A/N: Hello everyone. Yes, I'm still alive and I still walk this earth. I'm sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories or posted anything in a long time. College has been kicking my ass these past few years leaving me with almost no time to write anything. I honestly forgot about my account until I stumbled across this chapter I've been working on before my hiatus. It gave me a whole new resolve to finally make some progress on this story. I don't know how often I'm going to be posting new chapters for this story or any of my others, but with the semester almost over I think I might be able to update more frequently since I don't feel right just leaving my projects in unfinished limbo. So, with that said, I'm going to be posting two chapters for this story and hope that can suffice for now. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy. Criticism is welcome, just keep it constructive.
Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing sat at the desk in her office at the Hellsing mansion, Walter standing beside her and another man who was there to deliver a report. Her round spectacles reflecting the electric light from above, hiding her blue eyes. Her gloved fingers were interlaced in front of her face. Her left index finger looped around a freshly lit cigar, the smoke rose into the air, exacerbating the smell of tobacco in the room.
The man in front of her held a relatively thick folder in his hands which he was looking through while delivering his message.
"Sir, a report from our attaché in the Vatican." The man said with urgency in his voice. "Rome, the Vatican. Section XIII, the top-secret agency, Iscariot, is on the move."
This got Sir Integra's attention.
The Hellsing organization was firmly in alignment with the Protestant Church and so they were at odds with the Catholic Church. This put her family and the Vatican at each other's throats for centuries. A pointless struggle over faith when each group's attention should have been directed towards greater concerns. For now, the two organizations were at a stalemate, a temporary and uneasy truce that had been broken and mended many a time. Integra knew that she had to be prepared for the Catholic threat sooner or later. Especially from the Iscariot organization, the unofficial enforcement squad at the Pope's command. Their ranks consisted of exorcists and assassins whose sole missions were to exterminate heretics. Aside from vampires, there were no other group the Iscariot Organization despised more than those who practiced the Protestant faith.
"How many did they send?" Integra asked.
"Just one." The man said, consulting the file once more, "The Paladin. Father Alexander Anderson."
"Did you just say Alexander Anderson?!" Integra's eyes widened and a sense of urgency flooded through her. To think the Vatican would send him of all people. If that man were to meet up with Alucard, Johan, and Seras, that could only lead to carnage. Action needed to be taken quickly, there was no time to waste.
"I'm heading at once of Patrick!" Integra announced firmly before issuing her next commands, "Fetch my gun, sword, and prepare two bodyguards! Walter, you are to contact the Vatican immediately!"
Walter put a gloved hand over his heart and bowed. He would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly concerned for his master's wellbeing, he had known her since she was a little girl after all, but he knew that she could take care of herself. She had to be if she was going to run an organization such as Hellsing. All he could do was play his part and leave the rest to Integra and pray that things didn't get out of hand.
Although, deep within his heart he knew that such prayers were ultimately foolish.
Paladin Anderson, Bayonet Anderson, Executioner Anderson, Off-with-its-head Anderson, Dust to dust Anderson, among many other aliases were the names bestowed upon the human who was boldly standing before the three vampires in the abandoned building.
His real name was unknown. His age was unknown. Even his true ethnicity and origins were all unknown. But frankly, all these things were not important. What really mattered was that he was an expert vampire killer. Just as Alucard served the Hellsing Organization as their private soldier confronting supernatural threats, Alexander Anderson was the Vatican's trump card. A merciless and fanatical priest who ruthlessly and violently slaughtered monsters all in the name of God. The big smile on his face was enough to tell his opponents, that this was a man who absolutely loved his job.
"Beau'iful moon tonight. Don' ye think?" Anderson said as he strolled forward. His green eyes radiating cruelty behind his round glasses.
The two vampires stared at the approaching threat that was the man of God who seemed to tower over him even from the distance he was standing at. Both bayonet blades hanging from his hands glowed along with his lenses in the moonlight and his wide toothy grin was visible despite the rest of his face being obscured by shadows. Alucard's mouth was also stretched into a wide smile, his fangs seemed to glisten in the moonlight outside. Johan stared ahead, his eyes wide open, his jaw locked, and his body fighting the urge to shiver at the sight of the priest. His survival instincts told him to run or to reach for his shotgun, do anything but just stand there. But his body wouldn't listen. He was frozen in fear for the first time in decades.
He was snapped out of his fearful state by a groan of pain and misery behind him. Seras Victoria was still alive, but her body was left in terrible shape with so many blades piercing through her form and keeping her pinned to the wooden floor. This prevented her from getting up or even crawling away. If that wasn't trouble enough, they weren't just ordinary blades. They were blessed blades, special weapons blessed by the Catholic Church for the use of piercing the skin of the tainted in a way that normal blades or bullets couldn't hope to. They were especially deadly to vampires.
"Yer voice sounds so lovely when yer whimperin' in agony, little lady." The priest said with a chuckle. "Don' worry though. Yer not dyin' yet. I haven' pierced yer heart. It's been a while since I've 'ad a good hunt. I intend on enjoyin' this."
"Vatican Section XIII," Alucard said, his grin never leaving his face, "The Iscariot Organization."
Both Johan and Seras' eyes widened at Alucard's words. This man or monster or whatever he was belonged to the Vatican and one of the deadliest branches under their power at that. It all made sense to Johan, but Seras was greatly confused and in her state of pain her thoughts only swam about her head in a bewildering mess.
"How right ye are," Anderson said, "Ye pathetic Hellsing dog."
As if to combat Anderson's expression of dominance, Alucard began strolling forward, his eyes fixed on the priest. His own mind racing with excitement at the prospect of having a member of Iscariot being his opponent. There was something about Alexander Anderson that resonated with the vampire, almost as if Anderson was who he was searching for the centuries he roamed the Earth. And Anderson would be lying if he said wasn't feeling the same thing.
"Ye must be the house broken vampire, Alucard." Anderson said, "The monster who hunts his own kind. The famous Hellsing family pet."
"What have you done with the vampire we were hunting?" Alucard asked, not even acknowledging Anderson's demeaning words.
"E's dead. Not much fun really, I didn' even have time to enjoy it." Anderson responded.
The two continued to approach each other, their weapons at their sides, but they were ready and excited for the bloodshed that would no doubt follow. Johan almost felt his pulse steadily rise from the tension as Alucard's and Anderson's boots made the floor boards creak and groan beneath them. He knew this to be impossible as his pulse had ceased to function upon him becoming what he was. But the intensity was starting to get to him. If he knew Alucard he knew that his master had thrived on violence and carnage and he knew that this priest was very much like the vampire. Things were about to get very brutal.
He slowly inched backwards towards Seras, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men now standing side by side and the fledgling behind him. In his mind, the best thing to do would be to get Seras out of there as quickly as possible. She was not ready for this level of brutality on the job and truth be told, neither was he.
After working alongside Alucard for over fifty years and watching the world be plunged into war, Johan had seen his fair share of violence and was definitely used to it. But there was a sinking feeling in his stomach. The vampire and the priest were on a whole other level.
And both of the opponents could sense this too. But while Seras and Johan felt anxiety weighing them down, they only felt excitement. They only stopped walking when the two stood side by side, each of their weapons at the ready.
"Et seems ye three are the only ones left." Anderson said.
"Really?" Alucard responded.
Then there was only silence. Deafening silence. The tension was building, and Johan couldn't take his eyes off the towering figures standing in the center of the narrow, claustrophobic hallway.
Time seemed to stop, and it felt as if the world had been muted. That is until the two finally decided that the wait was finally over, and the bloodshed would resume. Starting with the two of them quickly turning to each other and Alucard's shoulders were pierced by the blessed blades of the bloodthirsty priest. Immediately after though, Anderson's head was knocked back with a loud bang as a bullet pierced his forehead. His body was sent sailing back and he collapsed onto the wall with a thud, his mad grin never leaving his face.
And it was over. As soon as the fight began, it drew to a close.
The two male vampires felt surprised at how quickly the fight had come to an end, but the taller one felt a wave of disappointment. He harshly ripped the blades out of his own body without even so much as flinching as he sneered down at the corpse of Alexander Anderson.
"You attacked a vampire head on in the middle of the night." Alucard said, "You didn't even try to catch me off guard. You're a brave man, Father… But you're also a fool."
"That was… anti-climactic." Johan said as he looked down at Anderson's corpse before turning his attention to the police girl bleeding on the floor.
"M-Master…" She said weakly as she strained to lift her head off the hard wood floor.
"Don't talk." Alucard said, "You've been stabbed by blessed blades."
"Hold still," Johan said walking towards the fledgling, "I'll pull those out. I'd say this won't hurt but… that would be a lie."
As soon as he reached a gloved hand out to one of the blades, he felt his own flesh start to squirm and burn even though he hadn't even touched it. If he was feeling like this without even touching it, then he could only imagine the pain Seras was in. But he soon felt a shadow loom over them, and the same sense of impending doom welled up in his chest. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and for the first time in a long time, he felt a chill run down his spine. He turned to the source of the shadow, expecting just to see Alucard but he saw Anderson brandishing his bayonets.
Johan's eyes widened as the blades pierced Alucard's body from behind. His master was just as surprised as he was. Anderson laughed loudly and madly when Alucard seemed to sail off the blades and into the air. Almost defying gravity, the vampire flipped effortlessly through the air while pulling out his pistol. As soon as he had it drawn, he squeezed the trigger sending four bullets to pierce Anderson's body. The bullets hit their target and Anderson once again was sent careening back, only to leap off the floor and sprint towards his enemy once again.
The fight was not over. It was just starting to get good.