A Frenchman in London Chapter 5: The Two-Edged Bayonets of God, a Hellsing + Code Lyoko Crossover fanfic

A/N: Here, on a Sunday, I post this! Get it? Hellsing fanfiction on a Sunday?

Okay, so never doing that again.

Chapter V – The Two-Edged Bayonets of God

Integra and I stared at the man before us in shock and, in Integra's case, with just a hint of fear. Unless we were imagining things, Alexander Anderson, the most powerful member of the most top secret sect of the Vatican had just saved both of our lives. While we were frozen in place, Anderson took some of his bayonets out from a vampire he had recently impaled and laughed heartily in our faces, a wild expression on his face.

"You've got a lot of spunk, I'll admit," he said. "Facing up to a big scary army of vampires, sword in hand, bleeding on the streets! 'Come on, let's have it!' That's rich!" He then looked up. "Did you hear that? Well, Heinkel? What about you, Yumie?"

Both Integra and I looked where Anderson was looking, and we noticed to figures standing on top of a building. One was a nun with long black hair and a katana strapped to her side, and the other was a slender figure in priest robes.

"Father Anderson," the priest said, but with a female voice, "I thought we were just here to observe and nothing more."

"What's more is that you rescued the Hellsing leader," the nun added. "That's a grave violation of our laws, is it not?"

"Who else but this woman," Anderson said, pointing to Integra, "is worthy of being our sworn enemies? Our archenemies! What did you expect me to do, just sit back and watch? They are OUR enemies! No one gets to destroy them but us! No one deserves to destroy them but us! NO ONE! It is we alone who will crush them, and crush them we will with all of our might!"

I noticed the female priest take a puff of smoke from a cigarette, and sigh heavily.

"There's also Lieutenant Belpois to talk about here," Anderson added. "He's got something that even I cannot even fathom, and yet I feel compelled that he uses it for the will of God! He's just like us, a soldier of God, gifted with power beyond belief! And here he is, fighting to save a country of heretics and blasphemers! Why, I ask you? Does he feel like this is his duty? To protect the weak, no matter who they may be? I wish to emerge from this war quickly so that I may ask him myself!"

I furrowed my brow at this, unsure if Anderson was cursing me or praising me.

"So you're from the Iscariot, eh?" one of the vampires asked, and pointed his assault rifle at him. "You won't stand in our way!"

"Hold your tongue, infidel," the priest scowled, turning around to face the vampire army. "The dead don't speak." He then drew more of his bayonets form his trench coat sleeves. "Do the dead dare walk the earth before my eyes? Will the undead raise an army, fall in, and advance to take this world in my presence? Would those who abandon God and embrace their heretical, unholy ways dare presume to meet my game? Iscariot will not allow it! I will not allow it!"

Just then, the female priest and the nun jumped down from the building and landed next to Anderson. When they did, I looked up again, and I could see countless other shapes lining up on buildings all around us. I looked back at Anderson, and he brought his twin bayonets together in the shape of a cross, just like he did when we first encountered him.

"You will be cut down like straw in the wind," he said, "trembling before my wrath. AMEN!"

Just then, all of the men who were on top of the buildings jumped down to the ground, and I realized than these men were all priests. As they reached the ground, Anderson turned to them.

"Speak up, men of God!" he shouted. "Tell us all who you are!"

"We are the soldiers of Iscariot!" they all cried out loud. "We are Judas Iscariot!"

"Well then, Iscariot," Anderson barked, "what do you hold in your right hand?"

"Daggers and poisons!" they answered in unison.

"And what, my soldiers of Iscariot," Anderson continued, "do you hold in your left hand?"

"Thirty pieces of silver and a straw rope!" they all unanimously replied.

"Then show them who you are, O my soldiers of Iscariot!" Anderson cried. "We are apostles, and yet not apostles! We are disciples, yet not disciples! We are believers, yet not believers! We are heretics, yet not heretics! We are soldiers in the service of death, who bow our heads in reverence to our Lord, and whose prayers are found in the withered bodies of our enemies!"

As he said this, the vampires charged at us, but Anderson threw a countless array of bayonets at them, decapitating some but impaling most of them. The rest of the Iscariots all drew some large handguns and blasted the front lines to oblivion, and I caught the nun out of the corner of my eye, dodging bullets at superhuman speed and slicing up vampires with her katana, grinning maniacally. It may have been my imagination, or the war miasma talking, but her body seemed to be glowing as she moved against the vampiric army.

"Our poisons we use for the evening meal!" Anderson shouted, slicing up vampires. "Our daggers cut the throats of our enemies, flashing in the moonlight. We are the apostles and the assassins of Judas Iscariot! Once our time has come, we will cast out silver into the sanctum of God and hang ourselves with our straw ropes!"

"Thus we will march to meet the legions of Hell as a mighty army and form our ranks against the gates of Satan himself!" the Iscariots shouted, blowing more of the vampires away. "Together we will meet and fight the 7,405,926 demons of the Nine Circles of Hell!"

[+]

As Aelita flew over France on her way to London, she caught notices of a large gathering of people in Amiens. She noticed that they were all dressed in white cloaks which were draped over glistening silver armor, and each one carried a long halberd, and there flew a white flag adorned with a red cross on each one. Four of them stood kneeling in front of a silver-haired man dressed in purple, who was flanked by several men dressed in black.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Aelita said, and pressed a button on her belt.

Her belt's special powers cloaked her in an optic camouflage suit, and she then flew down to where the men were, far enough away to be safe, but close enough to see and hear everything. One of the four men in white presented the purple-dressed man with a long piece of red satin fabric, which had an intricate design sewn with what seemed like gold on it.

"We are the soldiers of the Ninth Crusade," the soldier said. "We have been summoned to you at the personal request of His Holiness, Your Grace. He has now conferred upon you the rank of Archbishop. We are yours to command, Archbishop Enrico Maxwell."

The mention of the name swept me into a vision of the past. I could see a younger version of myself standing in front of a wooden rail in a church. My parents were right behind me, smiling. In front of me was a tall priest with short spiked blond hair, smiling as well, as he held a chalice filled with Eucharist wafers. He took one, blessed it, and placed it on my outstretched tongue. I noticed that the acolyte who held the plate below my neck was a boy with silver hair, violet eyes, and a stone cold expression on his face. I suddenly snapped out of this when I heard the man, Enrico Maxwell, say something as he put on the cloth, which I realized was his new stole.

"Amen," he said. "I accept this position with every fiber of my being. Your target is London! Destroy it! Reduce it to ashes! Hellsing, Millennium, Alucard! Kill them all, and kill everyone in the accursed city down to the child that was born yesterday! Let a new era of Catholic might be born! The Ninth Crusade – this New Reconquista – will now begin!"

"Amen!" the soldiers chanted in perfect unison. "Amen!"

As the soldiers departed to a series of helicopters a few kilometers away from their position, Aelita could see Maxwell laugh uproariously. Some of the priests were confused, but most laughed with him.

"To think that I, who was once a bastard child, called a filthy mongrel, and shunned by 'polite' society, have been made an archbishop and given an army!" he laughed. "I did as you taught me, Father. Now, after all this time, I will finally have my revenge! Hellsing and London will burn, and all the people of London will die! The time has come at last! Let the reign of God's holy wrath… BEGIN!"

The air was filled with hundreds of helicopters flying off towards London, and Maxwell laughed as they flew. Aelita could not believe what was happening. The Catholic Church was declaring war on England? She would have never believed of such a thing. As she horrifyingly pondered over this, she realized something of grave importance.

"Jeremy's over there!" she gasped. "They could kill him! Why would they do all of this?"

Just then, she noticed one of the priests who was with Maxwell, a bowl-headed blonde with green eyes that reminded her a little bit of Jeremy, look at the sky with a look of despair on his face, which made Aelita even more confused.

"Look at them charging into Hell with a joyous heart," he said, his voice quivering with fear. "How can any sane man march into the gates of such carnage with a smile and hope to return alive? They're all going to die, and they'll thank God for the fight to dirty their hands with the blood of every man, woman, and child in England, Protestant or not."

"Protestants?" Aelita gaped. "Maxwell's going to destroy London because of Protestants?" She then shook her head. "There must be more to this, and there's only one way to find out."

As she closed her eyes, she gave off a silent but deadly electrical charge which made every hair on her body stand on end.

"Commencing Upload – Scipio 04. Power limitation at 25 percent confirmed."

She then flew higher into the sky than she flew before, and flew past the helicopters and sped off towards London, faster than ever with the speed of her transformed state. One of the priests on the ground with Maxwell pointed at Aelita.

"Look at that, Your Grace!" he said. "What is it?"

Maxwell smiled. "It is a bird of war, my child. God Himself blesses me with the duty of this Holy War. I will destroy England and kill every man, woman, and child in its heretic country for the glory of Almighty God!"

Aelita could not hear what he said, but she could still hear his maniacal laugh. As a matter of fact, anyone within a kilometer could hear his laughter, even with the sound of the helicopters in the sky, harbingers of death on the way to war.

[+]

As the priests fired away at the undead soldiers, Anderson threw some of his bayonets at them, and they exploded after impaling themselves into some of the soldiers, which served to blow more of them away. The most amazing thing about all of this was that, no matter if one of the Iscariots was shot down, the fire was just as relentless as ever. The most amazing ones out there were the nun and the female priest, whom I assumed were the Heinkel and Yumie that Anderson had spoken to not five minutes ago. As I thought of them, they approached me while covering from enemy fire.

"You are Jeremy Belpois, yes?" the female priest asked me.

"I am," I said, nodding.

"I am Heinkel Wolfe," she said, with a light German accent, "and this is Yumie Takagi." She motioned to the nun. "His Holiness personally made sure that the two of us, as well as Father Anderson, knew about your involvement with Hellsing. We had heard of your attendance at the Round Table conference, and we decided to let your interaction with Hellsing go undisturbed for the time being."

"We have heard of your exploits in your own country during the event that you refer to as the Fourth Great Cobra War," Yumie said. "Father Anderson insisted that we make sure that, at least, you were safe."

"Uh, thanks I guess," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Nice to meet you both as well."

After this short conversation, Yumie and Heinkel jumped back into the battle. I could hear a loud noise above our heads, and when I looked up, I could see one of the three dirigibles heading towards the Hellsing mansion. I looked at Integra, and she nodded, taking out a cigar. After a while, the fighting died down until all the Nazi vampires in the area were finally dead.

"How many of us remain?" Anderson asked.

"Half of us have fallen," Heinkel answered. "These damn Nazis are fierce." She then ejected the magazines of her guns and replaced them with fresh ones. "Get the thermite and burn this demon meat scum to ashes!"

As Heinkel barked out more orders, Integra turned and began walking away. I followed her, since we both had the same destination in mind. Ambush or not, the leader of Hellsing had to return to the manor to command her forces. However, as we turned to leave, Heinkel pointed one of her guns at her.

"And where do you think you're going?" she sneered.

"I'm going home," Integra replied coolly. "I have an army that needs me, so I must return to my men. In the meantime, lower your gun and enjoy your fire, you papist."

"I don't think so, you wench," Heinkel growled. "The Vatican ordered your capture, and that's what we're doing now. You're in the custody of the Vatican, you left legger whore."

"A light, please," Integra said.

"What?" Heinkel gaped, unsure as to what she just said.

"A light for my cigar, Ms. Blow-it-all," Integra replied, and then turned to face Heinkel. "Well?"

Heinkel stared in shock at Integra, and I thought her face was going to fall off. "I'm holding a gun at your head and you actually expect me to light your damn cigar!?"

"I'm waiting," Integra smirked. "Do it."

Heinkel looked like she was going to explode at any moment. "You do realize that I'm holding a gun at you, yes?"

"If it makes you feel any better," Integra huffed, "you can shoot the cigar."

Heinkel growled, but then pulled out a lighter from her cassock and lit the cigar. Integra gave off a puff of smoke while the rest of the Iscariots, along with myself, stared at her in utter shock. Apparently, she took no regard to the fact that she was totally up against a wall, but acted as if nothing was wrong at all.

"Now then, I'm going home," she said, smirking. "If the thought of it vexes you, then go ahead and shoot."

I could see Yumie reach for her katana, twitching with a mix of rage and annoyance.

"Hold it, Yumie!" Heinkel shouted. "Let me deal with this! Argh, she's just one stupid woman, why can't I shoot her?"

I began to chuckle at this. "So the Iscariot does have a conscience after all," I said to myself.

"Why don't we just tie her up and take her with us?" Yumie asked silently. "That would work without any bloodshed, right?"

"But I want to shoot her now!" Heinkel whined quietly.

"I can hear you, you know," Integra said out loud. "What do you want, Anderson?"

"What do you think?" he said. "Ganging up against an unarmed woman to do God knows what to her? We're priests, not rapists."

Both Heinkel and Yumie dropped their mouths open in shock at Anderson's words. Integra smiled, and continued walking. "It's good to know we're on the same page, but I shouldn't walk home alone. Escort me, won't you?"

"Aye," Anderson nodded. "That we will."

"HUH!?" This time, every surviving member of the Iscariot looked like they were going to faint.

"Then step lively," she grinned, walking down the road. I followed her, and so did Anderson right behind me.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" Heinkel and Yumie shouted.

"Heinkel, Yumie," Anderson said. "That's enough out of you both. Let's follow now."

As Integra walked down the streets to the Hellsing manor, I could see the priests following us wear a dumbfounded look on their faces, with the notable exception of Anderson. His face looked like he was rather enjoying this, while he also looked like he was thinking about something that was greatly troubling him.

"What are we doing?" Heinkel said to herself. "How did that woman rope us all into this?"

"Bishop Maxwell is going to be furious," Yumie sulked. "This is just terrible."

"You know, we have sort of taken her captive, in a sense," Heinkel said.

"He's not going to see it that way," Yumie scowled.

"Will you shut it?" Heinkel shrieked.

"Secure us a ride, Heinkel," Anderson said. "We're shooting ducks out here."

"Yes sir," she nodded, marching off.

"Father Anderson," one of the other priests said, "is this really wise? Your obedience may come into question for this."

"Let them question it then," he said, his face contorting in thought. "There's something about Maxwell's methods that just don't sit right with me."

I furrowed my brow at this. Obviously, the person truly being called into doubt here was 'His Grace' Enrico Maxwell. My parents and I always thought he was kind of messed up with his views on non-Catholics, but I, like Anderson, felt that something just wasn't right with him at all.

[+]

As Aelita reached the English shores, her heart nearly stopped at the sight of the devastation and the carnage before her eyes. There was not one square centimeter in the entire city that was not on fire, and there were extremely few people alive that weren't being chased by monsters wearing the uniforms of the Nazis. Those that were alive were taking refuge in secluded areas, but some were found out by the civilian ghouls and were then made ghouls themselves when they were feasted upon by the vampiric army.

"How ironic," she said to herself. "The monsters that are destroying this city are dressed like true historical monsters."

She then looked up and saw one of the colossal airships that she had seen before head off west to a mansion-like building far away from where she was flying. Using her Scipio abilities, she once again cloaked herself and also enhanced her sight to see several kilometers away from where she was, still flying towards where the dirigible was heading. The ship had just flown past the ruins of Big Ben when the unthinkable had happened.

All of a sudden, the airship was being attacked by a hailstorm of cannon fire, ripping the ship to pieces. She was greatly confused at this, as she had never seen or even heard anything like this before. She turned to the direction of the fire, and the airship had now shone its spotlights down on the ground, and she noticed that it came from the manor. More specifically, it came from someone standing on top of the manor.

This someone was a young woman about her true age – which is 24, in case you wondered. It's a bit of a long story. Her blond hair was in a spiked ponytail and her eyes were both blue and red at the same time. But the most notable feature about this woman, aside from her skintight yellow uniform, was the most massive manned weapon system that Aelita had ever seen in her life. It seemed to consist of two large containers of what she assumed were ammunition, two large cannons shaped like rifles on either side of her, and two large cylinders, one on each box of ammunition. The bullets from each box were being fed by belt into each cannon, one belt from one box for each cannon.

Just then, she noticed that the airship was about to crash down into the manor, and was aiming for the girl. But before Aelita could do anything, the girl used the cannons to take the cylinders from the top of the boxes and fire them both at the airship. Instantly, the cylinders transformed into rockets, aimed right at the airship. Once they collided, the entire ship went up in flames and it plummeted down to earth.

"That was remarkable," Aelita said.

Just then, she saw that some of the soldiers in the airship had jumped out from the ship and landed on the ground, completely unharmed. Almost as soon as they landed, they all headed off towards the manor. One of the soldiers was a muscular dark-skinned woman dressed in a black skintight shirt, cargo pants, and was carrying a massive scythe. Aelita could also see that the entire right side of her body was covered in strange markings, like tattoos.

"Charge!" she cried. "Destroy the Hellsing headquarters!"

"This doesn't look good," she said, and then realized something. "Did she just say Hellsing? Jeremy must be in there! I need to help him!"

With that, she flew off to the manor, ready to find and defend her loved one.

[+]

I heard a massive explosion that I could tell was a great distance away, and I looked above us. A large airship was suddenly on fire, and it was falling to Earth. I also caught sight of something in the sky behind the airship that made my heart nearly stop.

"Father Anderson," I said. "Will you take my charge of Sir Hellsing? There is something I must see to immediately."

"What do you mean?" Anderson asked. "What could you be talking about?"

"I think there's someone heading towards the Hellsing manor who should not be here at all," I replied.

"Whom do you mean by that?" Integra asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I mean someone very important to me," I responded, my face now full of worry.

"And how do you plan to get there?" Heinkel asked, chuckling. "Do you plan to fly there?"

"Actually," I grinned, "that's exactly the plan."

Heinkel looked confused, and I closed my eyes.

"Commencing Upload, Scipio 02. Power limitation at 45 percent confirmed."

Suddenly, purple lightning surrounded me and my hair stood on end. When I opened my eyes, the whites were jet black, and my pupils were blood red, and the irises were shaped into the Eyes of XANA. I also could feel my raven black wings grow out of my back and extend to their full length, giving off yet more electricity.

"What?" Yumi gasped. "What the hell is this?"

"Well," Anderson smirked, "this just got more interesting."

The Iscariots and Integra both stared at my transformed state in shock, but I gave a slight smirk.

"You all wondered how I beat the Black Cobras, correct?" I asked. "This is how I did it. I am gifted with this power so that I may protect all that is precious to me. Ironically, I initially sought to destroy it since it could destroy the world, but I was to wield it to save the world. I am a Scipio, one who is gifted with the power of XANA, a malevolent computer program that was once the guardian of a world without danger."

"Then the story of Project Carthage that I heard from the Section XIII Headquarters," Heinkel gasped, "a virtual world where terrible monsters roamed, and which housed a malignant virus that threatened the world… was it all true?"

"It was," I nodded, "and now I carry some of the last remnants of the legacy of Waldo Franz Schaeffer. Four other people share my powers, but my power comes from XANA himself, who inhabits my body until I can destroy him forever."

For a long time, no one could move or even speak at my words. After a while, Anderson gave a curt smile.

"Well, you've grown up quite a bit, haven't you?" he said. "I remember when I dipped you in the basin at Notre Dame when you were just a babe, and here you are. A strong warrior with a truly strong heart. Go, fly to Hellsing and save your woman." He then frowned. "But beware when dealing with demons, especially ones born of this world."

I nodded. 'Thank you, Father. And God willing, I will be safe."

With that, I spread my wings and flew off into the night sky, leaving a trail of blue sparks in my wake. After I left, one of the priests turned to Anderson.

"Father Anderson," he said. "Are you sure that it was wise to let that boy go? He has a power that is unlike anything any of us have ever seen before, and he even mentioned that it was meant to destroy the world. Shouldn't we have taken him captive, or even taken him out?"

"He's someone important to me," Anderson replied. "I've known him and his father for the boy's entire life, and I trust his decisions. Sure, this XANA does set me on edge, but I know Jeremy almost better than he knows himself. He's not the type to let anyone get the better of him, human or otherwise. I could see it in his eyes, he's been keeping him at bay for at least a year now, and he's doing a remarkable job."

"But Anderson," Yumie protested, "he could be a potential danger! We're supposed to make sure these don't happen!"

"I'm well aware of that," he said, "but I can't help but think that this is the will of God. He will make sense of this when He chooses to. Until then, we cannot interfere. I have faith in him, and so does the one he's after."

He then looked up in the sky and saw an image of a pink dove flying in the sky.

"After all," he said to himself, "I know her as well. It's been a while, hasn't it, Aelita Schaeffer?"

A/N: Okay, here we go again! This chapter was a lot of fun to write, since it's one of my favorite parts of the manga. Like how I put in Anderson in the Einstein duo's past? Well, there's more of that to come! Things are heating up, and you'll want to be here for the action!

-JeremyX signing off!