ALUCARD: THE ETERNAL SHADOW
CHAPTER 2
What did I do? What in my life have I done to deserve this? I have killed, murdered, maimed and other offenses that I would rather not get into. I figured I would all kinds of hell in my life for my crimes but now, hell seems so far away. I lay here, nude in this bed. But I am far from alone. Beside me lays someone. A girl. She sleeps now after long night of activity that only a man and a woman can do in the comfort of their own world. Her skin is a shade of gray, matched perfectly with her purple hair and the gem in her forehead. Some might see her as weird or strange but to me, she is utterly perfect.
My name is alucard. And I wonder what have I done to deserve such a woman as her?
6 MONTHS AGO………………..
It was a slow afternoon in jump city. A very rare time for the city since, next to Gotham and metropolis, jump city was one of the all time hot beds for super villain activity. After the fall of the brotherhood of evil, all the mid card villains have been hiding out, not wanted to raise the attention of the teen titans, who have expanded their membership of young heroes. It was at this time that we find our mysterious young nightwalker, alucard. Last night was still fresh in his skull: his visit to his old friend, voodoo's club, his short battle with the baccai, saving a young girl, being attacked by her friends. But most of all he remembers what happened afterwards. It seemed that since both he and the girl known as raven were both half demons, they had gained a psychic link. All day, he caught glimpses of her memory, her feelings, her emotions. It was interesting for him but something in him had to know more. So now we find alucard, standing on the dock of the bay, starring at the immense T shaped building which was her home, as well as her friends and teammates.
"looking at something interesting"
Alucard turned around to find the source of the voice was merely that of a aged fisherman, sitting behind him with a mug of beer in hand.
"just looking at that tower."
"yep. I often find myself looking at it, wondering what they are doing in there."
"the titans?"
"aye. Been a great boon to this city. But I wonder why children would want to be heroes?"
"being heroes is a choice for some."
"what about you? You looking to join?"
"nope. I cant be a hero." he smiled.
"I see."
"something going on?"
"why you ask?"
"all the activity. A lot more than just five teens on the island right now."
"how'd you see that, lad?" the old salt asked, straining his eyes to get a look at what he was talking about.
"good eyes." he answered, pointing to his eyes.
"well if you say so. Well if you had to know, the titans must be having a meeting with the other titans."
"there are others?"
"aye. About two dozen more. All on that island."
"damn."
"what's wrong?"
"nothing. Say, um when's sundown around here?"
"ooooooooh……..I'd say…….about 6:55pm."
"15 seconds from now. Good." he said, looking down at his watch with a smile.
"don't be telling me that you be trying to go there. Now lad, unless you can fly, there are only two ways onto that island: the private bridge or swim."
"well in case you are wondering, I cant fly and I left my car at home."
"so you be swimming?"
"who says I had to swim?" he said with a grin as he began to walk down the pier, silently counting to himself.
"5.…4.…3.…2.…1.….and…….now"
On schedule, the sun sunk beneath the horizon and darkness fell on the land. Alucard suddenly began to run down the pier. But before the old man could ask what he was doing, alucard jumped off the pier and sailed into the air.
"good on ya, lad."
Alucard glided thru the night sky, taking in the scene of the city behind him and his destination. He sighted a small patch of unoccupied beach and aim his descent for it. He landed with a wet thud on to the land before taking cover under a large boulder. He looked up at his destination of the tower when his cell phone began to ring. With a smile, he reached into his pocket, retrieved his cell and answered.
"hello?"
"master alucard, I was hoping to catch you. Do you wish to have the chicken or the beef for dinner?" It was Gilliam, his loyal butler.
"about that, Gilliam. It seems I'll be a little late for dinner tonight."
"I see. Working late, sir?"
"no. just visiting someone."
"the girl from last night."
"what makes you say that?"
"master, a butler must know what his employer thinks, even before he does."
"you and those damn rules. Yes, it is the girl from last night but seeing will be kinda difficult."
"ahhh. B&E then, sir?"
"yep. Looks like I'm gonna have to do some 'metal gear solid' action for this one."
"in that case, should I be calling myself otacon, sir?" he asked, getting a small laugh from the silver haired man.
"I'll call when I'm heading home."
"very well, sir"
Alucard closed his cell phone and returned it to his pocket as he began his trek up the beach. The rocks didn't prove too much trouble his nimble feet and agility. But he did have problems with the automated sensors around the area. He was able to clear the sensor grid. After a while, he arrived at the base of the tower. It was a lot bigger than he originally thought. He scanned the base for a way in, which he found the form of a door. Next to the door was a small keypad. He contemplated attempting to try to hack the code but he figured the wrong entry would sound a alarm and he wasn't in the mood to face off against over 2 dozen super powered teens.
"hold it right there, slick"
Alucard felt something jab the back of his neck and the slight sound of electricity hummed in his ears. He knew he was caught. Slowly, he raised his hands, in a sign of surrender.
"now turn around slowly"
He did as the person asked, turning around to meet his captor: she was a African American girl with her hair shaped into puffs on the sides of her head. She wore a black and yellow stripped top with black pants and high heels. In her hands were strange stingers that glowed with yellow energy. But most odd about her was the fact that she had large insect wings seemingly growing out of her back. This was bumblebee, leader of the titans east, based out of steel city.
"so who are you suppose to be? Bee girl? Hive gal?"
"funny. The name's bumblebee. And mind telling me what you are doing here?"
"would you believe I'm visiting a sick friend?"
"not really. See, robin and sparky hipped me to some guy who attacked raven the other night. Trench coat, sword on the hip and silver hair. You must be here to finish her off or something."
"like I said, I'm here to see a sick friend."
"yeah right. Pity you're a bad guy. You're kinda cute." she remarked with a smile.
"believe me, I hear that all the time."
"cuteness aside, I'm gonna have to take you in."
"sorry but I cant you let you do that." Before the female titan could do or say anything, alucard began making a series of hand signs with his left hand. In a flash, he used his other hand to grab her stinger and forces his other hand, now covered in a dark aura into her face.
HYPNOISIS
The aura leapt off his hand and into her face, and into her eyes. Bumblebee staggered back a little before she regained her footing but her eyes had gained a dull look in them.
"um what can I do for you?" she said, in a dazed voice.
"good girl. Now how about you punch into the code to the door so I can see my friend."
"um, ok"
Bumblebee walked over to the keypad and entered her code. The door slide open in response to her code, and the two entered the tower.
"thank you, my dear." he said, passing her by.
"anything else I can do for you?" she asked. Alucard knew that that spell he placed her would last for a while but he cant just have her stand there like a moron, less someone realize she was hypnotized.
"um………..uh, I don't know. Go kiss the you like the most."
"ok." and with that, she shrank to her mini sized self and flew off.
"definitely gotta watch my self in here"
Alucard snuck passed the lounge area, which had it's far share of superheroes laying around, eating or just talking. He made his way down the hall but ducked into a corner as two titans passed by: the ones known as argent and red star. He peeked out and when the coast was clear, continued his search.
"damn. At this rate, I'll be caught before I find…."
"AWW DAMN"
Alucard looked around but couldn't find a good hiding space so he leapt up towards the ceiling, and braced himself. As he did, cyborg came out of a near by room, who also happened to run into beastboy.
"cy? You ok?"
"yeah. It's just…."
"what?"
"well I was in the garage, working on the T-car and then bumblebee flies in and just……kisses me."
"dude! Bumblebee kissed you?!"
"yeah. And then afterwards, she just looks at me like she wasn't sure what happened and then just flew off."
"weird."
"yeah. I'm gonna go play super smash bros with the twins. You coming?"
"naw. I'm gonna go work out with terra. We need to catch up." he answered, slicking his hair back.
"well good luck with that, bb"
Alucard jumped down as the friend went their ways. After making sure that they were gone, he continued his search. After a while, he stumbled upon a small room with a computer in it. He entered and walked over to the monitor and sat down. Seeing that it was still logged into the network, he began to work.
"now, she was injured. So that means she wouldn't be in her normal room. Hmmmm"
He typed in the search function for the location of the medical room. After a few seconds, the screen produced the answer.
"floor 40. Gotcha"
With a grin, he jumped up from his seat and quickly made his way to the nearest elevator. He pressed the appropriate floor and waited as the door closed and the car began to move upwards. But then the elevator stopped and began to move down again. This meant that someone else had called it and was about to enter. He looked around and realized that he no longer had a place to hide. With a deep breath, he began making hand-signs before raising two fingers to his face.
CONCEAL
There was a slight puff of black aura around him, just as the elevator doors open. Thankfully, alucard's spell hid them from their sight but if they were to touch him, the spell would break. The two titans entered the car, unaware of their unknown passenger. Alucard finally got a good look at the two young heroes: the first was a young man wearing a red and yellow body suit with a lightening bolt insignia, and a red mask that covered his fast, save his shockingly red hair. The second was a girl wearing a black and purple outfit with purple stockings and platform shoes. Her hair was a bright pink and tied into two large pig tails on either side of her head. That, combined with her eyes, gave her almost a cat like appearance.
"come on! It cant be that bad." said kid flash.
"trust me, it is that bad." answered jinx.
"she gets along with terra ok. And she was probably badder than you."
"terra wasn't all that bad. It's just that me and raven just don't get along. She's also had it in for me ever since I went into her room."
"hmmm. Well that explains it. But you are a titan now. You can at least try."
"I don't know. She is hard to know. I mean, I'm better friend with cyborg and that's only because we use to date."
"right. And you and her can work……….WAIT!! DID YOU JUST SAY DATE?!?!" exclaimed a very surprised kid flash.
"yeah. I figured you knew."
"well, when the hell did this happen?!"
"it happened a while back. Cy went undercover in the hive as a new student named stone. We hit it off and we dated for a while. Sad to say, it ended when he went back to the titans. But we remained friends. You ok, kf?" she asked. Kid flash has a almost defeated look on his face as the car came to a stop and the doors slide open.
"yeah I'm ok. But I'm gonna have a long talk with cyborg." he answered, vanishing from sight as he did. Jinx merely sigh at the actions of the speedster.
"boys." she spoke, leaving the elevator, leaving alucard alone again. As the doors, slide close, the car resumed its journey to the floor of his destination. He elected to remain still, less he get anymore guests. After a minute, the doors slide open revealing his destination. He peeked out of the elevator to check if there was anyone there. To his relief, the hallway was devoid of titans, so he exited and began his search. He did not search long as he came across the infirmary. The doors slide open as he walked into the dimly lit room but to his surprise, raven was not in the bed or anywhere else in the room.
"hold it"
Alucard froze at the order. He slightly turned his head to the side to see a smock wearing raven, her hands covered in her dark power and ready to strike him down.
"you know, I could kill you right here, right now."
"hmmm. Is that right?"
"very much."
"I see. Well then, look down at your side"
Without another word, raven looked down at her side to see the tip of alucard's katana pointed right at her stomach. This was one of the few moments that she was genially surprised. She didn't even see his hand move, let alone draw his sword and ready it to take her life.
"I don't get taken off guard. Unless I want to, that is."
"well are you the slick one….ahhhh." she groaned as she felt a wave of dizziness come over her. All of a sudden, her balance was robbed from her as she began to fall backwards, but she never met to the floor. Alucard quickly turned around and caught her before she fell over.
"silly girl. I told you to stay in bed." he stated as she guided her back to her bed. It was only this time that she noticed that he had his hands her on her. Normally she would let anyone, let alone someone she just met, put their hands on her but she was in no position to complain. He helped her back into her bed before he took a seat at the edge of the bed.
"I guess I should say thank you."
"don't. I was just here. Anyone else would've done the same."
"well you certainly not like anyone else."
"thanks. So how did you know?"
"that you were pulling a solid snake and sneaking up here? Well, I know this is gonna sound weird but…."
"what?"
"I could………..feel you?"
"feel me?"
"I cant explain it but I knew you were coming and I knew where you were in the tower."
"really now? I kinda had a feeling you could."
"you don't sound so surprised."
"when you've lived as long as I have, very little surprises me."
"do you know why this is happening?"
"I have a guess. Are you a empath?"
"yeah. Why?"
"I think that because you are a empath, when the demon part of our blood mingled, it must have created some kind of psychic link between us."
"hmmm. Interesting. So you are a half demon too?"
"yep. Just like you."
"how did you know I was a half demon?"
"your blood. Its doesn't taste human or demon for that matter. It almost has the same tint as mine."
"ahh."
"besides, I was in the club when those suck heads jumped at you."
"oh. Duh"
Alucard smirked at her humor at the situation. For a while, there was a streak of awkward silence between the two of them. That was until alucard ended it with a question he had hoped not to asked.
"raven, who is areila"
Sufficed to say, raven was visibly stunned at that name coming from his mouth.
"how did you…?"
"when I drank your blood, I got some stuff from you: flashes of memory, emotions, thoughts, etc."
"you didn't go too deep did you?"
"don't worry. It was a just a jumbled mess. But that name kept popping up in my head. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"no. it's ok. It's just……….I don't really talk about myself."
"I understand."
"to answer your question, she was my mother. She was the high priestess of azarath."
"you're from azarath?" he asked.
"yes. You know of it?"
"of course. Any one who's in the know knew about azarath. It was home to some of the most powerful mystics who ever lived. That was, until trigon destroyed it."
"yes. I know that well enough. I was just a infant when azarath fell. I was sent here by my mother and I was raise by a group of monks. They taught me how to control my powers and my emotions."
"why would you need that?"
"my powers are connected to my emotional state. If I'm angry or sad, my powers would grow out of control."
"I see."
"after I left, I ran into robin and the others, and we became a team after that."
"well I didn't know that you were from azarath. You are certainly more than meets the eye."
"and what's that suppose to mean?"
"I mean, you seem emotionless and cold to the outside world. But, I see that you are a lot deeper person that most people think."
"thanks. Well, um, I want to ask you something as well."
"shoot. You answered my question, so it's only fair."
"ok. Uh, who is……….Lisa?"
"hmmm." he answered with a slight grin on his face but it was a sad grin.
"if it's too personal…..?"
"naw. It's ok. It's just that……….it's been so long since I've heard that name spoken out loud. It's the name of the only woman I've ever loved."
"wow. She must have been a great girlfriend."
"girlfriend? Oh no. you misunderstand. Lisa was the name of my mother."
"oh my god. Open mouth. Insert foot."
"it's ok. I can understand how you would come to that conclusion."
"so…………what was she like?"
"hmmmm. Well, she was beautiful, strong, proud, stubborn. You know, you have her eyes."
"hers were purple?"
"oh no. hers were my color. I meant, on the inside. You have that same…..fire she had. Like she was too tough for the world to break her." he explained, starring into her eyes as he did. Raven did feel a little uncomfortable with the sudden attention she was getting from him.
"oh, I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."
"it's ok. Just don't make it a habit." she said with her trademark dry wit.
"funny. Your boyfriend must have his hands full with you."
"boyfriend?"
"well……I heard you and that green kid were a item."
"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, obviously stunned at the thought.
"let's get this straight mister! I have nor will I ever harbor romantic thoughts about beastboy!"
"ok! Ok! I get it! You and him: not a item!" he said, putting his hands up in a surrendering fashion.
"so is it anyone else in the group?"
"no. don't get me wrong. They are some great guys…."
"but you'd never date them. Gotcha."
"and besides, who would want to date someone like me? Most of the guys ogle over starfire. She's pretty. I'm just weird." said the dark empath.
"well you are unusual but you are attractive"
Raven looked up at him with a questioning look on her face.
"I mean, sure you have purple hair and eyes, gray skin and a seemingly cold personality but it works for you."
"yeah right."
"no, really. Now, if a woman had one of your features, it might look weird. But all together on you, it works. I'd have to say, you are the most beautiful girl I've seen in a long time." he stated with a smile on his face. Raven didn't know if he was hitting on her or if he was joking with her.
"if this is a joke or a cheap come on….."
"I don't joke around like that. And besides, I know you aren't the type of person to fall for stuff like that. I'm just stating a fact."
"good then. I bet your girlfriend falls for that crap all the time."
"I'm afraid we are in the same boat there, raven. I'm single."
"could've fooled me."
"and what's that supposed to mean?" he smirked.
"well you aren't exactly a hideous monster." she stated with a slight grin.
"I'll admit I do have my share of female admires. But I'm reluctant to share my life with a human woman. And I'm not exactly loved by demons either."
"slim pickings."
"the slimmest"
The moment was broken by the sound of the door to the infirmary opening. Alucard, on instinct jumped up and prepared to draw his sword. But he relaxed when he saw who the new guest was: a baby. It was a small baby boy wearing light blue pajamas while he was carrying a blanket that seemed to be held together with staples. He had a small tuff of blonde hair that stuck out on his bald head. He stared up at the new person to his world with a curious expression.
"teether, looks like you are awake."
"that's his name?"
"yeah. Would you mind?" she asked, gesturing for him to bring the baby to her. He walked over and stood over the child, who seemed a little intimated by the figure before him.
"hey, kid. Wanna see something cool?" The baby just looked at him. Without another word, alucard's face instantly changed from his normal personage to one more sinister. His eye took on a more intense red shade and his teeth became long and fang like. He leaned down and hissed at the child. But surprisingly, teether didn't seem frightened. In fact, he walked over and grasped two of his fangs, smiling and laughing all the way. Alucard then reached down and scooped him into his arms.
"wow. I've seen him take to someone that quickly."
"I guess babies just like me." he answered, with teether giggling and babbling in baby speak.
"how did you know he wouldn't be scared of you?"
"if this kid is hanging around a group of super powered teens, then he's seen weirder stuff than a few fangs." he answered as he hand him over to raven. Teether signed contently as he settled near her form.
"you're a natural."
"not really."
"so……uh…..who's the father?"
"I don't know, really. It's a really complicated…….wait. You don't think…….that he's my……"
"you mean you aren't his…….."
"no way. I'm far too young for that."
"oops. Sorry. It's just that the way he acts around you."
"it's ok. Teether came into my car during a incident with the brotherhood of evil. They were attacking any super powered teens and they came into my care, along with Melvin and Tommy."
"I take it you weren't too thrill?"
"I was petrified. I had never been around children and didn't know much about caring for them. But as time passed, we kinda settled into each other."
"you certainly would make a good mother."
"don't get any ideas. I'm far from ready to be a mother."
"could've fooled me"
It was certainly a tender scene between the two half demons but soon that tenderness would be broken. At the very moment, two titans were making their way to the infirmary.
"are you sure raven will like this?" said the blonde geo-kinetic named terra.
"trust me. Nothing helps out better than a nice bowl of tofu soup." beastboy spoke with pride as he held the large bowl of soup.
"this is gonna go well."
"well, how would you cure having your blood sucked out of you by a vampire?"
"I know you want to help, gar but not everyone likes tofu like you."
"I'm sure once she smells the beanie goodness, she'll be right as rain"
Terra merely shook her head at the shape shifter. It had been a month since she regained her memories and chosen to return to the titans. It was difficult transition from school girl back to superhero but thanks to beastboy, it was bearable. As she approached the infirmary, she was able to see into the room from the observation window and see raven and her guest.
"say, I've never seen him before."
"who are you talking about?" beastboy asked as he looked up from the soup bowl and looked into the room. His eyes went wide as saucers as he recognized raven's attack. Dropping the bowl, he darted to the nearest alarm and slammed down on. The tower lit up in red as the alert was sounded.
"bb, what's going on?"
"it's him! The guy that attacked raven!" he shouted before bursting into the room with terra in tow.
"FREEZE, VAMPIRE!" he screamed, causing alucard to jump to his feet.
"sorry. I don't freeze." Alucard made a series of hand signs and shot his hand forward.
REPEL
Beastboy and terra suddenly found themselves thrown out of the door and into a nearby wall. Alucard dashed over to the door as it closed, drew his sword and slashed the controls, locking the door.
"well it appears I've worn out my welcome."
"gee, what was your first clue?" she quipped, which got a smile from him.
"is there another way out of here?"
"just the door."
"right." Alucard looked over at the window before walking over to it. In a instant, he slashed the window three times, cutting out a circle in glass. He then kicked it out and into the night air.
"you're not serious?" asked raven.
"no choice. don't worry. The fall wont kill me." he answered, looking back at the goth girl, still holding the baby in her arms.
"I………really enjoyed our talk, raven."
"so did I. so………………….will I see you again?"
"don't worry. I'll be around"
Just as he said that, the door to the room exploded open as the massive form of wildebeast stomped into the room. With a beastly snort, he charged at alucard. He jumped back and out the hole in the window. As he fell, another titan, the Russian super solider red star appeared and he and wildebeast ran to the window.
"robin, he just jumped out of the infirmary window." he relayed into his titans communicator. Afterwards, he and beastly titan ran back out of the room to join the battle. Raven gently got up from her bed and made her way to the window.
Meanwhile, alucard was still free falling down the side of the tower. To slow his fall, he drew his blade and drove it into the side of the building. After about a few seconds, he removed the sword and back flipped onto the ground. He knew that the entire tower would be after him so he didn't have time to linger. The door to the tower opened and a few arrows emerged from opening and hit the ground before alucard's feet.
"don't even breathe." warned speedy, arrow drawn and ready to fly.
"sorry. I happen to like breathing"
On cue, speedy let his energy arrow fly, straight at alucard's head. The half breed responded by casually cutting the arrow in half, mid flight. The two halves exploded to either side of him as he dashed away, leaving a stunned speedy in his wake. As he ran, more titans flooded out of the tower and were right on his tail. Suddenly, the sound of a horn filled his ears as a portal appeared before. Out of the hole came the creator of the gateway, herald, followed by the Mexican wrestler, pantha and the fire user, hotspot.
"horn huh? I'm a sax man myself." quipped alucard before dashing towards herald and slid his sword into his horn and putted it from his hands. He then jabbed his elbow into his gut, knocking him out. Pantha reacted by charging him but alucard was ready for her attack. He grabbed her arms and flipped her into the stunned hotspot. He quickly continued his mad dash away from the oncoming mob of super teens. Soon he found himself on the shore of the island. He quickly turn around and, with hand on his sword, he ready to defend himself. The army of titans surround him, all ready to attack as robin walked forward.
"you've got some nerve to come here after what did to raven." he growled.
"depends on your point of view."
"why are you here?"
"just visiting."
"well it doesn't matter. You're going to jail."
"oh? And how do you figure that?" he asked calmly.
"if you can fly, we've got half a dozen people here would can easily catch you." he explained, motioning to the airborne starfire and several other flyers.
"and if you can swim, then my friend, aqualad, can out swim you easy. So you have no where to go, but jail."
"interesting. You got me there. I can't fly. And I'm not the best swimmer. But there is something else I can do?"
"and what's that?"
"jump good."
"jump good"
He flashed a grin as he dashed for the edge of the beach, and just like early, he leaped of the ground and took to the skies. The titans could only look on in awe as alucard seemed to fly thru the air towards the city. On the other side, the old fisherman was woken from his nap by alucard landing hard on to the pavement.
"what in blazes?!?!" he exclaimed, focusing on who was there.
"oh. It's you, lad. Enjoy your visit?"
"yeah. It was…….informative. See ya around." he said before he leapt off into the night. Meanwhile, the titans were still in awe at alucard's jump.
"robin, are you sure that guy's a vampire?" asked speedy.
"yes, I'm sure."
"then he's not a normal vampire."
"unless there were vampires on krypton." spoke kid flash.
"doesn't matter who he is. As of right now, he's on the top of my list"
As robin was making this declaration of war, raven saw the entire incident from the infirmary. Teether then began to reach out towards the direction of where alucard jumped.
"yeah. I kinda like him too." she said to the infant.
Meanwhile, alucard was racing over the roofs of jump city, when he reached into his pocket and produced his cell phone. He pressed the speed dial on it and waited for an answer.
"Gilliam."
"ah, master alucard. How did your visit go?"
"better than I hoped."
"did you make any new friends?"
"maybe. I don't know. But I do know one thing."
"what's that?"
"we're gonna be sticking around for a while."
"very well sir. I take it you are coming home?"
"yeah. Have dinner ready."
"already on it sir."
"thanks"
But little did alucard know that he was being watch. Namely by two individuals, dressed in all black and spying on him with high tech binoculars. One of them pressed his fingers to his ears to activate his ear piece.
"sir, we have him in our sights. You want us to take him?"
"no, you fool! As is, he could kill the two of you and we don't want anymore attention brought to us. Besides, we're not ready yet. We still need more blood."
"yes sir. Orders?"
"watch him for now. We will take him when time is right and no sooner."
"understood, Mr. frost."
NEXT TIME: raven is ready to work again but when answers to the murders in the city don't come forth, she must work with alucard to find the answers.
PARTNERS
Ma: wow. I made it to chapter two. It's been a while since I've typed this much. If you have any questions or comments, fire away. Just as long as you read it. Well that's it for me.
LATER FICCERS!!!