|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 16:26:13 GMT -5
Hellboy eased the thrusters, then let Erevos do the rest of the work as the starship slowly began its decent into one of Planet Z's hangar bays. Hellboy had not had the chance to even see the planet yet, and the sight of the vast red emptiness before they had reached their destination had sent a chill down his spine. How could an entire planet even exist without any remote sense of civilization?
"We have landed, Agent Red," Erevos said then, bringing the demon out of his thoughts. "The Evil Emperor has sent an escort for you and requests your audience immediately."
"He probably wants a report," Hellboy said gruffly, unbuckling himself from inside and flinging the hatch open, jumping down lightly to the ground. It was a common enough procedure, and it looked like he hadn't escaped from that aspect of working even in this new job of his.
He patted the side of the hull briefly. "Till the next mission then."
The minute he walked outside the hangar's double doors, he was met by two robotic figures that were painted a garish bright yellow. They were tall and lithe, but did not even seem to have any visible features of a face on their heads. They did not look remotely dangerous or intelligent, either.
"You must be the escorts," the demon surmised. "Ah, well. Let's get this over and done with. Take me to your leader."
They said nothing, merely took their places beside him and began to lead him down the hallway.
To the Evil Emperor Zurg.
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 16:34:12 GMT -5
The Hornets, ever so faithful, lead the newest addition to their master's dark plans and marched proudly through the cold, dimly-lit hallways of the fortress. There were creaky, hissing pipes snaking all around above their heads; steam gushing forth, scalding and unwelcoming. Several access ways, no doubt to labs and other various chambers of evil, were off to the sides but most were locked and sealed behind fortified doors; the agent was not permissible in them--not yet. The passages were spooky, frightening, and in bad shape--the level considerably lower and not as revamped as the more higher in altitude. The air was stale and sterile, but the Hornet guards did not mind this and simply marched proudly through the cold environment.
The walking took a good while, for the palace--if it could be called that--was vast and empty as it was dark and foreboding, and the Hornet guards soon brought the agent towards a run-down, neglected elevator; to which they harshly prodded him inside with their electro-pikes and sealed him shut.
With a slightly aged groan, the elevator's gears struggled under the agent's weight but it otherwise started to ascend slowly after a good while. Buttons, all in Galactic Basic and numbers, were adorned into the wall and some of them had an amber glow while others....were a glaring red. These were the levels that the agent could not access, either.
After what seemed like another five to ten minutes, the elevator sluggishly pulled to a halt and whined open its badly battered doors, the final corridor leading towards the throne room before the agent.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 17:16:00 GMT -5
Hellboy swallowed, the action painful to his dry throat. The long elevator ride made his mind wander erratically, and his thoughts finally drifted to what awaited him when the doors finally opened.
He knew that Zurg had seen and heard everything through the suit. But could Zurg perceive even more than just that? Could he detect his heart-rate, his body temperature, perhaps his very thought process? He did not know what to expect now. Truthfully, the demon was not sure what to do anymore, either.
He recalled the bride's words, and they burned inside of him, as much as his heated retaliation had. What did she know? She knew nothing about who he was, how he felt, or about what he wanted. What did he want anyway? He could not go back, that much was certain. And he felt both constricted and liberated by this new-found freedom at the same time. He had never been restricted in his movements or decisions before--besides whenever he had been captured by enemies and the like--like he was now, but then again, he had never felt so free to do what he finally wanted before, and the thought was more than a little terrifying. His outburst had been caused by a culmination of confusion and bitterness, and perhaps some regret as well. Regret for not being there for the ones he cared about the most.
But not regret for his new path.
But would Zurg know this, or make his own assumptions? Had he done wrong to lose his composure like that? He probably had, showing both his new employer and his new enemies a side of him he rarely showed but had burst to the fore at his inability to come to terms with his new life. A new life, a new start. An opportunity to put everything behind him and for the burden of his past to finally be lifted from him.
His lips cracked into a faint, bitter smile. He had made his decision, and he would not back away from it no matter what. He would maintain his own personal code of honor and not pass the boundaries he had set for himself, but follow his orders to the best of his ability. He was lucky, very lucky, to have been accepted by Zurg when he still knew so very little about this new world he had found himself in. Perhaps the emperor saw something in him that others did not, though the demon had to admit that he was probably just entertaining very selfish thoughts.
The elevator finally shuddered to a stop, and Hellboy drew a deep breath as the doors opened. He stepped outside and found himself in another corridor, this one far newer than the previous one, and only going in one definite direction. Steeling himself, he strode forwards, trying his best not to let his imagination get the best of him. And yet, he could not help but feel a nagging sensation of worry eating at him.
Finally reaching the end of the hallway, coming up to a large set of doors with the familiar yellow symbol emblazoned upon them and accented by a dark red background, he placed his hands against them and pushed them open.
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 17:36:03 GMT -5
No sooner had the agent opened those pressurized blast doors did he receive a greeting most peculiar:
"SURPRISE!!"
And a surprise it was!
Everywhere--and truly, everywhere--there were grubs throwing confetti left and right; all of them in their normal uniforms with darling little party hats and noise-makers and other such colourful, bright nonsense. Brain pods shook their clackers, waving at the agent and a few of them were too busy getting off on the right wheel with cups of a rather nasty, green liquid.
There were streamers, tables filled with snacks and drinks, and best of all: there was the Evil Emperor in all his attire, throwing his arms up in the air upon seeing his latest minion of terror.
"Red! So nice to see you, my boy!" The menace of society called out, approaching the perhaps stunned agent and shaking his hand fondly. "Your successful accomplishment has made an absolute wave in the trade pool; but don't take my word for it!"
With a snap of his plated fingers, the Evil Emperor brought up the screens all around the chamber and with a flicker they turned on, revealing a rather cheeky man with slicked back hair.
"This is Brent Starkisser, LIVE, on the gambling planet, Vegas, with this just in!" The man shouted to the camera, his hand upon his ear and the other holding a futuristic microphone. "I'm LIVE at the scene of a crime and behind me, you can see frantic Space Rangers darting into a--and get this--burning and crumbling church! Let's go in for a closer look!"
The grubs all hollered and yelled, their little faces twisted into evil grins, and they shook their noise-makers madly.
"Burn the church! Burn the church!" They all shouted, not sure what they were exactly saying but something must have been inside the punch to make them all crazy.
The brain pods just cackled and whooped in evil glee.
Man, distilled evil was terrible....
"Aaaaaand, here we are! Roll it, Jimmy!" The news reporter demanded.
Everywhere, there was fire and crumbling rubble, the building collapsing in various areas at the raging inferno; billowing fumes of black, lung-choking smoke. There were Space Rangers going to and fro in a panic, trying to assess and act accordingly to the situation and Brent Starkisser was quick to point out that a few of the daring men and women of Star Command had gone back into the madness.
"You just saw it, folks! Space Rangers doing what Space Rangers do best! Risking their lives to save those of less fortunate tidings! What a grim day for the Holiday!"
There was a snap, and the Evil Emperor paused the live feed; his eyes rolled back and his shoulders heaving with immense laughter as he and all his evil, malicious minions all roared in harmony at the sight.
"Ohohohohoho! What a gloriously evil day!" Zurg shouted, clapping the agent once more upon the shoulder harshly. "You out-performed all our expectations! Why, I do believe that really DOES call for a party! HORNETS!" He bellowed, his eyes glowing at the stupid automatons. "Get out the eatery! We're going to feast on this wretched day and enjoy it!"
And thus the minions of Planet Z rejoiced at the sound of eating delicious cake!
"CAKE, CAKE, CAKE!" They all chanted, just being mad with glory.
"Yes, yes, settle down my children..." Zurg fanned the air, getting them to remotely quite down as he returned his attention to the agent, his face still wide in grin.
"I do believe our dear agent has the first piece for us!" He remarked, referring to the piece of cake that would signify their triumph over the forces of good.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 17:59:18 GMT -5
Hellboy had been expecting many things, but this had not been one of them.
He froze in midair, his jaw dropping open at the level of festivities that greeted him, and he keeled over and fell flat on his face in shock. "You have got to be kidding me..." he muttered under his breath, scratching his head as he got back to his feet.
Blue little critters scampered around, cheering in their wet-sounding voices and causing as much noise as possible, and strange purple robot-like creatures with pink brains in jars waved at him and drank from cups as if they were actual living beings.
He brushed streamers and confetti off of his shoulders, then heard Zurg's booming voice and had to remind himself to stop gawking as the emperor actually shook his left hand vigorously as he congratulated him on his work.
He didn't even manage to formulate a proper reply before Zurg brought up several screens with a snap of his fingers. Some preppy sort of reporter appeared and informed all viewers that the church that Hellboy had just come from was still burning and crumbling. A pang of worry struck him then. He hoped that no one had gotten gravely injured. He had been striving for destruction, not for actually killing anyone...
"I do believe our dear agent has the first piece for us!"
Hellboy snapped back to attention at this, and the still reverberating chants of "CAKE, CAKE, CAKE!" from the crowd reminded him of his prize.
"Oh, right!" He fumbled around in one of the pockets of his belt and produced a small bag of cake. "Sorry I couldn't take more," he apologized. "Cakes weren't really made to be portable. But I got the top portion with the bride and groom figurines," he added with a mischievous grin. "Thought you might like that."
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 18:16:52 GMT -5
There was a slight, muffled gasp as the agent seemingly lost balance and fell flat upon his face, but the minions otherwise let out their exhales once they saw that he was alright and unharmed.
It must have been shock, that's all.
"Ohohoho, a bit overwhelmed, are we?" Zurg cooed down upon the agent, moving aside as the henchmen got back up to his hooves. "Don't feel embarrassed; Darkmatter did the same thing when he came back--except, he was missing an ARM!"
Again, the minions all hooted with laughter at the recollection but as soon as the agent dragged out a piece of cake, they all jumped for joy and grew immediately antsy.
"Well, well, well! You actually got a piece of their wedding cake!" The Evil Emperor crooned, his face absolutely smug as he took the bag and sampled a bit of the frosting. "Hmmm, yep! This is good stuff! WHO WANTS IT!?" He screamed, holding the bag up high.
Of course, ALL the minions wanted it so they ALL clamoured for it as the Evil Emperor swung it around his head a few times and let it fly like a bride would do to their bouquet, ironically; the minions diving and clawing for the monumental right of having the bagged cake piece.
Turning his back upon the cake-devouring carnage, the Evil Emperor readdressed the agent and rubbed his hands eagerly, spying the two figures within his left hand.
"Well! Aren't you just full of surprises...." He grinned wickedly, taking the two figures and holding them--the groom in his left and the bride in his other. The Evil Emperor admired them a bit before gazing upon the demon's pupil-less eyes.
"Sooo...how did it feel...." He whispered, curious to know what the agent had felt. "How did it feel to be eeeeevil."
And as he said this, the Evil Emperor crushed the figures in his mighty grip and easily squeezed the figures' heads off; that grin as wicked as ever as the little heads rolled onto the floor at their very tainted feet.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 18:30:25 GMT -5
"He's missing an arm?" Hellboy asked without thinking, rubbing the back of his neck. The demon hadn't even noticed, and he was usually good at spotting these kind of things.
He chuckled at the display of the blue bug-like critters all clamoring to get the cake, but his grin froze on his face when Zurg turned back to him, suddenly dead-serious.
Hellboy swallowed, the lump suddenly returning to his throat. Anything he could say would sound hypocritical, since Zurg had definitely witnessed everything from the suit.
"It felt... different than what I'm used to," he finally admitted in a low voice. "I'm not entirely sure... it was fun and yet..." He looked down at his hands. "Just when I thought I kind of sympathized, I got so mad that... well... you saw the result on TV."
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 18:39:15 GMT -5
"Mmmm..."
Zurg traced his grey 'lips' with a pensive index and thumb, much like one would do with a very thin, long beard. The agent's answer wasn't bad, but yet...it wasn't particularly good, either. Now that he recalled, Darkmatter had taken absolute delight upon his first mission; no bars attached. This agent, however....
However....
"Well, I suppose you're still entirely new...." The Evil Emperor surmised. Even though his face was rather calm, his voice betrayed him a bit and revealed that he was slightly concerned--perhaps a wee bit. After all, he had been back-stabbed by his last agent because of something so simple and sickening as "love"; what was to say that this agent didn't get a similar notion and develop cold feet? Or rather, hooves?
"Whichever the reason you have yet to fill your boots, I'm sure with a little more practice and development, you will acquire a taste for the role shortly." He finished, gesturing with a casual hand.
"These choices, after all, do not simply come over night--which I expect you know full well by now."
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 18:46:02 GMT -5
There was a particular lilt to Zurg's voice and Hellboy wondered whether there was any particular significance to it.
"Technically, all this did happen overnight," the demon said, holding up a finger and chuckling wryly. "But I do know that well... I just have to get used to this new lifestyle, I guess."
He looked down at himself then, his brow slightly furrowed. "D'you mind if I be direct?" he asked, scuffing at the floor with a plated hoof.
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 18:48:47 GMT -5
"Yes, yes, if you want to be literal about it, I guess." The Evil Emperor responded with a slight shrug, ignoring all the shouting behind them as apparently one of the grubs had stolen the piece of cake and was darting around madly about the throne room; the rest of the minions chasing fervently in a line.
When the agent asked if he could be direct, Zurg slightly rose a ridge but he quickly lowered it and granted the request.
"Seeing as I am a rather direct person, myself, I don't see reason not to." He stated, crossing his arms. "Pray tell what is it."
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 18:53:01 GMT -5
Hellboy stopped scuffing at the floor and lifted his head, straightening his posture as he looked at Zurg straight in the eyes.
"Will I have to kill on your orders?" he asked, trying to keep the tone of his voice neutral. "Kill innocents, I mean?"
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 18:56:17 GMT -5
Uh-oh....the agent still had a conscience. Not a good factor so early on in the process, but maybe (and this was maybe), this could be ironed out before it took root and became permanent.
Rubbing his hands as he heard the question, the Evil Emperor formulated a piece of rhetoric within that crafty mind of his and answered with a slight smirk.
"It's too early to tell, to be honest." He spoke, pausing a bit in the rubbing before continuing. "And as each target is unique, not all deserve to--how shall I say--enjoy the life they are given to them. Does that answer your question, my agent?" Zurg ended on a sweet note, wondering if the demon would be satisfied.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 25, 2009 19:05:37 GMT -5
Hellboy sighed with relief, breathing a little more easily. "Yeah, it does," he said, completely oblivious to how Zurg twisted the answer to suit his own needs. "Not saying that I'm a stranger to killing," he added quickly. "I've killed plenty in my lifetime. I was just wondering about that aspect, that's all..."
He stared at the still squabbling minions with an arched brow. "Uh... just what are those things anyway?" he asked suddenly. It was both an attempt at changing the conversation and out of genuine curiosity that he asked this question.
|
|
|
Post by eez on Dec 25, 2009 19:18:35 GMT -5
"Good, good; I'll be needing a man with a level head upon his shoulders." Zurg mused.
Excellent, the agent hadn't suspected a thing. Still, it somewhat wounded the Evil Emperor that he had recruited someone so good-nature and loyal; so....naive, in all sense of the word. It was a blaring contrast, from employer to employee, and it was a contrast the Evil Emperor was going to get the most labour out of--regardless of how much it resembled him in his own youth.
Zurg dropped the mental subject however when the agent managed to eye the ruckus behind them and ask what his minions were.
"Those things are my freak show staff." He answered simply, turning around to face the squabbling creatures with a brief sigh. "The insectoid beings are the grubs--I found them one day--and the brain pods are, as it sounds, brains in a pod. Not really, of course, as they're more brain-like creatures but you get the general gist of it." Zurg gestured with a dismissive hand.
"I found them one day too, and like you, they agreed to the generous deal I gave them."
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Dec 26, 2009 5:32:45 GMT -5
Hellboy's lips twisted into a wry grin. "I guess it's a habit of yours to pick up strays, huh?" he mused, more to himself than to the emperor.
|
|