"Enough, old priest!" A barrage of gunshots forced Father Anderson back. Hellboy emerged from the shadows, cigar in mouth, loading his revolver with oversized bullets.
"Hellboy! Heretics must face judgment!" Anderson's bayonets blazed with holy flames, glaring at the demon.
Anderson despised the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense as much as Hellsing, condemning their reliance on supernatural beings.
They'd crossed paths before.
"Priest, you can't take me here. Alucard's not what you think," Hellboy said, swinging his stone fist. It clashed with Anderson's bayonets, snapping them with a crack. The blow sent Anderson flying, his cross embedding into his chest.
No real harm done.
Hellboy's stone hand, however, burned with holy flames.
Hellboy was in the UK to investigate rising vampire and ghoul activity, planning to connect with Hellsing—home to the mightiest vampire. Spotting Alucard leaving, he followed, only to run into this fanatic.
"Monsters don't belong with humans, Anung Un Rama! Want war with the Vatican?" Anderson growled, holy flames surging.
"No war, but this is Hellsing's turf. You're overstepping," Hellboy shot back, futilely trying to shake the flames from his hand. They crackled relentlessly.
"Tch!" Anderson scoffed, charging Hellboy.
Hellboy's strength and durability made fights prolonged, but Anderson was certain of victory. Without pressure from powerful nations, the Vatican wouldn't tolerate the BPRD.
"Religious nut!" Hellboy cursed, blocking with his stone arm while firing his revolver. Its anti-monster rounds outclassed Alucard's pistol, leaving wounds on Anderson.
"Freak!" Anderson's eyes blazed behind his glasses, bayonets poised to impale Hellboy.
"Director! Things escalated. Hellsing's Integra just landed by helicopter, heading inside," Coulson reported to Fury, spotting the chopper.
Constant updates annoyed leaders, but they ensured trust. A Hellsing-Vatican clash was a chance to gain supernatural allies. Both sides would contain the incident to avoid public leaks. SHIELD's involvement could secure leverage, but Coulson needed Fury's call.
"Who's the Vatican's man?" Fury asked, already grasping the stakes.
"If you don't know, find out. SHIELD's name should keep you alive," Fury added, rushing to Steve's training ground. He wanted to recruit those barbarians, but with Steve back and no word on Natasha or Hawkeye, things were murky. Steve wouldn't endanger them, but Fury needed answers.
"I'll negotiate with both sides for supernatural support," Coulson said. Fury hung up, trusting Coulson's finesse.
The fight turned one-sided. Anderson's agile strikes left Hellboy scorched and scarred. The holy flames seared his demonic power like water in boiling oil, agonizing.
"Alucard, how long you gonna watch?" Hellboy groaned.
"Anung, you're no fun!" Alucard grinned, dissolving into blood, then reforming. He'd planned to let Seras drink his blood to become a true vampire, but now wasn't the time—Hellboy was nearly done for.
"Die, monster!" Anderson's bayonet aimed for Hellboy's neck. A hit would kill; Hellboy, half-human, shared mortal weaknesses like ghouls—head or heart shots were fatal.
Bang bang bang! Integra's gunfire shattered Anderson's bayonet. She arrived with two guards.
"Father Alexander Anderson, you're violating our agreement. This is Hellsing's domain. Leave now!" Integra declared. "Or the Vatican faces a crisis. Even Section XIII won't shield you."
Coulson and his agent hurried in, catching the tense standoff, unsure how to interject.
"That's Angel Dust?" the agent whispered. A mythology buff before SHIELD, he'd read about Anderson—low-clearance data, not top-secret.
"Don't underestimate us, God's earthly punishers, Iscariot! Think we'd bow to heretic monster-lovers?" Anderson spat, steam rising from his mouth. His hatred fueled another charge, bayonets aimed at Integra.
Hellboy swung his stone arm to block, but Anderson dodged nimbly. Integra's guards opened fire with submachine guns, but unmodified weapons couldn't slow him.
Anderson wielded one bayonet forward, one reverse—forward to mask its length, reverse to intimidate. The reverse blade drew the guards' eyes; in that split second, Anderson closed in. His forward blade severed a guard's shoulder, then the reverse blade took his head.
Coulson and his agent fired their pistols, knowing they'd do little. SHIELD couldn't let allies die.
Clang! "Regeneration beyond science, plus defensive spells—you're the real monster!" Integra parried Anderson's strike with her sword, sweating, her voice strained.
Anderson backstepped, dodging Alucard's claw and Hellboy's swing, keeping a cautious distance from Integra.
"You're all weak. Pathetic," Anderson said, his smile chilling, his tone flat with disappointment. He loathed humans relying on monsters to fight monsters.
"Father Anderson, you've killed two people. SHIELD has the right to investigate," Coulson seized the moment, speaking firmly, unfazed by Anderson's fanaticism.
"Alexander Anderson, magnificent!" Alucard laughed, his shadow under moonlight seeming to blink. He pulled the flaming bayonets from Seras, her wounds healing in a flood of red blood. She rose, restored.
"Alucard, you're formidable, but no match for me. Nor you, Anung Un Rama!" Anderson dismissed Coulson and SHIELD. Their human-led fight against the supernatural wasn't respectable, unlike the BPRD's efforts.
"Magnificent! Your self-righteous nonsense is magnificent!" Alucard cackled wildly, as if freed by some twisted joy.
Bats swarmed the corridor, enveloping Anderson. His fiery aura flared, repelling them. "Enough. Next time, I kill you all," he said, glaring at Integra. His bayonets and wall-bound pages formed a Bible in his hand. Spinning pages burned the bats to ash.
"I look forward to it," Alucard said, his voice calm, eyes tinged with sorrow. The bats merged back into him.
"Master," Seras whispered, clutching her sniper rifle, sensing loss if she did nothing.
Anderson's pages whirled, and he teleported away.
"Cough! Director Integra, I see potential for deeper cooperation," Coulson said, holstering his gun.
"When you find vampires, then we'll talk," Integra replied, walking off without a glance.
Alucard donned his hat, picking up his orange-tinted glasses. "Let's go, Police Girl."
"Yes, Master!" Seras followed, his desolate figure heavy in her eyes.
"SHIELD? Annoying bunch," Hellboy muttered, his neck creaking. "Got a safehouse? I'm on a job, no logistics. These flames sting worse than that holy water vodka I chugged."
He snuffed the flames on his body with his stone hand, wincing.
"Of course," Coulson agreed, silencing his agent.
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