A/N: This came to me in a dream after a bad day. It is in no way making fun of the people whose criticisms came with my two Hellboy stories. It is simply a dream story that resulted from those criticisms. Interpret this as you will from there on…
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A warrior walked in the night, weapon in hand. He was far away from everything he had ever known, finding himself in a land where cattle grazed and thoroughbreds raced. A place where tractors were commonplace and trailer trash prevailed. Poverty was not seen on the streets, but in the state of houses and yards. Drug dealers and hookers didn't frequent the corners of this sleepy little town, but Nuada had a feeling that the drug dealers were not as invisible as they appeared to be.
The elf prince approached a doublewide trailer on a hill silently but swiftly. A brown mutt came scurrying out of her dog house, a chain scraping against the gravel driveway. She woofed and wagged her tail, expecting love which her owners didn't seem to have enough of.
"Good dog," Nuada said, petting the dog on the head. "Where does your owner sleep tonight? This girl who writes such terrible stories…"
The dog smiled, her pink tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Nuada patted her head a final time and moved away from her. As he approached the closest window, he sensed a mass of power and knew he had found the right place. The window opened at his slightest touch and he slipped in, thinking that it was too easy.
A girl sat on the floor with a much taller man, papers scattered between the two of them. Other men stood around, conversing quietly and demonstrating their masculinity in subtle ways. No one seemed to notice him at first, but then the girl looked up and met his eyes.
"Oh goody," she muttered, laying down a pen. "Another one…"
Nuada cocked his head and looked at her, studying this odd reaction to his presence. It was almost like this human female was bored instead of intimidated by him.
"Tsuzuki, we're going to have to work on this death summon later," the girl said, pushing herself to her feet. "It looks like I've got another complaint coming in…"
Tsuzuki sighed and gathered the papers together. The other men started to notice Nuada, but like the girl, they seemed bored by his presence. Nuada sensed that some were warriors of equal or greater power, while others were simply arrogant in their own rights.
"Boys, get out," the girl ordered, making a shooing motion with her hands. "I don't want any witnesses and I've already handled your complaints, so shoo."
"All right Scarlet," some of the men said while others remained silent.
Nuada watched them walk into the closet and close the door. The door, touched by wind, opened again to reveal an empty closet.
"Portals," Scarlet stated, sitting down on a computer chair. "My closet's full of them. Of course, they could always go out the window, but…" She smiled slightly. "You're not here to question how my male friends get around, Nuada Silverlance."
"No Scarlet One," Nuada agreed. "I am here for retribution of a deed that did me twice wrong."
Scarlet rolled her eyes and grabbed her laptop. "It's a complaint, am I correct? You want to complain about the stories that I made on , right? The ones you're fangirls are complaining about one at the first and only chapter, and then at the thirteenth chapter of the other?" Her brow furrowed as she tapped away at the computer. "For You and Until You Love Me, my only two stories for Hellboy's archives with different OCs." There was almost a laugh in her voice. "And I do believe you banged somebody in both of them."
"Simply banging an OC does not make a story worth reading," Nuada commented, looking around her room. "It may make fangirls giddy, but true fans will see a story's faults far clearer when you place a random sex scene."
"But it helps to relieve some stress, doesn't it old boy?"
"Do not call me that. I am Nuada Silverlance and you shall refer to me as such." He was puzzled when she cracked an even wider smile. "What is it now you troublesome creature?"
"I was thinking you'd rather be referred to as King or are you still stuck on the Prince title? I could certainly offer many other names with which I could call you."
Nuada pointed the tip of his spear at her throat, but she didn't even flinch. "You will not call me anything with that wicked tongue of yours. I am here on business and will not be treated the same as your harem of males."
"Very well." She sighed and looked back at her computer. "What is your complaint about the stories then? Or are they the same as your fangirls' have already pointed out?"
"What have my fangirls said?" Nuada inquired, lowering his weapon.
"Well, one called me a sadist, asking why I haven't given up writing fanfics…especially cheap Mexican soap operas…" Scarlet commented with a small smirk. "That'd be the mysterious Erica Strange. The second diehard fan has stuck around longer and says that they're tired of hearing about Mary Sue OCs and poorly written, highly out of character male canon characters. That one is…MovingInSilence." Her eyes lifted to meet his. "Do the aliases sound familiar, Prince Nuada?"
"They are fans," Nuada said with a small shrug. "I have thousands and all are sadly human…what they say means little to me – and obviously the same can be said of you if you have not given up writing such appalling tales – I would sooner give up my hate of humans than listen to their banter."
Scarlet set her laptop on the hooded headboard of her bed and sighed. "I deal with many complaints about my writing weekly, but it hasn't bothered me. People are simply voicing their opinion and when they do, it's my decision about what to do with it."
"With so many enemies, one would think a meek human like you would run…"
"I'm a writer. I have thick skin when it comes to my writing." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'm only a sadist when it comes to my OCs. They get abuse beyond what I do to canon characters like you…but I guess sometimes that dabbles into Mary Sue territory and could be commonly confused with a cheap soap opera." She shrugged and reached over onto her desk, pulling out a pair of glasses. "No one can be perfect."
"Humans can never be perfect."
"Right. Something about our hollow, greedy hearts…" Scarlet slipped the glasses onto her face, but they didn't make her look anymore distinguished in Nuada's opinion. "I think I wrote that somewhere."
"Far too often…" Nuada approached her, crossing the distance in two strides. "I demand that you stop writing stories of me."
Scarlet looked up at him calmly. "Now why would I do that?"
"From what I've read, you do not know my character. You do not know the complexity of my mind and my heart." Nuada peered at her computer and saw a folder labeled 'Hellboy Possibilities'. "I do not wish to have my name slandered by your hand any longer."
"Well, I've heard your complaint and I've heard the complaint of your fans," Scarlet murmured, opening a new document on her computer and typing away on it. "But Nuada, call me a sadist if you want…I'm not going to give up writing Hellboy stories with you as a listed/main character. I will simply stop writing them for a period of time because I have other stories to focus on that are in need of a long-overdue update."
"Sadist, you must stop writing these appalling drivel and -"
"I must do nothing then," Scarlet cut across him and Nuada was astonished at her bravery. "I am a writer. I am my own worst critic and what others say about my writing cannot hold a candle to what I have already thought about my stories. I practice and practice characters, getting better a little bit each time…but you are a very difficult character to write, Nuada. I'm not going to give up on you though." She stopped typing on her computer and glared at him. "Do you know how many times I've wanted to commit suicide because of my real life and how writing helped save me? Go ahead and call me a sadist, a Mary Sue creator, a cheap Mexican soap opera writer, but nothing I put down on paper or up online can make me forget the images I see daily."
Nuada stepped back, his eyes widened slightly. "What are you?"
"Sick. Very sick and very tired," Scarlet said, crossing her arms. "I hear complaints and I hear silence. With each I work to make things that people like. There are 18 people who like Until You Love Me and I'm not going to let them down. Most importantly, I'm not going to let myself down." She looked at her computer screen. "I'm going to change the ending though. That way, it's a sad one and maybe people will appreciate what I gave them a little more."
Nuada stared at her for a moment, feeling her strong will permeate the room. She tapped something on her computer. "You will stop for a time? And practice my character as you have others?"
The girl nodded. "I will." She leaned forward slightly in her seat so that her hands hung over her knees. "Are you going to be okay with that, Silverlance?"
Nuada looked her evenly in the eye and thought about it. His original goal had been to kill the girl who had disgraced his image, but now that he had spoken with her, he could see her illness and her knowledge of her mistakes. She was looking for another chance and patience.
"Great characters are not made overnight," Nuada whispered, wondering if his sister was toying with his thoughts and making him so kindhearted to humans.
Scarlet did not appear to have heard him.
Nuada nodded and stepped back towards the window. "I shall forgive you this grievance for now, but do not fail me, Scarlet."
He was about to slip through her window again when she cleared her throat. Nuada turned and faced her once more.
"It'd be faster to go through a portal," she pointed out, gesturing at the closet. "Goodbye Nuada." She scooped up her laptop and turned around, placing it on her desk.
Nuada glanced at the closet and stepped into it. A second later, he was back in the town that he had lived for years, the home of Hellboy. And he was wondering who that Scarlet really was...
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A/N: I know that I have messed up on Nuada's character in my other stories. I know that some of my characters may be Mary Sues or seem like it, but that does not mean I will give up writing because I make mistakes. I write in my own way to cope with my own problems and I'm not going to let opinions mess with the low, cruel opinions I have of myself. I want to make no enemy on this site and I hope to become better with my writing. Give me time and patience, please. And please refrain from calling me rude names. I'd like to keep this civil people. Thanks for your time and patience, especially MovingInSilence and Erica Strange, though I wish one of you had been more civil, I understand that you are displeased with my work but I doubt there is anything I can do to make you change your first impression of me, so I will not bother. Thanks for sticking around for so long, but now I have to go take some medicine. Thanks! ~ Scarlet