Now, after all but burning myself out on Tokyo Ghoul crossovers lately, I wanted to do another Nasuverse crossover. And while I still want to do a Potterverse crossover with the Nasuverse, with a number of ideas rattling around, I wanted to do a Fate/Apocrypha crossover that WASN'T a Potterverse one. To whit, I stumbled across an inspired choice that I am surprised that nobody's ever done before: a crossover with Hellboy. This is loosely based on the comics continuity, set shortly after Conqueror Worm, when Hellboy has quit the BPRD. As for who Hellboy's Servant is going to be...well, that's a surprise, save that it is a Saber, and NOT a Saberface. Moedred will still be in the story, and as Kairi's Servant, but as a Berserker.

Hope you enjoy...

DESTRUCTION'S HERALDS

CHAPTER 1:

OH NO, NOT NAZIS AGAIN…

"…Come again?"

The man I was sitting across from, if you can call him that, was grinning. Now, this old, old bastard frequently had a smile on his face, as if he knew the punchline to a joke you didn't know. Chances were, he didn't, given his reputation. He looks like a tall, powerfully built but rather wizened old codger, albeit one with a nifty beard and a confidence and mirth that would, if you didn't know him, set you at ease. That was a mistake. "Exactly what I said. I'm sending you off to fix another mess of the Nazis."

"…Seriously? Are you kidding me?" I groan. "If it isn't some kook claiming to be Rasputin, or ancient deities, or the Fair Folk, it's the Nazis. That does it. I'm charging Clock Tower extra, as is anyone who comes to me with anything that comes with the tag The Nazis Did It."

The man chuckled. You'd think he'd want to avoid getting me riled up, but I have to say, if there's a list of the top people who could kick my ass, he'd be on it. And in truth, I've gotta be grateful to the guy. While I've done stuff for Clock Tower on occasion, while still working for the BPRD…well, let's just say I don't trust the average Magus, and with good reason. However, this guy isn't the average Magus.

His name is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Most people call him Zelretch, or Kaleidoscope, after his mastery of what they called the Second True Magic: travel between parallel universes. Yeah, I would have picked something cooler for a True Magic, like bringing someone back from the dead or time travel. Plus, 'Kaleidoscope'? Why would you call such an interesting magic a dumb name?

However, Zelretch is a pretty powerful guy. Centuries ago, he fought the original vampire, Crimson Moon Brunestud, and won. Now, the reason why Zelretch is still breathing centuries later is because Brunestud, in a spiteful gesture, turned Zelretch into a vampire as well. A different type of vampire, but while I can go into the differences between True Ancestors and Dead Apostles, I won't. Thankfully, Zelretch is one of the good guys, and helped the BPRD on occasion…though he's also a prankster, and apparently loves breaking most of those who he chooses as his apprentices…unless they actually interest or impress him.

I guess I should introduce myself. Most people who know me call me Hellboy. I've heard a few people, crazy people, monsters and gods, call me Anung Un Rama. I prefer Hellboy. I know I was summoned to Earth in 1944 as part of some project by the Nazis to bring about their victory, or the end of the world. I ended up in the wrong location…well, for them. In truth, I had the good luck to end up in a church in East Bromwich, England, amongst a bunch of American soldiers, the Torch of Liberty, and three members of the British Paranormal Society. One of them, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, became pretty much my father.

I won't go into detail about my life since then. I became part of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence. I became their go-to guy when it came to killing the things that go bump in the night. I've faced an immortal Rasputin, the Fair Folk, Baba Yaga, beings claiming to be gods, and, much to my annoyance, more Nazis than I'd like. More than once too. I do have to keep out of sight a little, though. I'm a big, hulking red-skinned guy with horns (that I file down) and a tail. I'd look more than a little conspicuous just strolling down the street.

Anyway, after that mess in Austria where, thanks to Manning being a dick towards Roger, I quit the BPRD, I wanted to find answers to who and what I was. I decided to head to England, and Clock Tower, as my first stop. For all Zelretch's pranking ways, I got along fine with him for the most part, given that he knew my old man. Probably just as well, as many Magi in Clock Tower would give their souls to be able to cut me up. I've already had enough geeks poking and prodding me over the years, I don't need some Harry Potter wannabes trying to vivisect me.

Zelretch warned me that I probably wouldn't like the answers he had for me. And to be frank, he was correct. Zelretch didn't know everything about me, like exactly where my right hand came from, but what he did tell me was scary. Like how I was a cambion, half-devil, half-human…and through my human mother, I was a descendant of the Pendragons, via Morgan le Fay. Oh, and just for the giggles, he told me that King Arthur was actually a woman called Arturia. Oh, and Mordred lacked a Y-chromosome too. I made the mistake of asking how Arturia could have had children with Guinevere or Morgan. Zelretch was all too happy to scar me for life with the ensuing details.

Anyway, this morning, Zelretch called me in, and had explained that, in exchange for the information he gave me, as well as giving me a place to stay for the time being, he wanted me to do him a favour. One that involved fixing up yet another hot steaming mess the Nazis left behind.

The other guy in the room was a tall, if somewhat scrawny guy with dark hair framing handsome, if stern, features. If Severus Snape ever bought a better personality and a face to match, he'd look like Waver Velvet, aka Lord El-Melloi II. Apparently he got the fancy title after his old teacher got bumped off. Waver's pretty nice compared to most other Magi, bluntly. However, he was currently pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Zelretch, could you lead with something else than 'the Nazis did it'?"

"Now, now, my dear Waver, where would the fun be in that?" Zelretch asked.

"Darnic was a collaborator with the Nazis, not a Nazi himself. And he stabbed them in the back when he got what he wanted. You could have led with a preamble about the Holy Grail War rather than saying Hellboy needed to go and clean up one of the Thule Society's many, many messes."

Holy Grail War? Okay, now my interest was piqued. I'd only read about it in brief in some of my father's old books. Only that it was some weird tournament in Japan where Magi battled to the death with familiars for some wish-granting cup. Sounded like some dark fairy tale to me.

I voice this to the two Magi present. Zelretch looked amused, was his wont to do, and Waver merely frowned, as was HIS wont to do. After they looked at each other briefly, Waver began explaining. "About two hundred years ago, three Magi family came together in Fuyuki, Japan, to collaborate on a special project, along with Zelretch himself. The von Einzberns of Germany, the Makiris of Russia, and the Tohsakas of Japan. They wished to create a means of accessing Akasha."

I nodded. "Akasha…that's what you guys call the Root. Professor Bruttenholm called it a noosphere, where knowledge from all eras resided. All Magi want to find a way to reach the Root. So, the Holy Grail was meant to be a way of getting there? I'm guessing, then, that it ain't the drinking vessel of Jesus Christ?"

"No, it's not," Waver said. "The von Einzberns wanted to reclaim their lost True Magic, Heaven's Feel, from Akasha. The Makiris and Tohsakas wanted access to the Root. However, to do so, they needed a ritual that could generate power on a massive scale. Hence the creation of the Holy Grail War. Seven Magi summon seven familiars known as Servants. These Servants are actually embodiments of Heroic Spirits, long-dead heroes from myth and history, and are pitted against each other to fight to the death. The mana from those Servants would serve as a catalyst to prime the Grail for its ultimate purpose."

I couldn't help but snort. "All this to reach the Root? Admit it, the Magi who made this wanted to do something cool in the process." I shot Zelretch a pointed look.

The vampire chuckled. "While it is an important ritual, I will admit, I felt that way at the time. However, two Grail Wars ended with no clear winner. During the Third Holy Grail War, the Master of Lancer, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia called upon the Nazis and the Thule Society for help in stealing the Greater Grail from Fuyuki. In the process, the Tohsakas and von Einzberns were decimated, and the Makiris, then going by the name of Matou, were completely wiped out. However, Darnic stabbed the Nazis in the back, and disappeared with the Greater Grail. Of course, the Thule Society had other projects in the works, like the one they collaborated with Rasputin on, the one that brought you into the world: Project Ragna Rok."

And I was still cleaning up the messes the Thule Society left around. "I'm guessing that Darnic's the guy I've got to go after, right?"

Waver nodded. "After the Third Holy Grail War and its disastrous end, a number of what we call Auxiliary Holy Grail Wars popped up, with varying degrees of success. The Greater Grails in those were pale imitations, incapable of reaching Akasha, though they were still capable of achieving a limited form of Heaven's Feel, both to create the Servants, as well as part of the power of its wish-granting. I participated in one of those ten years ago, alongside Iskandar, aka Alexander the Great. However, Darnic has recently issued a statement…well, a declaration of secession from the Magus Association. He knows that this is a declaration of war, and claims that he is in possession of the Greater Grail, declaring a new Holy Grail War he will control."

I peered at the document, and frowned. "Good handwriting for someone who's pushing a hundred, I'd bet. Or is he doing some freaky immortality thing?"

Zelretch's face became unusually solemn…even angry. "He consumed the souls of infants, fusing with them to sustain his life. He's maintained his youth, looking as he did seventy years before."

I fought down a surge of anger at that. I get stupid when I'm angry. It's probably my worst fault, or at least the one that's got me into the most trouble over the years. Instead, I move on. "I'm guessing you want me to go and help plug him, before he sets off this Grail War?"

"We already did that," Waver said. "A group of Enforcers were sent to deal with him. Only one came back, spared as a messenger, the others impaled on stakes. Darnic had already summoned a Servant, a Lancer we suspect to be Vlad Tepes. Given that Darnic and his Yggdmillennia Magus clan are based in Romania, Vlad Tepes would get a boost in power there."

"Great, so Dracula's back."

"Yggdmillennia's declaration has caused a considerable stir, particularly amongst the disaffected Magi," Waver continued. "The Yggdmillennia clan already take in a variety of Magi with a variety of backgrounds. While many are mediocre Magi at best, they also have some heavy hitters who are sure to be their Masters in the upcoming Grail War. However, Darnic didn't realise that the Greater Grail had a failsafe of sorts for situations like this."

Zelretch nodded, grinning once more. "Justeaze put that one in shortly before she became the Greater Grail. Anyway, if the Masters are collaborating too much, then the Greater Grail can trigger a failsafe, one which one of our Enforcers managed to activate. Instead of a Grail War being a battle royale, this one will have two teams. Yggdmillennia will be known as the Black Faction, while our allies will be known as the Red Faction. That means two teams of seven Servants, bound as familiars to seven Masters. In addition, a fifteenth Servant, Ruler, is expected to be summoned as a referee of sorts."

Hoo boy, I could see where this was going. Zelretch wasn't buttering me up per se. I'd have gone, given that, if it had a means to access Akasha, then leaving the Greater Grail in the hands of Darnic was clearly a Bad Idea. Let's face it, leaving the keys to the Apocalypse or to absolute power in the hand of any megalomaniac was a Bad Idea. "Lemme guess…you want me to be a Master of the Red Faction?"

"Yes," Waver said. "We want you to join the Red Faction, to put a stop to Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia's schemes for once and for all. And to that end, Hellboy, we need you to summon a Servant…"

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

Let's face it, Hellboy would be getting sick and tired of cleaning up after Nazis, and while Darnic wasn't a Nazi, he worked with them.

No numbered annotations this time.