!?" Penwood shouted, he'd always been a bit of a...fearful man.
"Furthermore, all the recent attacks, save two, have involved implanted vampires like these and none has been an accident. Someone is pulling the strings."
"What were the other two?" Sir Islands asked, always a man to pick up on subtleties like that and never one to get riled up.
"The attack on one Harry James Potter three weeks prior, and a gathering of ghouls in a graveyard two nights ago. We believe that the the vampires involved were gathering the ghouls to attack a nearby town. The one leading that was the very same vampire who attacked the boy. Harry was able to 'extract' some information, but it's not much. Just that a group of three unusual people were meeting with the wizards' so called Dark Lord, and that the only one he heard speak did so with a thick German accent, going so far as to refer to the snake as Herr Voldemort."
"German? Interesting, but not important at the moment, it's their problem," another member of the Round Table spoke, obvious disdain for the magical folk present in his voice. "How are things going with the boy, anyway? I heard your pet vampire's fledgling turned him."
"That is true, but of no consequence at the moment," Integra replied, glaring at the man. "There's is something else about these vampires. Normally, ghouls are only created when the unchaste are fed upon, but every victim, even small children, has been transformed into a ghoul. In addition, these ghouls do not die when their master has fallen, as is usually the case. Take that incident in Northern Ireland with Father Anderson, he'd already arrived and slain the vampire long before we got there, but there were still more than a few ghouls lingering."
---
"WALTER!" Seras screamed, probably waking every dead person within a few miles.
"Yes, Miss Victoria?" the aging butler asked, curious as to what was wrong.
"What the hell is that?!" Seras asked, pointing to a hexagonal wooden coffin sitting where her bed used to.
"That's a coffin," Walter replied, a smile on his face.
"I know it's a coffin, but why the hell is my bed gone!?" Seras all but growled at his fake innocence.
"Sir Integra's orders, I believe she said something like 'how can a vampire not sleep in a coffin'?" Walter replied, that smile still in place. Seras very much wanted to punt it off.
"Where's my bed?"
"It's been disposed of, of course."
"WHAT!?"
"Furthermore, and this is from Alucard, since you refuse to drink blood on a regular basis, you must sleep in a coffin filled with the soil of your birthplace or continue to get weaker and weaker. Why will you not simply drink the blood? If you prefer not to kill, we have plenty of medical blood."
"I-I'm not sure, I just feel like...if I do that I'll lose some part of myself forever," Seras muttered, and Walter sighed.
"Idiot," Alucard said, walking in through the room's door for once.
"M-Master."
"If that's how you feel, why did you let me drink from you in the first place? You could've died human. Listen, once you're a vampire, there is no reclaiming your humanity. The night is your home now, police girl," Alucard said, sighing, "but there's always a vampire like you every now and then. I'm not really that concerned, they all come around eventually. Where's the mage boy, by the way? I heard he found out something interesting."
"Mr. Potter is still asleep, but might I suggest we adjourn to his room? I was going to wake him up when Miss Victoria started ranting," Walter replied, earning a glare from Seras that he ignored. He grinned, "I've got gifts."
They entered Harry's room a few moments later; it was the same room he'd been placed in just after his turning, with a full-length mirror on one wall, a dresser on another, and a large bed that Seras wanted very much to set on fire. If she couldn't have a bed, neither could he, and she made a note to tell Walter just that later. For the time being she'd just have to make due with a rude awakening, which was easily accomplished by going into his bathroom, filling a cup with ice-cold water, and throwing it in his face, "WAKE UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!"
Harry didn't react quite like she'd expected. He snatched one of his .45s from underneath his pillow, and rolled out of the bed on the opposite side from her, landing in a crouch and bracing his arm on the mattress, lining up a shot at her forehead. "Master?"
"Nice reaction time, mage boy," Alucard said, chuckling at the dumbstruck expression on his fledgling's face. "Were you always this paranoid, or did the police girl mess up your change somehow?"
"Uh...lingering influence from an even more paranoid old wizard. So, what brings you all to my room besides my master wanting to torment me because Walter torched her bed?"
"Did everyone know about this before me?" Seras cried, exasperated.
"Pretty much," Walter replied. He walked over to the dresser and walked back with a small attache case, which he handed to Alucard. Alucard opened it and, upon catching sight of the contents, let a wide grin split his face. "May I present the Jackal, a custom 13 mm. Anti-Freak combat pistol," Walter said as Alucard drew the gun from the case, revealing a large, black pistol with the words 'Jesus Christ is in Heaven now' written across the side in a flowing, cursive style script. As Alucard handed the case back to Walter and slammed the magazine that had been in it home, Walter continued, "39 cm. (almost 1' 4") long, 16 kg. (35.2 lbs.) in weight, 6 round magazine. More firepower than any human could hope to handle."
"The rounds?" Alucard asked, admiring Walter's workmanship as Harry and Seras both stared open-mouthed at the firearm.
"13mm explosive shells."
"Casings?"
"Pure Macedonian silver."
"And the tips? Explosive or mercury?"
"Mercury, and already blessed."
"Perfection, Walter. Pure perfection."
"I'm pleased that you're pleased, sir."
"I bet this baby could stop even that Judas priest," Alucard said, as Harry and Seras both began circling him, trying to take in the gun in from every angle while shouting things like 'That's amazing'.
"I have something special for you as well, Miss Victoria," Walter said, retrieving a much larger case from next to the dresser. He opened it and Harry and Seras's eyes both nearly popped out of their heads.
He was holding what looked like a bloody MASSIVE anti-tank rifle. "The Harkonnen, a 30mm Anti-Freak cannon. Designed to be used with both depleted uranium shells and exploding incendiary rounds, this weapon will destroy all but the most heavily armored of targets."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Seras screamed.
"Holy shit, that thing could probably drill a hole straight through the armor on our APCs," Harry said, staring at the rifle and imagining one of said APCs rocking the 'Swiss cheese' look.
"Miss Victoria, before you go on another rant, might I remind you that you are a vampire and could probably shoulder fire a Howitzer if you so desired."
"Wha...oh, right. Well, I guess I'll at least try it before I decide I hate it," she replied, trying to ignore the vampiric side of her mind that was filling with images of enemies being blown apart and set on fire.
"I have an upgrade for you, too, Mr. Potter," with that he retrieved a third case and placed it on Harry's bed. Harry opened it and had a similar reaction to Alucard, total adoration. Inside was a large claymore, flanked on either side by a pistol. He decided to take it one at a time. He first lifted the white pistol, admiring the gold plated magazine release, hammer, safety switch, and trigger, and noticing that, by the ejection port's position, it was meant for use in his right hand. Engraved on one side in gold was 'Hellsing Arms .45 ACP E&I', and on the other side 'Ebony & Ivory'. The black pistol was identical except for the color and a few minor technical differences (A/N: See the DMC Wiki article I listed at the top for a full list), and settled into his hand more firmly. "Ebony & Ivory, a heavily customized pair of your favored Colt M1911s. Ivory is specially designed to allow for a faster draw and rapid fire, Ebony, to allow for a tighter, more comfortable grip for longer range shots. Double stacked, slam-pad magazines and pre-blessed silver bullets complete the package."
"Walter, I could hug you right now. What about the sword?" Harry asked, turning his gaze towards the large blade, sporting a ribcage crossguard with a roaring skull resting atop it and two hexagonal, pillar like 'arms'. The handle had the same design as the arms, and formed into a 'flower' of spikes at the pommel.
"Our blacksmith has dubbed it Rebellion, and it features the usual accoutrements: blade made from melted down silver crosses and reinforced to the point of being almost indestructible, handle designed to sit comfortably in the hand and balanced to deliver maximum leverage for your swings, and, last but not least, the spikes on the pommel are also made of blessed silver."
"Forget hugging you, I'm starting a religion with you as the figurehead," Harry said, taking a few test swings and loving the sound of the blade slicing through the air.
---
Antonin Dolohov, while not happy with his current whereabouts walking towards Hellsing HQ with Jan (pronounced Yan) Valentine incessantly babbling on about some man with a plexiglass plate in his head and cussing more than any one person had a right to, was very pleased with his lot in life at the moment. When Voldemort had announced his partnership with the Major and asked for volunteers from his Inner Circle to become the Doctor's first wizard test subjects, he had willingly stepped forward with the mindset that he was helping his old friend cement his deal with a new ally, and that he was just as afraid of dying as said friend. Now he was a vampire, his body restored to a more youthful and far more powerful form; forget magic, the power the Doctor had conferred upon him was amazing.
"Hey, you're not allowed here," a guard bellowed as they came to a stop in front of the manor's gates.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, we're on a sightseeing tour of famous English estates," Luke replied, ever poised and in control.
"Are you saying this place isn't open to the public?" Jan asked sarcastically.
"This is private property, leave...NOW!" the other guard said, his tone commanding.
"Sorry to bother you," Dolohov said and all three stepped to the side as Luke snapped his fingers. Moments later, the guard that had just yelled spontaneously developed a new hole in his head and dropped to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The other guard looked over confused, then horrified, and then caught sight of a very large amount of gun barrels pointed out the sides of the buses just down the road.
"He looks kinda queasy," Jan said and his dark sense of humor brought a sick smile to both his brother's and the Death Eater's faces.
"Yes, maybe he should lie down for a bit," Luke replied, staring straight into the very frightened guard's eyes as he continued the joke.
"Alright, then," Jan said and repeated his brother's finger snap. All the ghouls on both buses instantly opened fire, shredding the guard nearly to pieces as submachine gun rounds poured downrange. "Hold your fire," they didn't stop. "I said, 'HOLD YOUR FUCKING FIRE!'" Jan yelled, finally getting the glorified zombies to halt their lead rain. "Jesus Christ, bro, these guys are completely fucking stupid, are you sure about this shit?"
Luke laughed, "This is just a test, a completely ordinary, insignificant test. We are but one small part of the grand masterpiece the Major is painting."
"Fine, whatever."
"Let's say we have some fun, eh?" Dolohov asked, earning grins from both brothers as he snapped. The ghouls began to march out of the buses. They were clad in tactical armor and carrying SMGs and metal riot shields emblazoned with the same eye that was on Jan's cap along with the nonsense phrase 'Boodoo people, murder people'. They came to a halt in front of the three vampires and snapped to attention.
"Alright, maggots, you know the drill. Kill everything that moves, and then eat it for good measure. If you run into Alucard or the queen bitch of Hellsing, do not stop until they are dead, dead, DEAD!" Jan shouted to make sure all the ghouls heard and understood. He then pulled out his twin, customized FN P90s and they all began their march on the Royal Order of Protestant Knights.
---
A/N: Harry drank blood just two days ago. He's good for another few days without a coffin, and Harry knowing about Seras's bed was purely for comedic purposes, if you were wondering. Hope you like it, and I'm sorry if you were expecting more action. The next chapter will be nothing but. As for my absence, nothing more than my gaming habit taking over for awhile. First it was Mass Effect, which I played through again to make sure everything was how I wanted it for ME2. Then it was a strange and massive obsession with killing zombies in Left 4 Dead 2, and then I rented Bayonetta. That is an amazing game from the same guy who did Devil May Cry, which I'm obviously a big fan of, and Viewtiful Joe. The main character is, quite frankly, one of the sexiest game babes on the planet. It's a good thing I did, too, because I know now what weapons I want to give Hermione. Those of you who've played it or go look it up, Scarborough Fair is all I'm going to use, nothing else. Those of you who have played it, should I use the full set of 4 or just stick with the handguns?
- Sypher Kyaeon