'Hellboy' and all of it's affiliates belong to Mike Mignola and theDark Horse Company. This is also co-written by TheCheetoBandito.


Fortune put on the last of her gear and stepped out of the bathroom into the hotel room. Her father was waiting, his computer-surveillance system set up. He turned to her and examined her outfit.

"Cover check." He said. She stepped forward to submit the examination. He walked around her, making sure every inch of her was covered; leather gloves tucked into long-sleeved turtleneck, running shoes laced properly, all of her equipment in working order. He grabbed a bottle of hair gel from the dresser and dabbed a bit here and there on the top of her head so her hair wouldn't get loose from her braid. "Remember what I said," He warned as he slipped her mask on over her head and checked the ear communicator and optic feed on the headset that came with it.

"'Leave nothing behind.'" They said simultaneously. "Now go and get the target." Fortune nodded and sank into the shadows with a single thought. It was like being under a sheet of black ice and seeing different openings of all shapes and sizes shining light down into the dark expanse. Here, the communicator and camera didn't work. She heard the chattering of her shadow friends, the fox-demons, as they darted in and out of those lights. Her favorite, Jason, scampered to her side. He was different from the other fox-demons, being as he could standand could almost form complete sentences in his mind.

'Go now?' He asked.

'Yes.' She thought back. He chirped and started towards the museum. She could never find her own way in this shadow realm, so she depended on Jason to lead her to where ever she needed to go. With a deep breath, she Shadow-Walked into the Precious Stones exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Her target: Odin's Eye, one of the seven priceless Asgard Gems. A friend of her father's needed it for something. Fortune didn't ask why. She knew not to ask why after the last time… Shaking off the haunting memories, she stepped forward to examine the gem. It was exquisite. Cut in an almost perfect circle and practically glowing a beautiful deep blue, she felt something resonate within her. Silently she crept to the display, her fingers reaching to disable the alarm.

"Guard change in 15 minutes." She heard her father say in the headpiece. Wires flitted in her mind, her fingers matching the speed in which they cut them. "Counting down." There was a click as the display opened. She lifted the gem gently from its resting place and tucked it into her belt.

"I've got it." She breathed.

"Good. Now get the hell out of there!" she started to creep away when she heard heavy footsteps coming towards them Jason chirped worriedly. She was about to Shadow-Walk out when she saw something that made her freeze in her tracks.

The moment Fortune turned her head to face the footsteps, she heard the light mechanical echo of a gun barrel rotating and locking into place. Aimed at her was a massive revolver, or to make a comparison, a small cannon. The unique, four-round, high caliber weapon had a name emblazoned upon it, The Samaritan. Far more standout than the unusual gun though, was its wielder.

He stood a giant among mortal men, with a large muscular frame to back up that impressive height. His skin looked as though he were dipped in blood and forever dyed that thick ruby color. What almost appeared to be an ancient a pair of goggles atop his brow were in fact the stubs of shaven-down horns. He faced her clad in a long, tan trench coat, an emblem of a hand clutching a sword sewn onto the arm. Hanging open, the coat revealed the man's crimson abdomen and pectorals, both looking as though they had been sculpted from stone. Black pants lead down to heavy combat boots, a long red tail idly swinging nearby.

Reaching to his lips, the red man pulled the stub of a warn cigar from his teeth and let smoke seep through his pearly whites. Arching a brow, golden eyes peered at the girl in an interested, somewhat warn expression. Flicking the cigar away, he revealed his right hand, a massive thing that looked more as though it belonged on an ancient statue than his body. A stone finger than rose and waved back and forth in a 'tsk' motion.

"Yeah... I'm going to have to ask ya to put that back, lady." His tone was impeccably dry and sarcastic, like he'd rip you a new one as soon as he cracked a wise-ass comment.

"Ya see, my higher ups, as well as the proprietors of this fine educational and historical establishment highly frown upon ladies just waltzing in and making off with their hard earned property. ESPECIALLY ancient artifacts. So..." He reached his arm out and pointed the Samaritan at her with greater focus. "You can either place the doohickey back in its display, hand it over to your boy Red here, or try making a break for it like I'm almost completely certain yer going to do. That said, if you choose door number 3, my finger is pulling the trigger. I'm a pretty lame shot but give me a benefit of the doubt because I'm really close to you and my bullets cover a lot of space. So what do ya say, Miss?"

Fortune narrowed her eyes, though he couldn't see it with the optic feed in the way. Who was this guy? She didn't think twice about his strange appearance. After all she walked through shadows and talked to shadow demons. She slowly backed away towards the shadow of a column that flanked the entrance of the exhibit.

"What the hell is that thing?" She heard her father yell into the communicator. She didn't answer, focused on getting to the shadow.

As she started to walk away, the one called Hellboy's eyes rolled and let out a not so obvious sigh, taking a step forward. He knew well enough she was planning a quick getaway, maybe leaping out a window or disappearing into the vents. But this girl was not the first person HB found sneaking around where she didn't belong. He played this game many times and he knew well enough that the best time to act against a thief was the second they moved.

"Of course you'd pick door number 3... Alright, I'm going to give ya just one more shot lady. Hand over the jewel and nobody has to get hurt." It was obvious he'd rather not have to deal with any violence but he was more than willing to dish it out at a moment's notice.

As soon as he stepped forward, she made her move. She dropped to a crouch; swing her leg up to kick the handle of the gun to disarm him. As soon as the gun went flying, she spun and took off running.

"Quick move, getting away from the freak. Now get the target back here." Her father said. She continued down the hall of the museum, turning left and right at random. The sound of heavy boots and a quick glance told her that the red man was following her. So was Jason, right at her heels. "What are you doing!" She heard her father yell again, but she ignored him. "Get out, now!"

"I know what I'm doing, Father." She panted. Soon she had to stop, a dead end right in front of her.

'What now?' She heard Jason say nervously inside her head.

'Don't worry,' she said, reaching down and giving him a pet. 'I have a plan.'

Hellboy barely got a blink in before he felt a sharp pain as her foot kicked his hand and his guns handle! "D'ow! Son of a bitch!" As soon as the gun hit the floor and he looked forward, the girl was booking it. "Hey! That was not part of the deal!"

Swiftly reaching down and grabbing the Samaritan, Hellboy started to barrel forward best he could. In any other situation he'd just be slamming down walls but this being the Museum of Natural History and all, the Bureau would have a cow. The thief went out of a sight, being faster than him, so Hellboy had to take a few wrong turns until he finally caught her in that dead end.

"Ah hah! I just to be civil lady. I even tried being polite but you just had to go and blow it!" He yelled as he charged in her direction.

She saw the huge man barreling towards her like a red freight train. She counted to five quickly. When he got close enough to grab her, she melded into the shadows cast by the three encircling walls. From her safe vantage point on the surface of the shadow, she saw him crash into the wall. She let out a small chuckle as she rose out of the shadow. He was extracting himself from the wall with a groan, pieces of plaster and dust floating in the air. She took off her mask and stared at him, tawny-colored eyes warm with amusement.

"*You are a strange one*" She said, speaking Old Norse so that he wouldn't understand. "*You won't be able to stop me taking the others.*" She turned to the nearest shadow. "*Ella, Costin. Hold him until I get away.*" As the demons did what she asked, she shadow-walked back to the hotel room.

In that split second before he hit the wall, Hellboy's eyes grew very wide and he started to bellow a "SON OF a BI-" As to his surprise the lady seemed to just vanish into thin air. Sadly when a man like Hellboy crashes, he crashes hard, and now he needed to get himself out of his imbedded state. "Really? I mean, COME ON!" He shouted at the empty room.

The demon then blinked in confusion as the woman suddenly rose out of the shadows and revealed herself. She was certainly cuter than HB had expected but that didn't change the fact that she royally pissed him off! Though he was well versed in many ancient tongues, he was not a natural in Norse. "Yeah. No abla pysholadybabble, lady!"

He raised his red right hand to grab her but she was once again gone before he could act. The next thing he knew, he suddenly had these strange creatures pinning. "Where the hell did you come from? Get off me!" He roared as he tried to struggle free.