Chapter 3: Toothless and Troll Market

by Sammael29

As the Big Four and friends meet the new BPRD agent, Merida receives a troubling vision of Prince Nuada's dangerous antics. ROBTD Hellboy AU. No out-of-canon pairings except Frostbite.

Chapter 3: Toothless and Troll-Market

Shortly after introducing Dr. Krauss to the rest of the group, they then set to work on finding out where Nuada had got his Tooth Fairies from. To do this, Krauss asked them to bring over one of the Tooth Fairies, which had been killed after Toothless, appropriately enough, tricked the little pest into his mouth, then retracted his teeth, closed his mouth and breathed fire between his lips. The Tooth Fairy was barbequed instantly.

Krauss ran his fingers over the little dead monster on its metal trolley, in a manner very similar to Abe when he was using his hands to psychically scan things. "Look at zat, poor little thing," the German ectoplasm man said. "Bought and sold on ze black market, crammed into cargo containers, smuggled, abused!"

"He has very expressive hands," Manning and Rapunzel whispered to Liz and Eugene at the same time as one another.

Hiccup and Abe then gave Krauss photos they'd taken of the Royal Sealed boxes.

"The seals on these boxes are worrying as well, Dr. Krauss," Hiccup added.

"It's a varring emblem," Krauss guessed.

"Yes," Abe added. "Our Scottish friend here(he gestured to Merida) says it's from the Bethmoora Clan, the Sons of the Earth."

Krauss then added to Rapunzel, "Agent Rapunzel- or princess, razzer- your file says zat you, Agent Sapien, und Agent Hiccup are ze brains of zis operation. And I must admit zat I'm impressed."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Krauss!" Rapunzel giggled.

Manning, trying to butter Krauss up a bit, interjected "In my file, you'll see, sir, that I-I work very closely with Rapunzel, Abe and Hiccup in their training."

"Indeed?" Jack murmured under his breath. Krauss did not have visible eyebrows, but the likelihood is that he was raising them at that remark. He brushed over Manning's toadying and continued, "Yeah, ok, now let's zee vot our little friend here can remember." He pointed at the Tooth Fairy.

"Well, memory normally gets a bit sketchy after you've been burnt to death," Hellboy replied sarcastically. "But maybe Saint Malachy can help." He produced a metal talisman from beneath his coat. It was one which Jack knew all too well. Four years ago, whilst trying to find the hideout of Grigori Rasputin, Hellboy had used that talisman to resurrect a snarky, legless, ugly Russian criminal called Ivan Klematovich; Jack still hadn't got used to it.

"No, no, no amulets, my good Herren," Krauss waved the amulet away. "Ve shall use teleplasty instead!"

"Plastic, very modern," Manning murmured to Abe.

"No, teleplasty," Abe corrected him, "a means for an ectoplasmic medium like Dr. Krauss to control inanimate things, organic, mechanical, dead or alive."

Krauss then opened one of the metal caps of his fingers, releasing a thin stream of dense white gas from it- which Jack quickly realized was the ectoplasm which made up Johann's own body. It swirled in the air and then went straight inside the Tooth Fairy's mouth.

"Take it all in, take it all in, my über," Krauss encouraged, and Jack grimaced slightly upon realising that he was possessing the little monster. Shortly after enough ectoplasm had gone in, Krauss closed his finger cap and tapped the metal trolley-top. With a soft twitch, the Tooth Fairy started moving, opening and closing its eyes and breathing in huge gasps of air.

"Zere ve are," Krauss said. "Now I have full control of its limbic system. Let us zee how long I can hold it. Get up. Get up. Get up," he drummed his fingers sternly on the trolley, just as the Tooth Fairy started slowly getting to its feet, twisting and contorting like a badly malfunctioning marionette. It snapped violently at his fingers as if to tell him to get lost. By the time it was finally upright, it saw Hellboy and Toothless glaring straight at it and starting angrily jabbering in its high-pitched, unintelligible language, with many accusatory points as though it was directly appealing to Krauss.

Toothless snarled at it and Hellboy remarked, "What? Yeah, you chipped off the end of my tail, you little rat! And you tried to eat my friend's tail membranes as well."

Toothless then thumped one of his paws on the trolley as he bared his teeth at the Tooth Fairy, and it looked as if they were going to have another fight.

Krauss then added, "Ze Toos Fairy says zat you two are rude, brutish und not very bright."

"What?" Hellboy looked incredulous at this revelation that Krauss was not just capable of possessing Tooth Fairies, but also understanding their language.

The little animal continued to jabber, and Tooth herself then added, "And he says he can remember market sounds and voices and a peculiar Troll language in the last place his cage was opened…"

"Zere ve are, zen!" Krauss chirped brightly. "He vas obtained in ze Troll Market!"

"The Troll Market?" Hiccup remarked incredulously. The Tooth Fairy screeched eagerly and gave him a thumbs up.

"I don't think any of us have heard of such a place," Jack added.

"Well, no wonder, Jack," Hellboy sighed irritably, "that's because it doesn't exist!" he irritably jabbed the Tooth Fairy in the chest with one finger, after which it jabbered back at him, only to then start coughing violently, and sinking to its knees.

"Dr. Krauss, sir?" Manning interrupted. "I don't think our little informant is feeling too well."

And the Tooth Fairy fell to the ground, coughing violently, until it splayed itself, mouth open and tongue out. It had died… for the second time today. Dr. Krauss' ectoplasm poured back out of its mouth, and he drew it inside his finger again. "Back inside you. Zere ve are!"

He added smartly. "So, now ve know vere to start looking. Now, Trolls live under bridges, correct?"

"Wow, you're a genius," Jack remarked sarcastically. Hellboy was of the same opinion, for he added, "By the way, there's over 2,000 bridges in New York City."

"Yes," Rapunzel interrupted, "But that book Abe gave me earlier, it was written by Vladimir Vanya, a 19th-century occult historian. And he says that the Troll Market lies directly under the East End of the Brooklyn Bridge!"

"We've already looked there, Rapunzel," the big demon replied, after rolling his eyes back in his head.

"Yes, you have. But not viz me, Agent, not viz me!" Krauss jibed. "Get ze supplies, ve're moving in!"

Hiccup then added, "Can I just say something, Dr. Krauss?"

"Yes, Agent Hiccup?"

Hiccup explained, "Take your left socks off, Trolls love stealing them."

And with this unique bit of information, the BPRD moved out.

As they were heading out in the garbage trucks, Merida fell asleep again. This time, when she saw Prince Nuada, he and his two friends were in the East Side of New York, outside what looked like an abandoned railway factory. Stood close by, in the rain, was an advertisement board. Nuada glared at it disgustedly before nodding his head to Pitch; the black-robed man pulled his hood up over his head, and he and Mr. Wink followed Nuada into the factory.

It was a warm place of metal pipes and warm orange light. Nuada walked through the building, oblivious to his surroundings, until he entered a tall chamber filled with five surprising-looking people.

One of them was a very tall man, if he was indeed a man, with faded eye markings on the backs of his hands and long, flowing black robes, though nowhere near as dark as Pitch's. He wore rich embroidery and buttons, and had long, spindly fingers that he kept moving like spider's legs. He had small ears like a hippopotamus- Merida loved these new animals she'd learnt about in Abe's book- and no nose, as well as bright orange skin, long black stripes from beneath his eyes, and a long face, a bald head and flabby folds of skin beneath his neck.

The other four were tall and imposing, with stone-purple skin, wearing brown leather skirts which came down to their feet, and lighter brown gauntlets over their arms. They wore huge wooden helmets shaped like toucan's beaks, mostly brown, but with white stripes across the middle. As a result, no-one could see their faces, but Merida knew what they looked like- black and feathery, with curved beaks like ravens. Long black, hair-like plumes adorned the backs of their helmets, and they wielded huge rusted swords with rectangular blades, like a butcher's meat cleaver- they were King Balor's royal guardsmen, the Butcher Guards.

"Ah, your Royal Highness," the flabby, orange man said to Nuada, in a slightly quavering English accent. It was Conall, the Chamberlain of King Balor. Merida remembered seeing him years ago, the last time King Balor and King Fergus met one another. He next spoke in Gaelic- an Irish form, which Merida was unfamiliar with, but as soon as he spoke, she knew straightaway what he was saying: "Prince Nuada, you honour us with your return."

The Chamberlain spoke in English again. "But before entering the council chamber, you must surrender your weapon, and your shadowy friend must remove his hood."

Nuada bristled visibly. "We will not," was his obstinate reply.

"It is a common policy, sire, for prince and peasant alike," Conall insisted. At this point, Nuada drew a long, slender, curved sword and rushed over to the Chamberlain, holding it to his throat. The Butcher Guards made harsh avine snarls and drew their own swords, whilst Mr. Wink roared threateningly.

"You dare give me and my friend orders?" Nuada hissed in Gaelic. "It will be my pleasure to kill you, Chamberlain Conall!"

Then a third voice joined in, this time a lighter, more kindly-sounding voice than Nuada's, and Merida's heart stopped as she looked up to see her childhood friend appear before her in the chamber.

Princess Nuala and her brother bore very strong physical similarities to one another- white skin, golden eyes, scars running across the nose, and shoulder-length hair as well as black and red clothes- but unlike her brother, Nuala's hair was golden, not white, and her face had a more open and friendly look to it. Her black and red dress sported a gold belt with the Bethmoora Royal Seal upon it as well as a diamond-shaped piece of metal with runic emblems inscribed upon it; another piece of the Royal Crown. No doubt that was what Nuada was after.

"Please, brother," Nuala appealed. "Surrender the weapon."

Nuada's snarl faded to an unpleasantly polite smirk.

"For you, my sister, anything," he agreed, before moving the sword from Conall's throat and dropping it. "Very well, Conall. I will leave my sword outside, but you will not ask my friend to remove his hood. I doubt many in the council chamber will take kindly to his being there."

"I do not take kindly to him already," Conall muttered inaudibly, before beckoning to the group to follow him. Through the building to a pair of massive wooden doors inlaid with gold they walked. The Butcher Guards pushed the doors open, and Merida followed Nuada into the courtroom of King Balor.

Surrounded by cast-iron pipes, tall, cog-shaped columns and with a roaring blast furnace behind him, King Balor Silverarm sat on a metal throne before a floor where all the plastic had been removed, leaving brown soil and glowing orange leaves floating down from the ceiling to the ground, with four pairs of Butcher Guards on either side of the chamber, swords facing the ground. On both sides of the throne chamber stood two platforms filled with all manner of Celtic mythical people; Leprechauns, red-bearded beaver-like dwarvish warriors wearing green plaids; Bethmoora Elves like Balor himself; Formorian Ogres, with one eye, one leg and one arm; and even a Peiste, a massive Irish water-dragon like a monitor lizard with a lionfish's fins down its back.

King Balor himself was an impressive figure, wearing a long brown tunic which came down to his shoes. Over that he wore long red robes lined with white fur, as well as a golden breastplate of Celtic swirl motives and a large folded gold square over his stomach. His left arm, tattooed at the wrist, sported a hand made of silver, like a medieval gauntlet- yet he held it out rather carelessly, as though it had been quite some time since he'd used it.

Balor's most impressive feature, though, was his head; his face was worn with stern wrinkles, and his shoulder-length hair and collar-length beard were perfectly white. Above the brow, glossy brown spikes formed a crown attached to his head, as well as two branching antlers like Cernunnos the stag-god. But most noticeable of all were his eyes, large and golden, with such thin pupils, he looked almost blind; but now his eyes burned with anger as he looked upon his wayward son.

"Father," Nuada spoke in Gaelic, getting on one knee before the throne.

"Why?" Balor harshly barked back in the same tongue; old he may be, but his voice held all the conviction he had displayed in his warrior days. No wonder even King Fergus feared him slightly. "Why have you done this, my son? WHY?"

"To set us free," Nuada called out in English. "I did this to set us all free, father!"

"Do you not realize the consequences of your actions, Nuada?" Balor reprimanded. "You have broken an ancient allegiance between our people and mankind!"

"An allegiance based on shame!" Nuada spat passionately. "Mankind has forgotten the gods and desolated the earth. And for what- parking lots! Shopping centres! Trivial dedications to their greed!"

"He's right, your majesty," Pitch agreed, much to Merida's shock; it was the first time he had spoken aloud since the Tooth Fairy attack. "Mankind hasn't improved since those days when they used to wield spears and shields; again, greed has burned a hole in their hearts that cannot be filled. They will not ever have enough to satisfy themselves."

Balor's eyes narrowed at Pitch's words. "I do not recognize you yet, hooded one," he warned, "but I know that only half of what you say is true. Not all men are as greed-driven and lacking of morals as you think- indeed, I have known some who actively defended nature from violation. King Fergus of Dunbroch(Merida's heart bounced again at the mention of her royal father), now he was a good king of men! He respected nature as much as he respected our people…"

"The Royal Household of Dunbroch is no more, father," Nuada heatedly interrupted.

"My point is, Nuada," Balor sternly replied with a point of his silver finger, "that whatever mankind does, whether evil or good, is only what is in their nature- just as it is within our nature to honour the allegiance."

"HONOUR?!" Nuada shouted incredulously. He gestured to the whole throne chamber with outspread arms. "Look at this place- the ruins of a monument to mankind's arrogance. This is no forest. Where is the honour in it? Father, you were once a proud warrior. When did you become mankind's pet?"

Balor shook his head pityingly and covered his brow with his hand, as though Nuada's defiant words were making his head ache. The Elf prince then turned to face the assembled crowd and called aloud, "I have returned from exile to wage war and help us reclaim our land, our birthright! And for that, I will call upon the help of all my people. And they will answer; the good, the bad…" he pointed at Mr. Wink, who growled in support of this statement, and then he pointed to Pitch, who finally dropped his hood, revealing his face. "And the worst."

The whole court gasped in shock; the Peiste bellowed angrily at the sight of Pitch, and King Balor got up from his throne in anger, pointing accusatively at Pitch.

"Pitch Black?!" he snarled dangerously. "You are not welcome in my court by my order!"

"But I am welcome by your son's order, it seems," the dark figure replied, with a suave grin at the Elven king. "You're not as polite as you once were, King Balor."

"And he is not the only one, Father!" Nuada added, before reaching into his pockets and producing the crown piece, which hung like a broken watch in his grip. "Look!"

The gasps increased. Balor covered his own belt pendant, which Merida quickly realized was his own crown piece. The king of Bethmoora was speechless with shock and anger.

"First you pledge allegiance to the King of Nightmares. And now you wish to wake the Golden Army?" he seethed. "I forbade the use of those monsters for a reason, Nuada. Surely you cannot be that mad!"

Nuada's expression was unmoved. "Perhaps I am that mad, Father," he replied. "Perhaps they made me so."

"And what do you hope to gain by this, brother?" Princess Nuala asked, approaching her brother slowly. "Awaken the Army and you defeat mankind…but our green fields and forests cannot grow out of all that blood. Brother…" She was soothingly beseeching him now. "Let the Army sleep. If our reign has ended, then let us all fade. Or else let nature regain a foothold for herself."

"We will not fade," Nuada whispered hotly to his sister.

"No, indeed," Pitch added smugly. "My daughter is the Guardian of all Nature(Merida's eyes widened). She would not want her beloved children to cower from mankind like bears in a cave."

Balor spoke again to Nuada, inviting him to turn his head, and his tone was softer now, and less fierce. "But Mother Nature would not want us to slaughter all mankind needlessly either. For the last time, my son, I ask you: Would you turn against your own people for the sake of a metal crown and a merciless group of killers? Is this the path you have taken?"

"It is," Nuada agreed, just as softly. "I am sorry, father. But I will take no other path."

"Then you leave me no choice, Nuada," Balor gravely replied as he sunk back into his throne and turned to his Butcher Guards. "Death!" he whispered fiercely, before covering his head with his hand as though weeping with regret, and instantly the whole mood in the court chamber turned violent.

All the Butcher Guards in the chamber now thrust their ungainly-looking swords forwards and crossed them in an arch in front of Balor; their eyes were not visible, but all their heads were turned towards Pitch and Nuada. They were posed to kill.

Nuada turned to look at Nuala. "And you, sister," he asked, "are you at peace with your King's verdict?"

"I am, my brother," Nuala replied, speaking in English for the first time since they had entered the throne chamber. "I am."

Nuada lowered his gaze, and when he straightened up, his expression was solemn.

"Then so be it," the Elf prince murmured. "Death it is."

And then all chaos broke loose.

The first Butcher Guard charged at Nuada with his sword drawn, only to swing it on thin air; Nuada had ducked moments before the sword could cut through his throat. He then grabbed the Guard and flipped him over, twisting his neck and killing him. Then he took a sword from the half-human, half-raven and drove it into the second Guard's stomach; a brutal screech of pain and all was over.

"But not our death," Pitch chimed in, as he created a lengthy claymore from black sand and his clothes changed to a black kilt and plaid. Now he ran forwards, jumped onto one of the Guards and tackled him to the ground, driving his sword into his heart. He next confiscated another sword and threw it to Nuada, who charged forwards to fight more Butcher Guards. One of them he briefly transfixed by driving a sword into his foot, for which he was rewarded with a spray of black blood, before then cutting through the leather armour belt on his stomach and disembowelling him.

Mr. Wink now joined the fight; bringing his arm backwards, he elbowed one Butcher Guard, who fell to the ground, exposing a blood-stained dagger attached to the Troll's elbow; then he fired his metal hand forwards, grabbed hold of another Guard's head, pulling him backwards, and broke his neck with a snarl. Pitch and Nuada kept up their own fight; Pitch swung his sword, beheading one Butcher Guard so his head spun in a neat arc through the air. Nuada then ran sideways, up against the wall, before sweeping out and beheading another Butcher Guard, before then landing next to another Guard who managed to punch him in the face before Nuada drove two swords into his stomach and pushed the screeching, beak-faced gladiator to the ground with some display of strength. Immediately afterwards, blood started running from Nuada's right nostril, and he looked up at Nuala in alarm. Merida gasped along with the Princess, as Nuala's own right nostril started bleeding profusely. She remembered quickly a time when Nuala had told her that she and Nuada shared a special link known as the Banna Na Anamacha(the Bond of Souls)- they could not only read each other's thoughts and know each other's locations, but if one of them was injured, the other one shared that injury.

Nuada quickly wiped the blood away in shame at having injured Nuala, before turning to face the throne, twirling both swords in a flourish. Balor then slowly got to his feet, holding out his right arm in an almost welcoming way. And without hesitation, Nuada ran straight forwards- so did the two remaining Butcher Guards. As huge swords swung through the air, the Prince dropped to the ground, letting the blades pass over his head, whilst bringing his own swords up in a slice, disembowelling the Guards neatly, before then straightening up, dropping one sword, spinning around and lunging straight for the throne.

He had not sheathed his sword, however. The blade went straight into Balor's ribcage, and without even a cry of pain, the Elven King slumped backwards into his throne and stopped moving, his eyes closed and his mouth open. He was dead.

Merida's breath caught in her throat. King Balor, the closest thing Merida had ever had to an uncle, was dead- and at the hands of his own son, no less! If anything, Nuada seemed to share her shock as he took in what he had done. A golden pallor rippled outwards in waves over King Balor's flesh and robes, and as it passed over him, his skin turned almost golden white. Merida remembered with shock that the Bethmoora Elves turned to stone upon being killed, returning to the earth from which they were born. This was exactly what was happening now. Nuada reached out with one of his hands, weeping softly as he touched the now petrified cheek of his royal father. It was clear that he had never intended to go so far as to kill his own kin for vengeance on mankind.

Pitch Black, however, then stepped forward and placed a hand on the grieving Elven Prince's shoulders. "His fate is regrettable, my prince," the King of Fear said softly. "But then, so was his decision not to fight for the defence of his homeland. You can mourn his loss later- for now, take up the gauntlet!"

Nuada nodded slowly, but looked one last time upon King Balor. "I always loved you, Father," he whispered in Gaelic, "But I must do this. For you, and for all of us."

He then reached won to the gold crown piece on Balor's belt- the only part of his clothing that hadn't turned to stone- and pulled it loose, breaking off a piece of Balor's stone stomach as he did so(Merida winced). He held out his own crown piece, and the two pieces unfolded, straightening into curved rectangular metal strips as they were held close to one another, Celtic swirl patterns interlocking between one another and changing shape as they slowly interconnected, until they had finally formed the shape of a perfect crestless crown.

Nuada finally turned around, saying "Now for the final piece, my sister," only to find that Nuala was gone. She must have fled, Merida realized, knowing her brother's intentions.

Nuada gritted his teeth and turned to Mr. Wink. "Find her, Wink. Find her!" He shouted quickly, and the huge cave troll ran off instantly. Pitch smiled coldly.

"Do not worry too much on your sister's behalf," he murmured. "There are others whom you should learn to fear more than her. I am the only one you can rely on, my Prince…"

They left quickly and quietly, Nuada glancing back sadly one last time at his petrified father. Almost instantaneously, the court of King Balor emptied in sadness, whilst Merida, instead of following the Prince, walked straight towards the dead king, her head bowed in respect. As she reached him, Merida placed her hand on the Elven king's brow.

"Bealtainedo spioradteacht ar abhealach isteachOileánnaBheannaithe, mothighearna.(May your spirit find its way into the Isle of the Blessed, my lord)" Merida whispered. But as she stroked the stone, it began to warm and soften beneath her hand, and all of a sudden, she saw the white pallor change in colour, until finally, a gasp alerted her that King Balor was not dead any more.

"I know your voice," the old king whispered. "You remind me…of a human girl I once loved."

"I am that girl, yer highness," Merida replied croakily, relieved that his wounds weren't fatal after all. "I am Merida o' Clan Dunbroch."

"Ah, Merida," King Balor sighed. He reached out to touch her face with one hand, soft and wrinkled. "The years have been exceptionally kind to you, it seems. It's been countless years since last we met… How is it that you are still alive?"

"I fell through a portal intae a different time, King Balor," Merida answered. "I'm still learnin' a lot about the modern world."

Balor chuckled softly. "Always the curious and inquisitive girl I knew so well," he smiled before his tone turned serious. "Now listen well, Merida. My magic is low, but I have just enough to heal a wound that would otherwise have killed me. But I am not powerful enough to stop the King of Fear… or my wayward son, for that matter."

"Whit can I do then?" Merida asked.

"You must find them, Merida. Make sure that they do not wake the Golden Army. I have spent years of troubled dreams thinking about the atrocities I committed when in control of the Army… And I fear that if Nuada continues on this path, then he will bring about his own death- and his sister's death as well."

The Elven king looked straight at Merida with his glossy yellow eyes.

"Save him, Merida. Save my son…save my daughter…save all the world from Nightmare's hatred. Do your legacy proud."

"I will, yer majesty," the Scot princess agreed. "I will no' fail you."

"You never have, my dear. Now, wake. Your friends will have need of you now."

Merida's eyes snapped open. She was aboard the BPRD garbage truck, with all the members of the group seated around her. Her head darted wildly.

"Wha' happened?" she asked. "How long have I been out?"

"Only half the ride, Ginger," Hellboy replied. "Just 'cos I'm interested…why is it that you passed out?"

Merida looked up slowly. "Ah think I might have some kind o' connection wi' Nuada, Hellboy… Both times I've fallen asleep, I've seen visions o' wha' he's been up tae."

The demon nearly fell off his seat in shock. "OK, if what you've got is in any way steamy, I'm seriously concerned about your mental health, Princess."

Merida shot him a dirty look. "No' those kind o' visions, ye cheeky imp(Hellboy looked slightly cheeked at being called an imp)! I meant I saw him releasin' those Tooth Fairies back at the Auction House, an' he was after the Crown Piece there."

"WHAT?!" Hellboy nearly got up from his seat, but sat down again as they passed over a speed bump.

"It makes sense in a way," Flynn added(he had got changed out of his usual clothes into a more stealth-ops type outfit, with binoculars on his helmet and a munitions pouch). "I'm only picking up bits and pieces: angry son, temptations of warfare, unstoppable army. This guy Nuada doesn't sound like the kind of guy to let go of old hatreds."

Merida nodded before adding, "An' just now, he was visitin' the court o' King Balor, an' he nearly killed him fer another crown piece!(Hiccup choked back a shocked profanity) He wants tae reawaken the Golden Army an' kill all mankind for what they've done tae nature. Him, an' another fella- a black-robed man called Pitch Black or somethin'."

"Ze Golden Army!" Dr. Krauss remarked. "Ze harbingers of death! Ze unstoppable tide…"

"Yeah, thank you, Dr. Krauss," Jack interrupted, before turning to Merida. "Merida, rewind a few seconds. Did you say Nuada was working with Pitch Black?"

"Aye," she agreed, then "Wait. Ye know him?"

Jack nodded grimly. "Yeah… I know him… and I wish I didn't."

"Who is this Pitch Black guy?" Liz asked aloud.

"He's what you guys more commonly refer to as the Bogeyman, Liz," Jack said. "He's another Guardian, but unlike the rest of us, he's evil. One time very recently, he tried to make all the children in the world stop believing in us Guardians, so that we would become weak and he could seize control of the world."

"And did he?" Abe interjected.

"No, he didn't, thanks to Jack," Tooth replied, ruffling Jack's hair with one hand. "But don't underestimate Pitch. He can take your worst fears and turn them into bloodthirsty Nightmares. Even when you think he's at his weakest, he jumps back to attack once more."

Hellboy looked utterly stricken. "Tooth Fairies and the Bogeyman," he muttered. "This day keeps getting better and better."

"Von zing I do not understand, Agent Frost," Krauss questioned, "is vhy should Pitch Black and Prince Nuada choose to join forces?"

"Well, Pitch said tha' his daughter is Mother Nature, Mr. Krauss," Merida replied. "I expect he's no' any more happy abou' wha' we've done tae nature than Nuada is."

"So, to recap, we're about to go up in arms against a vengeful, human-hating Elf prince and a childhood nightmare?" Astrid asked. After Merida nodded, the Viking shieldmaiden started polishing her axe lovingly. "Bring it on."

Hellboy chuckled to Hiccup. "You've got a girlfriend after my own heart, Viking boy. Keep up the good work." He then turned to Merida and added, "One last thing, Ginger. Have you and Punzie(Flynn mouthed incredulously at the nickname) still got those animal pendants from the Russian job?"

Merida nodded, knowing he was referring to the climatic battle between Rasputin's Nazis and the BPRD from four years ago. "Aye."

"Good. I think we're gonna need them." He then spoke to Dr. Krauss. "Hey, Johann, about the Troll Market, how do you suggest we start looking for it?"

Krauss chirped up, "Vell, ze first thing you must ask yourself, Agent Hellboy, is vot lives under ze Troll Market?"

"Trolls," everyone replied with a sigh.

"Gutt. Und how do ve find ze Troll Market?" he continued. "Ve first must find a Troll."