[ March 01, 1985]
Operation: Tulipa Fosteriana (Zombie Tulip)
“The Saint” as they called him stood at the foot of the helicopter as it hovered over the lush green canopy of the Puerto Rican rain forest. “The Apostle” was also called into this mission to aid his fellow operative in any way necessary since this assignment would definitely require his special talents. Normally the church would not react to a cry for help with such a show of force….but this time…the cry was far to loud and the message was all to horrible to let pass on def ears.
The two men, one in an all black Catholic priest uniform the kind worn during exorcisms and the other dressed in a brown monks garb that looked centuries old leapt from the copters landing gear and onto the sandy beach floor of the tropical rainforest. The sun had begun to set and the loud moaning of the damned could already be heard emanating from deep with in the jungle. El Santo or the Saint reached behind his belt and pulled two chrome platted Desert Eagle .50’s from his holster and blessed them with a quick prayer.
“Never shall the blood of the innocent be shed...yet the blood of the wicked shall flow free and the two shall spread their blackened wings and be the vengeful striking hammer of god”
The Apostle like wise pulled from underneath his monk’s garment two long 18th century English swords forged in the fashion of Excalibur and blessed them with a prayer.
“And shepherds we shall be, for Thee, my Lord, for Thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command. So we shall flow a river forth unto Thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be, In Nomine Patris, Et Fili, Et Spiritus Sancti”
The weapons gleamed with a holy light for a brief moment and then the two followers of the faith dashed off into the thick of the jungle as the night sky consumed the warm tropical island and the stench of death and decay once more rose from up out the ground.
[Flash back / February 29, 1985]
Vatican: Council of the Prophets
Bishop Delatorre of Puerto Rico stands before the secret council and begins to unfold all that he has seen.
“My brothers, today the lord have blessed me to be able to recount for you the recent events of the Devils work in the island of Puerto Rico. A few months ago, a young boy from a village near Sierra Madre found a small flower, a flower that many of you will recognize as the Tulipa Fosteriana….the very same flower that was said to have grown over the grave of those who have been damned to walk the earth and spread Satan’s pestilence to the living.”
The eldest of the council members Cardinal Odama of South America nodded and added his concern by admitting that he too had witnessed the powers of the evil flower and had seen the destruction it had wrought.
“When I began my apprenticeship for the council of Prophets I witnessed with my own eyes the power that the evil one wields and saw how he mutated god’s gift to man and with a single flower took away his promise to us of eternal life. This flower it grows on a single grave and the body of that grave is resurrected through unholy magic, from that one creature entire villages have been condemned to eternal hell. For once tainted with the blood of the undead our own souls become impure and incapable of receiving grace. What is worse, is that these flowers can not grow alone or with out being summoned to life. A witch or warlock must call forth the darkness and the evil seed must be planted upon an appropriate body.”
With wide eyes the gathered council members turn back to Bishop Delatorre as he continues with his dire message.
“Cardinal Odama is correct, and such witches live in the jungles of Puerto Rico practicing the islands ancient black rituals of magic. One such witch, La Bruja de Isla Verde, as they call her was the one to plant the flower. La Bruja used the grave of her recently deceased brother who has was killed by the military during a recent coup to over throw the government. Fueled by hatred for both the government and the rebels she tried to resurrect her lost family member but used an evil method to do so. She was not aware of what the Tulipa could actually do besides raise the dead. As of this very moment the disease has spread across a large portion of the inner jungle, only the indigenous people who live in the jungle itself have been consumed by the disease. The government of Puerto Rico found that this has reached into the cities, and instead of spending their resources to cure or protect their citizens they have quarantined most of the island from the areas that have not yet been affected and have essentially left many innocent lives to the godless creatures of the night, in hopes that after 42 hours there will be no normal populace left and a wide scale decimation of the tainted area can begin. For this reason I have come to you my brothers of the faith to call up on both the Saint and the Apostle so that the cleansing hand of god may save the many souls that have yet to be tainted…..”