Chapter 62 : Before The Dawn

"You don't fool me Count. How long has it been since we've met? Decades? Centuries?"

"Look man I'm not who you think I am. Do you even know where you are? What's your name?"

The man squints his eyes and tenses his hand. Wires wrapped around Invincible's torso splitting him in half but the halves don't get the chance to hit the ground before tendrils from both grabbed onto each other and reattached the two halves together. The man didn't look surprised by the development.

"Then how do you explain your undeath? Do you underestimate me that much that a slight change like that would hide you!?"

Wires wrapped themselves on all of Invincible's limbs and tried to twist them off but the limbs don't move. In fact, they don't get anywhere further than the green armor that surrounds him as they snap when Invincible swings his arms. The man shocked forms his wires into a spear and stabs at Invincible but it stops when it lands on Invincible's chest and unravels. Invincible's eyes gain a red vertical pupil.

"Stop."

The man freezes in place his head still able to move. Invincible places his hand on the altar and the room morphs giving the both of them a seat.

"Sit."

Robotically the man sits down with a scowl on his face.

"What is your name?

The man is compelled to answer.

"Walter C. Dornez."

Fact

"Who is Alucard?"

"He is a true vampire. The first to exist. Once known as Vlas Tepes."

Fact

'Dracula is real? Who would have thought.'

"You've answered my question. It's fair that you ask yours."

"And why should I Monster? Just kill me and get it over with. I'm sure Integra would be happy to see my corpse."

"Nobody is dying today. I already beat everyone in the CRC and I just need to figure out why they have you down here and been apparently feeding you people with mutation quirks. Speaking of the CRC give me a moment."

A warp gate opens behind Invincible as he leaves a confused Walter stuck to a chair. After a few minutes Invincible returns to an annoyed Walter still in his chair.

"Hopefully letting you sit there cooled you down. Now do you have any questions?"

"... Who are you?"

"I'm Izuku Midoriya otherwise known as the hero Invincible."

"What year is it?"

"It's 2159 13th March."

Walter stays silent for a moment.

"Are we in Japan?"

"Yes, we are."

"You teleported before. How?"

"I have a quirk which creates warp gates that allow for instantaneous travel across any distance."

"Quirk not power or ability?"

"You don't know about quirks? You must have been in there for quite a while then. Quirks are abilities manifested at the age of 4 for 80% of the population with the percentage still rising. They can range from a basic strength enhancer to matter manipulation. Everyone born in the last century should know of the term so I assume you're a lot older than you look."

"I was born after the Great War in 1930."

Fact

"You really are an old timer. How have you survived until now? Does it have anything to do with your quirk factor?"

"I don't know what a quirk factor is but I allowed a Nazi doctor to change me so that I had a chance to face Alucard. He turned me into an artificial vampire."

Fact

"Artificial?"

"True vampires can only exist if they are aired by being bitten by a true vampire of the opposite gender and the bitten still virginal or in a desperate state they willingly consume the blood of others after abandoning their faith."

Fact

"What if someone is bitten just for sustenance?"

"Nothing will happen to them unless the vampire wills that they will be under their control turning them into a ghoul. Ghouls are rotting corpses that follow the vampire's every command."

Fact

"Do you know where Alucard could be?"

"No. After so many years he could have taken a number of forms or he is in stasis waiting for his next master."

Fact

"... Release."

The resistance on Walter's body disappears as he slowly gets up.

"You're not going to go around killing anyone you see are you?"

"No. Unless they provoke me."

"Good. Now do you need blood to survive?"

"Not entirely. I am able to consume normal food but I will need to ingest blood from time to time to not go mad from blood hunger."

"Then would you be willing to consume mine?"

"... Why are you so ready to offer your blood? Do you think I won't betray you?"

"You've been civil so far, not counting when you woke up."

Invincible reached his arm out and it unravelled into tendrils which reached over to Walter's mouth. Walter hesitates but the scent of blood makes him bite down on the appendage and he feels something change. The strain he felt from using his wires before was gone and the taste of a good cigarette and wine fell on his tongue.

The memories of the Hero in front of him began to reveal themselves. They showed him the boy's journey and his experiences. His power was overwhelming maybe stronger than the count. The world was completely different from what it was. Hellsing was gone. Millennium was gone. Iscariot was gone. All traces of vampirism were erased from common knowledge and merely relegated to folklore and myth. There was even a hero named after that thing who had the ability to control blood.

After a few minutes, Walter detaches pulls out a handkerchief, and dabs away the remaining traces of blood which had dried on his lip as the tendril returns to an arm. A warp gate opens behind him leading to the outside. Walking through he sees the same sunlight as he's seen before though it was a bit brighter than he was used to as he was no longer in London. Some police tried to arrest the man but Invincible stopped them.

"Don't arrest him I'll keep an eye on him. Just let me write the report so when you interrogate him you won't ask redundant questions."

The next few hours were a bit of a blur for Walter as he was asked about his past by an office that claimed to be able to detect lies from speech. He wondered why children were still trained to be soldiers when there wasn't a major threat to their lives but maybe it was so peaceful that this game of heroes and villains was just entertainment. At least that was his impression as the heroes were more like celebrities of his time.

---

Now inside a well-furnished office, he was sat on a couch with a tea in hand that he quite enjoyed. There must have been some advancement in tea making or this rodent was just that good. The rat's expression stiffened slightly as if knowing what he was thinking.

"I would prefer that you don't refer to me that way Mr. Dornez."

"Ah. I apologise I wasn't aware my thoughts were so obvious. This tea is quite amazing."

"No offence taken. There is much I am interested in that I hope you have answers to."

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Next time

Chapter 63 : Millennium