Here's chapter 2. Hope you enjoy!
Three days after Paris, at around dawn, Danny returned to Rome. Or rather, the small city-state that laid within Rome: the Vatican City. Not only was this place the spiritual center of the western world, but it was also the headquarters for the secret society Danny worked for. And it was his home for the last two years. He always felt a sense of reverence whenever he came here, but he didn't feel any today. As he walked into St Peter's Cathedral, the special agent steeled himself for what was about to happen next. He entered an ornate confessional and said, "Bless me, Father, for I have-"
"Sinned. Yes, I know. You're very good at that." Then a tiny partition door opened, revealing a cleric on the other side of the confessional. The voice that interrupted Danny was angry, indignant and disappointed, - a tone that was unique only to Cardinal Pakku. "You shattered the Rose Window!"
"Technically, it was the Hulk that did the shattering." Danny pointed out.
The cardinal ignored him and continued to rant: "Built in the thirteenth century. Over six hundred years old! I wish you a week in hell for that!"
"Oh good, I was hoping for an early vacation." Danny said in frustration.
"Don't get me wrong. Your results are unquestionable, but your methods draw far too much attention. Wanted posters? We are not pleased."
"You think I enjoy being on everyone's most wanted list? Why don't you and the Order do something about it?"
"Because we do not exist." Pakku said simply.
"Then, neither do I." Danny shot back. But when he tried to leave, Pakku pulled a lever and metal bars came down, preventing him from leaving.
"When we found you crawling up the steps of this church, it was clear to all of us that you were sent to do God's work."
"Why can't He do it Himself?" Danny asked bitterly.
"Don't blaspheme!" warned Pakku. "You have already lost your memories as penance for past sins." Then he pulled another lever and a secret door opened, with steps leading underground. "If you wish to recover them, I suggest you continue to heed the call."
Danny sighed and followed the old coot downstairs.
Beneath the Vatican, Danny saw Jewish rabbis working on the bellows and Buddhist monks stroking the fire as Muslim imams hammered red hot scimitars on anvils. All of these people, from different cultures, nations and religions, were united under one banner, to fight a common enemy. If only the real world was like that, eh?
Pakku began a familiar speech. "Without us, the world would be in darkness. Governments and empires come and go, but we, we have kept mankind safe since time immemorial. We are the last defense against evil; an evil that the rest of mankind has no idea even exists."
"To you these monsters are just, things, to be killed on sight. But I'm the one left standing there when they die and become the men they once were." Danny spoke up quietly.
The cardinal looked at him for a moment and said softly; "For you, my good son, this all a test of faith." But then it was back to business, as the old man snapped his fingers. The lights dimmed and a projector was activated. "We need you to go to the East. To the far side of Romania, an accursed land overrun with nightmarish creatures. Lorded over by a certain Count Plasmius."
"Plasmius?" Danny asked, and then noticed the picture of said Count on the projector screen.
"Yes, you've never faced one like this before." Pakku said. But Danny wasn't sure. He had heard of the Count, but now that he saw the picture, he had the strange feeling he was seeing someone he already knew. But that was impossible, wasn't it?
Pakku continued; "Our story begins four hundred years ago. When a Transylvanian knight named Lee the Elder promised God that neither he nor his family would rest or enter Heaven until they've vanquished Plasmius from their lands. They haven't succeeded. And they're running out of family."
The picture changed to a regal and proud Asian man, and Pakku continued. "His descendant, Jonathan Lee, he disappeared almost twelve months ago." Then the image changed to two teenagers of different ages, apparently brother and sister. "His son, Dennis and his daughter, Juniper. If they are both killed before Plasmius is vanquished, then nine generations of the Lee family will never enter the Gates of Saint Peter." Danny took particular interest in the girl. She was rather pretty, with freckles on her face, and a strand of pink in her mostly raven hair. What really got his attention was the way she stood; proud, defiant and strong.
"For more then four centuries, this family has defended our left flank. They gave their lives. We cannot let them slip into purgatory." The cardinal finished.
"So you're sending me into Hell." Danny deadpanned.
Pakku placed a hand on his special agent's shoulder and said with a smile, "In a manner." The lights went back on and Pakku was given a glass cylinder by a young monk named Aang (Avatar: the Last Airbender). It contained a piece of really old paper. "When Lee first came here, he left this behind in our safe keeping. We don't know why, but he wouldn't have left it lightly."
Danny looked at torn piece and noticed the writing. "It looks like it's in some sort of Elvish. Or maybe it's Mordor." He mused. Pakku rolled his eyes and said; "It's written in Latin, you ninny."
"Oh, right, I knew that." Danny said, his cheeks a little red.
"Roughly translated, it says: 'In the name of God, open this door'." The old cleric explained. "But I think you'll be more interested in this…" He pointed to a small insignia of a green ghost. Danny's eyes widened as he looked down at the ring on his right hand. Both images matched!
"Yes." Pakku said as he placed a hand on Danny in a fatherly fashion. "I think in Transylvania, you will find the answers you seek." The young monster hunter silently agreed whole heartedly.
A few minutes later, Danny walked deeper and deeper into the underground, looking for a certain friar. He passed by several of his fellow agents.
"Hey Rosette! Hey Chrono!"
"Danny, your back!" said Sister Rosette.
"Good to see you again." Added her partner, Chrono (Chrono Crusade).
"How are you doing, Nightroad?"
"Danny! You're looking well." Answered a friendly priest name Able Nightroad (Trinity Blood).
"Welcome home, kiddo!" exclaimed Hellboy as he gave Danny a bear hug. Danny smiled happily. "Nice to see you too, Red."
After a few minutes catching up with Hellboy, Danny was on the lookout for the earlier mentioned friar. He had almost given up when he saw Edd or Double D as he was more commonly referred to, come up to him. The young friar was known for wearing a sock cap on his head virtually all the time and for being a bit of a neat freak. Yet despite his eccentric behavior, he was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant scholars and inventors in the Vatican.
"There you are. So did you bring Mr Hulk back or did you kill him?" Double D asked. Danny didn't respond, which answered Double D's question anyway. "You killed him, didn't you? That's why they get so annoyed. When they ask to bring someone back, they don't mean as a corpse."
Danny just glared at him.
"All right, all right. You're in a mood. Well, come on, I've got a few things that'll put the bit back in your mouth." Double D said as he led Danny to a different part of the armory. As they passed several swords, Double D said dismissively; "Oh, any idiot can make a sword." Then right on cue, a large, bald monk named Nappa (Dragonball Z) came up to him and angrily asked "What did ya say, shrimp?"
The younger clergy member shrunk under Nappa's gaze. "Nothing, nothing at all!" he said quickly before rejoining Danny at a nearby shelf. There he handed the monster hunter several items. "Rings of garlic, holy water and silver stakes." Then they both saw a Gatling gun being fired at a target point.
"Why can't I have one those?" Dan Helsing asked.
"You've never gone after vampires before, have you?" Double D asked.
"Vampires, gargoyles, warlocks. They're all the same: best when cooked well." Danny joked.
"No, no, no. There not all the same. A vampire is nothing like a warlock. My granny could kill a warlock."
Danny chuckled at this. "Dude, you've never been out of the abbey. How do you know so much about vampires?"
"I read." Double D answered simply. Then he took a drop of liquid from a chemistry kit and placed on his finger. "Here's something new: Glycerine forty-eight." He then flicked it at a nearby wall, causing a huge explosion. Several shocked voices yelled in unison, "Knock it off, Double D!" While another voice said; "What in the name of Allah is wrong with you?!"
"Sorry, sorry." Double D apologized sheepishly, before turning to Danny and saying with pride; "The air around here is thick with envy." Then he grabbed a strange looking crossbow. "This is my latest invention. Its gas propelled, capable of catapulting bolts in rapid succession at tremendous velocity. Just pull the trigger and hold on."
"I've gotta admit, Double D, this looks pretty good." Danny said, clearly impressed.
"Now, I've been hearing the stories coming out of Transylvania. Trust me, you'll need this. A work verifiable genius." Double D added.
"If you don't say so yourself."
"I did say so myself. I'm a verifiable cornucopia of talent."
Danny then picked up a strange object from Double D's desk. "Did you invent this?"
Double D saw what Danny was holding and tried to get back from him. "Careful! I've been working on that for twelve weeks." He said as Danny teasingly kept it out of his reach. "It's compressed magma from Mount Doom with pure alkali from the Koopa Desert. One of a kind."
"What's it for?" asked Danny as he gave it back to him.
"I don't know, but I'm sure it'll come in handy."
"Twelve weeks and you don't know what it does?!"
"I didn't say that. I said I don't know what it's for. What it does is create a light source with the equal intensity of the sun itself."
"And this will come in handy, how?"
"I don't know," Double D said as he put the Sun Bomb away. "You could blind your enemies. Charbroil a heard of blood-thirsty Digimon. Use your imagination."
"No, Double D, I going to use your imagination. That's why you're coming with me."
"The hell be dammed if I am!"
Danny pointed an accusatory finger at the cleric. "You cursed. Not very well, mind you. But you're a monk. Your not suppose to curse at all."
"Actually I'm still just a friar, so I can curse all I want." Double D answered before adding with a cheeky grin; "Damn it!"
"The cardinal has ordered you to keep me alive, for as long as possible." Danny said as he shoved his bag into Double D's arms and walked off.
"But I'm not a field man! Dan Helsing! I don't want to go to Transylvania!" Double D wailed as he tried to catch up with Danny.
Author Note:
Whew! It's a good thing I have the movie and the novelization (written by Kevin Ryan) or I'd have some real trouble with this fic. Please read and review!