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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 24, 2010 16:07:04 GMT -5
“No—no, Hellboy wouldn’t—”
She wanted to tell them they were wrong, that events couldn’t have unfolded like they claimed. They didn’t know him like she did. They had to be wrong, they just had to be. But she couldn’t deny that the proof was sitting right in front of her. And a little voice in the back of her mind reminded her of Hellboy’s letter, causing her to squirm in her seat.
How could Hellboy have let someone charm him and manipulate him like that? He hadn’t let Rasputin do it; he hadn’t let Hecate do it. How was this Zurg any different from them? Her eyes drifted to the reports again, the words Evil Emperor Zurg springing up occasionally in the sea of text.
She let her fingers drift along the edges of the grainy photograph. Half of her wanted it all to be true because it meant she would see him again, but the other half dreaded the fact and wished this was all just a nightmare she would soon wake from.
“Trapped?” she repeated, feeling numb. She looked up at the two militants. “Does that mean that... we can’t go back?”
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 25, 2010 6:26:07 GMT -5
The two Rangers watched Liz go through the denial, go through the process of sorting the pieces that they didn’t know in the puzzle, go through the feeling of being torn between two wishes. It was a series of steps that Buzz knew all too well. Hadn’t he been through those exact same steps when Warp had revealed himself as Zurg’s agent? It was a heartbreaking process, one that no one should have to go through.
Erin didn’t have quite the same level of heart-understanding that Buzz did, but she still knew how much it hurt to have someone that you loved “on the other side.” She felt her heart ache for Liz, wishing that she could do something to make it all right. But… that was why Liz was here.
Erin’s eyes lit up as if she was a kid with a secret… well, in all fairness, she pretty much was. Then she forced herself to tamp down her excitement – she couldn’t get her hopes up, and she couldn’t Liz’s hopes up, either. “Not quite,” she said, managing to keep her voice calm. “The door’s open right now, though there’s no telling just how long it’ll stay that way.”
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “You see, my time-travel, Hellboy’s time-travel, your time-travel… they’re all by different methods. Hellboy and I were one-way tickets – well, at least, we’re pretty sure Hellboy’s was a one-way ticket. We still don’t know how exactly he got here, but it’s a fair guess to say that, by design or even by total accident, Zurg had something to do with it. My story… well, that’s long and involved, and we won’t get into that right now.”
Now Erin was warming up. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that the relation between Buzz and Erin wasn’t biological – they could be too much alike at times.
“But. You are a different case, Liz. Remember I said in the machine room that bringing you here was my idea? It’s because I thought that you could reach Hellboy in a way that we can’t – from all that I could gather in my research, you two were close. So we got a team of scientists together to work on a machine that could really send people through time.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, though it should be noted that it was less her facial expressions and more her hand gestures that conveyed her emotions. Erin used a lot of body language, and gestures formed a big part of her communication.
“Last night, we had a breakthrough: we sent a probe-bot back to the 21st century. And we not only sent it out – we brought it back. It’s a two-way ticket, Liz. Then we sent the probe back – invisible – with a sample of your DNA from a military archive. The probe positively identified you, and we pulled you through.”
“Right after you two left that room,” Buzz interjected, “they brought the probe-bot back again.”
“Uh-huh,” Erin nodded. “So at the moment, it’s entirely possible that you can go back to our time, Liz.” Her mood suddenly took more solemn turn. “Actually, that’s a choice you have. We won’t force you to try to help Hellboy – you have to do that willingly. And if you don’t want to, we’ll send you back. Now, if you stay – if you can get through to Hellboy and everything turns out all right – we can send you both back if you so choose.” She held up a warning hand. “Provided that the machine still works. I’m not gonna lie to you – it’s experimental technology. It’s time-travel, for stars’ sakes. Things can go wrong, very wrong. If the machine is still in perfect working order, we can give you that option… but we can’t make any promises.” Erin spread out her hands, palms up. “The fact is, this whole thing is risky, no matter how you look at it.”
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 26, 2010 3:51:06 GMT -5
Her temper flared slightly at the fact that a sample of her DNA had been kept without her knowledge, but it wasn’t as if she could do anything about it now. But as they continued to explain the reason for bringing her here, a sensation of dread began to creep up on her.
“So... you want me to talk to him. Get through to him somehow. Is that right?”
Truth be told, she and Hellboy had been close. Not as close as some would imagine, but closer than usual. People at the Bureau would talk about it, and it was scary how close to the mark they were sometimes. Abe had known. Kate had suspected something, but had never asked her about it. Dear, dear Roger, in his innocence, hadn’t suspected a thing. And Johann and Daimio had been recent additions to the team who had never met Hellboy so had either never heard the rumours or had simply chosen to ignore them.
But if she could actually see him again... despite having to leave all the others behind in their greatest time of need, she had to take that risk. Knowing that he was somewhere out there had comforted her in the past, but now that she knew the truth—and he was in way over his head by the sounds of it—she couldn’t just leave. She would never forgive herself if she did.
She moistened her lips and drew a deep breath. “It’s a chance I’ll have to take. He’d do the same for me.”
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 26, 2010 5:52:02 GMT -5
Buzz just nodded. Erin quietly replied, “That’s why you’re here.”
Both Rangers’ faces brightened slightly. “All right,” Buzz nodded again.
He took a deep breath and let it out. “Hoookay… Um… do you want to watch the videos now? There are… what, two?”
“Three,” Erin corrected.
“Oh, three, right.”
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 26, 2010 7:29:31 GMT -5
“Videos?” Liz looked from Buzz to Erin questioningly. “What kind of videos?”
Did she even want to know?
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 26, 2010 11:31:07 GMT -5
“One is a digital recording from my robot teammate, XR,” Buzz replied. “It’s actually two brief scenes spliced together from the night that I first met Hellboy.”
“The other two are from Team Lightyear’s mission camcorder,” Erin added. “The first one is of the wedding, the second one is of Captain Genius here’s –” jerk of the head toward Buzz – “little attempt at revenge.”
“It wasn’t –”
“Yes, it was, Buzz!” Erin overrode him, something that she didn’t often do. Eyes flashing, she continued, “It was stupid and dangerous! You were still recovering from the night before, and you weren’t thinking straight!”
“You would’ve gone, too, and don’t you dare tell me you wouldn’t’ve!” Buzz shot back.
“Bad, baaad argument, Captain,” she smirked humorlessly. “You’re twenty years my senior and you have as many years of experience under your belt. You knew better.”
And it was hard for Buzz to come up with an answer to that, because his sister was right. He turned to stare at the wall for several seconds, then finally said, his voice even, “Ranger Frame, I would appreciate it if you would keep such remarks to yourself until we are off-duty.”
Erin bit her lip back, knowing that Buzz was just as right about her conduct as she was about his. “Yes, sir,” she said in a small voice.
Buzz’s voice softening slightly, he turned to Liz and said, “Sorry you had to see that. When Erin first arrived, I adopted her as my sister so that she could have a surgery. Over time, we really did become siblings, and we act like it, whether we’re off-duty or on-duty.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair (and he still couldn’t believe how easily the gesture came to him). “So… how about those videos? The second and third won’t be easy to watch, but I think you need to see them. If nothing else, there’ll probably be nuances of Hellboy there that you’d know that we wouldn’t.”
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 27, 2010 3:48:58 GMT -5
Liz’s brow furrowed. “But if you’re from my time, couldn’t you go back seeing as the portal’s still open?” she asked Erin. “Adoption or no adoption?”
She didn’t know the specifics of how the younger woman had gotten here, but she’d assume that if she were in her place, she’d want to see her friends again. Or at least get word to them somehow to let them know that she was all right.
“Or—wait,” she suddenly recalled. “You were going to get married.” A chill crept down her spine. “Just how long have you been here?”
She turned back to Buzz when he addressed her, then nodded, sighing almost imperceptibly. “Better get them over and done with,” she agreed.
This would be the final confirmation to see if they were actually telling her the truth. If she could just see and hear Hellboy, she would know for sure.
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 27, 2010 6:50:58 GMT -5
Erin looked down at her folded hands on the table. “Twenty-two months now.” She unfolded her hands to show Liz her left hand – more specifically, the engagement and wedding bands that rested on her ring finger. “Like I said, Liz,” she sighed, “it’s a long story. Despite all that’s happened to you now, you probably won’t believe all of it. I’ll still tell you – sometime – but not right now.” For a moment, she looked much older than she really was, her eyes holding a lot of memory and not all of it good. Then she brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, and the moment was gone.
“Okay,” Buzz nodded. He took out a small DDD (Digital Data Disc) and popped it into the laptop’s drive, then moved the laptop so that Liz could see it. Erin moved around the table and settled at Liz’s side to watch.
The picture resolved itself into a split image, the right side being the scared face of a redheaded, blue-skinned young woman, the left side the worried face of a man in his sixties or older. There was a white border around the picture, which the Rangers knew to be the edges of XR’s communicator. “That’s Mira Nova, Buzz’s copilot,” Erin explained, pointing. “And that’s our commander.”
----“Almost there, Mira – just getting Booster into uniform!” came a robotic voice from “over the camera.”
“And that’s XR,” Buzz added.
----There was a small measure of crashing in the background. The Commander frowned and said, “Holy nova, Mira, what’s goin’ on? Where’s Buzz??”
----"Thank goodness!” Mira replied. She was still scared, but obviously relieved, as well. “We have a huge problem here. Buzz was dragged into a lake by one of Zurg's robots and now he's...he's..." Pause. "In pretty bad shape."
----Hellboy’s voice could be heard in the background of the transmission, saying, "Oh, just move out of the way!"
----“Who’s that?” XR and the Commander demanded together.
----"It's just a friend, XR,” Mira rushed to reply, casting a glance to the side. “Just someone who's going to help Buzz."
----"Where's the closest building we can take him to?" Hellboy’s voice demanded. "Spit it out, people. We need to get him warmed up before he dies on us."
----“DIES??” came Booster’s distressed yell from “off-stage.” “BUZZ!!”
----CRASH!!
----“Oh great, he fainted,” XR grumbled. In a louder voice, he said, “Whatever’s happened to Buzz, he’s not gonna die. ‘Kay, Mira? He’s not gonna die.” ----The Commander’s answer was more decisive. “Mira, you’re just a block away from Buzz’s old apartment – the one he grew up in. He still owns it, and there should be a key card in his wallet. It’s upstairs, Number 1138. It’s on Emeryville Street – there’s a sign out-front the building that says ‘Emery Apartments.’ Get him there, and hurry! I’ll call back for an update in five minutes. Nebula out.”
The picture cut into a new one.
----A white blur shot past the screen and crashed into the wall opposite the “camera.” The image zoomed toward the large alien stuck in the wall, and a pair of white robot arms appeared, pulling the alien out.
“That’s Booster,” Buzz explained. “And the arms are XR’s.”
----Then the picture turned away to see an interesting group of people – Mira, a cowboy, Hellboy holding a soaked and bluish Buzz, and a tall purple being.
“That’s Woody, a detective,” Buzz further explained, pointing again. “And that’s Zurg.”
----“Hey, guys – sorry we’re late,” XR apologized. “Pops is sending an ambulance over – it should be here in a few minutes, and we’ll get him to the nearest hospital.”
----“Buzz!” Booster moaned from behind. “He’s gonna be all right now, right?”
----XR sidestepped the question by saying, “Lemme plug into the wall here and turn on the heat here, big guy.” Booster moved obligingly, and XR plugged into the outlet. A few seconds, and he moved away, the image moving down a short “hall” and ending at a sparsely-outfitted bedroom. “Let’s put ‘im in here,” XR advised. “Set him on the bed and I’ll get my emergency kit out.” And out popped a medkit with an assortment of equipment.
----The camera now focused on Buzz and Hellboy as the demon set Buzz down on the bed. "Before you tend to him we need to get him into some dry clothes,” said Hellboy. “The fact that he's still wet is only making things worse." A minute later, Hellboy had procured a towel and a pair of pajamas…
----And XR promptly turned away. A message scrolled across the screen: XR TURNED AWAY AND DID NOT RECORD THIS PART FOR THE SAKE OF BUZZ’S PRIVACY.
Erin stifled a giggle, and Buzz shot her a look.
----The picture cut one more time, to XR watching Hellboy pull the comforter over Buzz. "Your cue now, bot," said Hellboy, stepping back.
Then the picture faded out.
“Apparently,” Buzz said quietly, “it was a bit after that that the other Rangers arrived and Zurg and Hellboy disappeared.”
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 28, 2010 2:53:14 GMT -5
That was almost... two years. Liz felt a chill creep down her spine. But she nodded in understanding all the same. Now wasn’t the time or the place to delve into Erin’s past. There might be time for that later... time Liz wasn’t entirely sure she wanted.
But Lightyear had already popped a disc into the laptop and turned it towards her, so Liz focused her gaze upon the screen, gripping at the edge of the tabletop as Erin slipped into the seat beside her. She took in the unknown names and faces, trying to understand the situation unravelling before her eyes, then drew in her breath with a hiss when she first heard Hellboy’s voice.
It was him! No one could ever hope to replicate that voice. It was just the way she remembered it—that deep, rumbling baritone that could be so soft in private yet sound ferocious in battle. And that sounded just like something Hellboy would say too. He was in that no-nonsense mode now, gauging the time they had left, using his experience to prevent the inevitable... she had heard him use it countless times on missions when fellow agents had been wounded. She inched closer to the table, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, just to be sure.... just to be sure...
The scene shifted, and more people came into view. Alien beings Liz would have never dreamed existed—and Hellboy. Her fingers clenched the tabletop tighter. He was still wearing that familiar beige BPRD-issue overcoat, though it was more worn and tattered than she remembered, and those bulky black shorts too. He was also still shirtless—it looked like some things never changed—and was clutching the man sitting across from her in his arms. It reminded her of how many times he had tended to agents and civilians before they could get them proper treatment. He had always been overprotective.
She watched the rest of the events unfold before the video was finally cut off. She looked down at her hands, noticing that the knuckles had turned white, before drawing them back, chewing on her lower lip. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. She hadn’t expected that seeing and hearing him again, and just in a video, would have caused such a reaction in her.
“Zurg?” she finally managed to croak once she was sure she had a grip on herself. “The one dressed in purple?”
If Hellboy had indeed changed as much as they claimed when he had sounded just like his old self here—her chest throbbed painfully—she would show this Zurg no mercy. She felt her temper beginning to flare dangerously, never a good sign, but she clenched her hands into fists to quell the flames that wanted to spring forth.
“What happened after this? Where did he take him? What did he do to him?” She tried to keep her voice steady, but it was hard when her fire was threatening to come to the surface. If someone tried to touch her now, they would probably be burned by the heat she was emitting.
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 28, 2010 6:00:55 GMT -5
((Long post is very long. ^^))
“Uh-huh,” Buzz said slowly, watching Liz. He and Erin had read enough about Liz Sherman to know that making her angry could be dangerous. He fleetingly felt bad for Zurg – if the two were to meet at this moment, Buzz was pretty sure that the Evil Emperor would come out the worse for it.
Buzz and Erin traded uneasy glances behind Liz’s peripheral vision, both sensing the storm roiling just beneath the surface. “Like I said, we don’t know,” Buzz answered carefully. “Around noon the next day, we have a couple of witnesses who saw him at Cosmo’s, a restaurant. Between this and then, and then and the wedding at…” Buzz did some quick calculating: “nearly twenty-hundred hours by Capital City Time, we can’t account for where he was or who he was with.”
He shook his head. “Liz, it’d be easy for me to hate Hellboy after everything that happened… but there are three factors that hold that back. One is that he saved my life. Two is that he used to be a hero, like me.” Buzz smirked at himself. “I identify with that. Three, though… three is the most important, and you’re going to have to watch the next video and all the bad stuff that happens in it to get to that factor.”
Erin winced. If she hadn’t been sure before, she was now – Liz was going to take this so hard.
Buzz selected the video titled simply, “Wedding,” and pressed Play.
----The image was focused on the front-center of a church sanctuary. A pastor stood in the middle, and there were several Space Rangers – Team Lightyear included – clustered around. On the pastor’s right stood Erin, arrayed in a simple but beautiful white gown and wearing her clan tartan. On the pastor’s left stood a tall, stocky, blue-skinned man with blue-black hair.
“That’s Warp Darkmatter, my husband,” Erin told Liz, pointing.
----“Do you, Erin Elisheba Frame,” the pastor was saying, “take this man to be your lawfully-wedded husband: for richer or poorer; in sickness and in health; to love, honor, and cherish, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?”
----“I do.”
----Then the image focused on her as her formerly-radiant face froze, her whole body clearly tensing.
----"Oh,” came a gut-wrenchingly familiar voice, “as much as I hate having to break such a gushingly heart-wrenching moment... I'm afraid I'm going to have to put a stop to all this before I puke."
Anger flashed across Buzz’s face, if only briefly. Erin showed no emotion whatsoever – there were too many roiling inside for any one emotion to surface.
----A faint shimmer like a heat-wave, and Hellboy materialized beside Erin, smirking broadly. "One wrong move, and the bride gets it." His left hand was covered in some sort of gun aimed at the small crowd, and his stone hand was wrapped around Erin’s head. Her face blank of emotion, she mouthed his name.
----Buzz slowly slipped behind Booster, and the camera caught him phasing out of visibility. Meantime, Mira had her wrist-ray up as soon as Hellboy appeared, but dropped her hand once he threatened Erin. Warp looked as if he’d taken a punch to the gut, though he glared fiercely at the intruder. Erin actually showed no signs of fear – if anything, her face darkened.
----That all happened in the space of two seconds, and Hellboy spoke again. "And I warn you, I've crushed skulls as easily as a child crushes flowers." He chuckled slightly. "What an ironic comparison, eh?"
----Behind him, Mira phased down through the floor, and the top of her head and her hands reappeared briefly just behind Erin as she grabbed Erin’s ankles and ghosted her down through the floor.
“Mira’s a Tangean Royal,” Erin explained, her voice, well, flat. “Her race can phase through things like ghosts – we call it ghosting.” Buzz glanced at his sister – her face had hardened slightly. …He hated that look. Erin had grown up, and she’d seen and experienced things that no one should have to, let alone someone as young as she was.
----Warp moved instantly, throwing a hard punch at Hellboy’s jaw… and recoiling in pain from it. He tried to tackle Hellboy with his shoulder into the demon’s spine, but… "Ha! Is that the best you've got?" the agent taunted.
----"Hardly." Warp was starting to move again, but Hellboy grabbed Warp’s shoulder, whirled him forward onto Hellboy’s knee, and cuffed the small of Warp’s back with his stone hand. SNAP! Hellboy let Warp drop to the floor.
----"Pathetic. Not at all what I expected from Zurg's ex-agent." The demon pouted. "You ruined all my fun now. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to speed things up faster than I'd calculated."
Buzz and Erin both winced at this point. If the first half-minute had been hard for Liz, the “bad” factor was about to be ratcheted up a few notches.
----The “gun” that Hellboy’s gauntlet was morphed into was a flamethrower. He torched the decorations every which way, even torched the pastor’s robes. And he laughed.
Buzz closed his eyes, his right hand clenching into a fist. A trembling fist. He took a shaky breath, feeling that fury come rushing back, even after nearly four weeks of it mostly lying dormant. He wanted to help Hellboy if he could, just as he had wanted to help Warp. But sometimes, the anger just rose, and he had to push it back.
----A green-skinned alien girl was helping the pastor get out of his burning robes and talking in low, urgent tones with him. He quickly moved out of the camera’s view.
----A brown-haired human man knelt at Warp’s side and probed his back, also speaking quietly with him.
----Commander Nebula, Booster, XR, and another blue-skinned but blond-haired Ranger all held blasters at Hellboy.
----The human Ranger turned to his companions and said, “Booster! Gonna need you to snap Warp back.”
----Booster grimaced. “Oooo… okaaay…” He hurried over to the two men and gently picked up Warp. As carefully as he could, he started bending… SNAP! Booster practically screamed at what his own hands had just done, but Warp was at least now “bent” back into shape.
----Out of nowhere came a voice as frigid as the Arctic. “Disturbance of the peace, attempted murder, and arson. Well, congratulations, Hellboy – you’ve got yourself a rap sheet.”
----Hellboy was hurled backwards with an “Oof!” – his thrusters kicking in and keeping him afloat as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes narrowed as he looked around… then recognition lit them. "Add vandalism to the list, Lightyear," he smirked. "Pretty low of you, to attack me like that. At least I became visible again to make my move. And here I thought you were a man of honour."
----“Sure, I am, but I can fight dirty, too,” Buzz’s voice snarled.
----"Well, that makes two of us then." Hellboy’s flamethrower morphed into a similar but different weapon. "Why don't you come and face me like a man? Or are you too scared to face me head on?"
----“There’s a difference between courage and stupidity,” Buzz retorted. “Drop the weapons, hands only, and you’re on.”
----"All right then, Lightyear." Hellboy drifted back to the ground and switched his thrusters off, demorphing his left hand and assuming a fighting stance. "Let's see how long you'll be able to stand up against me."
----“As long as I have to.” Starting with the head, the cloaker scrolled away, and Buzz lowered himself to a defensive opening stance, blue eyes gleaming viciously.
----“Right then. Hope you don't mind if I start." Hellboy leapt forwards, right hand clenched into a fist as he swung his arm back and socked Buzz right in the abdomen.
----“AAGGHH!!” But almost not missing a beat, Buzz back-flipped, his feet catching Hellboy’s chin as he whipped heels over head.
----Hellboy took a step back, rubbing his chin. "Hey, hey, not bad.” Buzz landed on all fours and rose to his feet, apprehension flashing across his face. "But let's see how you handle this." He darted to the side, ending up behind the Ranger, then jumped forward and swung back his right hand, slapping Buzz in the back and off his feet. As he stepped back, his left hand morphed into a blaster that shot a crackling sphere of yellow energy at the Ranger, who had just rolled onto his side to see the barrel pointing at him. The energy enveloped Buzz completely, and he bit back what could only have been a scream. Two seconds later, he spat out a word that the video immediately bleeped out.
----Hand morphing back to normal, Hellboy shrugged expansively. "Sorry, Lightyear, but orders are orders." He noticed the wedding cake and broke off a large chunk, slipping it into a plastic bag that he placed onto one of the several pockets on his belt. "If I have to fight dirty, I'll fight dirty. Anything to get the job done."
----“Yeah,” Buzz gritted out, obviously struggling to stay conscious. “You’re a real hero.” Unable to hold it any longer, his head dropped to the floor, eyes closed.
----"If you want to fight dirty then, how about this?" Mira ran forward, jumping high into the air and kicking Hellboy with all her might in the side of the head.
----As she moved, a dual-toned voice taunted, "You don't know the half of it, Princess."
---- Hellboy stepped back at the force of the blow, grabbed Mira's ankle, and hurled her across the room. "Not bad at all," he said admiringly. "I think we've got the concept of dirty fighting already covered..." He pressed the emblem on the center of his chest, and there was a loud rumbling from outside. Huge red-and-black combat ‘bots swarmed inside, leveling their weapons at the group. "Beetles, attack them," Hellboy ordered, his lips twisting.
----The Rangers all whirled to deal with this new threat, lasers primed. XR sprung out his whole cadre of blasters while still spraying the fire-extinguisher.
----A small emerald bolt sizzled just past Hellboy’s head and hit an ornament behind, vaporizing it. A raw shout, young and female but commanding – and familiar – lashed out. “NO!!” The camera swerved to take in the newcomer, dressed in the same white armor the other Rangers were wearing. …It was Erin, and the rifle in her hands was aimed at Hellboy. “Call them off,” she ordered, shifting the rifle slightly so that she was staring directly down its scope again. “Or I’ll blow you to chaos.”
----"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hellboy asked quietly, taking a step forward. His whole demeanor was changed now – from the malevolence of a few moments before to closer to what he’d been in the first video. "If you do this, you know there's no turning back."
----“Taking a life doesn’t make me a killer,” she replied firmly.
----"Well, for your sake, I hope you're right," he said softly, just above a whisper. "But for some people, it's a changing point, and they're never quite the same again after that." Then a plasma bolt really did hit him – in the arm. The camera swerved to see Warp lowering his rifle.
----As startled as anyone else, Erin screamed, “Warp, you IDIOT!”
Buzz smirked slightly, resting his left hand over his mouth.
----"Never mind then," Hellboy said brusquely, straightening. "I'm not calling back those Beetles." He spread his arms open wide. "I dare you to shoot me, if you've got the guts to."
One look at Erin at that moment would have revealed a pair of hard, hard brown eyes.
----Her face now very, very white, she looked up just a bit from the scope and said, “Ain’t about guts, Hellboy. I do what I have to do to protect my family.” She looked back into the scope, her trigger finger moving briefly at the side of the gun. She fired a low blast, the bolt hitting the “Z” insignia on Hellboy’s suit. He recoiled, grimacing in pain as he clutched at his chest. But the emblem quickly flowed back into its previous form like a viscous liquid... only this time, instead of the Z symbol, the eerie red eye took its place, glaring at them all balefully.
----“Call them off,” she repeated, desperation just beginning to color her otherwise calm voice. “I don’t want to kill you, Hellboy. Just call them off and go home. A girl’s wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of her life – well, guess what. You successfully ruined it. Objective accomplished. Now please. Just go home.”
----Buzz managed to push himself up so that he was leaning on one elbow on the floor. “Listen to her, Red,” he urged quietly.
----Hellboy began to chuckle weakly, but the chuckle quickly became a fit of bitter laughter. "Home?" he spat, his voice rising shrilly. "I don't have a home to go to! After all this is over you'll go back to your comfortable little lives like nothing ever happened, but for me there's nothing left to go to! I'm stuck here! I'm stuck here and I can't do anything about it!"
“That’s it,” Buzz said quietly.
Erin cast a sympathetic but significant glance at Liz. Liz, this is what we were talking about. I know it’s hard, and I’m sorry, I wish I could have done something then, I wish I can do something now, but that’s why you’re here, and why we need you…
----“Holy mother of Venus, you’re a TIME-TRAVELER??” Erin cried.
----Hellboy drew a deep, heaving breath, his hands clenching into fists. "So excuse me while I refuse," he said ominously. "And this wedding won't be considered ruined until this entire building is a pile of rubble!"
----“NO, NOT THE CHURCH!!” Erin screamed, lowering her gun and running to Buzz’s side.
----Flicking a switch on his belt, Hellboy kicked off into the air as his thruster pack whirred to life. Airborne now, he flicked another, and dual shoulder-mounted gatling cannons decompressed from his pauldrons. He twisted the knob sharply and shot twice, hitting the walls and ceilings with his missiles. There was a loud rumbling as the building began to shake and cracks began to snake across all surfaces, rocks and other debris crumbling down into the room. "Now it's been ruined," he smiled mirthlessly, pounding at the already precarious wall with a stone fist and making his getaway through his makeshift opening.
----Erin froze, Buzz calling her name repeatedly to get through to her.
----A blood-curdling cackle that the Rangers knew all too well emanated from Hellboy’s suit, the faint ringing echoing ominously as he sped off into the night. "Hahahahahahahahaha~!"
----“NNOO!! NONONO!” Erin was crumpled on the floor beside her brother… and crying.
----Desperate, Buzz was shaking her. “ERIN!! SNAP OUT OF IT!!”
----"Everyone, get out or take cover!! Booster!" Warp dropped his rifle and ran.
----Erin stared at Buzz, her already-big brown eyes now wide and slightly wild. “My dress,” she whispered.
----There was a horrible foreknowledge and devastating helplessness in Buzz’s eyes. Erin scrambled to her feet and bolted for the stairs. “NO! ERIN!!” Buzz screamed.
----Warp shook Booster to get his attention before shouting, "Get Petra and get Buzz and the pastor out, NOW!"
…Buzz paused the video, unable to watch anymore. He couldn’t see Erin and Mira get hurt again.
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 29, 2010 5:07:03 GMT -5
Liz nodded, not trusting herself to speak, as she repeated a mantra over and over again in her head. Slowly, her muscles relaxed, and her pulse returned to normal, and she felt the warmth in her flesh recede, leaving her feeling decidedly colder than before. She crossed her arms again, pulling her tan jacket tighter against her chest.
“All right,” she said, and she was glad that her voice was steady now. “I’m ready.”
Buzz fiddled around on the laptop a bit, then turned the screen back to them.
Liz took in the scene with a set expression, recalling the few things she had read in the report and steeling herself against what was to come. But nothing could have prepared her for just how different Hellboy was from one video to the other.
The moment she heard his voice, so chilling, so condescending, she felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. Even more startling was when he materialized and had his right hand wrapped around Erin’s head. Liz stiffened, her breath catching in her throat. She knew how strong he was. If he’d wanted to, all he’d have to do was flex his fingers and crush Erin’s skull like a normal person would squeeze a tomato.
Liz frowned and leaned forward, peering at the image.
Though Hellboy’s stone fingers were indeed wrapped around the back of Erin’s head, Liz could tell that his touch was in fact quite delicate. It was the way he held newborn kittens or children—a strong grip indeed, but gentle and extremely careful. The pyrokinetic wasn’t sure what kind of game Hellboy was playing at, but it was obvious by his demeanour that he wasn’t trying to actually harm anyone fatally.
Liz was momentarily taken aback by the blue-skinned woman, Mira, who passed through the floor, but thankful for Erin’s explanation. She noted that the girl’s voice had become deadpan, unemotional. She rather felt like that herself. She couldn’t trust herself to even speak right now, keeping her eyes glued to the screen.
Liz flinched when Hellboy floored the blue-skinned man, Warp, and then visibly recoiled when flames filled the screen, her mouth opening slightly in surprise. She had never heard him laugh like that before, and it sent a chill through her unlike anything else. She didn’t know what to think after that and could only continue to watch in horror as he battled with Lightyear, then with the Tangean, and then pause when Erin just missed shooting at his head.
Hellboy’s demeanour at this point shifted entirely, echoing the man Liz knew—and her eyes widened in dawning realization. That had been the exact same thing he had told her on their first joint mission. He had asked her if she was absolutely sure she wanted to kill the man they’d gone after when they realised that he would rather die than be taken in. She had replied rather bitterly that the demon’s question was a stupid one when she had already killed over thirty when her powers had first manifested. Hellboy hadn’t said anything else—how could he have when they both knew that she had been right?—but the look on his face as she burned the man to ashes had said otherwise and had haunted Liz on many a sleepless night.
She focused her attention back to the screen, just in time to hear the rest of the conversation, to catch Warp’s futile attempt at distracting Hellboy, then shiver at his shrill laughter, sharp and foreign in her ears, to his bitter statement of never being able to go home again.
It all made a strange sort of sense now. Hellboy had probably felt as confused as her, perhaps even more so, to find himself a millennia in the future. To discover that everything you ever knew and loved was gone, just gone, having slipped from your fingers as easily as water, powerless to do anything. He had had nothing else to lose, having already lost everything he ever knew in one instant. Liz... she had people here to explain what had happened. Hellboy might have not had anyone to explain before Zurg found him... unless this Zurg knew about Hellboy’s potential and had brought him here purposefully.
Somehow, that thought was even more chilling that what could have happened to the cosmos if Hellboy had never been brought to the future.
Lightyear put a stop to the video, and the silence was nearly deafening. Liz kept clenching and unclenching her hands in her laps. She wasn’t quite sure how to digest this second video. She had to admit, in this video, Hellboy’s attitude had absolutely terrified her. It had displayed a side of him that she had never even seen before. . His personality couldn’t have changed so drastically in the span of a mere twenty-four hours. Whatever had caused this change in him had been several years in the making. Just what had happened to him all those years alone then? How could someone be so different and yet still be the same as the way she remembered? It was as if he had been two entirely different people.
She didn’t know what to think any more.
“And the third?” she whispered, dreading to discover whether anything could be worse than what she had already seen.
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 29, 2010 6:33:38 GMT -5
Buzz’s hand slowly moved to open the next video, but Erin’s much smaller hand stopped him. “Buzz, wait,” she said. She turned to Liz, her face not so much sympathetic as… empathetic… Erin still didn’t have the same level of understanding that Buzz did, but she understood.
“Liz, I know it’s bad,” she said softly, “but it’s gonna be okay. I know it.” Forgetting all self-reserve, she moved forward and gently wrapped her arms around Liz in a light hug.
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 29, 2010 6:40:36 GMT -5
Liz blinked, not having expected Erin to hug her. “Thanks,” she mumbled, hugging her back momentarily before drawing away. Liz wasn’t one for much physical contact—it put her on edge and made her feel uneasy—but she appreciated the younger woman’s gesture all the same.
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Post by Skyfire on Mar 29, 2010 14:12:11 GMT -5
Seeming to understand that, Erin withdrew with a slight nod. She stopped the wedding video and selected the video titled “Planet Z.” Before pressing play, though, she said, “There’s a lot here, and some of it you probably won’t understand – craters, not even Buzz understands it all. And as far as Hellboy goes… well… he and Buzz fight.” She cast a significant glance at her brother before continuing, “You can guess how that went.” Buzz just threw her a returning glare.
The video began, the image taking in Buzz, Booster, and XR – Buzz wearing heavy-duty blue armor.
----"Lightyear!" a dual-toned voice boomed from “off-stage”, cheerful and boisterous.
----“Zurg,” Buzz returned quietly, nodding once, his face impassive.
----The camera swerved to take in the Evil Emperor himself upon his high throne. Smiling wickedly, Zurg sprang to his feet, arms stretched over head. "It's so good of you to...ehehe...sneak in..." Zurg’s voice lowered slightly as he rubbed his hands conspiratorially. "I hope you don't mind that my new Anti-Cloaking Scramblers render your Star Command-grade cloaking devices useless--with all the charged neutrinos and what not. I had them installed after the entire underworld of crime learned about the Raenok fiasco on, well, Raenok...But enough of that! What I want to know is why you're down my jolly, evil neck of space~!" he said cordially, raising a hand to his mouth. "Don't you have a wedding to attend--oh silly me!" Zurg gasped, as if catching himself in a mistake. "It was canceled; my....mistake," the man remarked sweetly, chuckling.
----The camera briefly caught Buzz clenching a slightly trembling fist before returning to Zurg.
----"But I digress; you're here for something else, aren't you. Something...more important." With a snap of Zurg’s fingers, all the huge monitors high above flickered to life to reveal a bandaged girl lying on a hospital bed, unconscious. Erin. "You're here for your precious, darling, adopted sister," Zurg cooed, shaking his head and chuckling. "Of all the foolish things to come down here for, that has GOT to be the most foolish I've ever seen! Even more so than the time the Tangean Princess came down here with her new, energy-based powers--and you do know how that turned out, don't you." His chuckles ceasing, he stood erect, his shadow looming over the Space Rangers.
Buzz turned away from the screen, too angry for a moment to watch. The sheer callousness… just enraged him like few things could.
----“As I recall,” Buzz said, deliberately but with a definite note of rawness, “it resulted in the top of the tower blowing because Mira overloaded the Zurgalator. Just how many times have you lost the top, anyway.”
----"Yes, the overloading portion I will admit was my mistake, but regardless I'm still here, aren't I~?"
----“But you finally managed to score a direct hit this time, after twenty years.” Buzz made a sweeping, immaculate – and mocking – bow. “Congratulations, Your Evilness.” He straightened and began to walk slowly, deliberately towards the throne, face hard, eyes blazing blue fire. “My sister is less the reason and more the catalyst – though don’t think for one moment that I didn’t want to throttle the living daylights out of you for what happened to her.” Still steadily moving forward, his hand strayed to the pistol holstered at his hip in classic Western style. “I can’t – I won’t let you hurt other people anymore. Both Erin and Mira could have died tonight, and it’s not even the first time. When’s it going to end, Zurg?” He was very close to the throne now. “How far would you carry this stupid vendetta with Warp? Would it be all the way to the children they want to have??”
----"When's it going to end?" The Evil Emperor let out an eerie, sadistic chuckle, shaking his head at Buzz. "It should have ended approximately five decades ago, Lightyear, if you really want to know." He fanned a hand dismissively. "But if you want to be more specific, it will end when I say it ends; not a moment before or after," he sneered.
----“Oh right,” Buzz retorted acerbically, “you’re God, you can say that.” He shook his head briefly in disgust.
----"God? As if I follow some human God," Zurg snorted, rolling his eyes, scowl deepening. "And as for the vendetta with ex-agent Darkmatter, please...I don't have the time nor attention to hound his offspring. What do you take me for, some cliché villain who has nothing better to do than hunt children!? Honestly, Lightyear, you disappoint me..."
----Buzz’s blue eyes flashed, his hand clutching his pistol. “Mutual. And honestly, what am I supposed to think after everything that’s happened??” He began to pace absently. “People. Could. Have. Died. And contrary to what some people think, that doesn’t happen much to Space Rangers, and this time was way too close! I have every reason to assume the worst!”
----"I bet you're upset, aren't you--boiling with all that inner rage and turmoil," Zurg goaded, rubbing his hands in sheer excitement and anxiety. "But you do realize, my dear boy, that such consequences were not of my intentions--not really. The gears of death hold no design in my grand clock--my greater...scheme of things."
----Buzz shook his head warily and took a step back. After a few beats, he said quietly, “You said ‘it should have ended five decades ago.’ What was it? What happened fifty years ago that was so important?”
----"It's none of your bunzel beeswax!" Zurg snapped, face dark and aggravated. "If you're so curious, why don't you ask that no good Commander of yours. I'm sure he's absolutely dying to tell you."
----“What does the Commander have to do with this?” Buzz demanded hotly. "And I hate to break it to you, but whatever has to do with you IS kinda my beeswax!"
----"No, no, no – you're just nosy, that's all," Zurg clarified with an airy, nonchalant wave as he returned to polishing a set of plated talons. "Space Rangers, always sticking their noses where they don't belong--or is that because their attracted to the scent of my garbage~? Anyway, can you hurry this up. I have a schedule with the Valkyran Raiders soon and I'd rather not miss it; you know, since Valkyrans tend to rant on and on about tardiness...."
----Buzz clenched his jaw and said tightly, “Sorry, Your Evilness, but you’re going to have to cancel that meeting.” He executed two flawless handsprings up the steps to the throne and drew his pistol. “Time to face the music, Zurg – you’re under arrest.”
----"Not likely, Buzzy Boy! I've still got the upper-hand! And my hand, I mean my right!" Eyes twinkling mischievously, Zurg motioned with a wave while still facing the Space Ranger.
----A laser bolt flew out from the shadows behind the throne and whizzed a few inches shy of Buzz’s left foot. The Ranger flinched at the shot, turning his gaze in the direction of the ray. Below, Booster and XR both gasped and drew their plasma rifles – and XR’s weapons stash sprung out. Keeping his eyes trained on the shadows, Buzz ordered, “Steady, boys.”
Buzz’s gaze flicked apprehensively to Liz.
----There was a shift in the darkness, and a large red figure emerged from the shadows, briefly illuminated in green light from the larger-than-life lava lamp behind the throne. Buzz holstered his pistol as Hellboy interposed himself between the Ranger and the Evil Emperor. "Not so fast, Lightyear." Hellboy's yellow eyes narrowed dangerously as he crouched low, ready with a vibroblade in each hand. "If you want to get to Zurg, you'll have to get by me first. So come on, boy scout," he grinned maliciously. "Show me what you've got."
----Buzz’s blue eyes narrowed in response, hand reaching for the vibroblade strapped to his back. “With pleasure.” And he whipped the blade out, bringing it down in a slash toward Hellboy’s neck.
----Surprised, Hellboy moved a second too late, droplets of blood briefly splattering the floor. "Not bad indeed," the demon grunted. "But you'll have to be better than that!" His right leg suddenly swung out, kicking Buzz in the abdomen, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Hellboy jumped down after him and darted forward in a crouch, vibroblades at the ready as Buzz scrambled to his feet. Hellboy darted forward again, swiping at Buzz’s knee before elbowing him with the other arm in the face, hurling him to the floor again. Buzz cried out in pain. Hellboy pounced on him and pinned him to the ground with a knee, scrambling to kick Buzz’s vibroblade out of the way. "Pathetic," Hellboy ground out, pinning down the Ranger's hands. "You space boys are too soft for a real fight. Guess you never trained hard enough, didja?"
----Buzz struggled futilely in Hellboy’s grip, the Ranger’s face looking things not lawful to be uttered. “You have NO idea,” he growled. He spat out blood directly at Hellboy’s eyes – the demon crying out and squeezing his eyes shut – then Buzz’s right vambrace discharged a laser net at the other man. Startled, Hellboy’s grip loosened, and Buzz swung up his legs to kick Hellboy over his head. “Who’s pathetic now?” he taunted, scrambling to pick up his vibroblade and assuming a defensive opening stance as Hellboy returned to his feet.
----Hellboy growled deep in his throat. Shrugging off the net with his right hand, he sprang back up to his feet. "It's not over yet," he hissed, tossing the vibroblades aside. Running straight at Buzz, he delivered a powerful blow to the side of the Ranger's head, then brought up a leg and kicked him in the small of his back. Buzz cried out in pain, stumbled forward slightly, spun around to deliver a roundhouse punch. With a feral grin, Hellboy retaliated with several wicked moves that left Buzz crumpling in a heap to the floor.
Before that point, Erin had shut her eyes and looked down at the floor, unable to repeat watching Buzz – her superior, her mentor, her best friend, her brother, her father-figure, her hero… be hurt like that.
----Buzz squeezed his eyes shut, his breath coming in ragged gasps. There was a cry of “BUZZ!!” from off-stage – Booster. Then some hushed whispering between Booster and XR. Hellboy stepped back, rolled his shoulders, smirked. "Now it's over."
----Eyes still shut, Buzz just pressed his cheek to the floor, blood trickling from the lower corner of his mouth. He looked completely beaten. After a few heartbeats, he mouthed a word – or whispered it, the camera’s mic couldn’t pick it up. A few more moments, and he opened his eyes. He tried to lift himself up onto his elbows, failed. Hissed in pain. Tried again. Made it this time. Grimaced as he gradually pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He inhaled raggedly, and coughed – coughed out some more blood. Hissing the whole time, he slowly, shakily, pushed himself up off his hands and knees. He stood – trembling and not even standing straight, but stood. “Ain’t…” He coughed, a red line still snaking from the corner of his mouth and staining the purple thermal hood. “Ain’t over… yet.”
----"Oh but I do believe it is," Zurg finally declared. Standing once more, he loomed over and overshadowed the combatants, his red eyes glowing brightly, his grin wide. "You can barely stand let alone remain conscious," he cooed, batting his eyelids. "You're far from achieving victory today, Lightyear, yet...you made the rash and foolish decision to come here, alone with two rookies who can't seem to cease shaking their legs for one moment."
----“Hey!” protested XR.
----“We’re not rookies anymore!” Booster added.
----Zurg continued over them. "That's not like you, Lightyear. And even though I will admit that you do wing things from time to time with daring, bravado tactics, this one wasn't one of your, how shall I put it gently, tactful missions--if you even thought it out that far to call it a 'mission'." Zurg fanned a hand again. "I'm afraid you're losing your edge in your years and with other factors to weigh upon your mind, you're not thinking clearly, are you." The Evil Emperor gave a long, drawn-out sigh. "I would have hoped that our last fight together would have been a dazzling show, perhaps with a black hole or two, but so far this is an anti-climatic letdown. We'll have to fix this!" With a snap of his fingers, purple robots materialized out of thin air and fired off at the younger Rangers: one ‘bot hitting XR with an immobilizer puck and six more ‘bots trapping Booster in a mag-net.
----“Booster! XR!” Buzz cried.
----“Oooo, I hate it when this happens,” XR muttered.
----“Ugh – I’m – oo – okay – ah – Buzz!” Booster chimed.
Erin made a noise that sounded like a small, half-hysterical giggle. Hey, you bottle up all that tension – you gotta release it somehow.
----"Do you have an ace up those sleeves of yours, or are you all out of luck, Buzz," Zurg challenged.
----Buzz’s gaze eyes narrowed to two chips of blue ice. Then he smirked slightly. “I’m never out of luck.” It wasn’t said smugly – just as a matter-of-fact. “So you’ve got us, Zurg,” Buzz admitted. He spread out his arms briefly in an uncharacteristic gesture of defeat. “Now what are you going to do with us?”
----The camera took in Hellboy, who actually looked maybe just the faintest bit guilty – maybe – and Zurg, who looked like he was doing some serious thinking.
Erin had the unexpected mental image of Zurg mimicking Winnie-the-Pooh’s “Think-think-think.” Where it came from, she had no idea.
----"You need to go home," Zurg finally replied, his voice clear and mature for once. "You have no right being here, when your family is hurt and needs you at their side. You have no business being here when you cannot think straight and find some daring bravado to best me once again. You are in shambles and a fight today would result in something the both of us would not want." He snapped his fingers once again, and the purple ‘bots backed down, retracting their weapons and fading into the shadows once more as they re-cloaked. "Just go home, Lightyear. You're doing a great disservice to us both by being here."
----Buzz frowned, but didn’t say a word. Instead, he picked up his vibroblade, reattached it to the back of his armor, moved over to his team, and knelt – rather painfully – to one knee beside them. “You two okay?” he asked quietly.
----“Just fine! In fact, never better – thanks for asking!” XR said sarcastically, eliciting a brief glare from his captain.
----“I’m okay, Buzz,” Booster affirmed meekly.
----“Good.” Buzz heaved a sigh. “Guys, I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
----“Buzz, you don’t –” Booster began.
----“Yes, I do,” Buzz interrupted. “Now I want you to get back to the ship. I’ll follow in a couple of minutes, all right?”
----“Yes, sir,” Booster replied, saluting and turning to leave.
----XR, however, narrowed his eyes, folded his arms, and tapped one tread. “Leave you here alone? What are you – nuts??”
----Buzz briefly closed his eyes. “XR, now is not the time for this. Just go.”
----“But –”
----“XR Nebula, you have exactly ten seconds to get out of this room before I stick you with KP for the next month. Understood?”
----“Yes, sir.” The bot saluted and turned to follow Booster out of the throne room.
----Buzz watched the door for a minute – probably until he was sure they were out of earshot – then turned back to Zurg. “I can’t exactly say that I’m sorry for coming, but then I can’t exactly say that you’re wrong about it, either,” he said seriously. His voice dropped in volume. “But we can’t go on like this forever. For Good or for Evil, it’s going to have to end someday.”
----"Of course it will end someday." Zurg replied. "But I'm afraid that it will end long after your time."
----Buzz maintained a straight face. “But that would drive me crazy,” he said innocently. It was the brief gleam in his eyes that gave him away.
----"You crazy? Imagine my life after your passing!"
----Buzz coughed in what looked like a cover-up of a laugh. After a few seconds, he finally managed, “Well, maybe there’ll be a Junior for you to mess with.”
Isn’t that like selling your firstborn to the Devil? Erin mouthed to her brother, grinning wryly. Cora would NOT be happy.
Buzz just glared.
----He reached up under his hood in a motion that was probably to run his fingers through his hair. Then he gave a slight laugh. “Anyway, you think this was bad? Erin’s just my sister. If I ever have my own kids, it’s gonna be even worse.”
----"And if you had kids,” Zurg rejoined, “I would hope that you cooled down somewhat and thought more before you risked your neck and rookies for an ill-planned attack on, yours truly, my command of operations."
----“If I do, I’ll be a lot older and wiser, right?” Buzz shrugged.
Erin suddenly doubled over in silent laughter. She couldn’t help it – it was too funny. Here Buzz was, same age – well, okay, he just had his birthday so he was now 41 instead of 40 – but just five days after he’d said that, he’d found himself the father of a 16-yr-old girl from the future!
Buzz shot her a warning glare, and she managed to cap her amusement.
----“But, uh, one last question,” the Buzz in the video said. “Warp and Erin. Are you done, or are you going to keep harping on that?”
----"I'll be done when I see fit!" Zurg barked, regaining his evil composure. "But...for the meantime, I suppose I've had my fill of them. For now." He punctuated the declaration with another evil rub of his hands and a deep chuckle – and his characteristic, sort-of maniacal dastardly smile.
---- Not fazed a bit, Buzz exhaled in a puff of air and rolled his eyes to the side. “Thank you.” Under his breath: “Sheesh.”
----"You are quite welcome, Lightyear."
----Buzz glanced over his shoulder at the doors, then back at Zurg. “Well, whether you celebrate it or not, merry Christmas. And happy New Year, too, if I don’t see you before then.” He glanced aside at Hellboy – no accusations or warnings in the look… just a sense of being drained. “Same for you, Red, I guess – but you owe me big now.” He gave Zurg a nod, then Hellboy, and turned to leave.
----"And don't worry about the Christmas..." The Evil Emperor gestured with a dismissive hand. "I don't celebrate, but have a happy solar cycle~! I'm sure you're going to especially like what I have planned for the next fiscal quarter~!" Innocent giggle.
Real-time Buzz just rolled his eyes.
----The video Buzz glanced over his shoulder. “Well then, I’ll be waiting for it.” And with that, he left the room, and the picture faded out.
Buzz rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, not sure what to say. “Well, um…”
“That wasn’t the last time we saw Hellboy,” Erin supplied slowly, “but it’s mostly been glimpses since then, and nothing to really add to his track record. Either Zurg hasn’t had him do anything for the past four weeks, or they’re running past our radar – which is a possibility.”
Buzz glanced wryly at his sister. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
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Post by Blacksteel on Mar 30, 2010 5:07:33 GMT -5
“Ha!” Liz snorted, feeling a shrill laugh threatening to bubble to the surface, but she clamped her mouth shut. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know how that went. “Hellboy’s big,” she admitted, before focusing her attention upon the next video.
Liz clenched her hands into fists when the camera switched vantage points. So this was the Evil Emperor Zurg. The fleeting glance in the first video hadn’t been much to go by, so she focused all her attention upon his person this time around.
Know your enemy, know yourself, after all.
He was an odd-looking individual, she’d hand him that. She hadn’t even noticed the horns the first time around. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought him to be a demon, but the grill-like immobile teeth kind of busted that little theory. Perhaps it was a mask or sorts?—but no mask could ever hope to replicate such complex facial expressions. Why, his lips even twitched at times, revealing more of those yellow teeth—just how far did they extend anyway?
Being exposed to ‘freaks’ all her life had apparently made her immune after the years, because Liz soon found herself focusing more on his voice pattern rather than his appearance, though she still found the entire purple getup tacky at best. The dual-toned trill was not an entirely unpleasant sound to her ears, which she assumed was something Zurg exploited shamelessly to throw people off or coax them to believe in his way of thinking.
The thought sent a wave of anger through her, but she gritted her teeth together and focused her attention back to the screen.
As she watched and listened the conversation unfurl, Liz realised several things about Zurg. His entire demeanour—though bumbling and flippant and flirting outrageously with carelessness—was only a mask, no pun intended. Zurg knew exactly what he was doing, pushing all of Lightyear’s buttons with practiced ease. A shiver travelled down the firestarter’s spine. It was all an act. A well-practiced act. The carelessness, the speech pattern—all an act.
Zurg was easily one of the most dangerous people she had ever witnessed—dare she say even more dangerous than Memnan Saa?
She was as lost as the space ranger was with the half-century talk, but she stiffened in her seat when the tyrant uttered the magic words and a sizzling bolt of energy shot out from the shadows, soon followed by—who else?—Hellboy himself.
He was still wearing the same strange suit as before, and Liz thought briefly that it looked so out of place on him that he was like a completely different person. Which he technically was, she had to remind herself, as there was a brief exchange of words and Lightyear lunged for the demon’s neck.
Though blood had been spilt, Hellboy did not let that deter him—unsurprisingly, for Liz had seen him keep going with his entire back littered with shards of glace once, though she did wince—and quickly retaliated. It was over faster than it had begun, not that Liz had been expecting anything else. However, she couldn’t hold back a sharp hiss when Lightyear struggled painfully to his feet. Her gaze flickered to the ranger sitting across from her, the same person on both screens.
d--n, but Lightyear was a fighter. Though it wasn’t as if he were standing up properly, she had never seen anyone rise up after being on the receiving ends of Hellboy’s beatings before. It was an amazing feat in and of itself.
She wondered if he would try to attack Hellboy again, but Zurg’s voice cut the silence like a knife, and her gaze flickered back to the patch of purple on the screen. He seemed almost dejected as he lamented about what a disappointment this ‘last fight’ had been for him.
Last fight? Did that phrase hold any significance?
The despondent demeanour was later on confirmed when he simply told Lightyear to go home. Liz blinked, arching a confused brow. The emperor’s words had a strange kind of finality to them that she could not even begin to fathom. And judging by Hellboy’s face, he was as much in the dark as she was.
She couldn’t help but linger on him for a moment, because for a flash she thought she saw his lips tighten, a gesture he usually did when he felt guilt or remorse. He actually reminded her of his old self for a moment there.
She didn’t expect the nostalgia and grief to hit her like it did in that moment as she sank back in her seat with a strangled whimper, feeling her eyes beginning to mist over. But she forced a shaky breath and willed herself to keep listening, though she couldn’t rightly say she understood the last exchange’s implications.
She waited with bated breath when Lightyear addressed Hellboy, but the latter didn’t reply. Perhaps it was for the best, but it did little to reassure Liz.
The video clip soon ended after that, and Erin spoke up, telling her that they had only caught glimpses of Hellboy after that.
Liz had seen and heard enough. She swallowed, hard, then looked at Erin and Buzz slowly.
“So now what?” she whispered hoarsely, unable to say anything else at that moment.
Because she honestly didn’t know what to think any more. There were too many little things at work here, and she couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Was Hellboy working for Zurg of his own free will? Had he been brainwashed or tricked by him? Or was he merely biding his time, throwing his lot in with Zurg to exploit his resources then make a run for it? Did he really have any alternative in a strange new world where he had nothing left to lose? She just didn’t know any more.
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