New In Town [Chapter XII]

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

He rolled to the side and began a mad dash between the AC units on the building roof tops hearing them get torn to shreds by a barrage of bullets. His foot met the wall and launched himself to the far left side of the building and eventually off into the narrow alleyway between the tall and short building.

Nicodemus would find himself without support for a moment as the darkness withdrew from the area and also into the alleyway. It didn't retreat for the reasons they expected, surely the silver and blessed rounds routed him, right?

And then suddenly everything from the alley launched upward smashing into the bottom of the helicopter and wrapping around it, the rotor blades would be the first to halt as the tail end was decimated, followed by the main rotor as the engine block collapsed under the stress. The husk of the helicopter was dragged down across the taller roof and into the streets where the now flaming debris was scattered and sliding through the streets.

If one was to look down the alleyway they would see him walking toward the exit with his head tilted slightly down. Two glowing red eyes barely visible through the dense haze of darkness. He would exit onto the streets with a thick blackness lingering onto his body as if it was trying to pull him back into the enclosed area.

"Is that all you got?"

[Linx]

As he searched, a sound caught his attention. He stiffened for a moment, recognizing the sound, and the vague stench carried on the breeze with it. His eyes flash with anger as he turns, hand snapping up to catch the undead by the throat. He snarled as he snapped it's neck, turning and throwing it into the other approaching him. They dared to send undead against him? Now he felt well and truly angry. His plated boot stomps their skulls to mush as his rage begins to simmer within him, stalking through the buildings till he found his objective. That they dared send undead against a Necromancer, especially the Necromancer King, was both foolish and insulting. He would not let the insult stand, and he would show them the folly of their ways.

As the explosive sound of the crashing helicopter reaches him, he founds himself staring at the generator for the nullification field. He dashes forward to the command console, staring at it for a moment. "What in the nine bloody hells do I do now?" he muses to himself, idly pressing a button here, flipping a switch there, trying to figure out how the accursed thing worked. He wasn't as familiar with technology as he should be, given the nature of this world, but he cared little. He saw nothing resembling a power button or cord, thus his knowledge was at it's end as he stared. Once again he heard the howl of undead, echoing across the battlefield and across his memories as he invariably found himself wandering back down the battlefield he'd tread, similar to this new one. With a snarl, he rips his sword free from it's sheath, wrapping both his hands around the hilt and delivering a powerful two handed blow to the machine. He snarled again as he kept hacking at it, determined to reduce the thrice damned thing to a pile of moldering slag.

[Ayen]

When the darkness exit the building the fog went away with it, the soldiers canceled their retreat plans and immediately set their sights back on the man who was abandoned in their facility. Their rifles raised, they opened fire and sent several bullets through the cracks in his armor that no longer had the darkness protecting it. He was pummeled by bullets while dealing with the undead creatures revived from Isafaro's experiments and already had several inside of him, making him weaker with each breath he took and each step forward.

By the time he reached only 'one' of the generators keeping the energy field operational. And once he hit it; shields. Shields activated and deflected the blows as the eight surviving soldiers rejoined with their Commander and they moved into the generator room the Necromancer was now in, blocking the only exit of the room. With nowhere to run or hide, Ayanna and the soldiers raised their weapons and fired through the cracks to finish what they started. There would be no one to come to his aid.

---

Meanwhile.

"Is that all yo–"

Gabe took a .50MBG to the face.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

"Is that all-"

The sound was familiar to him. In one of his past lives there was a sniper by the name of Alex J. Chambers, he was Hellsings most elite sniper and was known for his killing of the prototype Dead Sight, 314, and for downing several Nemesis type beings. He had heard the sound many many times before during several sieges of Hellsing's mansion, the sound was usually followed by a loud thud and a rolling tumbling body.

This sound was a large caliber weapon, known for it's armored penetrating abilities but also known for it's kick in the ass when fired. Few men alive could properly use this weapon in all types of combat, and even now Gabe was taken off guard for a moment not fully expecting the impact that is about to happen.

"-you got?"

The bullet smashed hard into the familiars blowing through layers of them but the darkness was too thick. The core of the bullet exploded blowing shrapnel through the area around him. Several pieces scraped past him leaving minimal damage aside from blood running down his cheek and a few grazes.

He continued to step forward pinpointing exactly where the sniper was. Had his power fully returned the sniper would of been massacred already, but for now he would have to improvise. He suspected by the sound alone and how long the bullet took to travel to him that the sniper was out of his range easily, without his abnormal powers he'd have to make the distance on foot and that could take a while. For the time being he moved out of the sights and against the buildings.

Gabe walked steadily forward toward the Helicopter wreckage and put a bullet into the trapped undead pilot as he walked by.

[Linx]

Hammered by bullets, deflected by a barrier of all the stupid things, he felt incredible rage once more as his armoured arms crossed in front of him. All his vital areas were covered by his armour, so thankfully the bullets only hammered into flesh where it would be a nuisance, rather than a sever detriment. Even still, it was rather annoying. He had no other options right now but to endure a hail of gunfire as his mind raced furiously, seeking an escape from this predicament. He needed to figure out which of his abilities he could use otherwise this would be the end of the Necromancer King, and he needed to figure it out fast. Given what he'd seen of Gabriel, innate abilities, extensions of ones being were unaffected where magic had failed.

He hoped that were true, and called upon his power once more. He reached for one of the hardest powers to date that he'd ever had to master, and planeswalked. Something like a teleport, it was near impossible to be contained as it was as easy and natural to the being as stepping through a door way. Since he rarely used it however, and given the massive nullifier field, he felt it was a reasonable success that he managed to shift himself from the center of the bullets to the edge of the building. Blood dripped down his arms and legs as he scowled, hoping that their ammunition would be enough to over power their own barriers. If not, then he was in a sore bind indeed. Assuming this was the only generator, a fact he was highly doubtful for, it would still only mean the beginning of the battle. He ducked into a corner, letting his body repair itself as best it could as he wrapped his cloak around him, seeming to be nothing more than another shadow. Perhaps Gabriel would have a better idea for how to remove these things, as he seemed more familiar with the technological aspect of this world. The only trouble now would be regrouping with him.

[Ayen]

The shields were more than capable of holding to the bullets as Ayanna shouted to cease fire and they did. The eight men left double checked their equipment as each one was cautious of their surroundings to make sure there would be no surprises from the Necromancer.

“Spread out. He couldn't have gotten far.”

Back in the previous room the undead that was thrown to the second undead was torn apart by his fellow comrade and left on the ground to bleed out as the remaining undead soldier continued on to find blood but before it could it would be torn apart by vines that burst forth from the wound made to his undead comrade. The fallen undead snapped his own neck back into place, the damage done causing his body to mutate from the virus he was injected with by the Isafaro Research Team. A loyal subordinate of Vulture turned undead was now...

An abomination.

The vines propelled the body up through the air, its skin shed and fell to the floor as vines merged with muscle now made up where its human skin once was, no eyes were seen in the eye sockets and a hole remained where its nose and mouth once was making up its face as the soldier didn't even resemble a human being anymore. The undead it had torn apart was also mutating but no two mutation was ever alike. Each experience was different, each mutation unique and each abomination more terrifying than the last.

The sins of the Vulture would never be forgiven.

When Ayanna's squad left the first generator room they would be ambushed by the two abominations waiting outside for them after all this time. Turning around, Ayanna would return in the other room just in time to see her man being ripped apart by the monsters. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched helplessly as her own men became undead and then ripped apart again to force their mutation and turned them into horrible monsters. Ayanna was unable to move. All she could do was stare at the monsters that was once human, once under her command.

They had families, friends, it was her responsibility to ensure they survived and she had managed to fail every single one of them. And instead of dying and finding peace as she believed to be every human right, they were forced to live, forced to thrive as horrible creatures. Was this the work of the intruders or Vulture himself? The answer came when none of the abominations attacked her. Instead, by signal of the abomination covered in vines, they spread out in search for the Necromancer and he, the first abomination, propelled up one story above where Gabe had gone previously and followed the trail of destruction the Spokesman left behind knowing that it would eventually lead it to him.

“I-is this the work of the Vulture? Is this what happened to Zach? Is this what's going to happen to me!?”

Nothing but the echo of her own voice called back as the abominations scattered.

---

In addition to the sniper who attacked him there were others surrounding his position. A single sniper was stationed on the rooftop above, three on the street over and six four streets over from his current position. The one above him would be the next to fire with smaller calibers than that of the .50MBG from previously after he shot the pilot and the four from the street over would follow after him. The ones amongst the sniper who had fired the first shot waited patiently for their turn as unbeknownst to them reinforcements in the form of a terrible monster was on its way.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

As if an ink bomb went off, darkness shot out from every direction around him blotting out his position. The sniper above didn't have time to hit him as he fired blindly and took a tendril through the scope and through his eye. His body was lifted off the roof and tossed to the ground with enough force to split his body and pulverize every part of his physical form.

The hounds roared to life, he kept the darkness to his back and above him as he walked even more steadily toward where the battle was now occurring. But something wasn't right. The eyes in the back of his head told him something was following him. The whispers he heard every soul telling him to turn around every fiber in his body though knew nothing could get through the fog without him knowing about it.

He carried on forward gripping both of his designed pistols in each of his hands tightly. Something in him made him long for a massive over kill pistol.

[Linx]

Nicodemus stared in silence at the transformation taking place through the ranks of Ayannas men, mildly interested. Technological advancement had achieved the same ends he could preform through magic. How intriguing. He watches as the monsters depart in search of him, waiting a moment to ensure that they were well and truly gone before casting back his cloak and darting out to Ayanna. His innate abilities had kicked in, his wounds had healed over and he was able to cover the ground like it was nothing. He halts before her, eyes sweeping the area around them. Even through the buildings, he could keep track of the abominations. His Necromantic Sight allowed him to keep track of all sorts of undead nasties in the world around him, though admittedly it had been far more useful back home.

"Miss Kaktas, would you be so kind as to remove the nullifier field for us? I find that an army of undead unleashed by your own mad general is a slightly more pressing matter than our little spat. I give you my word of honor, I shall not turn my powers against thee if you do." he says solemnly, his word his bond. Many would assume that since he was a villain, he wouldn't care in the least. However, he'd always been a reluctant villain, and spent most of his time in study. It was through no fault his own he'd received his dark powers, but he put them to use where most effective. Right now, that definitely seemed to be Isafaro. "And before you get twitchy, I've done this before. I hold no true enmity towards you and your soldiers, just your maddened General really. I have the unfortunate tendency towards violence on occasion however. In addition, my rather...unique, skills with the undead can save more of your men from a similar fate at the hands of these abominations. I believe I might be right in assuming your General doesn't care what happens to the rank and file, as evidenced here." he pauses to glance around again. "So, what say you? Truce?" he finishes grimly, all to aware that they were out in the open with an ever increasing horde of feral undead ready to tear them to shreds.

[Ayen]

The training and will of a soldier shined through as Ayanna snapped out of her state in shock at the appearance of the Necromancer as she aimed the .44 Magnum towards his head.

"Miss Kaktas, would you be so kind as to remove the nullifier field for us? I find that an army of undead unleashed by your own mad general is a slightly more pressing matter than our little spat. I give you my word of honor, I shall not turn my powers against thee if you do."

“Your honor isn't what concerns me.”

That man, Gabrielle. He had proven bad enough with the generators in place. How bad would he be if his abilities were allowed free reign in the area? What dangers would he cause to the rest of Isafaro if he wasn't stopped now and these monsters, while horrible, may very well be the only things with the power to stop him. But at the same time, how could she let this madness go on.

"And before you get twitchy, I've done this before. I hold no true enmity towards you and your soldiers, just your maddened General really. I have the unfortunate tendency towards violence on occasion however. In addition, my rather...unique, skills with the undead can save more of your men from a similar fate at the hands of these abominations. I believe I might be right in assuming your General doesn't care what happens to the rank and file, as evidenced here."

Ayanna said nothing in response. She knew that General Vulture heart was black but she never knew how black it was until now.

"So, what say you? Truce?"

“And if I deactivate the energy field will you be able to stop the man you so willingly fought alongside of before? Or should I take my chances with the monsters as they are now?”

She hoped that if not the Necromancer, then perhaps the monsters would be able to stop the other man while his powers, while not entirely dormant, was restricted by what little they could be.

---

But only a man could stop a monster

It came. Pass the fog, the vines tearing through the hellhounds that moved towards it like they were mere pieces of paper, the ground being painted red with their blood as it continued forward to the rear of the Spokesman of Insanity. The surviving snipers in the area were shocked at what they saw before it disappeared into the darkness, its vines wrapped around the man's hands holding them up as it closed in, its own hand aiming to rip out his spine.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

He was lifted off his feet his weapons clattered to the ground. It grew closer inch for inch, he could smell it he knew it was there long before it grabbed him, the whispers had told him the words etched into his skull. He remained the way he had before, still, calm, and under control completely.

It's hand moved forward clutching at his back, it was pushed back as a tendril wrapped itself around the arm, the head of it suddenly came to life shrieking loudly as it ripped through the being behind him. Like it other's came to his aid tearing the veins away from his arms.

He landed on his knee and heel and grabbed both of his pistols. All in one motion he turned and unleashed all kinds of hell into the being behind him plugging bullet after bullet into it's miserable hide. Right about now, he was wishing he had a bigger gun.

[Linx]

He smiled with relief from the fact that she didn't shoot him. And she was willing to talk, always a plus. When she asked if he could stop Gabriel, he paused, and spread his hands to the side after a moment. "I don't know if I can. Were this my world, yes, without a doubt. There are tricks up my sleeves and means at my disposal I could use against him if the nullifier were inactive, whether they'd have any effect or not, I simply do not know. If not, you can simply reactivate the nullifier. Bindings have never been my strong suit, mostly straight combat, but I could try. At the very least, I might be able to lure him away from here. But in order to do so, I need my magic." He spoke with no deception, finding no need for it. Gabriel was a formidable foe, even bound, unbound he could be an insurmountable obstacle. He truly had no idea if he could win, but he was more than willing to try.

"All I do know, is that without help, your men are going to die by the scores. I don't know if I can stop him, but I give you my word I shall try. The rest, is up to you." he says, shrugging. He turned on his heel, letting his cloak billow behind him as he took one step, then another, breaking into a dash and raising his blade again. At the very least, the undead had to be put down. Now that he knew he could draw on some of his abilities, it would be less challenging to do so. As he sprints out he drops into a slide as one of the abomination swings it's fist over him, the Blackblade tearing through it's leg with ease, letting it collapse onto it's side as he sprang up, thrusting through it's skull. With a brief moment of concentration, his form melded to that of shadows and vanished into the darkness, speeding along the streets to find Gabriel, the soldiers, and the other abominations. Whatever way this played out, he had to try.

[Ayen]

"I don't know if I can. Were this my world, yes, without a doubt. There are tricks up my sleeves and means at my disposal I could use against him if the nullifier were inactive, whether they'd have any effect or not, I simply do not know. If not, you can simply reactivate the nullifier. Bindings have never been my strong suit, mostly straight combat, but I could try. At the very least, I might be able to lure him away from here. But in order to do so, I need my magic."

Magic. A look of disgust temporarily took her features before being washed away and returned to the hardened facial expression of a trained killer. This man looked like he belonged in Jherrazad, not Isafaro.

"All I do know, is that without help, your men are going to die by the scores. I don't know if I can stop him, but I give you my word I shall try. The rest, is up to you."

Ayanna pulled out her radio and brought it to her lips, but before speaking into it she looked back to Nicodemus.

“I have one favor to ask. Should I die and become one of those things, kill me.”

She could think of no worse punishment than to be forced to live pass death as one one of THOSE terrible creatures. Ayanna wouldn't even wish that fate on General Vulture.

“This is Commander Ayanna Kaktas of the 212, deactivate the nullifier,” she said into the radio.

“But if we do that then the intruders–!

“Don't give me lip, soldier! Deactivate the nullifier now!”

“Yes, ma'am!”

The generators powered down and the energy wave that engulfed the building vanished as both the Necromancer and the Spokesman of Insanity would feel the full force of their power return to them. She could only hope that after the abominations the Spokesman would be able to be stopped. Ayanna wouldn't allow anymore of her people to die.

“Tell all remaining soldiers in the area to fall back,” she continued into the radio. “There's going to be a massacre.”

---

The creature lost its arm to the familiar but it caused its mutation to continue, evolving the creature with the more damage it took. The vines growing in strength and hardening until it was able to crush the tendril sent to him by the Spokesman and by the time the bullets hit, the vines were hard enough to withstand the onslaught of bullets as more vines shot forward, ripping through flesh and the black tendrils in his body. The monster heard a whisper in its head as well, the final order it would ever be given by the Crimson Vulture. It echoed and repeated itself over and over giving the monster no rest. Not until its mission was done.

Search and destroy!
SEARCH AND DESTROY!
SEARCH AND DESTROY!

[/i][/blockquote]

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

The vines hit him in the chest, the abdomen, one ripped through his arm throwing chunks of meat to the ground. His blood splattered every surface around him but his left arm stayed steadied and continued to fire until another vine hit him in the fist and blew apart his arm as it traveled through his flesh eventually ripping his arm free from his body.

His head dropped and hung low lifeless. The darkness began to fade, the hellhounds bellowed out for their master to wake. His body was thrown aside like worthless rotting meat. It hit the ground and slid leaving a fine blood trail. But as he came to a halt the body slowly sat up taking a knee then standing, "You are truly, a disappointment."

His eyes opened hallow and black. He shambled forward taking a step and watched as the vines shot for him yet again, this one hit him in the knee destroying it and causing his body to plummet to the ground the next one impaled him from the back and lifted him into the air.

The generators powered down. . .

Both of the hallow eye sockets began to burn deep red. The vines attempted to rip his body apart but it was far too late. His black apparel seemed to almost explode as hundreds upon thousands of beings burst from his body. The hell hounds, the lost soldiers of the damned, fallen angels, murdered countrymen, the serpent like tendrils snaked across the ground, bats swarmed the vine monster.

The body it once held was gone, in it's place rose a massive shell of power the very darkness that was apart of him was fully unleashed. Amongst the normal hounds rose the largest, hundreds of eyes covered it's husk, it's head lifted and snarled before it struck out smashing into the vine monster ripping at it with it's giant teeth.

"Baskerville... We meet again."

[Linx]

Nicodemus barely paused to acknowledge her words, but as the field powered down, his mind reached out to hers. 'You have my word, but I don't think you'd fall so easily. If you have this nullifier technology, can it be modified into ammo? A...suppressant of sorts. Something that can be delivered by one of your bullets to a target? If so, you might be able to weaken him even more for us to take him out.' he says, wondering if such a thing were possible. If not, it was no great loss, but if so, it was a gamble. It'd make this nation even more powerful, but it would help to put an end to further threats. Who knows, if he achieved a meeting with the General, he might be able to acquire some of this stuff for himself. Or at least a place to make his residence. He missed his castle, the security and peace it offered. This place was far too noisy for his liking.

As his power rushed back into him, the runes along his arms and armour flared into brilliant crimson light, and black fire swept forth to engulf another abomination as he turned his eyes and attention to a group of them. 'Bow down.' he asserted in their minds, his staff flaring brightly as it's magic raced into their being, dominating their weak minds, placing them under control of Nicodemus. "Very good. Now, go forth." he spoke after a few quick spells, sending them on their way. They would seek out Gabriel and assist him in destroying further abominations. Imbued with spells to bolster their physical abilities such as speed and strength, their endurance was also enhanced, and black fire dripped like liquid from their forms as they charged off. Once the other abominations were cleared, they would stand down, or turn on Gabriel, depending on how things went. Nicodemus himself raised himself to a nearby rooftop, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. Quickly he locked his attention onto Gabriel, and waited for his newest minions to arrive before him. They would speak for him, leaving him at a safe enough distance, for now.

[Ayen]

'You have my word, but I don't think you'd fall so easily. If you have this nullifier technology, can it be modified into ammo? A...suppressant of sorts. Something that can be delivered by one of your bullets to a target? If so, you might be able to weaken him even more for us to take him out.'

Not only was such a thing possible, it was already in development. Isafaro has already mastered energy weapons, all it took to make this possible was adapting the energy used in the generator into a weapon. The only thing she needed was time.

Hold out as long as you can, she replied mentally. I know what to do.

---

The swarm surrounded it, there was nowhere for it to run but it already knew that running was never an option. Its feet rooted into the ground and became one with it as the vines that hardened merged into it body as hard as rock as new vines grew over them like snake and as the swarms closed in it looked out ahead but it was not them that would make the charge.

It was the Baskerville hellhound.

The beast collided with the abomination, but it didn't budge. While most of its body has hardened dramatically the familiar showed its superior strength after the release from the generators powering down and manage to begin ripping through as behind the terrible monster of Vulture it could sense its fellow abominations marching towards the battlefield. And they were no longer on its side.

Vines shot out from the darkness and impaled the other abominations, taking control of their limbs, their bodies, and bending them to its will as they were beyond the Necromancer reach now. His instruments of destruction became the abomination's once more and they were sent through the air and into the darkness, one monster slamming into Baskerville forcing it back as the second monster in its possession moved to the Spokesman spewing its acid into the man's face followed by its massive razor sharped claws being manipulated by the vines.