Sending A Bigger Monster: A Hellsing/Tokyo Ghoul Crossover Fanfiction

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter 1: First Vampires, Now Ghouls (Not That Kind)​

Seras Victoria knew something wasn`t right from the very moment she woke up.

The reason being that she appeared to be lying in an abandoned building in some city, when she distinctly remembered last being in a European castle. Also, a quick look around the warehouse revealed to her everything that was in writing, from scraped stickers on boxes, to labels on rusted equipment, to peeling posters on the walls, all of it, was written in Chinese.

Japanese, actually, ma chère, said her familiar, Pip Bernadotte.

Also, she noticed that, judging from way the sun was shining, it was late afternoon. Which was odd, considering it was literally the dead of night only moments before.

When she had gotten up earlier that evening from a satisfying sleep, she soon learned from Sir Integra that they had new intelligence on the location of a nest of vampires that had somehow slipped under their surveillance for years. Known as the Coven, all that Hellsing knew about it was that they were a splinter group of the destroyed Neo-Nazi group, Millennium, who were led by a mysterious leader that claimed to be the vampiric descendant of the infamous vampire, Countess Bathory. Seras was then ordered to their latest known coordinates: which happened to be an old castle in France, one that the Nazis had used during the Second World War. The immediate concern was the idea that an old Nazi fortress being used by a splinter of Millennium did not bode well for anyone, especially Hellsing.

Hellsing still had yet to fully recover from the Zeppelin Incident over ten years ago, where the organization was nearly destroyed and its trump card, Alucard, was silenced, with no indication that he would ever return. In the years since, both Britain and Hellsing had undergone extensive reconstruction, and, for a while, Seras was literally Britain`s only line of defense against supernatural threats, like vampires. It was years before Hellsing was rebuilt to the point that Seras wasn`t needed on every field mission that Hellsing operated. The thought that a new group had arisen with the power to potentially destroy Hellsing completely was terrifying.

Thus, Seras had departed, alone, to confront the threat, with a fully loaded Harkonnen Mk. III cannon at her disposal.

Flying upon the castle in the dead of night on shadowy wings, she gave no quarter to every member of the undead she found, blasting them to bloody smears and dismembered limbs with her oversized gun. They tried to fight her, firing guns and rockets from hallways, around corners, and from behind obstacles, and launching ambushes from above and below, sometimes crashing through the walls, ceiling and floor to get at her. Tried being the key word, as everyone she fought fell.

Then she came to that dungeon.

In that room, she saw an entire room covered in glowing, blood-written runes and symbols, as well as three circles of chanting vampires, with one male in the center who could be nothing other than the Coven`s vaunted leader. She then emptied the last of her ammunition killing the vampires in the room, including "Count Bathory."

At least, that`s what she thought happened, for as soon as he went down, the runes flashed into a blinding light, and she thought she could his form still moving…

And now, here she was, in God knows where, without her guns, without a way to contact Sir Integra, since she didn`t have the telepathic link that Alucard had shared with the woman, or her phone number, since her phone that she brought that had a direct line to Integra`s office wasn`t working, and no idea how on Earth she even got to wherever here was.

Then, she heard a scream from below. The scent of blood followed.

Rushing over to the window, looking down, she saw a young girl, bleeding from wounds all over her body, guaranteeing her death from blood loss. And Seras had no idea what was looming over the girl in predatory fashion. What Seras saw wasn`t a vampire, seeing as its eyes were red and black, it had what looked like two green tentacles coming out of its waist, and wore a half-mask across the lower half of its face with a biohazard symbol on it. The two were both yelling in Japanese, but Seras easily recognized the diminishing cries for help from the human girl, as well as the taunts from the thing.

Seras decided to figure out her situation later, and deal with the urgent monster problem now.

---

This was how it would all end for her. In the belly of a ghoul.

The creatures that prowled the streets of Tokyo at night she had heard looked, sounded, and acted just like humans, until they had you alone, vulnerable, and far away from help. Then they would reveal themselves for the man-eating, red-eyed monsters that they were. They were mankind`s nightmares made real, the bane of all human existence, which was held back only by the heroic efforts of the Commission of Counter-Ghoul, whose Investigators had spent years of training with the specific purpose of finding and killing them.

But, ghouls had never concerned her. After all, she was the daughter of First Class Investigator Matsuzaka Akumo. He was especially known for one incident where he received a death threat on his family from the S-rate Scythe and his gang. He then went on a relentless ten-hour patrol where he hunted down and slaughtered almost the entire gang single-handed, including Scythe himself. Ghouls kept their distance from his family since. Also, she was smart enough to never go anywhere with suspicious company. And, considering how popular she was at school, she was never really alone anywhere outside of home.

This ghoul, however, had convinced a cab driver to drop her friends off in the middle of nowhere, leading to him chasing herself and her friends throughout the warehouse. Now, she lay here, bleeding and broken, and this ghoul, who called himself Biohazard, salivating over her.

"HEEELLLPP! Somebody please! Anybody!" She screeched.

"Sorry, bastard girly," Biohazard sneered. Your scary daddy`s nowhere close enough to save you. By the time he`s here, all that will be left of you is a pile of bloody dust."

"Please, don`t kill me. I beg of you," she said, as her vision began to blur.

"I will most certainly kill you. This is payback for what your Pops did to Scythe and the crew. I was the last survivor, and that leaves me with the responsibility of avenging his death. Taking his precious daughter will be sweet. Almost as sweet as y-"

He exploded. Or rather, something came down on top the ghoul and tore him apart into mincemeat and a shower of blood in such rapid succession, she could only think his body has spontaneously gone ka-boom.

What stood in the ghoul`s place was something even more terrifying.

She soaked in the creature`s whole appearance. The distinctly female figure, messy blond hair, dried-blood colored military uniform, leggings and boots, impeccable white glove on her right hand, a writhing red and black thing in place of her left arm, and, most of all, her glowing red eyes. No black, like with a ghoul. The strangest thing, however, was the look in those eyes.

Concern. Sadness. A little bit of confusion.

Now she was confused. Why would a ghoul show concern for a human?

"It doesn`t look like I arrived in time to save you. I am sorry." Michi recognized the English words that came from its mouth.

"Why?" she asked. "Why would a ghoul try to save me?"

Now the confusion in the other`s face was more apparent. "Ghoul? No, I`m not a bloody ghoul. I`m a vampire. And the reason I saved you is because it`s my job."

Vampire? Michi thought in absolute disbelief. Seriously? Did this ghoul get hit on the head by a quinque too hard? And this is its freaking JOB?! What the hell is wrong with this thing?

"No, I did not get hit too hard with whatever a quin-something-or-other is, yes, this IS my freaking job, and the only thing wrong with me is that I don`t know what the bloody hell is happening to me right now," the self-proclaimed vampire said.

Michi was shocked, to say the least. "C-can you, like, read my mind?"

"Yes. And you`re running out of time. I can tell that you would rather not die, but it doesn`t look like you have much choice. And, since you`re a girl, I can`t make you a vampire like me even if you wanted. But, if I do drink your blood, I can take you into myself, and become my familiar, so that you can continue existing. However, it has to be your choice."

This was all a little much for the young lady, as her fading mind tried to comprehend what was being said, but she heard 'continue existing,' so she reached her hand out in desperation, before it fell…

---

With her flesh-and-blood right hand, she caught the girl`s outstretched hand, reflecting on how much the same it was to when Alucard proposed vampirism to her all those years ago. She then leaned forward, next to her ear.

"Before I do it, can you tell me your name?" Seras whispered.

The girl struggled to open her mouth, whimpering out two words, "Michi Matsuzaka," remembering the western-style of given name coming first, then family.

"My name is Seras Victoria, vampire to the Hellsing family."

Then, Seras sank her teeth into the girl`s now-willing neck.

Then, she knew everything that she needed to know about the place in which she found herself. She now knew about the ghouls, the human-shaped cannibalistic monsters, and the CCG that hunted them. She knew about Tokyo, and its twenty-three wards. She knew about the ongoing war between humans and ghouls.

She also learned about the rest of the world, that the time was correct, but the history was missing something big. Then she realized.

The Zeppelin Incident. The accounts given to the public about what really happened were distorted, but the entire world could not afford to have missed it, the terrorist attack that caused more death in one night than any natural disaster, and more than any war aside from the two World Wars. Just about everyone had heard of it.

Michi knew nothing about it. On top of that, all history since 2000 had been replaced by the knowledge of a War on Terror led by the United States after a terrorist attack called 9/11 involving the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Also, the urban legends of vampires and Hellsing that had sprung up in the wake of the Zeppelin Incident were also not to be found in her mind.

Blood told no lies, and Seras knew that this girl was no ignorant lout, but she still had a hard time believing what Michi was telling her through her blood. Seras was done feeding, as she felt the girl`s presence inside her. Ultimately, Seras could only come to a single conclusion:

"I`m in a bloody alternate universe. Sir Integra is not gonna be happy about this."

 

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter 2: A New Existence​

His hunger had driven him to go hunting now, right in the middle of the day. It was an event that he both loved and dreaded. He loved it because this was the time that made him feel most alive, in a world that would deny him his right to live. It was also the time he feared the most, for it was also the time when he would likely run into those that hunted ghouls: the doves or other, stronger ghouls. He`s faced a few Investigators on a couple of occasions, but he`s never stuck around long enough to get into a serious confrontation. The first and only time he actually fought with a pair resulted in the rookie losing his hand, and the senior taking off his arm. He`s had the even greater misfortune of meeting cannibal ghouls twice – and those events made him want to avoid other hungry ghouls even more than the doves; at least the humans wouldn`t eat him alive.

And so, now he was patrolling the back alleys and side roads, looking for some unfortunate human to ambush, that way he could get his meal quickly and quietly without getting any unwarranted attention. He made sure to wear his dark shoes, sweatpants and black hoodie in order to keep hidden better in the shadows, and he continued to walk along quietly.

He could hear his stomach growling, and feel the hunger gnawing at him. He didn`t believe that there was a single human alive that could possibly understand this pain. A pain so great that it could drive one irreversibly insane. He had seen it happen to his own brother, whose hunger drove him so crazy that he attacked and killed his sister before he even realized what he had done. He killed himself as a result.

He was not eager to have that happen to him.

And it appeared that salvation was at hand, because he smelled a human nearby.

Dashing in closer, he saw that the smell was of a petite teenaged girl wearing a school uniform. She appeared to be taking a shortcut on the way home. Now, there was a good reason not to attack and eat her, most notably the fact that, if she didn`t get home, people would come looking. And if doves decided to get involved, then he, in turn, could be hunted down and killed.

But, instinctual hunger won out, drowning his mind with the thought of food before his rational mind could even formulate such a thought. He sneaked in closer and closer as she walked along, completely oblivious to his stalking.

Then, finally, after coming within twenty feet of her, and smelling no one else nearby, he leaped out of his hiding place into the air, his koukaku kagune emerging from his shoulder, his kakugan flaring, and his voice peeling the air in sadistic laughter. His trajectory took him into the air, and he came right down on top of the girl, just as she was turning towards him, with shock and surprise in her eyes. He loved it, the look of fear in the eyes of his prey. After all, what self-respecting predator wouldn`t? And before she could even scream, his koukaku had already pierced her gut, cutting off any sound she could otherwise make.

Landing on top of her, now given a closer look, he could tell that coming out here at this time of day had been well worth it. The girl had long, glossy black hair cleaned and combed to perfection, with a delicate face, shining dark eyes, full lips, and a slender, but well-endowed figure. She was the very picture of feminine beauty in his eyes, and the perfect meal to boot.

"I am sure as hell gonna enjoy eating you, bitch," he whispered predatorily, as he pulled out his kagune and standing up. It was a voice he loved to use, paired with his slasher smile as it always solidified the prey`s feeling of fear right before they died. He couldn`t wait to see it.

"Oh right, I`m already dead," the girl suddenly said, the fear replaced by a calm look of realization.

Now he was confused. She was already dead? Did she mean to say that she was dead before he had even attacked her, because he was certain she was dead now, what with a kagune through the stomach and all. What the hell was she talking about?

That`s when she suddenly decided to stand up, and then she smiled. "I guess I still haven`t gotten used to that fact, haven`t I, Mistress?"

Now he was starting to get all creeped out, stepping back a few paces, unable to take his eyes away from the spectacle playing out in front of him. A girl who should be bleeding out to death on the pavement was now standing and walking as if losing several major organs in the most horrifying moment of one`s life was an everyday occurrence. And, who was this Mistress she was talking about?

Then she spoke again, but it wasn`t the girl`s original voice that came out. "Don`t fret over it, it took me a while to fully accept the idea that I was one of the undead, and there are still times that I can`t quite shake the feeling that I`m still human." This new voice was deeper, echo-like, older, and chilled him to the bottom of his heart. That`s when things when from creepy to full-blown horror show.

At first he thought he was hallucinating, when he saw the blood the girl spill suddenly start seeping and flowing back toward her. Then, if that wasn`t enough, it was even literally floating off of his clothing and his kagune back to the girl, mending her wounds and even her clothing. That`s when her left arm suddenly melted into some kind of black and red shadowy, flowing substance, which swirled and spun around her in the air, surrounding and engulfing her. Throughout it all, what kept him fixed in place was her predatorily smiling face. When her eyes blinked, he swore they became glowing red. And those eyes fixed him with a gaze of pure bloodthirsty glee. He felt akin to a mouse hiding from a cat, a rabbit hiding from a wolf, or a helpless human before a powerful, hungry ghoul.

As the supernatural storm of blood and shadows dissipated, he heard the g-, the thing in front of him suddenly chuckle, and say to itself, "So this is what Master felt like, when he dealt with freaks and trash like you." Then, when the storm vanished, he saw, in place of a frail Japanese human schoolgirl, a red-eyed, blond-haired monster of a young European woman, clad entirely in clothing the color of dried blood, from her boots and stockings to her military-like jacket and miniskirt, the only article of clothing not sharing the scheme being its right-hand glove, and the left arm looked to be molded out of the shadow-matter he saw earlier, with strands and streams appearing to still come from it.

It spoke once more, in that terrible voice, "It`s trash like you that my Master couldn`t stand, and that I find I cannot find myself tolerating. So, would you like to do me the honor of sating my thirst?" Then she gave a bare-toothed smile, and- oh my God, are those FANGS?!

That was the last straw. He immediately turned tail and bolted, his hunger completely forgotten, every part of his being screaming at his muscles to take him as far away from the monstrous apparition as possible, while his voice sent his screams and pleas. He began to sprint, putting any human runner to shame, dispelling his kagune in order to gain more speed. He turned corners, leaped over fences, and continued to run with all his might, hoping and praying to God that he would be spared, promising to do anything in order to live through the next hour. He turned the next corner-

And something gripped his ankle, tripping him onto his face.

Now his screaming became rather girlish screeching, as his hands and his again-dispelled kagune gripped at anything and everything around him, the walls, the dumpster, the very ground itself, causing his fingers to bleed and straining his muscles as he desperately tried to claw away from this unnatural monster.

"Stop yelling, you`re liable to wake the dead." Then teeth latched onto his neck, and he faded into oblivion.

---

"Mom! I`m home!" Michi shouted, as she walked through the front door of her family`s little home. It was comfortably large, big enough for her two parents and younger brother Mamiru, with its two floors and three bedrooms. Her older sister, Mika, was walking in their father`s footsteps to become a CCG Investigator, and so, was learning to live on her own in an apartment in a different part of the 14th Ward, closer to the city`s center, and the Home Office.

"Hello! I`m in the kitchen right now!" her mother called. "Wait a moment, and I`ll come right on over."

Michi put down her bags and looked up to see her mother come and embrace her. "It`s nice to have you home, dear. I see you came back alright. Anything special happen at school today?"

Michi shook her head. "No, Mom, school was pretty much the same as usual. Tanaka and Oikawa are still getting it on, everyone`s still gossiping about the desk incident a few days ago, and Nanami is still my best friend as usual. Oh, although on the way home today, I had a ghoul for snack. Tasty."

Her mother chuckled at the comment. "Still going with that old joke I see. It doesn`t surprise me anymore like the first time did. Listen, I know you also want to be a ghoul investigator like your father, but seriously, enjoy your time as a teenager, and don`t go doing stupid stunts like your father did when he was your age."

"Weren`t those the same stupid stunts that got you two to meet and fall in love?" Michi inquired. "If it weren`t for your knight in shining armor, I wouldn`t be here."

"True," her mother acquiesced. "But, seriously, ghouls are dangerous monsters, and it takes strong people like your father to keep us safe from them. I don`t know what I would do if I lost any of you, but I thank God that you`re all still fine. So, I won`t stop you if you decide to go down this road, just do me the favor of going down it less recklessly than your father, like your sister is doing. Okay?"

Michi hugged her mother tight. "Okay."

After separating, she picked up her bags again and went into her room to do her homework. It used to be a little more cramped, since she shared the room with her sister. Now, it all belonged to her, from its one solitary bed to the computer desk to the bookshelf and the clothes drawers. She closed the door behind her and locked it.

We both know it would be better for your mother if she didn`t know that she`s already lost you.

Michi turned around and saw her lounging on her bed. Or at least, that`s what her eyes showed in her mind`s eye. In fact, her eyes weren`t even hers anymore, let alone her body. It all belonged to her.

And that she didn`t know that every time you make a joke of consuming a ghoul, that you are actually telling a half-truth, said her vampiric mistress, Seras Victoria. You may need to consider not making them anymore if your father starts catching on to us and your mother connects the dots somehow.

I understand, Mistress, Michi replied sullenly, sitting down at her desk and taking out her books. I guess I`m still a little unused to this new change of pace. It`s been a month and all, and everything that I`ve learned over its course I`m still finding hard to let sink in. I mean, this world was crazy enough with the ghouls, but now vampires from alternate worlds? That`s a new level of weird I don`t know if this world is ready to handle.

Be glad your world doesn`t have to, Seras replied. I do believe that you can still remember when I showed you my memories of Alucard and Millennium?

Michi stiffened. Even after all this time, they were filled with images that she`d never forget.

A vampire dressed like a priest, surrounded by an entire town of zombies- ghouls Seras called them, although zombie fit in Michi`s mind better, since she had a different image attached to the word "ghoul." Alucard appearing from the night, annihilating the swarm and vampire before turning her, after she agreed willingly. The first battle with Father Anderson. The invasion of the Valentine brothers into the Hellsing mansion. The slaughter of the SWAT officers in South America. The attack by Millennium upon the mansion. The confrontation with Zorin Blitz. Drinking Pip Bernadotte`s blood. Coming to Sir Integra`s aid in London. Alucard`s Level Zero Release, and battle with Iscariot. Walter`s betrayal. Storming the Zeppelin. Battling the werewolf Captain. Blasting the Major in half with a tank`s main gun. Flying out with Sir Integra from the ship back to the manor, over a smoking city.

And those memories were only from Seras` first few months as a vampire. That`s not including the years of blood and gore that followed, where Seras embraced her vampiric nature more fully, allowing herself to drink more blood and take on more familiars, including a cast-off Millennium werewolf experiment and a shape-shifting demon that was foolishly summoned by occult-studying college students.

All in the service of a woman with a will to put steel to shame, one that could bend any monster to do her bidding. One Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing.

And all of which happened because of a chance encounter with a genuine monster that made even the most bloodthirsty ghouls of her world appear tame as lambs. The vampire Alucard, who was once the one and same Dracula of Bram Stoker`s classic horror novel.

She shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She had homework in Biology, History, and Mathematics. And she couldn`t very well get her head in the game if her mind was filled with someone else`s memories, now could she?

Mistress-

It`s Seras Victoria, schoolgirl, she replied. Don`t call me Mistress.

Yes, Mi- I mean, Seras Victoria. Could you leave me be for now? I have homework right now.

Homework. Those were simple days indeed. But, then again, they were a pain when I was human, so I pity you.

Thanks. That means so much to me, Michi replied sarcastically. She then went back to work.

---

When he finally got home, dinnertime was already going on. His beautiful wife Sakura had cooked spiced chicken with beans and vegetable greens. Both Michi and Mamiru were seated there, calmly eating alongside her. "Hey, I`m alive, and I`m home," he said.

"Welcome home, honey," Sakura said, with a smile.

"Hey Dad, long time no see," Michi mumbled, food in her mouth.

"DAD! Did you kill any ghouls today? Huh? Huh?!" Mamiru exclaimed excitedly.

"Nice to be home everyone," Akumo replied. "And no, Mamiru, I didn`t get to kill any ghouls today. They were all hiding too well for us to notice today. Although, there is something that I have to tell you all."

Everyone`s eyes turned toward him. He sighed, rubbed his eyes, and began.

"This is something the Home Office is going to announce tonight, but I want you all to hear it from me. Over the past month, there have been a series of over 40 killings all over the ward. We`ve come to the conclusion that all of these killings are the work of a single ghoul."

Sakura gasped, Mamiru was in awe, and Michi didn`t react at all.

"The reason we believe this is so is because all of the victims were similarly killed-" more like played with, torn to pieces, and then their throats ripped out-"and all of the victims
were ghouls."

Now, even Michi reacted, looking up with widened eyes, while Mamiru went bug-eyed with excitement and Sakura became absolutely pale.

"That means we are dealing with a cannibalistic binge eating ghoul. To date, we can`t say that this ghoul has killed any humans yet, but it`s bound to, sooner or later. For now, until Investigators encounter it and gauge its strength, we are giving the ghoul the codename Ripper, and it is an S-rated ghoul. More investigators from the Home Office will be brought in to help in the investigation. What all this means for this family, is that I`m setting a curfew. No one outside after dark, and everyone home by 6. Am I clear?"

Everyone said their yesses and nodded. Dinner continued to its conclusion without much more conversation. He also continued quietly eating his meal, contemplating what he`d been seeing over the past month.

It all started when he investigated the scene where two teen girls had been brutally murdered in a warehouse by a ghoul. The girls were friends of Michi, and the ghoul was a former member of Scythe`s gang, Biohazard. They found him in worse condition than the girls. He didn`t think anything more of it than a random dispute between ghouls, but then they began to find more dead ghouls, similarly mutilated and killed. What made all these cases so strange was the lack of blood at the scenes. If a body was torn to shreds, the blood would be everywhere, even if a ghoul managed to consume most of the body. Here, however, they were able to find almost the entirety of every murdered ghoul, but most of the blood was gone, as if this ghoul was more interested in blood than flesh. Thus, at the workplace, people had another name for this ghoul than Ripper:

Dracula.

---

Well, ma chère, it looks like you were right, said Pip. These CCG doves appear to have been on to you for some time.

What do we do, Mistr- I mean Seras? asked Michi. What if Dad finds out about you? About me?

Seras mulled over these words and thought. I doubt the CCG has ever gone up against vampires before, and certainly haven`t gone up against anything of my caliber. I highly doubt they can kill me. Still, you need to know, Michi, that you could have simply refused my offer and let yourself die. Now, you`ll have to deal with the reality of living out your un-life without your family someday, when I finally return to my world. Wherever I go, you must follow, forever a part of me. That`s what it means to be a vampire`s familiar.

What if you never get back? Michi asked.

I will find some way to occupy my time, as will you. I might get myself a fledgling to train. Eternity is such a long time. In the meantime, I know that when we confront the CCG, I will make certain to set the record straight. Don`t forget, you aren`t the only familiar I`ve acquired in this world. And although these ghouls are monsters, one thing we`ve both learned is that they have souls just the same as humans. This means that not all ghouls have to be evil, there must be those that desire nothing more than to live normal lives.
Starting tomorrow, we`ll be looking for them. And we will make the first steps to finishing this endless war.

 

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter 3: Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
​

Suffice it to say that, tonight, there were a myriad of very logical reasons for Rank 2 Junior Investigator Renji Fujiyama to be shaking in his boots, with a heart that felt like a pulse-pounding block of ice that threatened to leap out of his mouth at a moment`s notice. Reason number one: tonight was the night of his first patrol as a Ghoul Investigator in the CCG, so he had little to no idea of what to expect to happen. Two, he was patrolling in the 10th ward, a part of Tokyo that he wasn`t familiar with, having grown up in the 20th ward. The second half of the second reason was that the 10th ward was next door to the 11th ward, which was widely reputed to be the most heavily ghoul-infested ward in Tokyo. The third reason was the Investigator he had been partnered with, one Associate Class Investigator Daisuke Nakadai. This man was infamous in the CCG for two reasons: being a magnet for ghouls – rumor had it that he would be attacked by ghouls at least once a week – and was extremely sadistic towards the ghouls he captured, especially young ghouls.

All of that paled considerably in comparison to the fourth and final reason that he was nearly wetting his pants instead of shivering with excitement.

He had been assigned to the 10th ward, which, as of a little more than a month ago, had become the stomping ground of the newly infamous S-rate Ripper, known in-house in the CCG as Dracula.

This ghoul was both a mystery and a grave danger. Although his kill count only included ghouls, he had still slaughtered close to four dozen that the CCG was aware of, and they had no idea if he had killed any humans yet, or how many at that if he had. Also, due to how much the bodies had been torn apart, it was nigh impossible to identify the victims beyond the fact they were ghouls, and the near-complete lack of blood at the scenes further added to the mystery of this ghoul. After all, it was far simpler to just eat the entire body rather than go through the trouble of drinking every last drop of blood in the body and NOT eat its flesh. What made this even more frustrating was the fact that the cause of death was nigh impossible to identify and each scene also bore no marks of a kagune`s usage. And the cherry on top of all this was the fact that since Ripper was known to have already killed dozens of ghouls, it was likely the ghoul had probably killed many more before popping up in the 10th ward, and the consumption of so much ghoul flesh (mainly blood from what they could tell) had likely made the ghoul even stronger than he was before his current rampage.

Ripper was a cannibal, a binge eater, and an unknown, thus unpredictable, entity. Although it was currently S-rated, many feared that this ghoul would become the next One-Eyed Owl – a SSS-rate terror upon Tokyo.

Renji shuddered. He had no plans tonight to-

"Hey, Rookie! Are you listening to me?!"

"GAH!" Renji screamed, suddenly snapping back to the reality of his stern superior`s weathered face leaning forward, glaring at him. "Seriously, Investigator Nakadai! Don`t scare me like that!"

"Feh," Nakadai snorted. "I wasn`t even trying to scare yah. Believe, you`d know if I tried."

"That`s not exactly a comforting thought, sir."

"Know what I don`t find to be a comforting thought? A ghoul coulda speared you through the gut and then swallowed you whole from your thin glasses to your fat shoes before you bothered to look up and so much as notice there was a living thing standing in front of your nose. You cannot afford to let down your guard Fujiyama! Ever! That`s how many a good man lost his life! You got that?!" he roared at his subordinate.

Renji`s spine could have been swapped with a lead pipe and you wouldn`t have been able to tell the difference. "Y-y-yes, s-sir."

Investigator Daisuke stood back up, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose to calm himself back down. He opened his eyes again, looking down at his subordinate partner. "Okay, what`s got your boxers all twisted up?"

Renji`s breath hitched for a moment. "Dracula."

Not even Daisuke could stop himself from feeling a shred of sympathy for the rookie. "Yeah, I get it. No ghoul has gotten the CCG so riled up since the Owl first showed up. To be honest, I myself am more than a little nervous about the prospects of facing off against him. Or her, considering we can`t even tell its gender. Still, our job right now is to patrol these streets, find a man-eating monster or two, and put them down before they get to enjoy dessert. So chin up and let`s get to work!"

Renji gulped. "Yes, sir."

---

That`s Associate Class Investigator Nakadai, isn`t he, Michi? Seras inquired of her familiar, sending a mental image to her. Seras was watching them from her rooftop vantage point about a kilometer away from them, but her third eye viewing them as clearly as in broad daylight from a few feet away.

Yes, Seras, Michi confirmed. He hasn`t changed at all since I last saw him a few months ago when I last visited the CCG`s 10th ward branch. Michi was currently enjoying a rare family movie night, as her father had a rare night off. However, it was Mamiru who had won the right to choose the evening`s entertainment, so the Matsuzakas were now gathered `round watching "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust," a rather apropos film for Mamiru`s tastes and utterly ironic to Michi, an irony she sadly couldn`t share with her family.

And he`s still as ugly a bastard as ever, Pip added, watching the unfolding events from within Seras` mind. That`s a face only a mother could possibly love. I`m glad I didn`t look like that broken rock face of a man when I first met you, ma chère, or I never would`ve gotten where I am now.

Which is stuck for eternity inside your vampiric lover`s soul along with an angry, furious mob of man-eating monsters, Michi retorted.

Pip laughed at her comment. I know I`ve said it before, but you`ve got spunk, girl. Besides, I would rather deal with undead souls than that calculus mumbo jumbo you`re tackling in your school. It`s dangerous, but I know how to handle.

Same here, she replied. So, now`s when the rubber really hits the road, right, Mistress?

Yes, school girl, Seras replied. Time to see what the world really has to throw at me.

---

Tonight looked like it was going to be one of those nights. One where the foreboding atmosphere produced by a moonless night, a slight, yet loud, breeze, and the random flash of a car`s headlights from the street crafted his sense of anticipation for some bloody action yet ultimately left him hanging. He and his rookie partner, which he requested on a whim to ease his boredom and give himself a little more of a challenge in life, had been walking around for what felt like ages and had yet to see hide or hair-

SPLAT!

He and Renji immediately jumped and about-faced to find a dead body on the ground behind them. It was lying face-up with its eyes open, revealing its kakugan, showing that it was a ghoul. They were quick to notice the letter on its chest, written in large, red, English lettering:

WANNA MEET? –RIPPER

They looked up in time to see a red figure suddenly disappear back into the office building`s upper floors.

"Come on!" Daisuke shouted at his subordinate. Immediately rushing through the building`s glass doors, while Renji immediately called for backup, citing a possible sighting of the S-rate Ripper at their location. He headed straight for the security desk, reaching into his coat to pull out his ID, when he noticed something was very wrong: the guards were all slumped in their seats. Going behind the desk, he noticed that the security monitors were all showing blank screens. Grabbing one of the guard`s radios, he also heard nothing but static. He gritted his teeth. If it was indeed Ripper they were dealing with, then they were either looking at an entire gang of especially sadistic ghouls or one very dangerous and intelligent ghoul who loved to toy with its specially chosen victims.

He then smiled at the thought. Looks like I`ll get to have some fun tonight after all, he thought.

"Sir," Renji reported behind him. "I`ve called the branch office. Help should arrive in fifteen minutes. We should also check with building security to find the ghoul."

"Don`t bother with security," Daisuke replied. "Ripper was here way before us. Knocked out the guards and shorted the feeds. We`re blind here, boy. And I`d bet my last Yen that Ripper has cased the whole joint and has a trap set up for us."
"I wouldn`t quite call it a trap, Associate Class Nakadai," an ethereally feminine voice suddenly called out.

They froze for but an instant. Then, slowly, they turned their heads towards the staircase which descended from the next floor up. At the top was a woman dressed in red.

"Well, I did kind of arrange all of this ahead of time so that we were all alone in private in a big office building and the invitation was more than a little abrupt and shocking so I guess you couldn`t help but think it was a trap. Sorry about that," she continued, scratching the back of her head and looking none too sheepish.

Daisuke was more than a little unnerved by this girl. Taking into account her youthful face and well-endowed figure, he pegged her to be mid-20s at oldest. He also took note of her peculiar choice of attire, which seemed to be a military-type uniform jacket with a miniskirt, thigh-high ripped stockings and large boots, all colored in varying dark shades of red, like dried blood. Her right arm was mostly bare, with a white glove on the hand, while her left arm down to the fingertips were covered in a long, black and red sleeve. The features that were the clearest to him, however, were the girl`s deathly pale Caucasian skin, which, along with her short, spiky-bunned straw blond hair and British accent, indicated that she was a European, and her red ruby eyes.

Although it was rare, sometimes ghouls` kakugans manifested permanently. Although there was the even rarer case among ghouls that their irises stayed red while their scleras stayed white. This ghoul`s eyes were pools of fire, that, despite the carefree demeanor she was exhibiting, betrayed the look of someone who had been through Hell and didn`t come back out the same as going in. It was a look he had seen time and again on the faces of many people who had experienced a ghoul attack.

It burned him to the depths of his soul to be mocked by a monster daring to bear the same eyes.

What burned him the most was the fact that the ghoul appeared to be so arrogant that it wasn`t even wearing a mask.

He took a step forward, getting ready to unleash-

"Hey! I already have a lover! Get your head out of the gutter you playboy," she blurted.

Daisuke`s thought process and forward progress immediately ground to a halt. She thought that he-

"Not you, the Casanova-wannabe you dragged along!" she shouted, pointing at Second Rank Fujiyama. "Bloody Dove, you just had to pick a ladies man for a rookie partner," she said exasperatedly.

He spared a moment to send a withering glance at Renji, who immediately froze up again. "S-Sorry sir!" he spluttered. "It`s- well um- I guess- I didn`t really expect my first ghoul to be a really pretty girl, and Dracula on top of that-"

"What was that you called me?"

Daisuke immediately turned back toward the staircase to face the red monster, intent on not letting his guard down before her again.

She wasn`t there.

He began to panic. Where did she go?

"AAGGHH-"

Turning around again, he looked to see that the rookie had suddenly vanished into thin air. He immediately turned back toward the stairs, and there he saw the Ripper ghoul holding an unconscious Renji Fujiwara in its arms, bridal style. It set him down at the top of the stairs with care, like a lover laying his sleeping partner to rest on a bed. She stood back up.

"There. Now that the kiddies are put to bed, the adults can now talk."

Daisuke was in shock. This thing had to be doing some kind of trick. Otherwise, he would have to accept the fact that, in the moments between when he was alternately shifting his focus between the positions of his subordinate and the ghoul, she had managed to silently move past him twice and snatch away Renji before he was even able to register her movement. He knew that ghouls were superhumanly quick thanks to their biology, and he had heard of instances where ghouls moved too fast for the Investigators to track, but this was when they were in an up-close melee, not standing apart at a good 20 meters apart with a stairway between them. He had never heard of a ghoul being even remotely this fast. Although she had yet to even show off her kagune, her speed alone indicated she was probably a SSS-rate.

A darkness began emanating from the girl`s black sleeve. She began walking towards him.

"I`ve been here for about a month now, and I have to say that I`m quite disappointed in the state of the world. When I first got here, I regarded the ghouls as nothing more than monsters, since the very first one that I saw was about to have a schoolgirl for dinner. So, I began scoping out the 10th ward, looking it up and down, making a mental map, and hunting down the man-eating monsters that haunted the nightmares of this world. Soon, two weeks had passed and I had slaughtered dozens."

Oh God, he thought. SSS-rate. This girl`s another One-Eyed Owl. He now felt more afraid for his life than he had in decades. He knew that he was a strong Investigator, and he had faced down a number of strong ghouls in the past. However, he remembered seeing the footage of the Owl`s attacks on the CCG and why it was rated SSS. He knew that he would only ever face that thing with at least a strong partner at his side and an army at his back. He knew he had bouts of recklessness at times, but he knew where his limits lay.

The darkness was spreading behind the girl and up the walls. She was at the bottom of the staircase.

"Then, one night during my third week, I saw the dying body of a little girl. When I approached her, I learned that she was a ghoul. And she had witnessed her mother and father get brutally murdered by two men. Ghoul Investigators. It was then that I realized the truth about the ghouls- that they were living, loving beings like humans. That they had dreams and emotions just like humans. That not all of them became monsters by choice. And I was forced to remember once again that man can be just as monstrous as the hell spawn that walk the earth. This world has become stuck in a perpetual cycle of despair, vengeance, and death. One that will, one day, tear it asunder."

And soloing a fight with a SSS-rated ghoul was beyond them. All he could do was watch this gho- no, demon- slowly, calmly, approach him with supernatural grace, as the darkness swallowed the lobby.

"So, I thought to myself, how do I break the cycle? How do I, an outsider, bring resolution to this eternal war? Then, I remembered something that my Master`s Master once said. I wasn`t there to hear it myself, but, paraphrasing her, she said that the most effective way to destroy a monster was to send a bigger monster."

She stopped less than a foot from his face. Eyes had opened in the darkness, with bright red pupils, all staring at him. Daisuke was frozen in terror.

"And so, pass the word on to everyone. Tell them, Senior Officer Seras Victoria of the Hellsing Organization, No-Life Queen of the Vampires, hearby declares war on the monsters of Tokyo, be they human or ghoul, until such time as the humans and ghouls of Tokyo can find reconciliation. Effective immediately."

She had shown off her fangs.

He activated his quinques. She was literally right in front of his face, so he couldn`t possibly miss. He was able to keep one part of mind sane in this maddening situation, and it took advantage of this golden opportunity to slay this dragon right here, right-

They shattered. Both of his quinques, his will personified, Deimos and Phobos, had been speared, crushed, and snapped simultaneously by the very darkness that surrounded him, breaking apart like champagne glasses. He also belatedly noticed that his feet weren`t touching the ground, like he was being held up by some invisible force.

"I`ll forgive you this once, since I need you to be my messenger," she told him, her voice echoing throughout the space of his mind. "But, I am very well aware of the kind of monster you are, Mr. Nakadai. Pray to God that you never meet me again. Or I will avenge that little girl whose mother you slaughtered."

Her eyes flashed like stars, and she reached her hand forward.

His world went dark.

---

"Hey, Michi, either watch the movie or go to bed."

Michi suddenly snapped awake at the sound of Mamiru`s voice. Watching the unfolding encounter with the Investigators through her Mistress` mind had proven far more horrifyingly entertaining than the animated vampire film playing out on the TV, which, although quite good for a vampire flick, didn`t even hold a candle to the reality that was
Seras Victoria. "Oh, sorry, Mamiru."

As she turned back to old anime flick, she decided to melodramatically sum up the night`s main event in just one thought directed at Seras:

The show has only just begun, hasn`t it?

Her mistress simply smiled.

 

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter 4: Unknowingly Caught in the Eye of a Growing Storm
​

"Now, when it comes to teaching the World War II era, many Western educational institutions place emphasis on Germany`s atrocities when it comes to human rights abuses, particularly when it comes to the Holocaust, when the Nazi Party exterminated tens of millions of people in a quest for racial purity; particularly noting the six million Jews who were murdered during their reign."

Who doesn`t know this BS already? Hisao groaned mentally. Although he personally liked learning about history, he did not particularly enjoy relearning the same lessons that he had learned by himself.

"While true and tragic at the same, these same institutions also fail to either notice or place emphasis on the fact that our own nation during those years was guilty of crimes of equal and even greater magnitude than our, shamefully, erstwhile allies-in-arms."

No kidding. We were REALLY messed up in the head in those days. He had read through every history book he could get his hands on in his home before discovering the wonderful world of the library, where he now spends the vast majority of his free time in reading anything that catches his random fancies, from computer manuals to shounen manga.

"In fact, after the Imperial Army won a more difficult battle than expected at Shanghai during the pre-World War II invasion of China, they vented their frustration on the next city they conquered, Nanking, by slaughtering over half of the city`s 600,000 residents, going so far as to rape tens of thousands of women and girls and then butchering them. This event-"

A hand was raised, interrupting the lecture and drawing the female professor`s attention - and Hisao`s - to the bespectacled girl sitting to his right.

"You have something to say, Iseri Nanami?" the teacher called, using the traditional method of addressing someone with their family name first.

"Yes, Shoji-sensei," Nanami said. "Although I understand the importance of us learning about such historical events as this, are you sure that we should be taught it in such gory detail?"

"First, I don`t think you`re one to complain about "gory details", Nanami, considering the fact that I know you are an otaku with a particular interest for anime that have explicit violence as one of their main draws, and two, just like I`ve said in my lessons on Feudal Era Japan, I have a firm belief that history ought to be presented as is, without any romanticism, propaganda, or political correctness on the subject."

At least she`s honest, so thank the gods for that.

"Besides, who needs to be an otaku when the world is practically a real-life horror story? Who needs anime and manga when all you need is a newspaper or even a science documentary to get your daily scares?"

This random, uncalled-for comment came from the girl sitting directly behind Hisao. One Michi Matsuzaka, daughter of recently-promoted Associate-Class Ghoul Investigator Akumo Matsuzaka.

"Michi," Yui Shoji said, annoyed. "No matter how insightful you may think you are, in order to speak in my classroom, you have to raise your hand and wait for permission to speak, just like everyone else. And, last I checked, that`s the way it`s done everywhere at every educational level. So, be polite and considerate, that is your last warning."

"Yes, ma`am," Michi droned.

As the teacher restarted her lecture, continuing where she left off with the Rape of Nanking, Hisao let his mind think about Michi.

Not too long ago, Michi was one of the most popular girls in the school, having rubbed shoulders with the likes of Masahiko Himura, star athlete in both track and archery, Chiasa Hara, daughter of one of the members of the Japanese Diet, and even Katsuo Ishikawa, a rumored member of the yakuza.

Then, she and her two dearest friends, Asuna and Reiko, were the victims of a ghoul attack that left the two dead and Michi in shock.

For a time, her social life had suffered, as her father, in paternal and professional paranoia, managed to get protection for Michi for the next two weeks while she grieved the loss of her friends, ensuring that only the truly concerned, or morbidly curious, would bother to approach and bother her. It didn`t help that people were afraid that, if they were associated with her, some ghoul stalker might come and eat them too.

Then, two weeks prior, came the CCG`s public announcement of the cannibalistic S-rated ghoul Ripper, a ghoul which hunted and killed its own kind.

This announcement had the odd effect of restoring Michi`s popularity, when rumor spread that the real reason Michi had survived the ghoul attack was because Ripper had saved her at the last minute, leading to just about everyone pestering her for any and all details she could give about the latest on the CCG`s Most Wanted. Despite her obvious discomfort, Michi was able to take advantage of everyone`s curiosity to reestablish her previous relationships with her various other friends and the other popular kids and assuage fears about being her friends. And now, everything was back to normal, with Michi again using smart comments in class.

Despite all this, Hisao just couldn`t stop that nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was something he was missing…

---

BBBRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!!

FINALLY! I thought that would never end! Nanami thought exasperated, as she gathered up her textbooks and notebooks into her bag, got up and walked out the door towards the cafeteria, more than happy for the arrival of lunch break.

She had never really enjoyed history class, and never liked learning about bloody stuff in it either. Despite Ms. Shoji`s point that she enjoyed bloody anime, with the likes of Elfen Lied and Berserk among her favorites, she always possessed a very distinct understanding of the unreality of fiction – basically, she herself was not frightened, swayed, or otherwise affected by anything that she knew to be false. In real life, she could barely stand the sight of blood or any news regarding ghouls or bloodshed. Thus, unlike many others, she indulged in anime and manga because she could then pay witness to over-the-top acts of violence without suffering a complete mental breakdown.

Although, she also thought back on Michi`s comment that real life was like a horror manga. What with all the ghouls running around and eating people, and that Ripper causing a ruckus throughout the 10th​ Ward, she couldn`t help but admit that life did look like a horror manga. After all, she was regularly attending high school, the practically default setting for just about every other anime or manga EVER, man-eating human-looking monsters prowled the streets both day and night, a powerful and secretive, although public, organization was hunting them down, and, for the cherry on top, her classmate and friend Michi had gotten caught up in the madness.

"Something on your mind, Nanami?" came the concerned voice of Michi.

"Oh! N-n-nothing much," she replied, flustered. "I was just thinking about what you said in class. About life being a horror manga."

"Yeah, I did say that. I mean, with the stuff I`ve seen, it definitely would be most at home in a manga or one of those cheap B-rated horror flicks, wouldn`t you agree?"

"Yeah, heh," Nanami laughed nervously, as the two walked into the cafeteria and headed toward a table that sat next to the windows. Sitting down, she opened her bento box to see a delicious array of salads, both vegetable and fruit, and saucy chicken inside. Wafting the scent of the food in delight, she said her thanks and began eating, taking a brief moment to see Michi`s equally delectable lunch before her.

"So, Michi," Nanami started.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Back on the earlier topic of life being like a manga, would you think you`re the protagonist in one?"

"Hmmm," Michi thought. "In my case, maybe I am, but maybe not. If not the main character, then maybe a side character."

"Come on, Michi," Nanami groaned. "You`re beautiful, you`re smart, you`ve got big familial connections to a giant government organization that hunts monsters for a living, you even got attacked by one of those said monsters! If you`re not THE protagonist, you`re at least one of them, a major character, or the protagonist`s love interest."

If Michi had had anything in her mouth at that moment, it would have been spit right back out all over Nanami as Michi guffawed at this last statement. "WHAT?! The love interest?!? What do you take me for, some random cut-and-paste anime girl that you can find anywhere that have no depth to them or any actually redeeming qualities?"

"Nononono, that`s not it at all!" Nanami exclaimed, waving her arms in front of herself (just like in anime) trying to calm down her flustered friend. "I mean, you strike me as the kind of person who would either be a big part of a story or, at least, have the attention of someone who is. Unlike me, who would probably be nothing more than your average disposable side character who gets a one-off appearance and then drops off the face of the Earth." This last part was said in self-pity, as Nanami had never believed herself to amounting to much in life, what with her being an otaku and all, knowing well that it was frowned upon in general society.

"Hey, don`t sell yourself that short, Nanami," Michi said, having gathered her nerves about her once more. "I mean, who knows. You could make a very interesting character in a story if done right. That`s something that can be said for everyone, because no two people are the same. That`s what makes humanity so beautiful after all. Everyone is precious."

Nanami blinked. And then just laughed in spite of herself. "That was as corny and cheesy as a giant bowl of popcorn. But thanks. It helped."

"Don`t mention it."

Nanami then remembered something. "Oh yeah, I just finished reading this book recently, and I was wondering if you wanted to check it out." She reached into her bag to grab it.

Michi was curious. "What is it?"

Nanami then pulled out the book, and, in a dramatic flair, plopped right onto the middle of the table. "Well, what do you think? I personally liked the author`s vision of swapping
out ghouls for vampires and werewolves, and-" she stopped when she noticed her friend had frozen up completely, staring at the book with her eyebrows twitching. She looked up at Nanami.

"Tell me this is a joke. Please." Michi`s eyes held Nanami`s with a look of equal parts disbelief and pain.

"Uhhh, no?" Nanami said, feeling nervous.

Michi then lifted the book and held it out from herself like it was bio-waste material, and rushed to the nearest recycling can for paper and dumped it inside with a sigh of relief.

Nanami`s jaw would`ve been clattering on the floor if it had been detachable.

"B-b-bu-but, WHY?" Nanami exclaimed. "I thought we were friends!!"

Michi placed her hands on Nanami`s shoulders and looked the glasses girl dead in the eye with a look that brokered no argument. "No self-respecting friends with so much as
half a brain doesn`t make friends read Twilight. It makes them WANT to be eaten by ghouls."

A purple-haired girl sitting at the table behind them suddenly and violently sneezed, jump-scaring the girl sitting opposite her to cry out and fall back and startling Nanami and Michi apart. There was food all over the girl`s uniform and hazelnut hair, showing that her friend had just taken a bite when the sudden sneeze had occurred.

"Ohmygod I`m so sorry!" the sneezer said, rushing over to her blown-over comrade. "Seriously, I have no idea what came over me!"

"It`s okay," the girl replied, getting back up. "At least I`ve got spares at home, and I know how to wash out food from my clothes."

She then looked at Nanami and Michi. "Sorry for that, you guys. My friend doesn`t normally get sick, so don`t mind us."

"No no, it`s okay," Nanami replied. "I mean, there was that one time that I literally slipped on a banana peel when I was rushing through the cafeteria for my next class."

"Wait," the purple-haired girl stated. "The story of the Banana Girl, from last semester, that was YOU?!"

"Yep," Michi replied, putting an arm around Nanami`s waist. "And, fun fact: that was MY banana peel she slipped on! That`s how we met and became friends!"

"No kidding?" said the girl who`d been knocked backwards.

"Nope."

The other two girls just gaped, looked at one another, and then just burst out laughing. Michi and Nanami couldn`t help but join in. After calming down, Nanami bowed and said,

"Well, fellow accident victim, my name is Nanami Iseri. What`s yours?"

"Yoriko," she said, bowing in return. "Yoriko Kosaka."

"Michi Matsuzaka," the banana peel-dropper said with her own bow. She turned to the purple-haired girl. "And you?"

"Touka," she replied, returning the gesture. "Touka Kirishima."

 

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter Five: It Starts With a Ripple​

He knocked on the door in front of him.

"Who is it? I don`t want to be bothered," a grouchier-than-usual voice sounded from behind the door.

"Marude, it`s me. I was thinking we could talk."

"Shinohara? Okay, you`re not a bother, come on in."

Special Investigator Shinohara opened the door, walked into the spacious, high-rise office, and closed it behind him. He looked over to see Division II Commander Special Investigator Marude having just gotten up from his desk and coming forward to meet him, with a relieved smile on his generally sullen and angry face. His own face was graced by its own, more jovial grin.

"It`s good to see you, Shinohara. Today has been nothing but a bore and a drag."

"And you as well, old friend," Shinohara replied.

"Please, sit down," Marude insisted, gesturing to the comfortable office armchairs he`d set up just for these sorts of conversations with good comrades. Shinohara accepted graciously, lowering his well-built frame into the firmly soft furniture. He placed the briefcase in his hand next to the chair.

"Coffee?" Marude asked, walking toward the still-hot pot.

"No thanks, I only just ate," Shinohara replied, waving his hand. "Besides, I don`t want to stain your furniture."

"That`s alright, but I still feel like I need a cup myself," Marude replied, pouring the scalding hot beverage into his mug. After taking a quick sip, he put in two sugars, stirred them
about, and tasted again. Satisfied with the result, he went and took the seat opposite Shinohara.

"So, what brings you here?" Marude asked, placing his mug on the coffee table between them.

Shinohara`s face grew serious. "Ripper," he said, a grave tone in his voice.

Marude`s face immediately lost all sense of cheer, and the man heaved a great sigh.

"Of course. Only the thing that`s been tormenting me for weeks would be the cause for getting you over here to talk to me in private."

"I`m sorry, but we both know things haven`t gotten any better since it showed up out of the blue. Has Nakadai or Fujiyama said anything new?"

"Unfortunately, no. The two of them can only give us the same information that they gave us over a month ago, and their psychiatrists tell us that it`s very likely they`ll both be mentally scarred for life." He got up again, walked to his desk, and he picked up the open files that lay there, spreading them out on the table for Shinohara to see. He looked through them again.

Marude began explaining. "When we had arrived at where Junior Investigator Fujiyama had called in for backup at a Ripper sighting, he was found at the top of a staircase knocked unconscious but otherwise unharmed. When debriefed later, Fujiyama was nervous-sounding, but told everything that had happened to him, from when the ghoul with the note on its chest fell splat behind him to his sudden blackout when he saw Ripper materialize right behind him.

"Nakadai, on the other hand, has suffered a complete mental breakdown. He was found at the scene physically uninjured, but curled up in a ball, whimpering and shaking like a small child, muttering about darkness, lots of red eyes, the One-Eyed Owl, etc., with his quinques broken into little pieces. But, he was able to give us a single, coherent statement, which goes, and I quote, 'The No-life Queen of the Vampires declares war on the monsters of Tokyo, be they human or ghoul.'"

"So, what do our guys say this tells us about Ripper?" Shinohara inquired.

"We believe that these 'Vampires' may be a new ghoul organization that`s springing up, and Ripper is their leader, if this self-proclamation of being the No-Life Queen is anything to go by," Marude replied.

"So, on top of Aogiri Tree making its presence felt in the 11th​ Ward, we now may be looking at another gang setting up shop next door in the 10th​, led by a ghoul who`s powerful enough to take down an Associate-Class Investigator with ease, but also capable of destroying a man`s sanity without doing him any physical harm." Shinohara could not help but feel even more nervous about Ripper. This ghoul had been terrorizing the 10th​ Ward`s ghouls for over a month, but this was the first instance when it has been well and truly connected to an attack on humans. If it was also bold enough to outright declare war, and on practically the whole city no less, let alone just the CCG, there was no telling what it would do next.

"Also," Marude spoke up again. "About Nakadai`s quinques. When we looked at the pieces, they had been arranged to form a message." He pointed to the photograph with the message, written in English:

THE BIRD OF HERMES IS MY NAME, EATING MY WINGS TO MAKE ME TAME.

Shinohara looked, and then asked, "Do we know what that`s supposed to mean?"

Marude`s face became even more grave. "It`s a quote from the Ripley Scroll*, an alchemical text from medieval Europe."

Shinohara`s eyebrows rose up. "Alchemical? As in alchemy? Turning lead into gold?"

"Yes," Marude replied. "The Ripley Scroll in particular is about alchemy`s favorite mythical substance: the Philosopher`s Stone."

"What does the Philosopher`s Stone have to do with a gang of ghouls? And why would they have any interest in it whatsoever?" Shinohara questioned.

"According to what my people have told me, alchemy is a dead science that focused on the transmutation of a substance into another, different element. Alchemists purportedly had three main goals: turning lead into gold, achieving immortality, and the creation of homunculi – artificial life."

"In that case," Shinohara mused, "I can definitely see how a ghoul, or anyone for that matter would be interested in alchemy. But, what exactly is the Philosopher`s Stone?"

"Supposedly, it was the substance that alchemists needed in order to achieve those very goals. All modern scientists are of the opinion it doesn`t exist. I agree with them."

Shinohara mused over the new information, but he wasn`t convinced that alchemy played a serious role in Ripper`s plans, whatever they were. "Still, Marude, what more could this phrase even mean? It could be nothing more than a diversion, a mind game."

Marude nodded. "We`ve already taken that into consideration. We`re not overly concerned with the phrase itself, but rather what it means about whoever wrote it."

"What does it mean?"

"For one, how many people do you think have even heard of the Ripley Scroll?"

Shinohara pondered a moment. "Hardly anyone, certainly nobody I know. I mean, this is the first I`ve ever even heard of something like this."

"Exactly," Marude stated. "And the other thing is that the phrase was written in English. Do you know what that implies?"

Shinohara`s eyes widened. "A ghoul in Japan that`s able to speak fluent Japanese, understand and write fluent English, and educated well enough to draw references to obscure ancient texts on near-mythical subjects. That, combined with its obvious power and strength, means we are dealing with a ghoul that`s also highly intelligent and likely capable of organizing ghouls into a more effective fighting force."

"Yes," Marude affirmed. "This ghoul needs to be found and killed fast. Otherwise, we could soon be dealing with a second Aogiri Tree. And, because this Ripper is causing so much fuss in the 10th​ Ward, we can be certain that Aogiri Tree will, sooner or later, send someone to look into Ripper, to either recruit or kill her. If Ripper gets recruited by Aogiri Tree, than that organization will become that much more of a headache. If Aogiri kills her, then that`s one less headache."

"But then if Ripper goes to war with Aogiri, then things will get even more hectic before," Shinohara finished.

"Yes," Marude said, morosely. "That`s why I`m having more Investigators sent to the 10th​ Ward, that way we can end this charade with Ripper once and for all. The media`s hounding us enough because of it and the Internet`s throwing up a firestorm because of her."

"Hai," Shinohara agreed. When information about the ghoul first got leaked, the CCG was forced to make a public statement regarding the Ripper before the media blew it out of proportion. Now, the Ripper ghoul had become something of a divisive figure on the Internet, with bloggers, YouTubers, and forums picking apart the motivations and goals of this particular ghoul, with some sagely informing readers and viewers of the dangerous tendencies of cannibalistic ghouls while others practically hailed it as the savior of humanity. Shinohara and Marude both knew this was where Ripper`s true danger lay: its ability to divide public opinion, force people to question the CCG`s mission. To question the monstrous reality of ghouls.

"Luckily for you," Shinohara declared, leaning over to the case, opening it and taking a file out. "I`ve decided to set up my own little team to catch Ripper." He handed the file to Marude, who opened it, and began looking through it. Although the team was small, two of the names stood out to him in particular.

"Ah, so you`re bringing those two into the 10th​ Ward with you, huh?"

Shinohara nodded, chuckling a little. "Those two are perfect for going up against Ripper. They won`t waver in chasing down and fighting Ripper, more so than anyone else. On top of that, they`re both excellent fighters that complement each other very well and smart enough to track down all but the most elusive of ghouls. And if Ripper is still a lone wolf when we get down to fighting her, I believe we will be able to handle her just fine."

---

He was excited.

He was always enthusiastic when Aogiri Tree sent him on an assignment to find a particular ghoul to recruit or drag back for them. The reason being that, if they resisted, he got to play with them, taking fingers, toes, arms, legs, anything that would make them squeal in pain as he took delight in painfully torturing them for hours on end, day and day out.

But, ever since he had stepped into the 10th​ Ward, he could feel… something. He had no idea how to describe it. A feeling of electricity in the air? A strange presence? A dark, malevolent force? It was something that he could somehow sense, but not physically. It was one of those things that someone just knows when they feel it, as it sinks down into the depths and crevices of the soul.

And, considering his assignment, he knew exactly that something had to be his quarry. Ever since Aogiri Tree had heard of the rumors of a powerful blood-drinking cannibal of a ghoul in the 10th​ Ward, Aogiri had sought to gather all of the information it could regarding the creature. After the CCG gave a press conference regarding the same ghoul, the executives of Aogiri Tree knew that they needed to have him or her on their side. This was made especially urgent after they learned that the ghoul had quite handily defeated a rather notorious Dove, Associate-Class Investigator Daisuke Nakadai, and when they later learned he had been psychologically traumatized by the incident. But, despite their best efforts, no one could give them any word about where Ripper`s hideout was or if he had any contacts. And, the people they had already sent always returned empty-handed.

That was why Aogiri Tree had sent him. They were certain that, with his 'talents,' he would be able to find Ripper, and, whether or not he cooperated, bring him into the fold, or kill him.

On top of all this, the sensation he was currently experiencing was unlike everything he had ever known in his life. And, since he knew without a doubt it emanated from Ripper, this sensation was also a promise. A promise of something truly otherworldly, something that would entertain him to no end, something that would change his life forever.

He had no idea how he knew, but he knew it for certain, just as certain as he was that night fell after the sun set.

---

Well, he`s a big bastard that one, Pip told Seras. Looking down from Seras` bird`s eye-view from atop a construction crane, Seras could not help but agree. If she were still a fledgling, she would most definitely have hesitated before engaging this particular individual, even without knowing he was a ghoul.

It looks like our inside sources were correct, Mistress, Michi piped in.

Michi, I`m not currently acting in character, Seras admonished. Remember, unless I`m acting in my persona as the No-Life Queen, you don`t have to call me Mistress. I`m much more comfortable with just Seras.

Sorry, Seras, Michi apologized. Roleplaying is just so much fun, right?

Seras mentally shrugged. I guess so. And, I guess it does allow to better understand how my Master acts sometimes, so that`s also why I like to do it. But, let`s focus on what`s in front of us. Alright?

Okay, Michi agreed.

Certainly, ma chère, Pip said.

Seras then looked again at her target. She couldn`t help but smile, seeing her plans moving in motion. She had made plans before, but they had always been short-term strategies for fighting concentrated groups and individuals. This was the first long-term plan she had ever set into motion, against a multiplicity of enemies with a single, over-reaching goal.

Watching this piece of her plan fall into place was one of the most exhilarating experiences she had ever known.

Yakumo Oomori, AKA Yamori, AKA 13th​ Ward`s Jason. Seras thought. Sleep well tonight. I will make all of the arrangements for our meeting tomorrow.

*The Ripley Scroll is real. Look it up online and you can read the full text.

 

[Xavier Rall]

Chapter 6: Unexpected and Expectant Guests
​

This scene feels so cliché, Seras, Michi mentally moaned to her mistress. I mean, right now, I`m just waiting for someone to literally jump out and attack me.

So far, as she walked down the street, the only people that Michi had seen actually out and about outside were a couple in romantic embrace, perhaps cheating on one or the other`s lifetime partner, a gang of juvenile delinquents hanging around a public vending machine outside an arcade, and even a few policemen making an arrest. But, what all of the people saw had in common, was that there was someone else with them. No one was alone.

After all, who would want to walk around outside at night all by their lonesome, and give a hungry ghoul the perfect target for a midnight snack? And, looking at Michi, anyone would think so as well. A pretty girl walking alone in the night would have any ghoul salivating at the thought of chewing her up. Even if the 20th​ Ward was a quiet place, ghoul-wise, such things still happened on occasion.

Michi, however, knew better. She knew that, if someone did try to attack her, her vampire mistress and guardian angel would pop up out of nowhere and dine on them, body and soul.

As entertaining as that might be, it would be preferable that such a thing didn`t happen, so that we can save our surprise for our intended audience, Seras told her.

True that, Michi replied. Turning around a corner and continuing onward, she immediately found what she was looking for. Down the sidewalk, she saw a young, purple-haired girl walking out a door and towards the advertisement board that stood in front of a quaint-looking café. On the sign that stood in front of the café door, she read, "Anteiku."

"Hey there, Touka!" she shouted, waving her hand in greeting.

Standing up, surprised, Touka looked over to see Michi walk up to her.

"Oh, hi. Michi, was it?" she asked.

"Yeah, that`s right. So, you just closed up shop I`m guessing?"

"Yep. So, sorry if you were hoping to try our coffee." She paused for a brief moment, as if a thought had crossed her mind. Her eyes narrowed, almost imperceptibly so. "So, what brings you here?"

"I was in the neighborhood visiting a friend`s house," Michi smoothly replied. "I was about to go home, and then I remembered Yoriko telling me about your job, working as a waitress in a coffee shop. So, I decided to check it out."

"So, you spent the day at a friend`s house in a neighborhood two wards over from where you live until the dead of night before deciding to head home. Then you decided to come over to a restaurant that you heard about from the only friend I have in school, without mentioning you knowing how you knew where it is in the first place. And you came here by yourself, against whatever better judgment you ought to have, considering you`re a Ghoul Investigator`s daughter, and what happened to you and your friends a while back."

Michi didn`t have to be the daughter of a ghoul Investigator to see the suspicion in Touka`s eyes. She also knew that her very heritage was a reason for Touka`s suspicion.

So she sighed, raising her hands again, this time in surrender, saying, "Alright, you got me. I didn`t come here just to check the place out. I came because there`s someone I know who really wants to talk with you people here. In private."

Touka`s eyes narrowed even more so, and she stepped closer to Michi. "Who do you know that would want to talk with us? And why?"

Michi simply smiled mischievously in return, and leaned in conspiratorially, and whispered into Touka`s ear:

"Ripper. And she knows that all of you are ghouls."

---

"Hey, Manager! We have a guest who wants to speak with us!" Touka shouted, as she led Michi through the door into Anteiku. Since the store was closed, the only people here were her, Koma, Irimi, Yomo, and the manager, Yoshimura. Koma and Irimi were already out in the café proper, finishing up with cleaning the tables, wiping down the counter, and putting away all the tableware. Yomo would be in the back, likely about to go out to do some "shopping," and Yoshimura would probably be in the office, handling the store`s finances. Each and every one of them a powerful ghoul capable of handling themselves if it came down to a fight.

But, for some reason or other, Touka`s instincts were screaming at her to run away from the human girl that walked past her into the café, drawing the attention of both of the other waiters already present. Touka didn`t know why that was, for as far as she could see, the girl didn`t have any manner of weapon on her person, or at least, something actually dangerous, she had a thin frame but wasn`t what could be called "athletic," and Michi had even allowed Touka to search her person and take away her cell phone and wallet, meaning she couldn`t call for help and, if were killed and dumped in some random location, no one would able to find her for some time and, even if they did, there would be no trace that anyone at Anteiku had done it.

The only thing which clued Touka into why her internal alarm bells should be ringing at all was the girl`s own attitude. From the slight skip in her step to the slight smile on her face, her whole figure suggested that everyone around her was the punchline for some joke that only she knew about. And so, Touka decided to err on the side of caution and hear out the girl before deciding to just take her out back, break her neck, and rip her guts for tomorrow`s breakfast.

Koma spoke up right then. "Hey there. I`m Koma. What would bring such a delicate flower into our corner of the world? And to speak with the Manager, no less."

"Would you happen to be a friend of Touka`s?" Irimi said, chiming in. "Otherwise, I don`t think she would`ve let you in."

"Well, I don`t think we qualify as friends," Michi replied, "but we have met in school, in the cafeteria, but we don`t share any classes together, so we barely qualify as acquaintances."

"Okay, still, what would bring you here, Miss…"

"Matsuzaka," said a warm voice. Touka turned to see the Manager come in from the back, Yomo behind him. He continued. "Michi Matsuzaka, daughter of Associate-Class Ghoul Investigator Akumo Matsuzaka. She is the girl on the news who survived the first recorded Ripper attack a couple of months back. Am I correct?" he asked, giving her his signature room-brightening smile.

It was a testament to how well the ghouls` could maintain their composure under pressure, as none of the ghouls gave any outward sign of their instinctual fear of "doves" that would set off the girl.

She smiled back, beaming brightly. "Yes indeed, and you are?"

"Yoshimura," he replied. "Now, Touka said that you had something to talk with us about?"

Michi`s smile faded, as her face grew serious. "Well, Touka didn`t quite say it right. Rather, there`s someone I know who wants to speak with you. Someone who knows that you are all ghouls."

The tension in the room rose up like a flood from a broken dam, accompanied by a silence that was nearly palpable. Everyone`s faces immediately lost all sense of polite greeting in that moment, and Touka could see the thoughts that began to swirl in the other ghouls` minds about how Michi knew, who she knew, why she was here, and what to do to keep their secret intact.

Yoshimura spoke again, not as warmly as before, but certainly as calmly. "Who is this someone, Michi?"

Right then, a beep sounded, causing each of the ghouls to flinch in the direction of the sound. It emanated from the watch on Michi`s wrist.

Looking down and pushing a button to silence it, Michi looked up again at the man-eating predators who had her surrounded, and flashed them an enigmatic grin that would`ve fit very snuggly on the face of the Cheshire Cat.

"You can ask her yourself."

Before Touka could ask Michi how, since she knew that the girl hadn`t been followed to Anteiku, her spine went stiff from the shivers that ran up and down it like a swarm of spiders, and her skin suddenly broke out in frozen sweat. Looking down, she saw the source of her inexplicable surge of fear.

It was Michi`s shadow.

Normally, Touka, like any other hardened ghoul, wouldn`t be caught dead jumping at suspicious-looking shadows, since it either led to ghouls being dead or dying of embarrassment.

This shadow, on the other hand, moved like it was alive. It shifted and contorted as it spread out and away from the girl who made(?) it. Then eyes, blood-red eyes opened inside of it, all of them staring and gazing outward at everything around them. Touka looked into those eyes, and felt true fear settle into the deepest parts of her being.

And then, a white-gloved hand extended out from the shadow, rising up along with its arm as if reaching out for a throat to strangle. It then bent towards the side, making way for the head of blond hair that was now emerging from the shadow as well.

Pressed against the door, Touka watched in shock and awe as a strange figure stood up from the shadow it emanated from, a shadow that was now withdrawing inside the figure, coalescing into a mass of shapes vaguely resembling barbed tentacles. After it was finished, Touka could see that it revealed the form of a young, busty woman dressed in a cosplay-like burgundy red military jacket with miniskirt and short sleeves, accompanied by long stockings of a similar shade and a pair of black boots. What surprised Touka the most, however, was that, underneath the straw-gold hair, was the face of a girl who was barely an adult, not much older than she was. A face that held a pair of glowing red ruby eyes and a smile filled with sadistic glee and sharp fangs.

Touka took a brief moment to look at everyone else. Koma stood way back behind the counter and looked as if he`d wet his pants, Irimi`s eyes were like light bulbs and she was covering her mouth with her hand, Yomo had taken a defensive posture and his normally expressionless face showed genuine fear in it, and Yoshimura had visible beads of sweat on his face, revealing how shaken he was by this turn of events. When she looked at Michi, the girl was doubled over, with her mouth covered, and her body shaking as if trying to hold in something immense.

She brought her attention back to the materialized nightmare before her. This must be how a human feels when a ghoul corners them, she thought. While she had felt a fear of death before, that was from getting pursued by Ghoul Investigators, and she`d never met a ghoul that was so dangerous before that didn`t also give her fury and drive to beat the crap out of them. This fear that she felt, this was that of a little lamb before the big bad wolf, the fear of prey before a predator, the kind that instilled an absolute feeling of helplessness.

The monster then swept its normal right arm forward in front of itself while bowing to all the ghouls in the store. It spoke with a voice that echoed by its own merit, with a softness to it that only a supernatural being like itself could have possessed.

"It`s a pleasure to meet you, ghouls of Anteiku. My name is Seras Victoria, the Ripper of the 10th​ Ward, and No-Life Queen of all Vampires."

The room was dead silent. No one, not even Yoshimura, dared speak. Then Seras spoke up again. "You can let it out, Michi."

The girl proceeded to let out a burst of laughter that resounded through the room like an explosion.

---

"NO! PLEASE!! I`M BEGGING YOU! DON`T KILL ME!!!"

"Your screeching is very irritating, showing that you still have nothing worthwhile to say. Even your kagune is nothing more than a piece of trash, incapable of making a good quinque. The only thing you`re good for now is dying."

"NOOO-"

*Slash*

And with that, Amon thought, another one is dead.

This ghoul had made the grave mistake of attempting to ambush First-Class Investigator Kureo Mado in a dark alleyway, resulting in the ghoul swiftly losing an arm and a leg to Mado`s quinque. Amon knew how much Mado loved the scenario, as he got to watch how a ghoul underwent an emotional roller coaster as the predator became prey to the seemingly helpless prey it had hunted. It was something that was not effective in luring targets, but it gave Mado a thrill that never grew old.
"Well sir," Amon began, addressing his senior partner. "It looks like another dead end here. At this point, I believe that the other ghouls here know even less about Ripper than we do."

"Yes, it certainly appears so. Fortunately for us, we caught quite a few more rats than we thought we would. Unfortunately, they were all about as useful to us as the air they breathed. It seems that this Ripper is either very well hidden or keeps very exclusive trust to be so active and yet be so much of an enigma to even her own kind. On top of that, none of these ghouls had anything interesting to contribute. This one had the only kagune that we actually got to see in action out of the five we met, and let me tell you, that koukaku of his may as well have been a chicken bone with how thin and scraggly it looked. This ghoul must have been starving and certainly very weak to begin with to have had such a useless kagune."

Amon checked his watch, and saw that it was well past midnight.

"Sir, I think we should call it a night. I`ll call the branch office again to come dispose of the body so that we can go and get some rest."

Mado just sighed. "Very well. I guess I won`t be having interesting prey again for a while. At least, not until I meet the Ripper. A cannibal several dozen times over with a streak of arrogance and a propensity for titles of royalty. If nothing else, I hope her kagune will make for a magnificent quinque."

Amon nodded. He too looked forward to finally seeing that monster slain, especially for the purpose of bringing justice to it for what it had done to Investigator Nakadai. Amon remembered how, one time, Special Investigator Shinohara, a man he respected, spoke very highly and fondly of the man, and Amon had read of his exploits. Thus, it was nothing short of heart-breaking to have first met the man after he`d been mentally broken by the Ripper. The man had been reduced to a complete wreck that literally jumped at shadows and wouldn`t sleep without the lights on at full luminosity, lest he scream like he was being brutally murdered.

He screamed just like that ghoul did, Amon noted. While he had never known the man personally, he felt especially pained when he saw how much grief Shinohara showed at the man`s condition, which was so extreme, even his presence did little to assuage the man`s fears.

He also remembered talking with Fujiyama, who had accompanied Nakadai the night they met Ripper. The boy was distraught because he had been rendered completely helpless by the Ripper, and thus unable to help his senior partner in any meaningful capacity when he had faced the Ripper alone. On top of that, the boy said, it had all happened so fast that he couldn`t give any real details about the Ripper other than that it was a female that wore lots of red.

What had truly struck Amon in that conversation was the true sorrow the boy had expressed when he`d let down his partner. Looking to Mado, he vowed to never let the man down, and always be there at his time need.

"Don`t you worry, Mr. Mado," he said, with a slight smile. "We`ll get her, one day. We just have to find her first."

"Ya ain`t gonna have to."

The two men immediately about-faced at the sound of the voice. Standing at the entrance to the alleyway was an individual who stood at just below head height for Mado, but appeared to have a lithe figure. He wore color-coordinating ash-grey shoes, pants, and an open business suit, revealing a black vest and button-down shirt with a white tie, with a couple of final touches in the forms of navy blue shades and a red scarf. Most notable was the person`s voice: youthful, with a deliberate gangster slant to it. The lad`s whole appearance screamed wannabe yakuza.

On a normal day, Amon wouldn`t be worried about an individual who was a walking example of having more style than substance. But, his words carried a tone of voice that hinted that he knew far more than he was letting on, so both Amon and Mado brought out their quinques and studied the enemy before them more carefully.

The lad raised his arms. "Hey, easy fellas. I wasn`t sent here to pick a fight. My orders rather are to bring an invite."

As the two Investigators stood there, slightly confused at his words, he pulled one side of his suit out, revealing an envelope in the breast pocket. Slowly, he brought his hand over, grasped it, lifted it out and, bending down, placed it gingerly on the ground.

Straightening his suit, he spoke again, "Well, it was a pleasure to meetcha, Koutarou and Kureo. See you next week, and don`t forget, all the party guests are expected to bring
gifts. After all, it`s a special occasion for the Mistress. See ya!"

He then turned and walked away. Amon and Mado quickly gave chase, but when they exited the alleyway, the boy was nowhere to be seen. The two of them turned back to the envelope that had been left for them.

"Well, at least he left us with a parting gift," Mado said, stepping forward to retrieve it with his gloved hands.

"Something`s wrong, Mr. Mado," Amon said suddenly.

Mado paused, and turned towards him. "What`s that?"

Amon looked at him with a grave expression. "That boy. He was watching us the entire time and we never noticed. On top of that, whoever he is, he knew us by face and by name. Either he personally knows us, or his Mistress, Ripper, has a means to gather detailed information on CCG personnel."

Mado paused to think. "You`re probably right. Smart rats these are. They`re certainly going to make our lives more interesting, won`t they?"

Amon nodded. "Agreed."

Kureo Mado bent down again towards the envelope, grasping it with his gloved hands.

 

[Xavier Rall]

WARNING: This is the most violent chapter I`ve written yet! BLOOD + GORE!

Also, I don`t know if any of you will agree, but I think this is also the single best chapter I`ve written yet for any of my works. Unless someone argues otherwise.

Chapter 7: Walpurgisnacht Approaches​

"There it is," Seras declared. "Cochlea."

In the distance, she looked upon one of the most intimidating prisons she had ever seen. A massive sloped cylinder of a windowless building hundreds of meters high squatted in the center of double pentagonal rings of towering walls. While there were gates for automobiles to pass through, each one was heavily guarded and overlooked by sentry posts at the top of the walls, each post holding guards armed with automatic weaponry and searchlights. While there were a variety of facilities within the walls, only the immense holding center for the ghouls themselves had no windows.

So, Pip mused. The kiddie gloves are coming off now, n`est-ce pas?

The invitations had been sent only the night before.

Yes, Pip, Seras replied. I`ve only got six more days before the event, and it`s the perfect time to get everything going. If I`m going to put an end to this war, I need to do something extremely drastic that will allow for that kind of change to start happening.

How does slaughtering more of us help end the exterminations? cried out one of the ghoul familiars. How does bringing us closer to extinction help us survive? Huh?!

A cacophony of voices rose up in Seras` mind, all of them belonging to the ghouls whose blood and souls she drank. They were so loud that she physically winced from the volume, forcing her to mentally suppress them, an action that still disgusted after fifteen years of unlife.

Although she had come to drink the blood of many a vampire and monster in her fifteen years of service to Hellsing, she refused still to outright crush the souls and wills of even her worst victims like her Master would to each of his familiars. Thus, she had also initially developed a habit of not immediately scouring the memories and knowledge of the souls she consumed so as to be able to review them at a different time when she had the opportunity to relax herself and fully digest the fact that she had consumed yet another being. This was why it took Seras so long to realize the true nature of the ghouls, a fact she regretted when she learned that how kind-hearted some of the ghouls she consumed actually were. Now she made sure to check over her new familiars as soon as she acquired.

"Those ghouls giving you trouble again, Seras-sama?" a boyish, gangster-imitating voice asked behind her.

She smiled, then addressed the voice. "Yes, the ghouls I`ve consumed don`t quite agree with my course of action."

"I stopped caring for the voices of the dead quite some time ago," a feminine voice joined in, this one speaking with a cold, bitter bite. "Even now, when we can hear them, it is the living who truly
matter, for they build the future."

"Don`t be so foolish, child," an elderly voice chided, resonating with wisdom and noble authority. "It is from the dead that the living learn their most lasting lessons. It is when they fail to learn from the dead that they repeat their mistakes. It is our newfound purpose as the undead, those who stand between life and death, to show the living the perils of their errors in life."

"Ha! I think you`re fooling yourself, Gramps," she heard another male voice retort, amused by the old man`s words. "You only wanted to be a vampire to avoid dying, old man."

"That`s enough, all of you," she said, turning to her companions. "Tonight, we`re upping our game. Only six days left before our world premiere. What we`re doing here is but a teaser for the CCG to
wrack its mind over. Remember, we go in, we get our targets, we get out. We should be getting word from our inside man… now."

It`s all clear, everyone, the aforementioned inside man communicated, giving the listeners the impression of a young man entering into his prime. I`ve taken over the security in the prison proper, so the rest of the facility and the CCG will remain unaware of our operation. I`ve also rigged it to destroy all evidence of our presence once you all leave. The ghouls we need alive and free I`ve already retrieved, and am now about to head for the 20th​ Ward to process them through Anteiku.

"Is it playtime now, Obaa-chan?" This was the voice of a little girl, innocent and sweet.

Briefly turning to look at the person who spoke, she replied, "Yes. Just remember to follow the rules, okay?"

"Okay!"

Seras turned back in Cochlea`s direction, the light of the moon shining down to gleam on its surface.

She grinned predatorily, embracing her vampiric majesty in full once more.

"My children, show them what true monsters are made of."

She and her compatriots then transformed into mist, and drifted, silently, towards the prison.

---

Telekinesis. Teleportation. Shadow-manipulation. Familiar summoning. Regeneration. Agelessness. The list of powers he had at his disposal by being a vampire was long, and he relished using each and every one of them.

Traveling as a mist was also undeniably cool in his mind, especially from the sensation he got from practically becoming the wind rather than having it blow in his face.

Above all else, he reveled in the sheer power he now held.

Being the firstborn son in his family, he was first in everything among the children in the family due to both age and size, a privilege he greatly cherished. When he went to school, he quickly discovered that he was more than above average in athletics, and so began to drive himself to go to further lengths to achieve greater feats. He tried his hand at a multitude of different sports, including baseball and swimming, eventually finding his forte in both track and archery.

His desire in life was simple: to be the best, no questions asked.

So he pushed himself through long hours of training and fought as hard as he could to earn great achievements. He took great pride in his training and his accomplishments, although some would be quick to call him arrogant, since he held those of lesser talent in lower esteem and those who managed to surpass him with seething envy. But no one could fault his work ethic, whereby he still continued to build himself up.

Then he got ambushed by a ghoul.

Confronted by a predator, he was forced to run in an attempt to escape, recognizing that there was no possible way he could fight it and win. Unfortunately, the ghoul caught him quite handily, crippling him with its kagune. Having no means of escape, forced to wait for the ghoul to kill him, he reflected on his life`s choices. Determined to honor his own memory, he decided that he wouldn`t die a coward, so he turned toward the ghoul, cracked a smile, he said, "G-g-go a-ahead… Eat me. I`ll make sure you choke."

Seras would later tell him that it was this last spark of defiance that convinced her to offer him vampirism after she dispatched his attacker with casual ease. While he gave little care for her motives, or even her crusade, only two things about Seras mattered to him: she gave him great power, and she held greater power still.

So for now, he`ll follow her lead, wafting into Cochlea in search of prey to feast on this night.

---

Selecting a cell at random, he decided to take the theatrical approach to his first victim.

Then, remembering Seras` orders, instead of kicking the heavy door down, he opted to walk through it. Upon entering, he saw that, lucky for him, his target was a woman, and a pretty one to boot.

Katsuo grinned from ear to ear in appreciation.

"WOOH-WEE! You, ma`am, are one fine-looking dollface!"

The female ghoul instantly woke up, shocked to see someone in her cell without her knowing that they were there. The confusion on her face was quickly apparent.

"Who the hell are you? *sniff* And what in hell are you?"

Katsuo clapped in response. "Bravo, miss. Bravo. It is truly a testament to your nature that you are able to retain your edge in awareness and sensory ability in the midst of suffering the evils of this cruel place. And so beautiful, too."

The woman leaped forward and slammed her rinkaku kagune right in the spot where Katsuo was standing.

He laid in the bed where she had been just a moment ago. "Wow. This thing is absolutely uncomfortable. How do you sleep on this thing?"

The woman turned around, a look of shock evident on her face.

"W-What do you want?"

Humming to himself, he kicked his feet up and jumped off the bed, planting his feet on the ceiling. Turning towards the woman, who appeared upside-down in his view, seeing the look of absolute disbelief on her face-

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAaaaah! You should see the look on your face!" he laughed, throwing his head back and pointing at her. "It`s absolutely pric-"

SQUELCH!

The ghoul ran him through with her kagune.

He dropped from the ceiling to the floor in a broken, bloody heap.

The woman huffed to herself. "Shitty freak. I still don`t know why the hell you came." She bent down and over him, moving toward his face. "But at least now you`re as dead as you smell."

His hands suddenly grabbed the sides of her head, applying enough pressure to make her skull start straining. He gave her the toothiest grin he possibly could, feeling great pleasure in watching her face contort in pain and fear.

"It`s a wonderful feeling, dying. Trust me, I know from experience."

The smiling face of Seras-sama came to mind as he stopped playing and crushed the ghoul`s skull between his hands.

---

There you are, she thought, as she finished draining a ghoul of blood while looking through his memories. Using her telekinesis, she then tore the body to pieces, splattering the bones, guts and brains all over the bed, floor, wall, and ceiling. Walking through the wall once more, she eyed a particular cell lower down on the opposite side of the chasm that hollowed out the center of Cochlea. She leaped across to the other side like a child over a crack in the sidewalk, then phased through the door like all of the others she had that evening.

She knew who he was the moment she saw him. It may have been years since she last saw him, but that face of his looked as stupid as ever. After all, it`s difficult to forget the face of the one who killed your best friend and ate her for lunch. All while watching in cowardly despair and powerlessness from a safe hiding place.

She grabbed his ankle, yanked him off the bed, and threw him into the wall, cracking the wall and shattering his spine.

"ARGH! WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT FOR??!!"

She was silently thankful that the Rc-suppressants that the ghoul prisoners ate had worn off somewhat, else he`d get killed too quickly.

"You don`t know who I am, therefore you don`t know why I`m here," she stated, her icy rage showing through her calm voice.

"I know exactly why you`re here, bitch!!" he retorted getting onto his elbows and knees, trying to get up again. "You`re here to take my screwed-up life and screw with it even more!!!"

She gave a slight smile at the response, walking over to him. "Good guess, but that`s not even half the story." Bending over him, her eyes searched his body and her memory. "My motive here, is vengeance." Then, looking at a particular spot under the right shoulder-blade, she thrust her hand into the ghoul`s flesh, grabbed what she was looking for, and ripped it out.

"AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" She watched, amused, as the ghoul screamed once more. If he`d had a normal diet, he wouldn`t be suffering this much. But imprisoned ghouls were intentionally never given their full, necessary diet, leaving ghouls like him much weaker than they normally would be. "I`LL KILL YOU!" Then, after a moment, his face of pain and anger filled up with confusion as he looked at his shoulder. "W-wh- where`s m-"

"Can`t get your kagune out?" she asked in sadistic pleasure. He turned back toward her. "I`m afraid you need a kakuhou for that." She held up a sack of flesh pinched in her fingers before his eyes.
"And this is yours." Then she lifted it over her head, lowered it into her mouth, and swallowed it whole. She simply loved the look of shock on his face when he saw it.

"What? You`re a ghoul? But you smell like a human! And you`re dressed like a Dove!"

She let her pupils flash red, and bared her shark-like teeth. "Dove? Yes. Human? Ghoul? No."

The ghoul could feel it settle into his gut, that sensation of paralyzing fear that the lamb has when the wolf has it cornered. "Wh-when Big Bro hears about this, he`ll-"

"Do absolutely nothing," she declared, cutting him off. His face was the picture of mournful disbelief.

"What? What do you mean?"

Normally, she doesn`t indulge in the pain of her victims. After all, her victims were ghouls, evil ghouls that she knew needed to die. Her friend, Aiko, had died by their hands. Even though she was one herself.

But this was the ghoul who cannibalized her. And her newly acquired vampiric nature inclined her to indulge in this sadistic torture.

"What do I mean? Last night, a Dove gave him the beat-down of a lifetime. And do you know what the best part is? Now he has to serve that Dove for the rest of his life. Whether he likes it or not."

He vehemently shook his head, pushing himself as far from her as he could. "No. No no no nonononNONONONOOO!!!!"

She stood up, towering over him like the Grim Reaper. "I`m here to do a lot more than screw with your life. I`m here to smash your body to bits, break your mind into a million little pieces, and then drink up your soul like a can of Coke. But look on the bright side, you might get to see Yamori again, before you both go to Hell."

Naki just screamed as she approached him once more.

---

Even now, in this prison, as he consumed the life of another ghoul, he recognized the soul of a true Japanese man.

Japan was a nation populated with a people that, despite decades of Western influence and liberal democracy, still retained an Eastern sense of honor at the core of their beings. He, having lived
through World War II in the prime of manhood and watched the nation change before his very eyes as he aged, understood this better than most. It was an honor that told a person to die rather than
surrender and admit defeat. An honor that would only bend before an undeniable power, and then only for the right cause.

This ghoul surrendered to the CCG only so as to distract them from his escaping family, allowing them to live another day.

Seiichi had seen great suffering during the War, both from his comrades and the enemy soldiers he came across. And when he came home from his deployment, he saw the price of war on the ordinary citizens, from the sacrifices they made for the military`s benefit to the deaths they suffered from the air raids that the Americans rained down upon them. But the sight of all the suffering at first only made him more furious, as he, along with Japan, became even more determined to destroy their hated enemy.

Then, Hiroshima.

The ghoul suffered through experiments and stretches of intense starvation, as his life descended into an ever-worsening nightmare.

He had the misfortune of witnessing the destruction of the city by that demonic weapon the Americans later revealed to be the atomic bomb. When he came to the city, all he saw was a wasteland of broken ruins. Where there had been vibrant city life filled with excited traffic and laughing children, there were only two sounds to be heard: whistling wind, and agonizing wails. It haunts him even today. This was why it pained even more so when, three days later, he learned that Nagasaki had fallen to the same fate. By then, what point was there in honor in the face of absolute annihilation?

He remained thankful to the gods to this day that the emperor had the wisdom and the courage to put the welfare of Japan before its honor, and told the military to stand down.

The ghoul prayed every night for the safety of his family, finding peace and comfort in his prayers, and his personal sacrifice.

He, more than any of the others, understood exactly what Seras was trying to do. The CCG would try to annihilate all ghouls at the cost of thousands of human lives each year not just because they were driven by money, vengeance, or even justice. They also did so out of honor, for both themselves and Japan, because they had embarked on this war, and would either gain complete victory, or lose everything.

Japanese honor would only bend before an undeniable power, and then only for the right cause. Japan surrendered to America at the very end of World War II because the threat of the atomic bomb was the annihilation of Japan, and the word of the emperor, from the mouth of the gods, was that he could no longer abide by needless war. Japanese honor was defeated by the unspeakable tragedy that was the atomic bomb.

In all the decades of his life, nothing had ever horrified him so, not even the ghouls, who he could not help but pity, in their existential suffering.

But now the No-Life Queen had come to this world. And she threatened it with horrors they could scarce imagine.

---

"NOOOOO! PLEASE! STOOPPP!"

*CRACK*

The little girl dressed in her pretty, frilly, purple princess outfit pouted as the ghoul she was playing with stopped moving after he got tackled into the floor.

"Ooohhhhh. You can`t play for reals with me either? I guess I can only play pretend with you."

Bending down, she made a friendship kiss on his heart and drank him all up, from his insides to what was all over the room and what had gotten on her dress. She watched his life movie, and then let him join her other friends and her daddy in dreamland. Then she invisible-exploded his old house.

She walked through the door to the cell (it felt funny, walking through a door), and began looking for another playmate. Closing er eyes and scrunching her face, she listened really hard.
Unfortunately, hardly anybody new to play with was left. Masa-san was being greedy, taking new friends everywhere, Katsu-kun was having a lot of fun playing with each of his new friends, Kita-san was being her mean to everyone, Nakagawa-sama was kind and thoughtful as he always was with everyone, and obaa-chan-

*CRASH*

Jumping in surprise, she immediately down to the bottom of the big hole, where she saw obaa-chan crouching, her black-and-red arm out and ready to play. Then she saw a hole in the wall, and there
stood a tall, strong-looking man with a serious face. She watched him rush forward - he`s fast! – and punch at Obaa-chan and she blocked it. She punched back – he blocked it! She saw Obaa-chan
smile. This looks fun to watch.

She watched, fascinated, as the two of them ran and jumped around, over, and under each other, throwing punches and kicks at their chests, their faces, their arms, over and over and over and over and- there`s his other arm! Their playing became lots more fun as she used his special arm and Obaa-chan made her black-and-red arm bigger to play with him.

She heard Obaa-chan say a few things to the big man. Something about a priest, some clowns, the people in gray, the letter "v," and somebody called the "Wah-shoos?" But he didn`t say anything back.

She giggled and fidgeted as she watched Obaa-chan play with someone for reals for much longer than she saw anyone else play with her. I hope that she lets me play with him for reals. She knew that Obaa-chan was going to win. After all, she hadn`t done the invisible throw, changed her body, or even asked her friends to join her.

She saw the big man slow down, and then Obaa-chan punched him really hard, and he stopped moving. She saw Obaa-chan whisper something - I can`t hear her, - in his ear, then made a friendship kiss on his neck, drinking him all up, before standing up and then making his old home invisible-explode.

Then Obaa-chan head-spoke. Is everyone finished?

There`s nothing left, Your Majesty. Masa-kun.

I`m done what I came to do. Kita-san.

Nobody left but us. Katsu-kun.

Nobody`s left? So playtime`s over? She replied.

We have nothing more for us here. Nakagawa-sama.

All right everyone, let`s return home. There are some new developments that I need to discuss with you all as soon as we get there.

Everybody became clouds, and they floated all the way back home.

---

The crescent moon hung low in the sky, shining as much light on Tokyo as it could. The new moon would arrive in six nights.

And the inhabitants of Tokyo, both human and ghoul, couldn`t help but dread the thought. As if the heavens were turning their gaze away from them.

As if the darkest of nights was coming to swallow them whole.

Edit: Credit for the OC Haruka goes to Burke23 of FF.net.

 

[Xavier Rall]

A/N: Sorry it took a while before I finally got around to posting this, but look on the bright side, it`s here in time for Halloween!

<video>

Chapter 8: They Don`t Know Anything About Anything​

Marude POV

<Greetings to the men and women of the Commission of Counter-Ghoul. My name is Seras Victoria, the Ripper of the 10th​ Ward and the No-Life Queen of the Vampires.>

After Mado and Amon`s mysterious envelope from the Ripper`s subordinate was revealed to be a disk, the CCG tested and tried it a dozen times over for viruses and malware before deeming it safe for viewing. This was the first time that this video was being shown to general CCG personnel, but Marude sincerely wished that she hadn`t made the video at all.

<What is a human? Scientists say they`re just animals, descendants via evolution of monkeys and apes. Theologians will state that humans are beings with immortal souls that possess gifts of intelligence, self-awareness, reason, and conscience.>

He sat quietly, watching the video being played on the massive screen. It displayed the image of a young, red-eyed, blond European woman garbed in a flowing red dress with a black-and-red sleeve covering her left arm, a wine glass filled with blood that she toyed with in her left hand. This was the first solid image of her that they had ever received, making the video a goldmine of information for the profilers.

<What is a monster? The dictionary says that it is something or someone that greatly deviates from normal appearance or acceptable behavior, generally of rather threatening disposition and action.>

Marude would have liked to sit somewhere further back from the large screen, but considering every other seat in the lecture hall had been filled by Investigators and other CCG personnel and that he had himself taken a seat at the front so as to address everyone, it couldn`t be helped. Besides, he`d already seen this video.

<But, no one is ever satisfied with such clean answers, which simply fail in our minds to encompass the full reality these words entail. When you toy around with these two questions and the myriad possible answers to them for a long time, you can come to some rather startling revelations about yourself and the people around you. You soon realize that the difference between the two is not as simple to distinguish as it is the diets of two different species. You learn that someone you think of as a human can also at the same time be the vilest monster at heart, and that even the worst monster you could have ever known still has one final spark of humanity left inside of him.>

Still, he couldn`t help but grit his teeth at the sight of that girl, lounging like an entitled little bitch on that velvet throne of hers, speaking in that unnaturally smooth voice with an intentional dramatic flair, like she was playing the role of the villainous mastermind in some cheesy superhero movie or corny drama. And she- no it- dared to lecture him on humans and monsters?!

<But still, I`m sure that you all agree with me when I say that there is nothing more precious in this world than humanity, that intangible quality by which a being is able to taste and enjoy the full fruits of life itself until their death. But it`s only when confronted by a crisis that a person can come to find what they truly are, and then decide what to make of it. If a person confronts such a tragedy with both feet planted firmly in the ground and refuse to surrender to it, even if it threatens their very lives, only then can they truly embrace their human life.>

How can she know what it`s like to be human? he thought. After he had watched this video the first time around, the questions she had poised had haunted his mind, forcing him to look at everything he`d done just a little differently as he struggled to comprehend where her questions had come from. Even now, he could feel them poisonously circulating in some dark corner of his mind.

<But what happens if a person is confronted by tragedy and they run away from it, rather than stand against it? Such a one will never truly appreciate the gifts they have been given, for they are too weak to bear the full burden of a human existence, becoming nothing but a dog, barking and biting at the behest of others all his days. But then what happens if that person cannot escape from that tragedy, and surrender to it, allowing themselves to be broken by it, and lose that vital piece of humanity from their being? When their own free volition is no longer sufficient to maintain their existence, and they substitute it with the pain and agony of others to drive them forward, they become a monster, a pitiful creature forever inflicting suffering and forever seeking an escape from its own.>

He had nothing but contempt for ghouls, as the creatures gave the world nothing of any real benefit, and brought humanity only death, suffering, and grief. He had seen literally hundreds of people have their hearts be broken upon learning that a member of their family or one of their friends had been killed and eaten by a ghoul. That they had died at the hands of an inhuman monster born from the pits of Hell that had then subsequently defiled the sanctity of their body by treating it as nothing but meat. And he hated it when one of these creatures spoke like this, trying to lay claim to some nonexistent portion of humanity, trying to convince good people to believe their words and be lured into a trap just as they stab them in the back.

<So now, I will ask you two questions: Are you a man, a dog, or a monster? And what are the people around you? Men, dogs, or monsters?>
But that was precisely the problem with the Ripper. He honestly had no idea whatsoever why the Ripper was the media firestorm that she was. Any and every ghoul that somehow managed to gain personal attention from the public was a verifiable monster. But, because of her vigilante-style targeting of ghouls and leaks to the press from the CCG offices (they still didn`t know where they came from), she had become a topic of furious debate, dividing public opinion of the ghoul, and actually causing people to question the CCG.

<Only you can answer those questions for yourselves. And these are the same questions that I intend to pose to Tokyo when night falls on the Vernal Equinox.>

And with this video, she could now directly poison the minds of anyone and everyone who watched with every word from her mouth.

<If you want a preview, I`ll be watching the cherry blossoms in the Imperial Gardens in the afternoon of that festive day. But I will only entertain three guests from the CCG and I will tolerate no interruption in our private little meeting. Make sure to choose wisely who you send.>

Now she had issued them a challenge they could not afford to refuse, let alone lose.

<And now, I`m afraid I must be going. (She stands up) So much to do, so little time to do it. So I`ll leave with one final statement: (She holds out the wine glass in front of her) I`m coming for you. (She crushes the glass in her fist, letting the blood drip from her hand and flow down her sleeve) All of you.>

The video ends, and the screen is frozen with the image of the No-Life Queen`s bloody fist held forward, a mocking grin fixed on its face. Both Marude and the gathered Investigators are silent.

Marude turned back to the crowd.

"Gentlemen, this video was delivered to us only two days ago. Last night, the entire population of detained ghouls in Cochlea was either captured or outright slaughtered, and
our investigation into it has found that there is no security footage or eyewitness accounts that can tell us precisely how this attack was carried and who exactly was involved.
Judging by the evidence found, we have concluded that this was the latest assault by the Ripper, although it is clear that she is not working alone, and appears to be acting as either the spokesman or leader of an organized gang of ghouls with unprecedented strategic ability."

There was a lot of murmuring that could be heard, a lot more than usual. Their nervousness and apprehension shone clearly.

"Due to these latest developments, a press conference is going to be held later today by Chairman Washuu and the Board, where they will officially declare the Ripper to be an SSS-class ghoul, re-codifying her as the No-Life Queen, and naming her public enemy number one to the city and people of Tokyo."

There was shock on their faces. The last ghoul to be given this kind of attention from both the CCG and the public was the One-Eyed Owl, who earned the SSS rating by destroying an entire CCG branch office single-handedly. Marude took a breath and steeled himself even more for his next words.

"To put it very simply, we are at war."

Akumo POV

This was the last straw.

Ever since he had a family, he had always had to live a balancing act of not only ensuring his family`s safety, but also their happiness. When he started out in the CCG, it wasn`t as much of an issue, as he wasn`t very well known. But after he became a rising star, he soon gained a lot of unsavory attention from the inhuman creatures. This was driven home when his family received a death threat in their mail. Although he was able to satisfy himself by hunting down and killing the gang that sent it, he never got over the fear of some other ghoul getting his family. A fear that was compounded when he learned his daughter and her friends had been attacked by a ghoul.

He had been struggling even more with the question when he learned that she was only still alive because another one of the monsters had decided to let her go instead of eating her. Although he was able to ensure her protection for a while just in case she was being targeted (his wife and daughter had argued with him about its merits daily), his concerns for his family`s welfare only grew with every confirmed kill by the Ripper – the same ghoul that, for some strange reason, spared his daughter, and who he feared might come back for her.

As soon as the meeting had ended, the first thing Akumo did was call his wife and tell her that she and the family needed to get the hell out of Tokyo immediately. Sakura, unfortunately, wasn`t in favor of the idea, citing what the neighbors, their friends, and extended family would think, on top of how the children would struggle with the situation and the fact that she would have to give notice to her boss on her situation without getting subsequently fired in the process, which could take until tomorrow to get done, considering she had today off. Conceding for the moment, he said that they would discuss everything in greater detail when he came home.

The rest of his day at work went by in a daze. By the time he was driving home, all he could recall doing was the vague fact that he had worked with planning new daily patrols all over the city, especially the 10th​ Ward, assigning different men to different teams for tasks ranging from checking surveillance cameras all over the city and sifting through online message boards, blogs, and other websites to scouring underworld sources for any information on the No-Life Queen`s whereabouts, compatriots, and history. By the end of his day, all he really cared about was his family. And the delicious dinner he knew that Sakura was probably cooking. He was again glad that he could come home a little early to
enjoy it with everyone else.

After arriving at home and parking the car, he walked right into his house. He smelled curry, making his mouth water.

"I`m home!" he shouted.

"Welcome home, honey," Sakura said, with a warm smile.

"Hey Dad, long time no see," Michi said, food in her mouth.

"DAD! Did you kill any ghouls today?" Mamiru exclaimed excitedly.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Matsuzaka," a new voice spoke up.

No. This had to be a nightmare. It simply couldn`t be here now of all times.

The new figure rose up to meet him.

He had to be very careful how to handle this. He knew that there was no way he could destroy this monster by himself, and since it had so far shown no interest in harming his family -yet- and since it had spared his daughter before, there was a real chance that his family would be left unharmed. All he had to do was make sure that he didn`t spook the
monster.

"I-I`m sorry, I`m afraid we haven`t met before, Miss-?"

"Victoria," she replied, bowing and straightening again. "Seras Victoria."

After accepting her greeting, he took his seat at the table across his wife, then accepted from his daughter a serving of his wife`s curry with rice. As he took the first bite, he looked over at his "guest."

She looked back at him with crystal blue eyes. Unlike the blood-red eyes filled with the dark emptiness of sadistic arrogance that he saw in the video from earlier that day, the eyes he saw here were bright with both quiet happiness and a deep sorrow that, despite all of his training and knowledge telling him otherwise, his instincts told him were genuine. In the video, she had been dressed in a powerful red dress. Here, she had on a pair of jeans and a pink hoodie with brown gloves on her hands. In the video, he saw a powerful, terrifying monster that would enjoy watching someone die a slow and painful death. Here, he saw a young woman, barely more than a girl – someone who distressingly reminded him of his daughter Mika.

"Uhm, Dad, why are you staring at Seras?"

Akumo`s attention immediately snapped to his other daughter, Michi, who had noticed that he had been focusing all of his attention on the European girl rather than his family.

"Oh, sorry. It`s just that I`ve been going through a very stressful day at work and as soon as I come home, there`s a stranger sitting at my table with my family eating my wife`s food."

"What? Am I not good enough for your wife`s food?" Seras asked, teasingly. "Do you have to give your approval to anyone who wants to eat your` wife`s food?"

"I have three treasures in my life: my wife, my children, and my wife`s cooking."

"Isn`t that technically only two things, Dad?" Michi stated. "I mean, without Mom, you no longer have her cooking."

"Okay, you`re right. But still, since I`m not familiar with you, what brings you here?"

"Oh, well Dad, I invited her over," Michi said.

Akumo suspected as much. "How do you know each other?"

Seras replied. "I`m here as part of an overseas university study program for the semester. I first met Michi a couple of months ago, and she has been a big help for me finding my
way around town. She`s also helped me improve my computer skills considerably and been simply a big help with my research project."

Akumo was curious about what she would say next. "What are you researching?"

Seras smiled. "The role of the occult throughout history. The thing is, people have believed in magic for millennia and continue to do so even today. What I`m studying is not only what specific abilities people have ascribed to occult powers and forces and the means by which they were reputed to be used, but also specific times in history where interest in, and even attempted use of, the occult has had a direct impact on history."

"You mean people have used magic before?!" Mamiru shouted.

Seras laughed a little. "Well, they`ve certainly tried. Ancient Egypt is reputed to have had its own court magicians and medieval Europe saw thousands burned at the stake for witchcraft, both men and women. One Native American chief called Prophet apparently cast a spell of invulnerability on his warriors before sending them to fight the Americans at the Battle of Tippecanoe, which they lost. Even more recently, the Nazis in World War II, on top of everything else, launched studies into occult magic to further their agenda and attempt to gain otherworldly powers."

Akumo was immediately intrigued. He could see that at least some of the information they had gathered was accurate. She was displaying signs of thorough education and a real fascination with occultist materials. He still wondered why, however. Although the CCG found the tidbit with occultism trivial, he felt that there had to be some deeper reason for the fascination, one that could quite possibly explain the enigma that is Seras Victoria.

"So, are there any examples of the occult in Japan?" he said. Seras turned toward him. "I mean, you are currently staying here in Tokyo, right?"

Seras` complexion became thoughtful. Then she answered. "Stuff that the West would judge as occult doesn`t really as far as I know play a major role in overall East Asian history, aside from Shi Huangdi of the Qi Dynasty in China, as he allegedly pursued an immortality-granting elixir. Although, I have done some research on Abe no Seimei and the magic system called onymoudo during my time here, and I have found that there was a possibility of certain factions and families in Japan throughout history also trying to obtain otherworldly powers for their own benefit or seeking a means to immortality so as to garner immense rewards from the emperor."

Akumo nodded, taking another bite of curry. Then he asked his final question: "Why are you so fascinated with the occult?"

Seras just smiled softly and chuckled to herself, with a sad look in her eyes. "Let`s just say for now, that it`s been a very big part of my life for a very long time."

Seras POV

As she walked out the door, Seras felt her heart clench. This was something it hadn`t done since Pip had died. There was no wonder for this, after all.

Even though she completely unable to savor a single bite or sip of the dinner put before the family, literally forcing herself to eat all of the unsatisfying dinner, she had thoroughly enjoyed the friendly conversation shared around the table, from Michi`s time at school, with her friends Nanami, Yoriko, and Touka (Michi was the only who knew she was a ghoul and Touka that she was a vampire`s familiar), to Mamiru`s over-the-top bad jokes. She also enjoyed the banter that the parents had between each other, something like which she had not heard since she was a small girl, thirty years ago.

She absolutely hated what she was about to do.

"Wait!" She stopped, turning to look at Michi`s distressed and furious father standing behind her.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" she replied.

"Don`t play dumb with me, Ripper." She knew that this was going to happen. "You invaded my home, ate dinner with my family, and held them hostage against me without their knowing all so that you could spite me! And not only that, but you`ve been messing around with Michi, with my daughter, for months on end, forcing her to play your sick little game while you went about on a murder spree. You may have saved her life, but that doesn`t give you any right to control her life!"

It truly pained Seras to watch the man berate her. She knew, ever since she had consumed Captain Bernadotte, that she was nothing but a monster. And her fifteen subsequent years of service to the Hellsing Organization only compounded this fact. And it destroyed her when she had learned from Michi herself how much her father loved her, and how much she loved her father.

She had lost track of how many times her father had told her how proud he was, whether it was for straight A`s or even just for swimming the whole length of the community pool. Akumo Matsuzaka had been nothing but a kind and nurturing, if somewhat overprotective, father. Seras couldn`t help but think that her father would`ve been much the same as he.

He stepped right into her face. "You better stay the f***ing away from my family, or else, SSS-rating or not, I will absolutely murder you."

Seras closed her eyes, and canceled her slight use of illusions. She looked at him with her real red ruby eyes, and he stared right back. She narrowed her pupils to cat-like slits, startling him a little. "I`m afraid you`re mistaken," she declared, her voice resonating. "Your daughter died two months ago, and the only reason she continues to walk the earth is because I still permit it." She turned and walked away, ignoring his confused calls after her, before he heard his wife shriek, and he rushed inside.

Tears of blood ran down her cheeks, as she felt Michi re-enter her being, who joined her in bemoaning their collective fate as Pip worked to comfort them.

Seras flew off into the sky as the day finished surrendering the sky to the night.

Unknown POV

He sat at his desk, sorting through a host of files on his computer, while his mind was focused on a host of other tasks.

Katsuo, how are things going with the Yakuza? he communicated, as he continued scanning through city archives.

Let`s just say that being a vampire makes taking over the underworld of a city TONS easier, the youth replied. Right now, literally all of the big name families and organizations are under my control, either directly or indirectly, and I can literally get dirt on practically everybody in the city from cops to the prime minister himself. The only group that I can`t get much insider info on is the CCG itself. All I need to do is clean up one or two loose ends from my takeover and my trail will be clean and the city will be mi- hers.

I hope that you don`t become too reckless. The man replied. He found a file pertaining to the Washuus. He downloaded it like the others. We don`t want to be busted by the metropolitan police of all people. Also, after you made that errand for Seras to Investigators Mado and Amon, they saw your face. They managed to get a sketch artist and run it through the system, and they know everything they need to in order to bring you in.

Relax, man. Katsuo Ishikawa replied. I`ve already burned all my bridges to my past life. Besides, we`ve got you, the lovely Ms. Kita and Her Majesty`s little pet demon possessing your former partner to keep track of the CCG`s movements, so we`ll know when they make a move. Speaking of which, how are we keeping track of the ghouls? Those guys we released doing their job?

Perfectly, he stated, as he copied the selected files to a flash drive. Thanks to them, we now have information on every organized ghoul group in the city, and the majority of the unorganized as well. We`ve also finally got the whole 24th​ Ward mapped out, thanks to the werewolf. Honestly, it`s pretty scary how easy all this is turning out to be.

Hey, did Seras ever tell you about Millennium? Katsuo asked.

Yes, and your point is?

She learned from those Nazi leftovers that the biggest advantage that vampires have over humans and ghouls is their ability to infiltrate just about any organization with near-impunity. These people were never trained to deal with an enemy that can literally become their friends and allies.

That`s a very good point. Still, we can`t take chances. We need to make sure that the CCG`s attention stays away from those of us within the CCG now.

Hey, that`s what Masahiko and Haruka are for, aren`t they? What with their fancy new weapons and all, they can probably kick anybody`s ass to kingdom come. Gotta say that
Seiichi`s got a brilliant and twisted mind for weapons. Combine that with all our vampiric OP-ness, that man could destroy the world.

No kidding, the man laughed. He heard someone approaching. He returned his computer to normal operations. I`m afraid I have company. Can`t allow myself to be distracted.

Time to answer a curious question? Katsuo asked.

Shoot.

Why did she make you her first fledgling?

He paused a moment, composing his answer. She told me that I reminded her of herself.

The door opened. He stood up from his desk, as the door to the task room opened. "Greetings, Special-Class Investigator Shinohara."

"Rank 3 Junior Investigator Renji Fujiyama. There`s something I need your help with."

 

[Xavier Rall]

A/N: Sorry this took a while. Chapters are getting more difficult for me to write lately, so I wouldn`t be surprised if you thought this one was somewhat lackluster. But not to worry. Big things are happening, folks.

Chapter 9: Building Tension and Ruining Peace​

"Thank you very much for coming to us, Associate Special-Class Investigator Matsuzaka," Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu enunciated. "I don`t believe I need to stress just how vital your intelligence is right now."

"No sir, I am fully aware of how important this is," Akumo replied to the elderly gentleman. Seated before him was not only the long white-haired Chairman, but also his son, the Bureau Director Yoshitoki Washuu, Kyouji Misaka, Cochlea`s Warden, and Itsuke Marude. While the Chairman`s presence was unusual, the magnitude of the threat that Seras posed was more than sufficient explanation for his presence, as well as that of the Bureau Director. While Kyouji Misaka`s presence was also strange, the unchecked massacre in Cochlea under his watch had very nearly destroyed his career at the CCG, so Akumo reasoned that he had probably requested to take part in this, so that he could find some manner of vengeance against the ghoul so that he could reaffirm his place in the CCG.

There was literally nothing more important for the CCG than getting any and all information they could on the ghoul calling itself Seras Victoria. Unfortunately, finding information on the elusive monster was proving to be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. The monster has been one step ahead of them the entire time, but this latest incident with him and Michi might finally give them the edge they need to catch up with her.

"Alright then," Marude spoke up, picking up a paper in front of him. "According to your report, you had not known that Seras Victoria, the SSS-rated No-Life Queen, was already present at your home until you arrived, correct?"

"Yes," he replied. Although he had already typed a report regarding his unexpected meeting with Seras, it was a very objective and impersonal work that didn`t reveal the full extent of his private observations and opinions, hence this in-person inquiry. "After the assembly meeting where we were shown the video message that the Ripper had delivered to Investigators Mado and Amon, I immediately called my wife so as to get the family out of Tokyo. She was resistant to the idea, so we decided to talk it over in person when I returned. When my shift was over, I returned home to find my family eating dinner, and Seras was eating it alongside them."

"Why didn`t you try to call for backup?" Yoshitoki asked. "Even if you were aware that you couldn`t fight her single-handed, you could have at least done that."

"I couldn`t make any kind of move against her while she was in the same room as my family. If I did anything to provoke her, she would have not only killed me, but my entire family as well, which I simply could not afford to risk."

Marude questioned again. "Why was the No-Life Queen there?"

"My daughter, Michi, apparently had invited her over."

"Yes," Misaka said, looking through the file. "She also was the same person involved with the first recorded attack by this ghoul, back when the ghoul was simply known as 'Ripper.' Before then, did you have any suspicion that Seras had maintained some manner of contact with Michi before then?"

"During the first few weeks, I feared that she would come back for Michi, which was why I had requested protection for her," he replied. "At the time, I didn`t find that anything unusual going on, and my family was pressuring me to allow Michi a return to normalcy, so I withdrew the protection. In hindsight, I did notice that, according to reports from the assigned detail, she did go to the library up to eight times during the time they were assigned to her, which is probably when the Ripper met her again, possibly without Michi`s knowing of what she really was."

Marude stepped in. "Would I be correct in saying that this is based on the given reason that the No-Life Queen gave for being invited over by your daughter – that the two of them were research partners?"

"Yes," Akumo confirmed. "And according to library records, Michi checked out a number of books over the past two months regarding history, important Japanese families, and the occult."

"Well, it`s safe to say then that she was at least partially telling the truth regarding her relationship with your daughter," Yoshitoki stated. "What I would like to know is why she is so obsessed with the occult. According to your report, she says that the occult has been a big part of her life 'for a very long time.' What do you make of this, Investigator?"
"I believe that it is tied to the fact that she is not a normal ghoul, sir. Perhaps not even of the same species as the ones we have known all this time."
Silence. The four men were very good in not showing outward emotional reaction, but Akumo could see Marude` slight lean forward as a sign of interest, Misaka`s lean back as surprise, and the brief glance that Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki shared as worry, concern, and perhaps even a shared secret. Considering the Washuus did create and lead the CCG, which was at the forefront in researching and fighting ghouls, there was no doubt in his mind that there were probably a few details regarding ghouls that they were privy to that the majority of the organization wasn`t privy to.

This time, Tsuneyoshi spoke. "Please, explain what you mean."

Akumo remembered that moment, when she last looked at him. "In my report, I detailed that Ripper showed off blue eyes during the time she spent at dinner with my family. When I confronted her after she walked out the door, her eyes turned red, while the sclera remained white, unlike where a ghoul`s would black when it reveals its kakugan. And then the pupils of her eyes narrowed into cat-like slits."

"Her pupils narrowed into slits?" Yoshitoki repeated.

"Yes," he stated. "This is a very specific ability that I do not believe any ghoul we have ever encountered is capable of, and I believe that Ripper is very aware of this fact. Thus, if there is one thing that sets Ripper apart from other ghouls, it is almost certain then that there are other things that she is capable of, actively or passively, that we are not aware of. And because she is noticeably different than other ghouls, it is likely that she has stranger origins than most ghouls and she knows it. It is because of this that she studies all amount of amounts of history and the occult, as she is either looking for an explanation for her uniqueness or is already aware of how she came to be and is simply looking to recreate it."

"What do you mean when you say 'stranger origins,' Investigator Matsuzaka?" Misaka inquired.

"As I said before, I don`t believe Ripper to be any manner of ordinary ghoul. Considering that she is clearly from overseas, she may also be something that foreign divisions of the CCG are aware of that they didn`t inform us of, or may just simply have been that good at hiding her presence from everyone`s eyes for so long. Unfortunately, I can only speculate as to how she came to be what she is now, as it can be anything from a random mutation in ghoul genetics to deliberate experimentation for scientific or even military purposes."

The four men remained quiet. Unknown quantities have remained one of the greatest fears of humanity since time immemorial, and it has always been especially true for those whose livings depended on risking their own lives. For the CCG, due to decades of experience fighting and researching ghouls, their biggest advantages had always been their superior knowledge of ghouls, both in physiology and psychology, as well as the ability to recruit, train, and organize their personnel openly and safely without fear of repudiation from their enemies, on top of the simple fact that there are far more humans than ghouls, meaning that they could always gather a bigger army than the ghouls they battled.

But Seras has thus far proven very capable in undermining the CCG`s very strengths, by sowing discord among the people whose support they depended upon, penetrating their most secure facilities, compromising their assets, and by quite simply saying and doing things that baffled their experts at every turn.

If she abilities that were unknown to them, it would be simultaneously relieving and terrifying to behold, as it would explain how she managed to accomplish what she had up to this point but also prove to the CCG that she still held the edge when it came to information. It also warranted further caution when going up against her, because now there was no telling what she truly capable of in a fight. This meant that she could be holding back some kind of trump card that they weren`t aware of, allowing her to maintain the element of surprise.

Marude broke the silence. "One last question. What do you think this latest development with your daughter says about the No-Life Queen?"

Akumo stiffened.

Flashback Begin

"I`m afraid you`re mistaken," she declared, her voice resonating. "Your daughter died two months ago, and the only reason she continues to walk the earth is because I still permit it."

He had been startled when she slitted her eyes so unnaturally in front of him, but this statement left his head spinning in absolute confusion.

"What do you mean dead for two months?"

As she turned to walk away, his mind raced at a million miles an hour to comprehend what she had just said.

"What do you want with Michi?"

At first he thought she meant that she was threatening to kill his daughter.

"What have you done to her?"

But her choice of words and tone of voice held a finality to them that suggested that something had already been done.

"Why did you save her life?!?"

"AAAAAAAYYYYYYYIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

His heart choked. His throat froze. He turned back toward the house. "SAKURA!" He burst inside, following his wife`s screams to Michi`s room. She stood there, in the open doorway, unmoving, Mamiru similarly frozen by her side. He pushed his way past them inside.

He saw a corpse. It wore a filthy school uniform. It had long, black hair and bone-white skin, and it looked like it had been rotting away for a while. He recognized the massive wound in its torso as being from a rinkaku ghoul, and he could see a large bite mark on the neck, as if from a full mouth of sharp teeth.

And the face on the body, although decayed, was still recognizable as Michi Matsuzaka, his daughter.

He fell to his knees, and bent forward, touching, caressing the cold face of his daughter.

"Your daughter has been dead for two months."

"Impossible," he whispered, as he clutched the body to his bosom. Unfortunately, his instincts as a father, honed by many years of love and care, told him without a doubt that this was Michi, or at least her cadaver.

His rational mind vehemently denied the reality before him that his heart was moving to accept, tearing his soul in two as he emptied out the grief that welled up within in a roar of despair and rage.

Flashback End

Akumo`s heart filled up with sorrow and hate. "I - I honestly don`t know what to make of it. When we found her in the immediate aftermath of the ghoul attack, the doctors said that she was perfectly fine." He could feel tears threatening to emerge, forcing him to fight them down. "We watched her for weeks for her protection, I kept in contact with her teachers and friends, I talked with her, walked with her, comforted her, did everything I could to be the best father for her that I possibly could and that monster just snatches her away behind my back and tells me to my face that she- no it, KILLED HER! It wants me to believe that the last two months of my daughter`s life was a LIE, and that the whole time the little girl who hugged and kissed me before going to bed every night she could was nothing but a PUPPET!"

He exerted immense self-control to calm himself down, breathing heavily like he had just finished a race and wiping his eyes so as to stop the tears from coming out. He had never been this emotional in front of his superiors before, but then again, he had never felt so helpless before.

Marude sighed, shaking his head sadly as he looked at another file. "I know what it`s like to lose a very dear friend, but I`ve never had a wife, or kids, so I can`t say that I fully understand what you`re going through. I wish that I could give you better news, but unfortunately the autopsy report pretty much confirms the worst. We ran facials, fingerprints, blood, dentistry, even X-rays. That is either Michi Matsuzaka or a very convincing clone. And I don`t know which one is scarier, because either way, it precludes the No-Life Queen knowledge and resources that are beyond anything we have-"

"DON`T CALL IT THAT!"

Marude looked back at him stunned. The other three were similarly surprised at the normally composed man who looked like he was ready to explode with rage.

"That bitch has no life inside of he- it, but that thing is no queen. We were right to name it Ripper the first time IT appeared. All it has ever done is destroy everything it touches. It didn`t slaughter ghouls for humanity`s sake, but for its own. It didn`t traumatize my comrades to teach some moral lesson but to destroy our peace of mind! It saved my daughter only to throw her life back in our faces and laugh at our misery!! She is a manipulative, arrogant, sadistic, greedy, murderous, BITCH!!!

"For insult upon insult that it has heaped on the good men and women we hold dear, I refuse to allow it to so much as name itself. I will never acknowledge that thing as 'queen,' whether it`s alive or dead; Ripper is enough identity for that monster, and I will not acknowledge it as anything else."

The silence that followed made its predecessors noisy by comparison. Akumo immediately felt uncomfortable, as the grave faces the four men before him gave him the distinct impression he may have crossed a line.

Stiffening himself again, he bowed forward. "I apologize for my outburst. Although I have been going through very emotional trials, that was no excuse for me lose my temper and yell at you. I will accept whatever discipline you deem necessary." He straightened himself again, looking his superiors in the eye.

Tsuneyoshi Washuu opened his mouth-

The ringing of a phone was heard.

Very quickly, it was realized that Marude was the one in possession of the ringing device. At first, Akumo thought that it was careless on the man`s part to bring his device with him, but the look on Marude`s face when he looked at the smartphone told him that the man thought it was a serious concern. Looking at the other seated members, Marude received a nod from Tsuneyoshi to answer it. He pressed the answer button and held it to his ear.

"I do hope this is important." Quiet look of interest emerged on his face. Then shock as he shot up from his seat. "What?! When did this happen?" Marude`s teeth grit together as he continued to listen. "Alright, gather as much information as you can and then return to the Main Office ASAP!" He hung up, and turned to everyone else.

"That was Shinohara. There was a ghoul attack at Komaba High School. He`s on his way there now."

Akumo gasped. That was the school Michi attended.

---

As soon as she heard the bloodcurdling scream, she knew that today was absolutely ruined.

She was initially worried when word came down the grapevine when she arrived at school that Michi was missing and that the Ripper- no wait, now she the "No-Life Queen" (Asshole)- was believed to be behind it. But, as time went on, she found herself relaxing a bit more than usual around Yoriko and her new friend Nanami. It wasn`t that Touka hated Michi, but having the daughter of a Dove for a "friend" made her very paranoid, no matter if she wasn`t aware of her being a ghoul or not.

Touka had always been suspicious of the Dove`s kid, although she hid it very well when she interacted with her at school. Though she had Michi to thank for introducing her to Nanami, who was not only harmless as a fly but just as wholy good-natured as Yoriko. The girl was a hopeless otaku, but her obsessions constantly drove her to teaching her "philistine" friend Touka the ins and outs of anime and manga, which made for very funny conversations and made her feel more like a normal school girl.

But her paranoia went through the roof when Michi showed up at Anteiku out of nowhere and told them of a powerful "friend" who was aware of their true nature…

Flashback Begin

What. The. F***??!?

Touka felt that what she had just seen meant that she was either way more messed up in the head than she realized, or she was screwed beyond all belief. Considering that she was very aware of the scratches that she was leaving in the door with her fingernails, the latter scenario appeared to be the more likely case.

After Michi finally calmed down her demented laughter, the monster dressed in red that had oozed up from her shadow addressed everyone in the room again.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, I believe you have someplace where we can discuss things more privately?"

Yoshimura nodded his head. "Yes. Please follow me."

He then led everyone upstairs to where they usually had their "staff" meetings. Most of the employees opted to stand around the room, while Yoshimura and the thing named Seras sat down opposite from one another across a coffee table. Michi stood beside Seras.

"Before we begin discussing just why you`re here, I would like to know just how much you know about Anteiku," Yoshimura requested.

The monster smiled, and then pointed a finger at Touka. "Touka Kirishima. Daughter of Arata Kirishima, aka the Corpse Collector, who was captured by Investigators Yukinori Shinohara and Kureo Mado, whose kakuhou was harvested to create the exoskeleton armor quinque 'Arata,' before being subsequently disposed."

Touka was shocked.

Her finger moved again. "Kaya Irimi, aka the Black Dog, head of the Black Dobers. Investigator Chuu Hachikawa is still bitter at you for killing his subordinates biting off his lips."

This thing not only knew her name, but it had information on her father.

"Koma, aka the Devil Ape, leader of the Apes and ex-rival to Irimi and her Black Dobers before you were both brought into Anteiku."

The nickname the CCG gave him, who had captured him, and what kind of quinque they had made from his kagune.

"Yomo Renji, aka Raven, associated with Itori and Uta, who are known members of the ghoul gang known as the Clowns."

Only the CCG could have had that kind of information, and this thing had access to it.

"And Yoshimura, aka the One-Eyed Owl, founder and manager of Anteiku."

And she also knew everyone in the Anteiku organization. Touka may not be the smartest person in the world, she still broke her back studying to earn good grades, but she knew very well that someone who could learn detailed information about and from human and ghoul organizations alike would be very powerful and very dangerous.

Yoshimura`s face became even more serious as he watched Seras. "How do you know all this?"

Seras chuckled a little, creeping out Touka. "To be honest, I`m a little disappointed that you haven`t asked what I am yet, considering my little magic trick downstairs."

"I figured that it would be explain how you know so much," Yoshimura explained.

Seras` smile got bigger, showing off her teeth – a mouth full of jagged shark-like fangs that made Touka gulp.

"I`m a vampire," Seras declared.

For a moment, the room was quiet, then Koma spoke up. "Normally, I would say that there are no such things as vampires but, like you said, you`ve got a few magic tricks up your sleeve."

"Correct," Seras said, before explaining further. "There are some things about vampires that most believe that are true, especially the parts about drinking blood, nighttime activity, supernatural powers, a weakness to holy objects, immortality, and how a vampire can make another person a vampire."

Touka simply watched and listened, both scared out of her wits at being in the presence of such a monster, but also amazed at seeing something that was a living myth. She also found herself lowering her guard oh so slightly as she began to realize that, as intimidating as Seras was, the vampire did not appear to hold malicious intent towards her or anyone else in Anteiku.

"The reason that I know about Anteiku and the CCG so well comes from the powers I have at my disposal. For example, if I were to drink a person`s blood, I would also drink up their soul. By doing so, I would know everything that person did and have access to all of their memories. The final benefit to this is that I can then utilize that soul by using its energy to amplify my own strength and power, recover from grievous injuries, or even summon it to physical form again as a familiar."

"If I may, exactly what manner of relation does Michi share with you?" Yoshimura inquired. "The news said that you saved her life from a ghoul attack, but is there some deeper connection she has with you?"

"Nice catch there," Seras applauded. "Michi has the distinction of being the first familiar that I`ve acquired since arriving in Tokyo. It is largely thanks to her input that I`ve been able to get a firm footing on the events occurring in this city regarding ghouls and the CCG. And I have come to consider her a close confidant and friend."

"I see," Yoshimura mused. "And it`s through this that you`ve been able to gather so much intelligence in the first place, correct?"

"Yes," Seras answered. "And since you watch the news, you`re probably aware that I`ve eaten a fair number of people over the past couple of months, but the grand total is actually over four hundred in fact. Both ghoul and human."

This came as a surprise. When leaks from the CCG first came about the presence of the Ripper, the CCG were forced to publicly acknowledge that it was suspected to be behind the deaths of, at this point, over five dozen ghouls in the 10th​ Ward, with the possibility of more unknown ghoul and human deaths as well. The number Seras had given them was about seven times that, and included humans.

"If you`re wondering how the CCG doesn`t know the full tally, it`s quite simply the fact that I haven`t been prowling through just the 10th​ Ward. I have been to every ward in the city, including what you call the 24th​. Also, it didn`t take long for me to figure that the CCG were on my trail, so I`ve allowed them to find the bodies of those I killed in the 10th​ Ward, and I made sure that I only killed ghouls there. This gave me the freedom to hunt in the other wards without drawing suspicion from the CCG, where I could strike targets and acquire familiars without anyone the wiser. Not to mention the fact that I have a few more vampires to help me as well."

"I hope you`re not planning to make any of us vampires, because life is bad enough without having to sleep in coffins during the day to avoid getting turned to ash in the sunlight," Touka said. She had finally overcome her stigma of silence that had been created by the presence of the vampire and her sidekick, who still had a smug, creepy grin plastered on her face.

"I couldn`t make you vampires even if you and I both wanted," Seras replied.

Touka`s curiosity was stoked. "Why is that?"

"I did try a few times to vampirize a ghoul, but ghoul physiology doesn`t permit it. I have some very good guesses as to why that is, but I`m waiting until I`m certain before I make conclusions."

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Everyone turned to Yomo, who had spoken. "And what do you need Anteiku for?"

"Wow, you`re generally the last person to say something," Irimi whispered, the last one in the room to say something.

"Yomo does have a point," Yoshimura stated. He looked Seras square in the eye. "From what I`ve seen so far, you have the power and opportunity to seize absolute control of Tokyo, or any other city for that matter. So what are you doing here? And what do we have to do with it?"

Seras` face lost its amused look and became serious and contemplative. Then she stood up. "Bringing a final end to an old war that refuses to stay dead. And I need your help to make it happen. I`ll contact you when it`s time for your part, but I would suggest you start contacting people and getting ready to service a lot more customers."

She then turned and walked out the door, Michi following and closing it behind them. Touka went and opened the door to pursue, but they had already vanished into thin air.

Flashback End

After that meeting, Touka had seriously considered transferring to another school or just plain stopping. After all, it did cost a pretty penny to attend school in another ward, no matter the benefits of distancing her school persona with her ghoul activities. But, considering the vampire`s power, she doubted she`d be able to hide long from a monster with eyes and ears among both humans and ghouls, so she decided to continue going the next day.

That night, she and Anteiku had received a message from Seras that one of her vampires, a Dove named Fujiyama, who said that he was bringing in some ghouls broken out of Cochlea that she needed to keep hidden and dispersed throughout the city away from the CCG`s prying eyes. She also communicated that all the other ghouls in the prison were dead. The confirmation of an inside source in the CCG as well as what happened to Cochlea confirmed for Anteiku that, whether they liked it or not, Seras was now the one pulling their organization`s strings.

They spent much of the night spreading the former prisoners among their contacts in the 20th​ and 24th​ wards, finding places for them to stay and hide for the night and day before moving them again the following night to the places where Fujiyama indicated they needed to be for Seras` plans to work. Although they didn`t know why these specific ghouls had been chosen, they did so anyway, as they ducked under both the watchful surveillance of the CCG and the implied threat hanging over their head from Seras` knowledge of their operations.

Now she knew that her life was even shittier as she had a gut feeling of who was behind this latest incident now at her school, as she took off in the direction of the scream.

"Touka, wait up!" Yoriko shouted as she ran after her friend.

"Don`t forget about me!" Nanami yelled as she tagged along.

Soon, they came across a crowd of student gathered outside the girl`s restroom. Touka pushed herself through, squeezing first through the guys who were not being permitted inside because of the spectacle, and then through the girls, who were even more anxious being closer up, as well as being more sickened by the sight.

When Nanami saw, she went to the nearest toilet and hurled, just as another girl had left the stall after finishing puking out her guts into it.

"Oh no," Yoriko murmured, her hands covering her mouth. Although Yoriko didn`t know her well, she was still an innocent girl, so seeing a brutal murder horrified her.

Touka went back to her and hugged her, comforting her as she cried out her tears for a total stranger.

Throughout, Touka heard the students saying that it was a ghoul that had done it some of them wondering if it was a student and others wondering if the Ripper/No-Life Queen had done the deed.

She looked at the body of the girl that the others confirmed to be Chiasa Hara, someone she vaguely recognized, because Michi had met with her a few times in the cafeteria, along with a couple other guys.

Considering that the girl had her throat torn open, Touka knew for certain, based on recent events, what was behind it.

Why, she thought. What is the point of all this, you f***ing vampire?

---

Masahiko checking in, she heard. I`ve set the bait at my school.

Very good, Seras replied. Everyone, check in.

This is Rin, I can strike my target at any time.

Seiichi here, prepared and waiting. Awaiting orders.

Boss Ishikawa reporting for duty! All set to go, just waitin` for the word!

Can I start playing tag now?

Fujiyama calling in, Mistress. I`ve got all eyes on the CCG`s movements.

Seras breathed, as unnecessary as the action was. This operation was key to her intended climax. She needed the CCG to do as she expected them to in order to properly set everything up for the climax.

And not just the CCG, but the Washuus as well. If she wanted to not only complete her original mission, but also bring about a true conclusion to the human-ghoul war, she needed the Washuus to be able to finally read between the lines of her activity through this next action, and get really desperate. Or else nothing would work out in the end.

I`m sorry for making you wait so long, Sir Integra. And I`m so sorry for getting you caught up in all this, Michi.

Alright everyone. As soon as you have an open window, go.

 

[Xavier Rall]

EDIT: Chapter title changed from "Rise of the Planet of the Vampires."​

Chapter 10: Tokyo, We Have A Problem​

Shinohara POV

He could only watch in sorrow as the men from the coroner`s office zipped up the body bag, enclosing the still corpse of a teenaged girl, and carting her away. The girl had died from blood loss after her throat had been torn open from a large bite wound. He had only arrived just in time to see that happen, so he turned to the nearest police investigator.

"What do we know about the victim?" he inquired.

The officer held back up his notepad and read from it. "Chiasa Hara. Age 16. Daughter of Umaeda Hara, a member of the Diet. According to the faculty, not among the very smartest of students, but she was rather popular among the students as well as an avid member of the kendo club and got decent enough grades to get through her classes rather comfortably."

"Time of death?"

"According to the medics, she died literally only one hour ago."

"Do we have video of who did it?" Shinohara noted the cameras placed at the corners of the hallways.

"There is no security footage inside the restroom itself, and we did check the hallway cameras but there is no one who entered the restroom who didn`t later leave it before when the victim herself entered. Basically, we have no idea how the killer got in and out

"Anything that would make her a target for a ghoul attack?"

"One of her friends is Michi Matsuzaka, the daughter of one of your people, and if I remember correctly, now a confirmed associate of the so-called No-Life Queen?"

Of course, Shinohara thought. The No-Life Queen is probably trying to tie up loose ends so as to have as much breathing room as possible for whatever she`s planning. "Did she have any other friends?"

The officer nodded. "Yes. We talked to the students and the faculty, and they have told us that she was a good friend of Michi`s before she was attacked two months ago, and then she broke relations with her for a couple weeks before they were reacquainted. Her other two close friends are Katsuo Ishikawa and Masahiko Himura. The first is, according to gossip anyway, a member of the yakuza and the second is a star athlete in track and archery, as well as her boyfriend, although no one can confirm that."

"Have you talked to them yet?" Shinohara asked.

The man shook his head. "According to students and staff, Katsuo hasn`t been in school for several days now, citing that his grandfather recently passed away, along with a number of family friends. Also, Masahiko hasn`t come to school today, and no one knows why."

Could those two be connected to all this as well?

"Yoo-hoo! Boss-man!"

Shinohara couldn`t help but smile as he turned to his approaching partner, a pale androgynous boy with white hair and red hairpins worn like the Roman numeral XIII, crazed and playful red eyes, and red stitches on his right arm, the front of his neck, on his lip, and under his right eye. Dressed in his usual white button-down shirt with red suspenders and black pants with black shoes, Juuzou Suzuya took another spoonful of ice cream he had been enjoying when Shinohara learned about the ghoul attack at Michi Matsuzaka`s high school.

"Hey, Juuzou. Find anything?"

"Yeah! I found this little girl in a frilly pink poofy princess dress wandering around outside who was looking for a "Ghoul Detective"! She says she works for the Queen!"

Shinohara couldn`t help but slightly raise an eyebrow at that. More about the girl than Juuzou`s claims. "Really? And do you believe her?" Shinohara didn`t doubt his partner, as his abusive upbringing by ghouls had made him into a very brutally honest individual. And-

"Of course! You should always believe someone who has a giant battleax!"

Wait, what?

-One Minute Later-

Shinohara could hardly believe the sight that greeted his eyes.

Standing only a few meters away from him was a tiny little girl, no more than seven or eight years old, with giant blue eyes, ankle-length brown hair, an innocent smile that split her face in half, who was indeed wearing a "frilly, pink, poofy princess dress,"-

And with her was a giant, hot pink battleax with a hilt that was taller than he was and a sickeningly sharp-edged ax head that was bigger than his torso. Which she was casually leaning against her shoulder with only a hand to keep it from falling.

The ax alone confirmed that the girl wasn`t human, but he still had a hard time believing that even a ghoul of that age could casually wield a weapon that big, and if one somehow could, then it would be nothing short of extremely dangerous.

That`s why he still didn`t feel comfortable about his current situation despite all the police pointing their guns at her.

"See boss!" Juuzou cried excitedly. "She`s got the biggest battleax I`ve ever seen! When I get my quinque, I want it to be as big as that!" Then, he ran forward toward the girl.

"W-wait, Juuzou!" Shinohara sputtered, as the other police also called out to Juuzou.

"Kid, get out of the way!"

"Hey, what do you think you`re doing?"

He ignored all of them, of course.

"Hello, Princess!" Juuzou greeted, bowing forward playfully. Then, swooshing his arms about fancily toward Shinohara, he declared, "Presenting my boss and partner, one of the great and mighty men of the CCG, SPECIAL-CLASS INVESTIGATOR YUKINORI SHINOHARA!!!"

Juuzou`s heraldic proclamation elicited silence from the police, a slight groan from Shinohara, and giggling from the little girl.

Juuzou then walked back to Shinohara`s side, while the man himself pondered briefly how to approach the little girl. Taking a deep breath, he put on his best smile and walked forward.

"Hello. I guess you already know my name. What`s yours?"

The girl`s smile got just a little wider. "I`m Haruka Tsukino! But you can call me Haru-chan!"

"You have a pretty name, Haru-chan."

"Thank you Detective-san!"

So far, so good. He bet down to look the girl closer to her eye level. "So, you told my partner Juuzou that you wanted to talk to me. Right?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"You also told him that you work for the Queen? Who is the Queen?" He asked the question with a feeling he already knew the answer.

Haruka laughed, an adorable sound of joyful innocence. "You already know my Obaa-chan! She said so herself!"

"She`s your aunt?" No one in the CCG knew if Seras had any family or not. They had run her face and name through every database they could access, but had found nothing about her in any of them. In fact, there was literally no record of her anywhere they looked, as if she had been a ghost that suddenly came out of hiding.

She laughed again. "No, silly! She may not be my real Obaa-chan, but that doesn`t mean she isn`t!"

This elicited a small chuckle from Shinohara, who was still just a little disturbed at the scene before him. "Okay, okay. Well, you said that you wanted to talk to me. What do you want to talk about?"

There was a sparkle in her eye, as she excitedly asked him, "Do you want to be friends with me?"

Shinohara was immediately confused. "You want to be friends? With me?"

"Yeah! But not just you, because that would be no fun. I want to be friends with you and your friends. All of them!"

Shinohara could feel the sweat bead up on his forehead. What is she trying to do? The No-Life Queen definitely put her up to this. But why? "That sounds like a great idea, Haru-chan. I have a lot of friends, but I don`t know how long it will take for you to become friends with all of them."

The girl just shook her head and continued to impishly grin at him. "Don`t worry, it won`t take too long. That`s why I brought all of my friends."

Shinohara`s smile disappeared as his face paled. At the same time, he belatedly noticed a shadow passing over…

CRASH!

He jerked back as something fell from the sky and landed right behind Haruka, cratering the walkway beneath it. Yells and screaming were sounding all around him as he took a look at what had appeared.

"No…"

First thing he noticed was that it was BIG. It was as big as a small, 4-passenger car and stood head and shoulders above him. The second thing was that it was dark blue with indigo pulses, almost the color of night. Third, it had the look of an anthropomorphic scorpion, complete with a long, flicking tail, claw-like hands and feet, and full-body segmented armor with a full-face mask complete with glowing red slits where the eyes should be. Fourth, it was laughing.

"It`s a… kakuja." Shinohara turned to Juuzou, who was silent as he stared in silence and more than a little shock at the sudden appearance of this monstrosity. He may have remembered to bring his quinque and had it by his side, but without his armor quinque Arata, he knew that he didn`t stand a chance against the kakuja.

"What`s the matter, Investigator-san?" Shinohara`s attention went back to Haruka, who was now holding the battleax to her side, and still smiling as innocently as ever. "He just wants to play. And he`s not the only friend I brought!"

Looking around, Shinohara saw them. The kakujas. They were on the rooftops, leering down at the streets below. They were stepping out of alleys onto the sidewalks and into the streets. One even burst out from a manhole cover, breaking apart pavement in the process. They resembled gigantic, multicolored macabre parodies of birds of prey, arthropods, and every other branch in between.

Their appearance caused people to scream, panic and run away from them in every direction, causing cars to crash and people to get trampled. People also began calling on their phones, and more than one took pictures before going on their way.

Shinohara knew that kakujas were the rarest of the rare among ghouls. Those who had cannibalized their kind to extremes that most of their kind didn`t even dare, as they risked life, limb, and sanity for the sake of achieving greater power. And few of them had the lucky combination of genes that allowed them to develop their kagune into an armored shell that granted them greater strength, speed, and regeneration that was beyond the abilities of the vast majority of the ghoul population. Kakujas were, far and out, the most dangerous kinds of ghouls imaginable.

And Shinohara had lost count of how many of them had just appeared after the second dozen.

"Can`t you see? He really really really REALLY wants to be friends with you. My daddy taught me that friendship is all about sharing, so if you share yourself with somebody else, that makes you best friends forever!"

For the first time in years, Shinohara felt real fear settle into his gut. Not just because of the kakujas everywhere, but the implications their appearance made.

"Obaa-chan told me that I should make friends with ghoul investigators, because you try day and night to make friends with ghouls everywhere but you keep doing it wrong! So, me and my friends are going to go everywhere, looking for all of you, so that we can make friends with as many of you as we can!"

He and many other CCG Investigators had been quick to deride the No-Life Queen as arrogant and pretentious after seeing the video she sent. But looking at the kakujas all around him, at least five of which he could visually estimate to be SSS-rating, he could see why she was that way.

Haruka then pouted. "But we have to go home when nighttime comes, so we can`t play with you all day and we can`t make friends with all of you. We also can`t make friends with anyone who isn`t a ghoul detective, because she wants to do some other things first."

Shinohara realized then and there, that they had severely underestimated Seras Victoria. If she was powerful and confident enough to hand control of a veritable army of kakujas to a little girl – an admittedly superhuman one – just what did that say about the size and strength of her organization? What did it say about her?

She smiled again. "But, I don`t mind. I get to have fun, meet new people, see new places, and make new friends!"

Right then, the kakujas then scattered in all directions, including the scorpion-like one who leaped over them onto the outside of the school, which it crawled up of before going over the lip of the roof and out of sight.

Haruka bowed and straightened again. "We all have to go now! I hope I can see you again later! BYE!"

Then she disappeared, kicking up a small dust cloud in her wake.

Shinohara stood there, supremely dumbfounded and literally shaking in his shoes. It took all the strength he had just to calm himself down over the next few moments, before he took out his cell and dialed the main office.

"Marude…"