" And God will crush Satan, underneath your own feet."
-Romans 16, Verse 20
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Chaos.
It was everywhere, inescapable.
The observer stared on, as he bore witness to the duel above.
Explosion; large, ominous clouds rose, as the continuing tempest rage, it's bellowing sounds, within the dreadful heavens, ominous to the hosts below.
The slithering visage of the snake and the ravenous figure of the dog collided, as the thunder cracked.
A smile reflected off the face of the observer. He was unique, as he literally stood out of the majority of the audience of this grand spectacle.
As the light shone of the glasses, his smile grew, wickedly, and gladly, as he knew the outcome of the battle.
~
Darkness fell on the dome.
The moon rose gloriously into the night sky, bearing light amidst the veil of darkness that fell on the city below.
And, deep within the dome, further down, down to it's deepest core, stood a rather innocuous looking room.
It was a dark room.
Even Luna's light could not penetrate the secrets that the dome beheld to the globe, the room being one of it's most deepest, darkest, and yet, paradoxically, it's most illuminating.
A congregation of a select few as being conducted at the juncture.
The rough feel of mahogany was scraped by long, sharp fingers. It belonged to a man with beady eyes, snake eyes, white hair that ended in a pony tail, and an insidious pointed nose.
He was looking rather solemn.
~
For he was being judged
Sitting opposite him, was his judge.
He was a man of well-composed stature. His face was smooth, but bore a hidden coarseness, his nose was of normal standing, his eyes resembling that of an eagle's. His messy, unmanaged hair was shielded by a velvet cap, his black suit, signifying his nobility. His bare hands were clasped firmly, his face focused on his subject.
Between them spread out on the table, were various pictures.
The first beheld the destruction of what was once a magnificent city. Flames were burgeoning, for, though the photograph remained still in it's representation, it clearly portrayed the savagery of the flames.
There were other photographs, filled with pictures of all manner of horrifying visages, culminating in the final picture.
It was a figure, a figure of grotesque evil. It was genderless, and possessed an anthropomorphic figure; vaguely human, and, yet, indefinitely not human.
What was more grotesque, though, was how it was executed.
For a long spear, of finest silver, had pierced the body, all the way, from it's rear, up, reaching it's apex, extending out of the figure's mouth, as it lay, limp, and ultimately, deceased.
Serious matters were at hand for the Vatican.
~
"Hellsing is dead."
The ominous words reached all four corners of the room, as the superior stared on, and continued it's speech.
"All it's members are dead, save for it's leader, Dame Integra Wingates Hellsing, now being interned at the Tower of London, and her accomplice, Walter. Of course, this is not forgetting it's two other members: Officer Celeste Victoria, and that damned monstrosity, Vlad Tepesh, now known as the vampire Mosefratue Alucard.
Although Incognito has been defeated, it has been at a cost: London has been half ruined by the duel between Alucard and Incognito. What's more, this stupid freak chip business has been unsettled, and is spreading throughout the world."
"Yes…"
"And you are telling me that it is a good thing that Hellsing is dead."
Silence filled the room.
Father Maxwell, feeling rather timid, was tempted to answer back, but, was immediately cut off.
"You fool, Maxwell ! Hellsing has protected England for ages now ! With it gone, The Order of Iscariot now has an added responsibility: the protection of the British Isles !
Our agents worldwide are already exhausting their attempts in handling this outbreak of freak chips! At least Hellsing saved us some trouble !
Now, what are we to do ?!"
"Well, we're not responsible."
"Ah yes. But, have you not forgotten the incident a while back, hmmm ?"
"But…"
"Enough !"
As he said this, the door opened, to reveal another priest, robed in black as well.
"Brothers, the meeting is about to start soon."
~
Seated around the table of mahogany were the men of Iscariot.
However, unlike the apostle they were named after, they were men of loyalty and trust, dedicated to their Faith, to their Pope, and most of all, to the One that they held in highest honour above all.
"Jesus Christ."
A priest had disobeyed the third commandment of Moses, as noted in the scriptures of old. However, he had to be forgiven.
For any mortal human being would be overwhelmed by the black and white pictures that flashed before their eyes.
"The demon that the Incognito released, Seto, has been cast back from whence it came. However, because of this demonic summoning, there is a fear that more demonic beasts may ravage this world. Of course, all seems fine for now, but, we are not certain about this.
Add that to our current situation, and you all know why you were given suicide pills in your pockets.
Hellsing is dead. I cannot emphasize it anymore: although the vampire Alucard is at large, and is believe to be continuing his work, and a few resistance groups, as well as our own agents, are policing the British isles, we cannot fully confirm the safety of Great Britain.
And that is not all. The Freak Chip is spreading throughout the world. We have managed to maintain it's spread here, but, even so, it has spread to as far as the Americas and Australasia. There is only so much that we can do."
"Then, what is there to do ?"
The man that was speaking, the leader, the one with the authority, that addressed Maxwell earlier, shifted round on the spot, and confronted the inquisitive priest.
"What is to be done, you ask ?"
He gave a deep sigh.
He looked down his head in deep thought, before bringing his head up once again.
"Now is not the time for petty squabbling. Our enmity with Hellsing has resulted in a heavy price. Now, we must look to alliances with our old enemies."
"But… you can't be seriously…"
"I know ! It is our duty as a Church to spread the Word of God ! But, we have no choice, and it was never our intention to carry out killings of any sort ! Paladin Anderson disobeyed the law when he killed a few members of Hellsing: they are our enemies, yes, but, he was straying from the primary objective ! And our Holy Father, the Pope, has already called for a greater tolerance to other faiths, thank you very much !
We must not make this mistake again !"
"Then, who do we turn to ?"
The projector took a short click, and the answer flashed on the screen.
~
"We have discovered a group of radical Muslims in the Middle East. They are an age old order of Assassins, dedicated to fighting the creatures of the night. They are extremely hostile to all religions, even to certain teachings of slam. However, their zealotry has been noted.
In fact, they are the only group that have developed an immunity to vampirism."
This last fact stunned the audience.
"Immunity ? But, that's impossible !"
"I know. But, for some reason or rather, they are completely resistant to conversion by vampire bites, let alone by some insignificant chip. We do not know their methods, or their ways, but, their ferocity is great.
Their influence has been found, ranging from the Middle East, all the way, to South East Asia.
The second group is a recently created Combine of monks in central Asia. Interestingly, it's a coalition of Buddhist and Taoist monks. From what we know, the Taoists and Buddhists have had dealt with vampires in mainland china for centuries now, but, they used to be made up of different orders. Now, they have come together to create a main group solely dedicated to eliminating the threat.
The atheistic communists have also developed their own vampire fighting unit in China. Heaven knows how they do it, but, from what we've gathered, it's been very successful.
You all, of course, know our previous rivals with the Zionist organization "Golem", and the other Christian organizations that we face off with from time to time.
These are now our friends."
"But, even with these allies, it doesn't help solve the problem."
"It doesn't.
Iscariot has to increase it's influence worldwide. Britain has now become a possible portal to creatures of the Underworld: we will need to dispatch a unit there to ensure it's protection. We can no longer depend on Hellsing. "
This last bit of news caused much discussion amongst the members around the table.
However, there was one question, from the far end of the table.
From a newly added member to the Order.
"What of the Paladins ? Surely we could make use of them ?"
The leader smiled, as he looked on.
"Thomas, Thomas… not a wonder your codeame is "Aquinas". Thank you for bringing that up."
"But, we only have a few paladins…"
"I know Maxwell. We only have three. However, unless I am wrong, there happened to be Thirteen Paladins as the fellows of the great Carolus Magnus, Charlemagne.
We have already trained ten for the duty. They are all fully augmented, and have undergone the processes required. At the same time, there are the Knights who have received the training but are not yet ready for the ascent to the ways of the Paladin; one will be appointed upon the deaths of any one of the Paladins. That way, we can maintain a force that can handle this threat. At the same time, two paladin will aid a superintendant oversee Iscariot operations in a particular continent."
Six continents… times two.. That's Twelve. What of the last one ?"
"The last one ? The Thirteenth Paladin ?"
John stopped in his briefing for a while.
The elderly priest, the man behind Iscariot, stood firm, after minutes of pacing up and down during the briefing.
"The Thirteenth Paladin, will be the Head of his Order within Iscariot. He will be made to carry out operations throughout the globe, and will be assigned to operations of particular interest when required to. His occupation will be the greatest and gravest: he has to oversee the work of his consorts throughout the world.
It will take a man of great experience, a man of great Faith, a man of great Willpower."
"Then, who has been appointed to take his place ?"
The tension was unbearable.
John uttered the answer, in a serous, manner.
"Alexander Anderson."
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"But, the man is a madman ! He has killed members of Hellsing…"
"Yes, but he is also of the greatest experience. None of you have been through what Alex has. The man has seen a lot. He may be mad, but, he still has bearings. He is still strong in Faith, even if he gets carried away. It will be Alex that will lead the Charge of the Paladins, and will ensure their influence throughout the world.
The Pope has already recognized Alex's valour, and has granted him to be Head. Even I wish Alex to be head."
"But…."
"We cannot afford to dissent now.
These are grave times, and it will, more than ever, test our unity as a one, undivided, Catholic Church.
It is not the end of the world, not yet. The end of days has not arrived: this is merely a small mishap that can be dealt with."
John was reaching the final stages of his briefing, as he gave away his final say.
"God is with us; we are to constantly remember that we are always in His holy presence.
Amen."
"Amen."
And finally, Jesus always lives in our hearts.
Forever."
"Forever !"
And the chorus of priests signified that, despite their betraying anxiety, and fears, they were united, by common brotherhood, to face an enemy they've never encountered before.
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To be continued………..
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Author's Notes: This fic. is based off mainly from the anime series, and not the manga. Also, this is focused mainly on the Iscariot organization, and, of course, Anderson, thus the title. Think of it as an opposite to Hellsing.
Lastly, I don't own Hellsing: the names of the priests in charge are all mine, though.